In the 1980s the Buggles created a hit with "Video Killed The Radio Star." Video crippled radio, but it did not make music extinct on the FM dial. If the Buggles were to rewrite their hit today, it would be titled "The iPod Killed The Radio Star."

The corporate bean counters at CBS Radio announced on Tuesday, "The Rock of Boston" WBCN 104.1, would no longer exist come August 13th. CBS's corporate suits have decided that the Boston area needs another sports radio station and Top 40 station to replace WBCN. A Top 40 station will be moved to 104.1, and down the dial at 98.5, CBS Radio will insert a sports talk radio station "The Sports Hub", which will carry the NFL's New England Patriots and the NHL's Boston Bruins. WBCN will be moved to the Internet, where folks in Guam and Azerbaijan can tune in, along with Massholes inside 128.

WBCN has been the premier FM rock station in the Boston area since 1968. From its inception, 'BCN has been a huge part of Boston's cultural zeitgeist, but has gradually seen its cultural clout severely weakened through the years. FM rock radio no longer gives its imprimatur to what is cool and hip, the Internet has allowed kids to decide on their own what is cool and what is the band to be heard. The iPod and myspace.com have effectively cut out the middle person. No longer is a dj needed to ordain a new act worthy of future listening - go to myspace and hear the band yourself.

If Sully from Malden, Mass., likes what he hears on a band's website or myspace page, he'll download some songs. When Sully from Malden drives to work or school, he'll plug in his iPod and not turn to WBCN for his musical fix. Sully and countless others have now placed FM rock radio on the endangered species list. For those of us who grew up on the FM dial, that day is over.

I don't know if there's anything better than driving around late at night, with the windows down and the wind whistling through the car, searching for that one song on the dial or waiting for the late night dj to play "your" song. FM rock radio was an attitude; for some people it was a way of life, but, most importantly, it represented a community of listeners. There's a reason folks would adorn their car with WBCN bumper stickers, because in many ways the radio station a person listened to defined who they were or are. No one is sticking an iTunes sticker on the rear bumper, and there are certainly far less WBCN stickers seen on the road today than there were fifteen years ago.

Personally, I have always listened more to WFNX 101.7 than WBCN, but 'BCN was always a part of my musical tapestry. Did I get weary of hearing the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Stone Temple Pilots on WBCN's heavy rotation? Yes, anything that is overplayed gets tiresome, but it was still rock radio. In recent years, 'BCN had become your typical, corporate FM rock radio station and had lost what had once made it so special. Did the corporate suits at CBS care about what made 'BCN unique to the Boston area? What do you think? The corporate drones at CBS care about attracting the elusive 18 to 49-year-old male demographic.

Am I culpable in the demise of FM rock radio in Boston? Guiltily, I confess that my iPod has become my musical mainstay in the car or home - just like Sully from Malden, Mass. I'll accept my part in the downfall of rock on the FM dial, but the corporate suits at CBS and other corporate radio Leviathans have destroyed what made FM rock radio appealing. I would tune in to listen to the dj give his or her opinion on the latest release, hear that unbelievably good new song from some band named Nirvana, and hear the hottest, new local act. Today, there is far more authenticity found on the Internet than can be found on FM rock radio.  

Yesterday's announcement was a mere formality. Our culture has changed permanently for the better or the worse. For those of us who dreamed of spinning vinyl on FM rock radio, the days of Charles Laquidara and Oedipus manning the microphone are long gone. If you want to have your own radio show, come up with a podcast. We are now living in a Do-It-Yourself society, where the only limits are your imagination and ambition.

We can mourn the demise of FM rock radio, but rock will never die! (At least, I hope it won't.) 

Long Live Rock!