Goodbye NU107

I read the newspaper this morning and saw the latest pictures of the NU107 rock awards in the lifestyle section, I had a big sigh on my way to the bathroom... "another rock awards missed". I've went to 2 rock awards before and man they were fun , different, with a tinge of danger and were terribly entertaining at the same time, but this time it was different, on the column it said it was the last rock awards. While driving on the way to do an errand , I turned on the radio as I usually do and pressed 6 on the memory button to access 107.5 as I have ritually done for 18 years. But today was different, today the DJ's were all saying goodbye, talking about the good old days and their fondest memories on air. Listeners we're calling , someone called saying because of NU she took up broadcasting, all the regular shows were saying their farewells as NU would be making its final airing on sunday.

I was shocked, and suddenly remembered how old I was, there were listeners now who weren't even born when I started listening. I remember I started listening to NU when burning things on disc was done in a chemistry laboratoryand copying to a stick means absolutely nothing. I drove an old boxtype liftback Corolla we called dimples because of the holes back in the 90s, my whole barkada all 10 of them would fit in the car, and we would run to Centerpoint with station number 6 on the speed dial, 107.5 ,playing on the radio while dodging thru espana. The Dawn , the Eraserheads, The Youth... back then they called it underground not indie and it was only NU who had the balls to play them on air. They were then until now unapologetic and held art over commercialism. They played stuff out of the norms and didn't care whether the businessmen think this is not what the public wants and this is not whats the latest rave in Los Angeles. I took NU107 as a model for individuality and artistic integrity. Doing things against the flow, not afraid to try something new, not sticking with tried and tested formulas these were the things I saw in NU while I was growing up , it was my kinda station and they played great rock music too! While other statoins played Pearl Jam's Daughter and everyone thought it was a love song .. they played Pearl Jam's Animal.

NU had some of the best talk shows , I listened to Jake and Joey in my dad's car on our way to school, It was a cool thing to see your dad listen to NU instead of AM news. 18 years later its now all coming to an end, so what do I do now , what station do I set number 6 on, to make matters worst my new-2nd hand car(its a 2000 model) doesnt have mp3 just a cassette and a changer at the back so I rely a lot these days on the radio for in car entertainment. When I hit 30 I told my self I'll try to keep up with the latest music trends so I dont hit the generation gap with my younger staff too early. NU usually played the latest , coolest rock music so I know Ill always be updated ..now what? Goodbye NU 107, thank you for keepin me company all those years. I think because of NU , Filipino music continued to flourish and even evolve, and not end up like what happend to the local movie industry. Hopefully NU doesn't end up like those 80s and 90s movies where a rock radio station will be converted to a easy listening or new age station in the name of commerce. Keep that artistic integrity alive.