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This week, three stations that said they’d NEVER play The Darkness added the record. In the words of Romeo Void, "Never say never." But don’t think for a moment that I might like you better if we slept together.

IVANA DISCOVERS "THE REASON"
TO FIND THRILLS IN A "MAD WORLD"

Q101 Bids Adieu to Mary and WOXY Is Yanked in Oxford, While Hoobastank, Phantom Planet, Dizzee Rascal and The Thrills Make Waves

MAD WORLD: Perhaps I was a bit reckless when I wrote this line last week: "There are no guarantees that any of us will be where we are right now in a year (except for Oedipus and Mary Shuminas, of course)." Yesterday, Mary exited Q101 after a more than 20-year tenure at the legendary PoMo outlet (and its previous incarnations), surviving many regime changes (Gamble, Luke, Richards and Richards, to name a few). Q101 AMD Nikki Chuminatto departed the station on Friday, while new afternoon drive talent Woody Fife (formerly of KPNT) will begin next week. Undoubtedly, PD Mike Stern has a distinct vision for making Q101 a winner—he’s widely acknowledged as being a thoughtful and talented programmer—and we’re looking forward to watching his plan unfold. We’re hearing names of people he might bring in, naturally, but if I’ve learned anything from last week, it’s best to keep those to myself.

Speaking of decades-long PoMo institutions, we were shocked and saddened today with the news that WOXY, the station that spawned the careers of Phil Manning, Ron Poore and many other industry luminaries, has been sold. The new owners, First Broadcasting out of Dallas, will combine WOXY’s signal with another nearby station they purchased on the same frequency, while WOXY’s owners will retain the call letters, studios and music library. PD Mike Taylor and our beloved Shiv will continue streaming the station on www.woxy.com. If I was a programming honcho at one of the two major satellite radio companies (Steve Blatter), I would put WOXY on one of my channels (Steve Blatter), as it is a valuable, well-known "brand" to music fans. The station will cease its terrestrial broadcast within 90 days (will Ron and Phil make the trip to Oxford, OH for a farewell air shift?), which truly marks the end of an era.

Although the music industry is in a period of unparalleled upheaval (to say the least), Island’s Howie Miura and Christine Chiappetta kept their attention focused on launching Hoobastank’s "The Reason" to #1 Most Added this week! Early airplay in Salt Lake City, Sacramento and Honolulu has caused CD sales to blow up to where The Reason is now Top 10 in each market! Live105 was another early believer, while this week’s converts included Q101, KTBZ, KTCL, WEDG, KCNL, KZON, KFMA, WPBZ, KTZO, WZNE, DC101, WBUZ, WROX, WJBX and many, many more! The band is currently on the road with Linkin Park, P.O.D. (congrats to Ron, Kris and Bonnie on their spectacular week!) and Story of the Year (Gaby’s ruling with this record!).

Did you see Phantom Planet on Letterman last Friday? I had to TiVo it, since I was at the completely genius Thrills show at the Troubadour until way past my bedtime. It was one of those gigs where everybody was clamoring for a ticket—all of the promo peeps-slash-music fanatics were there. Virgin’s Steve Leeds flew in for the occasion, which was great, otherwise I wouldn’t have had anyone with whom to share obscure musical references. I think the singer in The Thrills sounds just like Willie Nile was one such observation, although Gene Sandbloom did agree with me that the beginning of "One Horse Town" sounds a little bit like Cheap Trick’s "Dream Police." Our friends at KZON added The Thrills this week. West Coast Virgin Jenni Sperandeo took an early flight home from NYC with the flu (!), but still made it to the show, bolstered by Theraflu and tequila. What a trouper! We hope she’s well by Friday (her birthday) because, quite frankly, we’ve so far been impervious to the flu that has stricken everybody else, but we don’t want to push our luck! The Virgin gang continues to defy preconceptions with every major add on Courtney Love’s "Mono," with WOCL and WEDG coming in this week!

So, back to Phantom Planet (have I mentioned they are my absolute FAVORITE BAND?) and Letterman. Turns out, singer Alex was dared by his manager to hug David Letterman, knowing that Dave is squeamish about such things. After the band ripped up "Big Brat" (they are truly the BEST BAND!), Dave came over to say hello, at which point Alex grabbed him in a bear hug and said, "I love you, man." Dave actually hugged him back and said, "I love you too." See, EVERYBODY loves this band! Even PoMo radio, which usually has its head up its collective ass, is embracing "Big Brat," with KMYZ, KRBZ, WAQZ, KFMA, KWOD, WRAX and 91X coming in this week!

Since Lynn McDonnell’s window for getting "birthday adds" on The Living End’s "Who’s Gonna Save Us?" has long since closed, the huge adds she and Kurt got this week (WBCN and KEDJ, among others) must’ve been because people think this song is a HIT! It sounds awesome on KROQ, by the way.

Speaking of our world-famous friends, their #1 most requested song is still "Mad World" by Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules. The "Mad" fever is spreading not only up and down the West Coast, but elsewhere too, as new adds this week at KDGE, X-96, KMYZ, KFRR and KWOD will attest. We finally have CD-pros of the single—harass Erika or Lenac if you need a copy.

To quote Tommy Roe (and who doesn’t do that on a regular basis?), "I’m so dizzy, my head is spinning." This is a good thing, however, because I’m referring to KROQ adding Dizzee Rascal’s "Fix Up, Look Sharp!" Dizzee is a 19-year-old rapper who won the prestigious Mercury Prize in his native England. The song samples Billy Squier’s "Big Beat" (omigod, is that why I like it?) and the critically acclaimed CD, Boy in da Corner, was released today on XL/Matador. Call Jenn Lanchart for the 4-1-1… I keep hearing about a Strokes show in L.A. soon. If KMYZ and WLRS can play "Reptilia," there’s no compelling reason for you to wait another second. Your excuses bore me.

Our pal Gary Spivack should be on a high as Lo-Pro’s "Sunday" continues to make huge noise at PoMo. He had another double-digit add week, including KTBZ, WPBZ, WLUM and KRZQ! YOU know how hard it is to break a new band, but that doesn’t seem to faze Gary in the slightest. You know why? Lo-Pro is something for the format!

This week, three stations that said they’d NEVER play The Darkness added the record. In the words of Romeo Void, "Never say never." But don’t think for a moment that I might like you better if we slept together.

SONG TO HEAR: The Three O’Clock’s "With Cantaloupe Girlfriend"

PEOPLE TO WATCH: Andy Schuon, Jacent Jackson, Leslie Fram, Dave Beasing, Chris Woltman, Stu Bergen, Geordie Gillespie, Ted Volk, Matt Smith, Ross Zapin, Greg Seese and Carly Brown.

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