the last night of WFNX

Last night I worked the final night shift on 101.7 WFNX. I played five hours of freeform radio, comically more than doubling my career airtime to date. The experience was beyond words, possibly more so at the moment perhaps because I stayed up all night playing music.

In situations like this that defy description, I find myself returning to a single word: grateful.

I am nothing but thankful for the chance to do this, and to you all who listened. Specifically I want to thank the people who helped me get here: Adam, Fletcher, Julie, Henry, Paul, Mike, Angie, Jim, Jason, Michael, Christine and Michelle.

It hurts to lose a lifelong companion, no matter the media, but I’m comforted knowing that the people who made the station what it was live on and will continue to work to exhaustion building a soundtrack and score to our lives in Boston and beyond.

Humbly, my playlist from last night. Even now as I look it over I see glaring omissions and changes I might have made, but I did my best. It was chaotic and wonderful, and I’ll remember it forever.

Operation Ivy • Knowledge

Pixies • Subbacultcha

Neutral Milk Hotel • Holland, 1945

Mighty Mighty Bosstones • Drunks And Children

The Sugarcubes • Hit

Depeche Mode • Behind The Wheel/Route 66 [Mega-Single Mix]

Weezer • My Name is Jonas

The Clash • Brand New Cadillac

The Modern Lovers • Roadrunner

Spoon • Car Radio

Dinosaur Jr. • Feel The Pain

Sonic Youth • Bull in the Heather

Stone Roses • She Bangs The Drums

Ned’s Atomic Dustbin • Grey Cell Green

Soft Cell • Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go?

Talking Heads • This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)

Metric • Help, I’m Alive

Jane’s Addiction • Stop!

David Garza • Discoball World

Land Of The Loops • Multi-Family Garage Sale (Bargain-Bin Mix)

Eels • Last Stop: This Town

Holy Ghost! • Jam For Jerry

Overwhelming Colorfast • Arrows

Buffalo Tom • Velvet Roof

Buzzcocks • What Do I Get?

The Joy Formidable • Whirring

The Catherine Wheel • I Want To Touch You

Passion Pit • Take A Walk

Joe Jackson • Steppin’ Out

Hot Chip • One Life Stand

Alabama Shakes • Hold On

Cracker • Eurotrash Girl

Nine Inch Nails • Head Like A Hole

Sisters Of Mercy • Lucretia My Reflection

The Nails • 88 Lines About 44 Women

Sloan • Underwhelmed

Cults • Abducted

Think Tree • Hire a Bird

They Might Be Giants • Ana Ng

The Jesus & Mary Chain • Frequency

The Jesus & Mary Chain • Reverence

The Sheila Divine • Hum

O-Positive • Talk About Love

Orbit • Medicine

Alice In Chains • Would?

M.A.R.R.S. • Pump Up The Volume

Underworld • Born Slippy

LCD Soundsystem • All My Friends

M83 • Reunion

The Replacements • Alex Chilton

The Cure • Push

Soul Coughing • Screenwriter’s Blues

The Walkmen • The Rat

Beastie Boys • Shadrach

Interpol • PDA

Soul Asylum • Somebody To Shove

Pulp • Common People

Jane’s Addiction • Classic Girl

Band Of Horses • The Funeral

The Clash • Straight To Hell

Love Spit Love • Am I Wrong

Public Image Ltd • Rise

Dubstar • Stars

Rogue Wave • Everyday

The Replacements • Within Your Reach

Joy Division • Atmosphere

Men At Work • Overkill

Frank Sinatra • That’s Life

The The • This is the Day

The Cure • A Night Like This (Live)

Sonic Youth • The Diamond Sea

You can listen to my last break; it aired just before midnight, between Overkill and That’s Life.

After the full twenty minute version of The Diamond Sea played through I took the opportunity to program the half the remaining overnight with selections I didn’t have time to include in my main five hour set. These are really just more like bonus tracks, or special features, or maybe an epilogue but I imagine more than a few of these may never air on commercial radio again after last night, so they bear remembering.

The Stone Roses • I Am The Resurrection [full album version, by request for Paul Driscoll]

Primitive Radio Gods • Standing Outside A Broken Phonebooth With Money In My Hand

MC 900 Ft Jesus • The City Sleeps

The Catherine Wheel • Heal

The Smiths • How Soon Is Now?

They Might Be Giants • They Got Lost

The Undertones • Teenage Kicks

Radiohead • Street Spirit (Fade Out) [by request for Jason Steeves]

The Police • Synchronicity II

Bauhaus • Bela Lugosi’s Dead

The Cure • A Forest (Tree Mix)

Joy Division • Transmission

Mother Love Bone • Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns

Hallelujah The Hills • Hallelujah The Hills (Fight Song)

U2 • Bad (Live)

Arcade Fire • Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

Sugar • Hoover Dam

Oingo Boingo • Dead Man’s Party

Smashing Pumpkins • Cherub Rock

The Postal Service • Such Great Heights [Ben Gibbard solo acoustic]

Concrete Blonde • Tomorrow Wendy

Galaxie 500 • Tugboat

The Smiths • Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

Lou Reed • Perfect Day

LCD Soundsystem • Someone Great

Pixies • Wave Of Mutilation [At The BBC with John Peel]

The final song aired at roughly 2:45am before regular programming resumed with Blink 182′s “I Miss You”. I made it out of the studio just in time to hear the end of the music I programmed playing over the air late at night on a dark and empty suburban road.

It was a dream come true in every sense. Thank you for being part of it.