i remember listening to NU107 during the early part of the 90s.  i wasn’t immediately hooked since radio stations back then were pop-genre dominated.  but there was something that made that station stand out:  it defied the norm.  most ordinary people back then would probably describe NU as a station for the elitists; where talk and music were on a different plain, something that most filipinos wouldn’t understand.  heck, i think it was the only radio station that despite it being the catapult of rising filipino rock and alternative bands, the language they use was pure english.  rarely do you hear jocks speak the native language in a running conversation.  granted, there are indeed other radio stations that use english as the mode of communication by the jocks, but with NU, it became part and parcel of their identity, and again, to defy the norm.

i did not become a hardcore fan-slash-listener of NU, but the station became a constant fixture in my enlightenment to the world of rock and alternative music in the mid-90s and moving forward.  it opened my ears (and eyes) to bands such as skid row, metallica, van halen, queen, nirvana, poison, guns n’ roses (which became my favorite band of all time), and others.  it also awakened my love of music from the new wave era with such classics from modern english, seona dancing, tears for fears, omd, simple minds, and much more.  and it helped pave the way for me to be a proud pinoy rocker during the explosion of philippine rock and alternative bands such as teeth, the youth, yano, parokya ni edgar, sandwich, kamikazee, rivermaya, sugar free, and many others, and of course, who could ever forget, the eraserheads.  for the record, pinoy music–pinoy rock music at that–would not have been the same if not for NU107.  i can’t imagine what our musical landscape would look like if NU did not come into existence when it did.

another thing that made NU different from the rest is their in-between radio ID fillers and program plugs.  i bet that if a non-philippine radio listener would take a crack and listen to all the different radio stations’ ID plugs one after the other, he or she would say that NU’s would stand out.  as i’ve said earlier, it defies the norm.  there was even one plug which i found hilarious that poked fun at the pinoy visayan accent when a person calling in to request a song on remote control weekend was sucking up to the jock on board in a thick southern accent (i don’t know if that part was really a recorded call, or just made up).  ironically, during the last few days of NU’s broadcast, those plugs and IDs were being requested left and right instead of their normal song playlist.  why?  because they were brash, out-of-the-box, rebellious, but at the same time, funny, witty, even sexy, and it came across as sending a message to everyone else that “we are what we say we are.”  i think their plug for against the flow clearly says it all:  “only dead fish swim with the current.”

when i first heard the news that NU was closing down and reformatting (i actually read it on twitter), i couldn’t believe it and my initial reaction was, “why?”  and when i read the article stating the reason(s) for it, i felt sick and disgusted.  yes, i know it’s a business decision by the now former owners, and i don’t have anything against making tough business decisions.  what i’m sick and disgusted about is the underlying thought that media institutions–which of course, includes radio–should cater to the taste of the masses.  i mean, don’t we have enough radio stations here that do that already?  the ones that make riding jeepneys break our eardrums with annoying laughter from a so-called college student sounding woman, or ruin our psyche by constantly blurting the line, “you know that already!”  or making cab rides unbearable when you’re constantly being asked, “do you need to memorize that?!”  seriously do we really need one more of those?  are the masses the only part of society that listen to the radio?  granted, there are still very decent radio stations to choose from like RX and magic (and maybe jam as well), but there’s another thing that NU does that they don’t:  limit commercial ads.  i mean, where else can you listen to a no-commercial-interruption song lineup such as a 20-minute rockathon?  granted, NU caters only to one genre, which is rock music; but they still do have a loyal following.  they’re human beings and consumers too, you know.  i guess those parasitious sponsors think that with NU, it’s already a profit loss.  stupid, motherfucking masses-thinking corporate execs and sponsors…

i was proud to be part of history when i tuned in to the final broadcast hours of NU last night.  it was very sad to hear the final, tearful goodbyes of all the jocks, past and present.  it was like being in a wake or funeral for someone we love.  i never, ever thought during the past years that NU would close shop.  despite the other radio stations that have come and reformatted, i always knew that NU would always be there, rocking our asses off.  sadly, it too has succumed to a warped prevailing culture.  but as one jock said last night, “NU rock is all about the music, the culture it potrayed, and the loyal listeners.”  it is up to us, the free-thinking, cool-sounding, upright rock advocates of society to continue NU’s legacy in one form or another.  NU started the radio crusade for individualism, trying to stand above the rest, dancing to the beat of a different drum, and treading against the current.  and it bravely lasted 23 years providing a rich and sensible alternative to the filipino radio listener.  your reputation will also be the legacy you leave behind.  filipino rock music, and filipino music in general will be forever indebted to you.

i wasn’t a hardcore fan-slash-listener of NU, but a fan nonetheless.  a fan of your music, your lifestyle, your culture.  thank you for being part of my formative years.  i couldn’t imagine who i might’ve been today if NU didn’t exist.  thank you for also being the launching platform of the numerous pinoy rock bands that we have today.  some of them may have been “masses-sized,” but the bottomline was the promotion of pinoy rock music.  it’s gonna be hard to push that preset radio station to 107.5mhz and hear a different-sounding station.  NU107’s music and what it promotes will always live on with your loyal and casual listeners.  it is only but fitting that the final song you played was the eraserheads’ hit, “ang huling el bimbo.”  it speaks volumes of how NU came to be.  you’ll be sorely missed, but with the hope that someday, somehow, someway, you’ll find your way back to the airwaves again.  from a simpleton, frustrated radio-jock (or radio-jock wannabe) such as myself, i say thank you for letting me come, visit, and stay in the home of nu (new) rock, NU107.  vaya con dios.