KEDG-FM Listeners, Deejays Observe Its Brief Life, Passing

Clutching radios and picket signs reading “Stay Close to the Edge,” about two dozen people gathered on a Hollywood sidewalk Friday night, listening to their favorite station and struggling to keep their quiet vigil from feeling like a funeral.

Moments before midnight, a police car drove up and an officer stepped out asking: “Can you keep the music down some?”

Several voices responded in a dull tone: “It’s over.”

Guitar riffs had given way to scratchy silence as KEDG-FM (101.9), known to listeners as “The Edge,” finished spinning its last record.

The record was, appropriately, “Let the Day Begin,” a new song never heard before on radio by the Call, a Santa Cruz band that has drawn praise from critics and such acclaimed artists as Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson and U2’s Bono, with whom the band has collaborated.

That was the kind of music that the Edge had become known for and what endeared it to its listeners and the recording industry.

But management announced last week that it was pulling the plug on the innovative radio station. The Edgehad suffered from sagging ratings since its inception eight months ago, though the outlook had recently grown sunnier when ratings more than doubled and all advertising spots were sold out for the last month.

“We were on a roll, we were on a peak, like a trajectory of energy,” said deejay Cynthia Fox. “We just loved the music and we just put our heart and soul into it.”

The sudden announcement last week that the station’s format was switching to easy-listening music (billed as “K-LITE”) caught both the Edge’s listeners and the staff by surprise.

The station’s general manager, Bill Ward, said the decision to change formats was due to the Edge’s low ratings and eclectic play list, which he labeled “inconsistent.” As of Saturday morning, music by such innovative artists and critical favorites as the Replacements, Tom Petty and the Cure gave way to songs by mainstream performers like Lionel Richie, Barry Manilow and Barbra Streisand.

Listeners reacted strongly.

“I feel like I had a death in my family,” said Jennifer Morrison, 23, who was among the group who spent much of Friday night huddled on the sidewalk outside the radio station.

Because they had sufficient advance notice of the format change, the deejays were able to comment on what they had tried to accomplish at the station and to choose meaningful songs to play for the station’s “funeral.”

“It’s a cathartic process that allows people to pay their last respects from both sides--the air talent and the listeners,” said deejay John Logic.

Jim Ladd, a veteran of KLOS and KMET, began his set by playing “The End,” by the Doors, announcing: “This is it. This is the end of the Edge, a radio station that has quickly become an emotional lighthouse for Southern California. . . . What we were trying to do was to create a little light.”

The Edge’s demise was announced to employees Tuesday afternoon and word quickly leaked out. “I’ve never seen such a response from a station as young as this,” said J. J. Jackson, the deejay who was also the program director and mastermind behind the station’s format.

“I can’t believe how we’ve endeared ourselves to so many people,” he said. “The phones stayed lit for three days, 24 hours a day. I was just amazed by it. We were deluged with flowers and letters so heartfelt.”

Condolences came from all corners: Graham Nash called to express his regrets, new artists who got their first big breaks on the station--Melissa Etheridge and Jonette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde and others--phoned in to express their sympathies.

“Oh, Mr. Jackson, what have they done,” said Napolitano who was in Sweden and had spent several hours trying to make her way through the station’s almost constant busy signal. “I can’t believe this. I just hope you guys pop up somewhere. We’re really going to miss you.”

Brian Setzer, of the Stray Cats, called to say: “You guys were the only thing worth listening to.”

Even employees from rival station KROQ called Jackson to express their sadness. “I’ll miss you,” said deejay Dusty Street. “I’m in tears.”

His fellow deejays thanked Jackson for allowing them the latitude to choose what they would play. “You inspired all of us by giving us such loving support,” said Fox on the air, her voice cracking.

Just a little over two years ago Fox weathered the demise of another radio station, KMET. But this ending was distinctly different, she said, because KMET “was limping along,” while the Edge was finally beginning to take off.

The Edge’s audience was also graciously thanked by each deejay in his and her final broadcasts. Mark Goodman, who, like Jackson, was a former video jock on MTV, dedicated Rockpile’s “You Ain’t Nothing but Fine” to listeners.

Said Jackson: “As long as I’ve been in radio I have never seen such intelligent listeners in my whole life. You have to excuse me if I shed a bit of a tear for what has been.”

Moments before, Jackson had played a classic reggae tune, “The Harder They Come,” by Jimmy Cliff. Despite the pervasive feeling of sadness, several of the stations’ deejays danced around the control room to the song’s infectious rhythm.

Outside on the sidewalks, out of sight of the deejays, the station’s fans also rocked to the upbeat tune:

The harder they come ,

The harder they fall .