Last night, we received the following email. It was short, it was kind of mysterious, and to date, may be the best email we’ve ever received:
check out….
; )
Holy shit. If this email and the link it points to is legit— and considering the source it should be — it looks like 105.3 The Spy is returning to the Oklahoma City airwaves.For those who don’t know, 105.3 The Spy was a staticky, weak-signaled station that played new indie rock and vintage alternative from that 80s and 90s. Its return would be the best thing to happen to the OKC radio market since Jim Traber got fired. Wait. That still hasn’t happened. Nevermind.
Anyway, the return of The Spy would be amazing news. As tribute to its hopeful return, here is some 1990’s Indie Rock. I can’t wait to hear music like this on the radio again. I also can’t wait for Jesse Jane to return my phone calls. Maybe that will happen next!
This is either the best news I’ve heard in a long time, or it’s going to be a crushing disappointment…
“105.3 The Spy was a staticky, weak-signaled station that played new indie rock and vintage alternative from that 80s and 90s.”
It had a weak signal in OKC because it was located in Stillwater. It would be great if they brought back the format though.
Yes, I listened to the Stillwater Spy, too. Here are some previous TLO posts that reference the Oklahoma City version of The Spy.
http://www.thelostogle.com/2008/01/15/if-a-radio-station-changes-formats-and-nobody-is-there-to-hear-it-does-it-make-a-sound/
http://www.thelostogle.com/2007/06/20/its-official-okc-radio-still-sucks/
http://www.thelostogle.com/2007/06/14/is-1053-the-spy-coming-back/
bubbabuddha: Actually, KSPI (now Hot 93.7) was a Stillwater signal. KSYY (105.3 The Spy) was a Citadel station, with a signal out of Kingfisher.
WOOO! I guess I’ll have to turn on a radio again.
Who cares? It’s local radio. It will STILL suck. It will be just as horrible as the KATT’s 10 minute RockBlocks of commercials! I’ve been listening to more, and better, indie for years on XM/Sirius.
Actually Sean, if they programmed it exactly like it was programmed for the brief, glorius moment it was on the air, you would be shocked by it. The programming was nearly a carbon copy of KCRW. It was incredibly difficult to believe that it was corporate, least of all from Oklahoma.
It was an incredibly deep and broad indie format, free-form, with a smattering of punk and electronica, plus some great proto-punk, new wave and ’80s alternative (NOT the crappy ’90s “alternative”).
Tyson Meade did a regular on-air shif, fercryinoutloud.
People who never heard it (which is just about everybody), don’t know what a noble experiment it was. And even most people who THINK they heard it never did; they’re confusing it with the Stillwater KSPI, which had nice moments but was mostly a mash-up of 98.9 KISS-FM and the Buzz with a few old-school alt songs thrown in.
I hope if they bring the spy back, it will be simulcast on one of Citadel’s HD stations (as a -2… KATT-2 or WWLS-2 would be perfect).
Might be nice if they move Bob-FM to a AAA leaning classic rocker (like KHJK, KFOG)
It would be sweet, but I’m not holding my breath. Not only did Tyson Meade have a slot, but George Lang had 2 hours each Sunday in complete control of the playlist, if that tells you anything. It was so non-okc (but totally okc) awesome that I used to drive around Sunday nights just to listen to George’s show since I couldn’t get a clear signal on any radio at the house.
Oh crapz. That means my The Spy t-shirt won’t be hipster ironic anymore.
Nermel, one of the former Spy and current Citadel staffers told me quite a while back that exactly what you mention was being discussed; Spy programming on one of the HD channels of another station.
http://thespyfm.com/
There is rumors that Citadel is going to have to file for Bankruptcy and part of that is they are going to be “restructuring” which could mean the possible sale of stations… so why would Citadel bother with a format change with a pending Bankruptcy… but who is not to say someone else isn’t purchasing the signal… after all it is a Spanish signal right now which isn’t bringing in much money for the company… so Independent Station? Just saying…
The original Spy, Stillwater’s 93.7 was fantastic.
The imitator, Citadel’s weak 105.3 was not.
Please, if they come back, don’t let that Ferris O’Brien dude have anything to do with it. He was the weakest part of Stillwater’s spy and the only thing that made it to OKC.
@t-bone: I could not disagree with you more. Other than the awkward Rick and Brad morning show and an occasional Redhawks game, 105.3 was awesome. Also, Ferris knows more about music in his pinky than I’ll know in my life. He’s also the reason 105.3 is returning to the air.
I liked The Spy, it was the only station where you could hear The Smith’s “How Soon is Now” at least 3 times a day.
I hope they finish the song they were playing (I think it was the Cure something, something…I’ve slept since then) when they changed formats mid-song. Cutting it off like they did nearly killed me! I almost crashed right into the Hi-Lo, as I was driving past, very confused that all of a sudden my English didn’t seem like English no mo. It took me almost a full 2 minutes to realize that no, I was not having an aneurysm, but I was in fact listening to Spanish.
This is the best news that I have heard all day!