By Karen Glauber

When we were last together, way back in 2023, I was able to give my kid the best Hanukkah gift ever: their own meet & greet with Lovejoy before the band played KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Xmas. It took 10 seconds—enough to capture a photo—but it made Julian as happy as I’ve ever seen.

Soon after, I left for Mexico, where I stayed out of the sun and read eight books in three days. My favorite book was Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality by Jacob Tomsky, who is also the drummer of Cigarettes After Sex, the ALTERNATIVE band whose single “Apocalypse” has over ONE BILLION streams. KROQ played the song in 2017; it was one of my favorite adds of all time.

As the new year commenced, I had a positive attitude about what was ahead—until Randy Malloy, the owner of WWCD, Columbus, whom I’ve worked with for 30+ years, told me that the station was going away, UNLESS he can raise $1.5 million to buy the tower. The guys he’s been leasing the “stick” from want to increase the rent exponentially because they think they can do it better themselves. Hubris at play.

What they don’t realize, which Randy has made clear in social-media posts, is that Randy owns the intellectual property rights for all of it. If the station goes away, it will TRULY go away. Vultures, some formerly known to the station, are circling to pick off the parts. This is a big deal for many reasons: WWCD is one of the true independently owned stations in our format. Also, Columbus is the second-largest city in the Midwest (after Chicago), with a median age of 32.5 (our demo). The station has a 1.9 share with an AM signal.

Randy has pulled the proverbial rabbit out of his hat before, so I have faith in him and the station’s incredible employees, including Tom Butler, Laura Lee, Andrea Marcus and the devoted on-air staff.

The Alternative chart hasn’t moved in a month, which is fine by me because both Bleachers and The 1975 are in the Top 10. God bless.

It’s raining men at the format, with Foo Fighters’ latest, “The Glass,” #1 Most Added this week, from their Grammy-nominated album But Here We Are. As of 1/12, The Black Keys will be soaking in the good will from everybody’s holiday shows with their latest, “Beautiful People.” The song sounds like a big fat hit that even their good friend Ivanka Trump would understand. Don’t get me wrong—I love The Black Keys, although it was a bit unsettling to see Ivanka hanging out with Patrick at Beach Fest in Ft. Lauderdale.

The hang that everybody (well, me) wants to see is Mumford and Sons as the musical guest at the Louis Vuitton men’s fashion show in Paris. If you pay attention to these things, then you’ll know that the band’s collaborator on their new single, “Good People,” is also the designer of said fashion show. If you answer correctly, there’s a “Speedy” bag on its way to you, courtesy of Glassnote’s Michael Starr.

The beginning of the year is also a time to focus on mental health. This topic is near and dear to our friends in Papa Roach, who are donating 100% of all revenue from their latest single, “Leave a Light On (Talk Away the Dark),” to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Based on the song’s massive success at Active, the band has already donated $155k to the AFSP. “Leave a Light On” was #2 Most Added last week, with 25 stations playing the song. Unlike most rock songs, this one is streaming, with 437k per week and 15.3M global streams to date. It reminds me of being 15 years old, listening to Billy Joel’s “Vienna” on repeat.

SONG TO HEAR: Alvvays’ “Belinda Says” (nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance)