Muchos Gracias, NU 107

October 31, 1987 - November 07, 2020

In Manila, the city that wishes it never sleeps, thousands mourn the demise of the one and only rock station that managed to seep through the veins of true blue rockers from the glittery, spandex-laden snail-mail era of the 80's, all the way to the 3 dimensional age of podcasts, digital SLR's and Facebooking (yes, grandma, it's now an actual word you can find in the Urban Dictionary). Beginning today, the 8th of November, 2010, Philippine radio would never be the same again. Not without the great purveyor of alternative, punk, metal, Pinoy or Christian rock .

My romance with the Home of NU Rock dates back to the time when most of the male kids in my class were learning the guitar chords for Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child of Mine at recess, and the girls talked about dealing with their first menstrual cramps. I got fascinated with the names Axl Rose and James Hetfield instead of discovering monthly pain killers. It started with curiosity, until I found myself frequenting this 'odd' FM station on the far right side of the radio dial. Eventually, I was glued.

DWNU 107.5 officially signed off for the last time at 12 midnight. Due to financial reasons, and perhaps, the dominion of tacky pop stations that cater to a huge percentage of tacky listeners (in Tagalog, 'Mga baduy na istasyon na tinatangkilik ng mga baduy na tagapakinig'), NU 107 played its last song with a heavy heart, much to the grief of fans who live and breathe real music.

And as the Eraserheads' Ang Huling El Bimbo continues to linger in my head, I express my gratitude to you, beloved NU 107, for your immense clout in my universe.

1.) Thank you for being with me in my awkward teenage years. You made me feel that I belong when I felt rebuffed by the standards of the adolescent society.

2.) Thank you for inculcating good vibes in me. The songs you played promoted independence, positivity and unconventionality. Nobody else did it better than you.

3.) Thank you for giving us Zach, Joey, Pontri, Roxy, Mondo, Tabitha, Jelly Jean, Roxy, Myrene, Jaedee, Ron T., & Nine-inch Neil (whom I had the honor to work with during my stint as an FM radio traffic reporter. He never found out I was a fan though). These iconic individuals are the jocks I grew up listening to, and the culprits behind my incessant desire to be in radio broadcasting. I tremendously admire their expertise in their craft.

4.) Thank you for Zach and Joey in the Morning. The show turned lots of gloomy days into tittering moments.

5.) Thank you for advocating Christianity via Against the Flow. You exemplified how one can praise God through rock music.

6.) Thank you for introducing me to the Beastie Boys, 311, Presidents of the United States of America, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, The Flaming Lips, Blur, Rage Against the Machine and the other legends who weaved the soundtrack of various chapters in my life.

7.) Thank you for being one of the few things I have in common with my siblings. They adore you, too.

8.) Thank you for putting Filipino rock music in a different light. I'm impressed how these local talents have vastly improved since the early days of In the Raw. The NU Rock Awards will be painfully missed.

9.) Thank you, simply for being NU 107. The airwaves has just lost one-third of its substance.