Posted on Tuesday, October 3, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk
On Thursday, October 26, 99X will celebrate its 25th anniversary as a radio station with the return of its morning show from its heyday for one day only: the Morning X with Steve Barnes, Leslie Fram and Jimmy Baron.
Now on the 98.9 frequency but also available online, the seminal alternative rock station will give the trio a chance to wax nostalgic from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
"We're going to take our cues from any successful reunion," said Baron, who is now a successful real estate agent at Keller Williams. "We'll relive some of our favorite moments and tell our favorite stories."
The original Morning X ran from 1993 to 2003 during the station's rise and peak as the buzziest rock station in town when Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers were current acts, not classic rock. The trio offered Atlanta fans plenty of silly stunts and gags (captured on several "best of" CDs), celebrity interviews from Paul McCartney to the Dalai Lama and fun, sometimes cynical Gen X-approved banter. They brought in classic characters like party-harty traffic guy "Crash" Clark, gay buddy Bob the Queen and Bertha, their oldest fan who was in her 90s.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Barnes ran the boards with professionalism while Baron booked guests and cracked wise. Sometimes, Barnes and Baron would clash, which made for good radio. Fram, in the meantime, played mediator and "voice of reason."
Fourteen years later, Baron said said he and Barnes are now good friends and meet up at Goldberg's Bagel & Deli on Roswell Road every few weeks. Baron has even sold property on behalf of Barnes, along with many other radio personalities in town.
For the day, Fram will come down from Nashville, where she has run CMT since 2011.
Barnes now runs a video production company with a specialty in drone services for hospitality and real estate videos.
Baron said the trio has not been in the same room together since Barnes left the show on October 26, 2003. (There was a mini-reunion of sorts in 2009 when Baron, then host at Dave FM, brought Barnes and Fram together on the phone.)
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
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