Adam 12’s Last Show on ROCK 92.9: Get the Full Playlist

Another “Adam 12’s Last Show?” I guess that means I’m leaving yet another Boston rock radio station.

If you’re a long-time New England radio listener, you probably know that I’ve done this before. I signed off of the legendary Rock of Boston, 104.1 WBCN, in August of 2009. Ironically, I recently revisited that final day on BCN to mark the 15th anniversary of the station going to static.

After my run at BCN, I returned to WFNX. I started my radio career at the storied alternative station in 1997. My second go-round at FNX ended when it left the FM dial in 2012. I closed out my last show that May with Buffalo Tom’s “Taillights Fade.”

Adam 12’s Last Show: Thank You

I came to ROCK 92.9 to host weekdays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in June of 2019. In October of 2022, I became the station’s Program Director. For those not in the business, the Program Director is in charge of everything that goes out over the air: music, production, hosts…everything.

Over the last 2 years, ROCK 92.9 has seen some of the best ratings in the history of WBOS-FM. Thankfully, my bosses gave me the leeway to craft the station into something people have enjoyed tuning in. So thank you for listening.

Adam 12’s Last Show: The Music

While you won’t hear me weekdays on ROCK 92.9, the station–and, most importantly, Dave & Chuck the Freak–lives on. Here are all the places you can listen.

If you missed my final show, I’ve shared the songs below, including the ones I wasn’t able to get to before I hit the switch. A song a year, starting in 1977 (my birth year), going into the late ’90s. Some favorites from my ROCK 92.9 era. Talk to you soon.

• Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop"

  Classic Adam 12: laying out the rules and immediately breaking them. This one’s from ’76, not ’77. But I had to rep Ramones, because they were my second “favorite band.”

• Heart "Barracuda"

  An actual song from ’77. I was lucky enough to interview both Wilson sisters during my run on ROCK 92.9, and they were both a pleasure to chat with.

• Cheap Trick "Surrender"

  Cheap Trick was my first “favorite band.” I saw their videos on MTV and bought their tapes at Strawberries on Rt. 1 in Saugus, using tip money from my paper route. This one’s from ’78.

• The Clash "London Calling"

  This gets the ’79 slot because that’s when it dropped in the U.K. It released in the U.S. in ’80. One of my favorite songs to play on the radio, period.

• AC/DC "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution"

  I always love telling the story of how AC/DC lost Bon Scott coming off their ’79 breakthrough Highway To Hell, then returned with a new singer and an even bigger album less than a year later. And this one wasn’t even supposed to be on Back In Black! It was a last-minute add-on to appease the record label!

• Joan Jett "Bad Reputation"

  From Jett’s self-titled 1980 debut, re-released as Bad Reputation in ’81. Joan Jett is one of the greatest rock stars of any era and it’s always an honor to give her airtime.

• Judas Priest "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"

  Working at ROCK 92.9 gave me an appreciation for metal, which is a rock genre I had never given enough of my ears to. All hail the Metal God, circa ’82.

• Dio "Rainbow In The Dark"

  See above. Halford and Dio provided the vocal template for countless metal bands to come, including Unleash The Archers, a favorite of my youngest, Kade. ’83’s Holy Diver still rips.

• David Bowie "Blue Jean"

  Bowie never made the playlist on ROCK 92.9, but he made my last show, in honor of Meghan, my mentor and the mother of our kids. She loves “Blue Jean” from ’84.

• The Cars "Hello Again"

  Side One, Track One, from 1984’s Heartbeat City (although the single was released in ’84). This was the first cassette I ever owned, a gift–along with a brand new Sony Walkman–from my Uncle Mike, Christmas ’84.

• Beastie Boys "Girls"

  I would have preferred to play some ’90s Beasties, as that’s my preferred era. But I had to commit to the bit and I needed a song for ’86. And a short one at that.

• Whitesnake "Is This Love"

  Another album I never appreciated until coming to ROCK 92.9. 1987’s Whitesnake is one of the best examples of mid-to-late-’80s rock production. The guitar sound on this track, especially.

• Living Colour "Cult Of Personality"

  I was in middle school in ’88 when Vivid dropped. I was obsessed with the album and the band. And I played this song obsessively on ROCK 92.9 during my five-year run.

• The Cult "Fire Woman"

  1989 was a time. Hair metal’s last gasps, grunge rocks first breaths. The Cult were the band that bridged the gap between ’80s hard rock and ’90s alternative.

• Nirvana "Sliver"

  I wouldn’t discover this Nirvana gem until 1992’s Incesticide (my favorite release by the band), but the single actually dropped in 1990, so here we are.

• Soundgarden "Rusty Cage"

  1991. Nirvana’s Nevermind. Pearl Jam’s Ten. Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger. Of the trio, I listened to that last on the most. And the opening track still melts my face.

• Alice In Chains "Them Bones"

  Speaking of opening tracks, this one’s an all-timer. Maybe the best leadoff cut of any ’90s rock album. And that’s saying something, as ’92’s Dirt is a perfect album, front-to-back.

• Smashing Pumpkins "Disarm"

  I had to rep ’93 with Siamese Dream, my favorite rock album of all-time. And I had to choose “Disarm” because it’s one of my kid Jacob’s favorites, too.

• Pearl Jam "Corduroy"

  I’ve seen Pearl Jam live more than any other band, I think. Johnny Ramone once said this one, from 1994’s Vitalogy, is one of his favorite songs. That’s good enough for me.

• Hum "Stars"

  A ’90s one-hit-wonder from ’95. This one’s for Pixie. She knows why.

• Failure "Stuck On You"

  Can’t call this one a one-hit-wonder, since it wasn’t that big of a hit. But Failure’s Fantastic Planet from 1996 is one of the greatest alternative rock albums of that decade.

• Jimmy Eat World "Something Loud"

  I wasn’t going to end with this song; I had something else picked out. Then I talked to my kid, Kade, about ending with this instead, as it kind of sums up my time here at the station, and they said go for it. This was the first new song I added to the rotation when I took over as Program Director, so it has that meaning to me. It’s lyrically fitting, too. I’m proud to have been a driving force in playing new rock on ROCK 92.9. Sharing songs I love on the radio is why I started doing this. Thanks for listening.