From about 1984 to 1990, KROQ was the soundtrack to my life, and the DJs — Freddie Snakeskin, Richard Blade, Swedish Egil, Jed the Fish . . . even the Poorman — were like friends I’d never met (though I did meet a few of them during the Star Trek heyday, because all I ever wanted to do when I grew up was play records on the radio. Everyone I ever met was really cool to me, even though I was an annoying teenager who really wanted to be a DJ.)

Most GenXers I know agree that KROQ turned to absolute shit during the Limp Bizkit/Cypress Hill/Linkin Park years, and though it’s gotten better recently, it still hasn’t quite returned to the time when hearing great music on KROQ was as reliable as a giant sale at Guitar Center this weekend. We miss the Joq’s Choice, and we’ve had just about enough Red Hot Chilipeppers, thank you very much. (Okay, maybe that’s just me.)

Well, for those of us who are determined to live in the past, when each day brought new episodes of The New Detective and Rodney on the Roq was introducing us to strange new acts like The Vandals and Dramarama, I present Kroq of the 80s ^[1]. The playlist is what you’d expect from classic KROQ: Devo, Depeche Mode, INXS, Boingo, Blondie, etc., but what makes it truly awesome are the old station IDs and drops from classic KROQ personalities like Freddie Snakeskin and Scott Mason.

If you’ve got an HD radio, you can tune in on 106.7-HD2; the rest of us can feather our hair, flip up the collar on our Le Tigre shirt, and listen online.

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1. Joey Chestnut Returns to Defend His Gyoza Crown ^[2]
2. "A Now Story With Now Music!" ^[3]
3. Classic Eats #2 Today: Downtown Delights ^[4]
4. Hawk returns to my yard for feeding ^[5]
5. LA Marathon Returns to Sunday with Stadium to the Sea Route ^[6]