I couldn't believe what happened with WLIR recently (mid-January 2004). On WLIR's old website, a press release by its owners (The Morey Corp.) announced that it sold WLIR's 92.7 FM frequency to the Latin station 105.9 FM (giving that station a second frequency to cover Long Island) for $60 million. The Morey Corp.'s press release said that WLIR moved to 107.1 FM, where it claimed that it would continue WLIR's long-standing format of alternative rock on that frequency. So far, that hasn't happened -- the station, now called "The Box", is playing a mixture of lame Top 40 and (ironically) R&B music. Ironically, since just a couple of notches up the frequency spectrum is the long-standing R&B station "WBLS" (107.5 FM), whose powerful signal virtually drowns out the 107.1 FM frequency. What was The Morey Corporation thinking about? Obviously, with $60 million in their pocket , they could care less about listeners like myself who have been loyal listeners to WLIR for years (since the 80s, when WLIR was pioneering the New Wave rock artists -- from Depeche Mode to New Order, etc. that was being championed by MTV itself during its early years). Them, as well as then-emerging groups coming out of the UK and other parts of Europe (whether it was Big Country, Blacqmange, Thomas Dolby, etc.) -- these groups brought a unique sound that no other stations were really pushing, which helped make WLIR unique, along with the alternative rock (from No Doubt to Matchbox 20 to Red Hot Chili Peppers to Staind, etc.) that they played as the 90s moved along into the new millenium. That, and WLIR's rightful experimentation with the now-emerging "Electronica" (a.k.a. Trance) sound that's coming out of Europe and underground clubs & raves in New York, Miami & California. Trance is the next step in the evolution of the 80s New Wave sound. Trance music DJs that WLIR was starting to expose, like BT from Washington D.C., Darude from Finland, ATB and Paul Van Dyke from Germany, as well as DJ Tiesto from Holland (just to name a few such DJs) were influenced by the electronic foundation that 80s groups like New Order, Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk itself laid out -- their music was the future that is starting to come into fruitation now. All this, just for WLIR's owners to "sell out" (both literally & figuratively), which leaves New York listeners like myself left hanging. Since it appears that the new "Box" station does NOT plan to maintain WLIR's recent mix of 80s New Wave, more recent alternative rock, and the now emerging Trance sound, and no other New York station is planning to pick up where the old WLIR left off, those like myself have no alternative but to turn to the Internet to find the music that I really want to hear -- which is out there. There are a growing number of stations (both real stations, as well as "Internet only" stations) -- mainly from Europe and scattered outlets in the U.S., that play either the "alternative rock" or "New Wave" format, or Trance/House music unto itself. In particular, there are "Internet only" stations like "PureDJ" (www.puredj.com) -- based in Holland, that plays such Trance music (especially material from Ferry Corsten -- another popular Trance music DJ, and DJ Tiesto as well); as well as actual European stations with live "Real Audio" links, such as "C-Dance" in Belgium (www.c-dance.be), "Ministry of Sound Radio" in London, "Radio NTI" in Nantes, France, and "Beat 106" in Scotland that play the cutting-edge Trance music; while those going for the old school & even Latin-flavored House sound can hear a variety of European stations live -- such as "Radio Italian Network" in Milan, Italy (www.rin.it); "Mix FM" in Lisbon, Portugal; "Radio Nova Era" - also in Portugal; as well as "Radio FG" in Paris, France (which is pushing some of the "French House" sound from groups like "Stardust", "Daft Punk" & famed French DJ David Guetta), and even another station called "Mix FM" in Lebanon (of all places) that's playing the latest European Dance music that WLIR was just starting to expose in the New York area. Dance music made popular by the popular European vacation spot Ibiza (where I had the pleasure of going to last Summer) and the line-up of DJs that were spinning out there every Summer -- music that former WLIR DJs Andre and DJ Theo aired on their previous show "In the Mix" (and also "Chris the Greek's" own show on WLIR). WLIR seemed well on its way to being a cutting-edge trend-setter in bringing the happening Dance music from Ibiza and European clubs (where all the happening music is now coming from -- since the big money for the DJs are out there, not in America). No doubt, I will miss the old WLIR. It's also a shame that the owners of the old WLIR didn't have the vision to pioneer even more of this Dance music (which, by the way, Dance station KTU barely plays, and very infrequency -- favoring Top 40 and 70s Disco music). If they were smart enough to at least pioneer the "Ibiza sound" to bigger heights here in New York, they surely could have been a top station in the tri-state area (airing on a regular basis jams from such Dance DJs, both the Europeans I mentioned, as well as American DJs like BT, Voodoo & Serrano & others). Ironically, Andre & DJ Theo's "In the Mix" show on WLIR helped introduce me to the Trance /Techno sound coming out of Europe -- where they were playing artists like Faithless, Voodoo & Serrano, Robbie Rivera (the Miami-based Trance DJ), Kernkraft 400 (their hit "Zombie Nation"), Ian Van Dahl, ATB, BT, and even the Italian DJ Benny Bennasi (who has a global hit "Satisfaction" -- which French dance stations in particular, are making spin-off songs & mixes based on his trademark electronic sound). The most successful stations are one that represent a lifestyle, which was what the 80s New Wave sound was about, and what the current Trance/House sound is about. Paul Van Dyke's concert at Central Park's Summerstage, for example, merely reflected the reality of this emerging culture. Perhaps some entepreneur will come along and invest in a station playing this sound inthe tri-state area. I'm not holding my breathe. Thank God for the Internet -- otherwise, forget about it!!! Vito P.S. I personally have no problem with Caliente 105.9 FM's Latin format, but why two frequencies!! If other pre-existing radio stations start taking two or three FM frequencies each, diversity will surely die on FM, ushering even more the necessity of seeking diverse music thru the web.