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Monkey in heaven

DJ Damon Stewart talks about Funky Monkey 104.9FM's sorry demise and rebirth as GenX

DAMON STEWART: He was bummed when the Funky Monkey died. Photo courtesy of MySpace

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Since Nov. 10, every time I've adjusted my radio dial to 104.9FM, instead of having my ears rattled by some new metal, I'm greeted by a band like Pearl Jam or Soul Asylum - something hilariously on point for a station that now identifies itself as GenX 104.9FM.

Everyone knows what used to reside at 104.9FM, and a large number of people are affected by this sudden absence.

Of course I'm talking about Funky Monkey. Whatever your thought of the station - and, judging by the comments on our blog post about the station's format change, many people thought a lot of it - it could always be counted on to be the Puget Sound area's foremost torchbearer for bleeding ears and banging heads.

For four years, Damon Stewart DJed for Funky Monkey on a weekly show highlighting local music - Garage Monkey. For many years before that, he was a DJ on KISW. On Nov. 10, the switch to GenX was as much of a surprise to him as it was to the Funky Monkey audience.

"(A format change) usually comes from well above where we're at in the office," says Stewart. "There had been rumors floating about, but there was nothing really firm. ... We had held on for so long as it is with kind of a niche format - not too niche, but from a corporate level I don't think that they were feeling that they were getting enough out of it.

"(Most of the Monkey's success was) driven by passion, which is - I think - way more admirable than having the big money campaigns and whatnot," says Stewart.

More than anything, Damon Stewart wants to let Funky Monkey fans know how much they were appreciated and how much the DJs cared about doing whatever they could to keep the station alive and loud.

"Those guys poured their hearts and souls into that station with very little tools provided," says Stewart. "Really, technically, even though the plug did get pulled, we were pretty fortunate to have had the ride that we did."

In the end, I'm told, what may have been a large factor in the demise of Funky Monkey was 104.9FM's signal strength. Scream as it might, the station couldn't reach as many ears as it wanted to.

But for those whom it did reach, their ears are still ringing.

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