The word in the Twittersphere as of Tuesday was that DJ Laz and Power 96 were breaking up. After a 22-year love affair made in South Florida radio heaven, Laz says, he just wants to throw his alarm clock against the wall at 4 a.m. instead of going on the air. Well, that's what he told NBC Miami, at least. And who can blame him! Four in the morning is time to go to bed, not wake up! 

We won't lie, we're gonna miss the shit out of one of South Florida's most unifying voices. Show us a person in the tricounty area who doesn't know of Laz, and we will show you a liar. Power 96 will go on, but what about us? How are we gonna make it? A look back at other former radio personalities we lived with and loved like family over the years will show us how. 

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Michael McElroy

Although Jimbo's is located just south of these parts on Virginia Key, it's truly a South Florida institution. It is a lawless land where people who want to escape the confines of traditional society can enjoy some smoked fish, a cold beer, and bocce ball at a swampy port overlooked by colorful shacks. More >>

Photo by Crissy Borges, I think.

Notepad, pen, earplugs, overpriced cocktail, pastel-colored T-shirt? Check.

​On my final day as New Times Broward-Palm Beach's music editor, I can say with certainty that County Grind is much more than just the name of this blog. What began as my play on the phrase "county line," which ties our multicity coverage area together, also sums up an adventurous way of life for South Florida music fans. I've witnessed every possible interpretation of the "county grind" unfold, and I've loved my two years here as much as any period of my professional life. (And all of you should come party with me on Saturday for my last night in town at the Green Room.)

I was introduced to this county grind almost as soon as I first visited South Florida back in January 2010 to formally interview for the job. Past Miami New Times' Music Editor Arielle Castillo and her boyfriend, Anthony, picked me up from my hotel in Fort Lauderdale, and we trekked up to Respectable Street in West Palm Beach to catch Monotonix and the local openers Surfer Blood and Love Handles. Not only was this an introduction to many locals who would become valued colleagues -- photographer Ian Witlen and eventual Miami New Times Music Editor Sean Pajot were in attendance -- but Monotonix frontman Ami Shalev epically broke his leg.

The night was a 140-mile round trip for Castillo, and it was far from the first time anyone in attendance had put that type of mileage on their vehicles in an evening. As I found out, there are countless others who probably wouldn't be eligible for Progressive Insurance's "Snapshot Discount" with all of the trips on area highways executed in the wee hours of the morning after a stop at Tacos Al Carbon or Howley's.
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One of my many South Florida mementos.

​When many South Floridians read this, the reaction is going to be, "This guy is more deranged than Scott Stapp." This January, I am packing up my things and, like a snowbird flying backwards, heading to Minnesota to take over as the new music editor of the Twin Cities alt-weekly City Pages (a sibling paper to New Times). I'll be overseeing their music blog, Gimme Noise.

I'm sad about leaving such a Vitamin D-rich part of the world, but this is a good thing. I grew up in a small town on the outskirts of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, so this move is a homecoming.

Although I managed to do two years in Fort Lauderdale without getting a tattoo, this place did turn me into a local in a hurry.

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CBS Radio to women: We know you are thinking about Lady Gaga to Lady Antebellum.

​There was a huge online response yesterday that continues today with the news of the Buzz 103.1's sudden exit from FM on Monday and the subsequent switch to Now 103.1 in West Palm Beach. 

With another South Florida rock station erased from the airwaves, there is a petition and a Facebook boycott page and a threat of an occupation. And there are a few who just repeat the familiar mantra "corporate radio still suuuucks!" Someone even quoted Korn.

But there's another strong strain of discontent coming from female Buzz listeners. The news release announcing the format switch includes this language: "Women in West Palm Beach have been searching for an alternative to cluttered, talky radio stations. NOW promises to deliver on this need. Finally, there is a choice that both mothers and daughters can agree on."

I've never taken a feminist theory class, and I've been heavily scolded for never reading The Feminine Mystique, but there's definitely some wonky gender (and race?) politics mixed in with this market-research-motivated shift. "Im sorry but both my mother and I will not be listening to this new "NOW"!!!" writes a commenter named Megan. "We are both equally very mad about this! Bad move for CBS." And she's not alone.

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We're not seeing so many of these anymore.

​The news about the budgetary crisis that is plaguing the U.S. Postal Service is not only distressing but also all but impossible to imagine. As a music writer, I depend on the CDs that arrive in the mail in order to write about music. Although it may be easier for a publicist to send me a link instead of an actual CD, I rue the day when there will no longer be any option and that's all that's offered.

And yet, two mail processing centers in Broward County may have to be closed, and their employees could be let go. It's part of a continuing trend caused by a $3 billion shortfall, a crisis that could have serious repercussions for the USPS overall. Sure, we can retreat to our computers and speak to one another on Skype or share a comment on Facebook, but the absence of a letter, card, or some other physical package passed from one person to another is just one more example of the isolation and indifference of modern society.
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djatrak.com

​The tight-knit DJ community lost a cherished figure when DJ Mehdi tragically passed earlier this month. The reverberations are felt here in South Florida especially among the Winter Music Conference and Ultra devotees, who experienced him numerous satisfying times. In addition to the obvious touch points of the Ed Banger club thuds, Mehdi was a huge J. Dilla fan and created a tribute to the Detroit hip-hop innovator after his untimely passing back in 2006.

Another kinship that existed in Mehdi's life was that with A-Trak, a champion DJ with trophies aplenty and the creativity to work closely with Kanye West on numerous occasions. He penned an extensive eulogy to his departed friend here. "Mehdi helped me get a sense of what was tasteful and what was played out," he writes. "In America you could play pretty much anything at the time and people would jump, but in London for instance you couldn't go to Fabric and play five Daft Punk records. Mehdi was mindful of these sensibilities and I'm thankful I didn't have to go through that crash-course by myself."

With that in mind, here is something A-Trak created with Mehdi in mind earlier this year -- a remix of the Rapture's "How Deep is Your Live."

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​This morning, the news of DJ Mehdi's sudden death flooded the internet, shocking the music industry and electronic fans all around the globe. 

No official release from Ed Banger has been sent out. But several reports have confirmed the news of a freak roof accident that took Mehdi's life.

Mehdi Faveris-Essadi, better-known by his stage name DJ Mehdi, was French-born and of Tunisian descent. The 34-year-old producer began his musical journey in the hip-hop world and eventually gained world renown after singing with electro label Ed Banger Records. Throughout his career, he collaborated with an array of artists, including Chromeo, Busy P, Daft Punk, and Justice.

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Songwriting geniuses Jerry Leiber (left) and Nick Ashford.

​Both Jerry Leiber and Nick Ashford were part of songwriting teams responsible for countless intricate pop hits across the second half of the 20th Century, and arguably anyone in the business of writing songs owes a great debt to them. Losing both on Monday --  Leiber, 78, died of cardiopulmonary failure in Los Angeles, and Ashford, 69, passed after complications from throat cancer in New York City -- was a catastrophic blow to any music fan from the baby boomer era on. For those of us born after the mid-'70s, these records were the ones that our parents held onto for us to hear.

Wordsmith Leiber and his melodic foil Mike Stoller were best-known as just Leiber & Stoller, whose songs defined the careers of Elvis Presley and the Coasters. Similarly, it's impossible to think of Ashford without his creative and life partner, Valerie Simpson, and the work they did as Ashford & Simpson, writing hits for Motown and later as a performing team. In either case, many of the songs that came out of these partnerships have become documents of America's rich cultural history and the jumping-off point for some personal anecdotes that follow.

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RIP, Mr. Lane.

​Not a lot known at this point, but ex-Warrant vocalist Jani Lane was found dead Thursday evening in Los Angeles, according to TMZ. He was 47.

Lane's body was found at a hotel in the Woodland Hills neighborhood. No official cause of death has been reported as this time.

Lane (real name: John Kennedy Oswald) wrote several hit hair-metal classic singles, including "Cherry Pie" and "Uncle Tom's Cabin," during his tenure as Warrant's lead singer, which was during several stints from the late '80s up until the present. Right now, though, one of the finest monster ballads of all time, "Heaven," is likely the song that we'll all remember him by.

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