Library Rock's Backpages

Frente!: Marvin the Album

Bill Wasserzieher, The Bob, November 1994

THE MOST VIOLENT electrical storm documented in this century occurred Oct. 31, 1989, in the vicinity of Grovers Mill, New Jersey, where more than 200 lightning strikes hit the earth in 11 minutes, including one gigantic bolt that struck the transmitter of WOOP, a 1,000-watt FM station, electrocuting the engineer, blinding a disc jockey, and melting the antenna after intensifying the broadcast signal a thousand-fold, causing it to slam into a Comsat satellite and ricochet back to earth near Melbourne, Australia, where an enormous sound-wave burst out of radios, exploding old tube amplifiers and fusing circuitry in newer receivers, and traumatizing dozens of listeners, some of whom still suffer from an echo imprinting of Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians performing 'What I Am', the song on WOOP when the transmitter blew.

Total word count of piece: 375

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.