LYNN — Longtime WFNX disc jockey and photographer Julie Kramer is hosting a Gallery Show this Saturday, unveiling a collection of recently unearthed photographs from the passage, over the years, of renowned artists at the Lynn station.
Kramer’s collection already includes photographs of musicians and groups like Blondie, The Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Lenny Kravitz, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers — photographed three times!
WFNX was an alternative rock station based in Lynn, owned by the Phoenix Media/Communications Group. It was known for being quick to break local bands and rock n’ roll stars.
Coming from a full-time radio job in New Hampshire, Kramer quickly took on an-air position at WFNX, and eventually served as its music director.
In 2012, the station was sold by the Phoenix Media/Communications Group to Clear Channel for $14.5 million.
“WFNX was a huge alternative radio station,” Kramer recalled. “Artists were always coming to the radio station for interviews.”
When groups and musicians came in, Kramer would walk and talk with them, and take pictures. It was a different time back in the day, she explained, and she always had a few cameras handy.
Kramer and her partner, Jimi, held a show a few years ago they called the “Basement Archives.” Over the years, she had lost a box of negatives which were recently excavated. Saturday’s gallery show will expose them.
“The show has photos that have never been seen before — 100 photographs taken while I was a DJ at WFNX,” Kramer said. Among featured artists and groups, she named Lenny Kravitz, Joe Stromer, and Kurt Cobain, but “the list is endless.”
The opening reception will be held from 5-8 p.m. at LynnArts, 25 Exchange St., at the old WFNX offices.
A signature cocktail will be served by The Blue Ox, a Lynn-based restaurant. The show will stay up for two weeks, until August 9.
