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The revolution started slowly in 1986, just hints and teases between songs by Queen, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin. Soon, phone calls started coming into the small radio station ensconced above the Lincoln Pharmacy in Millvale about those other bands, those other songs.

"The reaction ranged from 'thank you so much for playing this music' to 'who are these bands?'" says former WXXP-FM disc jockey Cris Winter.

Those bands were The Smiths, Depeche Mode, The Smithereens, Robyn Hitchcock, New Order, Gene Loves Jezebel and other groups who fell loosely together under the new wave/alternative banner. If you listened to the college radio you might have heard "88 Lines About 44 Women" by The Nails or The Cure's "Why Can't I Be You."

But those songs weren't heard on commercial radio in Pittsburgh until the dawn of WXXP, the "Station That Dared To Be Different."

"To hear this music played on a major-market station was just a revelation," says Steve Morrison, a member of the Affordable Floors, one of Pittsburgh's most-significant bands in the '80s. "I could not believe a big station was playing this music. It was thrilling."

And it was all too brief.

The station, which was on the air for less than two years, is being remembered this weekend with tribute shows Friday and Saturday nights at the Rex Theatre, South Side. The show will feature an Affordable Floors reunion and music by Generation Double X, a collective of musicians who will perform songs heard on WXXP. Ten disk jockeys who worked at the station will be on hand to spin records.

Winter was one of the holdovers from adult Top 40 station Classy 101, who started playing songs like the Cutting Crew's "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" and "Don't Let's Start" by They Might Be Giants. Almost immediately there was a buzz about WXXP.

"The success of the station was word of mouth," Winter says. 'We didn't have billboards, we had no marketing whatsoever. Everything was just a real street presence."

Those thirsting for new music were immediately on board.

"Very quickly, everybody I knew was listening to it," Morrison says.

Betsy Callomon, a community relations representative at Barnes & Noble in Monroeville, was working at Pittsburgh Filmmakers when WXXP debuted.

"We had it on all the time," she says, noting that Filmmakers eventually bought ads on the station.

By the time Deb Brady was hired as music director a few months after the new format debuted, the station had already made inroads in the community. One of the first bands that came to Pittsburgh after she arrived was The Smiths, who played the Fulton Theater -- now the Byham -- on Aug. 12, 1986. The show sold out, much to the surprise of Brady, who came to Pittsburgh from Boston.

"I knew the audiences in Boston and New York were prepared for that stuff, so it was a little eye-opening at first," she says. "Coming from Boston you have this jaded understanding of everyone in the Midwest, that they were just not tuned in to what was going on, but they really were."

Every show the station promoted, whether it was a small show at the now-closed Graffiti in Oakland or the amazing New Order/Echo & the Bunnymen/Gene Loves Jezebel concert at the Civic Arena on Sept. 5, 1987, seemed to sell out.

Local bands also benefited from WXXP's presence. Rod Schwartz, the organizer of the tribute, was playing with the 11th Hour when the station began broadcasting.

"Before Double X you had to fight to get airplay," he says. "But we hit it at the right time, They were literally waiting for our record to come out."

The Affordable Floors also were given an immediate boost when WXXP started to play songs from the band's album "The Sounding."

"I remember one show at Graffiti with the 11th Hour and The Clarks and there was just this feeling of being on top of the world," Morrison says, noting that audience for the Floors shows went from 30 to 50 to selling out Graffiti. "It was packed and there was this sense of possibility, a sense that things were really happening, finally, in Pittsburgh's music scene. There were so many great bands coming up. It was such a cool time.

And then, without warning, the music stopped.

When the station was sold in 1988, new management told the staff they would have six months to prove themselves. A short time later, without warning, the format was changed because of poor Arbitron ratings, and the staff was dismissed, Winter says.

"A station like that, the ratings weren't going to reflect the listenership," Schwartz says, noting that college students and young professionals, unlikely to respond to surveys, comprised most of the stations listeners.

The end of WXXP was sudden and unexpected. The station went off the air when the late-shift disk jockey, Debbie "Deej" Augustine, played REM "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." A new format was launched, which Winter recalls was "a mish-mash of things, some Top 40," she says. "I kind of blocked it out of my head."

Brady was bitter about the way it ended, saying it was unfair to the listening audience that had become devoted to WXXP.

Winter was in Stone Harbor, N.J., when she got the news of WXXP's demise. She remembers feeling deflated, then having those feelings reinforced when she attended an INXS concert the Civic Arena a week later.

"People had signs, bring back Double X," she says. "I was crying."

Winter stayed in radio in Pittsburgh, and currently works as the morning news director for WWWS-FM. She has also worked at WDVE-FM, but the memory of WXXP still lingers.

"I get more people asking me about Double X than anything I've ever done," she says. "And I think that shows how cool the radio station really was."

Brady, now an illustrator, worked in radio in Vermont and at clubs in Florida after leaving WXXP.

"Nothing has replaced it," she says. "It was very, very hard for me for many years after that. Nothing worked out as far as where I wanted to work and what was available and what I wanted to do."

For two nights this weekend, however, WXXP dares to be different again.

"Maybe they thought they had the last laugh, putting an end to this kind of music," Schwartz says. "But 20 years later the music is still there, the memories are still there, all the friendships are still there. It might have been the end of a chapter, but it wasn't the end of the world as we knew it."

Bands of the WXXP years

From 1986 to 1988, WXXP-FM brought a slew of bands and musicians to Pittsburgh that might not have otherwise performed in the city. Here's a look at some of those acts, and what they are doing now.

The Smiths: Played the Fulton Theater on Aug. 12, 1986, in one of concerts that defined WXXP's reign in Pittsburgh. Today, lead singer Morrissey is a solo performer. Guitarist Johnny Marr has been in a number of bands, notably Electronic. Bassist Andy Rourke does some deejaying, and drummer Mike Joyce plays in an English band called Vinny Peculiar.

Gene Loves Jezebel: One of the success stories of WXXP, twin brothers Jay and Michael Aston had a hit album, "Discover," that received heavy airplay on the station. Today, Michael Aston helms the band after an acrimonious split with Jay.

New Order: Headlined a sold-out show at the Civic Arena on Sept. 5, 1987, with Gene Loves Jezebel and Echo & the Bunnymen in the concert that defined WXXP's existence. Today, New Order still tours, although mainly in Europe. The band just released "New Order Item," a two-DVD set that includes videos and a documentary.

Replacements: Played some of most raucous and engaging shows of the WXXP era. Frontman Paul Westerberg is now a much-praised solo artist. After a stint with Axl Rose, bassist Tommy Stinson released a good solo album, "Village Gorilla Head," in 2004. His brother, guitarist Bob Stinson, died in 1995. Drummer Chris Mars made four solo albums, and has found success as an artist.

Siouxsie and the Banshees: The band released two albums, "Tinderbox" and "Through the Looking Glass," that coincided with the WXXP reign. The band split in 1996 after 20 years together. Siouxsie Sioux and her husband and bandmate, Budgie, formed the band The Creatures. The Banshees mounted a reunion tour in 2003.

Psychedelic Furs: A favorite of WXXP, the band's best material predated the station's existence. "Midnight to Midnight," released in 1987, did yield the single "Heartbreak Beat." After disbanding in 1991, the Furs reformed in 2000, and now periodically tour.

Cure: Perhaps the most successful and consistent of the WXXP era bands, the Cure have consistently released good albums, from 1987's brilliant double album, "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me" to last year's self-titled album.

Generation Double X tribute band

Here are the musicians and DJs who be part of the Generation Double X tribute band:

11th Hour: Dave Klug, Dave Mitchell, Rod Schwartz.

Affordable Floors: Harvey Coblin, Steve Morrison.

ATS: Kip Ruefle, Steve Seel.

Selena Catalina: Jen Catalina, Lexi Robert, Chris Colpo.

Fusebox: John Young.

Submachine: Alex Peightel.

Sponges: Chris Theoret.

Ronda & the Arrivals: Ronda Zegarelli.

The Fontaines: Mike Moran.

Joyce Brothers: Daryl Cross.

Spuds: Tim Pollock.

Johnny Rhythm & The Dimestore 45s: Ed Masley.

Horn section: Bryan Adkins, Ed Wesolek, Perry Pinto.

DJs: DJ EZ Lou, DJ Spike.

WXXP: Scott "DJ" Bird.

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