SoCal says goodbye to 'The Sound'

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The countdown is on for classic rock listeners in Southern California. Radio station 100.3 "The Sound" is slated to permanently go off the air anytime in the next few weeks.

The Entercom-owned station is being sold to the Educational Media Foundation which will soon replace the music from groups like Rush, Boston and The Beatles with Christian pop songs.

Roughly 30 people work at The Sound and all will be laid off when the sale is finalized.

Long-time Los Angeles disc jockey Uncle Joe Benson said he's worried local listeners who've spent years tuning in to the classic rock station will lose a sort of radio therapy.

"You reach a certain age where the job isn't what you want, you're not driving the car you want, God only knows what's going on at home, but you got your music," Benson said. "And that's what we provide: the music, the background that's people's lives."

Disc Jockey Cynthia Fox, another seasoned LA radio veteran, said classic rock music is really taking off with younger generations who are just discovering some of the artists from the 1970s and 1980s.

"They want to learn about Tom Petty, they love Eric Clapton or they idolize The Beatles," she said. "These works speak to people because these are truly innovative artists."

The sale was announced late last month, but as the weeks tick by, Benson, Fox and the rest of the employees at The Sound are waiting for the ax to fall. In the meantime, they're spending their remaining time on air thanking their devoted listeners who have peppered the DJs with hundreds of supportive emails and letters.

"We've got an audience that's like family, that's been listening for a very long time."