From 1979 to 1990, Marilyn Mock, Bob Ferguson and a host of others produced a ground-breaking, award-winning three-hour, Friday night college radio program called "The S & M Show," on KTRU-FM 91.7 at Rice University in Houston, Texas. This much-beloved program introduced Houston to punk rock and new wave music, set a record for the number of band interviews, and threw into the mix political editorials and comedic radio plays. The party atmosphere, accessibility of the program, and rebellious personalities of the DJ's led to the show's enduring popularity, and to it's ultimate demise. These web pages will try to revive some of the flavor of those "Friday Nights in Hell," and pay tribute to the many creative people who made it so much fun.

** In memory of Bob Ferguson, who died February 19,2000.**

In the fall of 1978, Buffalo Chip, infamous KPFT-FM (Pacifica affiliate, Houston, Texas) music/talk show host and mentor to a vast pantheon of daring and creative music programmers (Art Gnuvo, Doug King & the Chief, Ed Doppler, Freddy Snakeskin, etc.), invited two punk "ladies" to take over his turntables one Sunday night and explain just what the hell this punk thing was all about. Marilyn Mock and Lulu Lopez brought down a sampling of their collection of British imports and independent singles and, after informing Mr. Chip that "first of all we don't like being called 'ladies'!", gave a Houston listening audience its first taste of the Sex Pistols -- nine months after the band that led the New Wave revolution had struck its last dischord.

The two punk women so impressed the formidable and undauntible Chip (moreso by their sado-erotic snide than by the force of the music they played) that he invited them back the next week also.

But Lulu got cold feet and didn't want to face the microphone again so the next week Marilyn brought down some other punk cronies (including a teenaged Johnnny B. Ware, then vocalist with the Ruse) and was given free rein to jolt Houston with another dose of Albertos Y Los Trios Paranoias, X, Mick Farren & the Bad Seeds, Sid Vicious, Devo, and Elvis Costello. After splitting their ear drums and short-circuiting their central nervous systems she smashed through their AOR/MOR-induced comas with the line, "I'll bet you thought you could sleep through the seventies! Well, we're here to wake you up!" Several months would pass before Miz M would be heard from again.

In late '79, early '80, there was no real punk scene to speak of. Yes, there were bands: the Ruse, the Hates, Tix, and of course, Legionnaires' Disease. And there was a couple of clubs that occasionally allowed punk rock concerts, most notably Paradise/Rock Island. But no real focal point, just Third Coast kids at home in front of their record players or reading New York Rocker, Trouser Press, and Slash about a phenomenon that was rocking New York and California and had already left its mark on England two years ago. Radio, the uniting force of youth, was still pumping out overblown "stadium rock", slick and pompous; elevator muzak for aging hippies. Something just had to be done to correct that situation.

'Max Grant' was a self-styled music promoter and student at Rice Universty. When not conducting business he went by his real name, Mehran Goran (from Tehran, Iran). A computer jock refugee from the Shah, and a loyal defender of the new Ayatolla, he was, nonetheless, a real punk. He had the attitude, the drive, and the music (well, at least some of it). He was instrumental in bringing a number of important bands to Houston: Gang of Four, Suburban Lawns, the Stranglers, ...

One KTRU/Rice Radio DJ, Margaret (or Linda), did the 7 to 10 p.m. shift on Friday nights. Margaret, who had long, flowing blonde hair and was perhaps better known for her sex appeal than her taste in music, was getting tired of never having a Friday night off. So in March of 1979, she announced that she was looking for someone to come in and do the second half of her shift. Mehran, champing at the bit to have a punk rock radio show, and never missing a promotional opportunity they used to call it Plugola), zoomed in to offer his services, to which Margaret quickly obliged.

Mehran decided that he needed help. One, because his record collection was somewhat limited and, two, because he needed someone to play off of while on the air. Again, Johnny B. Ware, whom he knew from the club scene, was grabbed to help out, along with a few other friends. After two Fridays, Linda (or Margaret) decided that she preferred partying to spinning disks and turned the whole program over to Mehran. In need of a female voice and a source of records he located Marilyn. The pairing worked out well, and almost immediately the show became known as the "M & M Show", with Mehran as M#1, and Marilyn as M#2. Broadcasting from the "99th Floor of the RMC (Rice Memorial Center)", M & M began the first regular weekly radio show in Houston, completely dedicated to punk and New Wave music.