Nostalgia for 1980s College Rock at Slicing Up Eyeballs and on KFJC

I just found this great website, Slicing Up Eyeballs, which compiles news related to classic 1980s sounds and describes the music as: "...once relegated to campus radio, pioneering commercial stations like San Diego's 91X and the Sunday night ghetto of MTV's '120 Minutes'..."

Ah, yes....the pre-commercial alternative "college radio" moment....

There's been a bit of that 1980s college radio nostalgia happening at my station, KFJC, as DJs from the past have been hitting the airwaves reminiscing about visits from U2, drunken interviews with XTC, bad behavior from the Go-Go's, and visits from the Ramones and Dead Kennedys. Take a look through the KFJC archives to listen to hear music from the past and catch some of these over-the-air memories (especially Clone and Cory on September 9th). Archives are only up for 2 weeks.

CMJ Music Marathon Discounts End Tonight

I'm getting excited for the annual CMJ Music Marathon (coming up October 20th to 24th in New York City at NYU) and found out that today is the last day to get discounted tickets. As always, there's a bit of a break in price if you're a student and if your station is bringing a group of folks. Those discounts all end tonight at midnight Eastern time.

In addition to all of the live shows, films, and panels, there will be a few events specific to college radio. There will be a college radio mixer Tuesday night (October 20th) and "College Day" will be held all day on Thursday, October 22nd. A preliminary schedule is up on the CMJ website, however artists haven't been announced yet.

I just found an old journal entry of mine from when I went to the CMJ Music Marathon in 1988! I saw a panel called "Women in Metal: Sexism Not Just in the Lyrics?" (with some disheartening commentary, but I was amused by the band called Leech Patrol that mocked metal), heard a press conference with Siouxsie and the Banshees (they seemed bored), saw Billy Bragg and the Triffids perform, went to a Fishbone show at the Cat Club (the lead singer hurled an audience member out of a chair), and went up to the top of the World Trade Center to take in the view at sunset (the CMJ conference was being held there). It was a fun trip to NYC for me and a real adventure. I went all by myself, taking the train from Philly while my other college radio pals stayed on campus to study. Who knows what will be in store this year...

A Global Look at Radio: 2009 Radio Conference Report by Nick Rubin

Main Buildings on the York Campus

I am SO disappointed to have missed a recent radio conference in Canada called The Radio Conference 2009: A Transnational Forum; but am super pleased that fellow DJ/radio scholar Nick Rubin was able to go and report back for Spinning Indie. Happening every other year (in changing locales) since 2001, this international conference brings together a wide range of radio scholars.

I met Nick (virtually) when I discovered that he had presented a paper about college radio at the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) conference in 2008 and had him send me a copy of it so that I could write about it for Spinning Indie. We've been in touch ever since, as it's a very small group of us who write about college radio from an academic perspective (or from any perspective, really).

Huge thanks to Nick for his great insights about the July conference. It sounds like lots of good geeky radio scholar fun.

Here's his recap:


The Radio Conference 2009: A Transnational Forum

Conference Report by Nick Rubin

Hey y'all. My name's Nick Rubin and I'm a PhD student at the University of Virginia, working on a dissertation on college radio during the late-seventies/early eighties. I'm also a DJ at UVA's WTJU, and have worked at a few other college/community/public stations through the years.

Thanks to Jennifer for asking me to blog the conference; I've loved reading Spinning Indie, and I'm excited to be a contributor, in whatever minimal capacity. And if anybody reading this would be willing to share experiences/impressions of college radio in the late-seventies/early eighties, please contact me at nickrubin@virginia.edu.

Thanks.

The Radio Conference: A Transnational Forum was held July 26-30 at York University, in Toronto. Actually, it was on the extreme northern edge of Toronto, and the heart of the city was visible only as a thin, distant layer of smog. York itself was ringed by parking lots and several square blocks of brand-new, mostly-empty brownstones – the area was, in a word, uninviting.

But the remote locale facilitated a close-knit meeting, with radio scholars representing all continents besides Antarctica. A substantial contingent from Australia, New Zealand, and the UK led a nightly charge to the one nearby sports bar, and Anne McLennan of York's Media and Culture department made sure the panels ran on time. She also hooked us up with lunch and dinner each day. It sort of felt like summer camp.

The Southern View from York U

I attended this biennial conference in Lincoln, UK in 2007, and was struck then by the variety of topics addressed, partly attributable to the global provenance of the inquiries. In the U.S., music, news, and talk programming have long dominated the radioscape, shrinking our expectations along with our experiences - when’s the last time you turned on commercial radio and were genuinely surprised or bewildered by what you heard?

The medium’s possibilities dwarf its present implementation in the U.S., so it was useful to hear of radio as drama, as activism, as instruction, as propaganda. The papers suggested a multitude of directions not just for college radio scholars, but for college radio. How much are college stations testing the limits of terrestrial radio as an artistic medium? I've never done a show that wasn't spinning discs, so I can't claim to be pushing any boundaries – I'm just wondering…

Social Impact of Radio

Keynote speaker Michael Keith called for the faculty members present to teach more classes on social impact, laying out a litany of instances when radio made a difference in local politics or served as a voice for underrepresented groups. This made me wonder how much one could claim a social impact through musical programming. One interesting moment came when Keith told the crowd that college students might get interested in radio if we pointed out that these days, "radio" also means internet radio, podcasting, digital radio, etc.

I've gotta say this claim has never sat well with me, because it sounds vaguely misleading and because radio as I understand it (terrestrial radio) stands to lose out if it appears on a platter with all these other media. Andrew Dubber elegantly turned around Keith's assertion, offering "maybe we should say that broadcasting is more than just radio now." Right away, this sounded more intellectually honest while maintaining terrestrial radio as a unique endeavor – particularly valuable, irreplaceable even.

HD Radio in U.S., WFMU's Real-time Chat Rooms,
and What it Means to be a Radio Listener

That said, the most interesting papers I saw on the first day weren't about radio in this specific sense. Michael Huntsberger (Linfield College, Oregon) recounted the botching of HD radio in the U.S. context, expanding his purview to consider examples of "value-added" terrestrial radio, such as WFMU's real-time internet chatrooms, where listeners discuss the music on the air or more likely, something totally unrelated. Huntsberger paraphrased WFMU Manager Ken Freedman; the chatrooms are like a party where FMU provides the site and the music, and the guests can talk about whatever they're talking about.

It made me think of the ways that we conceive of our listeners and the way we intend our shows – are they meant as background or as close listening, for solitary listeners or groups? And it made me think of the ways that changing technologies have externally affected our modes of listening to radio; i.e., the existence of music streams on the internet makes us listen differently to a radio station, whether or not the station itself has a stream. Do we subconsciously acknowledge or respond to this as DJs, and how much should we even think about it?

African-American CB Radio Culture and Relation to College Radio

Angela Blake (Ryerson University, Toronto) examined African-American CB radio culture, a welcome reminder that the Citizens' Band comprised (and still comprises) more than just the working-class white truck drivers of seventies' lore. Blake linked African-American CB culture to games like the dozens and to hip hop emceeing, which on one hand seemed to reinscribe borders of black cultural activity, but on the other hand, located it in an unexpected site, causing a reevaluation of CB.

Blake's paper made me think of radio stations at traditionally-black colleges, and the way that these stations are often implicitly erased from "college radio" because of the way that the term is so casually equated with, you know, predominantly white kids spinning tunes by predominantly white musicians for a predominantly white audience. I know that "rock" is a contested field, but would applying "college rock radio" to the scenario just described remind us that it only represents one strain of college radio?

New British Invasion and College Radio

My paper was about the "New British Invasion" in the early eighties mainstream, and college radio's relation to the phenomenon. Briefly, when the synthpop bands started breaking huge here in the States (thanks in large part to MTV), there was a backlash from many angles: synthpop wasn't real rock; it was linked to the twin evils of disco and punk; the dudes wore makeup; etc. College stations had largely supported these bands as imports, but a self-image as gatekeepers to the underground led them to turn more to regional American scenes as the English bands hit the mainstream. There's a lot to tease out, but it sparked some interesting discussion, which was pretty exciting. I'll let y'all know if I publish it some day.

Also on my panel was a paper about the rise and fall of the "Alternative/ Modern Rock" format. The speaker's background included record promotion and commercial radio, as well as record promotion, and he was concerned with reviving the format, rather than analyzing what makes modern rock modern rock, which as a music head, I would have been really interested in. In any case, our papers dovetailed nicely, and (in a reverse echo of what I said at the beginning of this post), some of the folks there said it was nice to hear papers about music formats.

Radio History: 1930s Aboriginal Recordings, 1960s Pirate Radio in New Zealand, Commercial Radio in Canada in the 1970s-1990s, Finland Radio in the 1990s, etc.

The other papers hinted at the range of possibilities for radio scholarship – one examined the ethical issues of an expedition undertaken in the 1930s to record (and broadcast) aboriginal musical activity, and more importantly, of the efforts to repatriate the recordings with the source communities. Others recounted Radio Hauraki, New Zealand's 1960s pirate radio station; the shifting policies of the Canadian government to shape commercial radio programming from 1975-1990; the narrowcasting developments in the Finnish radioscape during the 1990s; and the neoliberal social sensibilities inculcated by This American Life.

The range of approaches and topics was pretty staggering, and suggested the vast intellectual space out there for radio scholarship. At the same time, I wondered about the audience for such inquiries, as radio's social impact – while remaining considerable – seems to have been far outstripped in the present context by "new social media" outlets. Radio folks are obviously interested in radio; can we convince communications departments and publishers that others are as well? The pessimistic view is that radio – including college radio – is in crisis; it's pretty much history. But isn't the crisis worth examining? What are the social, economic, and legal forces in play? What are the cultural ramifications?

There's plenty to talk (and write) about, as the Radio Conference proved. Thanks to Jennifer for asking me to report back to y'all.

Sean Hannity's College Radio Past

Many radio folks got their start in college radio and sometimes those early experiences can be quite revealing. Over on Daily Kos there's a post by Journalist in the Room talking about conservative talk show host Sean Hannity's college radio stint in the late 1980s at UC Santa Barbara station KCSB:

"Nine years after his high school graduation, he joined the volunteer radio team at UC Santa Barbara where after less than a year and a sparkling 40 hours of airtime, he was cut for making homophobic remarks and parading an AIDS conspiracy book. He took this amazing new credential by calling himself 'the most talked about college radio host in America'. Hannity said about his time there, 'I was terrible'(what's changed?), but also said it was the left-wing management's fault. It makes you think, does he think he was terrible because he went too far, or becuase [sic] he didn't go far enough?"

Did you have any future fame-seekers at your station. Did they get fired?

Interview with College Radio Vet and "Kill the Music" Author Michael Plumides

I'm always on the lookout for college radio references in pop culture and some of the most interesting happen to be real life tales recounted in books.

A new book, Kill the Music: The Chronicle of a College Radio Idealist's Rock and Roll Rebellion in an Era of Intrusive Morality and Censorship, by Michael Plumides includes college radio as a backdrop. This time the location is South Carolina, the era is the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the affiliated radio station is WUSC-FM. Plumides was a DJ at WUSC and also ran the 4808 club, the site of an infamous incident at a GWAR show involving accusations of obscenity on the one hand and censorship on the other.

I interviewed Michael to learn a bit more about his book and how college radio figured in to the whole Charlotte/Columbia, South Carolina scene back in the day. In our email discussion he talks about his introduction to college radio in the 1980s, his DJ gig at the now defunct WLOZ (University of North Carolina, Wilmington) when it was a cable FM station (and after the station's infamous drug scandals), DJing at WUSC, the current state of college radio, censorship and music, and his "indie" approach to his new book Kill the Music.

On to the interview:


Spinning Indie: What drew you to college radio?

Michael Plumides: College radio. You know, I was always a big alternative music fan: The B-52’s, REM, The Ramones, The Cars, Flying Lizards, Thompson Twins, English Beat, and Talking Heads. Problem was that my hometown of Charlotte, NC, did not and still doesn’t have a true college radio station.

In the early eighties, while in high school, I used to listen to a station at Davidson, the call letters were WDAV-FM; and they had a “college radio hour”, but aired only on Saturday around midnight. WFAE-FM was originally assigned, and licensed to UNC-Charlotte and played easy listening, classical, and big band. WFAE had shows like “Night Moods” playing cool jazz tunes by Earl Klugh, David Sanborn, and Sade, but it was never run by students, and was too adult for my sensibilities.

Anyway, I went down to Atlanta in June of 1983 to see a B-52’s show, but we stopped off in Athens to pick up a friend. That was the first time I heard college radio. WUOG-FM. I was hooked. It was new and it wasn’t Duran Duran. So, when I started college at University of South Carolina in the fall of that year, I tuned in daily to WUSC-FM, when they had just upped their range to 3000 kilowatts. Before then, I had to resort to the back pages of Rolling Stone Magazine to find my music; it seemed to be the tabloid of record for the period.

Eventually, WFAE was moved to Uptown Charlotte, and now is primarily an NPR station. Some students were up in arms. Their position was that WFAE had been high-jacked by the city, and believed that the station had actually belonged to UNCC, where I went to summer school one semester. In an effort to compromise with students interested in establishing a “student run” radio station in the early nineties, the SGA entertained the idea of starting a new station, but insisted on a student poll to determine the future radio station’s format. The verdict? Top 40. Students lost interest.



Spinning Indie: Tell me a bit about the first station where you DJ'd and when you were there?

Michael: The WLOZ-FM station, originally broadcast from UNCW on 91.3 (now public radio WHQR's frequency) before being shut down by administrators in 1983 because of a drug scandal. Supposedly, the student broadcasters called out to their dope smoking customers on-air, using code language to indicate that certain packages had arrived. The death knell came when a deejay took a bong hit while broadcasting.

In the mid-eighties, WLOZ returned as "cable radio station," requiring a special hookup to your cable TV. You had to go to Radio Shack and buy this coaxial antennae device to rig to your receiver. Needless to say, we had a deeply disturbed following. I was in on the “Cable FM” incarnation (90.9) in 1985 and 1986, where I acquired my first FCC license, and then I transferred back to USC. For a time in the late '90s, WLOZ broadcast an extremely weak signal on 89.1 FM that could more or less only be heard on campus. That station ceased functioning in 2001. I understand they’re now a net broadcast.

Spinning Indie: When did you join WUSC and what years were you there?

Michael: I joined WUSC in September of 1986, and I was there through May of 1988, and was Promotions Director for my last year there. They paid me $18 every two weeks. That’s an extra few beer cases every month. Bonus.

Spinning Indie: How did WUSC compare with WLOZ?

Michael: WUSC-FM was very organized, and had recently been celebrated as one of the “Tastemakers” in Rolling Stone Magazine circa October 1986 in the “College Issue.” WLOZ was a good springboard experience for me and taught me my way around a control room. Speaking of which, the one advantage of WLOZ’s control room was it was brand spanking new, and WUSC’s control room was a little more “lived in.” It’s still the same, with some minor changes.

But WUSC was established and very connected. We had deejays moonlighting for Capitol Records, and some got tons of payola, which later became a no-no in college radio. I was fortunate in that when I transferred back to USC, I had radio experience and I was personable. That worked for and against me. But I bypassed all the bull shit that a lot of other trainees had to go through. I guess it was easy for me, and it wasn’t supposed to be.


Spinning Indie: What role did WUSC play in the music community of Charlotte when you were there as both a DJ and a club owner?

Michael: As I mention in the book, “Columbia and Charlotte were only 90 miles apart but they might as well have been a million miles away from each other.” But I would occasionally drive to Charlotte to interview bands at the old Coliseum. Some of the bands performing there, usually the opening acts, were getting airplay in Columbia that no one would touch in “The Queen City” on our station.

WUSC was a fixture in Columbia, SC, by the time I started working there. The station had “partnerships” with certain clubs and bars in town, albeit unofficially. Saved the venues a lot of add dollars. But I think that WUSC was an intricate part of the University. I think it’s a necessary function at any major learning institution to have a college radio station. I think a college radio station adds legitimacy, just as much as a good football or basketball team. Well, at least as much legitimacy as a decent soccer team.

Spinning Indie: In your book you write a bit about conflicts and politics at WUSC and how you were accused of breaking FCC rules even though you had an aircheck that proved otherwise. What did most DJs think of station rules/enforcement at the time?

Michael: Interestingly, my own college radio station, WUSC, has not embraced my book, refusing to interview me on two separate occasions. I guess they’ve taken offense to some of my insights. What I don’t understand is, I was very kind to WUSC-FM in KILL THE MUSIC, and the only scathing commentary in the book refers to the “Fat chicks in black” who abused their positions of authority twenty years ago. There again, Bruce Dickenson of Iron Maiden, took offense personally to the film “Spinal Tap.” Go figger.

The way I see it, some rules are meant to be bent, and others broken. And I was always a “push the envelope” kind of guy. I think I provoked some of the more timid guys to grow some balls and stand up for themselves, because everyone was sick of the Gestapo tactics. In that sense, I may have represented a threat to their system. Maybe I still do. I don’t know. I’m a little far removed from their Cheney-esque, behind-closed-doors decisions. I refer to their politics in the book, where the conniving reminded me of “witches peering over a cauldron of defiance and absurdity” and their plotting and plundering was reminiscent of “Macbeth.”

Spinning Indie: Do you think the 1980s were the heyday of college radio?

Michael: Some refer to that period as the “heyday” of college radio. I think that it may have been, because of college radio’s diversity. College radio created nineties commercial radio. Had it not been for the advances in programming established by college radio, and documented by CMJ, and other media, the Nirvana-era induced alt. rock explosion would have never happened.

At the time, we were playing Bad Brains, Black Flag, and The Replacements, “Left of the Dial” along with Depeche Mode, Sisters of Mercy, and Jane’s Addiction; all landmark bands. I remember us playing Guns-N-Roses way before anyone. The same with Metallica, Motorhead, and Megadeth. That whole metal era was first embraced by college radio. Now college radio has metamorphed into something else. I can’t put my finger on it, or pigeon-hole it, but definitely more “Americana” than before.

Spinning Indie: Do you still listen to college radio? What stations do you admire?

Michael: College radio was more versatile then, than it is today. A lot less eclectic. I think the trend for college radio now is to focus more on the rootsy sound, similar to WNCW-FM, which services Asheville, NC, and surrounding regions, now even Charlotte. They’ve been big supporters of my book. I recently did an interview there, and they have the podcast up on their website.

WNCW isn’t a true college radio station either, but they’ve managed to balance NPR news broadcasts with Wilco, Zappa, and the Avett Brothers. They even simulcasted from Bonnaroo this year, and are funded primarily by private donations. Due to budget cuts, WNCW is struggling a little. I’ve offered to do anything I can to help.


Spinning Indie: Do you think that the incident that you experienced at your club with the GWAR show could happen today? Why or why not?

Michael: Censorship has a way of popping up in the oddest places. There’s legislation introduced before the City Council of Chicago right now to require all hard rock promoters to purchase an expensive license, in order to promote even the smallest shows. Green Day’s new album 21st Century Breakdown was banned from Walmart.

I read recently in The Charlotte Observer that parents were in an uproar in North Carolina about a semi-nude rendering in a recent issue of the DC comic, Batman, a mother purchased at the public library. NC’s film industry was recently scuttled after clamor from the right to review all scripts before films can receive subsidies from the state. The Fed blamed Marilyn Manson for the Columbine Massacre. There are forces at work trying to censor porn on the internet.

Yes, I believe what happened with GWAR could happen again. Americans need villains, to call attention away from their own inequities. And as long as there is sensationalized ‘yellow’ journalism out there to “exploit so you will consume,” there will always be people up in arms about something or another. It gives them purpose. Rock and Roll has always been an easy target, and they come at you when you least expect it.

Spinning Indie: Anything else?

Michael: KILL THE MUSIC will be available in Kindle format August 10, 2009, and right now Anne Saunders, my editor and partner and I are working on our marketing strategies for the upcoming second edition. The book will have an excerpt featured in the fall issue of BLURT Magazine, and soon thereafter we hope to have KILL THE MUSIC in major bookstores such as Barnes and Noble, and Borders nationwide. It's presently being sold in various stores throughout the southeast: Charlotte, Columbia, and Atlanta, as well as on-line at Amazon.com, Target.com, and Alibris.com.

We've done the whole thing "indie" in every sense of the word; very grass roots, and so far, the reception has been great. Even some talks about a film based on the book. So, something that caused me disgrace and misery many years ago, as illustrated in the book, is now getting me noticed as a writer. Probably the most ironic thing I can think of in all this is, I failed typing.


Thanks so much to Michael Plumides for sharing his tales about college radio. My favorite quote from the interview is something that I'll have to dig up the next time I'm asked why college radio is so important:

"I think it’s a necessary function at any major learning institution to have a college radio station. I think a college radio station adds legitimacy, just as much as a good football or basketball team. Well, at least as much legitimacy as a decent soccer team."

I wish Michael luck on his book tour!

University of Idaho Station KUOI as "Personal Mix-Tape for Campus"

Back when I started my Spinning Indie 50 State Virtual Tour of college radio stations a year ago, I was most interested in investigating amazing stations that were in more out of the way places. Stations on the coasts and in big cities get a lot of attention, so it was important for me to learn about places that I had never even heard of.

One of the first stations that got on my radar was KUOI (89.3 FM) at University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. Despite my best intentions I haven't been able to profile them yet for my tour. But, as luck would have it, they just got a cool write-up in student paper The Argonaut. The piece, "KUOI: College Radio with a Personality," goes into detail about the station's lengthy history (around since 1945), interviews DJs (including one who has been at the station for more than 20 years), and points out that KUOI is a freeform station that values vinyl and has over 50,000 items (records and CDs) in its record library. The article quotes Station Manager Mike Siemens on the station's value:

"'This is a great institution,' Siemens said. 'It’s probably my favorite institution on campus. It’s kind of like your own personal mix-tape for campus, which is cool, because you can really just be yourself.'"

He goes on to explain why the large record library is such a benefit:

"[Station Manager Mike] Siemens said his favorite aspect about the library is its extensive vinyl collection, which has been phased out at many other stations. Siemens encourages his DJs to explore this collection.

'I want to start having ‘dig parties’ where we just get all the DJs together, get some food out there and dig through the records and start spinning them,' Siemens said."

That's really an amazing thing about being at a station with a big vinyl collection. One thing that can be particularly awesome is diving into the history of a place through the written comments on LPs. Just last night at my own station I was delighted to pull out a piece of vinyl from the 1980s whose cover was full of handwritten opinions from staffers from way back when. KEXP is actually doing a cool project called Review Revue on their blog where they include photos of old handwritten album reviews and comments (check this one out for Kate Bush). You just don't get that sort of comment wall-style debate on CD jewel cases or on mp3s. Vive la vinyl!

Radio Station Field Trip 17 - FCCFreeRadio in San Francisco

On Monday I had the opportunity to check out a brand new low power FM (LPFM) radio station in San Francisco called FCCFreeRadio.

Located in a secret South of Market (SOMA) location, FCCFreeRadio is a micropower community radio station (they shy away from the term "pirate radio") that is broadcasting both online and at 107.3 FM without a license from the FCC. According to their website they believe that the U.S. government has granted emergency authority for broadcasters to operate without a license during time of war, including the current "war against terrorism."

Board at FCCFreeRadio

The station has been on the air since January 24th, 2009, although the studios have only been recently built. The first live show from the current studio took place on May 30th.

It was exciting to visit such a new station and it's encouraging to me that there are people who believe in radio so strongly that they are willing to start up a new terrestrial station. Thanks so much to General Manager John Miller and Program Director John Hell for taking the time to show me around their new digs.

John Hell and John Miller

Both John Miller and John Hell are enthusiastic supporters of radio and have extensive broadcast experience. Between the two of them they have worked in college radio, community radio at LPFM stations (they were both at Pirate Cat Radio in San Francisco), commercial radio, and in Internet broadcasting.

They both began DJing when they were teens. John Miller started at commercial station KWNE in Ukiah and had his trial by fire when he had to stand in for the regular DJ (who was stuck in jail). He said that from then on he "got hooked" on radio and eventually became inspired by comedy, then Internet broadcasting. He's been involved with many stations since then, including a gig at All Comedy Radio on KPHX 1250AM in Phoenix which aired on 271 stations globally (including South Africa). Additionally, he's been the technical brains being a variety of stations and helped to set up a new LPFM station in Arizona: KWSS. Along with John Hell he helped Pirate Cat Radio build their new studio as well.

John Hell's DJ career started with him spinning tunes at the Ice Capades ice skating rink in Foster City. He went on to DJ at weddings and events, worked at college stations KCSM and KFJC (where he DJ'd for nearly 10 years under the moniker The Reverend Dah Wave), and was part of the crew that started Radio Free Burning Man before he joined SF Liberation Radio and Pirate Cat Radio.


John Miller told me that he'd always dreamed of doing comedy radio in the San Francisco Bay Area and was inspired by the morning show hosted by Alex Bennett back in the 1980s and 1990s on a series of stations including KMEL, KQAK and Live 105. Bennett's show at the time (he's now on Sirius satellite radio) was characterized by a regular stable of comedian guests and a live audience. John's passion for comedy comes through in the current lineup of programming on FCCFreeRadio. He's hosting a morning show that's in the spirit of the old Alex Bennett show and has a programmer on staff who is dedicated to filling the comedy shifts.


Currently FCCFreeRadio is working to recruit DJs and fill up its 2-hour shifts. They have 17 hosts and 16 shows right now in addition to John Miller's weekday morning show (Monday to Friday from 6-10am) with comedian Susan Maletta. When there is no live DJ the station runs automated music programming culled from top hits of the past several decades. John Hell was quick to point out that the automated programming is a temporary solution and isn't necessarily reflective of the more adventurous airsound that they are going for with live DJs. They hope to eventually provide live programming 24 hours a day, but for now are focusing on filling up drive-time shifts. To get a sense of some of the music programming, take a look at John Hell's archived playlists on his website.


Most of the DJs at the station have extensive radio experience already, so on-air training is pretty limited. To get a show, people are required to submit a proposal and upon approval they are trained on the equipment and given a run-down on the short list of rules (don't swear, play station promos, say the station name, and give out the studio number).

DJs at FCCFreeRadio are expected to pay monthly dues and attend monthly staff meetings. Those with music shows must bring their own music since there is no music library. Currently the studio supports the playback of CDs, mp3s, and music from laptops. John Hell told me that any money left over from staff dues will get used for projects at the station, including studio improvements like new equipment and better soundproofing. Being a low budget operation, they are also soliciting help from listeners in the form of underwriting, equipment donations, and real estate (do you live atop a mountain? they need a better spot for their transmitter).


Even with their limited resources and space, FCCFreeRadio has already taken on some interesting projects, including a live remote from a nearby auditorium. DJs regularly have in-studio guests, ranging from musicians to comedians to artists.

In my interviews with John and John I learned more about the mission of FCCFreeRadio, where they fit in to the overall radio landscape in San Francisco, and why they chose a slot on the commercial side of the dial:


Spinning Indie: What's the overall mission of your station?

John Miller: I would say to your question to the over all mission of FCCFREERADIO is to provide a place for community radio. All the staff will be doing something each week that will link their show to the community. We are putting the local back into radio.

John Hell: This is something that is ever evolving, but I know it's safe to say that part of our mission is to serve the SF community that we broadcast out of. We want to pay attention to the concerns of the neighborhood, and we strive towards being a voice for those in the neighborhood that have no voice. With that being said, we also believe that music programming should be challenging as well. We don't believe that we should be playing the "hits," from any genre or era. There are plenty of other stations in the bay area that are doing this.

We've asked the staff to take the next few weeks to think about the mission. We plan on putting it in writing and on our website within a few months. Check back.



Spinning Indie: How do you differentiate yourselves from other low power, community, and college radio stations?

John Miller: Well this question is one that I have never thought about, at least to the point that should matter. I have built a LPFM because I was without a home for my program. That's where it started... after that I am just running a station like I would run any other LPFM station. I just want my hosts to be on the top of their game, with all hosts working each week to do better for themselves and their programs.

John Hell: There is plenty of room in this largely populated and diverse bay area for many non-commercial, LPFM's. Our station is personality driven. Most of our staffers have at least 10 years radio experience; many have over 20 years experience. John Miller and I have a passion for radio as done in the days of KMPX/KSAN's "Big Daddy" Tom Donahue, KYA's Emperor Gene Nelson and Bob Mitchell; and of course the King of Pirate Radio, Wolfman Jack.

FCCFreeRadio's show log

Spinning Indie: Were you influenced/inspired by any existing radio stations?

John Miller: Well, all but 2 morning hosts are gone from the airwaves in SF. I grew up to Alex Bennett for my morning show (My program The John Miller Program with Susan Maletta has the foundation of The Alex Bennett Program with Lisa Thompson.) From KOME.... Dennis Erectus, One of the kings of working the FCC.

From KSJO Lamont and Tonelli. They have somehow been on the air in the Bay Area for over 25 years. I am personal friends with both and back in the day helped with live remotes when I could.

Last, well maybe not the last, but the last for this list...Tom Leykis. He owned afternoon drive for years and before they put him on FM he owned AM. Shame to see the talent of yesteryear not on the air.

John Hell: I was influenced by the '80s morning show of Frazer Smith, of KLOS in LA, and M. Dung of KFOG. Dung also hosted the Sunday Night Idiot Show, which he would sometimes do live at Wolfgang's (owned by the late rock impresario Wolfgang Bill Graham). I would attend those live shows as often as I could.

View into a Phantom Studio

Spinning Indie: Can you explain a bit more about how you selected 107.3 FM?

John Miller: Well I did not want to be down in the basement so I have always been on the upper side of the dial doing my radio program. So with that I went looking and found 107.3 FM was open for San Francisco proper. With that I liked being between CBS's KCBS and Cumulus station The Bone. Both huge stations with a very broad group that tune in.

The Ubiquitous Radio Station Couch

Thanks again to John Miller and John Hell for showing me around FCCFreeRadio. And kudos to them for believing in the power of local radio!


Previous Spinning Indie Radio Station Field Trips:

Field Trip to WECB at Emerson College
College Radio Field Trip 2 - Cal Poly's KCPR
College Radio Field Trip 3 - Notre Dame's WVFI
Radio Station Field Trip 4 - WFMU in Jersey City
Radio Station Field Trip 5 - East Village Radio in NYC
Radio Station Field Trip 6 - WNYU in New York City
Radio Station Field Trip 7 - Northwestern's WNUR
Radio Station Field Trip 8 - Stanford's KZSU
Radio Station Field Trip 9 - University of San Francisco's KUSF
Radio Station Field Trip 10 - Santa Clara University Station KSCU
Radio Station Field Trip 11 - UC Berkeley's KALX
Radio Station Field Trip 12 - KSJS at San Jose State University
Radio Station Field Trip 13 - WBAR at Barnard College
Radio Station Field Trip 14 - KFJC at Foothill College
Radio Station Field Trip 15 - UC Santa Cruz Station KZSC
Radio Station Field Trip 16 - Haverford College Station WHRC

College Radio Tidbits: Onion's College Radio DJ Profile, Florida College Radio Tops Lists, KSJS College Radio Memories

A few college radio tidbits to share:

Miami Column Tracks College Radio Top 10
A new column in the Miami New Times Crossfade blog called "Dialed In" is chronicling top 10 lists from college radio stations in the South Florida area, including WVUM ("the Voice" at University of Miami), WNSU ("Radio X" at Nova Southeastern University), and WRGP ("Radiate" at Florida International University).

KSJS Radio Memories from the 1980s
I just ran across an a letter to the editor from 2007 in the San Jose Mercury that provides some nice reminiscences from DJs who were at San Jose State's college radio station KSJS in the 1980s.

"During the 1980-1985 years, a bunch of SJSU misfits came together to work at the college radio station, KSJS.

For many of us, we were shy and hadn't felt like we belonged anywhere else. After four years, we became the best of friends and many marriages even emerged from those bonds. Who knew that from that first time we flirted at the KSJS recording studio, my husband and I would now be celebrating our 20-year anniversary. Back then we were late night on-air DJ's (Dede K and Mark Anthony). Today, my husband, who was the more talented one, is currently the news/traffic reporter at KFRC.

Our group of 16 KSJS friends calls ourselves the 'Brew Crew.' (Mainly for the amount of alcohol we consumed at the time.) We have amazing stories to tell - like the times we finagled our way into the SJSU television studios from 2-5 a.m. and made bootleg MTV music videos and our annual SuperBowl Brew Crew parties.

Dede and Mark Nieto, Walnut Creek"

"College Radio DJ Thinks He Has Cult Following" (the Onion)
Oh my goodness, this satirical piece in the Onion poking fun of an influential college radio DJ takes me back to around 2001 when they did a similar profile of "Record Store Girl," a hipster who made all the college radio boys swoon. In their profile of DJ Jordan Haley (supposedly of WEIU at Eastern Illinois University):

"'I'm always mixing it up,' Haley said...'I challenge my audience, and that's why people respond to my show. My success should prove to other radio stations that people don't want to be spoon-fed their music.'

Though 'Rock Blossom' is heard mainly by his girlfriend and a handful of friends who request songs while they get stoned, Haley said his show is distinctive because of his personality...

Another quality that sets Haley apart is his encyclopedic knowledge of underground music.

'A lot of DJs think that if they know Rocket From The Crypt or Burning Airlines, they're up on the alt-rock scene–whatever that is,' Haley said. 'I was the one who introduced Black Dice, The Mink Lungs, and The (International) Noise Conspiracy to the people of the Charleston metro area, so it's understandable why my show would be bigger than [fellow WEIU DJ] Eric [Poppel]'s.'"

Farewell to Michael Jackson

San Francisco Chronicle Coverage of Michael Jackson's Death
from Today's Paper

Like many people, I'm still reeling from Michael Jackson's death on Thursday. I found out on email and immediately jumped on to Facebook to share my shock and get some consolation from friends. Status updates became message boards, full of conversation about various reactions to Michael Jackson's death. The same thing happened on blogs and Twitter. And people quickly drafted posts to chime in with their reactions (myself included).

It was fascinating to see people learning of the news via Facebook and hearing their immediate responses. Many, like me, were sad and shocked and immediately called upon personal memories of Michael Jackson's music. Every time I hear "Rock with You," I can't avoid thinking about junior high school years, roller skating parties, and school dances. I would imagine that people of my generation in particular have strong associations with the music (discussed nicely in this piece in the Miami Herald), as it was ubiquitous in the early 1980s and grew in popularity along with the rise of music videos and MTV.

Yet, at the same time, even in the minutes following the announcement of his death, I heard commentary from detractors who were quick to discount Jackson's influence (it's just good producers and choreographers) and felt that his misdeeds overshadowed his music. This line of commentary is what's been gnawing at me since I first heard of his death. Although I'm very disturbed by the child abuse allegations against Jackson and continue to be alarmed by some of his questionable parenting choices (dangling a baby off a balcony); there's no way for me to separate Michael Jackson's music from my youth.

Jackson 5 on American Bandstand

So, yes, I am sad. And, I did immediately want to turn on the TV to watch video after video so that I could reminiscence about a period in his career when he was at his peak and when I was still a kid and teen. Thank goodness for MTV and especially BET for its hours and hours of non-stop Michael Jackson videos on Thursday and Friday (and today FUSE is doing the same). He was so defined by his videos, so it was awesome to see iconic videos like "Beat It," "Thriller," and "Black or White" on channels that don't often play videos anymore.

Particularly heart-breaking to see were the pre-video performances from the Jackson 5. My 3-year-old daughter was rivetted by his singing and dance moves and was particularly charmed when the Jackson 5's very first American Bandstand appearance hit the screen on MTV. That's the real tragedy, seeing Michael as a cute talented little kid and knowing how his life ultimately turned out.

But, even as that example shows, one of the best ways to deal with death is by cherishing positive memories of the departed. So everyone embraced the music. It was cool to see some of my local record shops getting TV coverage, as customers flocked in to pick up Michael Jackson CDs and records.

ABC Shows DJ Playing Michael Jackson

And, as I had hoped, radio responded as well. A DJ at my station did a Michael Jackson themed show Thursday night (even playing some Weird Al), KCRW quickly assembled a tribute page on their website and aired special programming, and Sirius XM radio had a number of tributes across various channels (including one hosted by former MTV VJ Nina Blackwood on the 1980s channel) and it's devoting an entire channel to a Michael Jackson tribute today through June 29th on Heart & Soul (Sirius 51 and XM 62). As Tom Taylor of Radio-Info pointed out in his newsletter, "...Michael Jackson and radio made a lot of very good times and very good business together." The Radio-Info website has a bunch of stats to back that up, including reports on the increased Michael Jackson airplay on radio following his death.

Michael Jackson's Death Came Too Late for Streetlight's San Francisco Store on 24th Street
(but their San Jose branch was all over the news)

ABC World News Tonight showed clips of radio stations around the globe playing Michael Jackson songs and I found reports about special programming in Colorado (community station KAFM), North Carolina, and Boston in addition to a number of interesting tributes on college radio stations like WRMC, WICB and WUOG (just a sampling!).

Ben Fong-Torres has a really nice front page story about Michael Jackson in the San Francisco Chronicle today, outlining both his influence on music and his complicated persona. Ben's been in an interesting position the past few days, as he's been fielding non-stop calls from the media, asking for his commentary about the King of Pop. Ben interviewed a teen-aged Jackson, so it's got to be sad and surreal for him how things played out for Michael.

It's also bittersweet to think that a tragic death of a music superstar can potentially be so lucrative for the music industry. But, hey, I'm pleased that it may cause more people to buy physical music, patronize record shops, and turn the radio back on again. It makes us all remember just how powerful music can be.

Is College Radio Anti Pop?

1980s College Radio Mainstay in WVFI Library in 2008

I just wrote up a piece for the new blog Radio Survivor called "Is Twitter the New College Radio?" about the role of college radio in breaking news and if Twitter has in fact taken over the role of news-breaking machine in 2009.

In my article I quoted from a recent interview with college radio mainstay, David Lowery (Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven), about his perceptions of college radio. Here's a bit from his interview in Glide where he discusses social networking today and how it compares to the 1980s:

"Glide: I see you’re on Facebook and fans can follow you guys on Twitter. Quite different from the 80’s…or is it?

David Lowery: Well, exactly. It’s different from the ‘80’s in that it’s much easier to maintain a grass roots following now. But we basically tried all of this networking back then, just in a different way. We collected people’s addresses, we had mailing lists, we had a newsletter. We went around to the college radio stations, which to us back in the early’80’s was our underground blog. We would play on the college stations and then do a show in the college towns and there was this belief that we would associate ourselves with like-minded people, which is a lot like the social networking tools of today."

Renderers Play Pop and Noisy Sounds at KFJC
March 2009

I love this idea that college radio in the 1980s was like an "underground blog" of its day. And I do believe that there is something magical about college radio communities, particularly in small towns. As the interview continues, Lowery makes the argument that college radio was "egalitarian" back in the day, "playing pop music of our generation" and that today it's "more elitist." As stated in the piece:

"Glide: There was something about the popularity of the college radio station back in the 80’s that made music so special. Students today have no idea what that was like…

David Lowery: I’ll tell you what it was. College radio in the ‘80’s was very egalitarian…it was about playing pop music for our generation. I think it’s more elitist now. Like, 'Hey we’re going to play this stuff now that isn’t pop' or something like that. Whereas before, it was our own conception of pop music. I was a college radio DJ through much of the early ‘80’s, so I remember what it was like.

Glide: Where did you DJ?

David Lowery: I started DJ-ing in 1978 at a station called KUOR in Redlands, California. I was actually in high school and I went to their orientation meeting and never said that I was a student and I got my own show (laughs)."

I started DJing in college radio in the 1980s, so I'm fully aware of the nostalgia for this era as well. But, at the same time, I've been involved with college radio pretty much ever since and continue to find the scene to be exciting and groundbreaking. It is true that I play a lot less pop than I used to and have moved on to more obscure sounds, but I'm not sure if that makes what I'm doing less egalitarian. True, there can be a bias against pop at some stations (certainly mine), but that has actually opened my ears to new sounds that I love.

If you take a look at college radio charts overall, it's clear that the anti-pop stations are in the minority and that many are embracing "pop" music for a new generation of listeners. College radio stations devoted to underground sounds regularly bemoan the more mainstream playlists of other college stations, just as pop-oriented stations might critique their peers who are playing lots of noise and experimental music. That's the beauty of college radio, there's usually a little bit of something for everyone.

What do you think? Is your station biased against pop music? Do you feel like college radio was better in the 1980s?

Radio Station Field Trip 16 - Haverford College Station WHRC

Old WHRC Sticker

A few weeks ago I visited my old college radio station, WHRC at Haverford College, during Alumni Weekend. A small group of us (two folks from class of 1984 and four of us from class of 1989) who were DJs in the 1980s met up on May 30th at the station with current staff member David Wicks (class of 2011) to learn a bit about the current state of WHRC.

Entrance to WHRC

Sadly, WHRC hasn't really been operational as a radio station for about a year, after suffering a devastating hacker attack on their website. Just prior to that they had been broadcasting as an Internet-only station since about 1999. In the years leading up to 1999 the station had its ups and downs, yet once played a very prominent role on campus since its beginnings in the 1920s.

One of the main problems, as many students and alumni have pointed out, has been the lack of a consistent station staff or "institutional memory" over the years. Haverford College is a small school near Philadelphia, so another hurdle has been getting enough people to volunteer at the station. Additionally, the campus empties out over the summer, so broadcasts have been limited to the school year and then must be revived by a new batch of students every fall.

WHRC Entrance in Dining Center Basement

In this post I'll be recapping my 2009 visit to WHRC and will talk about their plans for the future. But, this is part of a much bigger project in which I'm working to piece together a complete history of the station.

I've been collecting stories and artifacts from WHRC alum (including a staff member from the 1940s), culling through old yearbooks, and spent an entire day in the Haverford College library sifting through old WHRC archival material. It's a fascinating history of a station once rumored to be the first college radio station on the East Coast.

Board in WHRC hallway outside studios

Along the way there were intercontinental chess matches, the first college radio network, a powerful AM signal, ambitious live remotes and sports broadcasts, controversies over DJs playing a certain Violent Femmes song in the 1980s, 100 person DJ staffs, a push for FM, and debate over dining center speakers at Bryn Mawr College. Stay tuned for more stories about all of that. And, if you were ever part of WHRC, please get in touch to share your stories with me as well.

David Wicks (with arms outstretched) Tours WHRC Alums around the Station

WHRC in 2009

Thanks so much to WHRC Board Members David Wicks and Jacob Waters for chatting with me about the current state of the station. David was kind enough to open up the WHRC studios during summer break so that alumni could check out the space and reminisce. And Jacob gave me some perspective on the recent history of the station in an email interview with me.

Dining Center Basement Directory
(possible not up to date)

WHRC is currently located in the basement of the dining center at Haverford College. It's been there since 1974, when it was moved from another building (Union), which was being converted into a music building. When I was a student at Haverford (1985-1989), the basement of the dining center functioned like a student union. The basement contained all student mailboxes, a game room, snack bar, a lounge area, the bookstore, and other student activities in addition to WHRC.

Room next door to WHRC
(Sign on Door Says "Computer Services")

Today, the basement of the dining center at Haverford is like a ghost town. A prominent interior staircase that led from the upstairs eating areas to the basement has been removed, meaning that students must enter the basement from outside the building. All "student union"-like features have been moved to a newish (built in the last 10 years) Campus Center on the opposite side of campus.

Main Studio at WHRC (Studio B)

David addressed the drawbacks of the station's location, saying, "the space has been hindering us...because it's so tucked out of the way." He added that he thinks that it's much harder to "be creative" when DJs are "stuck down here."

Studio B at WHRC

It's funny, because at the time I felt a bit defensive about these comments, because the station has been in the same spot for decades and it's always been off the beaten path (like many other stations that I've visited). But, later I realized that the station has in fact become more and more isolated in the years since the Campus Center was built. Although it's near the hub of the dining center, it doesn't get foot traffic like it used to when it was just down the hall from student mailboxes and the bookstore.

Board in Studio B at WHRC

WHRC went off the air in Spring 2008 after the station's website was hacked. As I toured around the station a year later, it looked to me as if not much had changed in that time. It was sort of Pompeii-like, as if things hadn't been touched in a long time. David pointed out that some of the new CDs from back then were still in the "new" rack. Old program guides were strewn about, along with long-forgotten music magazines. One of the WHRC alums noticed the lack of turntables and we were told that they had been damaged during a youth summer camp one year and were thrown out.

View into Studio A from Studio B at WHRC

As you enter the station space there are metal shelves housing bits and pieces of WHRC's past, including an old "board" that I remember using in the 1980s, as well as a small section of old, disorganized, and damaged vinyl. Their CD collection, as well as some newer pieces of vinyl are located in a large room that used to be the WHRC office in my day.

Me, in front of graveyard of old vinyl and old WHRC equipment in WHRC Entryway

Additionally, I was pleased to see some wall space devoted to WHRC's history. There were even some of my 1980s photos posted on the wall that I'd brought with me when I visited in 2004.

WHRC Entryway Display of Archival Photos
(me in the studio and record library in 1987)

According to David and Jacob, WHRC will no longer operate as a traditional radio station. Instead, they've begun transitioning into more of a live DJ club, focusing on music events on campus. A former staff member described this to me as akin to "spontaneous public mix tapes." Additionally, the website will serve as a hub for all things music on campus. Bands can get promotion for upcoming shows and members of the campus community will be invited to submit podcasts.

CD Library in WHRC Office

The physical station and its record library's future is uncertain. A former staff member told me, "people don't really use CDs anymore" and Jacob talked about plans to digitize all the CDs. Additionally, the vinyl collection has been dwindling over the years, due to damage and a major sell-off of material some time prior to 2004.

Old WHRC T-shirt

To get a better sense of the station's future plans, I conducted an email interview with WHRC board member Jacob Waters:


Spinning Indie: What years have you been involved with WHRC?

Jacob Waters: I had a radio show starting my first semester as a freshman at Haverford (Fall 2006) and began attending board meetings. Second semester I was named Assistant Music Director, and then assumed the full Music Director role my sophomore year. Since then I’ve worked extensively with a number of students, particularly Duncan Cooper ’09, to reform the station and hopefully make an impact on campus. I’m excited to start up again this fall (my senior year).

Sign on Wall of Studio B

Spinning Indie: What drew you to the station?

Jacob Waters: I’m a huge music fan and had always wanted the opportunity to have a show and create something that people would enjoy. Also, my father was involved in radio for a long time (as a DJ and program director) and I was curious to see what it was like. Unfortunately I don’t quite have his 'radio voice.'

Studio B Bulletin Board

Spinning Indie: If you had a radio show, what was its theme and if it was a music show, what kind of music did you play?

Jacob Waters: I’ve had two shows, each of which lasted for a year. The first was mostly indie rock and the second was 60s-70s soul.

New Music Rack in Studio B

Spinning Indie: How has the Dining Center (DC) basement studio and record library been used since you've been at WHRC?

Jacob Waters: When I first arrived we used the studio for pretty much everything station-related, including broadcasting, board meetings, and training sessions. Starting Fall 2008 it has been used sparingly.

Sign on Wall of Studio B

Spinning Indie: How would you describe WHRC’s presence on campus? Do people know about it? Did people listen when it was online? Where could you hear the station?

Jacob Waters: Frankly, WHRC has little or no presence on campus. Except for the DJs and their close friends who listened to their shows (and those friends rarely listened to other shows) I saw little evidence of impact. Part of my job as music director was to look at listenership statistics, and we averaged around 2-3 listeners at any given time. Numbers that low made it quite clear that change was necessary. The fact that we were Internet-only seemed to give us potential—students basically live on their computers anyway—but still our impact was minimal.

Sign on Wall of Studio B

Spinning Indie: Any interesting tales from when you were at WHRC? Any scandals?

Jacob Waters: The most frustrating part of working at WHRC was easily the lack of institutional memory, particularly tech issues. Past students hashed the station together with custom computer code and strange sound setups and graduated without documenting what they had done. To put it simply, when things broke no one knew how to fix them, which made it quite difficult to keep the station running smoothly.

Computers in Studio A

Spinning Indie: What’s one of the strangest things that happened at WHRC?

Jacob Waters: The only strange things I can think of are negative, haha. I suppose the hacking that took place spring 2008 would top my list. There we were, a little station with virtually no listenership used by some hackers to attack servers at Stanford (I think it was Stanford). When I heard about it I could hardly believe it, just because it was so unexpected.

Spinning Indie: Are you aware of the history of radio at Haverford?

Jacob Waters: Some. I know that the station used to actually be on the radio, and I believe at some point Haverford had one of the strongest radio transmitters in the country. But again, the lack of institutional memory has severed the history to some extent.

Old Vinyl and Equipment in WHRC Entryway

Spinning Indie: Did WHRC ever get back on the air in 2009? In what capacity?

Jacob Waters: Just to be clear, we are no longer “on the air” really—we are transitioning to public live shows and podcasts. And yes, several shows were held near the end of last semester. We intended last semester to be a test run for this coming year, and things seem to be working out.

Old Vinyl at WHRC

Spinning Indie: What are the plans for the station for fall 2009? What will be broadcast and how will it be broadcast?

Jacob Waters: "Radio station" in the traditional sense is now a misnomer for WHRC. There is no live stream that people can listen to from their own rooms or homes. Instead, WHRC will have three main components.

Photo on Wall of WHRC of DJ Gig in Sunken Lounge of Dining Center

First, there will be approximately 10 semi-weekly live shows that will be done in public places (the Campus Center, DC, or anywhere else). These shows will be played and recorded on laptops belonging to the station, and the recordings will be exported as podcasts to put on our website. WHRC will heavily promote these shows, hopefully creating real DJ personalities who will be known around campus.

People will know that "Person X's Oldies Hour" will be broadcast in the Coop on Tuesdays at 8:00, know that the show will be good quality, and hopefully go see the show live or at least listen to the podcast. As opposed to the old WHRC format where it was an unorganized mass of music shows—shows that had very inconsistent quality—students will know what they’re getting and know that the shows are worth listening to.

Haverford College During Alumni Weekend 2009

Second, all students (or faculty or staff, for that matter) will be encouraged to submit their own podcasts to the site. Again, these will be polished programs that will be easily accessible and hopefully high-quality. This creates an instant campus impact: in a way, every person in the Haverford community is part of the station. If you want to put a podcast together, you just go ahead and do it. The site will also include directions for how to make a podcast if you don’t know how.

Third, the site will have an important role on its own. It will serve as the Internet center of music on campus, where bands coming to campus can be promoted and discussed; student bands can post their own music and promote their shows; and people could discuss music they like and make recommendations. If people are interested in music on campus, we want WHRC’s website to be the first place they turn.

Lounge/Live Music Space at WHRC
(This was the Record Library in the 1980s)

Spinning Indie: What are your plans for the DC basement space and record library?

Jacob Waters: We’re not sure at this point. While it’s a cool space, its highly secluded location makes it tough for it to be a crucial part of music on campus. We plan on digitizing the CD library at some point and putting it on the WHRC laptops. For the room, we’ve thought about using it as a place for student bands to mix and perhaps record their music. Another option would be to use it as a place for students to record their podcasts for the site.

Lounge/Live Music Space at WHRC (with View of Studio B)

Spinning Indie: Are their plans to have a station do live streaming or carrier current broadcasting again?

Jacob Waters: At present, no. The live stream, though a neat setup to have, ultimately did not contribute to the music community on campus, and so was not worth the expense. Same goes for carrier current.

Spinning Indie: Will any of the shows be broadcast on campus (dining halls? campus buildings?)

Jacob Waters: We would definitely like to play our podcasts at the DC. Remember, though, that the live shows will be done all over campus, making the new format much more public than the previous one.

Wall in WHRC Office

Spinning Indie: What shows are slated for fall 2009?

Jacob Waters: We have a great variety of shows preparing for the fall, including oldies, electronica, hip-hop, indie rock, political talk, and one where community members are interviewed. Our goal is that the heterogeneity will ensure that everyone in the community will have at least one show to their liking.

Spinning Indie: Anything else?

Jacob Waters: We realize that this is a radical change, and that the current incarnation of WHRC will be tough for alumni to recognize. But we all knew the positive impact an effective music club could have on the campus and saw that the existing format of WHRC was simply not working. We think the new format will create a club that most effectively takes Haverford students' passion for music and spreads it throughout the community. That’s fundamentally all we want to do: create a club that accomplishes what the previous format tried to but could not. Maybe this will start a new trend, maybe not. But everyone involved is very excited by the idea and eager to start a new chapter for WHRC.

Also, I’d like to personally thank the SC Treasurers for trusting us enough to give us money to get us off the ground, as well as the Haverford Communications Office for agreeing to build our new website, which should be launched this summer.

Old WHRC Board

Thanks again to Jacob and David for sharing with me their plans for WHRC. It's bittersweet for me. On the one hand, I'm happy to see that they are committed to creating a cool new campus community, but I'm also saddened that traditional radio broadcasting is pretty much dead at Haverford. I'm curious to see how things go for them in the fall and wish them all the best.

Previous Spinning Indie Radio Station Field Trips:

Field Trip to WECB at Emerson College
College Radio Field Trip 2 - Cal Poly's KCPR
College Radio Field Trip 3 - Notre Dame's WVFI
Radio Station Field Trip 4 - WFMU in Jersey City
Radio Station Field Trip 5 - East Village Radio in NYC
Radio Station Field Trip 6 - WNYU in New York City
Radio Station Field Trip 7 - Northwestern's WNUR
Radio Station Field Trip 8 - Stanford's KZSU
Radio Station Field Trip 9 - University of San Francisco's KUSF
Radio Station Field Trip 10 - Santa Clara University Station KSCU
Radio Station Field Trip 11 - UC Berkeley's KALX
Radio Station Field Trip 12 - KSJS at San Jose State University
Radio Station Field Trip 13 - WBAR at Barnard College
Radio Station Field Trip 14 - KFJC at Foothill College
Radio Station Field Trip 15 - UC Santa Cruz Station KZSC