Amoeba Music on Haight Street in San Francisco on a Cold February Day
(Photo: J. Waits)
As I've extensively documented on Radio Survivor, supporters of KUSF have been fighting the sale ever since it was announced. They have solicited support from politicians, the faculty of USF, and from like-minded radio stations from all over the country.
WFMU Microphone at Amoeba
(Photo: J. Waits)
Yesterday the independent radio community came together to spread the word about the plight of KUSF by taking to the terrestrial airwaves. Orchestrated by DJ Billy Jam, of well-respected New Jersey community radio station WFMU, the Save KUSF live broadcast from Amoeba Music in San Francisco on Friday, February 18 featured six KUSF DJs "in exile" on stage spinning (yes, there was a ton of vinyl trekked in for the event) music from noon to 3pm Pacific time. WFMU did a live broadcast over both the airwaves and over their Internet stream and invited other stations to piggy back on the broadcast by sending out the Internet stream over their respective FM signals.
The "Honor Roll" of Participating Stations (not listed are KXSC and KUSF.org, who also broadcast the event)
(Photo: J. Waits)
DJ Schmeejay, whose show turned to static when the KUSF transmitter was shut down January 18, begins the Live Remote
(Photo: J. Waits)
As DJs and KUSF fans mingled at Amoeba Music on Friday, it was easy to sense both the inspiration and the optimism that everyone was drawing from the event and from the outpouring of support from radio stations from all over the country. It was clear that the fight for independent radio in San Francisco resonated across the United States, as other stations stood in solidarity while giving over their airwaves to the KUSF DJs who had been silenced one month prior.
DJ Carolyn at Amoeba Music
(Photo: J. Waits)
So, for me, yesterday was a dream come true, witnessing the cross-country radio love. A few of us noted that in times of crisis it's incredible to see how people will come together, even stations who might normally feel tinges of competition. Particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area, it was an unprecedented display of radio activism, as KUSF DJs could be heard emanating from 4 different college radio stations up and down the radio dial (KFJC at 89.7 FM, KZSU at 90.1 FM, KALX at 90.7 FM, and KSCU at 103.3FM).
At the same time, it was almost mind-boggling to think about the fact that people in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Moscow, Idaho were tuning in; perhaps hearing about KUSF for the very first time.
DJ Irwin Cues Up a Record at Amoeba Music
(Photo: J. Waits)
Beyond the community love that I was feeling all day, it was also a great relief to just hear KUSF DJs back on the air again spinning music. For me and for many other people, radio is inextricably linked to musical exploration and to sharing sounds with listeners. Yesterday it was nice to take a break from all of the protests, conversation, and writing in order to get back to music and get back to radio. As I listened to beautiful sets of music by all six KUSF DJs on stage, I was again reminded of why I still care so deeply about the power and art of human DJ's who are musical curators. My ears were tantalized by Rudy Vallee, Yoko Ono, Chin Chin, Felt, Can, Omar Souleyman, Alice Coltrane, Grace Jones, Sylvester, and Dead Moon.
It still remains to be seen what will happen to KUSF, but as a college radio DJ and fan I am really proud to see that they are fighting hard for the future of independent radio and are spreading the word about their plight far and wide.
If you want to relive yesterday's event, there's video documentation on the Yowie website, there is an archived MP3 of the broadcast on WFMU's website, individual MP3s for each DJ's set can be found on the KUSF Archives webite, and the complete playlist (as well as listener comments) are on Billy Jam's page at WFMU. To learn more about Save KUSF's efforts, take a look at their website (where they are also actively seeking donations).
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You can read my reaction to the KUSF shut down here on Spinning Indie, as well as my article chronicling my KUSF field trip two years ago. And, I'm really proud to say that many of the stations that participated in today's multi-station simulcast have been stops on either my Spinning Indie 50 State Tour (KXSC, which used to be called KSCR) or have been places I've visited for my radio station field trip series (WFMU, KZSU, KUSF, KSCU, KALX, and KFJC). For more on the bigger picture of college radio station sell-offs, see my December 2009 piece “Cash-strapped Schools Turn Their Backs on College Radio.
Save KUSF Merch Table
(Photo: J. Waits)