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Some consider the late 1960s through the mid-1990s to be a “golden age” of college radio. History professor Katherine Rye Jewell, from Fitchburg State University, notes that the period begins with college stations taking to the FM dial, and concludes with the rise of the internet. During that time, college radio stations certainly at times did have prominence in the culture, which meant they also were subject to complaints and kerfuffles, sometimes gaining the attention of local media and politicians.
As part of the research for her upcoming book, “Live from the Underground,” Kate has been diving into many of the controversies, and sharing highlights on Twitter. On air content was definitely one of the flashpoints, especially as the culture wars heated up in the 1980s. While relatively few FCC actions or fines were issued, Kate explains that the Commission preferred college and university administrations keep stations in check, and many did, resulting in a kind of chilling effect that particularly effected emerging music forms like hip-hop.
The reverberations of this time are still felt at many college and community stations, especially where volunteers and staffers still remember when the risk of a $10,000 indecency fine seemed – and probably was – very palpable.
On this live-on-the-air episode, we dig into many entertaining garden paths and stories that no fan of left-end-of-the-dial radio should miss.
Show Notes:
- Kate Jewell on Twitter
- Kate’s website
- Kate’s Twitter thread on complaints to the FCC about college radio stations
- Kate tweets her show notes:
- “Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture,” By Grace Elizabeth Hale
- “The Beastie Boys Book“
- “Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements,” by Bob Mehr
- “The Black Campus Movement,” by Ibram X. Kendi
- Podcast #164 – College Radio and the Culture Wars
- Lyrics to “Makin’ Bacon” by the Pork Dudes (NSFW)
