The California Historical Radio Society (CHRS) is hosting Radio Day by the Bay this Saturday, July 26 from 8am to 3pm in Alameda. Radio fans will get the chance to take a look at the new home for CHRS and for the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame, as some of the events will be […]
Archive | History
Spike Lee’s ‘Radio Raheem’ returns to protest Staten Island man’s death
Filmmaker Spike Lee has revived his iconic cinematic radio figure “Radio Raheem” in protest of the death of Eric Garner. The Staten Island, New York resident perished last Thursday after three police surrounded and locked him in a choke hold. Garner, 43, had five children. Lee took the section of his movie “Do the Right […]
USA and Czech radio: the historical connections
Czech Radio has one of the world’s largest repositories of archived radio sound. Radio Prague’s David Vaughan brings this library to our attention in a recent post. The archive goes all the back to the 1920s and includes a variety of recordings in English. Earlier this year Vaughan deployed a team of undergraduates to explore […]
Lebanon 1982: the year that Casey Kasem got real
Late as usual, I thought I’d still write up my own recollection of the legendary radio hit-meister Casey Kasem. Paul Riismandel has a great reminiscence of him posted last week. As for me, I always experienced Kasem’s Top 40 Countdown as a dreary auto-pilot affair, served up with a canned voice and a canned smile. Then, […]
Wayback: the top ten Shoutcast streams circa 1999 and 2004
Just for kicks the other day I decided to go to the Internet Archive’s Wayback browser and check out Shoutcast as it was getting hot. This screenshot is from April 27, 1999 and displays the “top ten Shoutcasts,” which seem to have been overwhelmingly Techno music oriented channels (with pop and rock thrown in). The […]
Netizens bring radio history to the FCC’s net neutrality debate
I am reading through the Federal Communications Commission’s comment proceeding on net neutrality, and am struck by how many posts make references to radio and other older technologies. Here is one: “I am sick of corporations being in charge of how I get information. You have already ruined radio and television. Do your job and […]
College Radio Watch: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to Sell WMHD to Indiana State University
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana has filed paperwork with the FCC in order to assign the 1400 watt FM license for student-run college radio station WMHD 90.7 FM to Indiana State University. According to the asset purchase agreement, the purchase price is $16,465. Based on a recent notice to the FCC regarding […]
Negativland Releases “U2” Masters, Kasem Outtakes & All
In my memorial of Casey Kasem yesterday I mentioned Negativland’s infamous “U2” single that integrated into cover versions of the band U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” blooper outtakes of Kasem generally losing his cool while recording America’s Top 40. It turns out that Negativland is making their own tribute of sorts […]
So Long, Casey Kasem, and Thanks for All the Hits
Broadcasting legend Casey Kasem passed away Sunday at the age of 82. For those who grew up in the 70s and 80s Kasem is an icon of classic pop radio. His passing is sad, but causes me to reflect on how a single weekly broadcast so neatly encapsulated American music culture for a time, and […]
Haverford College Celebrates 90th Anniversary of Student Radio on Campus
This weekend I’ll be immersing myself in college radio history during some special events honoring the 90th anniversary of student radio at Haverford College (see the full alumni weekend schedule here). I’m hopeful that many alumni will attend, as I’m looking forward to learning even more about the storied past of the many stations at […]