‘Zines are like the college or community radio of the print media world. Or maybe LPFM or pirate radio are a more appropriate comparisons, since ‘zines tend to be more personal, limited in distribution, and sometimes reproduced surreptitiously on office copiers. In any event, I’ve been a fan and reader of ‘zines for, I guess, nearly some twenty years now. In fact, my first exposure to ‘zines happened in college radio, when several programs at my station pooled copy money to publish a few runs of a music ‘zine.

Over on his Arcane Radio Trivia blog, intrepid radio researcher Jose Fritz recently posted about the ‘zine Paper Radio:

Paper Radio is about the art and history of radio. Issue # 8 reads in plain language “The goal of Paper Radio is to help readers connect and reconnect with radio. Unlike other mediums, radio sparks the imagination, it paints scenes with sound…” Topics include pirate radio, shortwave (WCBQ, CHU, WWCR, WRMI), pirate shortwave, DX’ing and in the few issues I have, they cover a slew of small local radio stations WNEC, KPFA, KMUD, KENC, WRKU, and WFEA-AM.

Paper Radio is published by DJ Frederick in quantities of a hundred or so, and is on its eighth issue as of this past November. Prior to issue six it was known as Signals. Back in June DJ Frederick threatened to go on a possibly permanent hiatus, but apparently decided to hit the photocopier again after all.

At just three bucks post-paid, I’m ready to order my own copy.

Comedian/actor Todd Glass

It used to be when a politician, celebrity or someone in the entertainment business had a big announcement to make that person would make an appearance with the likes of Barbara Walters or Larry King. A comedian or someone a little less famous in the mainstream might take it to Howard Stern or another syndicated morning show. But this week comedian and actor Todd Glass brought his story to Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, coming out of the closet to the public and the comedy community at large.

Glass, who is 47 years old and hosts his own podcast, obviously decided to do this on WTF because he trusted Maron’s ability to handle the situation with empathy and grace. Having just listened to the program today, I can say I’m impressed how Maron played his role as host and interviewer with compassion, while also bringing lightness and humor. I also think that this episode represents a new milestone in the growth of podcasting as a medium.

In the interview Glass explains that he has been out to family and close friends for some fifteen years, and has enjoyed acceptance from them. Nevertheless, he candidly discusses the fear and anxiety he experienced about his closeted sexually in his professional life. Glass explains that what motivated him to finally come out publicly was hearing about gay young people who are hurting and killing themselves as a result of the harassment and bullying they experience just for being gay.

I was both moved and enlightened listening to Glass discuss aspects of being gay in a still intolerant society that I had not considered so clearly. While acknowledging that prejudice and bigotry comes in many forms against many kinds of people, he points out that a unique aspect of being gay is that you run the risk of not only being rejected by society at large, but also your own family and friends. Hearing Glass explain this so plainly and clearly, but with obvious passion was a rare and affecting podcast moment.

A few years ago, an announcement made on a podcast like this might have been reported on websites dedicated to the comedy or gay communities. But this week the story has appeared on such mainstream outlets as Reuters and the Philadelphia Daily News.

1. 2012 Tower Site Calendar: Call it porn for the radio geek in your life. Scott Fybush’s latest calendar features images of transmitter sites from all over North America.

2. Radio Jewelry: There are a variety of choices, including a silver vintage radio charm, microphone cufflinks, and HAM radio cufflinks.

3. Radio Lit: If you want to find some radio literature, there are some great options, including Michael Keith’s tome The Radio Station, Eighth Edition: Broadcast, Satellite and Internet. For tinkerers, there’s 22 Radio and Receiver Projects for the Evil Genius.

4. A Kids’ Clock Radio: I think it’s important to get kids listening to radio early, so this LEGO Alarm Clock Radio is a no-brainer for Lego-obsessed school kids. If you have a girly girl on your gift list, the Lego radio also comes in pink and there are also a number of sweet Hello Kitty clock radios and boomboxes.

5. Stylish Gear and Underground Sounds from Your Favorite Non-Commercial Radio Station: Some of the best radio-themed apparel can be found by perusing the webstores of your favorite local college and community radio stations. KCSB at UC Santa Barbara is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and they have a special commemorative T-shirt. I’m also quite fond of the new KFJC girlie T-shirt featuring a retro cat eyeing a fish bowl record player. Non-commercial stations are also a great source for intriguing music compilations, including KDVS’s new cassette-of-the-month club subscription, featuring both musicians from the Davis/Sacramento area as well as “out of town” artists.

6. Emergency Radio to Keep You Informed During a Disaster: It’s becoming increasingly clear that terrestrial radio is a vital source for information during a natural disaster. Heroic stations have guided citizens safely through emergencies when their communities have been hit by earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Hand-crank radios, solar-powered radios, and weather radios are good tools to have in your emergency kit. One option is a Solar-Powered Radio and Cell Phone Charger, another is the Voyager Solar/Dynamo Emergency Radio, which also includes shortwave and weather radio options. There’s even a shower radio that has a built-in weather radio in case you want to keep apprised while lathering up.

7. A modern clock radio: There are all sorts of clock radios that combine features from both smart phones and the classic AM/FM radio technology. Try the Dual Alarm Clock Radio for iPhone/iPod with AM/FM presets.

8. Build Your Own Radio Kit: Every self-respecting electronics nerd built their own radio back in the day. Share this tradition with your favorite youngster. One DIY kit is the Snap Circuits FM Radio.

9. Cool Tabletop Radio: There are some beautiful tabletop radios out there, including some that are focused on AM/FM radio (like this Crosley Solo Radio), satellite radio, and Internet Radio.

10. Radio Movies: I’m a big fan of “djs in peril” films and one of the best is Play Misty for Me. If you want something nostalgic, there’s Radio Days and if you want something educational, there’s the Ken Burn’s documentary Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio.

If you need more tips, take a look at our previous posts:

Paul’s Recommended Radios for Holiday Gifty Time

2010 Holiday Gift Guide for Radio Fans

Top Holiday Gifts for Radio Lovers

Fun at Flirt FM in Irleand (Photo: J. Waits)

Being both a radio and a popular culture nut, I always get a thrill when I see a radio station worked into the storyline of a film or television show.

As part of their 50th anniversary celebration (which also includes a design contest with a deadline on Friday, September 9 and an upcoming art exhibit), college radio station KCSB at University of California, Santa Barbara is working on a radio-themed film festival. Right now they are in the process of brainstorming a list of movies with radio themes and they are seeking suggestions. Some of the films on their list so far include: 8 Mile, American Graffiti, Pirate Radio, Pump Up the Volume, and Radio Days.

I’ve compiled my personal list of my top 5 radio-themed television shows and also pulled together a list of films featuring DJs in peril. What other essential radio films and TV shows are out there? And which are your favorites?

Image from "Video Killed the Radio Star" video

Over the weekend I was so jealous when various friends mentioned that they were tuning in to the original first hour of MTV. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of MTV’s launch on August 1, 1981; VH1 Classic is in the midst of a 3-day marathon full of retro MTV programming, including a rebroadcast of the original first hour of MTV complete with commercials. Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore, and I made a call to my satellite TV provider to ask for an upgrade so that I could watch the MTV30 specials before they ended today.

Although I’m looking forward to tuning in to old clips from Yo! MTV Raps, House of Style, and MTV Video Awards shows, I was most excited to watch that original hour of programming from August 1, 1981, even though I never got to see it during my youth. My parents didn’t spring for cable in the 1980s, so my introduction to early music videos was from video shows like “MV3,” Video One,” “California Music Channel” (which was simulcast over a local radio station) and “Night Music.” As I sat down to watch MTV’s original hour (it will be re-run today as well), I was struck by the number of references to radio and to stereo sound. 30 years later a lot has changed. Not only has MTV’s programming drifted away from music videos (although they did recently bring back the video music show 120 Minutes), but an entire generation has lost interest in high fidelity stereo sound.

The first hour of MTV from August 1, 1981 began with footage of a space shuttle’s launch, followed by the words “Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock and Roll” and then the Buggles’ video “Video Killed the Radio Star.” In that video, piles of vintage radios can be seen as futuristic looking characters reminisce that “In my mind and in my car/We can’t rewind, we’ve gone to far/Pictures came and broke your heart/Put the blame on VTR.”

Much as home-taping was rumored to be killing the record industry, there was concern that cable television and video recorders were threatening traditional broadcasting outlets and the Buggles’ video questions if video was killing off the radio stars of the past.

A promotional video for MTV chronicled the importance of music to humankind and recounted that “man invented the radio and the phonograph” and explained that “full stereo sound…made the explosion.”

The first MTV VJ Mark Goodman welcomed viewers to “the world’s first 24 hour stereo video music channel.” He explained that “a new concept is born. The best of TV combined with the best of radio” and in his second segment he argued that, “We’ll be doing for TV, what FM did for radio.” Even commercials during that first hour referenced radio, as an ad for “The Bulk”showed a transistor radio being crammed into the expandable binder. Another commercial for Dolby hyped Dolby noise reduction, saying, “almost every time you play a recording, turn on the radio, or go to the movies, Dolby noise reduction has helped make the sound more real.”

At the time of its launch MTV also promoted the opportunity to listen to the cable network over the radio in stereo. By sending MTV a self-addressed stamped envelope, one could acquire an “MTV Dial Position Sticker,” which would “mark the exact spot where our sound comes in.”

It’s easy to imagine stereophiles back in 1981 hooking up their televisions to speakers or to FM stereo in order to watch videos in high fidelity sound. Yet today that promise seems antiquated in light of music fans tuning in to compressed sounds over the Internet or through iPods and earbuds. Although the Buggles’ first video on MTV nostalgically mused that VTRs (video tape recorders) killed the radio star, 30 years later we might wonder if iPods or the Internet killed the video star. In any event, I’m enjoying the look back at MTV’s past on VH1 Classic today, although I wonder why MTV didn’t share its history on its own flagship channel. Perhaps because MTV killed the video star.

Record Store Day, now in its fifth year, is an annual celebration of the independent record store. This year it goes down next Saturday, April 16. Participating stores hold special events, like in-store concerts, while selling limited-edition singles and albums. I’ve been attending since 2008 and enjoy the recognition of the threatened species of the indie music store, even if the day seems to be getting a little too focused on standing in line to snap up the limited releases. This year I’ll be using Record Store Day as an excuse to visit stores around the city that I’ve never been to before.

Chicago’s Numero Group is a record label specializing in releasing compilations of lost and forgotten music, especially regional soul and R&B records from the industrial Midwest. This year the Numero Group is joining the celebration by opening a pop-up store in the Wicker Park neighborhood. To go along with the store they’re also broadcasting a pop-up radio station called WTNG at 89.9 FM. Though no technical details have been released, the folks at Numero have said “pirate” or “low power” are sufficient terms to describe the station. In a follow-up blog post they predict a five-mile listening radius, which certainly requires more power than a “legal” Part 15 transmitter would provide.

Listeners tuning in can expect to hear

“The Eccentric Soul Hour,” “Cutty’s Cutting Room Floor Cuts,” and Mad Dog Sevier’s “Severe Morning Advisory.” We’ll also play vintage regional advertisements (“Funtown,” “Ember Furniture,” “Friendly Dodge”), air checks, bumpers, news, weather, and if things get really hot we’ll dust out the Browns/Raiders live broadcast from 1967. PARTY YA’LL

For those outside a five-mile radius of the pop-up store, Numero is promising a live internet stream as well.

I really like the idea of running a pop-up station to coincide with an event, show or celebration. It’s not dissimilar to the Monkeywrench Radio station Pearl Jam set up outside of concerts during the band’s 1995 and 1998 tours. Putting on such “run and gun” broadcasts helps mitigate the risks associated with a regularly-scheduled or 24/7 broadcast, while still providing a special and interesting radio alternative for a day (or more).

If you’re looking for something fun to do this Saturday, and you live in or will be visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, there’s an upcoming Citizen Radio Live! sketchfest to consider. The time: three PM, Jan 22; the place: the Punch Line Comedy Club.

Citizen Radio is run by Jamie Kilstein and Allison Kilkenny, who look and act like they spend most of their time in south-of-whatever performance studio basements. One or the other (or both) are also susceptible to rather lengthy rants about who is or isn’t really a leftist on the blogosphere. The Daily Kos’s Markos Moulitsas, who will be appearing with them on Saturday, apparently is, as this Citizenradio approved blog post indicates.

Whatever. I should add that Kilstein and Kilkenny are quite funny, wonderfully raunchy, and their hearts are in exactly the right place as they wander up and down any given dark stage execrating the deservedly execrable.

Judge for yourself via the accompanying YouTube video. Also appearing will be the comedians Paul F. Tompkins and Maria Bamford.

It’s been a crazy couple of days for former radio DJ Ted Williams, who has suddenly skyrocketed from being a homeless panhandler on the streets of Columbus, Ohio, to a viral Internet sensation now making the rounds of national TV shows. Thanks to the video shot by Doral Chenoweth III and posted on the Columbus Dispatch website, Ted Williams’ booming radio voice has reached the ears of millions of people, including potential employers.

What caught the web producer’s eye was Williams’ cardboard sign reading, “I have a God given gift of voice. I’m an ex-radio announcer who has fallen on hard times…” Williams says that he wrote the sign hoping that it would help him to find a job in radio or get some voice over work. After being trained in voice work and a career in radio, his life spiraled due to his abuse of drugs and alcohol. His last radio job was in Columbus, Ohio and in the past he worked at Columbus AM station WVKO.

The short clip of Chenoweth’s interview with Williams (shot 6 weeks ago, but not posted online until this Monday, since it was a “slow news day”) has obviously touched a nerve with people who have caused the video to become a huge hit on You Tube. And, now, job offers have been streaming in. Yesterday Williams got a call from the Cleveland Cavaliers, offering him a full-time job doing voice over and announcing work for their organization. They even sweetened the deal with a promise to pay the mortgage for him on a new home.

And, then today Williams was in New York City, where he was a guest on the Today Show, did some voice over for Kraft Foods and also got to reunite with his mother (Ted was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York), who he hasn’t seen in more than 20 years. It’s clear that he’s overwhelmed by the attention and outpouring of support and we can all hope that this will herald positive changes in Williams’ life.

The soap opera, which began in January 1951 currently airs 15-minute episodes 6 days a week and is now presumed to be the world’s longest running soap opera. According to a piece yesterday, although “The Archers” revolves around the seemingly unglamorous lives of people living in rural England, the program is one of the most popular shows on radio:

Here are my suggestions of gifts for radio lovers-2010 style:

1. 2011 Tower Site Calendar: This is the 10th edition of this calendar, which features photographs of towers, including radio towers. Put together by Scott Fybush, an associate of the radio tower loving Garrett Wollman (our very first Radio Obsessive); this calendar would be a great gift for radio engineers and fans of radio architecture.

2. Areaware SSKMRS Magno Model 1 Sustainable Personal Radio: I saw one of these gorgeous wooden radios in a local store this weekend and was in love. This would be the perfect gift for design-minded eco-conscious radio fans. It’s made from sustainable wood and a percentage of the sale goes to sustainable forest replanting.

3. Gear from Your Favorite Local Non-commercial Radio Station: One of the best purchases that you can make is gear from your local non-commercial radio station. Whether it’s a cool T-shirt, compilation CD or LP, baseball cap, fly swatter, or a shot glass; supporting local radio is a very good thing. Might I suggest the brand new KFJC zip-up hoodie? Or you could send some funds to WFMU in order to get your name on a balloon attached to station manager Ken Freedman during their Lift-Off event next week.

4. Fisher Price Build & Fix – Radio Repair Toy: I was excited to see an episode of the kids’ TV show Handy Mandy in which the protagonist heads over to a radio station to do some repairs. So, you can get your kids into the groove of understanding radio’s relavance by picking up this toy radio repair kit for them.

5. SportSyncRadio: Earlier this month I wrote about various radio options for sports fans who want to listen to a radio broadcast while watching a live event on television. This stand-alone radio is an all-in-one solution.

6. Another option for synchronizing radio with live sports is the Griffin Technology RadioShark AM / FM Desktop Radio with time-shift recording, which can also be used to record radio.

7. 40 Watts from Nowhere : A Journey into Pirate Radio: Every time a new pirate radio station appears on the scene, I’m reminded of this fascinating first-person account by Sue Carpenter. In this book she eloquently outlines the challenges of running a station based on anarchistic principles. You can read Matthew’s review of the book here.

8. Hello Kitty Boombox Wallet: I love that radio imagery is making its way into fashion and this Hello Kitty wallet adorned with a radio boombox is adorable.

9. Rhinestone Old School Boombox Gold Belt Buckle: This belt buckle is over-the-top, with its gilded boombox and is a great gift choice for radio fans who embrace hip hop culture and fashion or for anyone who wants to add a bit of glamor to their life.

10. Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound: There are lots of great radio books out there, but “reality” radio doesn’t get much ink. Here’s a recent book full of essays written by documentary radio practitioners, from Ira Glass to audio performance artists.