College Radio Day is Today

Today marks the first annual College Radio Day. More than 350 stations all over the United States and Canada have signed up to participate. The concept’s fairly simple, it’s a day when people are encouraged to tune in to college radio and the goal is increasing awareness of the amazing range of stations based at colleges and universities.

Participating stations don’t have to do much beyond airing a 15-minute documentary about college radio’s “past, present, and future.” However, many stations have taken the opportunity to create special programming and events to spread the word about not only their stations, but also college radio.

On KFJC (where I volunteer and DJ) yesterday there was a pre-College Radio Day discussion on “Thoughtline” about not only College Radio Day, but also the fight to save KUSF. You can hear the archive (mp3) of that show for the next 2 weeks. KZSU will be hosting a live remote from the center of their campus today and a free concert at Stanford University tonight. KUCR, which is celebrating its 45th anniversary at University of California, Riverside, will be airing special programming between 3 and 5pm today.

When I spoke with College Radio Day founder Rob Quicke back in June, he told me that the day was originally conceived as simply celebration of college radio; but that stance has changed a bit considering some of the college radio stations currently fighting for their licenses. In fact, College Radio Day’s blog today states:

“It’s time to raise awareness of the college and high school radio stations across North America. It’s time to start tuning in and fighting back against the corporate takeover of radio. It’s time to support creative programming and truly independent content and music you can’t find anywhere else. It’s time to start giving back to the stations that help break the bands you love…”

For me, every day is College Radio Day. I pretty much listen to college radio exclusively, I spend time every week volunteering at KFJC, and I think and write about college radio on  a daily basis.

My hope is that on College Radio Day people not only check out the left side of the dial, but that they also start paying attention to the precarious state that college radio is in. I applaud the commitment and passion that supporters of college stations have put into fighting the sale of KTRU and the pending sales of WRVU and KUSF. For me, those individuals and those stations are the heroes of College Radio Day.

Here’s what I hope college radio supporters will do today:

1. Tune in to your favorite college radio station

2. Donate to your favorite college radio station

3. Tell your friends to listen to college radio today

4. Listen to a college station that you’ve never heard before (scan the dial of your terrestrial radio, sample a variety of college radio shows using a tool like Soundtap or its College Radio Map predecessor that lists the best freeform stations on  a map of the U.S. and Canada, or look at some station options at my Spinning Indie 50 state tour project)

5. Help a college station in need (Save KUSF/KUSF in Exile and Viva WRVU come to mind here) and educate yourself about how to help save college radio (here are some resources and tips)

6. If you’re at a college radio station, make sure you don’t take your station for granted. Keep your eyes open and take steps to ensure your survival

CMJ's 2011 College Radio Awards

Yesterday CMJ announced the nominees for its annual College Radio Awards.

Based on nominations submitted by folks who report their playlists/charts to the music publication, the list of nominees includes college and community radio stations, as well as individuals who work in college radio or at college radio-connected organizations.

I was excited to see that my very own college radio home, KFJC, is nominated for most adventurous station and that KUSF in Exile is in the running for best student-run, Internet-only station.

People attending the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City next month will be eligible to vote in the College Radio Awards and winners will be announced at the conference during CMJ’s College Day on October 20, 2011. The list is a mix of stations who have won numerous CMJ awards before (CJLO and KSSU in particular), as well as some newcomers.

And the 2011 CMJ College Radio Awards station nominees (go to CMJ to see the industry nominees) are:

Station Of The Year:
CJLO (Montreal)
KUOM (Minneapolis)
WKDU (Philadelphia)
WLUW (Chicago)

Music Director Of The Year:
Paul Brown, WKDU
Omar Husain, CJLO
Bill Schneiderhan, WSYC
Thor Slaughter, KWVA
Caleigh Souhan, KUOM

Specialty Music Director Of The Year:
Kelly Belfro, CJLO
Kate Estwing, KDHX
Brian Joseph, CJLO
Claire Sullentrop, WSOU
Andrew Wieler, CJLO

Biggest Champion Of The Local Scene:
CFUV (Victoria)
CJSW (Calgary)
KUOM (Minneapolis)
RLC (Piscataway)
WKDU (Philadelphia)

Will Never Sell Out:
Paul Brown, WKDU
Omar Husain, CJLO
Susie Kuo, KSSU
Joni Sadler, CHUO
Thor Slaughter, KWVA

Biggest Community Resource:
CFUV (Victoria)
KCMP (St. Paul)
KDHX (St. Louis)
KUOM (Minneapolis)
KVRX (Austin)

Biggest Improvement:
KRNU (Lincoln)
KRUA (Anchorage)
WHUS (Storrs)
WLJS (Jacksonville)
WUTK (Knoxville)

Best Use Of Limited Resources:
CKXU (Lethbridge)
KSSU (Sacramento)
KXSC (Los Angeles)
RLC (Piscataway)
Radio UTD (Richardson)

Best Newcomer:
Frank Higuera, KXLU
Joe Iannuzzo, KUMD
Thor Slaughter, KWVA
Andrew Wieler, CJLO
Jess Wiza, WDBM

Most Adventurous:
CFUV (Victoria)
KBUT (Crested Butte)
KFJC (Los Altos Hills)
WFMU (Jersey City)
WVUM (Coral Gables)

Best Student-Run, Internet-Only Station:
CSCR (Fusion Radio) (Toronto)
KUSF In Exile (San Francisco)
Osprey Radio (Jacksonville)
Rainy Dawg Radio (Seattle)
Radio UTD (Richardson)

Outstanding Leadership In College Radio:
Marissa Greenberg, WPUB
Omar Husain, CJLO
Susie Kuo, KSSU
Jon Schober, KUOM
Caleigh Souhan, KUOM

Not long ago I was driving down the San Francisco Bay Area’s Highway 280 and listening to Foothills Junior College’s KFJC-FM, and some really weird music came on. I tried to get what it was from the deejay’s back-announce commentary, but got distracted by traffic. Anyway, it sounded like Karlheinz Stockhausen’s piece for String Quartet and Helicopter, or something like that.

But by paying attention to my response to the piece, I noticed that I always do the same five things whenever I hear something really weird on the radio.

1. I start looking at the radio.

I have no idea why I do this. What do I expect, that the radio is going to look back at me? My look is, like, “why are you playing this piece?” Or, “what are you doing?” The radio, of course, never responds (thank God).

2. I debate with myself whether I want to keep listening.

The music in question is always very interesting, yet taxing at the same time. So I ponder whether I want to keep listening. The thing that usually keeps me around for sure is curiosity about the identity of the piece, so I stay.

3. I continuously wonder who wrote the piece.

I rummage around the disheveled card catalogue that is my brain trying to identify the author of the composition. Brian Eno? Krzysztof Penderecki? Milton Babbit? Laurie Anderson? Frank Zappa? I may not get the composer right, but always impress myself with the sheer volume of weird music maker names that I can recall.

4. I argue with myself over whether the radio station should be playing this kind of music.

“Is anyone else listening to this besides me?” I wonder. The great “elitism vs. reaching-out-to-the-masses” debate churns away in my mind. My colleague Paul Riismandel has some interesting and useful thoughts about this in his latest post. As for me, the issue never gets resolved.

5. I berate or congratulate myself for having identified the composer (or not).

If the announcer comes on and IDs the composer and I got him/her right, I’m very pleased with myself, of course. I usually give myself at least partial credit if I’m close.

But if I’m way off base, I feel a little embarrassed. Then it occurs to me that I have just been introduced to someone new (at least to me). File this salubrious experience under the “new music discovery” category, I conclude. Thank you, community/college radio!

Record Store Day 2011 on Saturday April 16

I’m already starting to map out my list of record stores to hit this Saturday, April 16, 2011 for the 4th annual Record Store Day. Some people will be lining up for limited edition releases (particularly vinyl), others will be heading to stores to check out live performances, and many (like me) will just be happy to be out celebrating independent record shops and dropping some cash into their coffers.

As with last year’s event, there are a number of radio stations hooking up with like-minded independent record stores for special in-stores, DJ sets, parties, and limited edition releases. Here’s a short guide to some of the radio-related goings on:

Boise, Idaho: Radio Boise’s Record Store Day Pre-Party and Launch Celebration

On Friday, April 15 starting at 8pm, Radio Boise will host a party to celebrate the launch of their new community radio station and to serve as a kick-off for Record Store Day. Performances and DJ sets will be part of the event at Neurolux (111 N. 11th Street in Boise) which will also serve as a fundraiser for the new station.

Boulder and Denver Colorado: Radio DJs at Twist & Shout, Radio 1190 at Absolute Vinyl

University of Colorado’s college radio station KVCU (Radio 1190) will have members of their promotions team hanging out at Absolute Vinyl in Boulder (4474 Broadway) on Saturday for Record Store Day.

Twist & Shout (2508 E. Colfax, Denver) will feature a number of radio DJs spinning records at their store on Saturday. DJ Arturo Gomez from public jazz station KUVO spins from 10am to noon, DJs from community radio station KGNU are up from noon to 2pm, and Radio 1190 DJs are on from 2pm to 4pm (Professor Mikey and DJ Sam).

Calgary: CJSW to Air Record Store Day and Vinyl-Themed Programming

University of Calgary campus-community radio station CJSW will be celebrating Record Store Day with special programs starting at 7am Friday and continuing through Saturday, including vinyl showcases and interviews with folks from local record stores about both Record Store Day and the future of vinyl.

Chicago: Numero Group’s Pop-Up Radio Station

Take a look at Paul’s post earlier this week about the pop-up record store and radio station courtesy of the record label Numero Group. Their low power radio station WTNG will begin streaming at 9pm Central time on Friday, April 15. The terrestrial broadcast over 89.9 FM will air on Saturday from 9am to 9pm Central Time. A lovely PDF of the full schedule is posted on their blog.

Greenville, Illinois: WGRN Airing Record Store Day Special

Tonight from 8-10pm Central Time, WGRN at Greenville College aired a special focused on Record Store Day, featuring interviews with owners of local record stores, as well as an interview with one of the organizers of Record Store Day: Eric Levin.

Hoboken, New Jersey: WRXP DJ Paul Cavalconte at Tunes

Vinyl-loving WRXP DJ Paul Cavalconte (here’s an interview I did with him in 2009) will be hanging out at Tunes Records (225 Washington Street) in Hoboken, New Jersey from 1pm to 3pm. Another WRXP DJ, Rich Russo, will be trekking between various records stores in the vicinity of New York City and will document his journey on Twitter (@DJRichRusso).

Hollywood, CA: KCRW DJ Henry Rollins at Amoeba Music

At 2pm the rocker, poet, and KCRW DJ Henry Rollins will be spinning music at the Hollywood location of Amoeba Music on Saturday.

Minneapolis: Radio K’s “Stuck on AM 7: Stuck on Tape” Cassette Release

To coincide with Record Store Day, University of Minnesota station KUOM (aka Radio K) is releasing the latest in their series of recordings (“Stuck on AM”) culled from live performances at the station. This cassette, release (which also includes a code for free digital downloads of additional tracks) will be available free on Record Store Day at the Electric Fetus record store in Minneapolis. Radio K will also be at that event, playing music out of their Radio K van at a cookout in the backyard of the record store.

Portland, Maine: WCLZ’s Record Store Day Special

On Saturday from 9am to 10am Eastern time, Portland radio station WCLZ will air a Record Store Day special featuring Bull Moose staffer (and Record Store Day visionary) Chris Brown playing Record Store Day exclusive releases.

San Francisco: Live 105′s Aaron Axelson at Amoeba Records

Commercial radio station Live 105′s DJ Aaron Axelson will be at Amoeba Records on Haight Street from noon to 8pm Saturday with a live broadcast and on-air interviews.

San Jose, CA: KFJC DJ Curtis Kimby spinning at Streetlight Records

At 11am KFJC DJ Curtis Kimby will be spinning records at Streetlight Records (980 S. Bascom Street) in San Jose on Saturday. Live performances by Judgement Day and Mercy Ties will happen later in the day starting at 4pm.

If you know of other radio stations doing special events in honor of Record Store Day, please add details in the comments section.

Activating the Medium XIV's Radio Love. (Image from 23five)

Radio doesn’t always begin and end with a broadcast over the airwaves. Sometimes radio transmissions are used by artists as another tool for creative expression.

This year the arts organization 23five is curating the Activating the Medium XIV festival in San Francisco and will present several performances and radio broadcasts focused on the theme of radio as source material. The festival began on April 7th with performances by Richard Garet, Jim Haynes and Allison Holt at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and will continue with events at The Lab on April 22 and 23. In addition to these live events, the series will also feature a number of radio broadcasts on KALX (on Information Overload April 7 and 21), KPFA (April 12 and 19) and on my home station KFJC (April 16) . The next radio special will air tonight starting at 11:59pm on the KPFA program No Other Radio.

To learn more about this year’s festival, I spoke with Jim Haynes of 23five. Jim is not only an artist, but he is also the principle curator and organizer for the 2011 event. According to Jim, the annual Activating the Medium festival is always designed around a particular theme and is meant to be a showcase for works by “sound artists, avant-garde composers, and experimental musicians.” Past themes have included  “the field recording, sound & architecture, the simulacrum, and ice.” When I asked Jim about how radio came to be the theme for 2011, he explained that, “Radio has long been a tool within the history of avant-garde composition, tracking back to Stockhausen, Cage, and Tenney; but within the history of 23five, the first Activating The Medium festival evolved out of Randy Yau’s radio show at Cal Poly called ‘Dark Market Broadcast’ — this being a reference to an incredible album by sonic provocateur John Duncan, who heavily uses radio within composition. It seemed a logical theme to employ given my own preferences for shortwave radio within composition and performance and Randy’s background with the medium.”

In addition to artists using radio as source material for their work, during the festival many of these pieces will also be broadcast over radio stations in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Jim explained that,

“It seemed self-evident to us that if we were going to be curating works sourced from radio, then we should try to broadcast such work over the radio. So, we sent out a call to a number of artists to contribute to a radio series. The response was incredible, and we have well over three hours of material from an impressive array of artists, including such acclaimed artists as Leif Elggren, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Dave Phillips, and Giancarlo Toniutti. There’s also a considerable amount of material from emerging artists, who will hopefully receive some exposure from this series. Within the series, there’s quite a wide variety of works such as those by Vertonen and irr. app. (ext.) who use static, noise, distortion, and sonic detritus; then one will find the culture jamming media collage from Lisa Seitz and Adam Sonderberg; and this would be coupled with the sublime contributions of slippery surfaces and hazy impressionism from Richard Garet and Colin Andrew Sheffield.”

Jim said that in terms of his own art, he’s particularly drawn to exploring the concept of decay and radio has been a useful tool for his work. He explained this, as well as his interest in shortwave radio and numbers stations, saying,

“My own visual and sound constructions work with systems of decay, and radio had proven to be a rich tool within composition to speak of corrosion. While there is the very concrete actualization of decay by means of radio by tuning into weak and/or interfered transmissions which breakdown in static and grey noise, I find that shortwave radio, in particular, is loaded with metaphors of instability and the unknown. An obvious example of shortwave’s mystery would be numbers stations, whose mechanical recitations of coded messages are downright spooky in their delivery, doubled by the likelihood that these transmissions originate from intelligence organizations around the world (i.e. CIA, M16, MOSSAD, etc.). While I have used numbers stations in very early works, I typically use sine waves from the upper & lower side bands of the spectrum, shepard tones of noise, and streams from utility signals.”

Although Jim told me that there aren’t many radio stations willing to play sound art, he did find willing participants at several college and community radio stations, including KFJC. KFJC DJ Nozmo King (former host of “Psychoacoustic Soundclash”) will be presenting his Activating the Medium special this Saturday, April 16 from 3 to 6pm (Pacific Time) on the Foothill College station (89.7 FM) in his old timeslot. I spoke with Nozmo King (aka Dan Kletter) about what he has in store for the radio special. Dan said that he’s been attending the Activating the Medium festival for many years and has always enjoyed helping to promote it over the airwaves. In terms of Saturday’s radio show, he told me, “Over 30 artists were asked to contribute a piece that was 10 minutes or less. We’ve got about 28 or 29 tracks right now. Since the Psychoacoustic Soundclash was all about looking at things sideways, I have been thinking about how I can present all the material as a performance. Sort of an homage to Negativland.”

Dan said that he likes the idea of composers using radio as source material and explained that there is a rich history of artists doing just that. He said,

“There are so many ways to use any sound source. This reminds me of a quote that often gets attributed to Picasso: ‘Good artists copy. Great artists steal.’ As long as whatever is taken is used to make something entirely else — and this is key — as a reflection of themselves.

I’ve heard some great things done with radio. I’m thinking specifically of Negativland who produced radio performances and sampled radio for use in their performances. I rely on field recordings quite a bit. Sampling radio, whether it’s static in between stations, interference, shortwave or just sampling directly from other programs is fun to work with. There was a DJ who tried using radio as a live instrument of decaying feedback on KFJC a few years ago. I owe a lot to J.C. Clone and crew with their Pumpkinhead performances.

Historically, radio has been put to good use by Stockhausen, Tenny, Cage, Maxfield, AMM, John Duncan, Stereolab, Kraftwerk, The Silver Apples, etc. etc.”

When I asked Dan if he knew the origins of the radio sources being used in the festival and if there were samples from radio broadcasts from KFJC, he said, “That would be pretty cool!”, but admitted that he didn’t know if there were. He added, “Camilla Hannan sampled an interview from Australian radio. The person speaking is complaining about the failures of his government in Paupa New Guinea and there’s a thunderstorm brewing in the background. I love it when intention is interrupted by the unanticipated. I try to nurture happy accidents whenever I do radio.”

More details on the Activating the Medium festival, including a schedule of performances and radio broadcasts can be found on the 23five website.

Advertisement for the 1983 KFJC Maximum Louie Louie marathon crafted by Eric Predoehl

Back in 1983 college radio station KFJC (where I currently DJ) embarked on an ambitious project to do a radio marathon featuring hundreds of different versions of the song “Louie Louie.”

Soliciting help from both musicians and listeners (one of my close friends fondly recalls heading up to KFJC to drop off the cassette tape that her family recorded for the event), KFJC was able to broadcast 823 different versions of “Louie Louie” in their “Maximum Louie Louie” marathon that lasted for more than 63 hours beginning on August 19, 1983.

As an homage to this storied event from KFJC’s past, several of the original “Maximum Louie Louie” instigators are coming back to the station this coming Monday, April 11th in celebration of International Louie Louie Day. They will be playing various versions of Louie Louie and will no doubt be reminiscing about the 1983 marathon. Former KFJC volunteer Eric Predoehl was on hand filming the original Maximum Louie Louie back in 1983 and has continued in his quest to document all things Louie Louie ever since. His tireless efforts can be found on his website The Louie Report. In addition to that, he is in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign in order to focus more attention on a documentary film that he is working on called “The Meaning of Louie.”

As soon as I heard about Monday’s Louie Louie special I got in touch with Eric in order to learn more about both the 1983 marathon and this week’s “The Return of the Invasion of MAXIMUM LOUIE LOUIE” (airing on KFJC 89.7FM in Los Altos Hills this Monday, April 11th from 7 to 11pm). Eric shared with me the amazing story behind the original marathon as well as his ongoing efforts to document the story of Louie Louie and its author Richard Berry.

Jennifer Waits: What was Maximum Louie Louie and how did it come about?

Eric Predoehl: “Maximum LOUIE LOUIE” was an outrageous radio marathon assembled at KFJC in August 1983 as a response to the 24 hour LOUIE LOUIE marathon that took place six months prior across the bay at KALX (Berkeley).   There was a bit of a friendly rivalry going on with KFJC being the first radio station to broadcast an hour’s worth of LOUIE LOUIEs by DJ Stretch Riedle.   When some of the folks at KALX heard about of the initial one hour LOUIE LOUIE broadcast, they did their own LOUIE program, which led to a series of competing LOUIE radio shows, with each trying to outdo the previous program with even more LOUIE LOUIE recordings.

When KFJC announced it would produce a “Maximum LOUIE LOUIE” program that would push the limits of LOUIE-dom, the staff of KALX actually worked with KFJC to achieve that goal, sharing all of their exclusive LOUIE recordings, with KALX DJ Mel C. (aka “The Amazing Mystery DJ”) joining KFJC DJ’s for some on-air commentary about the event.

It was truly a remarkable scene at KFJC.   There was a lot of media attention with extensive articles in all the local newspapers, and every TV station in the Bay Area seemed to have a camera crew during the very first hour of this event. The event ultimately lasted 63 hours with over 800 unique versions of the song.

Richard Berry, the author of this song, was invited as a special guest for this event.   He had no idea that there was such a big interest in the song.  At the time of this event he was struggling to survive, assisted by welfare benefits. He’d never experienced such appreciation for his music, and it was truly a life-changing moment for him.

Jennifer: What was your role in the original Maximum Louie Louie?

Eric: My actual role in the marathon was minimal.  I created a few flyers to promote the event, and recorded a parody version of the song (sort of a mashup of LOUIE with Flipper’s “Brainwash”), but had nothing to do with organizing the event, which was handled by a dedicated team of 30+ volunteers managed by Stretch Riedle, Frank “Phil Dirt” Luft and Doc Pelzel.

What I did do was simply borrow some video equipment from the local cable access channel, and document as much of this event as much as I could.   As all of the TV stations left after the first few hours of this event, I wound up being the only person shooting any extensive video footage of the event, which included the surprise visit by Jack Ely, the original vocalist of the Kingsmen, who’d never met Richard Berry before.  After flying in from Oregon, Jack met up with Richard, and they wound up performing a magnificent 45 minute version of the song that was broadcast live over the radio, with my video footage being the only existing footage of this historic event.

Jennifer: Is KFJC the focus of your Louie Louie documentary? When can people expect to be able to see that?

Eric: KFJC was the starting point for my documentary project on the song LOUIE LOUIE. After hearing about the personal life stories of Richard Berry and Jack Ely, as well as all of the unusual connected stories, I decided to use the KFJC footage as the seed for an even bigger project about the song itself.  I wound up petitioning the FBI for the files connected to the investigation of the song using the Freedom of Information Act, which I’ve been told was the first time any non-government worker had ever asked for this material.

In the course of my project, I did a lot of research with everyone I could find that was connected to the story of LOUIE LOUIE – members of the Kingsmen, Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Wailers, the Sonics, Little Bill & the Bluenotes, the Frantics, and so many others. I spent quite a bit of time with Richard Berry, visiting him in Los Angeles, documenting most of his Bay Area appearances, and keeping in regular touch with him until his death in 1997. Richard is the primary reason why I started this project, as I considered it a great honor that he entrusted me with the power to tell the full side of his story.

It’s been a challenge to finish this film.   There’s been a lot of obstacles involving clearances, financial issues, estate matters, and various logistics associated with the project.  Despite my best efforts, I’ve not been able to obtain proper funding to complete this project.   I recently embarked on a Kickstarter campaign to allow me to produce a presentation edit of the completed documentary that I’ll use to secure final clearances and find the proper production/distribution company for this program.

Jennifer: What do you have in store for Monday’s special on KFJC and who will be hosting/guiding that special?

Eric: Monday will be a big celebration of “International LOUIE LOUIE Day” – an event created by a consortium of international LOUIE enthusiasts.   To celebrate this special day, I’ll be joined by the two guys responsible for producing the original “Maximum LOUIE LOUIE” marathon – Stretch Riedle and Frank “Phil Dirt” Luft, as well as “Nikki Teen” (aka Robyn Braverman) another alumni of the big marathon.

This special radio show will recreate some of the magic of the original marathon, using archival recordings nobody’s heard in over 20 years, including some radio spots by DJs that are no longer with us.  The show will also present some exclusive snippets from the upcoming documentary, including interviews and performances that have never before been broadcast in any shape or form. Expect to hear some unique and absolutely entertaining versions of LOUIE LOUIE. There will be some very rare Richard Berry performances also being aired for the first time ever.

Jennifer: It seems that the special got more press attention than any other KFJC event. Why do you think the 1983 special resonated so much with listeners?

Eric: The Maximum LOUIE LOUIE marathon was successful for various reasons. First, the staff at KFJC radio was a dedicated, focused group of individuals that understood the significance of the song, and was able to organize a very successful, well-organized event that could be easily promoted via word of mouth.

Second, the simplicity of the song itself lent itself to musical empowerment. One need not be a great musician to make a great recording of LOUIE LOUIE. Enthusiasm and attitude were far more entertaining than musical competence. The local community truly embraced the idea of being able to produce music that could be shared easily on broadcast radio, many years before the invention of YouTube and other social media networks.

Jennifer: What typically happens on Louie Louie Day?

Eric: International LOUIE LOUIE Day is not only Richard Berry’s birthday, but it’s also the anniversary of the day the Kingsmen regained control of their master recordings.    It’s truly a people’s movement, supported entirely by enthusiasts that appreciate the song, and all the absurdity attached to the song. There have been reports of a handful of LOUIE LOUIE DAY theme parties that taken place in various places around the globe, including some nightclubs in Germany, Spain, and England.

The most common occurrences of LOUIE LOUIE DAY tend to be random flash mobs in different parts of the world- LOUIE LOUIE performances that pop up in public places and then dissipate as quickly as they started.

More details about this special event can be found at LouieDay.org.

Jennifer: Anything else?

Eric: Thanks for your interest!  I don’t think it’s very likely you’ll ever hear any radio shows that will sound anything at all like “The Return of the Invasion of MAXIMUM LOUIE LOUIE” show on April 11.

Expect some surprises!

me gotta go now….

Sticker on the wall at WFMU (Photo: J. Waits)

Although the shutdown of beloved college radio station KUSF has been devastating for radio and independent media fans in the San Francisco Bay Area; the outpouring of support for the station has been amazing to watch.

This Friday, February 18th from 12noon to 3pm Pacific time, KUSF DJs will be on the stage at Amoeba Music in San Francisco playing sets of music like they did in the days before their station was shut down on January 18th.

New Jersey-based free form community radio station WFMU is leading the charge on an ambitious multi-radio station live remote broadcast. The live event at Amoeba on Haight Street will be broadcast both online and terrestrially on WFMU (91.1 FM in New Jersey), Stanford University station KZSU (90.1 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area), Loyola Marymount station KXLU (88.9 FM in Los Angeles), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill station WXYC (89.3 FM in Chapel Hill, North Carolina), and Foothill College station KFJC (89.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area). More stations are expected to be announced in the coming days.

KUSF DJs on the bill include Irwin (Sleeves on Hearts), Carolyn, Stereo Steve, Jantine B, Harry D (In the Soul Kitchen), and DJ Schmeejay (Radiodrome).

WFMU DJ Billy Jam, who organized this event (and will MC it along with fellow WFMU DJ Gaylord Fields) is a long-time college and community radio DJ, having spent time on the airwaves of KUSF, KALX, and KPFA prior to his current stint at WFMU. He told me that he’s regularly back in the San Francisco Bay Area doing live remote broadcasts. A few weeks ago he and WFMU General Manager Ken Freedman came up with the idea to “do a third WFMU Bay Area remote broadcast with all KUSF DJs.” After approaching Amoeba music to host the event, Billy Jam proceeded to recruit other radio stations to participate in a multi-station live remote broadcast.

According to Billy Jam, the goal of the event is “To celebrate the greatness that was (and hopefully soon again will be) KUSF on the FM dial where it deserves to be. There are six KUSF DJs going to do half hour sets each… and I have asked them all to include as many KUSF 90.3FM celebrity IDs and ‘drops’ as possible so it sounds like the good ole KUSF pre Jan 18th 2011. But mostly the goal is to further raise awareness and help fight the good fight to SAVE KUSF…”

Billy Jam said that it’s important to spread the word about the situation at KUSF for a few key reasons:

“First KUSF is an integral part of the cultural fabric of San Francisco and the notion that it being only online is the same thing in this digital age is just bull—-. And perhaps more importantly it is part of an ugly trend of US college radio stations getting sold off, and hence is a direct attack on independent media (an endangered species already) everywhere.”

Neal Hartmann Stokes, a DJ at one of the participating stations, WXYC (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s college radio station), told me that he heard about the simulcast on Facebook.  He explained,

“I used to live in San Francisco, and I have friends who were DJs at KUSF. I’ve been hearing lots from them about the campaign to save the station and I’ve been eager to help. When I saw that other stations were going to simulcast, I wrote the WXYC listserv asking if it was something we should do as well. The answer was a resounding yes–folks at WXYC were excited at the idea of using our platform to spread the word about KUSF. We were disheartened by the backhanded sale of KUSF’s FM license. This seemed like a constructive way to both show support for another community radio station, while informing our listening community about what’s happening to KUSF.”

Speaking to the broader trend of college radio station shut-downs, Neal added,

“The student or volunteer-run community radio station might seem anachronistic these days, but there’s still a number of thriving stations like ours around the country. Like many such stations, KUSF wasn’t just an underground radio station–it was a valued part of, and reflection of, a diverse and richly nuanced local culture. Communities lose something vital when voices like this are shut out. It’s important for people to realize that this is part of an ongoing trend in media–and we’ll see more stations shuttered if we don’t take a stand and support community media.”

Billy Jam is optimistic that several more radio stations will join up with the expanding list of stations airing the live remote all over the country. Interested stations can email billyjam AT WFMU dot ORG.

UPDATE ON FRIDAY, FEB. 18, 2011 at 10:30AM: The list of stations participating has grown to 12 stations from all over the U.S. In addition to the previously announced WFMU, KXLU, KZSU, WXYC and KFJC; WREK 91.1 FM (Georgia Tech, Atlanta), WITC 88.9 FM (Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY), KDVS 90.3 FM (University of California, Davis), KVRX 91.7 FM (University of Texas, Austin), KALX 90.7 FM (University of California, Berkeley), WCBN 88.3FM (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), and KRFP 92.5FM (Radio Free Moscow, Moscow, Idaho) will also be broadcasting the event.

***

Complete Radio Survivor coverage about the proposed sale of KUSF can be found here. I also wrote about my reaction to the KUSF shut down on Spinning Indie.  My article chronicling my KUSF field trip 2 years ago is housed there too. 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.

Gobble Gobble

Every year on Thanksgiving a number of stations all over the United States air the 18 minute plus song “Alice’s Restaurant” by Arlo Guthrie.

Here in San Francisco, KFOG (104.5FM San Francisco/97.7FM San Jose) has been honoring that tradition for many years and will air the song twice tomorrow (Thursday, November 25, 2010), at 12noon and 6pm Pacific time in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The first public performance of the song was actually over the radio airwaves at New York station WBAI in 1967.

A few years back, I used to enjoy hearing KFJC DJ Dave Richoux do food-themed jazz shows on Thanksgiving. He won’t be doing a special this year, but here are a number of other options for your Thanksgiving listening pleasure:

WUMB (91.9 FM, Boston)

WUMB will be airing “Alice’s Restaurant” at 12noon Eastern time on Thanksgiving and will also be devoting the day’s programming to music documentaries and concerts, mainly focused on folk and country artists.

WBAI (99.5 FM, New York City)

Pacifica radio station WBAI in New York will be airing special programming to celebrate Indigenous Day.

WSCA (106.1 FM, Portsmouth, New Hampshire)

Portsmouth Community Radio DJ Shawn Henderson will be doing a “Thanksgiving with the Beatles” special in which he airs every Beatles song in alphabetical order starting at 7am Eastern time. Last year’s special was 13 hours long and this year’s is expected to take about 15 hours. You can also catch some Thanksgiving-themed radio drama and comedy (which aired last night) in the WSCA hourly mp3 archives (mp3).

Moody Radio (103.3 FM, Cleveland, Ohio)

Moody Radio is airing their original production, “The Crossing: A Cabin Boy’s Journal,” at 2pm on Thanksgiving. The Moody Bible Institute’s radio drama tells the tale of a cabin boy on the Mayflower. The special airs again on Sunday, November 28 at 3pm and can also be heard on their website.

The Splendid Table (syndicated, airing on numerous public radio stations)

The syndicated public radio show “The Splendid Table” will be airing a live, call-in special on Thursday beginning at 11am Eastern time focused on “Turkey Triage.”

If you know of other interesting radio specials this Thanksgiving, please add them to the comments.

RIP Emmett Boaz of WTJU. (photo courtesy WTJU)

Non-commercial radio DJs and staff members rarely get the public recognition that they should. When it comes time to nominate people for Radio Halls of Fame, their names don’t always come up and when they die they don’t necessarily make it on the evening news.

But, often these committed radio fans have put in more time on the airwaves then their commercial counterparts, many of them sticking with the same station for decades.

Unfortunately in the past month or so, three important non-commercial radio figures have died; leaving their stations and listeners in mourning for their unique radio voices.

WTJU “Leftover Biscuits” DJ Emmett Boaz (March 2, 1947-November 6, 2010)

A WTJU volunteer and DJ since 1996, Emmett Boaz passed away on November 6th while doing his radio show “Leftover Biscuits.” Emmett’s Saturday morning show featured old time, early country, bluegrass, and blues music. The University of Virginia college radio station will be airing a tribute this Saturday, November 13th during which they will re-air one of Boaz’s programs from June which was meant to be “Emmett’s own version of his final show.” You might remember that after some programming changes at WTJU, a number of DJs threatened to quit their shows, including Emmett, so the show from June was from a period when he planned to leave the station. To the delight of listeners, he ended up coming back, so his “final show,” ended up being premature. Friends and listeners are invited to share their memories about Emmett Boaz on the Leftover Biscuits Facebook page.

KZGM Founder Gene Colliflower (July 7, 1944-November 7, 2010)

Missouri community radio station KZGM (aka KZ88) lost one of its founders, Gene Colliflower, this week. According to an obituary in the Houston Herald, Gene “…hosted a jazz program on KZGM (88.1 FM) but was also known for his humorous ‘traffic reports’ that ranged from ‘a yellow truck just went by’ to ‘traffic was so heavy the only way to get into the other lane was to buy the car next to you.’ The G in the radio station’s call letters represented Colliflower’s name (KZ represents Kazie Perkins and the M comes from Myron Jackson).” A relatively new station, KZGM began broadcasting in the Ozarks in 2009. Recently the Houston Herald published a nice piece about the station, which Colliflower had a hand in starting up.

KFJC “House of Games” DJ Jack Diamond (July 21, 1954-October 2, 2010)

I was surprised and saddened to hear the news that KFJC DJ “Jack Diamond” (aka David Singer) had died after battling lung cancer. When I first joined KFJC at Foothill College back in the late 1990s, Jack Diamond’s weekend show “House of Games” was a highlight of the college radio station’s program schedule. With a penchant for loungy, bachelor-pad-esque music, Jack Diamond’s playlists turned listeners on to bands like Esquivel, word poets like Ken Nordine, and to entire genres of music that many had never heard of before. Jack Diamond sported a deep raspy voice and an archivist’s appreciation for groovy retro sounds (see a few of his KFJC music reviews here). In a comment on his online obituary, DJ Fo from neighboring college radio station KZSU wrote, “Jack Diamond helped his listeners discover a world of musical magic they never would have found otherwise. Although I never met him, David was my inspiration. He taught many of us what good radio was, and he will be deeply missed.”

DJs Mona Lott and Tony DuShane at KFJC. Photo Courtesy Tony DuShane

On Radio Survivor we tend to talk more about what it means to be a radio listener than what it’s like to be behind the scenes as a radio DJ.

I’m one of those serial DJs who hasn’t been able to shake off the lure of hitting the airwaves year after year in order to both learn about new and obscure music, but also to share my love of music with others.

In an interview that I did recently with community radio DJ and Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk author Tony DuShane, I was struck by the importance that radio (and music) has played in his life and think that he speaks for many long-time DJs when he says:

“It’s an addiction. I have to DJ. There’s a difference when DJing at clubs and bars. When you’re DJing to FM airwaves, you’re DJing into space. There’s no feeling like it. It’s like inviting people over and playing records and talking about the records. Except your friends are in range of a transmitter. There could be five. There could be 5,000.”

For me, being on the microphone and the ritual of doing a radio show brings with it a surprising sense of calm, even though the minutes before my show are always fraught with panic about what to play first.

So, all of you DJs out there, what is it that keeps you coming back week after week?