When Radio Was Good: 1979-1981.....
Jan. 19th, 2007 02:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1While going through my old audio tapes -- specifically, the ones I recorded during high school -- I found that there was a lot of stuff I taped off the radio. Not only did I have songs, but DJ voiceovers, commercials, and sounders. It was like listening to those radio programs all over again.
At the time, I was listening to the town's local album rock station, WGRQ-FM (aka "Q-FM-97" aka "97 Rock"). One night a week -- I think it was Sundays -- they had "97 Power Rock", which featured new wave bands that didn't get any airplay during the rest of the week. I remember hearing Elvis Costello, the Boomtown Rats, and XTC on that program. Eventually, some of the songs bled over into the rest of the week's rotation. I distinctly remember delivering papers one afternoon and hearing XTC's "Generals And Majors".
In the late spring or summer of 1980, a new radio station appeared on the horizon: WZIR-FM ("Wizard"). As with all new stations, they tried to find their niche. They had a program of space music on Friday nights called "Signals From Space". They played Dr. Demento (and split it across two nights). They even had a cat in the station named "Wizard". And at midnight, DJ Gary Storm had his "Oil Of Dog" show, where he brought us "nothin', nothin', nothin' but love". (The theme song was called "I Hate You", by an artist I can't name.) The station didn't even last one year; by the summer of '81, Wizard was gone. Apparently the station couldn't bring in the numbers that the suits wanted, and so they changed formats. *sigh*
The closest thing I've found to free-form radio since then is a program on Cincinnati's WOFX-FM ("The Fox"). On Sunday nights from 6-9, Mary Peale hosts "Jelly Pudding", which features a lot of obscure music from artists I've either heard of, marginally heard of, or not at all. I think it's great.
At the time, I was listening to the town's local album rock station, WGRQ-FM (aka "Q-FM-97" aka "97 Rock"). One night a week -- I think it was Sundays -- they had "97 Power Rock", which featured new wave bands that didn't get any airplay during the rest of the week. I remember hearing Elvis Costello, the Boomtown Rats, and XTC on that program. Eventually, some of the songs bled over into the rest of the week's rotation. I distinctly remember delivering papers one afternoon and hearing XTC's "Generals And Majors".
In the late spring or summer of 1980, a new radio station appeared on the horizon: WZIR-FM ("Wizard"). As with all new stations, they tried to find their niche. They had a program of space music on Friday nights called "Signals From Space". They played Dr. Demento (and split it across two nights). They even had a cat in the station named "Wizard". And at midnight, DJ Gary Storm had his "Oil Of Dog" show, where he brought us "nothin', nothin', nothin' but love". (The theme song was called "I Hate You", by an artist I can't name.) The station didn't even last one year; by the summer of '81, Wizard was gone. Apparently the station couldn't bring in the numbers that the suits wanted, and so they changed formats. *sigh*
The closest thing I've found to free-form radio since then is a program on Cincinnati's WOFX-FM ("The Fox"). On Sunday nights from 6-9, Mary Peale hosts "Jelly Pudding", which features a lot of obscure music from artists I've either heard of, marginally heard of, or not at all. I think it's great.
