Radio Part 1

I'm now three weeks into the basic broadcasting course at Bellevue College. Why? After a good run DJing at the Lava Lounge (which I still love with a fiery passion) I decided radio would be the next logical step. While I was born well after the golden age of radio, it still meant a lot to me growing up. Especially college/community radio. It was a free means of discovering a world of new music. KBOO out of Portland used to run a real hip hop show when I was just ten years old and all commercial radio would touch was MC Hammer and Salt n' Pepa. KUFO, the album oriented rock station, turned me on to Black Sabbath, Rush and other arena rock staples that were too abrasive to fit into my parents record collection. Late night classic rock radio would present classic records in their entirety, presenting the hits in context with the misses, long jams and experimental workouts that were common place in a time before I was born. Thus starting the love affair I've maintained with radio despite the horrible shape it's been in most of my life.
Upon moving to Seattle, better community radio was avaliable. This was shortly before KCMU, the UW radio station, was bought out by billionaire Paul Allen and became what those in the Seattle area now know as KEXP. While I didn't care for about 90% of what I heard on KEXP, the format was still amazing to me. Abandoning the perpetual cycle of radio hits that would repeat ad nauseam on FM radio, DJ's were allowed the freedom to play records because they actually thought they were good and needed to be heard. I may be repulsed by the music of the Long Winters or Pedro the Lion but at least I was able to figure that out for free on the radio. In addition to the eclectic mid day DJ's, there were amazing specialty shows highlighting specific genres and themes. The other community supported radio station in Seattle at that time (and currently) was KBCS in Bellevue. Between the two, there were many oppourtunities to enjoy long blocks of old country, gospel, multiple regions of world music, avant garde composition and improv, jazz, techno, blues and reggae.
It was around this time that I became more aware of a DJ across the pond by the name of John Peel. Serving for decades on Britains publicly funded broadcasting system, John Peel never compromised his taste and was constantly on the look out for exciting music to share with the public. He would astutely listen to thousands of records that came his way and played a major part in breaking some of the most important artists of our time, not only by playing their records but by hosting countless in studio live performances (many of which were released under the moniker "the Peel Sessions"). Peel's integrity and good intuitions were a constant in his entire career, helping out bands from T Rex to Gang of Four to Napalm Death to Nirvana and many more in between (one of his last sessions was with sunn 0)))!!! How's that for not growing soft in old age?). John Peel seemed to me the ultimate role model of what one could do with access to airwaves.
Now back to modern times. When I got the job at the Lava Lounge, I was replacing someone on a funk and soul night. This was music I loved and had no problem filling that spot. As time went by, I extended my playlists to incorporated all manner of music that would fit the feel of good vibes assosciated with funk and soul. Jazz, rock, disco, tropicalia, pop were all intertwined in the sets without ever disturbing the soulful sounds. One of my major loves in music was one that was not too bar friendly and therefore never became a dominant on any of my DJ nights. In a word, PSYCHEDELIA. All manner of experimental rock, prog, meditative works relying on repetition, meandering works that never repeat. Other worldly soundscapes imagined in the post acid age. This is the kind of music I would like to bring to the radio. The problem I have with the term is that it seems to apply strictly to an experience related to drugs and that is not always the case. However, this would ultimately be how it is marketed and radio is a market place (this is drilled in my head every day in class). Proposing the idea for the show is something I've been kicking around in my head for months. I know there is an interest in this music in Seattle. There's a huge trend in reissuing obscure psych nuggets from yesteryears. When I worked at the record store, I saw hundreds come and go and people were buying them. There's an actual audience that could be tapped and there is nowhere in Seattle's radio market that represents these records. Now how do I convince a program director this?
When the idea of my radio show became an aspiration instead of just an idea, a friend of mine put me in touch with one of the program directors at KBCS. She was helpful and encouraging but recommended that since I had no prior radio experience, I should take the basic broadcasting course. So I enrolled. I figured initially that I would be more involved with the KBCS staff and I would have a chance to network and meet students that may share my visions. Oh how wrong I was. Aside from the technical end, the bulk of the curriculum is aimed strictly at commercial radio in the post Telecommuniacations Act of 1996 age. Everyone in the class is interested in sports radio or other Clear Channel dreck and I feel like the only student who genuinely loves music and wants to preserve radio as a means of hearing exciting new sounds. I'm already becoming a target for jokes in class discussions. Also, my instructor has no affiliation with the college station. She works for KOMO news radio. It's a struggle to want to excel in this class but I'm still determined to chase this dream and this is a small step in doing so.
Soon, I will begin proposing my show to KBCS. I'd heard recntly that they are cutting programming and DJ's are losing their shows (including the woman I had talked to about getting on the station). So maybe I go to KEXP with the idea. It will be considerabley more difficult given the popularity of the station but I do know more people on staff there and who you know is crucial. Maybe I'll go to pirate radio where people can only hear me in a one mile radius but at least I'll have my freedom. These are the things I fall asleep thinking about these days and I will surely be writing more on the subject.
In closing, I leave you with some inspirational words and keen observations by Neal Peart.

Begin the day
With a friendly voice
A companion, unobtrusive
Plays that song thats so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood

Off on your way
Hit the open road
There is magic at your fingers
For the spirit ever lingers
Undemanding contact
In your happy solitude

Invisible airwaves
Crackle with life
Bright antennae bristle
With the energy
Emotional feedback
On a timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price ---
Almost free...

All this machinery
Making modern music
Can still be open-hearted
Not so coldly charted
Its really just a question
Of your honesty

One likes to believe
In the freedom of music
But glittering prizes
And endless compromises
Shatter the illusion
Of integrity

For the words of the profits
Are written on the studio wall,
Concert hall ---
Echoes with the sounds...
Of salesmen.