Underground radio? Howard Stern?

The real history of underground radio was the early days of FM. Low watt college stations like WGTB (Georgetown U.) who could call up a protest in an hour, play "cutting edge" music in many genre's it was wonderful stuff.

Howard Stern in a come-along, shock jock. Either your definitions are skewed, or you are way to young to know what underground radio really was until commercialization and NPR blather filled its shoes.

Of course, I realize that guys like Stern and Leykis are not representative of true "underground radio"...and i think I made a very clear point of that.

What they do represent is the closest thing there is to the spirit of underground in this era of fragmentation and narrowcasting.

Guys who make the kind of money Stern and Leykis make could never be called truly underground. But if we have to settle for "illusion" nowadays, they do a pretty good job of passing themselves off as outlaws.

I'll take what I can get.

And just for the record...I'll be fifty in May.

Why settle for illusion?

The closest we can expect in this day and age (to underground) radio is the internet. Except that it is not local, you are not tuned into what is happening locally, nor can you react at a local level.

To have experienced underground radio and it's impact on the protest of the Vietnam war, counterculture, non main-stream arts and music, was really something to behold. It was a passion, not an enterprise. It was borne out of love, not commodity or profit. It was totally different than what can be imagined if the likes of Stern is being used as the standard. He doesn't even come close.

Where was Stern during those halcyon days of protest? I think he was on the air somewhere, he's certainly old enough. That would be an interesting report. Was he an underground radio jock at a college somewhere?

Isaac Hayes Hot Buttered Soul was some greasy chicken. Whew, that took me back. But you're right. I can remember, late at night tuned into to the local underground station. We lived 8 miles away from a college. 10 miles out and you couldn't pick it up. There was some really good music coming out back then. The old J.J. Cale stuff was innovative, Some Dead, Miles Davis, an ecclectic mix. And I too, have a rather off-the-wall music collection because of it.

Wow. Jeff made a couple of good points, he's hung up on the Stern lead in, which does not typify the rest of the piece. I see where he's coming from.

For those who can't picture the era. Let me set the tone. We still had a Black and White T.V., we had an AM radio in the kitchen. We cooked oatmeal for breakfast, not minute oats or packages of instant oatmeal. Coffee was perked, not dripped. White bread (Wonder Bread) was standard fare. Levi's came in one style, flannel shirts were bought at Montgomery Wards in a 3-pack. And late nights were either Johnny Carson on the tube or underground radio back in the bed room, listening to obscure ethnic blends of percussion, alto sax and standup bass... maybe a Flora Purim cut or two....

That was life in the late '60s... Vietnam, the Space Race, the Cultural Revolution scaring the hell out of everyone... Divorce was a hushed secret... abortion wasn't even considered a topic of discussion.... that era was like a walk down a dark alley in a heavy 'hood.

Nice piece, jumpstarted my memory. Thanks.

Radio was once a wonderful place to be, alas, no more.

All the guys in underground radio discovered respectability and bills and sold out. You can only last so long on coffee, hash and pizza.

Hot Buttered Soul was some greasy chicken indeed...I wish I'd thought of that line while I was writing this piece. :>D

Wait, wait, wait. You're in Seattle? So you've got KEXP, one of the best radio stations in America. That's not underground radio?

I agree, KEXP is a very good station. Hell, I was a DJ there back when it was still KCMU. But it's still not quite there in terms of the spirit of original underground radio...at least in my opinion. Too much of a generally "politically correct" overtone...which in my mind is just another way of playing it safe (albeit a somewhat more adventurous way).

Plug Alert

always underground always interface

End PLug Alert

Glen, this is very good stuff.

I suggest the new underground radio is podcasting. Some podcasting is shit but then so was some of the underground radio.

Thanx DJ.

In terms of content, I'd be the first to agree about Internet radio. I've checked out a fair ammount of Internet broadcasts, and have come across some pretty interesting stuff. Being a fan (as I noted in the piece) of the old Art Bell show...I particularly like some of the wilder frimge talk on Internet radio (the oddball political extremists, apocalyptic evangelists,conspiracy theorists and the like).

I guess my only major complaint there would be the lack of mobility. Handheld devices and the like aside...you can't really take a 60 gig hard drive with a broadband connection with you on a camping trip to some remote outpost. Which can be the best backdrop for hearing a broadcast with a truly "underground" feel.

By the way, I haven't checked out BC radio yet, but definitely plan to. When I get the interview with Neil Young I'm currently working on...let me know if you guys can use any of what I get on tape too. Happy to oblige there if need be.

Interesting post and comments... I too have been lamenting the sorry state of radio for oh, going on 25 years now (lol).. the danger and the adventure is gone and has been for a long, long time.
Why" Because radio is programmed by people who are separated from their audience; they have no feel for the vibe. AND.. radio is hosted by people who don;t know or love music: they are simple tlaking heads: no opinions and zero imagination... it's a job.

I tearn for the days of in the early 70's (lol) listening to Montreal's legendary CHOM-FM, where people like Doug Pringle and Earl Jive and Reiner Schwartz explored music that they loved, and spoke of it in English AND in French and it truly was the "spirit of Montreal/l'esprit de Montreal"... damn, damn , damn...
I have solved it partially to my satisfaction with internet radio, listening to a select few stations and occasionally LOVING it so much, but as noted baove, tied to my desk..
I thought of satellite radio, tried it (blah), and ultimately settled on a 60GB iPod and loaded that sucker with about 2,000 CD's worth of music. Hardwired to my car radio or plugged into my home audio system on random, it's fantastic, altho, damn.. I miss the intelligent talk of music, of exploration, of considered opinions and people with respect for the intelligence of their audience... oh I miss it so...

Yeah, in the seventies we had the fantastic Radio Caroline, broadcasting in glorious AM from a boat in the North Sea. Great radio, loaded with album cuts by artists that I discovered as an early teenager thanks to them. This was, like, 1972-1974. Of course, what made it even more interesting was that they were a real pirate station. Unfortunately, those days are gone. It's all about the bucks now.

I work in music research for radio and have to say that a lot of stations play it safe because: a) they only test a certain number of songs and therefore don't dig deep enough to find more interesting songs, b) they want to target a narrow audience - one that advertisers want - but forget that there are more roads leading to Rome than they imagine, c) the Jack or Bob FM format is about as far as commercial stations are willing to go because station owners believe that the Jack format is broad. Of course it isn't. It's still pretty narrow and focuses mainly on 35-44 year olds.

I'm convinced, with the proper research, gut feeling and creativity, that there are possibilities for a successful format that reaches beyond the Jack format, that is more underground than anything heard on the radio in the past twenty or so years, and will blow the so-called Modern Rock and Alternative stations away.

BTW, I'm not writing this to promote my business. Just wanted to express my feelings... Chao!