College Radio

Twenty-five years ago I was a student disc jockey at WTUL 91.5 FM New Orleans, the college radio station of Tulane University. College radio has long been a bastion of underground and independent-label music, and in the 1990s, when such music was seeing a lot of mainstream success, these stations found the need to be even more vigilant in ensuring indie-music credibility. My music knowledge must have been hip enough to get a radio show but not enough to get a time slot when anyone was awake. So in my sophomore year of college I had a weekly radio program from 2-4am. I loved every minute of those late hours in the radio studio, located at that time in the ground level of Tulane’s student center. Sometimes my girlfriend Kelley (who is now my wife) would sit in the studio with me and do impromptu weather reports on air between songs. She would say something like, “The weather outside right now is dark! If you go outside, it’s dark out there!” Then with a smile she would say, “… and now back to you Matt!” and I would no doubt have a tragically hip song cued up to play over the airwaves.

I learned a few things during that time. I learned how to operate analog radio equipment, which included learning how to manage a broadcast should the Emergency Alert System need to get on the airwaves and warn people of some concern. I also learned that most of the listeners and supporters of the station were not college students but rather local residents with niche music interests. I found this out during our annual fundraiser when I was scheduled one afternoon to sit on a panel with other DJs during a live broadcast to raise money. We did the usual things: thanked our sponsors, announced giveaways, and talked up the station. We also took calls from listeners pledging money and requesting music tracks to be played on the air. The overwhelming majority of the callers were residents of New Orleans who listened to WTUL because it was the only station with regular programs dedicated to genres such as alternative country and bluegrass, thrash metal, experimental electronic music, and avante garde classical music.

In a time before Spotify and other streaming services opened up access to almost every conceivable genre of music, many college radio stations served their communities with off-the-beaten-path musical choices neglected by commercial radio. Over time I would see how the DJs of these niche genre shows at my radio station connected with their listeners, often knowing many of them by name as they would call the station during their broadcasts to chat and to request songs.

After Kelley and I got married and moved to Savannah in 2002, any idea of a career in radio was far behind me. I did find out that a local university, Armstrong Atlantic State University (now called Georgia Southern University—Armstrong Campus) hosts our area’s public radio broadcast. Though not the same as college students clumsily displaying their hipster credentials with their music selection, it was nice to know there is a college connection to the broadcasts of Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB). 

However, it was after living in the area for a while that I came across the real gem of local broadcasting in my new home. One evening while driving back from an event in neighboring South Carolina, I was scanning the airwaves and came across the voice of Ike Carter on 90.3 FM WHCJ Savannah. WHCJ is the college radio station of Savannah State University, a Historically Black University (HBU). Ike is the station manager and elder stateman of its broadcasters. The show that evening was modern jazz, and Ike effortlessly led listeners through songs and musician lineups of Blue Note Records royalty, as well as newcomers with innovative approaches to this venerable American art form. I was mesmerized, and 90.3 FM became a regular fixture on my car radio.

I do not drive as much in the evenings anymore, so I don’t often hear Ike’s shows, but mornings in my car are full of the sounds of gospel music from WHCJ. I could pull up a similar playlist of songs on Spotify or satellite radio, but I like listening to something that in some way connects to my local community. Also on Martin Luther King Jr. day, WHCJ broadcasts audio recordings of King’s speeches and sermons around the clock for the whole day, I have yet to hear another radio station or music service ever do that.

The future viability of AM radio has been discussed in Congress this year. Apparently car manufacturers see the AM bandwidth as an appendage of bygone days to be discontinued in vehicles; after all most listening in cars and trucks now come from people’s phones synced-in through bluetooth. I for one listen to my share of podcasts, streaming music, and satellite radio. Yet lately I have been spending more time on my AM/FM radio in the car and looking for broadcast towers when I drive by college campuses. We can gain something from the Ike Carters and the student DJs of our communities: a human connection, a community connection—not to mention great music.

Image Via: Wikimedia Commons