Arlo Guthrie’s seasonally appropriate “Alice’s Restaurant” is getting dusted off once again for radio airplay this Thanksgiving 2023.

I’ve been documenting this radio ritual for many years (even while suffering with COVID last year) and was pleased to be able to speak to THE Alice in 2020. Our Radio Survivor conversation with Alice Brock is recommended listening, as it provides perspective on how Guthrie’s song came to be and why it has resonated with so many people.

This year, I was amused to see that there’s a podcast, 108.9 The Hawk, about a fictional classic rock radio station. Apparently in prior years they have done episodes about the rock station staple, “Alice’s Restaurant,” and for 2023 they have produced a mega episode. They write, “Well, now for the very first time, experience BOTH specials – ‘Alice’s Restaurant Attacks!’ and ‘Alice’s Revenge’ combined into one blood curdling, spine chilling, family dinner ruining episode!” Sounds intriguing.

Have a wonderful 2023 Thanksgiving celebration! If catching “Alice’s Restaurant” is part of your holiday tradition, read on for my guide to listening options on your radio dial for 2023.

As always, this is an incomplete list. DO double check with your local stations to be sure that times have not shifted. Additionally, I am only including stations for which I have verified that they will be airing “Alice’s Restaurant” for 2023. However, you may want to consult my prior radio guides to identify other radio stations that tend to play the song annually.

Pre-Thanksgiving Servings of “Alice’s Restaurant” on the Radio in 2023

“Alice’s Restaurant” is also airing before Thanksgiving on some stations. On Monday, November 20, WDIY 88.1 FM (Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania) airs “Alice’s Restaurant” between 7 and 9pm on Steve Aaronson’s “Folk Classics” show, which features a Thanksgiving theme. Additionally, on Tuesday, November 21, “Alice’s Restaurant” airs on WESU 88.1 FM (Middletown, CT) at around 7pm during the Acoustic Blender show.

On Wednesday, November 22, Angelica Community Radio WRAQ 92.7 FM (Angelica, NY) broadcasts it at 9am and WTMT-FM 105.9 The Mountain (Asheville, North Carolina) will air it at 6pm.

Alice’s Restaurant on the Radio on Thanksgiving Day 2023 – November 23, 2023

Last updated on November 21, 2023 at 5:21pm PT. Note that all times are local to the area in which the station is located.

Terrestrial and Online Radio:

WAMC Northeast Public Radio 90.3 FM and 1400 AM (Albany, NY) writes of its Thanksgiving Day plans: “At 12 p.m. we’ll listen to our traditional airing of ‘Alice’s Restaurant’” followed by an interview with Arlo Guthrie at 1 p.m.”

Wyoming Public Media will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at 11am on Thanksgiving Day, as part of the Wyoming Sounds Thanksgiving special (9am to noon) “with host Grady Kirkpatrick featuring roots music, Native American, and Wyoming artists along with the Arlo Guthrie Thanksgiving classic Alice’s Restaurant beginning at 11am.”

WRUR 88.FM at University of Rochester (Rochester, New York) will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at 11:30am during Open Tunings with Scott Regan. Kane O, who has been airing this song for many years, writes on Facebook, “BIG ‘Ups’ to my Pal, Professor Scott Regan for letting me crash his show to carry on our wonderful tradition! Thankful indeed! #42.”

WDRC 102.9 FM “The Whale” (Hartford, Connecticut) writes, “Tune into 1029 The Whale on Thanksgiving at 6a, Noon and 6pm we will be playing Alice’s Restaurant in it’s entirety!”

WCSX 94.7 FM (Detroit, Michigan) is airing “Alice’s Restaurant” at 10am and 4pm on Thanksgiving.

WMGK 102.9 FM (Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania) continues its annual tradition. According to the station’s website, “Everyone can enjoy the tradition of ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ on MGK three times on Thanksgiving day in 2023. Paul Kelly will start it off by playing the Arlo Guthrie Thanksgiving classic at 8 a.m., and Danny Ocean will play it at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.”

WZOO 99.9 FM (Central North Carolina) and 700 AM (Asheboro) and 106.1 FM (Greensboro) writes on Facebook of its plans: “Are you wondering if WZOO is going to continue the tradition of playing Alice’s Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie on Thanksgiving? You bet we are! Listen at 12:05 pm, right after the news! Happy Thanksgiving from your friends at The ZOO!”

WAFX 106.9 FM The Fox (Chesapeake, Virginia) writes on Facebook, “The Thanksgiving tradition continues on Thursday at 12 noon with the airing of Arlo Guthrie’s performance of “Alice’s Restaurant” hosted by Mike Arlo!”

Rock Radio 559 (Porterville, California) posted on Facebook, “A radio tradition every Thanksgiving. Arlo Guthrie ‘Alice’s Restaurant Massacree’ 12 noon and 7pm Thanksgiving Day on rockradio559.com.”

WTMT-FM 105.9 The Mountain (Asheville, North Carolina) is airing “Alice’s Restaurant” on Thanksgiving Day and Thanksgiving Eve. On Facebook the station posted, “The Thanksgiving tradition continues! Alice’s Restaurant on 105.9 The Mountain. You’ll hear it on Wednesday night at 6pm and twice on Thanksgiving Day at Noon and 6pm.”

WTTS 92.3 FM (Indianapolis, Indiana) writes on Facebook, “Welcome to a short holiday week! We are all set to provide Thursday’s soundtrack. OverEasy Thanksgiving is back on 92-3 WTTS, with laid-back World Class Rock all day long. We’ll also play Arlo Guthrie’s Thanksgiving classic ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ four times: 8am, 12pm, 4pm and 9pm.”

WEZX Rock 107 (Scranton, Pennsylvania) plans to play “Alice’s Restaurant” according to its Facebook post, “Alice’s Restaurant has become a timeless tradition. Tune in Thanksgiving Day at 9am, noon, 3pm and 6pm You can get anything you want at Rock 107.”

WEHM 92.9 FM and 96.9 FM (Water Mill, NY) tweeted, “Thanksgiving Day, don’t miss out on Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ hosted by Lauren Stone! Special airings at 12pm, 3pm and 6pm!”

107.5 The Breeze (Portsmouth, Ohio) tweeted, “We’re celebrating a Holiday Classic: ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ by Arlo Guthrie. Follow along as the story unfolds on Thanksgiving Day. It’s always brought to you by Preston Family Funeral Home on Rt. 5 in Ashland. Hear it this Thursday at 9am, Noon and 5pm.”

KPIG 107.5FM and KPYG 94.9 FM Cayucos/SLO (Freedom, California) reports, “On Thanksgiving day, tune into the pig and hear the full version of Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ four times…at 9:00am, noon, 4:00pm, and again at 9:00pm. We hope you and yours have a safe – and healthy – Thanksgiving holiday.”

101 The Fox (Kansas City, Kansas) writes, “A Thanksgiving gift from our family to yours…This Thanksgiving day at 12:00 noon and again at 6pm. 101 The Fox presents all 18 minutes, eleven seconds of Arlo Guthrie’s epic Thanksgiving masterpiece!”

Backland Radio (online) reports that it is playing “Alice’s Restaurant” at 8am, noon, 5pm and 9pm Central Time on Thanksgiving on The Whip at Backland Radio.

92 KQRS (Minneapolis, Minnesota) reports of this year’s “Alice’s Restaurant” tradition: “Our long-standing tradition of spinning Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ on Thanksgiving continues! You have three opportunities to hear it this year: Tune in at 9am, 12pm and 5pm on Thanksgiving Day. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at KQRS!”

KINK 101.9 FM (Portland, OR): Per its website, “It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving if we didn’t play the Arlo Guthrie classic, now would it. Listen at noon for ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ and a full second helping at 5pm!”

WTHS 89.9 FM Hope College Radio (Holland, Michigan) is playing Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon on Thanksgiving Day.

WRHQ 105.3 FM (Savannah, Georgia) writes on its website, “Tradition! That’s what Alice’s Restaurant is on the Q and you’ll hear it three times Thanksgiving Day…. 9:30 in the morning, 12:30 in the afternoon and 6:30 in the evening presented by O.C. Welch Ford in Hardeeville.  Alice and Turkey on the Q!”

KOZT 95.3 FM/95.9 FM The Coast (Ft. Bragg, CA) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 12 noon on Thanksgiving.

WDVX 89.9 FM in Knoxville, Tennessee is playing “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon on Thanksgiving. Its website says, “WDVX serves up ‘Alice’s Restaurant Massacree’ a song by Arlo Guthrie and a long time Thanksgiving day tradition on WDVX.”

WUMB 91.9 FM (Boston, MA and environs) writes, “The Thanksgiving tradition continues with Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ airing in the 9am, 12pm, and 3pm hours.”

KSER 90.7 FM (Everett, Washington) writes, “Listen at 2pm Thursday for our annual broadcast of the Arlo Guthrie classic.”

WBJB Brookdale Public Radio 90.5 The Night (Lincroft, New Jersey): Will be playing “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon and 6pm.

KTOJ 105.7 FM (Thousand Oaks, California) airs “Alice’s Restaurant” on Thanksgiving day at 9am, noon, 3pm and 5pm.

KTYD 99.9 FM (Santa Barbara, CA) writes on Facebook: “KTYD’s Annual Thanksgiving Tradition! Listen Thursday at 6:30 and 9:30am, 12:30, 3:30 and 6:30pm.”

WXOX-LP 97.1 FM (Louisville, Kentucky) reached out to alert us that they will be playing “Alice’s” at 9:40am on Thanksgiving Day.

WWSF Seacoast Oldies 104.3 FM (Exeter, Maine) will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon.

WMVY 88.7 FM (Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod and environs) aka MVY Radio writes on Facebook: “Be sure to tune in to MVYRADIO this Thanksgiving at noon as we play Arlo Guthrie’s Thanksgiving tradition, ‘Alice’s Restaurant.’ This will be the 40th year of this turkey day tradition.”

WQUT 101.5 FM Tri-Cities Classic Rock (Tri-Cities, Tennessee) reports on Facebook, “An enduring Thanksgiving tradition continues! Arlo Guthrie’s classic, ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ will play at noon and 6:00PM on Thanksgiving on WQUT!”

WEBN 102.7 FM (Cincinnati, Ohio) carries on the tradition. DJ Nudge writes on Facebook, “I have 0 clue why we do it or why it matters to you, I just know you go LOONEY for ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ getting a spin at high noon on 102.7 WEBN every Turkey Day” and asks, “Tradition for Tradition sake, I don’t think anyone high-a-top Frog’s Mountain knows why anymore. Why do YOU love us playing the song annually and what does it mean to you?”

WABF 1480 AM (Fairhope, Alabama) writes on Facebook, “Join us for Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ Thanksgiving day at noon and 6pm.”

KWSC 91.9 FM “The Cat” (Wayne, Nebraska) at Wayne State College tweets that, “@ProfAhern brought a Thanksgiving tradition to KWSC-FM. Tune in at 12 on Thanksgiving to hear about littering, the draft and a swell Thanksgiving dinner at Alice’s Restaurant.”

WXPN 88.5 FM (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) reports that it will be continuing its tradition amongst its Thanksgiving Day special programming. According to its website, at “12 Noon: Mike V presents our annual airing of Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant‘!”

The post Alice’s Restaurant on the Radio Thanksgiving 2023 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This is my ninth installment on how to listen to the Super Bowl on the radio, and this year there isn’t much change from last. It seems like most of the same outlets will be carrying the big game in the US, Canada, Mexico, UK and Australia. While the match up between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams can be found on television in most other countries, radio broadcasts are harder to come by.

Sure, if you’re doing something where you have to keep your eyes off a screen you can always tune into a TV or video stream and just listen. But the radio play-by-play is designed for screen-less consumption, making sure every play is described for your stadium of the mind.

Each year I hope to find a new international broadcaster – or better yet, a shortwave station – stepping up to provide audio coverage. Alas, the only truly intrepid network is Australia’s SEN, which will be sending their own announcer for the fifth year in a row.

Here’s where to listen to Super Bowl LVI live from Los Angeles, CA on the radio, Sunday, February 13:

Terrestrial Radio

United States

English: Westwood One Sports affiliate stations

Spanish: Entravision stations

Canada

TSN Radio – Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg

Australia

1116 AM SEN Victoria / 1629 AM SEN South Australia
(also online)

Mexico

W Radio

United Kingdom

BBC 5 Live (also online in the UK)

Armed Forces Network

Armed services members deployed overseas can listen via AFN Radio on satellite, and AFN 360 Internet Radio.

Internet Radio

NFL Game Pass (subscription required)

TuneIn Radio

Satellite and Internet Radio

United States

SiriusXM Super Bowl Radio

Canada

SiriusXM Canada

Is there a terrestrial, online or satellite radio broadcast of the Super Bowl we’re missing? Please let us know.

Feature image credit: Joe Haupt / flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The post How to Listen to Super Bowl LVI on the Radio around the World this Sunday, Feb. 13 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

A belated happy New Year and welcome to 2022. It’s not quite a New Year’s resolution, but I want to return to regular blogging here at Radio Survivor, at least covering interesting radio stories of note, along with other radiophonic observations.

With the Super Bowl coming in just under three weeks you can look forward to my (nearly) annual how to listen to the Super Bowl on the radio post. Research has already started, so drop us a line if you know of a source beyond the usual US commercial radio affiliates.

First up is this report from Spin Magazine (it still exists!?) on Ice Radio at McMurdo Station on Antarctica. Conducted over email, writer Lukas Harnisch interviews a group of workers at the scientific outpost who volunteer at the station, broadcasting at 104.5 FM. Longtime readers and listeners will recall that we covered the station on our podcast and radio show back in 2019, talking with McMurdo broadcast engineer Elizabeth Delaquess. Nevertheless it’s nice to see the station get some press. Love this quote from Ralph Maestas, who manages TV and radio operations:

“For the last 10 years we’ve had an essay prompt on the back of the sign-up sheet to volunteer that asks them what they think it means to be a DJ in this community. Almost every response is that they want to give something back to the community.”

Next up, amid concerns that Russia plans to invade Ukraine, one or more radio hackers were reportedly jamming a Soviet-era Russian numbers station, UVB-76, this past weekend. According to Motherboard, the hackers were been broadcasting signals over the station’s frequency that appear as pictures – largely troll-inspired memes – when viewed on a spectrum analyzer.

El denominado "The Buzzer" (UVB-76) un sistema de radiocomunicaciones militares rusas desde hace casi 40 años, lleva días interferido por "piratas". Muchos vinculan esta actividad con el conflicto de Ucrania. La pasada noche se emitieron imágenes muy bizarras en su frecuencia pic.twitter.com/5QOMKPtIA1

— David Marugán (@RadioHacking) January 20, 2022

The Motherboard story somewhat inaccurately states that the rogue broadcasters “hijacked” the shortwave station. However, that implies that they’ve taken over the actual broadcast facility or transmitter, either physically or virtually. Instead, what’s happening is that they’re jamming the station by broadcasting over it.

At the moment this seems more of a curiosity than anything else. While numbers stations have long been thought to be transmitting coded messages for international espionage, it’s hard to know if the Russian station in question is still in use by actual spies (if it ever was). Of course, jamming with frequencies that show up as images in the spectrum analyzer is a clever touch, even if it seems like a there’s a pretty limited audience. Thank goodness we have social media, though, else we’d never know about it.

The post Rough Notes: Antarctic Radio Revisited & Jamming Soviet-Era Numbers appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Catch Alice’s Restaurant on the 2023 radio dial. See our latest listening guide.

As Thanksgiving approaches, my thoughts turn once again to “Alice’s Restaurant,” the epic Arlo Guthrie song that is a beloved turkey day tradition for radio stations all over the United States. I’ve been chronicling this ritual for many many years and was pleased to be able to speak to THE Alice last year as part of our lead up to a very strange 2020 holiday season. DO check out our Radio Survivor podcast conversation with Alice Brock, as it will give your some perspective on how Guthrie’s song came to be and why it has resonated with so many people.

Here’s hoping that your 2021 Thanksgiving celebrations are a bit more festive than last year and that everyone near and dear to you is healthy and happy! If you are eager to tune in to a radio station to hear “Alice’s Restaurant” this year, take a look at the following options. Check back for updates as Thanksgiving draws near.

Pre-Thanksgiving Listening Options:

Perhaps you’ve already heard “Alice’s Restaurant” over the airwaves, as many stations get into the Thanksgiving spirit early. WDIY in Lehigh Valley played it Monday night. KSRW 92.5 FM in Bishop, California played it on Monday at 11am and will also air it on Wednesday at 3pm and Friday at 8pm. KZUM 89.3 FM in Lincoln, Nebraska aired it on Tuesday at 5pm.

Alice’s Restaurant on the Radio on Thanksgiving Day 2021 – November 25, 2021

Last updated on November 24, 2021. Note that all times are local to the area in which the station is located.

Terrestrial and Online Radio:

WCSX 94.7 FM (Detroit, Michigan) writes on Facebook: “Our Thanksgiving tradition continues with Arlo Guthrie’s classic holiday story ‘Alice’s Restaurant”’ It airs first at 10am Thanksgiving Day and if you’re up for a second helping, again at 4pm!”

92 KQRS (Minneapolis, Minnesota) reports on its website, “Our long-standing tradition of spinning Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ on Thanksgiving continues! You have three opportunities to hear it this year: Tune in at 8am, 12pm and 7pm on Thanksgiving Day!”

KSRW 92.5 FM Sierra Wave (Bishop, California) is airing “Alice’s Restaurant” before and after (but not on) Thanksgiving: Monday, November 22 at 11am, Wednesday, November 24 at 3pm, and Friday, November 26 at 8pm.

WKZE 98.1 FM (Red Hook, New York) writes on Facebook: “Enjoy the ENTIRE 15 ½ minutes at 12-noon, 3pm and 6pm. If you’re traveling or want to have a listening party with absent friends, tune into our live webstream at https://981kze.com/listen-live/.”

WROI 92.1 (Rochester, Indiana) Giant FM writes on Facebook: “Our Thanksgiving Day treat for you is coming up on Thursday at noon! We will play the entire/long version of Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ on Giant fm 92.1 WROI.”

WEZX Rock 107 (Scranton, Pennsylvania) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” on Thanksgiving Day at 9am, noon, 3pm and 6pm.

WTMD 89.7 FM (Baltimore, Maryland) presents the annual airing of “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon.

WTHS 89.9 FM Hope College Radio (Holland, Michigan) shares on Twitter, “WTHS will again serve up the perfect side dish to your turkey day feast with Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’, Thanksgiving day at noon…on WTHS, 89.9FM and streaming.”

WMMR 93.3 FM (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) tweeted, “@PierreRobert933 will play Alice’s Restaurant 3 times on Thanksgiving: 10am – original recording Noon – ‘The Massacree Revisited’ 2pm – vinyl cut.”

WXPN 88.5 FM (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 12noon as it does every year.

101 The Fox (Kansas City, Kansas) will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon on Thanksgiving.

MVY Radio (88.7 FM Martha’s Vineyard, MA and 96.5 FM Newport, Rhode Island) reports on Twitter, “Plan to be listening to MVY at noon on Thanksgiving day! We will play @folkslinger‘s Alice’s Restaurant!”

TNN Country Radio writes on Twitter, “We’ll be playing Arlo Guthrie’s classic Alice’s Restaurant on Thursday at 12pm ET! Tune in for our new Thanksgiving tradition!”

107.5 The Breeze (Portsmouth, Ohio) tweets: “Join us this Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, as we play a Holiday Classic: ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ by Arlo Guthrie. Hear it at 9am, Noon and 5pm. Follow along as the story unfolds on Thanksgiving Day. It’s brought to you by Preston Family Funeral Home, Rt. 5 in Ashland”

WXPK 107.1 FM The Peak (White Plains, New York). Poughkeepsie Journal reports that the station will air “Alice’s Restaurant” five times: “It will play on the eve of the holiday, as part of the station’s 10@10 block of songs at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. on Wednesday, at noon and 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving, and on the Weekend Replay of the 10@10 on Sunday after Thanksgiving at about 6 p.m.”

WDVX 89.9 FM in Knoxville, Tennessee is playing “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon.

Wyoming Public Radio is playing “Alice’s Restaurant” at 11am during the Wyoming Sounds Thanksgiving Special (10am-noon) with host Grady Kirkpatrick. Program will include roots music, Native American and Wyoming artists along with the Arlo Guthrie Thanksgiving classic Alice’s Restaurant beginning at 11:00 a.m. with a special introduction from the original restauranteur Alice Brock.

WDRV 97.1 FM The Drive (Chicago, IL) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 6am, Noon, and 4pm.

KOZT 95.3 FM/95.9 FM The Coast (Ft. Bragg, CA) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 12 noon on Thanksgiving.

WRHQ 105.3 FM (Savannah, Georgia) writes on its website, “Tradition! That’s what Alice’s Restaurant is on the Q and you’ll hear it three times Thanksgiving Day…. 9:30 in the morning, 12:30 in the afternoon
and 6:30 in the evening presented by your Vinyl Headquarters Rody’s Records“

WNCW 88.7 FM (Spindale, NC) writes that on Thanksgiving Day it will play “songs of food & gratitude all day long, with Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant Massacree’ just past Noon.”

WUMB 91.9 FM (Boston, MA and environs) writes, “Tune in on Thursday, November 25th for special programming highlights including airings of Arlo Guthrie’s classic ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ at 9 AM, noon, 3 PM, and 7 PM, as well as selections from The Band’s The Last Waltz concert that took place on Thanksgiving Day at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco in 1976.”

KINK 101.9 FM (Portland, OR): Per its website, “Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant has been a KINK Thanksgiving tradition for more than 30 years. Catch it twice on Thanksgiving Day (November 25th) this year, 12pm and 5pm.”

Backland Radio (online) writes that it will air Alice’s Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie four times at 8am, 12 noon, 5pm and 9pm Central time on The Whip.

KSER 90.7 FM 89.9 FM (Everett, Washington) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 2pm.

KXT 91.7 FM will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon and 6pm.

99.1 PLR (New Haven, CT) is playing Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” in its entirety at 6am, 12 noon and 6pm.

WCMF (Rochester, NY) is playing “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon.

WXOX-LP 97.1 FM (Louisville, Kentucky) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 10am on Thanksgiving.

The post “Alice’s Restaurant” Remains a 2021 Thanksgiving Radio Staple appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It seems like physical media continues to have a hold on humans, even while most of us in the West engage with online, streaming and virtual media for much, if not most, of our time. Audiocassettes are like radio, in that they have been declared dead multiple times in the last three decades, yet continue to be found, employed and enjoyed by new generations who insist on keeping them alive. Eric just completed a weekend-long cassette hacking workshop, joined by a diverse group of musicians and sound-makers of a variety of ages. He shares that experience as we discuss conjoined histories of cassettes and radio.

That leads us into a presentation Jennifer watched at this year’s virtual Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference, where she learned about a pre-VCR underground of people who recorded the audio of television shows onto cassette. It turns out some of these recordings may be the only surviving artifacts of some broadcasts that were not preserved, or have never again been seen or heard in their original form. We show how cassettes are for everyone who cares about sound in its myriad forms.

Also under discussion: the shutdown of internet radio directory service Reciva, and the perilousness of proprietary platforms.

Show Notes:

• Dogbotic’s Cassette Hacking Workshop
• Society for Cinema and Media Studies
• Broadcast Historian Nora Patterson
• Podcast #297 – Radio Studies and Soundwork
• Negativland: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
• Wobbly (Jon Leidecker)
• Wikipedia: Iannis Xenakis
• Podcast #145 – Hip-Hop Radio Archive
• Radio World: Reciva Internet Radio Platform Shutting Down
• “Electronic project kits: hands on with a vintage 160-in-1“
• Mystery Show Case #6 Kotter
• The Real World Homecoming: New York
• Billboard: ‘Beavis and Butt-head’ to Return With Fewer Music Videos Due to Licensing Constraints
• “The State” FAQ
• Podcast #141 – How Radio Isn’t Done, According To Negativland’s Don Joyce
• An Affectionate & Honest Filmic Portrait of Negativland’s Don Joyce
• Radio Garden
• Exploring Radio Garden on World Radio Day
• Radio Preservation Task Force
• Podcast #133 – Preserving Brooklyn Pirate Radio
• Soundtap’s College Radio Discovery Tool
• 82 Best Freeform College Radio Stations
• RIP: Podcast #125 – Radio Free America Is an Online Hub for Noncomm Radio
• Internet Archive
• Podcast #168 – A Time Machine for All the Radio plus Shortwave

The post Podcast #299 – Cassettes for Art, Radio and Recording TV appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I bought my first CD player in 1987, using money I saved from my 16th birthday and working as a stock boy at the local Party Fair store. I could only afford to buy two discs to try out on my new purchase, owing to the fact that new CDs cost about $15.99, roughly $37 in 2021 dollars, or about 3.5 hours of my teenaged labor. 

Arguably I was ahead of the curve, especially for a 16 year-old. CD players wouldn’t be in even half of all US households for another six years. I fashioned myself a bit of a burgeoning audiophile, though I don’t think I knew the word. I voraciously consumed Stereo Review magazine every month and pored over the multi-page J&R Music World adverts in the New York Times. I was more than ready to take the leap into “perfect sound forever” by the time players’ price came into reach – for me, that was under $300 ($700 in 2021, or maybe 12 weeks of my part-time labor). 

Because of CDs’ relatively high cost, I took advantage of the public library’s small, but growing selection, taping selected discs. I only added new titles maybe once a month, at most.

Then one day I was browsing the music section at my local Bradlees discount department store when I saw the display for a CD compilation enticingly titled, “Steal This Disc.” Most of the artists were a mystery to me – Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, The Residents, Schooly D – but I’d heard of a few, like Frank Zappa, Devo, George Thorogood and Jimi Hendrix. Priced at just $5.99, it sure did seem like a steal, so I picked it up. 

At home, I was in for a sonic adventure. The blues of Josh White Jr. and Johnny Adams then takes a sharp left turn into Zappa’s Synclavier orgy of “G-Spot Tornado,” only to veer into Sugar Minott’s reggae, followed by McLaughlin’s cover of Glenn Miller’s “Something Spiritual.” This was a kind of eclecticism wholly unaccustomed to this exurban New Jersey kid raised on classic hard rock, new wave and the pop edge of punk. 

Digging into the extensive 18-page booklet I learned that “Steal This Disc” was a label sampler for Rykodisc, the first CD-only record label. Most of the tracks were taken from first-time CD releases for these albums and artists. Clocking in at 70 minutes – just four shy of the format’s limit at the time – it sure felt like a bargain, compared to the more typical 40-minute run time of 1980s albums. As one of the few compact discs in my collection, that comp saw a lot of spin time for a few years. 

Of course, compilation albums, as well as label comps, were nothing new. Back in the 1970s Warner / Reprise records advertised double album “Loss Leaders” on the inner sleeves of their releases, originally costing as little as $2 by mail order. And we can’t leave out the “as seen on TV” K-Tel records stuffed with a selection of the recent Top 40, with names like “Full Tilt” and “Music Machine.” (Not coincidentally, I own both of those.)

But with new LPs or cassettes still priced around eight or nine bucks in the late 80s, laying down only six buckeroos for more than an hour of pure digital music was a revelation. As the 80s turned into the 90s, the compilation CD earned a growing space in my musical life. You see, the dirty little secret of compact discs is that even by 1990s they became cheaper to produce than vinyl LPs, but labels kept their prices artificially higher in order to support and justify their reputation as a premium product. However, that also meant that when labels wanted to put out cheap surveys of their roster or genres, CDs were actually preferable to vinyl. I started finding more discount priced compilation CDs in the record store aisles, and was more than happy to snap them up when it seemed like more than a few tracks would suit my taste. Plus, I enjoyed the surprise of hearing something new and reliving that “Steal this Disc” experience over and over again.

College Radio Disc-overy Mechanism

Arriving in college radio in 1989, by 1991 the majority of new releases were arriving on CD. Our “new rack” housed a growing stack of comps made just for college radio. From CMJ’s “Certain Damage” series to major label entries, like Warner Brother’s “Follow Our Trax,” sometimes they allowed a lazy DJ (or one busy studying for mid-terms) to program an entire shift with just a few discs. More importantly, they were designed to place new artists next to more established ones, enticing a listen by proximity. Because they often arrived at the station in multitudes, extras were given away to DJs – most certainly by design.

After getting turned on to an artist from a compilation, I often learned that was their only good track. The one I most vividly remember is the minor college radio hit, “Three Strange Days,” by School of Fish. I thought the track was unique, fuzzy, catchy and still rocking, seeking out their self-titled debut. I gave the disc a number of tries, but found the songs mostly all sounded like the single, only not as good. I kept the comp, ditched the album. I have many, many sampler CDs I’ve kept because they perform the vital function of serving up the wheat, not the chaff.

As the 90s wore on, it seemed like label comps featured more exclusive tracks, live versions or remixes you wouldn’t or couldn’t find elsewhere. And then there were the tribute albums. Inspired by underground indie and punk rock tributes that were more than a little tongue-in-cheek, discs like 1994’s “If I Were a Carpenter” let alternative bands on the cusp of the mainstream sneak into your ears on the back of familiar middle-of-the-road tunes.

Reality Bites Pulp Fiction on Judgment Night

I’d be remiss not to include the rising prominence of soundtrack albums bring together nostalgic classics, alongside contemporary artists. The best had high concepts matching, or exceeding the ambitions of the film. I’m thinking about the indie rock / new wave hybrid of “Reality Bites,” the emerging Seattle grunge scene survey of “Singles,” or “Pulp Fiction,” which is arguably the ultimate expression of this pastiche, an auditory mirror of Tarantino’s then-fresh genre-bending style. The trailblazing hip-hop and rock crossover of “Judgment Night” is one where the soundtrack was a greater artistic success than the lackluster exploitation movie it ostensibly supported. All of these discs see semi-regular play when I dig into my CD collection.

Of course, aside from the shiny plastic disc, there’s little to differentiate a compilation CD from a playlist. Many an ungracefully aging music commentator has lodged complaints about the decline of the album with the rise of the streaming playlist. But rarely acknowledged are the tens of minutes of “bonus track” filler, or the one outstanding hit surrounded by meandering soundalikes crowding albums since the compact disc let albums grow past vinyl’s hard 40-minute limit. The compilation was a brilliant, and artistic solve to that problem, which playlists bring into the present.

Vinyl Carries Forward the Flag

While this piece may seem like a eulogy, I acknowledge the compilation has gone nowhere. In fact, I’d argue that the vinyl LP stepped back into the take on the mantle, as every Record Store Day list is piled high with rarities and dusties comps sources from tapes and acetates buried in garages, basements and attics from around the world. For many of these artists probably one track suffices, and we should be grateful we can have it. 

But gone are the bargain prices. The 21st century economics of vinyl make these $30 or $40 outlays. Even though that’s less real-world scratch than it was in the 1990s, it’s still more of a gamble than that five-buck CD comp. 

Hard Limits and Editing

Playlists, for all their compilation-like appearances, can also suffer from their near infinity. I’ve enjoyed many a three-, four- or even ten-hour playlist employed as enjoyable background music. But I’d be hard pressed to say I’ve paid focused attention to them. 

A CD’s hard limit of 80 minutes forces an edit. Not everything can be included, so choices must be made. No doubt, many playlists are just as carefully curated, but sometimes function follows form. 

I was inspired to write this ode because I dug out my two editions of “Steal This Disc” the other day on the occasion of buying a new CD player (yes, you can still do that), to replace an aging and finicky, and once-expensive, Blu-Ray player that never quite lived up to the promise of being a “universal” player, only becoming universally glitchy and annoying. Today the “Steal This Disc” sequence still feels familiar and right – it’s the only way I expect to hear “G-Spot Tornado.”

The Comp of 2055

Will a playlist last 34 years? This is not rhetorical question. I won’t predict that Spotify won’t be here in 2055, holding intact our digital crates of tracks, albums and playlists accumulated over decades of listening and gathering. I can say with certainty that when 16 year-old me bought “Steal This Disc” I gave no thought to whether or not I’d be listening to it in middle-age. I also didn’t necessarily think that I wouldn’t. CDs were the format of the future, I’d never seen the internet, and had no reason to think my future wouldn’t have CDs. It was nary a concern as I plunked down my six bucks.

I have no problem finding on Spotify many of the compilations I cited, including the Carpenters tribute. But “Steal This Disc?” It’s not there. Possibly a victim of multiple ownership changes for parent label Rykodisc, combined with its very essence as a demonstration of the new physical format. Its materiality is entirely irrelevant with streaming. Can you “steal this stream?”

For the intrepid music hunter tiring of the cost and competition involved in uncovering obscure sounds on vinyl, I suggest plunging into the “Various Artists” section of your local compact disc vendor (or Goodwill). There’s gold to be found in those silver stacks.

The post In Praise of the Compilation CD appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Non-commercial radio stations will join together to air 24 hours of the circadian rhythm emanating from the ṮEḴTEḴSEN marsh in unceded W̱SÁNEĆ territory on Saturna Island, British Columbia this coming Earth Day, April 22. Produced by artists Brady Marks and Mark Timmings, the “Wetland Project” broadcast features a soundscape of birds, frogs, airplanes and more sounds of the natural and encroaching man-made world, that “engages listeners in real time and promotes a deeper awareness of, and a re-enchanted engagement with, the living environment.”

The project is an exercise in “slow radio” that “creates an immersive sonic space to contemplate what it means to be human in the ‘more-than-human world’ and to reflect upon what it means to listen in contested indigenous lands.”

Nine stations across Canada have signed on to air part or all of this year’s broadcast, and all non-commercial stations are invited to take part. In 2020, Local Public Radio in San Francisco even used the program to anchor a successful on-air fundraiser. Interested stations can learn more by emailing info@wetlandproject.com.

The broadcast is also available online and I tuned in throughout Earth Day last year. I had it on in the background and also took time to sit with focused listening, finding it all quite rewarding. And, really, what other platform besides community or college radio would dedicate more than a minute or so to sounds that invite patient and calm listening rather than demanding attention and action? I’m certainly looking forward to this year’s “Wetland Project.”

Feature image credit: Wetland Project

The post The Wetland Project Returns for Earth Day 2021 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Updated Feb. 6, 2021

Last year I was in New Zealand during the Super Bowl season. In the week before I was hiking the Milford Track on the South Island, backpacking for four days across 33 miles, away from internet and television (though I did pack a little travel radio). For the actual game I was in the capitol city of Wellington, but I didn’t even try to watch because I actually don’t care much at all about football. 

I am, however, fascinated by the global phenomenon, and figuring out how radio listeners can tune in to hear it. But, due to my vacation I didn’t write my annual “how to listen to the Super Bowl” post in 2020. Even some six months ago I wasn’t sure there would be a Super Bowl to write about in 2021. But here we are with the Buccaneers facing off against returning champions the Chiefs for Super Bowl LV on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021 at 6:30 PM EST.

US Super Bowl Radio Broadcasts

In the US it’s pretty easy to find a Westwood One Sports terrestrial radio affiliate carrying the game. Some stations black out their internet feed, and it’s generally hard to predict which ones will. However, I’ve found that clicking around will eventually land you on a functioning live stream. Note that your experience may vary depending on what state or country you’re connecting from.

A reliable internet radio stream can be had with a NFL Game Pass subscription.

The Super Bowl will be broadcast in Spanish on Entravision stations in 24 US radio markets.

Satellite radio subscribers can listen in on SiriusXM channel 104 in the US. Canadian subscribers have it on XM 88. Both are also available online. (Full disclosure: I’m an employee of Stitcher, a subsidiary of SiriusXM Holdings, but that has no influence on including this listing).

International Super Bowl Broadcasts

It’s also easy to find a television broadcast just about anywhere on the globe. But radio is much more of a challenge. Yet not everyone is in a position to watch a screen – whether they’re working or driving, or are visually impaired. For many folks the most descriptive radio play-by-play is the best or most appropriate experience. That’s why my annual quest is to find broadcasters all over the world that carry the game. 

On terrestrial radio, our neighbors to the north in Canada can reliably follow the Super Bowl on the TSN Radio Network in Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. To the south, Mexican listeners can tune in to W Radio and W Radio Deportes, as well as Los 40.

Further afield, Australians will be able to hear the game called by a home-grown announcer for the fourth year in a row on SEN 1116. In the past years I’ve been able to listen to this broadcast live online without problem.

UK rights to the game seem to bounce around different networks, but this year Super Bowl 55 will be heard on BBC 5 Live. In my experience the online stream is geofenced so that only UK audiences can catch it.

People serving in the American Armed Forces deployed around the world, as well as those who live near a base, can hear the big game on AFN Radio. Military personnel can also hear it the online streaming via AFN 360. 

Otherwise I haven’t been able to track down terrestrial radio broadcasts anywhere else in the world. Please send me your tip if I’m missing one.

Here’s where to listen to Super Bowl LV live from Tampa, FL on the radio, Sunday, February 7:

Terrestrial Radio

United States

English: Westwood One Sports affiliate stations

Spanish: Entravision stations

Canada

TSN Radio – Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg

Australia

1116 AM SEN Victoria / 1629 AM SEN South Australia
(also online)

Mexico

W Radio

Los 40

United Kingdom

BBC 5 Live (also online in the UK)

Armed Forces Network

Armed services members deployed overseas can listen via AFN Radio on satellite, and AFN 360 Internet Radio.

Internet Radio

NFL Game Pass (subscription required)

Possibly: Westwood One Sports A on TuneIn

Ultimate Sports Radio Network (added Feb. 6)

Satellite and Internet Radio

United States

SiriusXM Super Bowl Radio 104

Canada

XM 88

Is there a terrestrial, online or satellite radio broadcast of the Super Bowl we’re missing? Please let us know.

The post How to Listen to Super Bowl LV on the Radio Around the World, Feb. 7 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

For the first time in a while I needed to dip into my dwindling archive of cassette tape airchecks. A couple of tapes immediately caught my eye and spurred me to restart the digitizing project I’ve been working on and off for the last five years. They took me on a fun journey back in time.

A Micropower Radio Forum in 1998

The first is a recording from a “Micropower Radio Forum” in Berkeley, California, which brought together 1990s community radio activists in celebration of the publication of the book “Seizing the Airwaves,” edited by Free Radio Berkeley founder Stephen Dunifer and radical scholar Ron Sakolsky. Recorded in February 1998, I remembered that I actually sourced the audio from an online archive uploaded to the A-Infos Radio Project, one of the first open internet archives for progressive and radical radio programming.

I had recorded these MP3 audio files to cassette in order to play excerpts on my radio show, “Radio Free Conscience,” which aired biweekly on Community Radio WEFT in Champaign, IL from 1996 to 2002. You see, in 1998 we (like most community stations) didn’t have an audio-capable PC in our main studio, nor any digital playback facility. Therefore the simplest way to bring the audio in was on a cassette. (The station would embrace minidisc for digital recording and playback later that year.)

Upon finding this tape I immediately searched A-Infos and found its entry. Unfortunately many early uploads have become dissociated from their database entries, and a half-hour of searching the site and the internet didn’t turn up the original files. That’s why I decided I should go ahead and digitize the tape now.

I had to take some delight in the path this audio took in its journey back onto the internet. Since cassettes were still the dominant amateur recording technology in 1998, there’s a good chance that the original audio was recorded to tape, then digitized to MP3 for distribution on the internet. Then I downloaded it and recorded that audio to cassette. After being broadcast on FM radio – with no known aircheck – it sat undisturbed for nearly 13 years until I again digitized the audio. I have now uploaded it to the Internet Archive.

This program is significant because it captures a moment in time when unlicensed micropower radio stations were going on the air in communities around the US, as an act of civil disobedience against the FCC’s policy of not licensing low-powered stations. The pressure these illegal community stations put on the FCC would help spur the agency to create low-power FM in 2000.

In this particular program you can hear from a principal of San Francisco Liberation Radio, one of several Bay Area micropower stations in operation at the time. Though somewhat well known then, the memory seems somewhat faded now. You can also hear testimony from prominent activists about why the cause of accessible community radio was so trenchant at the end of the 20th century.

Tree Radio Berkeley

The other tape is also from 1998. It’s a 90-minute aircheck of Tree Radio Berkeley, which was an unlicensed low-power radio station that literally broadcast from a tree in a Berkeley, California park for 11 days in November 1998. In this recording you can hear the hosts taking questions from an elementary school field trip below, sending their questions first by yelling, and then later by what sounds like a walkie-talkie. What’s great about this is that you get to hear the organizers explain what they’re doing, and why.

The FCC, aided by federal marshals, had conducted a number of armed raids on unlicensed radio stations that year, which were fresh on the organizers’ minds.

The funny thing is that I can’t remember how I obtained the tape. The recording is very clear and high quality. It almost sounds like it was recorded in-studio rather than from a radio. The handwriting on the tape is not mine, either. But again, I can’t remember who might’ve passed it along to me.

Of course, I also uploaded the Tree Radio Berkeley aircheck to the Internet Archive.

Though unlicensed radio is still very alive, especially in places like Boston, South Florida and the New York Metro area, I think it’s important to remember that the civil disobedience of the unlicensed micropower radio movement in the 1990s helped to fuel what would turn out to be the greatest flowering of community radio in history in the 21st century. It’s a reminder that people and communities can organize for material change that can have lasting impact.

The post Preserving Pieces of Microradio History appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Catch Alice’s Restaurant on the 2023 radio dial. See our latest listening guide.

Happy Thanksgiving week 2020! Time once again for the cross-country “Alice’s Restaurant” radio listening party. As we approach our annual harvest celebration in the United States, the coronavirus is still swirling, with cases spiking across the country. Holidays have been upended due to the public health crisis and it’s strongly recommended that we not gather in groups with friends and family around the Thanksgiving table. Because of that, many of us are breaking with tradition and dispensing with some of our long-standing rituals, from cooking massive turkeys to inviting extended family into our homes.

As we adapt to a different sort of Thanksgiving this year, you can still enjoy the socially distanced custom of tuning in to “Alice’s Restaurant” on your radio dial. With so much in flux, this will be a welcome bit of nostalgia for listeners who look forward to hearing the song on Thanksgiving Day. Similarly, for those who dread forced family listening sessions, this year’s distanced holiday may be an auditory respite.

This year there’s even more reason to celebrate, as 2020 marks the 55th anniversary of the 1965 Thanksgiving day events that inspired Arlo Guthrie to pen his 18+ minute anti-Vietnam War story-song. Pressed to vinyl in 1967, it’s a seasonal staple on many rock, college, public, and community radio stations. Some stations even play it multiple times on turkey day, allowing for fans to catch it while on the road, during dinner preparations, amid the meal or while socializing. Perhaps this year, there will even be scheduled listening parties over Zoom, text strings, live chats, or twitter conversations while people listen at the same time.

If you’re lucky, you might also be able to hear a special message on your local station from the woman, Alice Brock, who plays a central role in both the title and story of “Alice’s Restaurant.” She’s our guest on this week’s Radio Survivor show and podcast, which has just been released on the evening on November 24, 2020. After penning these radio station listening guides for over a decade, it was certainly a thrill to speak with THE Alice! She’s fallen on hard times, so I’d also encourage anyone able to visit her GoFundMe campaign.

If you’re eager for more insight into “Alice’s Restaurant,” don’t miss the new video interview with Arlo Guthrie over at the Bruce Springsteen Archives. Guthrie speaks not only about the song, but also about his recent announcement that he’s retiring from touring. Also, Jon Kalish tweets that on Thanksgiving, the radio shows/podcast 1A is airing a “segment on Arlo Guthrie’s anti-war classic Alice’s Restaurant. The segment chronicles the song’s debut on Bob Fass’ late-night show on WBAI, Radio Unnameable.” He adds, “The segment leads off an hour-long special on the National Recording Registry. You’ll hear an excerpt of Guthrie’s debut of Alice’s Restaurant on Radio Unnameable, as well as Bob Fass recalling that night. Other voices: Alice Brock, folkie Cathy Fink & of course Arlo Guthrie.”

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I will continue to update this list as I learn of additional stations leading up to Thanksgiving.

Pre-Thanksgiving Listening Options:

Some stations play “Alice’s Restaurant before Thanksgiving. Catch an irreverent version on KFJC 89.7 FM (Los Altos Hills, CA) around 7:30pm on Tuesday, November 24 and then a regular version around 9:30am on Wednesday, November 25. KKUP 91.5 FM (Cupertino, CA) played “Alice’s Restaurant” at 11am on Tuesday 11/24. WYEP 91.3 in Pittsburgh, PA played it on Sunday, November 22nd at 1pm. WFVR-LP 96.5 FM Royalton Radio (South Royalton, VT) aired it at 5pm on Monday, November 24.

Risky Business Hayseed Hoot radio show from November 21, 2020 includes a 1997 live version of “Alice’s Restaurant,” airing on various affiliate stations, including KJIV 96.5 FM (Bend, OR), KJYV (The Dalles, OR), KORC 105.9 FM (Corvallis, OR), KYAC 94.9 FM (Mill City, OR), KUNR 88. 7 FM (Reno, NV), KPHT-LP 99.9 FM (Laytonville, CA), KTRT The Root 97. 5FM (Methow Valley, Washington), KGFN 89. 1FM (Goldfield, NV), KDUP 88.1 FM (Surprise Valley, CA). Check with these stations for specific air dates and times.

Alice’s Restaurant on the Radio on Thanksgiving Day 2020 – November 26, 2020

Last updated on November 26, 2020 at 9:54am PT. Note that all times are local to the area in which the station is located.

Terrestrial Radio:

WXPN 88.5 FM in Philadelphia, PA will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 12noon as it does every year. It’s amid a day’s line-up starting at 6am that they dub “XPN Classics Thanksgiving.” Following “Alice’s Restaurant,” WXPN will play the Band’s Last Waltz at 4pm.

KPCW 91. 7 FM in Park City, Utah will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 12noon as it has been doing since the station began in 1980! Other holiday programming on Thanksgiving Day includes “Giving Thanks” at 9am and pre-recorded cooking tips on “Turkey Confidential” at 10am.

Frosty 105.7 FM (Part 15 station in Ventura, CA) will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at 9am, 2pm, 3pm and 5pm on Thanksgiving Day, 11/26/20.

WXRT 93.1 FM in Chicago, Illinois will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon and 8pm on Thanksgiving.

Arkansas Rocks stations throughout Arkansas will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon CST on Thanksgiving.

WDVX 89.9 FM in Knoxville, Tennesee is playing “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon.

WPLR 99.1 FM in New Haven, CT will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at 6am, noon, and 6pm.

KZHP 93.3 FM K-ZAP (Sacramento, CA) writes on Twitter, “…we continue a tradition as American as friends, turkey and gravy by playing ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ on Thursday at 10a & 6p PST. Tune in for an amazing story by a legendary storyteller.”

WGXC 90.7 FM aka Wave Farm (Acra, New York) will air “Alice’s Restaurant” on the “WGXC Morning Show” between 9am to 11am. The station writes on Twitter, “Thursday tune in holiday traditions such as Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant,” Rush Limbaugh’s “The True Story of Thanksgiving,” WKRP’s “Turkey Drop,” William S. Burroughs’ “Thanksgiving Prayer,” Andy Griffith’s “What it Was, Was Football,” and more @WGXC 90.7-FM.” Later in the evening at 7pm, WGXC airs an interview with Alice Brock from a few years ago. Their full lineup of holiday programming includes shows about Thanksgiving radio traditions (2am) and rituals (11am).

WXOX 97.1 FM ARTxFM (Louisville, Kentucky) will play “Alice’s Restaurant at 10am on Thanksgiving.

WFUV 90.7 FM (Bronx, NY) is playing “Alice’s Restaurant at 12 noon as part of its Thanksgiving Feastival.

Wyoming Public Radio is playing “Alice’s Restaurant” at 11am during the Wyoming Sounds Thanksgiving Special (9am-noon). The program will include “roots music, Native American and Wyoming artists along with the Arlo Guthrie Thanksgiving classic Alice’s Restaurant beginning at 11:00 a.m. with a special introduction from the original restauranteur Alice Brock.”

KBCO 97.3 FM (Denver, Colorado) airs “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon.

WTTS 92.3 FM (Indianapolis/Bloomington, Indiana) is airing “Alice’s Restaurant” at 8am, noon and 8pm.

WDRV 97.1 FM The Drive (Chicago, IL) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 6am, noon, and 4pm.

KOZT 95.3 FM/95.9 FM The Coast (Ft. Bragg, CA) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 12 noon on Thanksgiving.

WAFX 106.9 The Fox (Hampton Roads, VA) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon on Thanksgiving day.

WRHQ 105.3 FM (Savannah, Georgia) plans to play “Alice’s Restaurant” on Thanksgiving Day at 9:30am, 12:30pm and 6:30pm.

WNCW 88.7 FM (Spindale, NC) will air Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” just past Noon, and again at 9pm.

WERS 88.9 FM in Boston writes that the station “continues our long tradition of playing Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, with Jersey Hal, at 11am on Thanksgiving!”

KNHS 102.3 FM/91.9 FM (Haines, Alaska) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 3:30pm on Thanksgiving. The station has a line-up of special programming on Thursday and Friday, including “Turkey Confidential” and music appropriate to the season.

KXT 91.7FM (North Texas Public Broadcasting) reported via tweet: “It’s a KXT tradition! Tune in at noon and 6pm to KXT 91.7 FM for all 18+ minutes of Arlo Guthrie’s classic, ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ on Thanksgiving Day.”

WUMB 91.9 FM (Boston, MA and environs) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” three times on Thanksgiving this year “at the top of the 9am, 12pm and 3pm hours on Thursday!” according to its website.

KINK 101.9 FM (Portland, OR): Per its website, “Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant has been a KINK Thanksgiving tradition for over 30 years. Catch it twice on Thanksgiving Day (November 26th) this year, 12pm and 5pm.”

WLVQ 96.3 FM (Columbus, OH): Per its website, “Tune in this Thanksgiving Day around 6am, Noon, and 6pm to hear Alice’s Restaurant, a Qfm96 tradition.”

KTYD 99.9 FM (Santa Barbara, CA): The station reports on Facebook that they will play “Alice’s Restaurant” on Thanksgiving at 6am, 9am, noon, 3pm AND 6pm.

MVY Radio (88.7 FM Martha’s Vineyard, MA and 96.5 FM Newport, Rhode Island) reports on Twitter on Thanksgiving Day: “Nothing beats a holiday tradition! We will play ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ by @folkslinger at noon today! And tonight at 9PM, we will play the full ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ album! Happy Thanksgiving!”

KQRS-FM 92.5FM (Minneapolis, Minnesota) is playing the epic song at noon and 7pm on Thanksgiving.

WVNW 91.7 FM (Scranton, PA) at Marywood University is playing “Alice’s Restaurant” at 6pm.

KKSM AM 1320, Cox Digital Cable 957 (San Marcos, CA) at Palomar College is playing “Alice’s Restaurant” at 12pm and 5pm.

Online Radio Stations:

Backland Radio (online) writes on Twitter, “It’s a Whip tradition – Tune in on Thanksgiving to hear Alice’s Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie four times at 8am, 12 noon, 5pm and 9pm Central time on The Whip at http://backlandradio.com.”

The post Thanksgiving Radio Tradition withstands the Pandemic as “Alice’s Restaurant” Hits the 2020 Airwaves appeared first on Radio Survivor.

You may have watched The Vast of Night already. It has been out for about year on Amazon Studios (aka Amazon Prime). But if not and you can, it is a must see not only for Twilight Zone style sci-fi fans, but for devotees of prior broadcasting/telecom environments, in this case the 1950s. The Vast of Night tells the story of two frenetic southwestern teenage geeks who bond while on the verge of having a Close Encounter.

In the small fictional town of Cayuga, New Mexico there is a radio station, WTOW, which runs a popular Saturday night rockabilly show hosted by Everett Sloan, a cocky and confident nineeen year old. Just before getting to his job, he tries to help his alma mater, Cayuga High, with some electrical wiring problems interfering with the public address system. It is urgent, since Cayuga is hosting an important basketball game with a rival. A lengthy discussion ensues about invading chipmunks electrocuting themselves. Then Everett runs into his friend Fay Crocker, she three years his junior and hopeful that he will help her learn how to use her newly purchased Westinghouse portable reel-to-reel tape recorder.

Everett walks Fay to her job as the town telephone exchange’s night switchboard operator, which happens to be near his radio station. The two take turns saying things into the recorder. “Are you a member of the Communist Party!?” he demands in a faux congressional voice. She summarizes Popular Mechanics type articles forecasting trains that will take commuters from Manhattan to San Francisco in two hours. Everett starts his show and Fay begins her shift. But then she gets a call full of strange radio signal noises. Intrigued, she patches the audio over to Everett’s studio. He quickly decides to broadcast the noises, asking his audience if they sound familiar. Fay worries if that could get in him trouble somehow. “I don’t care,” Everett responds. “It’s good radio!” When a retired Black-American Army vet calls in to say he knows exactly what those signals are, the duo discover that they’re in for a very strange ride.

The Vast of Night is a movie that takes its time, and thus serves as a wonderful reminder that every generation has its cutting edge telecom landscape, run by people who in their minds and hearts live in the future. As I watched, memories danced in my head of my first portable tape recorder, conversations with actual telephone operators, and New Jersey radio hosts suddenly going spontaneous. I was not crazy about the film’s less-than-subtle ending. But I loved watching Everett and Fay, both charming with their thick angular 1950s eyeglasses, connect and start finish each other’s sentences, long before their first date.

The post The Vast of Night: a vast 1950s community radio/telecom fantasia appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I got my first Sonos speaker more than five years ago, and since then I’ve installed a speaker in nearly every room of my small house (except the bathrooms). Just a few weeks ago I treated myself to the rechargeable and portable Sonos Move so I can better enjoy music in my back yard.

Though there are many more networked audio systems out there, with some reported to offer higher fidelity, I’ve stuck with Sonos because the system is pretty intuitive, sounds very good and supports the widest array of audio services. The latter reason is why I wrote that “My Sonos Is an Internet Radio” in 2015.

Earlier this year Sonos made internet radio even more accessible by rolling out the simply named Sonos Radio. The key value of Sonos Radio is that it offers a bevy of curated internet stations to every Sonos owner, whether or not you have an account for any other service, free or paid.

What I appreciate about Sonos Radio is that they didn’t choose just one partner. There are stations from both the iHeart and TuneIn directories, which means you’ll find nearly most local broadcast stations as well as plenty of internet-only ones, from local to international.

Sonos Radio: From Cruise to Chill

Sonos also has about three dozen of its own stations across most genres, from hip-hop to show tunes. Though I was skeptical at first, they quickly won me over.

One of my “guilty pleasures” is the genre now known as Yacht Rock, thanks to the parodical early YouTube series of the same name. While I enjoy the soothing melodies of Michael McDonald, Steely Dan and Christopher Cross, I find most yacht rock styled internet radio to be either too Catholic, maintaining a too-tight playlist centered only on the most well-known hits, or too soft, serving me too much Bread and America, and not enough sophisticated pop.

With a bit of trepidation I dialed up Sonos Radio’s “Soft Rock / Yacht Rock” station, Cruise Control. I got some tasty Michael McDonald-era Doobie Brothers right off the bat, but then I heard some Phoenix. Originating in the 21st century I didn’t expect to hear the latter band, but their smooth but sophisticated sound totally fit in with the groove. Clearly the Sonos Radio programmers were more fixated on the idea of Yacht Rock rather than a frozen-in-time definition. Since then Cruise Control has been on my backyard chilling-with-a-drink rotation along with the more indie-rock focused Sunset Chill.

Other Sonos stations follow a similar familiar-but-just-different-enough pattern to make them stand out in the sea of ultra-genrefied (and calcified) internet stations. My only quibble with Sonos Radio is that it’s ad supported, and mostly the same ther ads from well-known national radio advertisers are in heavy rotation. Luckily the ad load is low – maybe three or four an hour at most.

AccuRadio Shows a Human Touch

I also want to give a shout out to AccuRadio, which requires a free account to use with Sonos, but that’s it. The service has 1000 stations across 50 genres, and can get very, delightfully, specific. My favorites right now are World Fusion, which melds jazz and world music – but not remotely in an easy listening way – and 1980s Alternative, which doesn’t hew as closely to new wave and synth pop as similar channels from other services, adding in a healthy dose of punk, post-punk, industrial and guitar rock.

All of AccuRadio’s stations are curated by humans and you can tell. There are enough deep cuts and left-field choices mixed in with more familiar tracks to keep you interested over the course of many hours of listening.

The post My Sonos Is Now an Even Better Internet Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Thanks to our intrepid and loyal readers I’ve learned a bit more about the mystery signal I reported on last week.

To recap, I DX’d a station at 1700 AM – a frequency with very few stations assigned across the continent – that simply played 80s pop music, with station IDs that were difficult for me to suss out, though they seemed to be in Spanish. I surmised it to be XEPE-AM in Tecate, Mexico.

Two readers emailed to confirm my identification. Eric, who lives north of me in Lake Stevens, WA, wrote that, “XEPE on 1700 kHz does indeed play English pop songs, especially from the ’80s or so, when it needs to fill time between the Spanish language talk shows. I was confused the first time I heard that as well.”

Chris, a “a fan of casual DXing AM,” shares his journey:

I checked that frequency right away to see what was there.  (I am in Pleasanton, near the SF Bay Area of California.) Being only about 4:00pm or so at the time, there was nothing to hear, no surprise there…

Later, my wife and kids and I drove out to a park at about 9:00pm to try to see the Neowise comet, and on the way I told them I wanted to try the station I read about.  They know I like to find oddball AM stations and the kids (11 y.o. twins) “allowed” me a minute away from their pop FM stations.

Well, that same station in Tecate made itself apparent, with the Four Seasons’ “Who Loves You” from 1975, clear as a bell.  Didn’t even get the whole song in before the kids shut it down, from the rear console of our ‘03 Odyssey, their own little radio command center, but I was satisfied that I had found it.  On our way back home, after not seeing the comet, I hit the station again and caught a few crumbs of Carol Douglas doing “Doctors Orders” from 1974.

Chris was later able to tune it in from home on his (Jay Allen approved) Sangean PR-D18. Awoken by his cat a little before 5 AM, he heard the transition from music into talk programming.

Teacher and scholar Sonia Robles authored a book on border radio from the Mexican perspective, “Mexican Waves,” and dropped us a line to assure us, “-honestly- that Mexicans love 80s and 90s US music.”

Of course, we were very excited to hear from Sonia, and have booked her for a forthcoming episode of our radio show and podcast. You can read a review of her book in Humanities and Social Sciences Online.

We also heard from our old friend Tha Dood, who reminded me that a rare breed of AM pirates like to use 1700 and 1710 AM, for two reasons. First, these frequencies are relatively clear of licensed stations. 1710, in particular, is reserved for Travelers Information Stations (TIS), operated at low power by state and local governments to provide travel advisories and tourist information.

The other reason is that because these are the highest frequencies on the AM band, they also have relatively short wavelengths, making it a little more efficient to transmit with a shorter antenna. Mind you, the word relative is operative here – 530 kHz AM has a wavelength of 1800 feet, while 1700 kHz AM is 578 feet. Generally speaking, you want your transmission antenna to be like a half or quarter of that length, but could get away with a smaller fraction. (For comparison, 88.1 mHz FM has a wavelength of just 11 feet.)

I’ve never heard an AM (mediumwave) pirate here in the Pacific Northwest, and the ones I’ve seen reported on message boards like HF Underground seem to be primarily on the US East Coast or in Europe. Greece, Turkey and the Netherlands seem to be particular hotspots.

All of this should be an incentive to take a journey to the right end of the AM dial with a decent radio every so often. You never know what you might hear.

The post Confirmations of 1700 (AM) appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Before going to bed I often enjoying scanning the radio dials, listening for signals that don’t come through while the sun is out. A couple of weeks ago the AM band was particularly fertile, especially at the upper end of the dial. These frequencies north of 1600 kHz are known as the “expanded band” because they were added to the service in 1990.

Some factors aiding the reception of distant signals on these frequencies are that there are relatively few stations, and they are limited to a maximum of 1 kilowatt of power at night. That limited power of course is a limitation on overall propagation, but when conditions are right it can mean pretty good long-distance catches.

I received one station over the course of several nights that particularly fascinated me. At 1700 kHz I heard continuous 80s pop music – think Huey Lewis and the News – with an intermittent station ID that was hard to make out, as the signal faded in and out. On the occasions when the ID was clearer I’m pretty sure it was in Spanish, but difficult to understand. Even over the course one hour-long listening session I never heard even one commercial, or anything but the short ID or pop songs.

Very few stations are assigned this frequency – just seven in North America in fact. Looking the list of 1700 AM stations in the US, none is closer than 1400 miles away from my Portland, OR location (that station is in Des Moines, IA). While a couple stations have a Spanish language format, they don’t seem like they’d be playing American 80s pop.

At 949 miles, the closest station is actually in Tecate, Mexico, part of the Tijuana metro area. Unlike the US stations, XEPE-AM broadcasts with 10,000 watts at night. While still about a fifth of clear-channel power, that much signal in a relatively uncrowded band also helps explain why it can come in well on occasion in Oregon.

According to Wikipedia the station has a news-talk format, but that’s not what I’m hearing after dark. It might be that’s the daytime format, and perhaps it reverts to automated music at night just to fill the time. I don’t have a better explanation.

I wasn’t equipped to get a recording of the station, and it hasn’t been coming in clear since about July 6. The radio I’m using is a C.Crane CCRadio 2, which was designed to have excellent AM reception. Radio guru ‘Radio’ Jay Allen says, [f]or raw sensitivity the CC-2 is right up there with the best.”

I’ll keep trying with a recorder handy to see if I can’t get an aircheck to share. Otherwise, let me know if you have another theory on the station’s identity.

The post DX Adventures at 1700 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

As the Remain at Home era uneasily subsides, the time approaches when I will return to my car and resume driving up and down the Highway 1 to get to and from UC Santa Cruz, where I teach history. That means that I will plug my iPhone into my Honda Fit and listen to my playlists on Spotify. And the other day I was thinking to myself, “Wouldn’t it be nice if you could plug a little widget into your playlist that allowed Spotify to pick just one tune based on its AI take on your choices?”

So, for example, here’s my Schubert piano music list:

My imaginary widget would allow me to insert a “wild card” entry into some numerical place on the playlist, spot number four, perhaps. There Spotify would make its own choice, based on its own reading of my list. That would not be difficult, in this instance. After all, the playlist is very clear: Schubert + Piano Music. Duh. For more complicated lists perhaps the widget would allow users to input a set of criteria for the wild card, eg: Broadway Musicals + Fifties + Sixties, for example.

The point of this feature would be to try to keep the playlist fresh. One inevitably gets bored with one’s playlists. Here is a possible way that they could be programmed to stay interesting. Users could even insert the widget into their playlist more than once, allowing two, three, or even four moments of uncertainty.

I should mention that Spotify offers something along these lines: its collaborative playlist option. This allows groups of users to team up in the creation of playlists. Admittedly, in comparison to this my suggestion is kind of lazy, even complacent perhaps. And who knows whether Spotify is really up to the task of adding tunes to our playlists that measure up to our own rigorous and exacting standards for entertainment?

Still, the idea might turn out to be fun.

The post The case for a Spotify wild card widget appeared first on Radio Survivor.

As we enter our second decade of everything-digital-on-demand, the desire for tactile media only seems to grow new buds. By now the vinyl resurgence is old news, and while mainstream publications still gasp or tsk-tsk at the cassette revival, I think we can safely say the tape medium has retaken a beachhead, too.

Today is all about the minidisc. Quite literally, because it’s been declared International Minidisc Day.

Yet, even I, a longtime minidisc user and aficionado, find this new holiday a bit curious. Before I explain, a little history is in order.

Long a format of choice for grassroots and independent radio production, the humble minidisc bridged us from the end of tape days in the early 90s to the full maturation of solid-state digital audio recorders in the mid- to late-2000s. Sony, the format’s originator, imagined the little digital discs as an eventual replacement for the compact cassette. In 1992 this was a plausible proposition, because it offered near-CD quality digital recording in a smaller and more robust package. Sony – and a few other labels – even released several dozen pre-recorded minidiscs to provide an alternative to pre-recorded cassettes, already in steep decline.

But in the days before CD-Rs and iPods it was minidisc’s digital recording capability that was the real attraction. Due to that, MD did become a cassette replacement for millions of people around the world who recorded their own mix minidiscs or just dubbed over their CDs for more convenient listening on the go.

Even In its heyday of the 90s and 2000s minidisc never really took off as a medium for distributing music. I knew plenty of musicians and radio producers recording on the format, but the end products ended up on the radio, on CDs and eventually online.

This might seem odd, since independent musicians and labels distributed on cassettes from the 70s through to today, and once CD-Rs came down in price in the late 90s, they, too, spawned their own music underground. But not minidisc… at least not in the United States.

It’s true minidisc was never as popular in the U.S. as in Japan or the U.K., even though millions of recorders and players were sold here. It’s just that they never reached the kind of per capita penetration of cassettes, CDs or even 8-tracks. It seems to me that running a minidisc-only label even 2003 would have been just too limiting, though I don’t doubt that there must have been some limited or one-off releases.

Coming back to today, Minidisc Day, the funny thing is that the celebration is modeled after Record Store Day, in that record labels are releasing albums on minidisc today. However, unlike Record Store Day, there are no actual brick-and-mortar retail stores participating, as far as I can tell. Instead, small independent labels are selling tiny runs of discs from their Bandcamp or web stores. Quantities seem to run in the tens up to maybe 100 per.

It’s funny because it’s actually kind of a new thing to have a minidisc label, rather than a revival. The labels and releases appear to be dominated by the vaporwave genre, which is itself an extremely post-modern reinterpretation of 1980s and 1990s music, culture and cliches through contemporary musical technology. Clearly there’s a strong harmony between the medium and the message that would make McLuhan smile.

Those 1990s pre-recorded minidisc releases were actually pressed like CDs in factories. All evidence indicates those pressing plants have been offline for nearly two decades. That means today’s minidisc releases have to be recorded onto blank discs, more like cassettes than CDs. Also like cassettes, this is something that an artist or label can do entirely themselves, or can outsource to a few companies that mass produce minidiscs. The advantage of the duplicators is that most will silk-screen art on the disc housing and print up professional looking cases. Those preferring the DIY look can of course just fire up their recorder and inkjet printer.

The International Minidisc Day labels and artists come largely from the UK, where most of those duplication houses also are. As I mentioned before, on a per capita basis minidisc was more popular there than in the U.S. Thus I suspect it has more cultural pull and the nostalgia is more prevalent than across the pond.

Although my minidisc players don’t get much use these days, except to archive old recordings, the whole enterprise of Minidisc Day makes me smile. I’m guessing that a lot of the artists and participants may not even have been alive when minidisc was invented, or even when it was popular(ish). That matters not to me. The point is to have fun and make things. By that score, mission accomplished.

That said, I don’t anticipate Minidisc Day to become even as popular as Cassette Store Day. There were never as many minidisc players as cassette players, and because they haven’t been manufactured in nine years, the number of working units will be in constant decline. Even though decent cassette decks also haven’t been manufactured in at least as long, you can still go to a local discount store or Urban Outfitters and pick up a player.

But I don’t think scale matters for this project. It’s a marriage of early-internet, home to minidisc fan sites, and contemporary internet, which takes for granted the rapid emergence of international memes-turned-movements. Not everything has to, or should scale. God knows that’s the story of most of my hobbies and passions.

¡Viva la minidisc!

The post Happy International Minidisc Day – A Post-Modern Revival appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Catch Alice’s Restaurant on the 2023 radio dial. See our latest listening guide.

In fall, 1967, Arlo Guthrie released “Alice’s Restaurant,” unintentionally launching a Thanksgiving radio tradition that persists more than 50 years later. The Thanksgiving-themed 18+ minute story-song is beloved by folkies and classic rock fans who continue to search the radio dial for it on Thanksgiving Day in order to take part in ritual listening sessions. In 2019 you can listen any time you like thanks to streaming music, but there’s nothing like tuning in to hear the same song at the same time as legions of fellow fans on one of the most American of holidays.

Guthrie has been on the tour circuit in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the film version of “Alice’s Restaurant,” with plenty more concerts scheduled through spring, 2020. For followers of his annual Thanksgiving weekend Carnegie Hall gig, this year’s event on November 30th is expected to be the last.

For a decade, I’ve been compiling a list of radio stations that air “Alice’s Restaurant” as part of their Thanksgiving schedule. I will continue to update this list as I learn of additional stations leading up to Thanksgiving.

Update as of 11/25/19:

The weekend before Thanksgiving, “Alice’s Restaurant” aired on the “Dr. Demento Show” online, on WPRB‘s (Princeton, NJ) “Music You Can’t Hear on the Radio,” and on WMUH’s (Allentown, PA) “Radio Free Hippie” show. Additionally, some stations will continue the “Alice’s Restaurant” festivities after Thanksgiving. John Furphy of Radio Free Hippie shared on Facebook that the Sunday overnight show “…will play both the original and the revisited massacree during this week and next week’s program, as has been done since 1983. There is also a very good chance one or both versions will be played between 10 AM and noon on turkey day.”

Charles Reinsch also reports, “The Rainbow Roach version of Alice’s as performed on Bob Fass’s Night Into Day can be heard anytime in the KRAB Archive: http://www.krabarchive.com/krab-programs-music-1960s.html…”

Ted Coe writes on Monday, November 25, 2019, “I’m doing an hourlong variation on this on my music-and-cultural arts show The Freak Power Ticket on KCSB-FM 91.9 in Santa Barbara, in just about an hour!” That show airs on Mondays 11am to noon Pacific time.

Update as of 11/27/19:

I also got a note from Bill Revill, who writes, “WESU (Middletown CT) airs ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ the Tuesday before Thanksgiving between 6-8pm on ‘Acoustic Blender.’  I’ve been doing that for ten years now.”

Also on Tuesday nights for the past two years, Cynthia Lombard at KFJC 89.7 FM (Los Altos Hills, CA) has been playing an atypical version of “Alice’s Restaurant” during her 7-10pm Pacific time show. This year it aired at around 8:45pm (playlist here) and program is archived for two weeks.

Alice’s Restaurant on the Radio on Thanksgiving Day 2019 – November 28, 2019

Last updated on November 27, 2019 at 3:30pm Pacific Time

Terrestrial Radio:

Wyoming Public Radio will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at 11am during the Wyoming Sounds Thanksgiving Special (9am to noon).

KBCO 97.3 FM (Denver, Colorado) airs “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon.

WAMC 1400 AM and 90.3 FM (Albany, NY) Northeast Public Radio, per tradition, will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon.

WTTS 92.3 FM (Indianapolis/Bloomington, Indiana) is airing “Alice’s Restaurant” at 8am, noon and 8pm.

WCLY 95.7 FM (Raleigh, NC) will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at 10am and 5pm.

KPIG 107.5 FM (Freedom, CA) and KPYG 94.9 FM (Cayucos/San Luis Obispo, CA) will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at 9am, noon, 4pm, and 8pm.

WERS 88.9 FM (Boston, MA) plans to play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 9am.

WXYG The Goat 540 AM/107.3FM (Sauk Rapids, MN) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon.

WCMF 96.5 FM (Rochester, NY) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 11am prior to the Buffalo Bill’s game!

WMMM 105.5 FM (Madison, WI) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon and 6pm.

92 KQRS (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” on Thanksgiving at 10am and 2pm

WDRV 97.1 FM The Drive (Chicago, IL) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 6am, noon, and 4pm.

KOZT 95.3 FM/95.9 FM The Coast (Ft. Bragg, CA) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 12 noon on Thanksgiving.

KRCC 91. 5 FM (Colorado Springs, CO) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 7pm on Thanksgiving.

WRUV 90.1 FM (Burlington, VT) will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at 11am EST.

98.5 WNUW-LP (Aston, PA) at Neumann University airs “Alice’s Restaurant” every Thanksgiving at 9am, 12noon, 5pm, 8pm and 10pm.

WXOX 97.1 FM Louisville will be playing it on Thanksgiving between 10-11am on Artebella with DJ Keith Waits.

WAFX 106.9 The Fox (Hampton Roads, VA) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon on Thanksgiving day.

The Creek 100.9 FM (Macon, Georgia) will air it at noon and 5pm on Thanksgiving.

KTYD 99.9 FM (Santa Barbara, CA) posted on Facebook, “KTYD’S Thanksgiving Tradition continues! Listen for Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” Thursday at 9am, noon, 3pm, 6pm.”

Frosty 105.7 FM (Part 15 station in Ventura, CA) will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 4pm (Massacree Revisited), 5pm on Thanksgiving Day, 11/28/19.

101 the Fox (Kansas City, KS) will air “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon and 6pm on Thanksgiving.

WRHQ 105.3 FM (Savannah, Georgia) plans to play “Alice’s Restaurant” on Thanksgiving Day at 6:30am, 12:30pm and 6:30pm.

WZZZ 107.5 The Breeze (Portsmouth, Ohio) posted on Twitter, “Join us this Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, as we play a Holiday Classic: ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ by Arlo Guthrie. You’ll hear it at 9am, Noon and 5pm. Follow along as the story unfolds on Thanksgiving Day–It’s brought to you by Preston Family Funeral Home, on Rt.5 in Ashland.”

WXPN 88.5 FM (Philadelphia, PA) will air its annual broadcast of “Alice’s Restaurant” at 12noon.

WXRT 93.1 FM (Chicago, IL) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon on Thanksgiving Day.

WNCW 88.7 FM (Spindale, NC) writes, “Join us from Jasmin’s ‘Mountain Mornings’ at 6am, through Joe Kendrick’s Thanksgiving music and history spotlight between 7 and 9am (in lieu of ‘Morning Edition’), and our eclectic feast of songs throughout the rest of the day. We’ll air Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant Massacree’ just past Noon, and again at 9pm.”

MVY Radio 88.7 FM (Vineyard Haven, MA) will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at noon on Thanksgiving.

WERU 89.9 FM (East Orland, Maine) reports that, “This year Brother Al, host of Thursday’s Morning Maine show on WERU-FM will be playing it just after 8 a.m. We live stream at weru.org and via the WERU app.”

Online Radio Stations:

The Whip Radio will play “Alice’s Restaurant” four times on Thanksgiving: 8am, 12 noon, 5pm and 9pm Central time.

REC-FM will play “Alice’s Restaurant” at 11am Eastern time on Thanksgiving.

KMCJ Radio (Moorpark College in Moorpark, CA) posted on Facebook, “…tune into KMCJ on Mixlr Thursday at 10am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm and as a bonus tune into KMCJ tomorrow Night [Tuesday, November 26, 2019) at 7:45 after our all day remote at Club M then after we air Alice’s Restaurant at 7:45 our annual Sounds of the Season begins.”

The post Alice’s Restaurant on the 2019 Thanksgiving Radio Menu appeared first on Radio Survivor.

We wanted to find a special way to thank the readers and listeners who support us every month via our Patreon campaign. Something unique, hand-made and in the spirit of great college and community radio.

Why not make a ‘zine?

If you’ve never heard of a ‘zine, it’s an independently produced publication, often photocopied and hand-assembled. The history goes back to mimeographed science fiction fanzines published as far back as the 1930s. Adopted by punk and underground music fans in the 70s and 80s, the name was shortened to ‘zine to reflect a broadening in subject matter beyond just fandom. For more history, see this brief timeline.

For Radio Survivor ‘Zine #1 we’re writing and assembling pieces that we feel are fit for a more tactile format, breaking free of the strict layouts forced upon us by blog software. You won’t find these pieces on our website or anywhere else online. Here are more details:

• Radio Survivor Zine #1 will go to everyone who contributes $5 a month or more to our Patreon campaign.
  • You need to have completed at least one payment in order to get the ‘zine, but if you’ve signed up by Aug. 1 we’ll send the zine as soon as that first payment is made.
• The deadline to sign up is August 1, 2019
• We’ll send out the ‘zines in August 2019

Here is a sampling of the features in Radio Survivor Zine #1:

• “Wild Flowers and Radio Towers”
• “Radios I Have Known and Loved”
• Hand-drawn illustrations and cartoons
• more more more!

If you sign on as a Patron of Radio Survivor you’ll also be helping us reach our goal of the 100 supporters we need to do the work of documenting the 20th anniversaries of Indymedia and low-power FM.

Sign up now to reserve your copy of Radio Survivor ‘Zine #1!

The post We’re Making a ‘Zine for Our Supporters appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Jennifer takes beautiful photos on her radio station tours, and we thought it would be great to find new ways of sharing them. We also want to do more to engage with and say “thank you” to our supporters on Patreon.

So we created our first sheet of digital postcards. The first edition has four cards on one sheet, in high-resolution ready to print PDF, formatted for Avery 8383 ink jet glossy postcards, or just about any US letter-size paper or stock. They’re even set up for duplex printing, with everything you need on the back side to mail (except postage — you’ll need to add that).

We’ll be creating new sets of cards periodically, and every current Patreon supporter will get access to each new set.

We’ll also be adding more Patreon-exclusive content, including bonus episodes of the podcast (like this bonus “after dark” episode for last week’s show).

These bonuses are available to everyone who supports us beginning at just $1 a month. That may not sound like much, but every dollar counts, and it sure adds up when more of our thousands of regular readers and listeners contribute.

Please help keep Radio Survivor going, and to get stronger by contributing today.

Go to our Patreon page to get started.

The post Retro Vacation Postcards from Radio Station Tours appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Let’s celebrate the oldest electronic medium today. Radio provides entertainment, news, information and companionship to millions of people every day in the U.S., and billions around the world. When your power goes out or your smartphone dies, you just need a couple of batteries and a radio (or just a wind-up radio) to keep in touch with the world.

Back in the 1990s, it’s believed that the date of August 20 was chosen for National Radio Day because it’s the day in 1920 that WWJ in Detroit (then known as 8MK) first went on the air. The station still broadcasts today.

So, today take a moment to spin the dial and check out some new stations, or spin the virtual dial and check out streaming stations around the country. Give your favorite station or DJ a call and say, “thanks.” However you celebrate National Radio Day, know that there are millions joining you.

The post Happy National Radio Day 2018! appeared first on Radio Survivor.

We recently had Brooklyn pirate radio watcher (and listener) David Goren on episode #133 of podcast and radio show, talking about his efforts to document this vibrant scene. He also told us about an earlier pirate pioneer from the borough, WBAD, which broadcast underground hip-hop to a loyal audience from 1995 to 1998.

He produced a radio documentary about WBAD which is now available in Lost Tapes series from public radio station KCRW, titled “Outlaws of the Airwaves: The Rise of Pirate Radio Station WBAD.” In it you’ll hear from the man who started the station, a UPS driver by day, DJ by night, as well as other principals of the station. You’ll also learn how publicity can be a dangerous double-edged sword for an unlicensed station. It’s a fascinating look back at the power of radio in the time just before consolidation and the internet would challenge the medium’s supremacy, and before inexpensive technology would make illicit broadcasting nearly as easy as installing a wi-fi router.

The post The Rise and Fall of Brooklyn Hip-Hop Pirate WBAD appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Decades before the invention of the MP3, the audiocassette, along with the home dubbing deck and four-track tape recorders, put the power to create and distribute recordings into the hands of anyone with the will to record. No longer reliant on record labels or the capital investment needed to rent studio time and press records, by the 1980s an international community of independent-minded artists had emerged, networked via photocopied ’zines, grassroots magazines and P.O. boxes because even the widest home-recorded cassette release was unlikely to be stocked in record stores.

Tapes were just as likely to be traded—one artist swapping her own tapes, or something else of value (like a ’zine), for another’s—as they were to be bought or sold. Even when commerce was involved, the price would only be a few bucks and quantities could be strictly limited, due more to pragmatics like blank tape supplies and dubbing time than anything else.

Shows on community and college radio stations were the few mass media platforms open to playing home recorded and distributed music. One of the longest-lasting of these is “No Pigeonholes Radio” hosted by musician Don Campau since 1985 on community radio KKUP in Cupertino, CA.

Though cassettes, like vinyl, seem to be having a bit of revival—even with their own day—I’ve been fascinated by cassette culture for decades. I stumbled upon “No Pigeonholes Radio” a couple of months ago during a late night ’net research expedition, wherein I dived deep into the oeuvre of experimental musician Hal McGee. I found an interview with McGee that Campau published on his website, The Living Archive of Underground Music, which in turn led me to his radio show.

Initially focused on home-recording cassette artists, the show now features music released on any format, but is still dedicated to DIY musicians. After listening to some shows in the “No Pigeonholes” archive, I finally decided to drop Campau a line and see if he would be up for an email interview. What follows has been edited for clarity and length.

PR: How and why did you start “No Pigeonholes?”

DC: After I became involved in what was later called cassette culture in 1984 a light went off in my head. I already have a radio show. Why not feature all these tapes I was now getting in trade?

These trades were fostered, to begin with, by reviews in mags such as OP, Sound Choice, Option, Factsheet Five, etc.

I rarely bought tapes. I was very proactive and wrote letters everyday from reviews in these mags, and then from addresses on compilation announcements, and then from little promo papers that used to accompany a trade. I wrote literally thousands of letters (this was well before email) and I would almost always send a trade tape in return.

PR: In the 1980s it was common for college and community radio to play underground and independent music, what did you want to do that was different?

DC: I simply wanted to portray the tape scene that was happening. No styles rejected, not about the music biz, not about “making it.” These were not demos, but the finished product, representing the everyday person who was making music at home.

PR: Stations often didn’t play cassettes on air simply because they are more difficult to cue up than records, and later, CDs. Was it a challenge, from a practical point of view?

DC: It was a challenge. I had to bring in my own tape deck, and sometime two decks just to be able to record it as well. By the way, I have every show since 1985 on tape, CD or digital file. I am slowly uploading them to archive.org.

PR: These days your show features music in a variety of formats, not just cassette. When did that shift first occur?

DC: In the late 90s people started turning their attention to CDs and the tape format became marginalized to some degree. I still got tapes even after 2000, but much less when digital home recording and duplication became affordable and widespread. The heyday of cassette culture is mainly painted as 1985–1995 but, in reality, was a bit longer than that.

PR: As a DJ, these days do you prefer to have the tape, CD or a digital file?

DC: I am a hard copy guy. But, really, I am fine with a digital file now, too. There is nothing holy about tapes. They were simply a means to an end. Cheap, easy to get and easy to mail.

Bandcamp is great and so is Soundcloud. Just don’t fool yourself into thinking you will make lots of money.

PR: Isn’t that no more true today than it was in the heyday of cassette culture in the 80s and 90s?

DC: Yes, but during the heyday of tapes nobody really thought their tape was going to make them big or be profitable. It was only with the advent of the CD, which people felt was somehow more legitimate, did people delude themselves in this way. That delusion continues into today, and many people write me feeling confused and angry because they cannot “make it.”

I try to softly tell them that is not my focus, and although I have played thousands of artists on the show, I have never met one who could do what I did with my job in the produce department of a grocery store: buy a house, have insurance, a pension, three kids and an ability to take care of a family. This simply does not happen in the music business for 99% of artists, ever.

The bottom line: for me, I am OK calling music a “hobby.” But that is evidently a dirty word for many musicians. I always tell people: Get a job and career you can handle and that will enable you to focus on music as an art, or something to have fun with.

PR: Cassettes are seeing a bit of revival in the last few years, even if not quite on par with the vinyl resurgence. What do you think the allure of cassettes is now?

DC: I think there are a number of reasons. First, a counter-reaction to the “invisible” digital culture where there is “no there, there.” Also, an opportunity to have something tangible to offer and hold, with art and unusual presentation. Plus, with tapes there is no easy way to get to specific songs; one must listen to the entire tape unless you want to rewind or fast forward.

To me, though, it was never about format. [It was] not about tapes at all, but about creating community and using affordable means of recording and distribution. Tape culture also offered a way to create relationships with people, too. Heck, I ended up marrying a home taper from New Jersey!

When CDs and digital distribution became the standard [there was] a certain lack of this community. For example, in the old days one would get a tape and a letter, and maybe there might be personal info [shared], and not just music talk. Letters would get exchanged, friendships developed, histories created.

In 1991 Kevyn Dymond and myself traveled to Europe for a five-week tour of other home tapers in Germany, France, Norway and England. We even performed in East Germany right after the Wall came down, with improvising crazy men, Das Freie Orchester. So, the relationship might be extended with a phone call, [or] a possible in-person meeting.

To this day, I have people that are very meaningful to me, and whom I consider to be close friends, that I have never met or even talked to.

Now, things are different. I might get a mass email from an artist saying, “here’s my mp3, can you play it on your show?” There is no asking me how I am, no relationship that goes deeper. It’s a good thing that I have long time friendships with so many people from the old days. This has created continuity for me.

PR: When you get the mass-email asking you to check out a song or artist, do you?

Yes, I do. I try to encourage a personal relationship and push it a little bit. I’ll still air stuff even if I don’t like it, or if it’s impersonal. The show is not about me. It’s about exposing unknown artists, especially those recording at home.

I always write back telling people I got their music. I am one of the few DJs that makes sure everyone knows they got airtime by sending not only playlists, but also links to podcasts with their music.

PR: Are the relationships still being forged in the underground music community?

Yes, I think so. Younger people write me all the time asking about it, and wondering how to do it. It’s hard and relentless work, even in this digital age. Not everyone is a frustrated music biz type. There are still plenty of curious and inventive people doing interesting things.

The internet is not inherently superficial. Relationships, community and personal connections are still possible—in fact, maybe even easier. There are no more trips to the post office, and tremendous amounts of money are saved on postage and materials. But why does it so rarely happen?

We seem to be in a, “look at me, push it out, one-way-street” kind of mentality to a large degree. I think Facebook and social media are a good thing. Sure, there are tons of meaningless crap, but I have made connections and reconnections with people I lost touch with for many years. I like that.

It is fashionable to knock Facebook now. I use it because it works for me. If it doesn’t work for you stop complaining and don’t do it. And while you’re at it, stop bitching that no one wants to buy your music or doesn’t pay attention to you. This is the 21st century, get on the bus if you want to be heard.

PR: Any final tips for people looking to find underground sounds?

The resources are everywhere on the internet. A few good resources are:

• WFMU’s remarkable Free Music Archive (also the subject of Radio Survivor Podcast #1 -PR)
• The Spanish tape archivists SONM
• The Facebook 1980/90s group
• Darrell Draeger’s blog, Die or DIY?
• My experimental radio show on KOWS-FM, “No Pigeonholes EXP”
• The unbelievable UBUWEB
• No Longer Forgotten Music blog
• Tape Attack blog

The post The Spirit of Cassette Culture Lives on ‘No Pigeonholes Radio’ appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I just discovered this fascinating piece of video tape on YouTube, likely dating from the 1970s, documenting a pirate radio and television station operating in my neighborhood, Sunnyside, in Portland, OR. It’s part of an archive of tapes from an archive of The Video Access Project, digitized by the Oregon Historical Society.

It’s truly a wonderful slice of counter-cultural public access television that starts with a man demonstrating how to reconnect a house to the city water supply after it’s been cut off due to non-payment of bills. At the end of the demo, about 19 minutes in, it seamlessly segues to a man with a portable radio playing reggae, who starts explaining that he started putting together radio stations, “for the hell of it.” He goes on to claim that “apparently, half the neighborhood of Sunnyside is involved in the station right now.”

Then the interviewer and camera follows the man into a house, up into its attic where we see a radio studio occupied by several people. In addition to the record players and mixers, he also shows a television transmitter, though we don’t get a glimpse of the programming.

In the title of the video it’s apparently credited to someone named Wayne Waits, whom I found listed in the “Video Directory” section of the magazine Radical Software volume 1 number 5 from 1972, devoted to nascent the independent video production and video art community of the time. Waits was listed as someone with video equipment and expertise, though his street address is care-of community radio station KBOO, when it was located down the street from where I live now.

As an aside, imagine a time when the number of independent private owners of video recording equipment could be listed in in just 13 pages of a magazine. When I consider the fact that most people carry a device in their pocket capable of recording video with four to eight times the resolution, and then transmitting it around the world within seconds, it kind of blows my mind. I have to stop and take a second to awe in how far communications technology has come in my lifetime.

I’m particularly fascinated by the fact that this likely aired on public access TV, where the participants in these ostensibly illicit activities would have been easily identified by any interested authorities. That said, cable TV subscriptions and viewership was much lower at the time, and public access channel viewership probably very, very low. Plus, the show would have been much more ephemeral than today–it would take some 35 years for it to become on-demand and findable to anyone without access to the original reel of tape.

Here’s the whole show below, or you can forward to 18:45 to just catch the pirate radio portion.

The post Public Access TV Archive Documents 1970s Portland Pirate Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

While we mostly celebrate non-commercial radio here at Radio Survivor, that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate commercial radio when done well. The problem is that in the 20 years since the 1996 Telecom Act grossly deregulated radio ownership, the quality of most commercial radio dropped precipitously, leaving many stations with very little local programming, with fewer—or maybe even no—local hosts.

Yet, there are still some truly local commercial stations out there, with real, live air staff who are in touch with a community’s tastes and needs. I was delighted to tune in to a few during a recentlty-completed road trip vacation from Joshua Tree, CA back home to Portland, OR.

Old School Local News in Joshua Tree

At the top of the 9 AM hour on a Friday morning I was treated to about 20 minutes of locally reported news and community updates on Z107.7, KCZD-FM in Joshua Tree. Ostensibly a CHR / Top 40 station, the news report included reports from a variety of correspondents, covering local events and other information of local import. It reminded me of the hourly news I heard on WOBM-FM growing up in Toms River, NJ, reported by local journalists and hosts, detailing the kind of regional stories that would never be heard on the stations coming out of bigger cities to the north and west.

It’s easy to understand why radio is an important lifeline in a community like Joshua Tree, located in the California desert, where cell signals and wifi can be hard to find just a mile off the main road through town. Someone visiting the national park probably won’t get a cell signal, but can still turn on the radio and hear emergency announcements, or just the weather update.

Krushing It in Sonoma

The following week I was treated to local DJs serving up alternative, blues and country-inflected rock while rock I stayed a couple of days in Windsor, CA to tour wineries in nearby Healdsburg. KRSH-FM, The Krush—the name reflecting the area’s wine industry—kept us company as we drove around the region. I was sad to hear the signal fade when we later journeyed north.

I left a few days before the devastating wildfires fires began, and once I arrived home I followed The Krush online. The station broadcast regular news updates until it was forced off the air by the fire, but kept updates going on its website and social media accounts the entire time.

Radio Without Rules in Humboldt

Outside Eureka, as we made our way toward Redwood National and State Parks, a scan of the dial turned up KHUM-FM, Humboldt freeform radio. The station’s motto is “radio without the rules,” and I have to say after listening for a few days, this is more true for KHUM than any commercial radio station I’ve heard in at least a decade.

One afternoon around 2 PM the hour started off with the song “Borneo” from Firewater, an eclectic world-beat influenced band that I love, but honestly have only ever heard on the radio once before (on KEXP, by the way). That was followed by the contemporary swing band Squirrel Nut Zippers and the classic swing artist, Bob Willis and His Texas Playboys.

If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought I was listening to college or community radio. Even many of the DJs had the relaxed, conversational tone you expect on the left end of the dial. But I also heard honest-to-goodness ads, mostly for local businesses, including spots where these business owners testified their support for the station.

Compared to the five-to-seven minute long stop-sets I suffered through while traveling the freeways between Bakersfield and Sonoma County, KHUM’s were refreshingly short, rarely clocking in over 2 minutes. That said, there was a fair amount of repetition, probably reflecting a small inventory of advertisers.

The Advantage of Small

At this point it is fair to recognize that these stations all serve relatively small or rural communities and markets, the kind that are of less interest to behemoths like iHeartMedia or Cumulus. That means big companies are relatively unlikely to buy up competing stations there, consolidating operations and pushing ad rates ever downward.

They also serve communities that seem able and willing to support unique local commercial radio. That’s always the rub with commercial radio – listeners don’t expect to have to donate to keep you on the air, so the local business dollars need to be there. Depending on the local economy, it just might be the case there isn’t sufficient advertising dollars in some small towns.

Nevertheless, it is both refreshing and heartening to stumble into quirky commercial stations that reflect and serve local needs.

Though this piece is about commercial radio, honorable mention goes to community radio KMUD in Humboldt County, which also kept us entertained and informed from just south of Garberville, all the way up past the Oregon border.

Do you know of or listen to a commercial radio station that still provides unique local service? Let us know in the comments.

The post The Joy of Finding Truly Local Commercial Radio (Yes, It Exists) appeared first on Radio Survivor.

As I’ve written before, I’m in the process of archiving my collection of audio work that’s on audiocassette and minidisc. It’s a process that has unfolded in fits and starts over the last few years, but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m nearing my last couple dozen tapes and discs, after digitizing about 300 in total. So here’s a progress report.

For the most part, the contents of these physical media are programs I’ve created myself—interviews, radio airchecks and the like—and other irreplaceable audio of an important or sentimental nature, like mixtapes or albums that are not on a streaming service or easily obtained on CD. A minidisc player was my main portable audio device from about 1997 to 2007, so I did amass a sizeable repository of albums I dubbed to MD and mixtapes. But I deemed only a handful of these to merit archiving.

As I charted my progress in digitizing all the tapes and discs, one of my concerns became: What would I do with all this media? I didn’t relish the thought of simply tossing hundreds of minidiscs and cassettes into a dumpster; that is both too wasteful and environmentally unfriendly. Yet, the contents of these artifacts is of interest to few people, in anyone at all.

eBay: Where Old Media Lives (and Sells)

I was relieved to discover that there is actually an active trade in used minidiscs and cassettes on eBay. The popularity of minidiscs, in particular, surprised me, since I felt like I couldn’t even give them away if I tried.

However, it turns out minidisc is a very robust medium, with many ardent enthusiasts still making use of the first practical digital recording format for average consumers. In fact, I can attest to this robustness. Out of the approximately 400 discs that I’ve either digitized or reviewed and reformatted, fewer than a half-dozen failed. Even amongst those, the failures weren’t with the little disc itself, but rather the plastic housing, wherein the protective shutter wouldn’t close or open correctly.

Moreover, at the start of this project I had four working minidisc recorders, all between 12 and 14 years old (one has since been sold off). The only niggling defect is the LED display on two models, which dims over time. Yet their playback and recording functions remained.

Even more surprising is that used minidiscs are going for between $1 and $3 each on eBay, which is the same range I paid for them new in the mid–2000s. I chalk this up to the fact that they haven’t been manufactured for at least five years, new-old-stock is drying up, and used ones still work well. It makes me happy that not only do my used discs end up in the hands of someone who will use them, rather than a dumpster, but I get a few bucks, to boot.

Particularly valuable are Hi-MDs, which are the 1 GB discs introduced in the mid–2000s. The culmination of mindisc technology just before flash memory recorders and smartphones would push the format aside, this final iteration of the technology allowed you to record uncompressed audio and upload it to your computer over USB. Used Hi-MD discs go for about $10 a pop, and I sold a couple of new, still-sealed ones for more than $20 per. I’m pretty sure that’s more than I paid a dozen years ago (not counting inflation).

Also in demand are the last generation Hi-MD capable minidisc recorders, which fetch hundreds of dollars in good, working condition. With luck these prices will hold up until I’ve finished my archiving project.

Used cassettes, even, can be sold for a dollar or two each, provided they’re still in working condition. The caveat here is that only the higher quality chrome and metal tapes from well-known brands like TDK and Maxell command these prices. Presumably the buyers have a need to make decent quality reordings, and new tapes from these brands are no longer manufactured.

After Digitizing, Off to the Archive

Still, I must insist that this project is not, and has never been about cashing in on my used blank media. That said, I’m pretty certain that I’m still not quite making back my initial investment; of course, that was never the point to begin with. It’s simply good to know that all this plastic and ferric oxide isn’t headed directly into a landfill.

Now, just because I’ve digitized all this audio onto a hard disk doesn’t mean that it’s safe forever. Hard drives fail–often more easily than a single cassette or minidisc. So I’ve got two copies stored in the cloud, with paid services where at least I have a service agreement giving me some measure of protection. I’m also making a second hard disk copy.

The next step is to organize everything better and add appropriate metadata, especially to the archives of my old radio show and associated interviews. Then I plan to begin uploading these files to the Internet Archive, and linking back those archives to my radio show’s website. I know there are a lot of dead links to audio files on the site because I moved hosts over the years. Giving everything a home at the Internet Archive should help lend even a little more permanence.

Though not every episode of the show was a gem, the show does serve as a history of sorts of the indepdendent media and media justice movements of the 2000s, which may be of interest to historians or people who were there.

I must admit it is satisfying to watch the to-do pile of tapes and discs dwindle, and then get shipped off to new owners who will put them to use. I think it will be even more satifsying to get my radio show archives in order and preserved at the Internet Archive.

As Matthew reminds us when he mines forgotten audio treasures at the IA, even at the time when broadcasts are transmitted and recorded, it’s tough to know what future interest or significance they may have decades down the line. That’s why I urge every independent, college or community radio producer to take care of your recorded works and considering preserving them at the IA, if nowhere else.

The post Progress Report: Archiving Cassettes & Minidiscs appeared first on Radio Survivor.

John Oliver is the hero the internet needs right now. Just when new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has targeted net neutrality again–a mere two years after the Commission passed the Open Internet Order–the HBO host brought the subject back into the spotlight again Sunday night for a sharp, incisive and hilarious dissection of Pai’s intention, and a much-needed examination of his ridiculously large coffee mug.

Let’s hop in the Wayback Machine to 2014. Barack Obama was president, and Tom Wheeler, a former cable industry lobbyist, was FCC Chair. Wheeler proposed a set of half-baked rules under the pretense of protecting network neutrality, while also preposterously bending over backwards to allow for what he called “commercially reasonable” discrimination of internet traffic.

While the idea of an internet that is free of any content discrimination, where every audio or video stream is treated equally, isn’t a hard concept to grasp, the wonky details of jargon like “Title II” can make even the biggest nerd’s eyes glaze over. Enter John Oliver.

Fresh off a stint on “The Daily Show,” Oliver was just five episodes into his new HBO show, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” when he decided to break down net neutrality for America, turning otherwise turgid policy points into a sparklingly clear and rivetingly funny monologue that anyone could understand. Calling upon his viewers (on HBO and YouTube) to make their displeasure with Wheeler’s half-baked open internet proposal known to the FCC, Oliver effectively broke the FCC’s website. In the end more than 4 million public comments were filed, setting a record, and forcing Wheeler to go back to the drawing board to come up with something real.

Sunday night Oliver broke the FCC website again, by again calling on viewers to give the Commission a piece of their minds, and by providing a shortcut URL that takes you directly to the right page to comment on Chairman Pai’s new anti net-neturality proposal: GoFCCYourself.com

One of the worries that many public interest and net neutrality advocates have had is that this latest attack on net neutrality might get lost in the mix. With so many political jeremiads to worry about, and with the issue returning to the floor only two years later, the concern is that folks will just be too tired and overwhelmed to mobilize in the kind of numbers they did in 2014. So it sure doesn’t hurt to have a popular comedy host create a viral-ready rant in support of the cause.

As I write this Oliver’s net neutrality segment already has over 2 million views. And that’s because, on top of breaking down the policy implications of net neutrality and Title II with aplomb, it’s also funny as hell. Zeroing in on Chairman Pai’s geeky pride in using an absurdly large Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup mug serves as a stark contrast to his free-marketeering history as a Verizon lobbyist.

Watch the segment for yourself. It’s NSFW because of lots of four-letter-words (but who–besides priests and elementary school teachers–doesn’t use these words at work these days, anyway?)

The post John Oliver Is the Hero the Internet Needs appeared first on Radio Survivor.

For 40 years Mark Talbot hosted his UK-based radio show “Second Side Up.” On cassette. Only on cassette.

At its peak the show had 40 listeners, but duplicating that many tapes became too big of a financial drain on the DJ, so he scaled back.

I learned about “Second Side Up” from the Australian podcast “This Is About,” presented by producer David Waters, who discovered the show when Talbot listed the tapes for sale online. He contacted the cassette DJ to learn this utterly captivating, and very human, story. Waters also produced a slightly longer audio documentary for BBC Radio 3.

Anyone who grew up with a cassette recorder can probably relate to playing DJ alone or with friends. I actually would share tapes with my best friend in grade school, who seemed to enjoy my goofy attempts at sixth-grade humor, intermixed with songs or bits from comedy records. But a listener of one was about as far as it got.

Tapes have also been used as audio letters over the years, with the sound of one’s voice lending a type of intimacy absent from the written page. I’m sure songs and other audio bits have been included, too. However, as form of correspondence, I doubt many audio letters had more than a couple of listeners, either.

“Second Side Up” isn’t too far away from these. Talbot’s longest-standing listener was his mom, to whom he would dedicate songs or fill in details on his life.

In 2017 “Second Side Up” sounds a lot like a podcast or hobby internet radio show. Only it started in 1974, 30 years before podcasting, 19 years before internet radio, and even a good 8 years before Howard Stern took his uniquely confessional and self-conscious style of DJing to the New York airwaves on WNBC-AM.

“Second Side Up” is certainly unique in the length of its run as an ultra-DIY cassette-distributed radio show. Yet, the idea of a distributing radio shows on cassette isn’t that unusual, even if the form faded in the internet era.

Slack in your Tape and on the Air

“The Hour of Slack” is the show that comes most readily to mind. Produced by the Church of the Subgenius, this long-running program of audio collage and dadaist sermon-like rants was distributed on cassette to college and community stations beginning back in 1985. Stations paid a small fee to have the show mailed each week, and any listener or fan was free to order their own copy of any episode.

In fact, although the show is available as a podcast now, Subgeniuses can still get a mail subscription to “The Hour of Slack” on CD. While it is actually broadcast terrestrially, one can make a strong argument that cassette (and now CD) was a significant distribution channel.

Working in community radio in the 1990s I recall many other syndicated programs arriving in the mail via cassette, like “Radio Nation” (from The Nation magazine), FAIR’s “Counterspin,” and “Making Contact.” Occasionally sorting the mail I also spotted unsolicited tapes, usually from evangelical Christian producers or the military, which often ended up in the hands of late-night freeform collagists.

Christian programs were widely distributed on cassette, whether they were intended for broadcast or just home listening. Focus on the Family’s radio drama “Adventures in Odyssey,” is one well-known example.

Cassette Magazines

More akin to “Second Side Up” is audio mail art, in which artists mailed tapes to other artists or listeners. Often simply referred to under the umbrella term “cassette culture,” these tapes might have been distributed singly, or in greater numbers. The content could vary wildly, from straightforward home-recorded songs and musique concrète to spoken word and programs that resemble more traditional radio shows in format.

Beginning in 1973, “Audio Arts” was a British contemporary art “sound magazine” that lasted nearly as long as “Second Side Up,” wrapping up in 2006, after 33 years in production. Early editions featured contributions from Noam Chomsky, Margaret Henry and W.B. Yeats, while latter releases included artists like Chuck Close, Dorothy Cross, Wim Wenders and Vanessa Beecroft. All 24 volumes are digitized and archived online by the Tate museum.

The New York City based “Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine” exposed listeners to avant garde music, sound art and spoken word. It ran from 1983–1993, and the archives are available at Ubuweb.

The Ferric Form(alism) of Radio

Though both self-consciously adopted the moniker “magazine,” neither “Audio Arts” nor “Tellus” embraced the formalisms of radio, like back announcing, or really announcing anything at all. Probably with a degree confidence, the producers apparently assumed the curious listener could just read the insert, since there was no assumption that the programs would actually be broadcast. However, things might be less certain for the listener who acquired a dub unaccompanied by a copy of the insert.

It’s that very formalism of radio announcing that makes the “Second Side Up” story so singular and compelling. As the first practical and widely-available home sound recording medium, in hindsight it’s inevitable that the cassette would be used to distribute editorially curated sound collections, from the mix tape to these more original works. So it’s even a little surprising that there aren’t more strict radio shows distributed on tape—at least ones that are well-known or easily discovered.

Finishing out this survey, I have to point out the deep irony contained in the so-called “podcast patent,” which was used to extort royalty payments from prominent podcasters just a few years ago. That patent, filed in 1996 before the advent of the mp3 file, was actually for a cassette-based audio magazine program that would be distributed by mail as a serial subscription. That’s right: one patent troll claimed that podcasting started out back in the mid–90s, on cassette.

Even in this broader context, Mark Talbot’s 40-year run as a super-niche cassette DJ is both fascinating and admirable. Such dedication to narrow-casting puts all but the most tenacious underground tape labels to shame.

At the end of the “This Is About” episode, presenter Jordan Raskopoulos suggests that maybe someone should “digitize and podcast all that stuff.” Yes, please.

The post Radio on Tape: from ‘Second Side Up’ to ‘The Hour of Slack’ appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Looking for info on how to listen to this 2021’s Super Bowl LV? Click here.

This year fans who want or need to hear Super Bowl LI on the radio can listen in to the usual suspects, at least in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. There are all sorts of good reasons to listen to the game, whether you’re driving, at work, or are visually impaired.

While not as popular as the television broadcast, in 2012 (the last year radio ratings were reported) 23.1 million people in the U.S. tuned in on the radio. That’s why every year we compile this guide.

U.S. Terrestrial Radio

Westwood One is the exclusive radio network of Super Bowl 51, with enough affiliates that nearly everyone in the continental U.S. can probably find the game on their local dial. However, NFL games, including the Super Bowl, are usually not broadcast online by Westwood One affiliates.

U.S. Internet Radio

Update 2/5/17: A reader emailed to let us know that WJQX-FM is streaming the game right now via their website and iHeartRadio.

I’ve also confirmed that Boston’s WBZ-FM and Atlanta’s 98.5 FM are streaming the game via their websites, though not via TuneIn.

If you’re somewhere without good terrestrial radio reception, but have an internet connection, the game is carried on TuneIn Premium’s NFL station, which is part of TuneIn’s subscription service. You get a 7-day free trial if you sign up, so if all you want to get is this Sunday’s big game you could conceivably hear it for free.

The NFL also has it’s own GamePass streaming service, which also has a 7-day free trial.

However, each team’s home station will have special coverage that’s different from the national Westwood One feed, featuring their own local sportscasters. Because of this, I’ve found these stations usually don’t black out their internet feed of the Super Bowl, potentially making them good streaming radio choices. The only hiccup is that this isn’t guaranteed, and you won’t know the situation until game day.

WBZ-FM in Boston is the Patriots’ flagship station. The Falcons’ station is 92.9 FM WZGC-FM in Atlanta.

FOX television is also streaming the game online for free, but only to computers and tablets. Verizon customers can also stream it to their smartphones. Of course this is a video feed, which you can listen to, but isn’t as good as radio is you’re not in a situation where you can watch, like if you’re driving or doing other visual work. That’s because radio sportscasters will describe much more of the action than TV, where they expect you can see more for yourself.

Update 2/5/17:
Unfortunately, all of these links below are dead on Super Bowl Sunday

2/3/17:

I received an email from a radio office on a container ship currently at sea, where they have internet, but can’t use any browser plug-ins or extensions. He asked how they might listen to the Super Bowl on Sunday. Assuming that the local radio feeds in Boston and Atlanta will not be blacked out, my recommendation is to try the WBZ or WZGC on TuneIn, which I think has a non-Flash player option. Also, I was able to discover links directly to these stations’ streams that will open a play natively in Chrome. Here they are:

WBZ Boston:

• http://16943.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://16943.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://17453.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://17453.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://16883.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://16883.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://17513.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://17513.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WBZFMAAC_SC

WZGC Atlanta:

• http://16843.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WZGCFMAAC_SC
• http://16843.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WZGCFMAAC_SC
• http://18763.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WZGCFMAAC_SC
• http://18763.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WZGCFMAAC_SC
• http://16883.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WZGCFMAAC_SC
• http://16883.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WZGCFMAAC_SC

Satellite Radio

SiriusXM satellite radio subscribers can hear Super Bowl LI over the internet service or via their satellite radios, both in the U.S. and Canada. You can hear the Westwood One national feed, the Atlanta or New England home feeds, or hear the game called in Chinese, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Hungarian or Flemish. SiriusXM offers a 30-day free trial. So, again, you might be able to hear the game for free if you don’t want to stay subscribed for more than 30 days.

Canada Terrestrial Radio

Canada’s TSN network is that country’s Super Bowl carrier. In years past the TSN Radio network has carried the Super Bowl, but this year I haven’t been able to find any explicit mention of it.

U.K.

BBC Radio 5 will broadcast Super Bowl 51 on FM and DAB radio across the U.K. This should include Radio 5’s internet stream for listeners in the U.K.

Everywhere Else

The irony is that it’s easier to watch the Super Bowl on TV in the rest of the world than it is to hear it on the radio, even though radio is the less expensive technology. Of course, outside the English speaking world the added cost of having the game called in other languages may be just cost prohibitive enough, whereas on television the ad revenue is likely sufficient to justify the expense.

In the four years I’ve been charting Super Bowl radio broadcasts I haven’t found any outside the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Please do let us know if you find one.

The post How To Listen to Super Bowl LI on the Radio this Sunday appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Although it’s been a few years since we’ve put together our Radio Survivor Holiday gift guides, listing off radio gifts that we love, I’m always thinking about these lists. Whenever I run across an intriguing radio gift idea, I make a mental note and sometimes I race out to pick something up for myself. In light of the holiday shopping season, here are a few unusual suggestions for the radio fan that has seemingly everything:

Toilet Paper Holder Radio

Many of us remember shower radios, which were so amazing for those of us who enjoy listening to the radio while bathing. Well, here’s another bathroom radio option: a radio that’s incorporated into a toilet paper roll holder. I’m particularly partial to the salmon pink version that is pictured on A Life Less Ordinary and here’s a demo of a bright yellow version of a Windsor AM radio. I’ve also seen some similar toilet paper holder radios that include FM radio and even a telephone. Get your toilet paper holder radio if you spot one, as I can’t find too many that are currently up for sale.

Haunted Radio

Thanks to the haunted radio, every day is Halloween in my house. Ostensibly a seasonal item, the plastic “radio” plays a number of spooky messages with the turn of a dial or though a motion sensor. I love the vintage radio look and the old-time sounds that emanate through its speaker.

Novelty Vintage Radio with Secret Hiding Space

You’ve probably seen faux books with hollow centers that can be used as secret hiding places, well, here’s a radio version of that. This working radio has a hidden compartment where you can store your valuables. Oddly enough, this version also comes with a mustache nail file and key chain.

Antique Radio Mouse Pad

For my entire life I’ve enjoyed the juxtaposition of modern technology with antiques and this mouusepad perfectly exemplifies that aesthetic, with its image of an antique radio.

Darth Vader Alarm Clock

Star Wars fan can wake up every morning to this Darth Vader Clock Radio that utters messages from the villainous character and plays both AM and FM radio.

The post 5 Funky Last Minute Gifts for Radio Fanatics appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Catch Alice’s Restaurant on the 2023 radio dial. See our latest listening guide.

Happy early Thanksgiving! After a particularly contentious Presidential election, many families are anxious about upcoming holiday gatherings. Some are banning political conversations, whereas others are setting ground rules for polite discourse. Perhaps the long-standing radio tradition of listening to Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant on Thanksgiving can serve as a welcome distraction, bringing families together to enjoy the epic, 18-minute track. For years, the song has been a Thanksgiving Day staple on not only rock radio stations, but also some college, community and public radio stations all over the United States.

I just ran across a fascinating radio piece on BBC Radio 4 focusing on the “people and the places” of Alice’s Restaurant and it’s pretty interesting to hear a British radio take on the American Thanksgiving tradition. It features not only the history of the song, but also lots of interviews with people associated with the story that inspired the song, including a chat with Alice herself. It’s well-worth a listen and also contains snippets of the song as well as a darling clip of young children singing Alice’s Restaurant.

This year, I was pleased to learn about a man in Waco, Texas who found inspiration in the song and has now committed to doing an annual trash pick-up. Eureka Times Standard writes,

Bruce Huff, of Waco, Texas, wants to start a movement: The Group W Bench. His idea is based on a folk/rock tune by Arlo Guthrie. On Thanksgiving 1965, Guthrie visited friend Alice Brock and her husband at their home, a church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and did them a favor by taking out their garbage. The dump was closed that day so Guthrie dropped the garbage off a nearby cliff where other locals had previously dumped trash. He was arrested and fined the following day (the Group W Bench was where Guthrie and other ‘hardened criminals’ were placed). The crime of littering made him ineligible for the draft and kept him out of Vietnam. This incident became the catalyst for a song he wrote several years later called ‘Alice’s Restaurant.’ The melody is satirical, infectiously catchy, and contains spot-on social commentary about the ’60s and what people did to avoid serving in Vietnam…

Huff enjoyed ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ so much he decided to recreate the story. On the last Thursday of each November he goes out and ‘picks up the garbage.’ His goal is to make Waco a model city. City council members are on board. This Thanksgiving… they will provide him with gloves, bags, trash sticks, and a truck. Bruce would like other towns and cities to follow suit and become trash-free. He wants Americans to take pride in their communities and hopes the Group W Bench movement will grow until it encompasses the nation.”

Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the events that inspired the song, so there was much hullabaloo, including a series of anniversary concerts. This year is a bit quieter and so far I’ve only been able to compile a short list of stations that have announced that they plan to air Alice’s Restaurant this year. If you know of others, please add them in the comments.

Additionally, some stations are playing Alice’s Restaurant before Thanksgiving, including WEVL 89.9 FM (Memphis, TN), which will air it on Wednesday morning between 8am and 10am Central time. WESU (Middletown, CT) aired it the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving, which is a long-standing tradition there. WCBE played it on Wednesday at 2:30pm.

Alice’s Restaurant on the Radio on Thanksgiving Day 2016 – November 24, 2016

KBCO 97.3 FM (Boulder, CO): Is playing “Alice’s Restaurant” twice on Thanksgiving: at noon and 6pm.

KPIG 107.5 FM (Freedom/Santa Cruz, CA) and 94.9 FM (San Luis Obispo, CA) : Will play Alice’s Restaurant at 9am, noon, 4pm and 9pm on Thanksgiving.

KRNN 102.7 FM (Juneau, AK): Will play Alice’s Restaurant at 9am.

KSHE 94.7 FM (St. Louis, MO): Plays Alice’s Restaurant every Thanksgiving at noon.

KSUT (Ignacio, CO): Will play Alice’s Restaurant at 9am. The station will also air additional Thanksgiving-themed programming, including a segment on Native American cuisine.

KNBA 90.3 FM (Anchorage, AK) : Will play Alice’s Restaurant at 5pm on Thanksgiving.

KKFM 98.1 FM (Colorado Springs, CO): Will air at noon and 6pm.

KFMH 99 Plus (Iowa City, IA): Will air it three times on Thanksgiving, however the times aren’t given.

WFUV 90.7 FM (Bronx, NY ): The epic will air at noon on Thanksgiving Day and will be surrounded by broadcasts of recordings of a variety of live concerts throughout the day.

WCMF 96.5 FM (Rochester, NY): Will air at noon and 4:30pm on Thanksgiving Day. This tradition has been going on for at least 36 years there!

WTTS 92.3 FM (Bloomington, IN): Alice’s Restaurant will air at 6am, noon, and 6pm as part of a day of mellow rock music.

WXPN 88.5 FM (Philadelphia, PA): Will air it at 12noon.

WEXT 97.7 FM (Albany, NY): Airing at 6am, 9am and noon on Thanksgiving.

WJCT 89.9 FM (Jacksonville, FL) : Will play on Thanksgiving night at 9pm, as part of a long-standing tradition on the station. The station is also airing other holiday programming this week, including Orson Welles’ radio version of “A Christmas Carol.”

Boss Boss Radio: Plans to play the track at noon Pacific time and noon Eastern time.

Wyoming Public Radio (various channels throughout Wyoming): As part of its special programming on Thanksgiving Day, Wyoming Public Radio will air Alice’s Restaurant at 11am during the Morning Music show.

MVY Radio (88.7 FM Martha’s Vineyard, MA and 96.5 FM Newport, RI): Will play at noon on Thanksgiving.

WUMB (91.9 FM Boston, MA): Will air Alice’s Restaurant at 9am, noon and 3pm.

KGSR 93.3 FM (Austin, TX): Will air Alice’s Restaurant at 12noon Central Time on Radio Austin.

WXTL 105.9 FM The Rebel (Syracuse, NY): Plans to air the song at 10am and 5pm on Thanksgiving Day.

WKLC 105.1 FM (St. Albans, WV) : Will air Alice’s Restaurant at 9am on Thanksgiving.

WYEP 91.3 FM (Pittsburgh, PA): Will air Alice’s Restaurant at 6pm on Thanksgiving.

KXT 91.7 FM (Dallas, TX): Will play the song at noon and 6pm on Thanksgiving.

WTJU 91.1 FM (Charlottesville, VA): Will play it three times on Thanksgiving.

104.7 FM The Bear (Wichita Falls, TX): Is airing Alice’s Restaurant at noon on Thanksgiving.

WXRT 93.1 FM (Chicago, IL): Is playing the track at 11am and 6pm.

KRSH 95.9 FM (Healdsburg, CA ): Will play the song four times on Thanksgiving: at 9am, noon, 3pm and 6pm.

WORT 89.9 FM (Madison, WI): Will play it on Thanksgiving at 11am. According to WORT, “Host Bob Kaspar will also play other food-themed comical music and spoken word between 9 am and noon that day.”

KKGL The Eagle 96.9 FM (Boise, ID): The Eagle is playing Alice’s Restaurant five times on Thanksgiving. Tune in at 10am, noon, 3pm, 5pm and 9pm.

KQRS 92.5 FM (Minneapolis, MN): Will play Alice’s Restaurant at 9am and 5pm.

WAAL 99.1 The Whale (Binghamton, NY): Is playing Alice’s Restaurant at around 7:15am, 12:15pm and 6:15pm on Thanksgiving.

WZLX 100.7 FM (Boston, MA): Will be airing Alice’s Restaurant at 12pm and 4pm.

WKIO 107. 9 FM (Arcola, IL): Another station that is playing the song five times! Tune in at 12 midnight, 6am, 10am, 4pm and 9pm.

WMTY 98.3 FM (Sweetwater, TN): Will be airing Alice’s Restaurant at 11am and 3pm.

WFIV 105.3 FM (Knoxville, TN): Is playing the song at 10am and 2pm.

WIXV 95.5 FM (Savannah, GA): Is playing Alice’s Restaurant at 12noon and 6pm.

WCSQ-LP 105.9 FM (Cobleskill, NY): New low power FM station Radio Cobleskill has not officially launched, but it will be airing Alice’s Restaurant at 8am, noon and 5pm.

This list is just the beginning and includes only the stations that I’ve been able to confirm for 2016. I will continue to update this list up until Thanksgiving. If you know others that plan to air “Alice’s Restaurant” this year, please add them in the comments. Also, take a look at my “Alice’s Restaurant” posts from 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2010 to see some of the stations that have played it in the past and to learn more about the tradition.

The post Tuning in to Alice’s Restaurant on the Radio on Thanksgiving 2016 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Turn on your radio, attend a station event, or take a “radio selfie.” There are so many ways to celebrate National Radio Day this Saturday, August 20.

Observed since the 1990s, legend has it that the date was chosen because on August 20, 1920, WWJ in Detroit (then known as 8MK) first went on the air. Though observance was sporadic, things kicked into high gear in 2011 when NPR brought renewed attention. Today a team of volunteers works with stations, broadcasters, DJs, and radio lovers across the country to promote the holiday to share and promote love for this very delightful and durable medium.

A simple way to celebrate this year is by taking and sharing a “radio selfie.” Just snap a pic of yourself doing your favorite radio activity–listening, DJing, podcasting…whatever–and share it on social media. Be sure to tag your favorite station, and include the tag #NationalRadioDay.

In 2015 National Radio Day was a trending topic on social media, with more than 20,000 tweets hashtagged with #NationalRadioDay. This year we hope to break that record.

Many stations will celebrate with special on-air and live events. Here is just a handful:

• WLRN in Miami, FL will have a “moveable feast” inviting listeners to dine with station staff at restaurants around South Florida.
• KRBX Radio Boise plans special programming and a listener contest under the banner “Left of the Dial.”
• KGOU in Norman, OK will host an open house on National Radio Day from 12 – 3 PM CDT.
• KFFP Freeform Portland, KBOO Community Radio, KPSU at Portland State University and XRAY.FM are teaming up to be at Centaurapalooza X, a free music fest in Portland, OR. Freeform Portland will broadcast live from 10 PM to Midnight PDT.

It doesn’t matter how you celebrate, as long as you do, and then share!

Here’s some inspiration from our friend Ernesto Aguilar, the new membership program director for the National Federation of Community Broadcasters:

We encourage all #pubmedia #communityradio stations to participate in this year's #NationalRadioDay

A video posted by NFCB (@nfcborg) on Aug 15, 2016 at 9:51pm PDT

Also, check out coverage from Current and Radio World.

Hope to see your face on Instagram or Twitter! Have a happy National Radio Day!

The post Celebrate National Radio Day this Saturday appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on my radio station tours as I prepare for my 100th tour report this week. During that process, I asked my daughter if she could list off for me some of the interesting and/or weird things that she’s seen when accompanying me on radio station tours. She’s been to maybe ten radio stations in her ten years of life and it’s interesting to see what she tends to notice. With that, here’s Miss B’s list of things spotted at radio stations. Number ten is a pretty epic moment from her toddler years that she only remembers through photos:

1. Naked mannequins

Mannequins at CHIRP Radio. Photo: J. Waits

2. Record Room that Looks Like a Jail Cell

Record storage at college radio station KAOS at Evergreen State University. Photo: J. Waits

3. Doughnuts

Voodoo Doughnut box at college radio station KWVA at University of Oregon. Photo: J. Waits

4. Matching Cat on Fire Tattoos

Cat tattoos and mural at X-Ray. Photo: J. Waits

5. Zombie Survival Room

Zombie Survival Room sign at college radio station WRBB at Northeastern University. Photo: J. Waits

6. Bones

Bones at X-Ray.fm. Photo: J. Waits

7. Bad Words

File Your Records sign at Harvard’s college radio station WHRB. Photo: J. Waits

8. Posters and Writing on the Walls

Graffiti policy at Tufts University’s college radio station WMFO. Photo: J. Waits

9. Old Candy

Chocolate kisses at ARTxFM (probably NOT old). Photo: J. Waits

10. Couches

Two-year-old Miss B crashed out on college radio station couch at WVFI at Notre Dame. Photo: J. Waits

The post 10 Weird Things Spotted by a Kid during Radio Station Tours appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 14th annual Filmed by Bike Festival here in Portland. As an avid cyclist and enthusiast of independent, grassroots filmmaking, it’s pleasure to take it in.

But it also so happens that founder and festival director Ayleen Crotty is an old friend whom I first met in community radio nearly 20 years ago. That station is 2,100 miles away in the college town of Champaign, IL, WEFT-FM. I’m pretty sure Ayleen was in college when we first met and began collaborating on any number of volunteer projects at the station.

The film festival brought another old WEFTie friend to town. He goes by the moniker Mr. WA, and he’s an independent film maker and public access TV show host in San Francisco, who also takes over DJ duties for the Filmed by Bike street party.

WA (as he’s known) came to the University of Illinois, located in Champaign and its twin city Urbana, in the mid–90s as a graduate student on an exchange program from Liège, Belgium. As we were catching up last weekend he recalled how his only music device was a clock radio that he bought when he landed in town.

Scanning the dial he kept coming across this one frequency that was always playing something interesting or different, from old time country to hardcore punk. It was a kind of radio he hadn’t heard at home. Not long after first encountering WEFT WA heard a call to take a training class to learn to become a DJ. He didn’t hesitate.

The mid-to-late 90s was a special time for me at the station. It felt like there was a truly copacetic group of volunteers equally interested in creating great radio as having fun–often at the same time. The internet had yet to pose a serious threat to “old media” and listeners in search of new, different, weird or local sounds still looked to the left end of the dial. There was a great deal of camaraderie bonded by a shared sense of purpose, and so many folks I met then I still call friends today.

I do think that potent cocktail of cooperation, community-minded spirit and creativity is what makes community radio such a magical place for so many people, whether they are active participants, or avid listeners. In some ways community radio experience is like a secret handshake–when you meet another community radio person, you’ve found a fellow traveler who may be a little crazy, but just like you, in all the right ways.

All these years later it doesn’t surprise me one bit that Ayleen founded this awesome film festival that attracts entries from all over the world. When I met her at WEFT she was a devoted bicyclist, who believed in the power of bikes as not just a form of healthy transport, but a positive force to help transform communities. She moved to Portland at the end of the century, quickly getting involved in the very active bike scene and helping to start the Bike Show on community radio KBOO.

As the person who introduced me to Sun Ra, I’m so glad to see that WA continues to be engaged in very creative pursuits, while still finding time to spin music from his expansively eclectic collection–just like the old days. Though I don’t see my friends often, we’re never strangers when we do get together.

It’s not unusual to have lasting friendships that come from shared endeavors. But I contend that friendships forged in community radio are a little different, and special.

The post Friendships Forged in Community Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I must have been a pretty good boy in 2015 because on Christmas morning I found in my stocking a cute wooden radio that is shaped like an acorn, and is about the same size. It’s made by the Dutch company Kikkerland, which also puts out other small novelty accoutrements, like robot tea infusers and luchador bottle openers.

My wife gave me this awesome present with the intention of it being a travel radio–and because it’s irresistibly adorable. You see, I actually traveled more in this past year than any year prior, and especially for overnight and weekend trips I try to pack very lightly–but I still want a radio. But does it actually work?

Yes. It works surprisingly well.

The acorn is FM only, and measures about 1.5“ in diameter there’s not a lot of room for batteries, connections or controls. It just has one multi-function control button, a speaker on the top, and a single 1/8” headphone jack. That jack does quadruple duty. Most obviously, you plug in headphones there. However, using a supplied cable, you can plug in the headphone output of a smartphone or computer to use it as a speaker. When plugged in the cable or headphones serve as the radio’s antenna. In fact, it only functions when a cable is plugged in, and automatically turns off when you unplug it.

You also charge its battery using a special cable that has the 1/8" plug on one end and USB on the other. It charges up pretty quickly – in less than an hour. Once fully charged it plays at least two hours. I didn’t track the play time too closely, and most of my listening was for more like a half-hour at a time.

The lack of an actual radio dial could be a deal-killer. I’ve used other inexpensive “auto-tuning” radios before and generally been disappointed. Basically the only control you have is to seek up or down the dial, and hope you hit something. With my expectations already set low I was pleased to hear this tiny receiver lock onto to station after station, including three of my favorite local non-commercial stations, community radio KBOO and XRAY, as well as jazz KMHD. XRAY is an impressive get because the station operates only a legacy class D 10-watt signal and a higher-powered translator repeater. It was the translator at 107.1 that came in, I believe, based upon the other stations that I received around it.

As with any FM radio, the position of the receiver and the antenna make a big difference. But even in my first-floor apartment I was able to get quite listenable sound from about 12 stations.

With a speaker that can’t be more than 3/4" in diameter you shouldn’t expect rich, room-filling sound. The acorn radio’s sonics are roughly equivalent to a smartphone speaker. That means it’s additional functionality as a speaker for another device is of limited use, unless that device doesn’t have its own speaker, or that speaker is somehow even tinier and softer. Though, the lack of loudness is compensated by the fact that you can put it just about anywhere, even a shirt pocket.

Listening with headphones the sound is much fuller. It’s still not as good as my iPhone, but the latter is a multi-hundred dollar device. I’d say with strong signals the acorn’s fidelity is pretty equivalent to most pocket-sized radios I’ve used. It’s quite pleasant sounding, though with a lack of deep bass, and quite adequate for both talk and music.

And it’s a little wooden acorn that most definitely will accompany me on every trip because it takes up less space than a travel-sized bottle of shampoo or granola bar. Now, truth be told, for trips lasting more than a weekend I may still bring a bigger radio with an actual dial and a bigger speaker. But even at home I’ve taken to keeping the acorn receiver on my desk and using it just because it’s so darn convenient.

Is this the best portable radio I’ve ever used? No. If you want AM reception, more precise tuning or a louder speaker you’ll need to look elsewhere. But you’ll be hard pressed to find the same combination of cuteness and dimunitivity in a radio that actually works this well.

The next time you see a weirdo walking around with a little wooden acorn pressed up to his ear, that’ll probably be me.

The post I’m Going Nuts for this Little Acorn Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I’m turning to you, dear Radio Survivor reader, for help. I’m looking for some really good and weird radio shows or stations that I can dive into during these dark winter days here in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. I need rejuvenation, and I hope you can help!

What am I looking for? I’m not sure, actually. But that’s where you can help.

A good weird radio show or station is one where DJs, hosts and producers use the airwaves as their canvas, presenting music or audio art that wouldn’t otherwise easily be found, if it all, but shaped and molded with their own idiosyncratic stamp. Or those who use the waves or bitstreams as their own soapbox or bullhorn, photocopied ‘zine or samizdat, to spread obscure ideas or subversive thoughts. They don’t have to be funny–or intentionally hilarious–nor do they need to be serious.

In the sort-of mainstreamish realm Over The Edge or Dr. Demento might be considered weird, and maybe so does Art Bell’s just-departed Midnight in the Desert. I like to think I made some pretty weird radio in the overnight hours during my on-air stints. Mostly, I’m on the hunt for some fresh, or just plain confusing radio to blow out some of the cobwebs between my earholes.

Please suggest your favorite shows, streams, stations or podcasts that you think are weird. I’ll share your suggestions, take a listen, and post my reactions. My only requirement is that it’s a show that you can currently listen to online, whether on demand, as a podcast, in some kind of publicly accessible archive, or on a station’s live stream.

Post your suggestions in our forums. And, thanks in advance!

The post On the Hunt for Truly Weird (Internet) Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

For some reason I have come to experience the Bhagavad-Gita as a radio program. Why? Mainly because a man named Sanjaya narrates the legendary tale and philosophical exchange as it unfolds to a blind king.

Sanjaya narrating a story of inner conflict to a blind king.

In case you haven’t read “The Gita” lately, a quick summary:

Once upon a time two royal families dwelled in the Northern Indian kingdom of Kurukshetra, they being the offspring of Pandu and the entourage of his brother king Dharitarashta, whose congenital blindness did not stop him from producing one hundred (yes way) sons. They have come to blows because of a complicated succession of divine and earthly mishaps. Following the death of the great monarch Bharata, Pandu inherits the throne, largely because of Dharitarashta’s seeing problems. But somebody has inflicted a curse of sterility on the new ruler and he cannot produce heirs for the land. Hence he goes off to the forest (wouldn’t you?) and there, with the help of various gods, fathers five sons who become known as the Pandava Brothers.

The Pandavas study martial arts and spirituality and win the favor of the god Krishna. Most everyone of repute seems to agree that they ought to rule Kurukshetra. But one of Dharitarashta’s sons refuses to acknowledge the proverbial memo, he being Duryodhana. Ambitious and clever, Duryodhana defeats the Pandavas in a rigged ritual dice game. Apparently the latter had bet nothing less than their presence in civil society, plus some wives (oops). Back to the woods they go for another 13 years until their agreed upon period of exile has concluded.

When they return, they return for war: the Pandavas and their supporters versus Duryodhana and his 99 kinsmen. Both armies meet in the great field of Kuru in Kurukshetra. But suddenly the presumptive leader of the Pandavists, Arjuna, gets cold feet. He asks his charioteer, who happens to be Krishna, to take him to the center of the theater of combat just before the battle begins. There Arjuna surveys both sides, all of whose participants count as relatives, and suddenly asks, is this trip really necessary?

“I see omens of chaos,
Krishna; I see no good
in killing my kinsmen
in battle.”

One imagines both armed assemblies of Hindu Tough Guys witnessing this interruption and typing “WTF??” on their respective Facebook or Twitter mobile accounts. Nonetheless, a profound conversation between Arjuna and Krishna ensues. Krishna asks Arjuna and presumably the rest of us to detach ourselves from the immediate moment and to find our sacred duty, our “dharma,” instead. Once liberated from the burden of immediate expectations we can focus on the larger battle or journey. Fate will decide our fortunes; we must discover Our Cause.

Why do I identify a radio program in this great story? Because the whole sacred shebang flows from a request by old king Dharitarashta for live coverage of the event. He can’t fight or even see, so the ancient sage Vyasa appoints Duryodhana’s charioteer Sanjaya to function as a sort of psychic, panoptic (all-seeing) witness to the war:

“Sanjaya shall see all the events of the battle directly. He shall have a divine inner eye . . . O King, Sanjaya . . . will tell you everything about the battle. He will be all knowing. Whenever he thinks with his mind, Sanjaya will see everything taking place during day or night, in public or in secret.”

Thus Dharitarashta gets a blow-by-philosophical-blow mind/audio narrative of the debate that we subsequently process in written form. It sort of reminds me of those old baseball radio announcers who received ongoing telegraph messages of the day’s big game and creatively turned the missives into a real-time narrative for their listeners.

By the way, audio versions of The Bhagavad-Gita abound on the web, especially in YouTube-land. You can subscribe to various Gita-related podcasts too. The above admittedly rough summary of the text flows from Barbara Stoler Miller’s excellent translation and introduction. Read (or listen) and learn and enjoy.

The post The Bhagavad-Gita as a radio show appeared first on Radio Survivor.

In our second VLOG we go behind the scenes of the Radio Survivor Podcast. For the podcast nerds, Paul gives a tour of the production gear and set up, then Eric reflects on the feature interview with essayist and podcaster Chauncey DeVega from episode #19.

Let us know what you think in the comments, or drop us an email to podcast@radiosurvivor.com.

The post Behind the Scenes of the Radio Survivor Podcast appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Strolling along my old stomping grounds in the East Village of Manhattan last week I ran into this marvelous new mural, painted on the corner of Second Avenue and First Street.

This boom box man masterpiece went up earlier this month, it seems, painted by the Brazilian muralist brothers Os Gemeos. I particularly love the trompe l’oeil effect of the upper hand and knee popping out of the canvas colored wall. Trompe paintings make objects seem to jump at you.

The figure’s hat is also a train:

And his sneaker and boom box are interlaced with urban faces:

Looks like this mural will be visible until a residential tower goes up and obscures its view. So if you live nearby or are visiting, get over there and enjoy it while you can.

Here’s a YouTube about the artists.

The post Meet the trompe l’oeil boom box man of the East Village appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Today is the biggest National Radio Day so far, with more than 45 stations and organizations participating across North America with events and celebrations on-air and off. Stations, DJs and independent producers have created an array of creative Sonic IDs and promos to share with other stations to play on air today.

Join in the celebration by listening and supporting your favorite stations, attending a celebration, and and sharing your favorite radio moments on social media with the #NationalRadioDay hashtag.

Here is some press coverage of National Radio Day 2015:

• On National Radio Day, remember early Alabama stations, The Gasden Times
• Coast Community Radio celebrates National Radio Day, Lemonade Day, Coast Weekend
• Commentary: National Radio Day Highlights “Participatory Media”, Radio World
• Seattle area to celebrate new FM ‘hyperlocal’ radio, Seattle Times

The post Happy National Radio Day! appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I spent a long weekend in Estonia’s capital city, Tallinn, a couple of weeks ago. My father’s parents are from Estonia and it was my first time there. I had the fantastic opportunity to meet many relatives for the first time. Though my schedule was packed pretty tightly I did manage to sneak some radio listening.

Estonia is a country of 1.3 million people located south of Finland across the Baltic Sea, with Russia to the east and Latvia to the south. It was illegally annexed by the Soviet Union during World War II and declared independence in 1991. Today Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic and a member of both the European Union and NATO.

My wife and I stayed in a nice studio apartment in the center of Tallinn’s Old Town. These days Old Town is a popular tourist destination both because it’s a beautiful and mostly-preserved Medieval city full of shops, restaurants, cafés and amazing architecture dating as far back as the 11th century, and also because Estonia is inexpensive compared to many other European destinations.

Estonia has both public and private, commercial broadcasting. Estonian Public Broadcasting, Eesti Rahvusringhääling or ERR, has been around since 2007, when it was created through the consolidation of Estonian public radio and TV. ERR operates five national radio channels broadcasting talk, rock music, classical and jazz music in Estonian. One channel, Raadio 4, offers programming for linguistic minorities–principally in Russian–and another, Raadio Tallinn, offers programming in a variety of major European languages.

Because I don’t speak Estonian or Russian I wasn’t able to understand the talk programming, though I heard the BBC World Service several times on Raadio Tallinn. I tried to listen to the new rock music focused Raadio 2, but was never quite sure if I had it tuned in because I use a small analog travel radio without a precise digital readout, and my lack of facility with the language means I didn’t comprehend the station IDs.

I was impressed by Klassikaraadio, putting it on in our apartment several times during the weekend. The first time I listened in the mid-morning the station was playing some Medieval chants, followed by a small ensemble playing piano music with a definite jazz inflection. Later I heard a small string ensemble playing what was likely a 20th century piece, marked by many bent notes and an occasionally free time signature. Though I was impressed by Klassikaraadio’s eclecticism, it does pay attention to the time-honored classics–the next day I heard a selection from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

Tallinn’s commercial music radio stations sound pretty similar to those heard elsewhere in Europe. They feature a pretty healthy dose of American, British and European pop music, mostly in English, usually spanning a few decades, from the 80s to the present. Sky Radio–which I primarily heard in the car and could identify because of an RDS display–typifies this, though with a more contemporary pop concentration.

These stations seem to be constantly present in most shops and restaurants–especially those catering to tourists. Still, I was glad also to hear some pop songs in both Estonian and Russian (while I don’t speak either language, I’ve had enough exposure to both to pick them out.)

All of these stations are on the FM dial. That’s because–as I was surprised to find–Estonia has just one AM, or medium wave, station. It’s a Russian-language Christian station called Tartu Family Radio, based in Tartu, Estonia’s second largest city, about 110 miles to the southeast of Tallinn. Though it broadcasts with an astounding 200,000 watts of power, I’m not sure I was able to hear it–or, at least I couldn’t identify it easily. Scanning around the AM dial the other strong signals were in Russian or other Slavic languages, though I think I picked out some German, too.

The Eurovision Song Contest happened that weekend, and Estonians were quite excited for their national entry, which finished at a very respectable 7th place out of 40. Though I presume there was some kind of radio coverage, I watched it live on television with family, as did some 200 million other people around the world (though not the US).

Four days was definitely too short of a time in Estonia–this was a side jaunt as part of a longer trip to Sweden. I’m already making plans to return for a longer time next year, making sure to travel the gorgeous countryside, shoreline and forests.

The post Radio Postcard from Tallinn, Estonia appeared first on Radio Survivor.

For quite a few years I’ve been intrigued by and obsessed with the handmade 3-dimensional radio station call letter signs that I’ve seen at numerous college and community radio stations all over the United States. One of the signs is posted at KFJC, where I volunteer and DJ, so I see it every week. I probably first started to notice that other stations had similar signs as soon as I started doing radio station tours back in 2008.

Leo Blais sign at KFJC in 2014. Photo: J. Waits

After a few years, it became a goal of mine to seek out these signs whenever I toured a station. If I don’t immediately see a sign, I now make a point to ask, “do you have a hand made call letter sign?” Sometimes people are confused by the question, whereas other times, I’m immediately led to the sign. I’ve seen the signs prominently displayed in station lobbies (at Northeastern University and at Pomona College), in on-air studios (at North Central College), in back hallways (KBOO), and in offices (KEXP). Most of the time, DJs and station staffers have no idea where the signs came from. Some people have told me that they were made by a fan.

I even saw some of these iconic signs in a photo accompanying a newspaper article about NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concert” series. When I did the public NPR tour last year I made a point to mention my interest in the signs and managed to talk my way into a special stop at Bob Boilen’s desk, where a collection of these signs (reading: Bob Boilen, NPR, All Songs Considered, and Robin Hilton) is prominently displayed atop his shelving unit. I’m sure the tour guide thought that I was insane when I started talking about my obsession with 3-D radio station signs, but Bob Boilen was welcoming and let me take photos galore.

Leo Blais Signs at NPR. Photo: J. Waits

Back in 2013, I finally found out the identity of the sign maker. Of course I’d had clues all along, as each sign contains a short handwritten message signed by “your friend Leo,” but it wasn’t until a commenter provided me a link, that I knew for sure that the signs were made by musician Leo Blais. It turns out that the Leo Blais sign project is much bigger than just the radio station call letter pieces. He also made album artwork using the same method, so some signs depict lengthy song titles. They are all crafted out of cardboard and are painted white/gray.

Leo Blais note on WMBR sign. Photo: J. Waits

I’ve seen the signs at college radio stations, community radio stations, and public radio stations, including: KFJC, KCSB, KSPC, KZSC, KBOO, KDUP, NPR headquarters, WONC, WRFL, KEXP (I only saw a sign featuring a DJ name), WLOY, WRBB, WMBR, WFMU, KUCI, KUSF, WPGU, SCAD Atlanta Radio, and KDVS.

It’s funny, now that my Leo sign scavenger hunt is in full swing, scouts have begun sending me pictures of signs that they’ve seen in their travels. Sharon Scott of ARTxFM texted me a great photo of one at St. Louis community radio station KDHX. Although the picture makes it look like this sign is gigantic and installed in a gallery, it’s actually the same size as the others.

KDHX sign crafted by Leo Blais. Photo: Sharon Scott

After some recent correspondence, Leo Blais agreed to answer all of my burning questions about his ambitious project. After sending off my query to Leo, I had some twinges of regret, as it’s been kind of fun to wildly speculate about these signs for all of these years and keep the mystery alive…

In part one of my interview with Leo Blais, he gives some back story about the signs. In a future post, we’ll delve into more details about the scope of the project.

Radio Survivor: When did you start making radio station call letter signs?

Leo Blais: The first signs were made around the time the ‘Slow Drivin’ maxi-single was released in 2008. I started sending them out as a way to thank the stations for playing the records. Also the letters represented the actual artwork that went into each album. People would send me photos they found on the internet with the signs being spotted in the background or on the stations walls. It was really nice to know how happy it made the people who received them. The signs had this magic behind them. I remember my manager Steve Theo telling me he got a call from Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton at ‘All songs Considered’ asking about me and the project. It was wild. Suddenly these signs were opening doors of conversation with people I really never dreamed possible.

Radio Survivor: Do you remember which station you sent a sign to first?

Leo Blais: I believe the first station was probably 92.5 WXRV, but I could be completely off on that. I had made a sign for each of the DJs too. They have given independent artists great support over the years. I think they were one of the first stations, if not the first, but then again I’d have to check with UPS on that one.

Radio Survivor: How many signs did you make and during what time period were they sent out?

Leo Blais: I must have made hundreds of them during the time of the releases. I would try to send out around 5-10 each week, but some weeks it’d be more or less depending on what I was working on. I really wish I had an accurate tally of how many were done. I hope to have time do it again someday, but maybe not so many. You would have certainly gotten a surprise one in the mail Jennifer! I believe they were sent out during 2008-2011/12. I think there are still a few boxes I have yet to send that are in storage. I guess I never got to send them before moving to New York.

Leo Blais “Cheryl” sign at KEXP. Photo: J. Waits

Radio Survivor: How long does it take you to make each sign?

Leo Blais: It all depended on how big each sign was really. There were song titles that took a week to construct. The radio station call letter signs didn’t take as long, but could take 2-3 hours of total work time. I never really timed myself though. There were a few steps that went into preparing to do them. Before I’d leave work I’d cut out 1 1/”2 inch strips of cardboard to be used for the gray 3D sides. Then I’d use a metal sheet shear so they’d be accurate when cutting them. It made them easier to photograph, but also allowed them be hung flat on a wall if that was to be their new home. Then I’d steal all of the cardboard I could find around the drill shop to use them for the station call letters front panel. I’d draw them out with a sharpie and then each one was cut out with an X-acto blade that eventually led to a permanent callous on my writing finger. Then it was rolls and rolls of 3/4″ tape and lots of paint. The process was really laborious, but it was really just because of the scope of it all. It got a little out of control.

Thanks so much to Leo Blais for talking to me about his radio station call letter sign project. I hope to post part two of my interview in the coming weeks. In the meantime, here’s a video from Leo’s website, which shows the sign-creation process.

The post Solving the Mystery of the Ubiquitous Radio Station Call Letter Signs: The Leo Blais Interview appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Art Bell. As a former overnight DJ and grad student who kept relatively nocturnal hours for a good portion of the 90s, I admired Bell’s unique ability to engage guests and callers in topics that ranged from scientifically plausible (the theory that there have been multiple Big Bangs) to hilariously absurd (blood-sucking Chupacabra) with equanimity.

While some critics pilloried him for uncritically harboring all manner of superstition and psuedoscience, I enjoyed his Coast to Coast AM as a sort of straight-faced performance art that provided an entertaining alternative to most late night commercial radio, offering stimulating company to night shift workers across North America. Heck, I remember tuning in for a show tackling pirate radio, in which he discussing the topic straightforwardly, neither treating it as enticingly taboo nor recklessly dangerous. (In fact, Bell was himself a radio pirate in the 1960s while serving in the Air Force at the Amarillo air base.)

Bell held court over nationwide nocturnal amplitude modulation for some fifteen years before going into semi-retirement in 2003, handing over the weeknight reins to current Coast to Coast host George Noory. Bell then took the mic for weekends until 2007, then doing occasional fill-in slots until 2010 when he retired. That first retirement only lasted until 2013, when he had a brief foray into satellite radio with Art Bell’s Dark Matter on SiriusXM for six weeks.

July 20 is when Bell will return to broadcasting once again, according to a FAQ posted to his own website. This time he’ll be on the internet station Dark Matter Radio with a live weeknight program called Midnight in the Desert, airing midnight to 3 AM Eastern Time. The show won’t be on terrestrial broadcast, with one exception. Apparently Tennessee-based Christian shortwave station WTWW will broadcast Bell live to the world.

As much as I like and use internet radio, I have to admit it’s a little disappointing that Bell won’t be back on AM. I have fond memories of road trips over the Midwest interstates where I listened to Coast to Coast, hitting the seek button when one station faded, knowing I’d soon encounter another transmitting the show. It’s unlikely I’ll go through the trouble of tuning my shortwave receiver just to recreate the experience.

Nevertheless, I will probably check out Midnight in the Desert, although at 9 PM Pacific Time it’s on a few hours too early here in Oregon. I’d go for the podcast to timeshift it after midnight, but on-demand episodes will be reserved for paid subscribers, and I’m not that much of a fan (though DAR.fm might do the trick). Anyway, on-demand isn’t really the proper Art Bell experience–he’s really meant to be stumbled upon, in the middle of a nearly inscrutable interview that you’re surprised comes slowly into focus.

I’m sure there are Radio Survivor readers who will scrunch their noses at my praise for Art Bell. I get it–his nutty melange of guests and strange blend of libertarian, conservative and occasionally progressive political stances (pro-gun and anti-abortion, but pro same-sex marriage) is admittedly out of step with much of the radio we normally highlight. But, again, it’s a mistake to take him a face value. He may never actually wink at us, but neither did Andy Kaufman.

Plus, c’mon, he did this commercial:

The post Art Bell Returns (Again) appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Late last year Scientific American posted a fascinating commentary on an “anomalous event” with an old radio receiver. What caught my eye was that it was penned by Skeptic magazine editor Michael Shermer. It recounted his wedding to Jennifer Graf, who had been raised in Köln, Germany—in part by her grandfather, who died when she was 16. Prior to the wedding, many of Jennifer’s heirloom possessions had just arrived via mail from Köln. These included her grandpa’s 1978 Philips 070 transistor radio, which, despite Shermer’s best efforts, could not be resuscitated. Finally they gave up and put the device in a desk drawer in their bedroom.

Then came the day of their betrothal. They returned from City Hall and exchanged vows and rings at home. Jennifer was feeling a bit sad, wishing that her grandfather could be present for the occasion.

Suddenly, they heard music coming from somewhere. They rummaged around the house looking for laptops or a stray mobile phone whose alarm might have gone off, but to no avail. Then the couple realized where the sound was coming from:

At that moment Jennifer shot me a look I haven’t seen since the supernatural thriller The Exorcist startled audiences. ‘That can’t be what I think it is, can it?’ she said. She opened the desk drawer and pulled out her grandfather’s transistor radio, out of which a romantic love song wafted. We sat in stunned silence for minutes. ‘My grandfather is here with us,’ Jennifer said, tearfully. ‘I’m not alone’.”

The radio played classical music for the rest of the day, then it stopped, “and has remained silent ever since,” Shermer noted.

I share Skeptic‘s general assessment of most “paranormal” claims. But I also agree with Shermer’s concluding comments: that we should remain open to the mysterious. I’ve had experiences that transcended mere coincidence and that to this day I cannot explain. On the other hand, I make no effort to read psychic or similar narratives into them. To borrow the line from the Scientist Dude in all those B-Movies: “There’s got to be a [scientific | rational | somethingorother] explanation for this.” We just don’t know what it is yet.

Which brings me to the Question of the Day. Have you ever had an “anomalous” experience with radio or some similar electronic listening gadget? If so, do tell.

BTW: The Radio Museum has some good images of the Philip 070. It was a nice little gadget.

The post Have you ever had a “paranormal” experience with radio? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing updated guidelines for broadcaster contests, allowing radio and television stations to post the rules for these events on websites as a substitute for completely explaining them over the air waves. At present “licensees are permitted to employ nonbroadcast methods for disclosing material contest terms,” but “they may not substitute such methods for the required broadcast disclosure.” Now the FCC suggests “modernizing” the rules to “allow broadcasters to satisfy their obligation to disclose material contest terms by making such terms available in writing on a publicly accessible Internet website.”

Not surprisingly, the industry is unanimous in its support of the idea. You can read all the hosannas yourself coming from the usual suspects in the proceeding: iHeart, Entercom, NPR, etc. Broadcasters have even put together a Coalition for the Modernization of the FCC Contest Rule—a gaggle of smaller broadcast networks.

“The Contest Rule was created in, and for, a media environment that no longer exists,” the Coalition opines. “The FCC adopted the Contest Rule in 1976, well before the Internet became a widely available resource for information. Today, consumers frequently turn to the Internet to access news, entertainment, and sports information – often from the websites of their favorite television and radio stations.”

You get the drift. I could have written most of these filings myself. But I wonder if broadcasters will think this is such a peachy innovation once it goes into effect. Here are three potential areas of difficulty.

Game rule checking while driving? As we noted in a post last week, despite the Internet and satellite and mobile wireless, AM/FM radio still dominates the average automobile. 81 percent of commuters still opt for good old analog radio on the way to work. So what are they going to do when the contest is announced and the Morning Zoo gal or guy says hurry up and call in or text or tweet or whatever: check the game instructions website on their mobile while driving? I suppose some will and, assuming that they don’t kill themselves or somebody else in the process, they’ll know the score. But a lot of people won’t even bother, and the station in question will have to deal with folks calling or texting without understanding what they’re actually supposed to do or stand to win. Crabbiness will ensue. It won’t be pretty.

Rules will overproliferate. One of the virtues of requiring radio stations to outline their contest rules over the airwaves is that it functions as a form of discipline. The conditions must be explained simply and concisely. But once game instructions migrate to web pages, that virtuous limitation will disappear. The temptation to add this or that codicil or condition will be irresistible (especially when lawyers are consulted). Game rules that were once simple will become more and more complicated. And this will lead to Problem Number Three.

Which rules are the rules? Most radio station game contests go well, although some go south on a pretty spectacular level. But even if a contestant doesn’t die of water asphyxiation, there are already instances of radio stations botching contests that included web based information. These included contests in which winners were announced before the stated online game entry period concluded; or, even creepier, a station that told listeners they could win “10,000” in a game. The website, however, stipulated that this meant 10,000 Italian lira, the equivalent of a little over 50 USD.

The FCC understands that this could be a problem. “To avoid consumer confusion, we propose that, consistent with existing Commission precedent, any material terms announced on air must not differ from the material terms disclosed on a Web site,” the agency’s Federal Register proceeding announcement explains. “For example, if the on air announcement or advertising for the contest identifies a particular prize by brand name or model, then the Web site disclosure must be the same.”

But of course once a radio station can disclose contest rules in more than one place, the potential for accidentally announcing and publishing different versions of the game doubles. The Commission gets this as well, acknowledging that stations might have to change their game rules in the middle of the contest. “If a licensee that chooses to satisfy its disclosure obligations via the Internet changes the material terms of a contest after the contest is first announced,” the FCC observes, “we propose that the licensee must announce on air that the contest rules have changed and direct participants to the website to review the changes.” But will the announcer also remind listeners to reload the cache on their websites?

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer on this proposal. I’m sure that most of the time the contests will go reasonably well. But I think there’s a subtext motivation for this drive to “modernize” radio station contest rules: the consistent, three decade old desire of radio license owners to relieve actual human beings of the obligation to clearly say and explain things over their stations on a real time basis. In any event, we’ll see how it goes. After all, nothing can stop a bad idea whose time has come.

The post Will we regret the “modernization” of radio contests? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Montreal based CHOQ.CA of Montreal has launched the first round of its international 60 Second Radio contest. The challenge to producers: submit one minute audio clips to the station that grapple with the concept of liberty.

“Liberty can be expressed in different ways and take on multiple meanings,” the CHOQ announcement notes. “Freedom comes from within and our encounter with it can be sensed in many circumstances. We hope to listen to your own moment of freedom.”

Possible themes include (Google translate alert):

“Fiction, portraits, reports, collages, interviews, statements, radio art, environmental works, creative works, elements burlesque, humorous clips, all categories are accepted! So, a talk-have with your grand-mother, a political prisoner, send a clip Recorded from your parachute, the sound archive of Liberty … Sing a song with your prime minister? Be creative, work on it, do some nice editing and remember to cherish sound quality! Then send it in ! Use your smartphone, a mobile recorder, a professional studio. Just do it!”

The contest deadline is April 12, 2015. A jury will decide the winners and they will be broadcast hourly on CHOQ radio. The top picks will also be assembled and sent to various distribution networks, among them The World Association of Community Broadcasters (AMARC) and the Pacifica Network. Sponsors include Quebec University in Montreal and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

I’m glad to see the one minute radio contest staying alive. SoundArt Radio 102.5 FM in the Totnes area of Devon, United Kingdom ran a similar competition in the organization’s First Spark Radio Festival. The winners back in 2013 included a piece titled “The World’s Longest Musical Score” and a global ID check called “The World of Internet Radio.”

As for the CHOQ contest: here are the rules and here is the submission and upload form.

The post Return of the one minute radio show contest (this time from Montreal) appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Happy New Year! For your holiday weekend enjoyment I thought I’d share a couple of fun radio-related sites I’ve been made aware of.

First, is the Retro Radio Farm, sent to me by Jenny. As described by MessyNessy Chic, it’s an Etsy store run by “a music box wizard of sorts, specialising in bringing some of the most beautiful vintage radios back to life and better yet, into the 21st century.”

The Portland, Oregon based company restores vintage radios while also adding modern features like an MP3 player and Bluetooth. But, crucially, they all still receive radio broadcasts, too.

Take a look at some of these beauties. It takes a lot of self-control not to max out my credit card.

Up next is AmericanRadioHistory.com, which I learned about courtesy of the SWLing Post. This site touts “two million pages of AM FM & TV broadcasting history online,” in the form of magazines, technical documents, books, directories and other printed matter.

You can check out the Fall 1979 Arbitron ratings for markets across the country, a New York City listener’s guide from February 1968 featuring a profile of Pacifica station WBAI, or The Broadcasting Yearbook from 1935. Seriously, I’m destined to lose days reading this site.

The post Retro Radio Farm and an Archive of Radio History appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This year I’m pleased once again to share the top podcasts of the year as chosen by my esteemed colleagues, friends and podcast fanatics, Jenny Benevento and Kyle Riismandel.

Jenny is an information architect who lectures on branding, social media, musicians and pop culture. She is a taxonomy consultant to Etsy and also hosts a podcast with me. Kyle is a university lecturer in history at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and he’s also my brother. Kyle has written several podcast reviews for us, and Jenny recently shared her recommendations for listeners going into Serial withdrawal.

Last year there was no overlap between their lists–and they didn’t even coordinate. This year there is only one show in common, but at opposite ends of their lists. If you’ve read any news about podcasting this year, I bet you can guess what it is.

But, enough spoilers. Here are the top five podcasts of 2015.

#5 – Jenny: Baby Geniuses from Maximum Fun

Baby Geniuses is not another formless comedy podcast where some comedian friends chitchat aimlessly. The hosts, comedian Emily Heller and cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt (BoJack Horseman), run a very structured comedy podcast. My favorite segment is “Wiki of the Week” where the hosts discuss a listener submitted Wikipedia entry that is unexpectedly weird or funny. In the main segment of the show, a guest expert answers questions on their areas of expertise. In the final segment a comedian pretends to be an expert on something they clearly know nothing about. It all wraps up with each person telling us one thing they learned. While the show is more comedy than informational, the format requires the hosts and guests to keep moving, as opposed to getting bogged down in a quagmire of in-jokes and tangents, which is the plight of many comedy two-handers. It’s nice to see a comedic podcast hosted by women that’s not focused on “women’s issues” or aimed at a mostly female audience (like Maximum Fun labelmates Throwing Shade, Lady to Lady, and One Bad Mother).

#5 – Kyle: Serial

Serial returned to the roots of radio storytelling by weaving a tale week by week. However, it was a true crime story and not The Shadow or The Goldbergs. The telling of a real story in all of its messiness managed the feat of creating an audience waiting each Thursday for the next edition. Despite the lack of closure, Serial managed to shine a light on so many of the issues (reliability of eyewitness testimony, prosecutorial discretion, profiling and the war on drugs) with the criminal justice system while reminding the audience of the stakes of that problematic system—the fates of multiple people in their late teens.

#4 – Jenny: You Are Not So Smart from Boing Boing

This is a podcast based the host David McRaney’s books You Are Not So Smart and You Are Now Less Dumb. It’s a psychology podcast that describes itself as “a celebration of self delusion that explores…cognitive biases and logical fallacies.” This may sound brainy (literally and figuratively!) and niche, but the host makes it really fun. There’s a cookie contest every episode in which he eats the winning recipe while discussing a scientific paper of the week in plain language. Though the show is mainly meant to be entertaining, it can also explain why we do dumb things because of our physiology and how to stop doing them. It also has the best theme song in the business.

#4 – Kyle: Never Not Funny from Earwolf

Podcast pioneers Jimmy Pardo and Matt Belknap had another great year. They sometimes get overlooked on these lists because they have been doing it so long and so well. Even I left them off last year. After 8 years, I still listen (or watch) every episode. They do three people shooting the shit better than anyone. Though that format is tired and lends itself to hacky premises, the NNF crew make it funny and fresh, in part because the humor comes out of the relationships between the hosts, crew, and guests. They genuinely like each other, making it possible for guests to feel comfortable and part of the team, instead of the asshole made to participate in some misogynistic “bit” just to promote their show.
Highlight Episode: #1512 Gary Gulman

#3 – Jenny: 99% Invisible (and its siblings at Radiotopia)

99% Invisible is a radio show, but its listeners asked for it to be longer and more frequent. It tells quirky little fascinating stories about the world around us—stories that will change how you see the world. I’ll never see the Chicago flag the same way, despite being a Chicago native. If you need good tidbits for cocktail parties or are addicted to that “aha” epiphany moment when you learn something fascinating about a thing you use every day, you will love this show. Essentially, 99% Invisible uncovers the recent history about buildings, landscapes, design, and the ways we construct our daily lives that have been lost to the annals of history. This is especially something Radiolab listeners would love. 99% Invisible has been around for a while, but, due to audience demand they’ve had a banner year. Their newly crowdsourced wealth began a likeminded podcasting network–Radiotopia–and, as stretch goals on their Kickstarter, added three more shows all with similar themes.

#3 – Kyle: Superego

An improvised sketch comedy podcast featuring lavish postproduction, Superego nearly defies description. I came to it late thinking it too cute by half. However, it is hysterically funny. The production adds to the humor creating a sense of place grounding the sometimes silly premises and even adding a few extra jokes. This year they continued expanding the worlds of beloved recurring characters H.R. Giger (creator of the Alien in the movie Alien), Reverend Parsimony (stammering hammer of God), and Shunt McGuppin (outlaw country legend singing about the darker side of life) while adding new, ridiculous, and exceptionally funny characters to their repertoire. Beyond being funny, the four doctors of the Superego Institute demonstrate pure joy in creating their comedy that makes it the most fun 30 minute listen in podcasting.
Highlight Episodes: season 4 #1 and season 4 #3

#2 – Jenny: Worst Idea of All Time

This is the podcast I have suggested most this year. It’s a simple idea: two new friends and comedians from New Zealand decide to watch the same terrible movie every week for a year. Unfortunately they chose Grownups 2. The hosts insist you should not watch Grownups 2 but instead listen to dozens of hours of their reactions to it and the deep depression and madness it leads to. This sounds like just dumb fun, but an odd side effect of the wacky premise is the hosts’ commentary on American culture as portrayed by Adam Sandler films, for example: a lengthy argument about whether Connecticut is a city in New York. It’s a celebration of the failure of rich comedians phoning it in, but in the greatest possible way.

#2 – Kyle: Comedy Bang Bang / U Talking U2 to Me? from Earwolf

The Scott Aukerman comedy empire is vast and expanding and we are lucky for it. There are so many hilarious characters (J.W. Stillwater, fanboat vigilante) and great musical guests (Tears for Fears!) on CBB that it is easy to overlook Aukerman. He manages to keep shows moving forward while still peering into the nooks and crannies of characters whose dark and twisted tales only Aukerman can tease out. Similarly, UTU2M succeeds because of his insistently silly and explorative tone that co-host Adam Scott ably aids and abets. Frankly, I don’t care one bit about U2 but I listened to every episode. Is there better endorsement than that? Together, these shows provide hours of consistently hilarious entertainment not to be missed.
Highlight Episode: #313 Gumbo Challenge

#1 – Jenny: Serial

This is the obvious number one this year. Even if you’re not a fan, you’ve heard of it. Suddenly your friends who hear the Charlie Brown teacher voice when you talk about podcasts are asking you what podcast app you use and it’s because they want to download Serial. It spawned several podcasts to discuss what was happening on it, and is the first “addictive” and “binge” podcast. At this point I am recommending it because it’s become part of the popular culture and if you haven’t heard it you’re missing what everyone else is discussing. If you told me last year a podcast would be parodied on SNL, I would have laughed. So love it, hate it, or have moral issues with it, Serial was the break in podcasting that podcast nerds have been expecting.

#1 – Kyle: How Did This Get Made? from Earwolf

This show follows in the great legacy of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in not just mocking, but celebrating and dissecting the most baffling movies made. Where it can be easy for the hosts, Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas, to snark on bad movies and belittle their creators, they try to answer the titular question. Beyond that, they look for great performances in the worst of movies (Dolly Parton in Rhinestone) and ask questions about logic and ethics about a movie as odd as George Romero’s Monkey Shines. Their love and interest in figuring the motivations of the filmmakers yields some of the funniest riffing and banter on the internet as questions no on thought to ask while making these movies get answered in hilarious fashion by the hosts and their guests.
Highlight Episode: Monkey Shines

The post Radio Survivor’s Top Podcasts of 2014 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Best #radio movies and FM didn’t make the list? http://t.co/VmCcg9qQzi

— Research Director (@ResearchDirectr) December 15, 2014

Ouchie! Indeed, FM should definitely be high up there on anyone’s list of movies about radio stations. The 1978 flick is about a free form FM station in Los Angeles and the war between corporate and local management over the perennial issue: who is running the show? FM includes Jimmy Buffet, Tom Petty, and Linda Ronstadt as themselves.

Also: On the Air Live With Captain Midnight (1978). Paul Riismandel writes:

“I saw this 70s b-movie as a kid on USA’s Night Flight, and the image of the teenage pirate protagonist broadcasting from his van, with an upside-down RCA mic hung in front of his face was forever burned into my psyche. The movie was so obscure that for years after I wondered if I had imagined it.

Then about seven years ago I tracked it down on DVD. As one might imagine it didn’t quite live up to the memory. But a great time capsule, nevertheless.”

Finally, here’s yet another list of radio movies from one of our readers. These include A Prairie Home Companion (2006), Radioland Murders (1994), and Tune In Tomorrow (1990), in which in-house radio scriptwriter Peter Falk begins drawing on a station office-romance for his on-air content. Enjoy!

The post More radio movies for the holidays appeared first on Radio Survivor.

For this year’s Holiday Gift Guide I want to focus on some great ways to listen to the radio. Because we are living in the digital age, many of these gifts also work well for consuming other digital media.

Also, don’t miss Jennifer’s eclectic holiday gift guide featuring a radio in a jar, a radio tower picture calendar and more fun ideas.

Click each item to learn more:

• Chromecast Is an Inexpensive Internet Radio
• Sonos Makes Wireless Listening Simple
• C. Crane CC Skywave Radio
• Stocking Stuffer Radio

Chromecast Is an Inexpensive Internet Radio

Though it’s mostly associated with television, I think Google’s Chromecast is a simple and inexpensive way to add a wide range of internet radio to any room where there’s a television. At just $35 the ” target=”_blank”>Chromecast is really the cheapest internet radio for anyone who already owns a flat screen TV.

I received mine as a Christmas gift last year, and it has become an indispensable part of my home entertainment system ever since. Last February I wrote about how my Chromecast is an internet radio, with access to services like Pandora, Songza and Google Play. The range of services has grown since then, adding Rhapsody, Rdio, TuneIn, NPR One, iHeartRadio, BeyondPod, 8tracks and FM Nederland.

Sonos Makes Wireless Listening Simple

I recently completed a trial of the Sonos wireless music system while doing a review of Deezer Elite. In the process I’ve become won over to Sonos. While I’ve used Bluetooth and Apple’s AirPlay to wirelessly send digital audio to my stereo, these pale in comparison to the Sonos experience.

Sonos speakers and the Sonos Connect dock for your existing stereo all sound really good. But the real winner is the Sonos app, which runs on your computer and iOS or Android device. Sonos connects to internet radio services like TuneIn as well as most major music streaming platforms, like Spotify or Deezer.

Searching for stations, tracks, artists or albums and sending them wirelessly to a Sonos speaker or your stereo is dead simple, as is saving them to favorites for later access. The real killer feature is the ability to combine tracks from your own library with those from services like Spotify into queues or playlists. This is where Sonos has a true leg up on using iTunes, Google Play or Amazon Cloud Music individually.

I tested the Sonos PLAY:1, which is the entry point for the system at $199. It’s a single mono speaker that pretty well beats most Bluetooth speakers I’ve heard. It’s sound is rich and full-bodied, quite powerful enough for a small to mid-sized room. The only cable it needs is power, and you can control it from any computer or mobile device on the network running the Sonos app. For background listening mono is just fine. For stereo you just add another PLAY:1 and pair them together in the Sonos app.

I also tested the Sonos Connect which works with an existing stereo or home theater system. As I noted in my Deezer Elite review, I think it sounds really good and is easy to use. At $349 it’s a little more expensive than a PLAY:1, but a great option if you already have a nice system.

The bonus with Sonos is the exclusive ability to subscribe to Deezer Elite for a discounted rate of $9.99 a month if you pay in advance. Also, through December 27 Amazon is giving you up to $50 in store credit when you buy a Sonos speaker or component.

C. Crane CC Skywave Radio

The C. Crane company makes radios for enthusiasts, from AM and FM to shortwave. I have a CC Radio 2 which I listen to every evening and recommended in my 2012 gift guide. The company’s newest model is the CC Skywave, which is a travel-oriented small portable that covers AM, FM, Shortwave, aviation and weather bands.

I have not yet tried out the CC Skywave, but the highly trusted radio reviewer Jay Allen gives it high marks, saying it is highly recommended.

Stocking Stuffer Radio

A couple of my small portable radios were lost or bit the dust this past year. I replaced them with a small analog Sony pocket radio that has impressed the hell out of me.

At just $12.49 from Amazon the Sony ICF-S10MK2 is cheaper than most pairs of headphones, but delivers impressive performance. It makes a great travel companion or a good emergency radio since it runs on just two AA batteries. It’s also a good radio for yardwork or taking places where you wouldn’t want to risk a more expensive device.

The post Holiday Gifts for Easy and Enjoyable Radio Listening appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Catch Alice’s Restaurant on the 2023 radio dial. See our latest listening guide.

Once again it’s time for my annual run-down of some of the radio stations playing the Arlo Guthrie epic “Alice’s Restaurant” as part of an annual Thanksgiving Day tradition. There’s no exhaustive list of stations that plan to air the song, so I suggest you do your own research to see if your hometown station might be playing it as well.

In the next few months, you may also get the chance to hear the song live in concert, as tickets are already on sale for Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant 50th Tour.” Those of you in the New York area can also catch Arlo Guthrie live at Carnegie Hall this Saturday (November 29th) for his annual Thanksgiving Concert with the Guthrie Family.

Community radio station KBOO is also doing a screening of the film Alice’s Restaurant as a station fundraiser tomorrow night (Wednesday, November 26, 2014) at 7pm at the Clinton Street Theater in Portland, Oregon.

Of course, you can listen to Alice’s Restaurant any time you like online, or even enjoy an illustrated version on YouTube, but if you are old school and want to hear it live on the radio, here are some options:

KFOG (104.5/97.7 FM in San Francisco) will play Alice’s Restaurant at noon Pacific time on Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 27).

WDCV 88.3 FM (Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA) will play Alice’s Restaurant every even hour on the hour (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) on Thanksgiving Day.

KISM 92.9 FM (Bellingham, Washington): Is playing Alice’s Restaurant at 6am, 9am, noon, 3pm, and 6pm Pacific time on Thanksgiving Day.

92 KQRS (Minneapolis, Minnesota): Will play Alice’s Restaurant at 11am and 6pm on Thanksgiving Day.

iRadioPhilly: Will play Alice’s Restaurant at noon and 6pm Eastern time on the classic rock Ziggy station on Thanksgiving Day.

WFUV 90.7 FM (Fordham University station in Bronx, NY): Will play Alice’s Restaurant on Thanksgiving day at noon Eastern time.

WFIT 89.5FM (Melbourne, Florida): On Thanksgiving Day from 10am to 1pm Eastern time, the Florida radio station will play a “new updated version of the song.” According to WFIT, “Arlo will tell us what the Guthrie’s ‘really do’ on Thanksgiving.”

Q104.3: The New York classic rock radio station will play it at noon on Thanksgiving.

WPLR 99.1 FM (Milford, CT): Will play Alice’s Restaurant at 6am, 12noon and 6pm on Thanksgiving.

93.7 FM the Bus (State College, PA) will be playing it several times on Thanksgiving, but it doesn’t specify the exact times.

If you know of more stations planning to air the song this year, please add them in the comments. Also, take a look at my Alice’s Restaurant posts from 2013, 2012, and 2010 to see some of the stations that have played it in the past and to learn more about the tradition.

The post Thanksgiving 2014 Brings Another Chance to Hear Alice’s Restaurant on the Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The group also does “pumpkin patrol,” explained certified ham operator/trainer Keith Tilley. This involves monitoring at least ten different highway overpasses to make sure miscreants don’t drop pumpkins off of them, causing automobile accidents. “We were there watching 10 or 11 different overpasses over the Thruway,” Tilley told the Times.

His club does training sessions three times a year. A big appeal of ham is that one can operate a transmitter without electricity or Internet.

“The idea is to get more amateur radio operators to primarily get interested in the hobby to see what they want to pursue; whether they want to get involved in emergency communications, which is very popular these days, or because they want to get more into the technology and learn how things work, or just to have the fun of chatting with people.”

The Federal Communications Commission’s easing of Morse code training for many licensees has also encouraged more involvement. Some years ago I ran into an operator in a park nearby my home in San Francisco. Here’s a YouTube of our impromputu conversation:

The post With the ham radio “pumpkin patrol” in Saugerties, NY appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The “Madroids” of Madrid, NM raise an antenna for KMRD-LP [photo: Prometheus Radio Project]

Furthermore:

Madrid is home to three-dozens shops and galleries along Route 14, a ballpark, a community garden, live music venues, restaurants, and a local history museum.

Over the past century, Madrid has been a burgeoning coal-mining town, the largest ghost town in the state, a counter-culture hotbed, an artists’ haven, and a flourishing family town.

The Legends of America website describes Madrid as a “Ghost Town Reborn.” Apparently the coal mining city collapsed in the 1950s as natural gas became popular. According to the article, in 1954 an advertisement placed in the Wall Street Journal offered to sell the whole place for $250,000, to no avail. But starting in the 1970s people started migrating back the area, and now it has its reputation as a small but fun metropolitan region full of “Madroids,” as they call themselves: artists, hippies, ghosts, plus a healthy share of normal human beings.

Back to the radio station, however. Prometheus eloquently describes the building and launching of KMRD’s transmitter tower:

“The construction was truly a community effort as craftspeople, artisans, and volunteers from town all contributed their time and expertise to the project. A blacksmith fabricated a steel cage, hinging base, and 26-foot steel mast to support the antenna. A carpenter and general contractor coordinated the pouring of a concrete base for the mast and designed and built a shed to house the transmission equipment and solar system components. An electrician and solar expert designed and installed a solar system to power the transmission equipment. Other carpenters designed and built the beautiful on-air studio featuring wrap-around desk space and a beveled double-pane window. A electronics expert is assembling a broadcast console kit from Kaatskit that contains hundreds, if not thousands, of discrete components.”

Meanwhile locals took turns digging, carrying, or pounding equipment into the ground as needed. If you are looking for a web stream, KMRD’s online Listen page says “coming soon.”

The post New Mexico “ghost town reborn” gets Low Power FM station appeared first on Radio Survivor.