A FORMER PD CHECKS IN FROM THIRTY YEARS AGO DATE POSTED : Saturday, 2008.11.22 12AM
Flash Gordon here.. of Flash Gordon and the Cosmic Commandos.. circa 1976-9 and a former Program Director of the station in 78.
Well what can I say. You all are doing a FANTASTIC job of keeping free-form radio alive. I remember how hard we worked to convince the "powers that be" in those days that our little 10 watt station WAS worth expanding to 125 watts.. I even spent 3 months interning at the office of Congressman Edward Markey-- then a member of the FCC Communications subcomittee-- for the purpose of getting him to write a letter to then FCC Chairman Mark Fowler in support of the application-- which he graciously did. Another person instrumental-- someone you're interviewing this week! Mike Capuano and of course Ed Bean and Todd Feinberg and that PD of All PDs Jeff Chitouras.
The MFO of the late 70s was a lot like it looks today.. but with a few less catch show names (much better now!). Lots of different music was emerging then.. like the time the Talking Heads came into the studio as a bunch of RISD Art Students.. or the emergence of the Clash, or Grandmaster Flash or the early days of the Boss, and height of the Deadathons--- hours of live shows on bootlegs played on reels and cassettes...and, well , whatever. We had much less equipment back then... and the fire.. what can you say.. I remember spending an entire summer in the broadcast booth in the first floor of Curtis Hall trying to play records that still reeked of smoke... but the outpouring of support from that fire was truly amazing.. I remember it still. All the staions in town-- even the commercial ones--knew what this crazy 10 watt FM was doing.. and how much and precious free-form was... and they sent equipment and help and money.. and the campus-- wow.. I can distinctly remember the T-Shirt that I still have.. a picture of the fire in Curtis Hall's third floor with the headline WMFO Cooks! Which of course-- thanks to you all it does to this day.
We had long discussions about free-form in those days... we hoped beyond hope that 30 years from then people would still get the idea... that freeform offers the best hope for musical awareness, that the experimentation will inspire real listerning and that an experiment in everyone learning-- the DJs, the listeners and the artists-- would continue to influence musical change. Every minute of playing a band .. as one of your staff members has on their t-shirts...'that doesn't exist yet" pushes music forward to new explorations and styles. Freeform supports all this. So you can imagine how happy I am that thirty years later.. that dream did survive .. and stronger and more powerful and even better staffed then ever.
I know it is a struggle to run a volunteer radio station. I went on to work on commercial radio and non-commercial radio... and today running my own business I know its hard to do it for pay,,, much less free. So as someone who has been in your shoes... like the time my brother and I did 20-plus hours of radio during the Christmas of 78 so we wouldn't go off the air... or the early morning times when someone didn't show up for their show... or the perpetually messed up guest list at some club... or staying up after studying all night to balance the budget for the meeting the next day... I know it's filled with absolute fun and tough work on top of everything else you're studying for.. But believe me.. there hasn't been one day of my life since that I didn't use something I learned from my experience there... and that radio thing is still in my bones.... and perhaps someday you will look back 30 years from now.. and see our freeform dream still alive.
Best to you all
Flash Gordon O'Hara
Tufts 79
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