The Death of WHFS
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Here's to Damien, his father and to the other revolutionaries from the early days that ran into the big corporate wall. I owe part of my youth to you and a big debt of gratitude for keeping me young as I grew older.
RIP
'RNR!! You said it KevR. Unfortunately I can't pick it up anywhere near DC.
By the way, I got to meet Cerphe about a year ago at a promotional thing. Cool guy. Didn't he used to work at HFS in '70s?
Unfortunately WR&R is not available on the web. But for those of you that enjoy it's style, I suggest giving Onion River Radio out of Vermont a try. It is what HFS used to be back in the day.
(my kids looked at me like I was crazy when I heard that unmistakable woice and proclaimed "It's Weasel")
But, I'm afraid I haven't listened to HFS in the past several years. I bought XM Radio when it came out in late 2001, and that's pretty much all I listen to now. (Well, when I'm not listening to iTunes or an iPod.) Since XM added local traffic and weather, I don't even switch over to WTOP. I think satellite radio is well on its way to pushing out broadcast radio. But, sadly, most broadcast radio isn't "local" anyway -- with some exceptions, most stations are owned by one or two big conglomerates and programmed from a central location. You get the same playlists across the country. Satellite radio definitely has a lot more variety, and getting CNN and other news stations is a big plus.
You go back a ways. I have it on tape from 1973 and 1974. Did you see the article in the Washington City Paper about four years ago about WGTB?
Whatever happened to Old Howard?
"I think that HFS started to go downhill (more commercial) shortly after the station was moved from their Cordell Ave. location in Bethesda, MD (or something like that, I'm not quite sure of the old address)."
4853 Cordell Avenue, in Bethesda.
WHFS 102.3 Tribute
http://www.dcrtv.org/hfs.html
I didn't see the article on GTB in the City Paper as I'm no longer in the DC area on a full time basis (although I was born in DC and still consider DC to be my home). Wasn't GTB shut down due to charges of fowl language (which would probably be mild by todays standards)? Anyway twin58, thanks for the information.
Showing my age talking about 94.7, which can exhibit a grossly repetitive playlist, but in recent years they've done some nice specials like all live cuts this weekend, or other weekends with all covers of classic rock songs, and the 20yrs in 20days thing when they play songs from a single year all day long. Its a shame to keep guys like Cerphe and Weasel chained to a corporate playlist, when they can talk extemporaneously at length on Rock history and music minutia for just about any cut or group you can throw at them.
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Honestly HFS was a great station but I've been on satellite radio for about 8 months and I love it.
Brief Hijack- Scott's on XM, Doug's on ?? Anyone on sirius? I can see the future's here and it's satellite. Sirius is 3 bucks a month more than XM. Worth it?
jimmy
Even though Sirius is 3 bucks a month more it's worth it in my view. And you can ameliorate some of that difference by paying for a yearly subscription, which gives you 1 month free ... 2 years is 3 months free. Also you can add on to your original subscription. Each subsequent subscription costs $6.99 per month. So if you have more than one receiver its quite reasonable.
The only terrestrial radio I listen to any more is WTOP for traffic (that is changing since satellite is now broadcasting traffic and weather for DC metro area), the rest of the stations are so formulaic and boring it's a waste of airwaves. I love jazz but the only local jazz station is controlled by Clear Channel and seems to be on autopilot .. repeating every couple of hours or so. Satellite is a no brainer as far as I'm concerned. Thing is amazing .. even gets coverage deep in the valleys and dells of West Virginia!
Piece of advice: we found that how we place our skiis on the rack has an effect on the reception of the satellite antenna. Slide the skis forward as far as possible so that the antenna thingie has as much of a 360 degree view of the sky as possible.
Snowcone- too late but for Jazz 89.3 WPFW is a good station. It has some talk though.
There wouldn't be any Spanish spoken on that jobsite, would there?
I broke down and got XM Radio, and I have not looked back since. I really don't even listen to any of the local FM stations anymore. If I want to find out what some of the local events and such going on, I can look them up on the internet on the Fredericksburg.com website.
On the note that HFS is just part of a big corporation to make money: the Sports Junkies raised money for the Tsunami by auctioning off items. Among those items were movie passes to every HFS premiere this year, backstage passes to the HFSestival, and concert tickets to every HFS event this year. Is there some false advertising going on?
BTW, for any Junkies fans, they are moving back to WJFK next Tuesday and will be on midday.
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We should make our kids have a choice between a manual job or a stint in the army for a few years after highschool while they mature enough for college
On this I agree. People should try to stop giving their kids a better life (money) and start giving them a better experience.
Bump for an interesting thread from January 2005 on local radio :-o
FYI, Weasel now co-hosts a show on Sunday mornings from 9-12 on Takoma Park’s community radio station WOWD, 94.3. If you live within about 5 miles of the station you can get it over the air. It also streams on takomaradio.org. The previous 2 shows of any show are also archived on the site and can be accessed anytime.
Documentary due soon. I really loved that station in Bethesda
Feast Your Ears - The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM
I lived in Silver Spring in the early/mid-1970s. HFS was the radio station. FM radio was so different from AM top 40 where DJs blab over a song on in their phony hyped up DJ voice. FM DJs came off as slow stoners but were respectful of the music. I can't remember who HFS had as commercial sponsors but in the years before I moved from Pittsburgh I listened to a radio station that transformed from a mostly talk format to a progressive and underground rock station. KQV FM became WDVE. You could hear whole songs even if they ran for more than 3 or 4 minutes, the Beatles Hey Jude, Iron Butterfly In A Gadda Da Vida. All the latest groups from the west coast; Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, Grateful Dead. From the east coast there was Lou Reed and Bob Dylan. Then there were the Brits lead by the Beatles and Stones, the Who, Led Zep and Pink Floyd. None of them were as yet "commercially" successful except the Beatles in their earlier pop single days and the Stones. The station was sponsored by local head shops and clothing boutiques. At midnight entire albums were played without interruption so if you had a tape deck you could record the songs for free. The broad range of music was fascinating. From Switch on Bach to Led Zeppelin to Simon and Garfunkel to Janis Joplin and Sly and the Family Stone to Joni Mitchell. I love the diversity. You can only get that now when you create your own play list on Spotify. DVE is all corporate rock now very mainstream, hardly revolutionary. HFS is long gone. When I'm not listening to my own mix on Spotify I stream http://wyep.org/ independent public radio "Where the Music Matters." There is just enough boomer bait to keep us geezers comfortable and loads of new stuff that you will not hear on commercial corporate stations and an eclectic mix of music in the spirit of the rock radio pioneers. You'll hear WYEP at Chip Chase's White Grass' lodge often.
Laurel Hill Crazie wrote:
I stream http://wyep.org/ independent public radio "Where the Music Matters."
As soon as I pass under the Laurel Highlands Trail bridge on the turnpike from the east I'm trying to tune in WYEP. I can pick it up around the ski areas somewhat
Considering some of the posts in this thread, some might find this hilarious:
Spending time in Utah this winter 2020 I have discovered a radio station that is so refreshing! KRCL. Salt Lake City, UT. 90.9 KRCL is a listener-supported community radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah. KRCL is a non-profit organization that airs music and public affairs programming. Music programs are hosted by DJs who choose their own playlist. Many programs feature folk, blues, indie rock, and world music.
"Music programs are hosted by DJs who choose their own playlist. " This seems so simple, but is rare/unheard of now in the Wash DC area for rock music. KRCL plays a lot of new alternative music from artists I don't know, but tend to enjoy. But they also throw in frequent oldies and timely stuff. After hearing new music the next song might be Grateful Dead's Hear Comes Sunshine, or when Bill Wither passed away you'd hear a song or two of his in the following days. Why can't Wash DC still have a rock station with real DJs who choose their own playlist? I guess I should quit whining and switch to satellite, but I'm too stubborn:-) Actually, I listen to a lot of music on my cell phone from youtube. But it's still nice to be exposed to new and/or thoughtful radio music playlists and the insight of knowledgeable DJs. End of rant.
JimK wrote:
...... I guess I should quit whining and switch to satellite, but I'm too stubborn:-)
I don't know JimK, I've had Serius for 10+ years and found that Sirius became almost as programmed as commerical, and the eclectic channels I liked all have been getting rid of live DJs and moving to programmed. So I recenty went back to live radio via Alexa devices, which allow me to listen to independent stations like KRCL - which I just turned on. Been listening to stations out of Pittsburgh, Philly, and Jackson Hole mostly
Jim, next time you're spending time on your computer writing one of your excellent articles open another tab and go to wyep.org and select the "listen live" tab. You can stream their live broadcast. 'YEP sounds a lot like KRCL, listener supported, lots of DJ programmed shows and public affairs programming too and as I said above, enough boomer bait to keep us geezers in our comfort zone. I would not be at all surprised that at KRCL's web site you'll be able to stream their broadcast too. If you subscribe to Spotify WYEP provides a weekly mix that I listen to at home because the hilly terrain around here blocks their signal despite their 50000 watts.
