--- title: "‘Get Listening, Kids’" date: 2023-09-14T09:45:00-04:00 author: University of Maryland canonical_url: "https://terp.umd.edu/get-listening-kids" section: Articles --- # ‘Get Listening, Kids’ *September 14, 2023* — by [Maggie Haslam](/authors/maggie-haslam) - *Photos by John T. Consoli* > How do you track 75 years of college radio at Maryland? Decades of deejays replay history, hijinks and the music that made WMUC. *two students sit on WMUC couch. Inset photos: students install radio tower; students review tally sheets* **THIS SOFA HAS SEEN A LOT.** Covered in an ancient damask print, the well-worn couch has been parked for years in the lobby of [WMUC-FM](https://wmuc.umd.edu/) against a graffitied wall plastered with schedules and concert flyers. It’s roomy enough for DJs working the graveyard shift at the University of Maryland’s college radio station to catch a nap before morning classes or for bands waiting to perform in the station’s “live room.” Its permadented seats and patinaed armrests have endured countless staff meetings, greasy residue from takeout containers and more than a few meet-cutes, its crevices a catchment for guitar picks, misplaced blunts and crumpled playlists. WMUC’s couch is one note in the soundtrack of Maryland college radio, but it doesn’t begin to capture all of its greatest hits: the station’s arduous road to an FM license; the indie singers and punk bands that graced its studios; scripts being lit on fire; countless hours of reporting historic elections, riots and college sports; and even a promo spot by a mop-topped Brit. “It was one of the fundamental experiences of my life, and I’m still close with a lot of people from that time,” says former DJ and program director Jay Kernis ’74, who went on to found NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “Weekend Edition” and now is a “CBS Sunday Morning” producer. “You immediately recognize your tribe—like, ‘Oh my God, these are my people.’” On the 75th anniversary of WMUC, *Terp* turned to decades of station alums to chronicle milestones and mishaps, culture and influence, and its enduring community. ## 1950s - 1970s *WMUC staff pose — WMUC staff in 1964 mug for the camera outside Building FF, the station’s digs in the old Gulch area before moving above the South Campus Dining Hall. (Photo courtesy of Bill Seaby ’64)* --- *The Beatles* **BRITISH INVASION //** The day of the Beatles’ first U.S. concert in February 1964, Bill Seaby ’64, Paul Palmer ’64, Fred Krautwurst ’64 and Alan Batten ’65 lugged an Ampex portable tape recorder, a mic stand and about 100 feet of cord down to a press conference at the Washington Coliseum. When it ended, Seaby and Palmer jumped onto the stage and in a bold move asked John Lennon to record a promo spot for the station. “He told us he wasn’t allowed to because it could cause some bad feelings for the other stations, but we told him we were just a little campus radio station,” recalls Seaby. “I scribbled what he needed to say on a notecard, and he went ahead and did it—and then it was over.” With the tagline, “Get listening, kids!” it’s [one of the only known station IDs that Lennon ever recorded in the U.S.](https://m.soundcloud.com/broadcastingarchives-umd/john-lennon-station-id) “My biggest regret was The Diamondback reporter who came with us lost the photograph he took of us on stage.” *Before the 9:30 Club there was the Cellar Door, a little venue on M Street in Georgetown that hosted up-and-coming musicians and comedians. An ongoing relationship between Cellar Door management and WMUC gave students backstage interview access to a young Linda Ronstadt, the Kingston Trio and John Denver.* **BREAKING NEWS //** While WMUC reporting has spanned everything from presidential elections to a dairy cow stranded on the seventh floor of a women’s dorm in a 1960s prank, it provided an invaluable historical record of the unrest over the Vietnam War. Clutching a tape recorder and microphone, Peter Ferrara ’73 covered the 1970 riots on Route 1 then raced back to the station to transfer his reports onto a reel-to-reel for broadcast. The Associated Press caught wind of his efforts and soon paid him a stipend for each report he filed. When the state again sent in the National Guard the following year, WMUC announced troops’ positions on campus, with student correspondents reporting live. “I remember the police came to shut us down and the station manager saying, ‘No, we’re free to do this,’” says Kernis. *In the 1970s, new shows reflected the diversity of the campus, including “Yesternow,” the station’s first program featuring the Black experience and the feminist program “MsUnderstood,” which helped solidify women’s involvement in a primarily male radio industry.* **A SLICE OF THE PIE //** Many of the big acts that played College Park in the ’60s and ’70s—including Fats Domino and Peter, Paul and Mary—gave interviews to WMUC. In 1971, an emerging folk singer named Don McLean stopped by the station to chat with DJ Sheldon Michelson ’70, who asked if McLean was working on anything new. “He said, ‘You know, I got this one thing, and I need a copy of it. If you let me record it here you can keep a copy,’” recalls Kernis. That session is thought to be the first recording ever of “American Pie;” [listen closely](https://m.soundcloud.com/broadcastingarchives-umd/craig-allen-interview-with-don-mclean-interview-spring-1971) for lyrics that eventually changed in the released version, now considered an informal national anthem. --- *two students on radio tower — WMUC’s first radio tower was installed in 1979 after an exhaustive five-year campaign to secure a frequency on the FM dial. (Photo courtesy of Diamondback Photo Collection, University Archives)* --- *Reporter holds microphone to Kermit, held by Jim Henson — Photo courtesy of University Archives* **JIM HENSON //** In 1979, Rosenstock tapped a friend working Homecoming, where Muppeteer Jim Henson ’60 would sit as grand marshal, with a covert mission: to sneak him into the grandstand for an impromptu interview. Rosenstock managed a quick chat, not with Henson, but his green sidekick. “I was holding the microphone up to Kermit’s mouth instead of Henson’s because he had just made him come so to life,” he says. --- ## 1980s - 1990s *two students review tally sheets — Program Director Elliot Klayman, left, and DJ Terry Wilson review tally sheets from the 1984 WMUC Radiothon. (Photo courtesy of Diamondback Photo Collection)* *THE LONG CUT It’s no secret that DJs use epically long songs like “Stairway to Heaven” or the 10-minute, barn-burning version of Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” for a stress-free bathroom break. But years ago, such tracks were also a blessing for morning-shift staff at WMUC on meal plans. They could dash down two flights of stairs, grab breakfast from the dining hall and hurry back up before the song’s ending.* **BIG PIMPIN’ IN STUDIO //** In 1993, WMUC’s “[**Soul Controllers Mix Show**](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V_GJ4AfKIZA)” hosts emerging rap star Canibus and a then-unknown Jay-Z. --- **THIRD RAIL RADIO //** During the alternative insurgence of the early 1990s, record labels pitching the next Nirvana flooded stations like WMUC, with stacks of demos coming in weekly. With Washington, D.C., limited to a handful of venues like the Black Cat or 9:30 Club, bands looking to land a local show found an ally in WMUC’s “live room,” a bare-bones space that could accommodate an audience but also broadcast. Sporadic at first, it became appointment listening in 1996 when Eric Speck ’97 launched “Third Rail Radio,” a weekly in-studio music show. Over the years, “Third Rail Radio” has hosted emerging—and now established—artists like [Elliott Smith](https://soundcloud.com/wmucradio/sets/elliott-smith-live-at-wmuc-third-rail-radio-1997), Car Seat Headrest and Mitski. “The week before my first daughter was born, my band went back to WMUC and performed a solo set on ‘Third Rail Radio,’” says former DJ John Davis ’99, curator of Special Collections in Performing Arts for UMD’s Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library. “My wife was there, who I first met at the station, and there was so much power to that moment: a little bit of sadness to one ending, but gratitude to the journey and excitement for this whole new part of my life about to begin. And it was cool for it to be happening in this place where so much stuff in my life happened.” --- ## 2000s - 2010s **SIGNAL BOOST //** WMUC’s 10-watt FM signal was strong enough to reach only a few miles beyond campus. Also situated at 88.1—but 30 miles north—was WYPR-FM, another college radio station run by Johns Hopkins University, which was converted into Baltimore’s NPR member station in 1995. In 2006, the FCC approved WYPR’s petition for a 5,500-watt power boost and redirection south, securing a firmer grip on the Baltimore-Washington corridor and nearly snuffing out WMUC. “You could be in a dorm on South Campus right next to the station and not be able to pick it up,” says former GM Scott Maxwell ’09. In 2016, then-station manager Jane Lyons ’18 rekindled conversations for more wattage and a new frequency; with the help of state Sen. James Rosapepe, administrative adviser Steve Gnadt and the station staff that followed, WMUC eventually secured 30 watts and a new spot on the FM dial in 2022 at 90.5. *TRYOUTS For decades, aspiring DJs were required to audition to earn an on-air slot. “I still remember my audition evaluation,” says Robert Duckman ’67, who went on to become one of D.C.’s most longstanding commercial DJs. “It said, ‘Robert Duckman: monotonal with a bad New York accent.’ But they let me join the station anyway.” After taking a diction class that semester, Duckman landed his own show, and a better time slot, the following spring.* **LAUNCH OF DIGITAL //** In 2008, station staff cobbled together equipment to transform the abandoned AM control room into WMUC’s first digital streaming station. New DJs now hone their chops on the digital station, rather than the graveyard shift, before graduating to a primetime FM slot. *INFLUENCE A student-run radio station is bound to have its share of shenanigans: pranks and parties; scripts in the hands of unsuspecting DJs lit on fire during live shows; someone running naked past the AM booth. But from the beginning, WMUC was a proving ground for developing professional on-air reporters and innovative programming. Commercial stations around Washington and Baltimore recruited new graduates in droves. Alums have gone on to careers in radio, but also television, film and other industries. Among them: • Connie Chung ’69: The groundbreaking CBS newscaster credits her time at WMUC for jumpstarting her career. • Len Elmore ’74: The basketball player-turned-broadcaster had a Sunday evening “all request” show. • Valerie Solanas ’58: The radical feminist’s show, which raged against men, made waves on campus long before she made national headlines for shooting artist Andy Warhol. • Aaron McGruder ’98: “The Boondocks” creator hosted “The Soul Controllers Mix Show,” one of the station’s preeminent hip-hop programs.* **PUMPED-UP HIT //** In November 2010, WMUC played “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster The People, marking its U.S. terrestrial radio debut; it later spent eight consecutive weeks at No. 3 on Billboard. --- *student plays guitar in live room — WMUC’s live room offers a living history of musicians who have played at the station over the years, including Flo Petite ’23 of the band Homeschool Friend, with each artist signing the walls for posterity. Look closely and you’ll find Ice Cube, Alvvays, Alex G and others.* --- *couple sits at radio station — DJs Jane Lyons Raeder ’18 and Jonathan Raeder ’15 had their first date on “All-Star Day;” years later they took their engagement photos at the station. (Photo courtesy of Jane Lyons Reader ’18)* --- *student organizes records in Record Library* --- ## NOW *WMUC control room* **LONG LIVE WMUC //** In an era where college radio stations have largely been sold off, stations like WMUC are notable purely for surviving. “WMUC has become an endangered species,” says Patchen Mortimer M.F.A. ’03, who, along with several other alums, still hosts a weekly WMUC show. Its endurance is largely due to the legions of students who took up the mantle over its 75 years, but also because of the university’s ongoing financial and operational support. WMUC, he says, is the anarchistic, artistic yin to the university’s academic yang—and a space for a lot of people who don’t fit in. “It’s loners, punks and weirdos for sure, but they’re communing with frat boys and female business majors,” he says. “That synthesis is what makes us better.” In September, WMUC welcomed a new crop of DJs looking for the freedom to spin records and make their community through music—with the hope that the kids will keep listening. “It’s a magical feeling of, Oh, wow, this is the community that I’m part of,” says Appelson. “And we have momentum now.” **TERP** --- *Which hits earned heavy rotation at WMUC? Former DJs share their favorites for our [Ultimate Spotify List](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5tdaPJIbwWlVPk0WflUArf?si=vGrMiUWCQBKw523TG0HbHg).* *For more history, pictures and unbridled nostalgia, visit “Saving College Radio: WMUC Past, Present and Future,” an online exhibit from University of Maryland Libraries at* [exhibitions.lib.umd.edu/wmuc](https://exhibitions.lib.umd.edu/wmuc)*.* *Got another WMUC story? Our lines are open at* *.* **Issue:** [Fall 2023](https://terp.umd.edu/editions/fall-2023) **Types:** [Features](https://terp.umd.edu/category/features)