No one that listened to Jean "Shep" Sheppard will ever forget him. His career spanned decades and included tours on
WOR-AM, KYW-AM, WLW-AM. He died in October of 1999. But he lives on at a single Class-D radio station in Dudley, Massachusetts. they transmit from the campus of Nichols College.
At a barely audible 14 watts,
95.1 WXRB run real rock n' roll 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Today these are considered oldies, but it's not your uptight Jones Network sat-fed oldies format. The
WXRB playlist is possibly three-times as deep, and focused on the first 25 years of rock n' roll. I'll admit now that it's automated, but in a very conscious and deliberate way somewhat reminiscent of
WRKO's "arko-matic" system. On their own website they say the following:
"WXRB-FM showcases Rock & Roll's FIRST 25 years, to preserve its' place in mainstream America and to bring these special songs to a new generation of listeners, to young and old alike. We're a totally NON-COMMERCIAL EDUCATIONAL FM station, dedicated to keeping this special music alive and available for everyone to enjoy."
But back to Jean Shepard. Every Sunday evening at 11:00 PM DJ Max Schmid hosts the program "Mass Backwards"featuring the voice of the deceased Jean Shepherd. What great shtick for a tribute station dedicated to the love of an era... including one of the DJs, nto just the music.
Mass Backwards actually comes out of
WBAI in New York.
At a barely audible 14 watts, 95.1 WXRB run real rock n' roll 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Today these are considered oldies, but it's not your uptight Jones Network sat-fed oldies format. The WXRB playlist is possibly three-times as deep, and focused on the first 25 years of rock n' roll. I'll admit now that it's automated, but in a very conscious and deliberate way somewhat reminiscent of WRKO's "arko-matic" system. On their own website they say the following:
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I am so very proud to be the top-hour voice of WXRB...my friend Peter George does a great job running this little station!
ReplyDeleteGood to read your comments about Jean Shepherd (note spelling). Actually Mass Backwards is on very early Tuesday mornings. The Shepherd 45-minute segment is usually on 5:15-6 am. WBAI FM also archives the show, as does the main Shepherd Website www.flicklives.com which keeps the most recent ten there. For more info on Shep see my book, EXCELSIOR, YOU FATHEAD! THE ART AND ENIGMA OF JEAN SHEPHERD.
ReplyDeleteFybush is on the station? ...The story gets even better. how did that happen?
ReplyDeleteShep can also be heard on WBCQ shortwave from Monticello Maine on 7.415mHz. They play his shows quite often.
ReplyDeleteHow did that happen? Easy - WXRB's owner, Peter Q. George, has been a friend of mine going back more than 15 years now. I met him through Bob Bittner of WJIB fame; Peter was doing WJIB's engineering then, and dreaming of someday owning a radio station.
ReplyDeleteFlash forward a dozen years or so. Peter was helping Nichols College engineer its little 10-watter, WNRC 95.1, and he spotted an opening to get Nichols a 100-watt LPFM on 97.5. WNRC 95.1 became WNRC-LP 97.5, and rather than delete the class D license on 95.1, Nichols sold the license to Peter for a pittance.
And when Peter needed someone to voice some IDs for him, I was more than happy to oblige. You can hear one at audio.bostonradio.org, if you're so inclined...
Awesome. I need to find my own 10-watt stick somewhere.
ReplyDelete