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| From Arlington Public Library |
More recently I found a WGTB program guide from April of 1978. This is [LINK] It's very rare to have such a long series of college radio schedules so well documented. I'd go a step further to also state that it's even more rare that so many station alumni go on to have such notable careers. WGTB was shut down in February 1979 so there are few schedules later than this one in the stations' history. As Guy Raz once wrote:
"If you tuned into 90.1 25 years ago, chances were you'd hear Frank Zappa calling out for "the last mortal man," to stop "the senseless destruction of America." Maybe the news was on: If it was an update on the war in Vietnam, you'd probably find out what America's "imperialist pigs" were up to in their battle against the Communist North Vietnamese "liberators." WGTB-FM was pumping in high dudgeon at 6,700 watts a 60-mile radius and Washington was listening..."
In 1978 Random Radio Hours continued with Pamela Evans, as does the The Disc Memory Show (it's 6th year). The Bruce Rosenstein Show, Mystic Eyes and The Abstraction Radio hour all continue as well. All show descriptions below are paraphrased from the 1978 WGTB program guide pictured above. [Typos corrected where possible.]
I've also discovered an archive of WGTB bootlegs here. It's an extraordinary collection of sounds from the 1970s on the wildest of college radio stations ever to exist. It includes recordings of the Disc Memory Show, Stump Jumpers, Hard Implosion, Random Radio Hours, Radio Free Shire, Ozone Hours, In the Shadows, Mixages, Theatre of the Absurd, Friends, Sophie's Parlor, Tea Time, Germ Patrol, Abstraction, Professor Mota, Bavarian Music Works, Mystic Eyes, Dr. Progresso, the final 1979 shutdown and a slew of as yet unidentified recordings.
SUNDAY:
12:00 AM - Sunday Morning Show hosted by George Arthur, anything from John Cage to John Cale
03:00 AM - The Vinyl Underground with Jeff Bender, heavy metal with a chrome edge *This was probably the first heavy metal show ever.
06:00 AM - Hoozat with the Big 'M' with Mike Morley, Incongruous babbling combined with bottom line rock & roll Alternates biweekly with Olympic Games *Heres's Mike with George Thorogood [LINK]
06:00 AM - Olympic games with Bob Guskind, Special hangover remedy's Italian Rock, comedy classical music and progressive rock *George circulated a petition in 1978 trying to save the station.
09:00 AM - The Disc Memory Show with Alan Lee, On air since 1972, this program features oldies but goodies from the 1950s and 1960s with a heavy emphasis on Doo-Wop recordings. *Lee came from WMAX/WXDT the carrier current predecessor of WKDU at Drexel. He was later host of Doo-Wop Sounds on WPFW. More here.
12:00 PM - Summer Solstice with Myron Bretholz, Washington's only regularly scheduled program devoted to English, Irish and Sottish folk music. *Myron moved his show years later to WHFS focusing more on Celtic folk music
03:00 PM - The Bruce Rosenstein Show, A variety of rock and rock-related styles presented i n fairly short sets with a minimum of talking. *Also writer for FM Forecast.
06:00 PM - Mystic Eyes with Steve Lorber, Features regressive rock(often in true monaural with a strong emphasis on the 60's British Best sound. *Now Co-hosting "Rock Continuum" on 94.3 WOWD-LP with John Paige. (see below)
09:00 PM - The Abstraction Radio Hours with John Paige, Music may range from Devo to Company, the psychic anchors like the Beatles or Eno will be on hand. *Now Co-hosting "Rock Continuum" on 94.3 WOWD-LP with Steve Lorber (see above)
MONDAY
12:00 AM - The Oasis with Mary Cecile Levey, Hear music in motion energy, dancable rock n' roll... Tune in to life's soundtrack in color - Possibly the same Mary Levey who published The Infiltrator punk zine in the DC area. But maybe that was Mary Leary [LINK]
03:00 AM - Rare Impressions with Tom Edwards, A mix of U.S. and British Punk with a thread of Blue Cheer. Elvis Presley to Elvis Costello.
06:00 AM - Eclectic Stew, This show is divided into 3 segments beginning with the Urban spaceman who takes you through a trip into electro-space music, then at 7:00 the Universal Redneck takes over with his humor and comment. at 8:00 you're joining Starving Allen who keeps you rocking 'till 9:00 *Probably named for the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band the "I'm the Urban Spaceman"
09:00 AM - The Germ Patrol hosted by Walter Hassett, Music to brush your teeth by, featuring progressive music to soften the Monday syndrome
12:00 PM - Awareness hosted by Jimmy Ogunlana, A program covering a broad spectrum of current affairs. *A Nigerian journalist, formerly worked for the World Population Society [LINK]
12:30 PM - Halls Bar and Grill, A place to dump your hangover, tables arranged around a slaughter pit. A cup of cigars and a mound of white sugar, red meat killed to order. *A program by this name popped up on WRNR in 1997, has to be connected.
03:00 PM - Random Radio Hours hosted by Pamela Evans *Bootlegs of this program
exist!
06:00 PM - The WGTB Evening News with features including pot news, the UFO report, and others, with Anchormen Mathew Moore and Reggie Terrell. *Famously quoted in La Hoya "In a 1978 letter to general manager John Uttenweiler, staffers Matthew Moore and Reggie Terrell wrote that, “the equipment is in such a fucked up and sorry state that we have come to the point we never thought we would."
06:30 PM - Viewpoint hosted by Dr. Gilbert Jackson, Experts in the fields of environment, energy and health explore topics ranging from solar energy to nutrition. *Jackson was a Senior Infrastructure engineer in USAID, now retired.
07:00 PM - Sequential Incidence, with Bob Kort. A blend of new musical styles from high energy to mellow, sampling the old and the new, the obscure and the familiar. *First a disc jockey, at WAER then one of the last Music Directors at WGTB. Died in 2017. [LINK]
09:30 PM - The Chameleon Hours
TUESDAY
12:00 AM - Where no Man Has Gone Before hosted by Tim Pace *Tim did some live recordings in DC (bootlegs) including this tangerine Dream show form 1977 [LINK].
03:00 AM - Magic Carpet Ride with Fred Cresce, From the highest heights obtainable while riding the carpet comes various forms of rock n' roll.
06:00 AM - #9 Dream hosted by Steve Miller. A variety of new releases, hard to find oldies, classical and clasirock [sic] with a minimum of talking. *Named for the John Lennon with The Plastic Ono Nuclear Band tune of the same name.
09:00 AM - Viewpoint hosted by Dr. Gilbert Jackson, Experts in the fields of environment, energy and health explore topics ranging from solar energy to nutrition *Jackson became a Senior Infrastructure engineer in USAID, now retired.
12:30 PM - Rock N' Roll Jukebox with Lee Michael Demsey. The show is centered around hard rock, 60s music and it's influences. *Lee had previously been on air at WAMU. He's currently on air at Bluegrass Country radio, the HD-2 channel of 88.5 WAMU. [LINK]
03:00 PM - The Second Nature Show hosted by Christopher Thompson. A program designed to connect up the fields of ideas that pervade in a subliminal fashion, the progressive music scene covering the spectrum from Lancaster-Lumley projects through Gong and Henry Cow., with the occasional rude interference from Vivian Stanshall. *A WGTB Radio Programmer and Engineer from 1971 to 1979 [LINK]
06:00 PM - The WGTB News
06:30 PM - Open Forum, A public access program listener comments are aired live and selected letter read over the air.
07:00 PM - Bavarian Music Works with Bambi Evans *Formerly host of Sparking Pace
09:00 PM - Giant steps hosted by Ken Steiner. Undiluted and non-commercial , pure acoustic sound/rhythm is presented from 60 years of recorded history. refresh yourself with the music that speaks to now-spontaneous music labeled as jazz. *Named for the legendary jazz LP Giant steps by John Coltrane from 1960. Ken Steiner fled to WPFW, and became a very notable and multiply published expert on the career of Duke Ellington.
WEDESDAY
12:00 AM - Fever Dreams with Dave Scalzi. How I crawled from M street to Georgetown University with the flesh peeling from my hands and knees and by blood freezing to the very ground where I lay in an ecstasy of agony... *Also co-host of Collective State of Quack [LINK]
03:00 AM - In The Shadows with Geoffrey Blumenauer. A mixture of the finest blends of local music including unreleased tapes and rare local recordings of artists.
06:00 AM - Sun Ship with John Kordalewski. A presentation of the entire tradition of contemporary African-American Music *Presently pianist for the Makanda Project [LINK]
09:00 AM - This Music Business hosted by Jerry O'Rourke. Selections from the long and varied tradition of the blues: old timey, recent and revival recordings.
12:00 PM - The Lost Half Hour with Erika Stokes, Radio for Children, ages 5-10 blending traditional and contemporary stories, poetry and songs. *I think this is Erika Stokes née Hartmann, wife of W. Royal Stokes [LINK]
12:30 PM - Sunburst with Jeff Cantor. The ever -optimistic cantor will assuage your unhappiness with soothing jazz in styles ranging from pop/rock to very progressive.
03:00 PM - The Germ Patrol with Walter Hassett. Germ warfare presented in stereo. Up tempo biological experimentations in the rock mode.
06:00 PM - The WGTB Evening News
06:30 PM - Since Minton's with Royal Stokes. A program of modern Jazz from the 1940s to the present. Frequent interviews with musicians book reviews and a run-down of local jazz events. *Hosted by author W. Royal Stokes! The show name is probably a reference to Minton's Playhouse, a Harlem jazz club founded by saxophonist Henry Minton in 1938. Closed in 1974. (reopened 2006)
09:00 PM - The Abstraction Radio Hours with John Paige, Music may range from Devo to Company, the psychic anchors like the Beatles or Eno will be on hand. *Now Co-hosting "Rock Continuum" on 94.3 WOWD-LP with Steve Lorber (see above)
THURSDAY
12:00 AM - The Gnome Hours hosted by Ace Pace. Heavy Emphasis on synthesizer such as tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk Time Blake Electrophon and Vangelis. *Totally obscure. I want to hear this.
03:00 AM - Mad Dog Promenade, hosted by Tom Danaher. A frenzied configuration of early morning musical madness. Making regular appearances of early morning musical madness. *Named for the Bruce Springsteen tune. Springsteen played two shows at Georgetown University on 3/3/74 both simulcast on WGTB. Unrelated, was also the name of writer Jon Chaisson's radio show [LINK].
06:00 AM - This Music Business with Jerry O'Rourke, A morning radio program devoted to the need for be-bop, boogie and jive. *There was another Jerry O'Rourke at WDCV in 1977... I do wonder if it's the same fellow.
09:00 AM - Pugsley Dog Radio Hours with David Howcroft In keeping with the fine tradition of art-rock established by Prof. Mota in this time slot, this show keeps a similar style while introducing more new wave material. *Howcroft and Skip Groff compiled the LP ":30 seconds over D.C. Here comes the New Wave" [LINK] You can read an interview here [LINK]
12:00 AM - Cars and Consumers hosted by Archie Richardson. This program features controversial topics of interest of vehicle consumers such as sales, and service ripoffs, insurance and finance problems, and the warranty dilemma. *Archie was head of the nonprofit Automobile Owners Action Council (AOAC). they mediated disputes between consumers and car dealers.
01:00 PM - All Weather Music with David Findley. This music is picked for the strength, honesty or ingeniousness or emotional expression for the joy of a riff or a peculiar sound. Rock and roll meat and potatoes are seasoned with mood music.
03:00 PM - The Second Nature Show hosted by Christopher Thompson. *See Tuesday above
06:00 PM - The WGTB Evening News
06:30 PM - Tea Time with Mark Garbin. ECM, Electronic Jazz, British music and Monty Python. Where Heiz Baked Beans, Radio London and Rock Historiography join in bliss for you very own personal freedom infringement.
09:00 PM - Take One, local musicians perform live from Sounds Reasonable studios *Later was the source of live sets for WHFS. Operated through at least 1979. Owned by Fred Wygal
10:00 PM - Slow Dazzle with Myron Bretholz. Dedicated to the proposition that good taste is timeless, the intruder gently placed his hand on her radio dials, that all men are created equal . and to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. *Hosted by Myron of the Summer Solstice show on Sundays. But this does not sound like a folk show.
FRIDAY
12:00 AM - Theatre of the Absurd with Joe Zapotski. A synthesis of efforts both hard power chord rockers and existential creators.
03:00 AM - Spontaneous Emissions with Tom Boyce. A smorgasbord of musical styles ranging from country to space music with some comedy for good measure. *Spontaneous emission is the process in which a quantum mechanical system transits from an excited energy state to a lower energy state. I like to think that Boyce was a physical major.
06:00 AM - The National Pike Show A blend of progressive rock music and comedy in a format designed to help wake you up to face Friday's day.
09:00 AM - Baroque and Roll with Marc Fare. Blending classical with progressive rock and comedy for a unique mix of mostly mellow morning madness. *Runner up for Program Director in 1974. Losing to Royal stokes ain't bad.
12:00 PM - Speakeasy Hosted by Ken Rothschild. A listener call-in show discussing broad social and political topics
01:00 PM - Mixages with Jamil Guellal and Scott Copley. A program which features the rock, jazz and fusion music of France. *More here and here!
03:30 PM - The Dr. Progresso Show. The Good doctor plays progressive music of all types and styles and eras from the progressive jazz of 20 and 30 years ago to the progressive pop of the 60s and the progressive rock of this decade. *You can hear bootlegs here!!! He relocated to WAMU in 1978.
06:00 PM - The WGTB Evening News
06:30 PM - Quadraphenia with Euclid Coukouma. *With a name like that, this has to be the same Euclid Coukouma who was a DJ at WCWM, then an engineer at WOOK, WLPL and presently NBC.
09:00 PM - The Hard Implosion with Fred Cresce. Some good Party Music to end the week with the accent on the Heavy Metal and just plain good old rock & roll. Please have plenty of fuses handy. *Also host of Magic Carpet Ride
SATURDAY
12:00 AM - Indoor Games with Edward Bielaus. An Anarchistic conceptualization of uncompromising experimental sounds and humor which draws from a unique selection of musics with avant-garde and progressive compositions or elements.
03:00 AM - Moonshine Madness with Alan Baxley, an eclectic fusion of rock, space rock, humor, jazz and some things that can't be classified.
06:00 AM - Toads in Limestone hosted by Tom Moore. Features progressive music, often accompanied by the New York City Zoo and various other oddities. *Today Tom is the Director of Arts and Culture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UBMC)
08:30 - Lost Half Hour with Erika Stokes, Radio for Children, ages 5-10 blending traditional and contemporary stories, poetry and songs. *I think this is Erika Stokes née Hartmann, wife of W. Royal Stokes [LINK]
09:00 - I Thought I heard Buddy Boulden Say... - classic jazz & blues from the 20's, 30's and 40's. with history & commentary provided by Royal. *Named for a tune by Jelly Roll Morton, but hosted by author W. Royal Stokes!
12:00 PM - La Cultura en Washington, produced by Vincente Guerra, Head of Hispanic-American Culture of the Department the show focused on Hispanic-American music, literature and culture.
12:30 PM - Metamorphosis with Jennifer Boozer, music that recycles the mind, jazz, blues and reggae.
03:00 PM - Fascination with Michael Hogan. Where the clouds breathe easy, rock max hybrid spatial blessing. The length of an east interior resounding, hammer to anvil with the love of sound upon sound. *Aforementioned writer for FM Forecast
06:00 PM - Buzzball hosted by Kevin Lanigan. A trip which touches four sides of the double-edged razor. *On air since 1974, you have to wonder when he's going to graduate.
09:00 PM - Random Radio Continued with Pamela Evans. Take 1 person, several wild turkeys, 2 turntables, 1 microphone, several bottles of coca-cola; mix liberally with esoteric and not-so-esoteric brew. Add listener enthusiasm and allow to cook for 3 hours. *Possibly the same Pam Evans that was chief engineer at WGMS in 1973.
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