35000 Watts :: The Story of College Radio
A film about a radio revolution
“Five Songs” is a series where we ask former and current college radio DJs to give us a list of five songs that they feel best represents the chosen topic. For this playlist, John Bernstein, producer of 35000 Watts: The Story of College Radio, chooses five songs that remind him of his first ever DJ shift at WIDB at Southern Illinois University.…
Name: Jesse Robinson
College: George Mason University
Radio Station: WGMU Radio
Years Active: 2012-2016
Position(s): DJ (12-16) Program Director (13-14), General Manager (15-16)
Favorite bands (either during your time at the college radio station or now, or both!)…
John Dufilho (The Deathray Davies/The Apples In Stereo/Clifffs) has been involved in the indie music scene for over 25 years, and college radio has played a huge role in helping his bands find an audience.…
Name: Nathan Moore
Interviews are hard, and it takes a long time to really get good at writing interesting questions. This poor guy wasn’t quite there yet. Watch this hilarious clip of Toadies drummer Mark Reznicek and lead singer Vaden Lewis talking about one of their worst interview experiences.…
In this outtake from the film, college radio historian Jennifer Waits talks about what a typical college radio station looks like. We had a small lighting issue in the first few minutes of her interview but I wanted to share this clip anyway because it is so accurate.…
On March 1, 1979, the first issue of the College Music Journal rolled off the presses, featuring a photo of Elvis Costello on the cover. While the first issue didn’t make a huge splash (Wikipedia quotes staff as calling the first issues “a bunch of photocopies stapled together”), the publication would soon become the most important college radio publication in the country.…
Name: Chrystal Bartlett
College: North Carolina State University
Station: WKNC-FM 88.1
Active: 1981 – 1985
Positions: Disc Jockey, Librarian, Public Affairs Director, Promotions Director, Station Manager
Favorite bands back then: Black Sabbath, Elvis Costello, Jimi Hendrix, Motorhead
Advice: Learn all positions in case you get canned and need to get in the door elsewhere
Bathroom Break Song: Dazed and Confused (Live)
Memorable Interview: Dixie Dregs with Steve Morse.…
Name: Bruce Greenberg
College: San Diego State University
Station: KCR
Active: 1975-1978
Positions: Production Manager, Assistant GM
Favorite bands back then: Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush
Advice: Soak it all in and enjoy it.…
Even though the subtitle is “The Story of College Radio”, we still occasionally have people asking us what the subject of “35000 Watts” is. For our very first video sneak peek, we thought we’d let a few of our interviewees explain, in their own words, what the film is all about.…