KUSF DJs Briefly Return to the Airwaves Today at Noon

By Ian S. Port Fri., Feb. 18 2011 at 7:58 AM

Categories: KUSF, Radio

Chris Stevens

The crowd at a gathering to protest the sale of KUSF in January.

For three hours today, thanks to Amoeba Music in S.F. and college radio stations around the country, KUSF DJs will be rocking the airwaves like Jan. 18 never happened.

Starting at noon, well-known KUSF DJs like Irwin, Carolyn, and DJ Schmeejay will be spinning records in half-hour sets at Amoeba S.F. Their shows will in turn be broadcast on college radio stations around the country, including WFMU 91.1 FM in New Jersey, KZSU 90.1 FM at Stanford, and KXLU 88.9 FM in Los Angeles.

This is, of course, an effort to remind people of the poverty of the airwaves after KUSF's broadcast license was abruptly sold off by the University of San Francisco last month -- and to encourage efforts to get the sale reversed.

The event is "to celebrate the greatness that was (and hopefully soon again will be) KUSF on the FM dial where it deserves to be," says Former KUSF DJ Billy Jam, who helped organize the event and will MC it.

Last month, as it pains us to remind you, USF officials walked into KUSF on a Tuesday morning and abruptly turned off the transmitter, ending nearly 37 years of freeform community radio that had been a staple for many local listeners. Among other things, the station was a way for many up-and-coming local radio bands to get radio play and exposure.

KUSF supporters are rallying the FCC to deny the sale of the station's FM license to a group backed by the University of Southern California that plans to broadcast classical music on the station. A Facebook page calling for the reversal of the sale now has over 7,300 members. The cause has received attention from the S.F. Board of Supervisors, USF's own Faculty Association, the L.A. Times, and musicians such as Yo La Tengo and Kronos Quartet.

For more on the KUSF story, and profiles of some of the longtime celebrity DJs that made it great, check out Jennifer Maerz's recent piece in the Bold Italic.

And tune in at noon today for a taste of how things used to be.

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