Time Capsule
from "Wave Zine issue 3" by ye olde DJ in 2004
This whole musing was triggered by a letter from John Campbell of Devon, UK who heard a broadcast of my station - Seldom Heard Radio - on 6235 kHz in April 2004 via Jolly Roger Radio International in Ireland. He said, in part “I’ll be very interested in … any information about the history and style of programming of your station”
My initial encounter with shortwave listening in the 1970s was quickly forgotten as I focused on “dx’ing” (distance listening) medium wave (AM band) stations in North America. As a child I spent hours tuning in stations from as far away as Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, Nashville, Canada and Mexico. Around this time, my local AM station, WFEA (1370 kHz in Manchester NH) had an underground 60’s pop and rock format, and I became determined to hang out at the station if I could. I rode the five miles across the river on my bike and found that a couple of DJs would actually talk to me in person and let me visit the studio! Much later I learned that my father had performed country music live on WFEA in the late 1930’s before he went overseas in World War Two.
As I became ten, eleven, twelve, friends of mine & I would play “DJ”, with my friends by rigging up homemade Radio Shack transmitters, or recording music and shows onto monolithic tape recorders. Back then we could get an AM signal out over a tenth of a mile by rigging our crystal set … and we were triumphant. Thus the seeds of Seldom Heard Radio were planted.
Seldom Heard Radio was my weekly radio broadcast on two local college stations – WNEC 91.7 and WSCS 90.9. Seldom Heard Radio has also been heard on shortwave stations WBCQ (7415 kHz) WRMI (7385 kHz) in the USA and IRRS in Europe and JRRI in Ireland. My goal was to weave a freeform web of music that is adventurous and surprising. I love to lead listeners on an unpredictable journey and present music that may have never heard of. I also include news and information related to independent media.
Radio is meant to be exciting. Commercialism and corporate greed have almost killed radio as we know it … and its time to reclaim the airwaves and put them to use educating and informing our friends, neighbors, and community.