NPR loves WFMU
They play by FCC rules, so they’re a little different from us, but their about the most interesting community radio station in the country (I mean, after KALX , where I first met Billy Jam). I made my first ever trek out on the PATH train to WFMU . Once there I met up with old friends Billy Jam and The Conspiracy of Beards. Billy was a fabulous host, and Ken Freedman (Station Manager and Faux Systems Administrator) came down at 4:19 for a quick visit where he described the morning DJ who drove his smoking car into the parking lot of the station 5 minutes before his 6 AM show only to have it burst into flames as he ran into the station to start the show (on time!). We could see the burnt out hulk of a car from the fire escape where we took our meeting with Ken.
The Beards were fantastic, and seem to have metastasized ( I mean that in a good way) since last I saw them. I brought in an aircheck of a show by Elaine Abrams and Aaron Schecter, and Billy Jam mixed it into his set brilliantly before allowing me to bloviate for about a half an hour about our little free radio project. You can check it out through the playlist for the show. Or you can link directly to the part featuring us.
Billy Jam returned the favor and came onto NPR to DJ the next day. He brought the Beards, and they sang a few songs for us, including “First We Take Manhattan” right in front of the Whitney Museum. Cabs were stopping, people were stopping, and the people in the stores and the mortgage company across the street, all came out to see what was going on. It was a brilliant moment, which we will document more soon with audio and pictures when we get the archives sorted out. Our fabulous new intern Lisa Tharpe is learning the process, and making great headway.