Been a bit nostalgic of late, reminiscing about my past in radio, and about both the beginning and end of my time at the first radio station I worked at WRAS Atlanta, Album 88, 88.5FM, the voice of Georgia State University. Working at WRAS was the dream of many kids who grew up within the wide radius of its 100,000 watt signal. I started working there almost immediately from the moment I started classes, and my time at Album 88 will always have a special place in my heart. I hadn’t thought about it until recently, but WRAS was one of the few places in my life where I felt completely at home. All the things that made me a bit odd, never being able to fit in with others except in very limited ways, were precisely the things that made me valuable and appreciated at WRAS. I never had to “try” to fit in at Album 88, I just fit there, being myself, really for the first time in my whole life. When my Mom died in ’95, the station sustained me. It allowed me to honor her memory on the air, and gave me a safe haven to grieve and to heal. At a period of time where I really had no family, with the remaining members living in other states, I had a sense of family at WRAS. If I could have had the choice, I never would have left. There was just so much magic that I got to witness while there, so many amazing people that worked there, people who absolutely changed me, and then so many artists that I witnessed in our studios, so many incredible memories.
But working at WRAS was always going to be a temporary thing. GSU didn’t allow non-students to work at the station and I had no desire to remain in Georgia after graduating, having already made plans to move to Wisconsin and live with my girlfriend at the time (who, of course, I met at the station) before applying to graduate schools. I could have stayed at the station for a month or two longer, but I didn’t see any point to delaying the inevitable. So in April 1998, I had a series of final shows, my last Soul Kitchen, last Punk Off, last Blue Note and then finally this show. I remember very little about the show itself, the whole thing was just a blur. I didn’t plan much of the show, I knew where I wanted to begin and where I wanted to end. I remember coming in with a mail crate of records and CDs, along with a reel-to-reel where I recorded a few songs that had obscenities so that I could clean them up by reversing the tape (that’s how we did it before things went digital), but nothing much of the show itself. I can remember a caller complimenting the show at the end, and how it didn’t sound like it was put together on the fly. This was the only time at WRAS where I was able to do a show completely in a free form style, since these day shifts where mostly filled with selections that the Music Directors had in rotation, and all of the specialty shows were focused on only one or two genres. Maybe that’s part of the reason I wanted to share this show, it’s essentially the birthplace of the “Melting Pot” aesthetic, where I mixed together a variety of genres, often within the same set (something incidentally I really fully grew into when I was at KALX Berkeley, one of the only other places that felt really like a home).
20 years on, I still think it’s a good show (sound quality might not be perfect as it’s from cassettes, the sound even cuts out during the Zumpano song, “Temptation Summary,” in the second hour, can’t remember what happened there). It’s a little odd hearing this younger version of me, but even though I sound different (and use the word “nonetheless” entirely too much), I don’t feel so different now from the person I used to be. There’s been a lot of life packed into these 20 years since I left Album 88, but in a number of ways I feel a bit now like I did then. After a decade in LA, I’m finally building a foundation, taking up roots and creating a home here that I hope will be just as great as the home I had at Album 88, all those years ago. With any luck I’ll be back on the air at KPFK in time for the 25th anniversary of when I first became a DJ in the Fall of 1993. Regardless how things turn up, I’m thankful for all of the amazing experiences I’ve had in my career, all of them made possible by all the things I learned at WRAS. To all those I met while I worked there, the words I said at the end of this show still stand, I love you all, and thank you so much for the love you gave me while we were at one of the greatest College radio stations in the world.
Final Show on WRAS: Album 88 – First Hour
Final Show on WRAS: Album 88 – Second Hour
Final Show on WRAS: Album 88 – Third Hour
Final Show on WRAS: Album 88 – Fourth Hour
Playlist: Final Show on WRAS Atlanta 4-22-1998
Funkadelic – Mommy, What’s A Funkadelic? – Funkadelic (Westbound)
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Bellbottoms – Orange (Matador)
DJ Shadow – The Number Song – Endtroducing (Mo’ Wax)
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The New York Dolls – Bad Girl – New York Dolls (Mercury)
Byron Lee & the Dragonaires feat. The Blues Busters – I Won’t Let You Go – Dance The Ska (BMN)
The Pixies – Where Is My Mind? – Surfer Rosa (4ad)
Digable Planets – 9th Creation: Blackitolism (Elaine Brown Mix) – Single (Pendulum)
Butterfield Blues Band – Born Under A Bad Sign – Live! (Elektra)
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Seam – Bunch – Problem With Me (Touch & Go)
Unwound – Honourosis – Fake Train (Kill Rock Stars)
Swervedriver – Deep Seat – Raise (Creation)
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Paul Weller – Remember How We Started – Paul Weller (Go! Discs)
American Analog Set – Diana Slowburner – The Fun Of Watching Fireworks (Emporer Jones)
Pavement – Greenlander – Born To Choose (Rykodisc)
Billy Bragg – St. Swithin’s Day – Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (Go! Discs)
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Jeff Buckley – Je N’en Connais Pas La Fin – Live at the Sin-é (Columbia)
Tom Waits – Semi-Suite – The Heart Of Saturday Night (Asylum)
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy – Music & Politics – Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury (4th & Broadway)
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The Dave Pell Singers – Oh Calcutta! – The Sound Gallery (Scamp)
Fernanda y Bernarda de Utrera – Se Nos Rompio El Amor – Kika: Original Soundtrack (Polydor)
Amon Tobin – One Day In My Garden – Bricolage (Ninja Tune)
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Lois – Sunrise Semester – Infinity Plus (K Recs)
Zumpano – Temptation Summary – Look What The Rookie Did (Sub Pop)
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The Minutemen – Corona – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)
Kaia – No Sides – Kaia (Chainsaw/Candy Ass)
Versus – Jealous – Secret Swingers (Teen Beat)
Sebadoh – Kath – III (Homestead)
The Breeders – Do You Love Me Now? – Last Splash (4ad)
The Pogues – Misty Morning Albert Bridge – Peace & Love (Island)
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Boogie Down Productions – Why Is That? – Ghetto Music: The Blueprint Of Hip-Hop (Jive)
Fela Kuti – Sorrow, Tears & Blood – Black President (Arista)
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Talk Talk – Ascension Day – Laughing Stock (Polydor)
The Grassy Knoll – Altering The Gates Of The Mind – The Grassy Knoll (Nettwerk)
Tribe Called Quest – Footprints – People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm (Jive)
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Frank Zappa with Captain Beefheart and Don Sugarcane Harris – Willie The Pimp – Hot Rats (Rykodisc)
The Nation Of Ulysses – 50,000 Watts Of Goodwill – Plays Pretty For Baby (Dischord)
Miles Davis – Black Satin – On The Corner (Columbia)
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Magic Sam – My Love Will Never Die – West Side Soul (Delmark)
Phyllis Dillon – Perfidia – Hottest Hits Vol. 2 (Treasure Isle)
Prince Buster – Free Love – Fabulous Greatest Hits (Fab, Fab, Fab)
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Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Fly Town Nose Blues – Bright Moments (Atlantic)
Cornershop – 6AM Jullander Shere – The Woman’s Gotta Have It (Lauka Bop)
Portishead – Strangers – Dummy (Go! Beat)
Tricky – Abbaon Fat Tracks – Maxinquaye (4th & Broadway)
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Songs: Ohia – Our Republic – Songs: Ohia (Secretly Canadian)
Smoke – Hank Aaron – Heaven On A Popsicle Stick (Long Play)
Catpower – The King Rides By – What Would The Community Think (Matador)
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Canned Heat – Marie Laveau – Boogie With Canned Heat (Liberty)
Curtis Mayfield – I Plan To Stay A Believer – Live! (Curtom)
The Specials – You’re Wondering Now – The Specials (Two Tone)
awwww….beautiful reminiscing story…can’t wait to listen to 88 Michael Barnes!