Radio below 92

People have been saying for a long time that there is "nothing on the radio". For commercial radio, this has been largely true regarding interesting music. Now there are so many alternatives to terrestrial radio such as the internet (Folk Alley from Kent State Univ)or satellite radio (I like XM stations such as Outlaw Country (12) for alt country like Steve Earle, Willie's Place (13) for older country, The Village (15) for Folk, The Loft (50) and Coffeehouse (51) for singer/songwriter format, E Street Radio (58) for Springsteen.

However, sometimes all you have available is old fashioned AM/FM radio. You could tell your kids "when I was your age we had to walk ten miles in the snow to school, were subject to corporal punishment, and were forced to listen to Top 40 radio"

There are some really good things in the NY metro area if you look below 92 on the FM Dial. Here are some examples

WBGO 88.3FM: This is primarily a jazz station operating out of Newark. I particularly like their soul music shows on Saturday mornings

WKCR 89.9 FM: This is the station from Columbia University sometimes referred to as "the blowtorch of the Northeast" . It is primarily jazz and for students of jazz the Jazz Profiles show on Sunday afternoons is quite good. I like their country shows which feature older country music. On Sunday morning (10am) there is a bluegrass show called Moonshine and then at noon is the Tennessee Border featuring Honky Tonk from the 50's and 60's like Hank Williams and George Jones.

WFUV 90.7FM: This is the station of Fordham University in the Bronx. Sometimes hard to get a good signal in the house, usually better in the car depending on location. Primarily a folk/rock and adult alternative station. I like the Pete Fornatale Mixed Bag show on early Saturday evenings


WFMU 91.1 FM: This station used to be affiliated with Upsala College in East Orange NJ which no longer exists. WFMU lives on listener supported. Somehow, they managed to get call letters WMFU for their satellite station in Mt Hope NJ. An incredible array of alternative rock formats, my favorite being Teenage Wasteland with Bill Kelly Sundays at 3pm. Referring to his show as The Black Hole of Rock and Roll it is primarily garage rock from the 60's plus some great rock hits (e.g Searchers) from the past.

There are also several good non commercial stations above 92. WNYC is the NPR station at 93.9 FM.Prairie Home Companion Saturday evenings. WBAI is the left wing Pacifica radio station at 99.5 FM. One particularly good show is Democracy Now with Amy Goodman weekdays at 9am. Classical station WQXR has moved to 105.9 on the dial and is now non-commercial partnering with WNYC. I also listen to Air America radio at 1600AM