Live from the Underground: A History of College Radio

by Katherine Rye Jewell

Bands like R.E.M., U2, Public Enemy, and Nirvana found success as darlings of college radio, but the extraordinary influence of these stations and their DJs on musical culture since the 1970s was anything but inevitable. As media deregulation and political conflict over obscenity and censorship transformed the business and politics of culture, students and community DJs turned to college radio to defy the mainstream—and they ended up disrupting popular music and commercial radio in the process. In this first history of US college radio, Katherine Rye Jewell reveals that these eclectic stations in major cities and college towns across the United States owed their collective cultural power to the politics of higher education as much as they did to upstart bohemian music scenes coast to coast.

Jewell uncovers how battles to control college radio were about more than music—they were an influential, if unexpected, front in the nation's culture wars. These battles created unintended consequences and overlooked contributions to popular culture that students, DJs, and listeners never anticipated. More than an ode to beloved stations, this book will resonate with both music fans and observers of the politics of culture.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction, Audiobook

480 pages, Hardcover

Published December 5, 2023

Reviews

[Rosa]

The kind of book that'll make you listen to Nirvana for hours at a time. I found the arguments about the 1980s and later more compelling than the earlier ones.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was wonderful! Such incredible research. I learned a lot.

[Ink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Live from the Underground - A History of College Radio written by Katherine Rye Jewell and narrated by Natasha Soudek was an interesting journey through the evolution of American college radio in the 80s and 90s. As a GenXr, I was intrigued although it was not quite what I was expecting. There were very marked differences between the UK and US scenes and as such, it was intriguing to listen to the differnet sociocultural aspects and impacts

The audiobook was read beautifully in the soothing tones of Natasha Soudek, and the only thing that distracted me was describing the images in the eBook/ Print copy. I totally understand why, audio narrative is great for accessibility, but in this case, it is slightly distracting from the narrative (I don't think I missed a pre-warning about visual description?) It's a great thing, just easier if you are expecting it. It was also very brief so I could not really visualise the images, it seemed more of an encouragement to read the physical copy in tandem with the audiobook and in all honesty, the pictures may accentuate the narrtive, but the narrative is strong enough in its descriptions without them. However, in the spirit of inclusion, I get it and I celebrate it

Thank you very much to Netgalley, Tantor Audio, Katherine Rye Jewell and the Narrator Natasha Soudek for this very interesting insight into the scene over the pond in this immersive ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

[Peter Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up in the heyday of college radio in the late '80's-early '90's and it has been very formative in my life. So I would have been very interested in reading this book anyway, but, full disclosure, I was also interested because my brother, who was a college DJ at WXYC in Chapel Hill, was interviewed and mentioned (pg. 264!). WXYC comes up multiple times no doubt due to its prominence as one the best college stations out there, but there are multiple other stations that I've listened to over the years (WXDU, WKNC, WQFS, WUAG, WMNJ, WPRB, WFMU) which is a testament to the broad reach, but also fragmented nature of college radio. The author does a pretty good job of taking the overwhelming number of stations across the country with multiple issues and stories and making a cohesive narrative out of it. Of course, it could have been easy for her as some of the same conflicts repeat frequently whether it's the station staff vs. the university administration, the stations vs. the FCC (more formative to the creation of these stations than I realized), or just DJ's fighting among themselves about which music to play. College radio is well past its heyday, and alternative music distribution models like the internet, podcasts and satellite radio (what I mostly listen to despite still being in range of WXYC) have taken (grown with?) most of the original audience, but its influence is still strong and this book is a nice overview of it.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an extremely interesting topic, especially as someone who was part of college radio. The book has a very academic feel to it, and might not appeal the general public, but is perfect for those interested in media studies, college student vs administration dynamics, community and college interactions, as well as radio and music industry history. It did seem a bit repetitive at times. Once I even stopped, and skipped ahead thinking my player had gotten screwed up, only to realize that I hadn't listened to that part already it was just restating information given multiple times before. I little more editing, especially in the first half of the book would have benefited the overall product.

The narrator was extremely easy to listen to, but a bit slow in delivery. Using 1.25 speed was a better pace in my opinion.

**I received a copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

[Jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-researched and written. For those of you who lived through the "golden age" of college radio - the 80s and 90s - you are in for a treat. Jewell gives us the personal - interviews, anecdotes, etc - to enliven the historical record. If you are interested in WHPK's Top 20 songs on August 7, 1981, or simply intrigued, you will find it in this book.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited when this book finally arrived at the library, but I ended up skimming it and reading passages about the stations I know and love. I already knew the broader narrative arc of most of the book, and the details from the many stations that I don't know just didn't interest me.

[Jeff Gagne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhaustively well-researched chronicle of the history of college radio. If you are a college radio person you will probably enjoy it, but not for everyone. Well written if not a bit repetitive in places, although this edition doesn't seem to be well copy edited.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I worked at WVCS (now WCAL) at California University of Pennsylvania from 1990 to 1993. While we're not mentioned in this book, it stirred up a lot of old memories and emotions from that time. My experiences are now more connected with what was happening around the country at the time.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartfelt, compelling, exhaustive, and exhausting.

[Artie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange book since it's impossible to tell the story of college radio without going into too much detail about bureaucracies and that can get a bit tedious.

[Ryan Fischer]

A well-executed history of college radio that is also very fun if you, like me, have nostalgia for its '80s and '90s heyday. Focuses a lot on the politics of what gets on air.