WKCR is excited to celebrate 85 years on the air this October 10. First broadcast in 1941 as CURC, the Columbia University radio station became among the first college stations to broadcast on the FM in 1956, adopting the call sign WKCR (King’s Crown Radio) on the 89.9 frequency. Four years later, in 1960, WKCR reached beyond Columbia’s campus for the first time, with a new transmitter installed at 515 Madison Avenue. In its early years, WKCR’s programming had an intellectual focus, committed to broadcasting lectures and interviews with not only Columbia affiliates, but other social, political, and artistic innovators of the time, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and James R. Hoffa. The late 1960s ushered in a period of transition, spurred by the student protest movement at Columbia University in 1968. WKCR embraced its reputation as “The Alternative,” with programming shifting to focus on music, particularly jazz and new music.
In the coming decades, WKCR made waves, including countless live jazz broadcasts from around New York, a first radio broadcast of salsa, an opera remix album recorded in-studio by John Cage, a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall in 1979, and the introduction of legendary hosts such as Phil Schaap, Sharif Abdus-Salaam, Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito, and dozens of others, many of whom are still on the air. Today, WKCR strives to uphold its tradition as “The Alternative,” continuing to broadcast iconic 24-hour birthday broadcasts for station-favorite musicians, the annual BachFest, and maintaining a schedule nearly identical to that of the 1970s. The tradition of WKCR is, however, also one of pushing boundaries, continuously looking at music and art in new ways. The introduction of programs in recent years such as Extended Technique, a cross-departmental program between Classical and New Music, or Now’s the Time, which features jazz musicians under the age of 30, seeks to find a balance and pay homage to WKCR’s legacy.
This autumn, WKCR is excited to broadcast concerts from around New York City and across departmental genres to celebrate this milestone. Between September 7 and October 10 (both WKCR’s 85th anniversary and our annual Thelonious Monk Birthday Broadcast), partner venues will include Close Up NYC, Ergot Records, The Hot Club of New York, Jalopy Theatre, Public Records, Reggae Under The Bridge: Summer Soundsystem Series, Sacred Music at Columbia, Smoke Jazz Club, the Village Vanguard, World Music Institute, and Zinc Bar, with more venues to be announced. In the coming weeks, more information will be announced both on our social media and on the air regarding concert information. All broadcasts will be heard on the air at 89.9 FM-NY and online at wkcr.org.
