Speak To Me With Your Sweet Voice

KFMG lives.

While that is meaningless for anybody reading this who isn't from Des Moines, it is quite a significant statement for those of us here. "Des Moines radio sucks." When I was working at KDRK, Drake University's "Best Radio on Television," that was our t-shirt slogan. At the time, KFMG was literally just about the only bright spot in a market overdosing on Eddie Money, Huey Lewis, AC/DC, and oldies. Unless it was a smash hit, no station other than KFMG would play new music. My former station ("my" meaning I worked there) KKDM 107dot5 changed that to some extent. We injected a bit of life into the stale market albeit temporarily. Eventually, as always seems to happen in the post-consolidation world, KFMG went away, KKDM was bought out by - gack - Clear Channel and was promptly switched to Top 40, and Napster and eventually iTunes and satellite radio were my saviors. Still, all that lacked any community perspective.

Now, KFMG lives. It's not the powerhouse it once was, broadcasting at a measly 100 watts from downtown Des Moines, but it's progress in a retro sort of way. I haven't had the opportunity to check out the new KFMG much (at 99.1 FM by the way), but I plan to, and I'm thrilled for Ron and Mark and everybody else who has lived and breathed KFMG as a way of life. Yes, it's meant that much to some people, and it should. This is community radio at it's finest, and you're likely to discover a brilliant new song when you tune in, which is really what it comes down to.

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The Best Radio on Television

Back in my college days at Drake, I was music director and eventually general manager of KDRK, the campus radio station. We played excellent college alternative music, which in the early-mid 90s was fleeting fast. We worked hard to program it like a real radio station and even made the DJs follow some semblance of a playlist. After all, we were all learning how to work at a real radio station. The kicker is that KDRK really wasn't a radio station. We were only broadcast on local cable TV, hence "The Best Radio on Television," a slogan ahead of its day with Sirius now using "The Best Radio on Radio."

Ten long years after I graduated, today marks the day KDRK becomes a real radio station. Well, it's no longer KDRK and it's still a college radio station, but it's on the air and it's cool to see our dream become a reality for a new generation of geeky AV nerd students. In Des Moines, you can listen to "The Dog," KDRA-LP at 94.1. Online, you can listen here or via iTunes.

We may be past college radio's prime, but I know that decades of work went behind making this a reality at Drake. Congratulations to the profs, students, and alumni involved that helped make this a reality.

There's Nothing You Can Do That Can't Be Done

After 23 years, the popular Breakfast with the Beatles radio show is scheduled to go off the air on September 3rd. And what in the genius of radio will they be replaced with? Infomercials and Football. Yes, you read that correctly.

Visit savebreakfastwiththebeatles.com to try to save this great show.