A History Lesson, part 1 trailer - directed by Dave Travis
It's a complicated story but basically USF sold KUSF's frequency to USC who is in league with corporate demons who claim to want to switch the format to classical music, but who knows. The Bay Area is a lucrative radio market that has been pretty much picked clean by multi-billion-dollar companies who advertise a bunch of crap using crap music and robotic DJs (or actual robots) to sell it to the commuters trapped on freeways every morning and evening. It's a radio nightmare and having KUSF gone is very very sad for anyone who grew up in the free-form radios days of the San Francisco Bay Area from the late 70s on.
I used to work at KUSF when I lived down the street from USF. Sometimes I fucked up my shift by not getting up at 3 a.m. when my battery-alarm clock ran down. It happens. I would have over-stayed my welcome there but I just couldn't handle the graveyard-shift hours. And you have to withstand those if you want a decent daytime shift eventually. I wish I could have toughed it out because now I'd be a locally famous DJ known for my eclectic taste in music and grouchily comedic demeanor, instead of a blogging bum, which is what I am. It's probably just as well because: I got really burned out on music during the late 80s/early 90s techno era and I don't want to be a devastated former volunteer trying to petition the FCC to stop this current sale of public airwaves.
But I'm happy to lend a hand or two and so here's a flier I quickly threw together for tonight's benefit: the premiere of A History Lesson, part 1. A punk rock film about the 1984 era, featuring Minutemen, Meat Puppets, and more, plus interviews with psychedelic punk rock icons and a Q&A with filmmaker Dave Travis. Travis started shooting shows in 1984 as a teenager and kept going until the late 90s. That is such impressive dedication. I wish I could focus on one concept for that long instead of flying all around the pop-culture landscape like Witchy Poo with ADD, but enough about my problems.
You can donate to Save KUSF so they can pay their excellent team of lawyers who are petitioning the FCC even as I type. These lawyers are radio airwave experts who I personally can vouch for. If you're going to donate to one left-of-the-dial nonprofit, this is your best bet in a difficult legal situation. Otherwise, I can see this frequency eventually turning into one more classic-rock station, and please--don't subject San Francisco to any more of that.
-New podcasts and interviews from KUSF DJs are available at KUSF Archives.
-Sign the petition to save KUSF.
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