Making waves

Part 3

by Kristen Lombardi

Immediately after a Clark University graduate set up WCUW in a dorm basement in 1973, the locally controlled outlet gained a reputation for unique, sharp, and eclectic programs. The former guide, The Lobe, describes its format as "independence and variety with a jagged edge." At minimum, it satiated all tastes. Literary types tuned in to poets, live theater. News nuts gave an ear to local commentary. The Latino population heard the only Spanish-speaking programming in town.

As for music, 'CUW was as close to the edge as listeners could get.

"'CUW was hip, cutting edge," recalls Harriet Baskas, a programmer now managing Bellevue, Washington's community station KBCS-FM.

No joke. Baskas taped performances of rockers like Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits for broadcast. (She later produced a women's show.) 'CUW became synonymous with Worcester's music scene; it produced festivals, promoted local musicians, played obscure bands.

"'CUW was known across the nation," says Randy Wynne, a former programmer of 'CUW's Alternative Alarmclock and a program director. He now works for Tampa Bay, Florida's community station WMNF-FM.

If life at 'CUW seemed grand, it was. The station received listener support, money from Clark students, federal grants to train minorities, and awards for Latino programming, Wynne says. Such assistance allowed for record growth; after four years, it boasted nine employees and a $130,000 budget.

Real station expansion came in 1978, when 'CUW landed federal dollars to boost power. It bought a new transmitter, turntables, remoter equipment. By decade's end, 'CUW had the most modern facilities around.

But then, growth stopped. The station moved to Main Street around 1980, after relations with the university disintegrated. Federal money for minority training dried up. "The budget bottomed out," Wynne says, forcing layoffs and volunteer committees to handle operations. 'CUW shifted into survival mode.

"It was hand-to-mouth. Things broke down and we never had money [for repairs]," recalls Joe Longone, a rock programmer from 1976-'93.

Ever since 'CUW left Clark's campus, its financial position's remained precarious. Members describe the station as perpetually in trouble, resorting to emergency fundraisers to stay on air. Yet, throughout the '80s, it raised enough money to hire managers, buy its building, and provide six-week training courses for volunteers.

"'CUW always struggled financially," says Valerie (Koop) Sampson, general manager in 1988-'89. It struggled to pay for special projects, she explains, but paid bills on time.

Sampson's exit seems to coincide with the onset of anarchy. Members talk of all-night studio parties, committees embroiled in squabbles, maxed-out credit lines. Chaos culminated in 1992, with 'CUW so deep in debt, its signal almost faded out forever.

Kristen Lombardi can be reached at klombardi[a]phx.com.

On to part 4