Yes, it’s true, at least for the time being, the face of San Francisco culture has changed: KUSF is off the air. And I wanted to address that on Insomnia Radio: San Francisco. So I did with this special themed episode. Share it, crank it, make your voice heard.

At exactly 10:00 am on Tuesday 18 January 2011, representatives of the University of San Francisco, entered the studios, began changing locks, escorting the volunteers and there in-studio guests out of the building with armed guards, and in the middle of a record shut off the transmitter. No sign off, just white noise.

Only a week before, our staff and volunteer station managers, program coordinators, etc, had been shown new, though smaller, rooms for the station, and told that we would be moving in before the end of Spring semester. So after living with the uncertainty of what USF wanted to do with the station for the last several years, we thought we had the answer. So imagine the shock and awe those volunteers felt when this all happened.

What happened was the university sold the transmitter license and their frequency (90.3 fm) to KUSC for their Classical Radio Network, and that Bay Area classical station KDFC moved down the dial from it’s old frequency of 102.1 fm and began broadcasting on 90.3 fm later that afternoon. San Jose classic rock station KUFX (The Fox) began repeating their broadcast on 102.1 fm.  KUSC also bought a Christian station, at 89.9 fm in the North Bay and began broadcasting KDFC’s programming. KDFC lost some coverage to the south of SF, but they are proudly looking to buy a frequency down there too.

University President, Father Stephen Previtt held a meeting with over 500 volunteers, staff, students and community members on Wednesday 19 January to answer questions. He began by making it clear that his first concern was with the benefit of the students of the university, and that the community didn’t weight that much on his decision. It was pointed out by the students in attendance that this happen of Winter Break when few students and faculty were on campus. And part of the license agreement with the FCC is that the holder will act in the interest of the public which it serves. Also when asked why the station wasn’t offered to community groups or why they took the first and old offer, Father Previtt said he couldn’t under a non-disclosure agreement.

One has to wonder how, other than money in the university treasury, how it benefits the students (especially the broadcast and media students) to divest of a world-famous, standard-setting, FCC licensed Bay Area Cultural Icon like KUSF in lieu of a Web-based format. Especially when they sold the transmitter license and frequency for $3.75 million and $7k monthly lease of transmitter location (The top of Phelan Hall gave KUSF a far larger reach for it’s 3000 watts), especially when in 2006 they were told that they would be dumb to sell the station for an $8 million windfall.

San Francisco takes it’s culture seriously, though often it also takes it for granted. But when KUSF when off the air, something sparked. The community as come together in an effort to Save KUSF. A week to the day after KUSF went off the air, and after attending Father Previtt’s “Forum”, SF Supervisor Ross Mikarimi introduced a resolution to the SF Board of Supervisors to Save KUSF, to fight the sale as part of a larger corporate media grab, and return this cultural icon to the community and the airwaves. There has been lots of positive support from the community, both inside and outside the university, both of the programming and any efforts to make a counter offer if the university can not be convinced to keep the license.

The fight has just begun. And we have a lot of support. The papers were just filed with the FCC this week, and there is a 30 day window for the community to register complaints. We can make history and stop this sale, or at least delay it so we can make a counter offer. And keep KUSF, or a community-radio version of it alive in the Bay Area.

The Songs

• Mister Loveless – June | www.misterloveless.com
• My First Earthquake – Radio | www.myfirstearthquake.com
• Girl in a Coma – Transmission | www.girlinacoma.com
• ZONK- Radio Me | www.zonkaholics.com
• Zolof The Rock ‘n’ Roll Destroyer – Death or Radio | www.zoloftherockandrolldestroyer.com
• The Pleasure Kills – Smash Up The Radio | www.myspace.com/thepleasurekills
• Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Radio Radio | www.elviscostello.com
• LoveLikeFire – Radio Nurse | www.lovelikefire.com
• Wall of VooDoo – Mexican Radio | www.wallofvoodoo.net
• The Latebirds – Set Free The Radio | www.latebirds.com

Links to Information of KUSF, the closure, and how you can help

• Save KUSF Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/SaveKUSF
• Save KUSF Website: www.savekusf.org
• KUSF Archives: www.kusf-archives.com

The Songs

10. The She’s – Wonder Band

09. The Hot Toddies – Only With You

08. A B & The Sea – Bone Dry

07. My First Earthquake – Neon for You

06. Rykarda Parasol – Your Safety is My Concern

05. Minipop – Stars

04. Mister Loveless – Strange and Futureless

03. Fans of Jimmy Century – Go Sugar

02. The Trophy Fire – Glow

01. Oona – I Wanna Know U

The Links

The She’s: www.myspace.com/theshesmusic

The Hot Toddies: www.myspace.com/thehottoddies

A B & The Sea: www.myspace.com/abthesea

My First Earthquake: www.myfirstearthquake.com

Rykarda Parasol: www.rykardaparasol.com/home.html

Minipop: www.myspace.com/minipop

Mister Loveless: www.misterloveless.com

Fans of Jimmy Century: www.fansofjimmycentury.com

The Trophy Fire: www.myspace.com/thetrophyfire

Oona: oonamusic.com

(Note: Because it’s a holiday show all can appreciate, this episode is also being delivered down the main IR feed.)

The Songs

The Downer Party – Christmas Sucks in San Francisco

My First Earthquake – Together in Our Holiday Sweaters

Fans of Jimmy Century – Santa Jamacia (Jully Ol; Saint Nick)

A B & The Sea – Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) featuring The She’s

The Lovemakers – Christmas in Oakland

Sentinel – The Christmas Song

The Hot Toddies – Santa Baby

Persephone’s Bees – Sleigh Ride

Loquat – 2000 Miles

Sea of Bees – Feliz Navidad

Oona – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

The Links

The Downer Party: www.myspace.com/downerpartytime

My First Earthquake: www.myfirstearthquake.com

Fans of Jimmy Century: www.fansofjimmycentury.com

A B & The Sea: www.myspace.com/abthesea

The She’s: www.myspace.com/theshesmusic

The Lovemakers: www.myspace.com/thelovemakers

Sentinel: www.myspace.com/sentinel

The Hot Toddies: www.myspace.com/thehottoddies

Persephone’s Bees: www.persephonesbees.com

Loquat: www.loquatmusic.com

Sea of Bees: www.myspace.com/seaofbees

Oona: oonamusic.com

Welcome to Episode 2 of the brand new Insomnia Radio: San Francisco! In this episode, Dan catches you up on the local happenings in the Bay area music scene, and features the latest indie awesomeness – including a brand new single by IR darlings Sentinel.

The Songs

• Fake Your Own Death – Mouth to Speak
• Kill Moi – The Storm is You
• Or, The Whale – Datura
• Big Eagle – Anywhere The Wind Blows
• LoveLikeFire – Saint Martin
• Sentinel – Jet Black
• The New Up – Gold
• Rad Cloud – She Writes Her Letters
• Or, The Whale – Count The Stars

The Links

• Fake Your Own Death: http://www.myspace.com/fakeurowndeath
• Kill Moi: http://www.myspace.com/killmoiplease
• Or, The Whale: http://www.orthewhale.com
• Big Eagle: http://www.myspace.com/bigeagleband
• LoveLikeFire: http://lovelikefire.com
• Sentinel: http://www.myspace.com/sentinel
• The New Up: http://www.thenewup.com
• Rad Cloud: http://www.reapandsow.com/profile/RadCloud

(Note: Most of Scott’s original episodes are still online, and certainly worth revisiting. Grab em here.)

So who’s taking the torch and running like a crazed music junkie through the bay area streets? Dan Hooper – better known as DJ AmperDan from KUSF. Fear not, FM-killers: San Fran’s KUSF is one of those very few, very rare FM’s we don’t want to kill. It’s powered by the University of San Francisco, and has a razor sharp focus on underground music. Dan has been entrenched in the industry for years, and you guys will reap the rewards with a never ending stream of new and even unreleased music.

For those of you with the IR:SF RSS feed still in your iTunes list or elsewhere, you don’t need to change a thing. For those who enjoy this episode, please throw http://feeds.feedburner.com/irsf into your podcatcher of choice, or subscribe in iTunes by clicking HERE.

An incredibly special thanks goes out to Tarabud from Oakland band Sentinel, who planted the seed and made this all materialize.

The Songs

1. The Trophy Fire – Glow
2. The Downer Party – Country Kids
3. Kyle Swenson-Gordon (of Loquat) w/ Bostitch & Fussible – I Count The Ways
4. My First Earthquake – Pick up Stick up
5. Mister Loveless – From Burning Bridges
6. The Soft White Sixties – It’s Too Late
7. Rykarda Parasol – Your Safety is My Concern
8. A B and The Sea – California Gurls