Culture :: Communique 002
The Bazooka Joe Show Back On The Airwaves
At Free Radio San Diego 96.9 FM
October 01, 2003
After a three year sabbatical, The Bazooka Joe Show is back on the airwaves at Free Radio San Diego 96.9 FM every Tuesday from 9 PM-12 AM! If you don't live in San Diego you can listen via internet (24K-Dialup/56K Broadband).
When I moved to Southern California from Boston I quickly discovered that San Diego has some of the most awful radio stations polluting the airwaves. If it isn't radio stations like The Planet playing classic hits like Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith for the billionth time, it's radio stations like 91X playing the "blunt" edge of rock.
While it is true that Boston has hundreds of colleges and therefore a horde of college and community stations to listen to (you can't throw a CD out the window without hitting a deejay on the head) it is also true that more and more local stations are being purchased by the likes of Clear Channel Communications and nowhere is that more true than in San Diego.
During the last three years Clear Channel has purchased more than 40 percent of the radio stations in San Diego and has fired local deejays and replaced them with "talent" from out of town who "play" a cookie-cutter radio format. Across the border Clear Channel has taken over five Tijuana radio stations. While Mexican law forbids US companies from purchasing their local stations companies Clear Channel is free to manage those radio stations. How's that for "local?"
Just when I thought I'd never listen to radio again I discovered Free Radio San Diego 96.9 FM. Free Radio San Diego is grassroots and about as homegrown as you can get. It's also a pirate radio station, which means that it isn't owned by some corporate giant and is free from having to rely on advertisements for revenue, and therefore free from broadcasting mediocrity at its listeners.
When you listen to Free Radio San Diego you can expect to hear a combustible mix of political commentary and music. Tune in, crank it up, and raise the jolly roger flag of pirate radio!
