After another long absence, Freq-Amp returns with a new dispatch. Sometimes the drip of time really creeps up on you, leaving the months and the unfinished projects piled up. Radio, especially quality radio, is still a very important thing in my life. People who don’t appreciate radio would scoff at that sentence; people who don’tContinue reading “9/23/2023 Dispatch: Making sense of online radio/the birth of Lenticular Lit”
Author Archives: Frequency and Amplitude, an NYC Radio Roundup
9/9/2022 Dispatch: Adult contemporary alternative/National Association of Broadcasters goes “local”/what doesn’t suck?
Adult contemporary alternative music: The unyielding blandness of Alt 92.3 Just as medical researchers analyze sewage to find evidence of viruses, we plumb the effluvia of the airwaves for traces of life. Much of what we find is disappointing. Take “Alt” 92.3, WNYL. When we say this station is a disappointment, we don’t mean becauseContinue reading “9/9/2022 Dispatch: Adult contemporary alternative/National Association of Broadcasters goes “local”/what doesn’t suck?”
Black Information Network/BBC Radio Six/John Allen resurfaces/ Schaap lives, by Dick Alexander
At Freq Amp we are often bemoaning the proliferation of white nationalist hate radio, right-wing republican propaganda, misinformation, disinformation and outright lies found across the AM spectrum. Lately I have come across a recent addition to the AM dial that is the polar opposite of all of that and has a positive and uplifting voice.Continue reading “Black Information Network/BBC Radio Six/John Allen resurfaces/ Schaap lives, by Dick Alexander”
Former Radio Pirate Celebrates Legit LPFM Station’s 15th Birthday by Wendy M. Levy
Editor’s note: when Wendy Levy reached out to let us know about WVEW’s 15th anniversary, our interest was piqued. We always love a good story of community radio staying alive, but we also like to hear how people got bit by the radio bug in the first place. We asked Levy to send a bitContinue reading “Former Radio Pirate Celebrates Legit LPFM Station’s 15th Birthday by Wendy M. Levy”
Late August dispatch: another Holocaust denier pops up on WBAI/On Being and Nothingness at WNYC/Funk Flex draws thousands to Coney Island/Blind Tourist back on FMU/Mahogany with Sonika and Bailey/Inching toward one year of Freq-Amp
Another Holocaust denier pops up on WBAI WBAI’s execrable “Guns and Butter” continues to deliver its weekly horseshit. I tuned in recently and heard a guest claiming the environmental movement was a secret socialist plot to abolish private property. The guest made up several facts and assigned new meanings to terms like “austerity.” The mostContinue reading “Late August dispatch: another Holocaust denier pops up on WBAI/On Being and Nothingness at WNYC/Funk Flex draws thousands to Coney Island/Blind Tourist back on FMU/Mahogany with Sonika and Bailey/Inching toward one year of Freq-Amp”
The shoes, the shoes, the shoes! The Jews, the Jews, the Jews! WBAI’s false-flag flying, Holocaust denying “Guns and Butter” (with audio)
Tune in to WBAI Wednesday mornings at 9 and you might hear some pretty weird stuff, maybe an occasional interview with former Infowars Washington Bureau Chief/Q Anon promoter Jerome Corsi or a rambling editor from the “Journal of 9/11 Studies” questioning the science behind Covid lockdowns. Or maybe you’ll catch the type of guests whoContinue reading “The shoes, the shoes, the shoes! The Jews, the Jews, the Jews! WBAI’s false-flag flying, Holocaust denying “Guns and Butter” (with audio)”
25 years of playing the same ten songs at Q 104.3/ Heshy Tischler/Curtis Sliwa and the Death Wish III election
Q 104.3 Celebrating 25 years of playing the same ten songs In-between the commercials and the usual Led Zep/Skynyrd/Foreigner tunes, iHeart Radio’s Q 104.3 has been airing happy birthday greetings to itself on the occasion of 25 years of playing “classic rock” (a loose, arbitrary term). It’s unclear if the station has played any songsContinue reading “25 years of playing the same ten songs at Q 104.3/ Heshy Tischler/Curtis Sliwa and the Death Wish III election”
Freq-Amp contributor Peter Rugh releases a new single (with video by Freq-Amp illustrator Showband Era)
Two friends of this website are making moves on the audio-visual tip. Peter Rugh (whose radiofiction story, May He Rest in Peace appeared last year) has a new single out. The Old International is a lament to a Covid-closed dive bar and the “wild and lonesome renegades who drink and work there.” This isn’t someContinue reading “Freq-Amp contributor Peter Rugh releases a new single (with video by Freq-Amp illustrator Showband Era)”
Kokaine Karma cancelled by FMU! Freeform’s early days, the MC5 and the legacy of high-energy music.
Heavy ghosts lurk, as mist in the archives In the bleakest days of lockdown, when work was scarce and the libraries were closed, I took solace searching through online repositories. One of these in particular offers some interesting insight into the history of freeform radio and the role of the underground press in promoting highContinue reading “Kokaine Karma cancelled by FMU! Freeform’s early days, the MC5 and the legacy of high-energy music.”
A snapshot into one of radio’s many golden ages: 6/14/1966 NYT radio listing; Bob Fass with Muddy Waters and Otis Spann/Jerome Skolnick/Studs Terkel/Billy Taylor, all in a single day
Looking through the New York Times archives, I came across some interesting radio announcements. The one I’m sharing here, from June 14 1966 shows how much quality content was available on New York radio on a single day. Among the things listed here, we have a notice for a Bob Fass show with guest MuddyContinue reading “A snapshot into one of radio’s many golden ages: 6/14/1966 NYT radio listing; Bob Fass with Muddy Waters and Otis Spann/Jerome Skolnick/Studs Terkel/Billy Taylor, all in a single day”
FREQUENCY AND AMPLITUDE 