KCPR
Encyclopedia
KCPR is a non-profit freeform
college radio station
at California Polytechnic State University
(Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo), San Luis Obispo, California
. Its operating frequency is 91.3 MHz FM
and covers approximately a 50 mile radius from San Luis Obispo. KCPR also streams its programming online 24 hours a day.
KCPR's first broadcast occurred with a small 2-watt transmitter in the Fall of 1968; according to station lore, the first words spoken on air were, "Is this the damn switch?" or "Christ, are we on the air?" Weird Al Yankovic was a volunteer DJ there when he was an undergraduate architecture student at the university. Yankovic recorded his iconic parody song "My Bologna" in the bathroom that stands across the hall from the station's original location on the second floor of the Journalism Building on the Cal Poly campus. He would later return to the station for an interview during the 1990s, where he recorded a station ID that can still be heard playing today. After 39 years of continuous operation, KCPR moved to a new studio in the Summer of 2008.
Long-time KCPR dee jay and Cal Poly
professor Jim Cushing describes the station's musical philosophy thusly:
“to provide people with a blend of music that they will not find on any other station. To remind people that the musical culture belongs to them, that the musical transaction is not some glamorous MTV production.”
KCPR is affectionately known as "Burnt Dog Radio," a motto that is reflected in one of the station's early logo designs that featured the RCA Victor dog. The motto is also used as part of the titles of two long-running music programs on the station, "Burnt Dog Rodeo" and the "Burnt Dog Blues Lounge." Other notable programs that have anchored the KCPR program schedule for years include "Urban Landscapes," "Rasta Revolution," and "Soul Patrol." The station organizes a special weekly event called "KCPR Night" at the Palm Theatre, San Luis Obispo
, an independent movie theater in San Luis Obispo owned by ex-KCPR disc jockey Jim Dee.
Freeform
The word freeform may refer to:* Freeform , an alias used by experimental/IDM producer Simon Pyke* Freeform Style of Hardcore Techno influenced by trance.* Freeform Five, UK electro-house band...
college radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
at California Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University, or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. The university is one of two polytechnic campuses in the 23-member California State University system....
(Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo), San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...
. Its operating frequency is 91.3 MHz FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
and covers approximately a 50 mile radius from San Luis Obispo. KCPR also streams its programming online 24 hours a day.
KCPR's first broadcast occurred with a small 2-watt transmitter in the Fall of 1968; according to station lore, the first words spoken on air were, "Is this the damn switch?" or "Christ, are we on the air?" Weird Al Yankovic was a volunteer DJ there when he was an undergraduate architecture student at the university. Yankovic recorded his iconic parody song "My Bologna" in the bathroom that stands across the hall from the station's original location on the second floor of the Journalism Building on the Cal Poly campus. He would later return to the station for an interview during the 1990s, where he recorded a station ID that can still be heard playing today. After 39 years of continuous operation, KCPR moved to a new studio in the Summer of 2008.
Long-time KCPR dee jay and Cal Poly
California Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University, or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. The university is one of two polytechnic campuses in the 23-member California State University system....
professor Jim Cushing describes the station's musical philosophy thusly:
“to provide people with a blend of music that they will not find on any other station. To remind people that the musical culture belongs to them, that the musical transaction is not some glamorous MTV production.”
KCPR is affectionately known as "Burnt Dog Radio," a motto that is reflected in one of the station's early logo designs that featured the RCA Victor dog. The motto is also used as part of the titles of two long-running music programs on the station, "Burnt Dog Rodeo" and the "Burnt Dog Blues Lounge." Other notable programs that have anchored the KCPR program schedule for years include "Urban Landscapes," "Rasta Revolution," and "Soul Patrol." The station organizes a special weekly event called "KCPR Night" at the Palm Theatre, San Luis Obispo
Palm Theatre, San Luis Obispo
The Palm Theatre, located at 817 Palm, San Luis Obispo, CA, is an independently owned and operated movie theatre which showcases a variety of independent, foreign, arthouse, and mainstream cinema. The Palm Theatre was the first movie theatre in the United States to be run by solar energy.- Palm...
, an independent movie theater in San Luis Obispo owned by ex-KCPR disc jockey Jim Dee.
National Attention
- One of KCPR's trucks was assumed to be repossessed on the TV show Operation RepoOperation RepoOperation Repo is an American television program that depicts the world of car repossession with a team that portrays fictionalized tales of repossessions from California's San Fernando Valley. Similar to another truTV show, Southern Fried Stings, the series is filmed in a cinema verité style but...
. It is now believed to be an other station with a similar call sign.
Notable DJs
- Biba Pickles
- Jim Cushing (The Disgusting Old Hippie)
- Turbo
- Velanche
- Luftwaffe
- Evan White
- Sasquatch
- DJ Belloq
- Sal
- SKULL
- Carver Cordes (Dustpan Jackson)
- Roger Gatchet (Smokehouse Brown)