KSPC
Encyclopedia
KSPC is a non-commercial college and community
radio station
based in Claremont, California
, US
broadcasting at 88.7 MHz on the FM
band and streaming online. KSPC is funded by the Student Associations of the Claremont Colleges
, particularly Pomona College's ASPC.
, Jazz
, Classical
, Americana
, Polycultural
/World music
, Electronic music
and Hip-hop. The station is also home to a variety of eclectic specialty shows highlighting niche genres, including soul
, polka
, reggae
, film soundtracks and children's music
. KSPC programming also includes news, public affairs, talk and sports coverage.
The station's programming philosophy is geared toward supporting local and independent content.
. Station manager Ron McDonald and program director Terry Drinkwater launched the station with an anonymous donation of $4,000. In his inaugural address, McDonald laid out the station's mission: “We don’t feel that it is the purpose of KSPC merely to duplicate programming already available on other radio stations, but rather to provide our listeners with a desirable type of programming not readily available in the area.”
KSPC was located in Pomona College's Replica House from 1956 until the mid-1970s, when the station received a major anonymous donation and constructed upgraded studios in the basement of Pomona's Thatcher Music Building. It remains there today.
newspaper, the Women's Union, and the Pomona college organic farm
.
hosted "The Uncle Frankie Show" which ran Saturday Nights from 11PM-1AM. Zappa was a Pomona College student for perhaps a year, studying under award-winning ASCAP composer Karl Kohn. (Kohn is in the liner credits in _Freak Out!_) The program was usually pre-recorded by Zappa at his Rancho Cucamonga, CA recording facility, Studio Z. A few highlights from these tapes have appeared on authorized Zappa archival releases, including: The Lost Episodes; The Mystery Disk; and Joe's Xmas Message. Zappa later appeared on the station as a guest on various KSPC programs in the late 1960s. One recording currently floating within the underground tape market consists of Frank playing his favorite R&B songs, explaining the difficulties within his band, The Mothers of Invention
, and repeatedly dedicating the sound of a skipping record to people such as "Ron
and Nancy Reagan
," record producer Art Laboe
, and numerous friends and family.
Community radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
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...
based in Claremont, California
Claremont, California
Claremont is a small affluent college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of the 2010 census is 34,926. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its...
, US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
broadcasting at 88.7 MHz on the 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"...
band and streaming online. KSPC is funded by the Student Associations of the Claremont Colleges
Claremont Colleges
The Claremont Colleges are a prestigious American consortium of five undergraduate and two graduate schools of higher education located in Claremont, California, a city east of downtown Los Angeles...
, particularly Pomona College's ASPC.
Programming
KSPC's music programming is divided into general blocks by genre: UndergroundUnderground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
, Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, Classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
, Polycultural
Polyculturalism
"Polyculturalism" is a term for an assertion that all of the world's cultures are inter-related. It is thus opposed to the concept of multiculturalism, which its supporters argue is divisive. Polyculturalism was the subject of the 2001 book Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and...
/World music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
, Electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and Hip-hop. The station is also home to a variety of eclectic specialty shows highlighting niche genres, including soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, film soundtracks and children's music
Children's music
Children's music is used here to refer to music composed and performed for children by adults. In European influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has historically held both entertainment...
. KSPC programming also includes news, public affairs, talk and sports coverage.
The station's programming philosophy is geared toward supporting local and independent content.
History
The station's first broadcast occurred on February 12, 1956, on the campus of Pomona CollegePomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
. Station manager Ron McDonald and program director Terry Drinkwater launched the station with an anonymous donation of $4,000. In his inaugural address, McDonald laid out the station's mission: “We don’t feel that it is the purpose of KSPC merely to duplicate programming already available on other radio stations, but rather to provide our listeners with a desirable type of programming not readily available in the area.”
KSPC was located in Pomona College's Replica House from 1956 until the mid-1970s, when the station received a major anonymous donation and constructed upgraded studios in the basement of Pomona's Thatcher Music Building. It remains there today.
Support and Supporters
KSPC is an active organization at the Claremont Colleges, and often works in cooperation with other students groups in support of social events, speakers, and special opportunities. In the past, KSPC has either supported or been supported by (or both) the Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC), The Pitzer Senate, The Student LifeThe Student Life
The Student Life is a student newspaper covering Pomona College and the other colleges of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of liberal arts schools in Claremont, California...
newspaper, the Women's Union, and the Pomona college organic farm
Pomona College Organic Farm
The Pomona College Organic Farm is an experimental Permaculture project located in the southeast corner of the Pomona College campus in Claremont, California.-History:...
.
Trivia
In late 1962 and early 1963 Frank ZappaFrank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
hosted "The Uncle Frankie Show" which ran Saturday Nights from 11PM-1AM. Zappa was a Pomona College student for perhaps a year, studying under award-winning ASCAP composer Karl Kohn. (Kohn is in the liner credits in _Freak Out!_) The program was usually pre-recorded by Zappa at his Rancho Cucamonga, CA recording facility, Studio Z. A few highlights from these tapes have appeared on authorized Zappa archival releases, including: The Lost Episodes; The Mystery Disk; and Joe's Xmas Message. Zappa later appeared on the station as a guest on various KSPC programs in the late 1960s. One recording currently floating within the underground tape market consists of Frank playing his favorite R&B songs, explaining the difficulties within his band, The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention were an American band active from 1964 to 1969, and again from 1970 to 1975.They mainly performed works by, and were the original recording group of, US composer and guitarist Frank Zappa , although other members have had the occasional writing credit...
, and repeatedly dedicating the sound of a skipping record to people such as "Ron
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and Nancy Reagan
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
," record producer Art Laboe
Art Laboe
Art Laboe is an American pioneering disc jockey, songwriter, record producer, and radio station owner who is generally credited with coining the term "Oldies But Goodies."....
, and numerous friends and family.