WQFS
Encyclopedia
WQFS is Guilford College
's student-run radio station, with both students and members of the community serving as disk jockeys. Broadcasting in a variety
format, it serves Greensboro, North Carolina
and the greater Piedmont Triad
area. WQFS is currently ranked number eleven in the Princeton Review's Best College Radio Stations. The station has maintained a spot in the contest's top ten for seven consecutive years. In October 2008, Greensboro News & Record
's Go Triad also named WQFS as the Triad's Best College Radio Station.
on October 26, 1966 and, once it had the necessary equipment and funds, WQFS began a daily broadcast schedule on January 6, 1970, broadcasting in an adult contemporary or middle of the road format. By its second year of operation, some disk jockeys began to play what a decade later would become known as college rock
. Others would play hybrid programming, which could feature avant-garde jazz
, contemporary classical, bluegrass
, blues
, and Musique concrète
, sometimes all within the same program.
One early experiment involved celebrating the second anniversary of the Paul is dead
hoax by playing not only Beatles, but other rock, and even classical records backwards, or using the station's two turntables to play a Beatles song forwards and backwards at the same time.
Like many college stations, WQFS currently features a wide variety of genres, all with a strong focus on independent music labels. The main format is indie rock
. About one hundred DJs, half of them students, work at the station at any given time. Students also hold the management positions, which change frequently.
WQFS plays many local artists such as Low Sky, Resister, Decoration Ghost, Workday/Schoolnight and Andrew Weathers.
Long-running shows include David Butler's The Sunday Morning Rehab Show on Sunday morning, Wesley Elam’s "Flava Lab" (hip-hop on Thursday evenings, Chris Roulhac’s "North Carolina Show" on Wednesday afternoons, and Sherrill “Maddog” Ward’s "Friday Night Rock Party".
WQFS is currently ranked as the 11th best college radio station in the country by the Princeton Review. In the past the station has held spots as high as number 4.
Currently, Max Cawley serves as General Manager, Chelsea Emery as Programming Manager, Emily Martin and Max Van Pelt Diller as Music Directors, Adam Katzman and Alethea Leventhal as Promotions Directors and Yahya Alazrak as Production and News Manager.
Guilford College
Guilford College, founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of Friends , is an independent college whose stated mission is to: provide a transformative, practical and excellent liberal arts education that produces critical thinkers in an inclusive, diverse environment, guided by Quaker...
's student-run radio station, with both students and members of the community serving as disk jockeys. Broadcasting in a variety
Variety (radio)
The term variety as a radio format is loosely defined as a format that plays music across numerous genera.Freeform variety is associated with a wide range of programming including talk, sports, and music from a wide spectrum. This format is usually found on smaller, non-commercial...
format, it serves Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
and the greater Piedmont Triad
Piedmont Triad
The Piedmont Triad, or Triad, is a north-central region of the U.S. state of North Carolina that consists of the area within and surrounding the three major cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. This close group or "triad" of cities lies in the Piedmont geographical region of the...
area. WQFS is currently ranked number eleven in the Princeton Review's Best College Radio Stations. The station has maintained a spot in the contest's top ten for seven consecutive years. In October 2008, Greensboro News & Record
Greensboro News & Record
The News & Record is the largest newspaper serving Guilford County and the surrounding region. It is based in Greensboro, NC, and produces local sections for Greensboro and Rockingham County, NC. As of April, 2011, it had an average weekday circulation of 60,993 and an average Sunday circulation...
's Go Triad also named WQFS as the Triad's Best College Radio Station.
History
The station started as a student club, The Fine Music Broadcasting Society, in 1965. Guilford obtained a license from the FCCFederal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
on October 26, 1966 and, once it had the necessary equipment and funds, WQFS began a daily broadcast schedule on January 6, 1970, broadcasting in an adult contemporary or middle of the road format. By its second year of operation, some disk jockeys began to play what a decade later would become known as college rock
College rock
College rock is a term that was used in the United States to describe 1980s alternative rock before the term "alternative" came into common usage. The term's use of the word "college" refers to campus radio stations located at institutions of higher education in Canada and the United States, where...
. Others would play hybrid programming, which could feature avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. Avant-jazz often sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which ...
, contemporary classical, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, and Musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
, sometimes all within the same program.
One early experiment involved celebrating the second anniversary of the Paul is dead
Paul Is Dead
"Paul is dead" is an urban legend suggesting that Paul McCartney of the English rock band The Beatles died in 1966 and was secretly replaced by a look-alike....
hoax by playing not only Beatles, but other rock, and even classical records backwards, or using the station's two turntables to play a Beatles song forwards and backwards at the same time.
Like many college stations, WQFS currently features a wide variety of genres, all with a strong focus on independent music labels. The main format is indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
. About one hundred DJs, half of them students, work at the station at any given time. Students also hold the management positions, which change frequently.
WQFS plays many local artists such as Low Sky, Resister, Decoration Ghost, Workday/Schoolnight and Andrew Weathers.
Long-running shows include David Butler's The Sunday Morning Rehab Show on Sunday morning, Wesley Elam’s "Flava Lab" (hip-hop on Thursday evenings, Chris Roulhac’s "North Carolina Show" on Wednesday afternoons, and Sherrill “Maddog” Ward’s "Friday Night Rock Party".
WQFS is currently ranked as the 11th best college radio station in the country by the Princeton Review. In the past the station has held spots as high as number 4.
Currently, Max Cawley serves as General Manager, Chelsea Emery as Programming Manager, Emily Martin and Max Van Pelt Diller as Music Directors, Adam Katzman and Alethea Leventhal as Promotions Directors and Yahya Alazrak as Production and News Manager.
Programming
Alphabetical listing of programs airing on WQFS as of September 2008, all independently produced and hosted by volunteer disc jockeys unless otherwise noted:- Bits and Pieces Show with the Original Steve-O
- Buddy Ro Radio
- Carpe Diem
- Counter Folks
- Garden of Good and Evil
- Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
(produced by Democracy Now! and distributed by Pacifica RadioPacifica RadioPacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
) - DJ Props
- Flava Lab
- Friday Night Rock Party with Maddog
- J's Indie Rock Mayhem
- Let the Good Times Roll with Wild Bill
- Monkey Wrench Radio
- Paddy-Whacked Radio
- Radio Bravo
- Rock and Roll Study Hall
- Roots of Rock Show
- Stoner Serenade
- SubGenius Radio Ministries Hour of SlackHour of SlackThe Hour of Slack is a one-hour radio program produced by the Church of the SubGenius centering around the king of slack, J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. Reverend Ivan Stang presents his own commentary, along with recorded material from all SubGenius radio and stage shows, bands, ranters, media barrage collage...
(produced and distributed by the Church of the SubGeniusChurch of the SubGeniusThe Church of the SubGenius is a "parody religion" organization that satirizes religion, conspiracy theories, unidentified flying objects, and popular culture. Originally based in Dallas, Texas, the Church of the SubGenius gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s and maintains an active presence on...
) - Sunday Morning Rehab Show
- Sunday Evening Sound
- The Mike Smith Cavalcade of Musical Enjoyment
- The Canadian Connection with Cool Breeze from North of the Border
- The Caravan with Chef Dave
- The North Carolina Show
- The Old Country Store
- Tom's Diner
- Uncle Bill's Basement
- Weekend Beach Party
- Weekend Warp Drive
- Worker's Playtime
- WQFS Blues Show