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In 1968
Elvis was
preparing for his first television special. His
Richmond, VA concerts would come several years later.
Color television programs had been broadcast on all
three networks for only the third year. The Vietnam War
was heating up and an all male school known as VPI
(Virginia Tech today) had finally opened its doors to women.
During the summer of 1968, a
momentous change took place in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond
Professional Institute began a transformation that would change it
from a college campus of about 10,500 students, to a national university
with over 30,000 students. Virginia
Commonwealth University known widely today as VCU, has
earned many honors and
recognitions since 1968, including having an
undefeated football team for over 40 years! Quite a feat to accomplish in
college football these days. Remember when Miss Emily Litella on a
Saturday Night Live promo called us "Virginia
CommonHEALTH University"? Oh, nevermind.
On September 10, 2008 we celebrated the
40th anniversary of VCU
and WJRB, the beginning of the 1968 fall semester. Like good Richmonders and
Virginians, we are here to remember a long forgotten group of individuals that toiled seven
days a week and late in to the night, to provide companionship and
entertainment to thousands of VCU students. Most likely, these
future station members were not aware that a student run radio station
operated at VCU as a "student activity" club. Students came from
engineering, business, theater, art
and other degree programs. We were all drawn to the
basement of the Student Center at 916 W. Franklin
Street. The
destination was simply called, WJRB - the Voice of VCU.
WJRB-AM was a student run radio
station and was supported by the Student Government
Association and advertisers like the
Copy Center,
Lum's, Dutch's, the Village, the Biograph Theatre and
Kelly's. Most
people may think of campus radio (also known as college
radio, university radio or student radio) as an FM
station. It appears that WJRB started
in the fall of 1967. Back then there was an
option known as "carrier current" broadcasting. Using a
very low power AM transmitter (something like 5 watts), a radio signal
could be sent through the electrical wires in a building to our listening
audience. As it turns out, our audience consisted of
students living in some of the dorms mostly located on
Franklin Street and Shafer Street. Also lucky diners in Hibbs and Temple
cafeterias (Temple being the site today of the Singleton
Center) could listen
during meal times. If you were lucky enough to have a car and lived off-campus, you could sometimes
hear WJRB at the stop lights as far away as Lombardy Street or further (depending
upon the weather and which engineer had been working on the
transmitters).
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In the late 60's and early 70's
college radio was a unique proving ground for future
announcers, engineers, and production professionals.
College radio also was pushing the envelope of radio
broadcasting with its experimental radio format. The
format used was not based upon a single format (pop, top
40, country, etc.) but a collection of formats that
reflected the many backgrounds of the students attending
the school and the diversity of bands that were
recording at the time. Albums received extensive air play and made
up more and more of the play lists.
WJRB continued breaking out of the
standard format of our "parents' radio stations" and
created a home for the "new" music that would never get
commercial air play (at least back then). Thus
UGLY
was born in the basement of 916 featuring progressive
music from the underground.
Many of the WJRB staff members
became radio professionals (sometimes while in still in
school)working locally and nationally. Our
Honor Roll
includes station members and the stations where they
worked.
Over the years the basement space
was rearranged in multiple ways but generally consisted
of an outside entrance (to allow us 24 hours access, an
office area, engineering room, a studio and a lounge
area. Nicer furniture and drink machines resided on the
first floor of the building. The all important bathrooms
were also conveniently located on the first floor.
Convenient if the bathrooms were free and you had a long
record to play like McArther Park, Hey Jude or In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
depending upon your needs.
Today the station lives on as WVCW,
located on West Broad Street near the old
Adams
Barber Shop. We encourage you to check them out at
WVCW.ORG.
While this Web site focuses mainly
on the years from 1967 to 1975, we would love to fill in
the blanks as additional members from WJRB find us and
can share their experiences, photos and audio clips. We
would also like to hear from our former listeners. Lines
are open, call now at
extension 7370... or better yet,
just send us an email.
Thanks to everyone who submitted
content. We couldn't have done it without you! If
you find something in your scrapbook that you would like
to share, please
.
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