SCENES FROM THE 6TH ANNUAL WLHA RESURRECTION/REUNION WEEKEND on WSUM-FM

The way I see it, it should just be a full fledged tradition.

Today, July 7th, 2018, marked my return "home," so to speak, as this weekend marked the 6th annual WLHA Resurrection/Reunion event as hosted and broadcast upon WSUM-FM, the grand student/community radio station housed on the University Of Wisconsin-Madison campus. For an event such as this to occur once or twice,  it could be conceived as an anomaly, something of which there are no  guarantees that anything of the sort would happen again. Now certainly, there still are no guarantees but now that six years of this reunion event have transpired, with generations of former UW-Madison DJs returning to the camps for this event year after year,  the regularity makes me feel that perhaps all official parties should make this official and permanent. 

Regardless of the future, for me, this event, which provides not only a chance to reunite with my friends, all of us initially linked only through our shared love of music and radio, also allowed me to further understand the tiny role I hold in the longevity of this station, which has undergone a few name changes but has remained as part of this campus for seven decades!!!!

Yes...seven decades of student radio has existed upon this campus and I am still p;inching myself to realize that I was a small piece during a small section of its time. This is something to be celebrated, no matter how may times WSUM allows this event to happen. To be in the company of my friends, Lisa "The Grue" Grueneberg, Kelly Klaschus and Sue Whittaker,  is nothing less than a blessing. To continue to meet past DJs is absolutely priceless and illuminating, as they walked the exact same paths as I, Kelly, Sue and Lisa.

And now, here are some images from the day, an extremely early start to this year's radio adventures for us as I hit the airwaves at 6:30 a.m. Usually, I tend to write down every single song that the four of us play throughout our respective shows. The level of activity, socializing, laughing and trying to work with state of the art technology that has now aged enough to the point where it doesn't work as smoothly as it did when these events began today actually prevented me from doing so this time.

But, that being said, The Grue's 90 minute serving of glorious, beautifully bouncy, perky power pop from artists like The New Pornographers, The Records,  The Apples In Stereo, Pixies, solo Frank Black and her #1 favorite, XTC, enlivened my spirit tremendously...almost as much as being witness to The Grue's brilliant smile.

Kelly & Sue once again contributed the formidable wit and the warmth of their infectious hilarity  as well as their impeccable musical taste as they play local Madison musicians of the past including Fire Town, Willy Porter and Marques Bovre and the Evil Twins as well as classic alternative rock selections from The Violent Femmes, Husker Du and of course, their trademark closing jam by The Swanky Modes from the cult comedy film classic "Tapeheads" (1988).

 

As for me, here's what I played (even with the unpredictable, temperamental nature of CD player #2).

1. "Turn Me On" performed by The Tubes 

2. "It Is Not Meant To Be" performed by Tame Impala

3. "Divide" performed by The Amazing

4. "The Trap" performed by Johnny Marr

5. "At Home" performed by Slow Pulp

6. "I Live" performed by Jason Falkner

7. "The Wake Up Bomb" performed by R.E.M.

8. "Breaking Up The Girl" performed by Garbage

9. "Reach Out" performed by Cheap Trick

10."You Can See Me" performed by Supergrass

11."Every Little Thing" performed by Flesh For Lulu

12."Love And Sex" performed by Prince

13."Colors" performed by Beck

14."Seen And Not Seen" performed by Talking Heads

15."Older Than I Am" performed by Kainalu

16."Evan Finds The Third Room" performed by Khruangbin

17."New Language" performed by The Pursuit Of Happiness

18."Let's Do This" performed by Todd Rundgren with Moe Berg

19."Outside Man" performed by Post Social

 The Grue & Savage Scott, July 7, 2018
WSUM studios

As always, tremendous thanks must be given to Kevin "Casey" Peckham and Kevin "Nivek" Ruppert for miraculously organizing this event for the 6th year in a row and for being so passionate, tireless and devoted to honoring the history and legacy of student radio n the UW-Madison campus...and for doing so with equal parts humor and love. For this event is indeed a labor of love. 

 Kelly (left) & Sue (right) with Savage Scott

WSUM studios, 

July 7, 2018

Until year 7...friends and music, music and friends...