Let Us Now Praise College Rock

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Most people who use the radio as their primary (or only) source of information when it comes to music probably have no idea about the vast world of music that exists. That's sad, because radio wasn't always restricted to the same 25 songs. The "old days" included Mexican radio stations (memorialized in such songs as ZZ Top's "I Heard It on the X" and Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio") that played just about anything because they were free of things such as FCC restrictions. In the 60's FM radio, which had primarily been used to broadcast classical music because of the better quality of the transmission, began to see the rise of what they initially called "underground FM rock." It was later renamed "progressive rock" or "AOR" (album-oriented rock) in the 70's. In the late 70's the "free-form" AOR stations were shoved aside in favor of ratings and a much tighter playlist, dubbed the "superstars" format. Radio stations that used to play every song off of Queen's News of the World, Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, or the Eagles' Hotel California were relegated to playing "We Will Rock You"/"We Are the Champions," "Dreams," "Hotel California and "Life in the Fast Lane" from the respective albums. In the 80's a new radio format arose: so-called "college rock" stations. A slew of exceptionally talented artists were able to spring up thanks to the advent of college rock. It was nicknamed that not because the bands only played at colleges, but because their music was heard a great deal on small radio stations operated by college students who were more adventurous with their tastes. Eventual Hall of Fame acts R.E.M. and U2 were heard on college rock stations with albums like Murmur and Boy long before they achieved mainstream success with Green and The Joshua Tree, respectively. But that wasn't the only music heard on college rock stations. Acts such as Marshall Crenshaw, the Call, X, the Smiths, the Replacements, the Smithereens, the Cure, and Los Lobos gained and established sizeable followings with little to no commercial success, thanks to "college rock." You'd also hear country acts in there: it was nothing to hear Dwight Yoakam after the BoDeans! The advent of mega-corporate radio, where 200 stations are owned by the same company and fed the same song at the same time by satellite, has destroyed radio as a viable outlet for discovering new and fresh music. There are still pockets of resistance, such as Chicago's WXRT (but Chicago has such a widely diverse music scene, with everything from country to blues to punk, that it's a necessity), and the public radio stations plug the "Americana" genre (which is where 80's country and rock acts go for a second career ), but the "college rock" stations continue to be the place to go to hear something adventurous. While most of these stations cannot be heard more than two miles from the campus due to their low frequency they have given birth to online radio stations that are following in their footsteps. Thank you, college rock, for all that great music you introduced me to in the 80's. And thanks to all the little online stations that continue the tradition of empahsizing quality over ratings.