Forty-five years ago today, WWOZ went on the air at 90.7 FM, dedicated to promoting the music and culture of New Orleans.
Initially the dream of brothers Walter and Jerry Brock (Jerry was also a co-founder of the Louisiana Music Factory store), the station, whose call letters stood for the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was almost entirely a volunteer affair. Being a dj for ‘OZ was quite a task at first, as there was no studio space and the station had to go on the air within 24 hours of the license being granted.Hosts would dj their shows at home onto cassette, then drive out to the transmitter to play them over the air.
Soon, studio space, such as it was, opened up at Tipitina’s nightclub (an upstairs apartment), whence broadcasts emanated until 1984, when the station moved to a small building in Louis Armstrong Park. Post-Katrina, the studio moved to a location in the French Market offices. Two years ago, the station occupied its newest studios atop the Jax Brewery building at Jackson Square.
The station remains the unequaled champion of New Orleans music and musicians, providing a global, 24-hour outlet for artists and recordings that might otherwise never be known outside of our fair city (full disclosure: myself included). It also features immensely knowledgeable experts and music historians not only spinning discs but explaining where the players came from.
Add in live feeds from events like the French Quarter Festival, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and numerous others and you have a resource for Louisiana music and culture like no other.
The station’s live feed is available 24/7/365 world-wide at WWOZ.ORG where you can also find archived past shows and tons of NOLA content. If you get a chance tune in today at 11 Central, when the daily New Orleans Music Show will feature dedications from djs current and past, New Orleans musicians and music lovers from down through the years.
And, if you can (here comes the plug), support this unique radio station which, like so many other public outlets, has had a significant chunk of funding yanked by the current, nekulturny administration.
But, as has always been the case with ‘OZ, bring the funk and the funds will follow.
