THE BOPST SHOW ON WCLM 1450 AM

HERE ARE JUST SOME OF THE THINGS BEING SAID ABOUT THE BOPST SHOW:

The Arts 25
Innovators at the forefront of Richmond arts and culture.

September 5, 2007
Background Noisemaker
Chris Bopst
by Brandon Reynolds
Style Magazine

He’s the canary in Richmond’s cultural mine-shaft. A barometer, the smoking gun of the scene. Chris Bopst is that guy in the background of all the pictures of historical events — Declaration of Independence, man walking on the moon, Karl Rove rapping.

At least, that’s what it seems like. Wherever there’s been a cultural shift in the last 20 years or so, Bopst has been there. Sometimes he’s even been in the foreground.

At 41, with a wife and new daughter, he’s growing up, and appears to be taking the city with him. Follow the thread here:

In the mid-’80s he was in VCU’s sculpture program, the same time it was becoming the best of its kind in the nation. Then he got in with a bunch of art guys who dressed like gargoyles and played with GWAR for a few years in the late-’80s. For better or worse, that band represents this city, and there he was, adding to our strange association with pretend musical monsters, until he decided to go his own way.

“I had my own artistic vision that didn’t include penises,” he says.

Then he, Ed Trask, Fred German and others at the Vim Gallery — an artist collective on Broad Street — had shows many Fridays before there was a First Fridays (fighting the city all the way).

Bopst became a radio DJ in 2002 at WVNZ, then moved “The Bopst Show” to WCLM, where it is today.

And where his endless knowledge of music can mar the minds of people with a radio or Internet service.

There are few in Richmond who have introduced us to so much random music, either dressed as a beast onstage or sounding like one over the radio. Or by booking terrific and eclectic little shows at his other job at Millie’s. Oh, and he’s adding sports commentary to the resume with “More On Sports.” “It’ll keep me on my toes not to have music, but to actually talk,” he says. “It’ll keep it interesting.”
Richmond Magazine's, "Best & Worst" of 2007" August 2007
Top 20 Media Pleasures:

"On the AM dial, Chris Bopst's eclectic Bopst Show, which airs 1 to 4 PM on WCLM 1450 AM, makes us want to take a long lunch hour and just drive around grooving to his non-playlist playlist of everything from obscure rock to scratchy old gospel recordings. His, "Sound Advice" column in the weekly Brick is also worth noting."


Rolling Stone Magazine's, "I'm From Rolling Stone Magazine" Writing Contest 2/16/07

Radio DJ Chris Bopst wants you to stay clean.

That’s why he’s offering “musical penicillin in a world trying to give you audio syphilis,” as his show motto goes. His eclectic and popular program, “The Bopst Show,” is heard weekdays on WCLM 1450 AM, an African American-owned-and-operated station specializing in southern gospel, soul, and R&B oldies.

Bopst, however, is a smoky-voiced, 40-year-old white guy reared in the D.C. hardcore scene.

“I find the same quality of redemption in the music I play,” he explains. “For me, the spiritual power of the Bad Brains and Mahalia Jackson are the same … The goosebumps don’t lie.”

With his shaved dome and thick-framed retro glasses, he could easily be mistaken for comedian David Cross, a former guest on his show. The son of an artist mother and jazz musician father, Bopst moved to Richmond in the early ‘80s to study sculpture. While in college, he co-founded the shock metal act, GWAR, later playing bass for SST and Dischord bands.

On air, Bopst is a fast-talking rant machine. His confrontational, non-p.c. style of humor recalls legendary comedian Bill Hicks, one of his heroes. Check his MySpace page and you’ll see a graphic Teen People cover he designed showing Britney Spears being fellated by a dog.

Sample playlists include anyone from Nina Simone and The Clash to Bollywood stars, Slayer, Negativland and audio collages of Dubya calling himself “slobbering honeybaby” and “Sir Butts-a-lot.” Anything but jamband music, which makes him vomit.

His work philosophy is simple. “Commercial radio doesn’t have to be a gutless, soul-destroying experience in corporate-mandated homogeny,” he says.
June 6, 2007
Radio Warlord
The eclectic “Bopst Show” celebrates five years of breaking the rules.
by Brent Baldwin

Richmond’s radio revolutionary is celebrating five years of unfettered music and uncensored AM opinions.

That’s right, folks. Local DJ Chris Bopst, animated host of the always unpredictable “Bopst Show,” is celebrating his five-year anniversary with a musical get-together at Millie’s Diner featuring two bands — the upbeat, old-timey Two Man Gentlemen Band from Brooklyn, N.Y., and ’70s-styled reggae band Session Rockers, from Hampton.

Bopst, a musician, promoter, artist and culture writer, has been spinning every kind of music you can imagine, from The Clash and Nina Simone to Slayer, Public Enemy and Bollywood musicals, since his show dropped in 2002. After two years at WVNZ (1320 AM), he switched over to the African-American-owned and -operated WCLM (1450 AM), where his show expanded to weekdays.

“He’s probably the best in the city, just his knowledge of music,” says station owner Preston Brown, who recently acquired WHAP 1340 in Hopewell. “It’s on the Internet, so he gets over 50,000 hits, from London, Germany, Korea, all over. … You gotta be good to be on a soul station in prime time.”

Reared in the D.C. punk scene, Bopst, 40, offers a throwback to the classic personality-driven radio show. A political progressive never afraid to speak his mind, he rails with a subversive sense of humor against social injustice, from racism and homophobia to religious fanaticism. A serious proponent of free speech, he has also featured interesting guests on his show, including comedian/actor David Cross, political journalist James Ridgeway, cartoonist David Rees (“Get Your War On”) and Tim Kaine, who revealed his musical tastes when he listed Bob Dylan and The Replacements (“Let It Be”) as two of his favorites.

A recurring guest on the show is R2-D2, with whom Bopst has conversations that neither the FCC nor George Lucas would approve of.“People call in and get the fax machine, and it sounds like R2-D2,” Bopst says. “So I started picking up, asking R2 if he might like a Rusty Trombone or a Gorilla Mask. Do you know what a Gorilla Mask is?” You probably don’t want to.

Style talked with Bopst about other memorable moments from the show
Style: Let’s get straight to some personal highlights.
Bopst: At the old station, when I played [Gil Scott-Heron’s] “Whitey on the Moon,” I went to the bathroom, came back and this guy had called in [imitating a quavering, upset voice]: “Why are you playing this song? I didn’t do anything to black people!” I told him the song wasn’t about him. … Or when David Cross was promoting his album, “Shut Up, You Fucking Baby!” and I asked him how he would say it on the air. He said, “When a man puts a penis in a vagina.” The next day the engineers were all freaked out.
They were like, “You can’t say ‘penis’!” A lot of people called in. They were sooo freaked out by “penis.” Another personal favorite was this older guy who called WCLM to request some gospel and he said, “I got a confession to make. … I hate your radio show. Yeah, I don’t like it that much, but then I find myself listening to it every day.” [Laughs] … A woman once called and said, “That was the best sex I ever had, we did it all the way through your show.” … Most people call because they want to know what song I just played.

Do people ever think you’re just trying to provoke a reaction by playing such disparate music?
Yeah, it’s sorta like vandalism to me. There is a certain juvenile aspect. ... but so much of that music is never going to be heard. There are already plenty of stations for music that sucks. ... I like WCLM because it’s so much outside of my world. They have a mostly black audience. And they never tell me what to play.

Has radio gotten any better since you started?
It’s only gotten worse. The good stuff is still relegated to the fringes. The airwaves are all bought up. The people who care the most about music are the ones least likely to be heard. XM and Sirius have created some diversity, but there is still no show where you can hear everything. It’s all still specific markets. There’s no intermingling in Richmond between black and white, or Hispanic music. When I was growing up, black and white music was synonymous to me -- you know, Aerosmith followed by Stevie Wonder. You don’t hear that anymore. … I don’t want to milk a vibe, or lull people into a mood — I want to keep you on your toes and play stuff out of my own comfort zone. … I’ll keep doing it until I get sick of it, which is how I’ve lived my whole life.

The fifth anniversary show at Millie’s Diner was June 10 at 7 p.m. with the Two Man Gentlemen Band and Session Rockers. Admission is $10, buffet is $5 more. 643-5512.
The “Bopst Show” airs on WCLM 1450 AM, 1-4 p.m. weekdays.

"Weekday afternoons feature the AMAZING Bopst Show. Other radio stations claim "We Play Anything" but Chris Bopst is the only man who lives up to that promise. You never know what he's going to play next. It's fascinating..."
JW Kennedy June 2006

"A musical masterpiece, the Bopst Show wins three awards for longevity, extreme knowledge of the arcane, and being on the AM dial. Chris Bopst has been a key building block in Richmond's creative community for almost two decades, and he's been a presence on the radio for four years. Tuning into the Bopst Show is a sure-fire way to hear Joe Strummer, Jellyroll Morton, The Knitters, Jesus Lizard and Ella Fitzgerald all in one sitting.

The downside to the Bopst Show? It's only available between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. on weekdays."
RVA Blogs January 2006

"Whether you've heard them yet, go easy on these Jacks and Bobs and their wacky, scattered playlists. At least they're returning an element of fun to an industry that has turned, largely, robotic. And if you can't tune in one of them, you can find an element of warmth -- and a profound appreciation of music -- on WCLM's (1450 AM) "The Bopst Show," helmed weekdays 1-4 p.m. by Chris Bopst, a guy whose tastes pingpong from Tom Waits to Mahalia Jackson, Dusty Springfield to The Streets -- and he plays them all..."
Melissa Ruggieri of the Richmond Times Dispatch August 11th, 2OO5

"The song "Great Radio" by the band Bongwater (on the album "The Power of Pussy") asks what is great radio...
Although Ann Magnuson and Kramer are probably too hip to be living in Richmond, they should so they can tune into the Bopst Show. After too long of seeing the posters and stickers, I finally dialed-in (at work) about 8 months ago and my life has been changed. Chris Bopst is amazing! you should listen- we all should listen!"
Michael K. Lease, Annabelle's Aspirin, July 2005


"I listen to the Bopst Show all the time..."
Wes Freed, All The Rage, February 2005

"The Bopst Show– The best damn radio show in town..."
Erin C. Osborne Sassy Social Worker December 2004

"Best Music Show: The Bopst Show, now you know why I try to work 5-1 mon-fri now, so I can get home and listen to a lot of unique music."
Dan Evans Radio Richmond December 2004

"The best radio show in Richmond with unarguably the most diverse play lists..."
The Weekly Rant August 2004

"There is an AM radio music program here that is the voice of how good radio could be called The Bopst Show. The show plays an insanely eclectic mix of music, all of it good..."
Lamb of God Bass Player, John Campbell, interviewed by Rock House Method July 2004

"The Bopst Show is the coolest radio show in the world."
Bio Ritmo July 2004

"The Bopst Show is a local independent radio broadcast featuring everything from local salsa to Swedish heavy metal to "exceedingly anomalous music from Laos." Instead of just complaining about the sad state of radio today, host Chris Bopst has created a show admired by both music lovers and casual radio listeners."
Metafilter.com March 2004

"The Bopst Show plays an impressive scope of music..."
Athensmusic.com February 2004

"Richmond's most original and eclectic broadcast program"
Stunteddevelopment.com January 2004

"Richmond radio's current saving grace"
Buttermilk & Molasses August 2003

“Most Original Radio Show in Richmond…”
Style Magazine Reader’s Poll Winner April 2003

FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS BOPST, HOST OF THE BOPST SHOW, CLICK HERE.

“Richmond, Virginia’s radio revolutionary…”
John Denniston former Editor of Richmond.com April 2003

“For the past year, Richmond, Virginia has been home to an exciting new show that from comes the unlikeliest of sources: AM radio and The Bopst Show.”
Nick Ammerman leftoffthedial.com November 2002

“The “IT” radio personality for 2002”
Richmond Magazine October 2002

“The Bopst Show is the definition of great radio…”
Ryan Muldoon Punchline Magazine October 2002

“The man who is bringing back real radio to Richmond”
Douglas Durden Richmond Times Dispatch September 2002

“The last great hope for music on Richmond radio.”
Liz Skrobiszewski Punchline Magazine September 2002

“Chris Bopst, the DJ of the only radio shows worth listening to in Richmond…”
Francis Decker Style Magazine August 2002

“A consistently interesting injection of eclectic radio”
Derek Sunshine noprizes.net August 2002



Song playing when this photo was taken: "We Are The Robots": Kraftwerk


FROM PUNCHLINE MAGAZINE

DATELINE: BLITZKRIEG BOPST!

It's a fact as well known as the color of the sky, the length of the day, the smell of my socks: there is no good music on the radio. None. Nada. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Forget it. Look elsewhere. Buy a record. Burn a CD. Sing your own damn song. Commercial radio is the last place any discriminating music lover looks for their fix.

No better proof of the real world's dim view of radio could be evidenced just two weeks ago, during the in-store appearance of Phantom Planet at Plan 9 Records. Directly before the band's four or five song set, as the large assembled crowd talked among themselves (perhaps discussing just how short Jason Schwartzman actually is), a DJ from Y101 took the stage and announced who he was, and that he was from Y101. The crowd couldn't have been any more indifferent if the schlub had announced, "There's a blue Toyota Tercel parked in front of Bev's Homemade Ice Cream with its lights on." When the performance had wound down and people headed for the door, another radio employee was busy trying trying to palm off bumper stickers to the departing, only to be met with looks that clearly said, "What in the world would I want one of those for?"


This is not me but I wish I had that console...

Sometimes it's hard to imagine how a radio station turns a profit. Pity the poor radio station sales rep, trying to justify advertisement costs to a potential client, knowing full well that nobody is listening to the radio. Nobody I know, anyway. And why should they? What does radio offer their listeners? An ever-slimming playlist, more likely than not dictated by payola presented by robotic DJs with wacky names, absolutely forbidden to break format or express any sort of personality or originality, lest their listeners' heads explode and the DJ lose their $7.00 an hour over night shift.

So we just live with the fact that there is no good music on the radio. Except now, thanks to Chris Bopst and WVNZ-AM 1320.

It's certainly an unusual combination, the match between "Unforgettable" 1320 - a radio station that features none other than Wink Martindale on mid-days - and Mr Bopst, as cynical a music lover as there ever was. To wit, in the pages of this very rag, Mr. Bopst described the prospect of listening to a certain band as being "about as appealing as watching my parents have sex."

Upon reflection, that's such an appalling thought I apologize for bringing it up. I'm talking, of course, about Wink Martindale mid-days.

But somehow Bopst has talked his way into hosting his own radio show, primarily as an outlet for his outrageously expansive record collection. But the positive outcome for us, the listeners, is that there is now, finally, something good to listen to on the radio (apologies to the fine folks and fine work done at WDCE 90.1, but your signal just doesn't reach into my apartment). Airing from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday evenings, the Bopst show is the perfect start to a weekend of sound. To end a hard week's work, turn on the radio on the car ride home and hear Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" followed by a bit of classic comedy from the late Bill Hicks, that is great radio. To stay tuned and hear a portion of a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. followed by Ween's "Freedom of '76," that is great radio. To hear an insane variety of great tracks - from Hank Williams to Louis Armstrong, from the White Stripes to Charlie Mingus - that is great radio. The Bopst Show is the definition of great radio. These other dullards on the air could learn a thing or two from this man and his humble program, though of course, they won't.

FROM RICHMOND.COM 12/18/03 (TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE)

Here's a fun drinking game. Read Chris Bopst's weekly column on Richmond.com and take a swig every time he calls out Clear Channel or the FCC. You'll be drunk in minutes. Bopst's love for constructing over-the-top invectives against corporate radio is second only to his love for music. For a year and a half the DJ, a founding member of local bands like GWAR and the Holy Rollers, has given the city an alternative to the Top 40 playlist with his eclectic show on WCLM 1450 A.M. on Thursday and Friday nights. Nick Cave gets equal airtime with Robert Johnson and Slayer. Cheers to that.

FROM STYLE WEEKLY'S READERS POLL 4/16/03 (TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE)

 Most original radio show: The Bopst Show

If Chris Bopst were a superhero he’d be called something like Radioman or Dr. Vinyl, or maybe something even better. His costume: a vintage short-sleeved dress shirt, dark-rimmed glasses and pork-pie hat. His arsenal: 45s and LPs. His mission: to play something besides Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River.”

Armed with his record collection, Bopst wages a weekly crusade against the totalitarian tyranny of Clear Channel and other shadowy factories of formatted radio formula, playing new music not found on the Billboard charts and rescuing old and obscure tunes from the dustbin of music history. You can hear him Thursday and Friday evenings, 5-8, during the Bopst Show on WVNZ-AM 1320, and now on Friday nights at 8 on Rich-TV (sadly, after 10 episodes, the show is no longer a broadcasting reality).

Bopst does not play favorites, even though, he says, it “defies all traditional radio logic to do what I do,” without a format, spinning everything from Radiohead to Public Enemy to Carmen Miranda, maybe in that order. These days, he’s just one hipster raging against the machine, a missionary man of melody, his turntable on automatic, for the people. As he so eloquently puts it, he’s “an ambassador to music they’ve never heard before.” And he envisions a brighter future — perhaps an entire station full of DJs like him, he says, “and it’ll just be the music of the world.”

FROM STYLE MAGAZINE 8/14/02 (TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE)

 

Being hip and cool on a first date is a rarity. Chances are you’ve seen two people out on a first date that looks almost painful: They aren’t talking much, they are friendly and smiling, but you can tell they’re not having fun. They look like total dorks. The sad truth is only a limited few can pull off the first date with style. They are the elite. They were blessed at birth with wavy hair and the ability to look good in sombreros. You know the type. You’ve seen them and you’ve said to yourself, “Man, I’m like them,” but you’re not. You’re not hip and you’re not cool, and I’ve got some news for you: You look absolutely ridiculous in a sombrero. But don’t fret. Just because you’re not one of the chosen doesn’t mean that you’re doomed to have an awkward first date. What you need to do is this: Find something that most uncool people, like you, don’t know about. Here’s a totally hip and cool date that is all the cooler because it’ll only cost you 10 bucks.
 
The Date: Few know this but every six weeks or so at Millie’s Diner they run the best special ever. On a Sunday evening at 9:30 p.m. until about 1:30 a.m., you get to hear a great band and an all-you-can-eat buffet for only 5 bucks. Chris Bopst, the DJ of the only radio show worth listening to in Richmond, books the bands so you’re guaranteed to have a great musical experience. Additionally, the buffet is different every time and is always fantastic. The only thing is that the deal is so hip and so cool they don’t advertise when they’re going to have it. Since the last one was in the beginning of August, you might want to figure on the next one being sometime mid-September. What’s best about taking a first date to something like this is that they will assume that you are far cooler than you actually are, and who are you to tell them any different? Maybe I’ll even see you there. I’ll be the one without the sombrero.

FROM RICHMOND.COM 7/17/03 (TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE)



Call us partial, but we like Chris Bopst. We like the way he plays Public Enemy next to the Stanley Brothers next to Slayer on his radio show. We like that we can stop by and wave to him through the window of WVNZ headquarters on Broad Street one day, and then order the Devil's Mess from him at Millie's Diner the next. We like how he's not afraid to start a fire by calling out big corporations like the FCC and Clear Channel in his column here on Richmond.com. We like that he likes to talk, a lot, and without a filter. We like his outrageousness and his tenacity and his intimidating knowledge of music. But what we really like is how Chris Bopst can wrap his leg around his head.

The former founding member of GWAR and the Holy Rollers has taken it upon himself to rouse listeners from corporate radio's opiate of the masses -- the Top 40 playlist. To do so, he has been unleashing an eclectic army of sound every Thursday and Friday evening on 1320 AM: obscure and popular artists like Fela Kuti, Earl Scruggs, Ennio Moriccone, Nina Simone, the Clash, and Outkast. For more than a year now Bopst has shown us what it sounds like to have a music lover controlling the dials, without government by minority. This Friday Bopst will be throwing an anniversary show at Alley Katz, with performances by Bio Ritmo and the Rah Bras. We talked to him about "The Bopst Show"'s year in review.

What was the date of your first show?
The first Bopst Show aired Friday June 7, 2002, on WVNZ 1320 AM from 6 to 8 p.m.

What was the first song you played?
"Linus & Lucy" by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. The song serves as "The Bopst Show" theme song to this day and, hopefully, beyond.

Worst or most asinine comment from a listener (or other)?
Two longtime radio stalwarts from Richmond, who shall remain nameless, did everything in their power to have my show taken off the air behind closed doors. They put extreme financial pressure on management at WVNZ because of my presentation of music. These two gentlemen, who I had meetings with on two separate occasions, assailed me for playing, in their words, "that god awful black music" and told me to "just stick to the hits." "Nobody is interested in variety," they smugly insisted. I listened intently to what they had to say and, despite my sincerest efforts to explain what I was doing, I felt at the end of both of these meetings that they would continue to work for my broadcasting demise, which they both did. They told the station's existing sponsors that I was out to ruin WVNZ and that their essential advertising dollars were better suited elsewhere. WVNZ stood by me, mercifully, and now those two are broadcasting on other stations.

What kind of feedback do you receive the most?
Overwhelmingly positive. I get calls from teenagers to nursing home patients who call to tell me that they love my show. It is truly a humbling experience.

How do you know how many people are listening to you?
I really have no idea, as Arbitron, the ratings company that complies radio listening numbers, doesn't tally show-by-show statistics. I average about 20 to 30 calls per show, and I am stopped virtually every time I venture out in public by friends and strangers alike to tell me how much they enjoy the show. But no official numbers exist.

One song you won't ever play?
"Believe" by Cher.

Where do you see radio 10 years from now?
I see radio, if it continues on its present course, as a mouthpiece maintained solely for the benefit of big business. It will continue to be bought up by megacorporations that will continue to dictate policy from some far away corporate office. They will continue to buy up the most powerful stations and justify their programming homogeny by saying that they are only representing the tastes of mainstream culture by their uncontested monopoly of the marketplace. It is a very bleak picture, indeed.

Where do you hope to see it in 10 years?
I would like to see more programming diversity available on the radio dial. I am greatly heartened to see the efforts of Radio Free Richmond beginning to become a broadcasting reality and local stations such as WXGI, WVNZ, and WCLM continuing to grow beyond their current broadcasting ranges. I'd like to see UR90 increase their signal to cover a 30-square-mile radius, as they offer a plateau of audio stimulation free from the confines of genre-specific formatting. Basically, the airwaves are the property of the citizens of the United States and I'd like to hear more local community involvement on the airwaves instead of making rich people richer. One day I want to be in the position to have a station here in town with nothing but live DJs given complete and total autonomy to play anything they want.

Any lessons you've learned about the business?
When they call you "unique" or "original" they really mean that you have no future in the radio business.

Has anyone associated with Clear Channel ever contacted you? Is corporate radio listening?
No, but several industry insiders have commented both favorably and not so favorably on "The Bopst Show" at http://www.rmonet.com/radio/.

Anything you're not allowed to say on the air?
Profanity.

Do you get a lot of local support? Is raising finances difficult?
I have to hustle funds on a weekly basis to keep the show on the air. I am my own agent, publicist, engineer, salesman and talent. The show would not exist without the hard-earned dollars from the local business community that has and continues to support my show. It's all about money and I have been lucky enough to have the support from like-minded local sponsors. For the last year, keeping the show on the air has been the main thrust of my existence, but I believe in my presentation of music with every fiber of my being and it also helps that I love doing the show. I consider it a political act.

What are your top five favorite albums, at least for today?
1. Turn Off Your Radio: Dead Prez
2. Global A-Go-Go: Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros
3. Don Letts Presents The Mighty Trojan Sound (Jamaican Dub & Reggae Compilation)
4. The Blues: Nina Simone
5. Virginia Roots: The 1929 Richmond Sessions

What radio programs do you listen to?
Page Wilson's "Out of the Blue Radio Revue," Eric E. Stanley's "BeBop and Boogie Blues Revue," "Selecta," "Peter Soloman's Jazz Review," "Little Steven's Rock Show" on the Planet, Floyd Henderson, Radio Free Richmond, UR 90.1, WXGI AM.

Do you have any personal heroes?
Alvin Maynard Bopst, Eric Bopst, Joan Bopst, Edward Patterson, Dorthy Patterson, Bill Hicks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Joe Strummer, Nelson Mandela, D. Boon & Mike Watt, John Coletrane, David Cross, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ian MacKaye, James Ridgeway, Michael Moore, Jim Jarmusch, Greg Ginn, Greg Palast, Bobby Seale, George Orwell, Nina Simone, Floyd Henderson, Malcolm X, Lee Scratch Perry, George Carlin, Bob Dylan, Medger Evers, Chris Morris, Mohandas Gandhi, Thomas Mann, John & Bobby Kennedy, Charles Mingus, Gil Scott-Heron, Albert Einstein, John Lennon, George Washington, Gloria Steinem, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, Stanley Kubrick, Johnny Rotten, Marcus Garvey, J. D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Lenny Bruce, Tito Puente, Joseph Heller, Joseph Cambell, Joseph Campbell, Che Guevara, Theodore Roosevelt, Ralph Nader, William M. Gaines, Rosa Parks and Chuck D. to name just a few.

What is your take on the Richmond music scene?
The best and worst thing about Richmond is that you have to make your own entertainment and people involved in the local music scene know this all too well. The city has always been known for its unique audio expressions and because musicians and artists operate without the help of radio or the city, the weak willed are quickly weeded out. We have great bands in this city, always have and always will. I just wish the city and radio would realize this and help to nurture not only the music scene but also the entire arts community.

How long do you see yourself doing this?
For as long as I possibly can.
WCLM 1450 AM 3165 Hull Street Richmond, Virginia 23224 Phone: (804) 231-7685 or (804) 231-2186 http://www.wclmradio.com