WXYC History: Bill Burton and Glenn Boothe (fwd)
Carrie McLaren
This message from Jeff Robins was sent to the listserv but apparently
never made it to the newsgroup so i`m forwarding it.
Carrie
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On Wed, 1 Mar 1995, this group finally received a post sent, days before,
by Glenn Boothe:
> As Bill mentioned in the previous post, XYC has been considered a great
> radio station dating back to the early 80's. I left WXYC in 1990 and
> over the last 5 years, I have been heavily involved with college radio
> on a national level. During this period, I have seen stations rise to
> greatness and fall to shambles... but few (and I mean a handfull) have
> been as consistent as WXYC. I just wanna say that I think one of the
> key elements of XYC's continued success has been the devotion of Bill
> Burton. It was his original vision that put XYC on its current course.
> Maybe Bill doesn't guide the ship anymore but his presence does prevent
> the station from veering to far off the right path. I know Bill was
> very much a part of the stations success during my tenure as MD (and I
> too wish I'd been in New Orleans to accept the trophy for WXYC).
>
> Glenn Boothe WXYC '87-90
Right on, Glenn! As one who has been involved off and on with WXYC over
the last 11 years, I can also vouch for Bill Burton's value to the
station. Unfortunately, Glenn did not go into any specific details, so
let me try to add some here (with the caveat that I am kinda fuzzy on the
pre-1983 Bill):
** In the early 80's, the Board overseeing WXYC, under the direction of
some faculty member(?), was on the verge of hiring (or electing) a
station management team that would have instituted some sort of top-40ish
format and used the station as a "lab" for aspiring professional DJs.
Bill ran for station manager as an oppositional candidate and, in a
controversial and hard-fought decision, won by one vote. Bill remained
station manager for about 6 years, always on the lookout against any
forces that might try to poison the 89.3 frequency with crap.
** Bill created the rhetorical framework within which the station's
musical format (still) flourishes today, namely that the format should
not be limited to only specific musical genres.
** Bill, in hiring new DJs, placed emphasis not only tangible attributes
(e.g. musical knowledge) but also intangible ones (e.g. friendliness,
ability/willingness to get along with others). It is a legacy that
lasts to this day. Unlike many college radio stations where there is much
backbiting and political maneuvering on a regular basis, WXYC has largely
managed to avoid much of that over the last decade.
** Bill consistently made an effort to ensure that the DJ staff was made
up of an equal number of members of both genders.
** Long after his tenure as WXYC station manager, Bill remains an
important presence at the station, yet he is careful to avoid casting any
shadow on the current (essentially all-student) management team. He
quietly performs thankless tasks such as reviewing records and
filing/cataloguing new acquisitions in the station's library. In recent
years he has served as chair of the board that holds WXYC's FCC license
and his legal background has been invaluable, especially as he remains
involved in behind-the-scenes efforts to find a way to increase WXYC's
signal, at some point in the future.
Having said all that, I must note how disingenous Glenn was in studiously
avoiding any mention of his own involvement in the WXYC legacy. The
reasons that WXYC won that Gavin award are plentiful, but many of them
can be traced back to Glenn Boothe. In 1988-90, a period during which Todd
Morman was WXYC Station Manager and Glenn was Music Director, a quiet,
but important, revolution took place. Meat was placed on the bones of
the skeletal rhetorical framework created by Bill, as genres of music
previously never heard on WXYC (and in fact officially discouraged) began
showing up with some regularity on WXYC's playlist. Most prominent among
these was Hip Hop, a favorite music of Glenn's. Also, as Music Director,
Glenn instituted innovations in the station's playbox (new release
rotation) that remain to this day, creating mechanisms for DJ choice and DJ
feedback, thus changing the nature of the MD position from that of an
enlightened dictator to a more democratic coordinator. Glenn also
single-handedly changed WXYC's attitude toward local music 180 degrees.
Before Glenn, many of us at WXYC saw local music as something we had to
put up with; we only played local music sparingly and more out of
obligation than out of excitement. Glenn saw local music and local bands
as worthy of championing. He created (and chose the name for) the
Backyard Barbecue, the Sunday night local music program that still
exists. Just before he moved from Chapel Hill he was active in getting the
ball rolling in setting up weekly WXYC-sponsored local rock shows, at a
time when the club climate was not as hospitable for up-and-comers as it is
now. If you believe that WXYC has anything to do with the current
strength of the "local music scene", you have one man to thank: Glenn
Boothe. The night before Glenn moved to New York City, there was a
surprise party held for him at the Cat's Cradle. As I recall, members of
such bands as (super)Chunk and Zen Frisbee played. A bunch of us were
there. It was a well-deserved tribute. This guy was loved.
It was a real treat to see him post to this group.
Jeff Robins
Greg Humphreys
role in encouraging local music in the late 80s. He helped my band Dillon
Fence and countless other groups get their first gigs, airplay, and
general feeling that someone else was actually listening to their
music. He helped us and other bands (like the Popes) to put out our own
records and was supportive of all different genres of local music, an
ideal worthy of admiration and emulation, IMHO.
Greg Glenn booked us into the Streetscene, a club for teens under Franklin
St. Post Office Humphreys
INNSEE
hank you so much for the kind words....it was really moving.
I also appreciate the time you spent putting that posting together. It
was well thought out and well presented....not to mention that it brought
back such great memories. WOW!
While we're on the topic of XYC...
One more thing (that I didn't mention in my previous posting) that sets
the station apart from other colleges' is the sense of pride that WXYC
carries. That alone makes the station very special. It seems that WXYC
has never had the type of problems that always plague
other college stations (ie: theft problems, bad DJ's, etc). That can be
attributed
to the consistent flow of strong (and very knowledgable) leadership in
the station manager/music director roles. But what really sets WXYC apart
is the
fact that there have always been people on the staff like Jeff Robins,
Carrie McLaren, Pat Johnson (and so many more) that never really held an
authority position at the station yet were equally devoted to the stations
success as those who did. That is, indeed, a trait shared with few other
stations.
One visit to a CMJ convention will make you realize how amazing WXYC is
(and why I'm proud that the tradition has continued after all these
years).
Stay in touch,
Glenn