There is a kind of archetypal image in American culture, of the young teenager, hidden in their room with a battery-powered transistor radio, listening to music that was very, very different from what they heard in their parent’s home. People who grew up in the fifties still recall how hearing Little Richard or Elvis opened up for them a new world (for good or ill).
I still have a vivid memory of hearing Paul McCartney and Wings’ "Jet" on a similar little radio and thinking that my life had changed forever. Having grown up on Hank Williams, church music and Broadway tunes, hearing the Beatles or Stevie Wonder simply was a whole ‘nother universe. It was much more than music, it was the common culture of my generation. Listening to American Top Forty on Sunday afternoons was like picking up a secret signal from Underground Command Central.
But The Rock and Roll became big business and listening to the radio inevitably became boring. ClearChannel is, for me, sure proof of the second law of thermodynamics; the universe is destined to dissipate and run down, becoming a thinly dispersed, dark cloud of matter at a uniform temperature just above absolute zero (unless Jesus comes back!).
So it was kind of cool to find myself delicately twiddling with the nobs on my radio tuner at home, the other day, patiently trying to pull in the weak signal of a new Catholic station in our area. It reminded me of how I had to finesse that old transistor to try and get my favorite AM station as a kid.
Relevant Radio is a growing network of Catholic stations across the U.S., carrying Catholic talk programming. Radio worth listening to! It’s like Underground Command Central all over again, but without the acne.
We are blessed to have a parishoner who leaped out in faith and got the station (KDUA – 96.5 FM) up and running. They broadcast from our parish hall (Rogers, Arkansas) and have only a few precious watts of signal power, but have plans to beef up in the future.
In the mean time, I get to hear faithful Catholic programs, including Fr. John "Tell It Like It Is" Corapi and Catholic Answers Live!, which frequently features our favorite apologist, Jimmy "Not Bad for a Texan" Akin. The static, for the time being, just adds to the counter-cultural thrill.
You can find out more about Relevant Radio at their WEBSITE, including broadcast schedules and locations.
Start praying! Maybe Relevant Radio will come to your area, too.
Relevant radio is great. You just have to love a radio station that plays Bishop Fulton Sheen every night at nine. Check out 100.1FM in the Milwaukee/Green Bay area.
Immaculate Heart Radio just opened up for a few days (now I think its closed down again, not sure) here in Albuquerque (98.9FM) I don’t think its related to Relevant Radio, but it has similar programming.
http://www.ihradio.com
Scott, I need to consult you on radio equipment. 100.1 can be heard up to about Sheboygan and in most parts of Milwaukee. May I suggest 1050 AM for the Green Bay listeners? 😉
“hidden in their room with a battery-powered transistor radio”
How last century!
My bad MZ. Drew Mariani always talks about Green Bay so I thought they broadcasted from somewhere near that area. As poor as my reception can get in Milwaukee I thought they were farther away.
Tim,
Elvis Costello reference in the title?
ScottD,
820AM does have a few local(Chicago) shows thrown in, but it is still relevant radio. They are a daylight only station, but most of the time you can get that in better than 100.1. I believe they only lease the 820AM during the week too. Anyhow, give it a try, and you should like the result.
As far as locations go:
100.1 broadcasts out of Port Washington. (My old home)
Relevant Radio studios are in Green Bay.
Relevant Radio corporate if I remember right is in Brookfield.
Yay – RR is expanding again! Good news for me, as I sit across the pond as a “homeless” American student in France on my way to Rome (I pray for the day when something like Relevant Radio inspires the people over here)… one of the things I miss dearly already (after only a month over here in the Old World) is being able to listen to RR whenever I want. In the Twin Cities, catch it on 1330AM, day or night.
If you don’t have a RR (or even a Catholic) station in your area, do like us expats do and listen online at http://www.relevantradio.com
+St. Therese, pray for Europe!
+Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for New Orleans!
Ryan C-
I was hoping somebody would catch the Elvis Costello reference. I’m not what you would call a fan, but he has some catchy tunes there.
Immaculate Heart Radio started in my area (Reno, NV) and has grown like crazy. God bless Catholic radio!
Unfortunately, I find myself right outside the range of two stations–the Twin Cities MN affiliate and the LaCrosse WI one. I do listen to them fairly often when I’m in range, though.
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