Fall Semester is in full motion! We had a great turn out at Student Activities Fair which translates to a heap of new djs! Our meetings were well attended and now we are pairing new djs with seasoned ones for training. Keep listening as our airwaves become alive with the Voices of Dickinson College!
Last spring, WDCV was busier than ever. Here’s what we were up to!
Last Open Mic, attendance exceeded capacity. So we listened to Dickinson students’ cry for more live music.
The Open Mic showcased the many musical talents of Dickinson students and shared the love of live music. We had one of our biggest turnouts yet!
Open Mic February 2023 in Allison Community Room
WDCV partnered with Jam Space and held a Battle of the Bands in Allison Hall.
Both student and Carlisle community bands battled it out for the winning prize of opening for the WDCV/MOB Spring Concert, chosen by Dickinson faculty as judges.
Battle of the Bands 2023 Contestants
The night’s winner, High Street, impressed the judges and was crowned the openers for the 2023 Spring Concert.
WDCV Exec 2023 at BOTB
BOTB Judges getting pumped for the acts!
After a long year filled with music, friends, and fun, WDCV was named Student Group of the Year for all their hard work in creating a community of music and college radio lovers.
WDCV Exec and DJs receiving Student Group of the Year award!
Go WDCV FM!
Boyscott, Another Micheal, and Battle of the Bands winner, High Street, played at the WDCV/MOB Spring Concert on Britton Plaza!
Though there was a bit of the rain, Exec, DJs, and friends danced in the rain to some good tunes.
Boyscott on Britton Plaza- Spring Concert 2023
Boyscott on Britton Plaza Spring Concert 2023
Another Michael on Britton Plaza- Spring Concert 2023
High Street on Britton Plaza – Spring Concert 2023
High Street on Britton Plaza – Spring Concert 2023
We are already thinking about Halloween. It’s never to early to get inspired. We realized we did’t post all of our old entries into the Halloween Parade here so here’s a quick recap. Want to part of it this year? You don’t have to be part of WDCV, just have the spirit of Halloween move you and join in our fun. We don’t have a theme yet this year. Inspire us!
Every so often the Pop Up Record Shop appears in the HUB and it is a sight of beauty for all music lovers. But it didn’t just happen. It was planned. Curated. WDCV has made a years long bond and connection with our friend Dennis to bring music to the Dickinson masses. But here is how it all came to be.
Our WDCV’s advisor’s husband found a yard sale off the beaten path that was something from a strange fairy tale. An abandoned fake western town on the outskirts of Carlisle repurposed to hold old store fixtures, hundreds of mannequins, and records. Thousands and thousands of records. Bizarre. Beautiful.
August 2014:WDCV partners with the Media Center for a Pre-Orientation program. Carlisle Uncut: Stories off the Beaten Path was a series of stories produced by first year students during the Campus Media Pre-Orientation program. 10 students arrived on a Sunday, interviewed people on Monday, edited on a Tuesday and aired their stories on WDCV by Wednesday morning. It was a fast paced introduction to audio journalism, storytelling and learning about their new home of Carlisle through the eyes of the individuals who live here. WDCV set up 5 stories that we thought needed to be told and set these students out on adventures. One story took them to an abandoned fake western town on the outskirts of Carlisle….
Have you ever stumbled upon a business, house or some other strange place that makes you ponder, “how did I not know this place existed before?”. Carlisle has a few of these and one of them is a strange wonderland filled with thousands of records, mannequins and store fixtures for sale in an abandoned fake old western town. It sounds too strange to be true, but that’s what makes this such a great story.
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Every great event starts as a great idea. In the fall of 2015 we started planning an event for College Radio Day. College Radio Day was a recent celebration that started in 2011 because many colleges, especially ones in larger metropolitan areas, found that in the budget crunch after the 2008 recession they could make a quick dollar by selling their off their radio license. Internet radio is not the same and to have an educational radio license is something we all need to cherish. One of our execs, Nicholas Gabuzda ’18, pondered how we could get more folks to buy records since Carlisle didn’t have a shop and he remembered our podcast about Dennis. What if Dennis could bring some of his inventory to us? What if WE could be the record store….for just one day? BEHOLD! The Pop-Up Record Shop was born!
We found that people were ravenous about vinyl so Dennis started returning every few months. The first two shops were able to set up upstairs by the Social Hall and it was a perfect spot that we miss.
WDCV wanted to see where the magic happens….so on a COLD November day, we trekked out to Dennis’ secret lair and it didn’t disappoint.
Sure, you can find Dennis and his crates of magical records on campus every semester but you can also find his treasures downtown at the Carlisle Antique Mall and Miss Ruth’s Time Bomb! He vends at the Carlisle Car Shows every summer and Bluegrass on the Grass every July (put on my WDCV’s retired advisor and DJ Davis Tracy!).
But we love to see him here and we hope to see YOU at our next Pop up Record Shop!
WDCV is ranked #22 in the Princeton Reviews “Best College Radio Station” 2022 list!
This past week one of our Exec members was reading the Princeton Review’s “Best College Radio Stations” list and WDCV made the cut! We were ranked #22 out of 338 other colleges and we couldn’t be happier. Thanks to our DJs, our exec staff, our advisor, and tech manager for keeping WDCV great!
And of course thanks to our listeners for believing in the wonder and joy of college radio. We’ve been here for 60 years, here’s to 60 more!
WDCV 24 Hours Live – December 2022
As the end semester rolled around WDCV couldn’t forget to host our 24 Hours Live! While our station already always plays music on the air 24 hours a day, last Saturday from midnight Friday to midnight Saturday we had a DJ hosting each hour of the day. Our DJs hosted political and miscellaneous talk shows and of course their usual great taste in tunes.
You know it was good if Nicki was there (Emily and Nicki are close friends).
Jam Space members of “Green Tangerine” playing at Open Mic [Emilio Gurany (’25), Owen Degenhard (’25), Nate Valleau (’25), & Matt Turk (’23)]!
Allan Farfan Canales (’23) rapping his self-produced music
WDCV is all about promoting local, underrepresented music and art, Open Mic was the perfect opportunity to bring that to the community! Some of the performers shared original pieces with the audience. Musicians Zuzu Black (’25), Allan Farfan Canales (’23), and Benjamin Fox (’26) all played original songs and the crowd loved their creations! Pia Mancini (’25) also read an original poem, and her passionate reading really resonated with the audience.
Venus Bhatt (’24) and Swarnim Bade Shrestha (’26) sang “Take Me To Church” by Hozier
We’re in the process of getting some of our performers’ original works into our Heavy Rotation, look out for their stuff on the air! And a special thank you to our Technical Production Manager, Vivika Garrett, for setting up and managing the tech stuff for the entire event.
Benjamin Fox (’26) performed an original song
Last night, CMC Nashville, TN. put on an awesome show! The organization is a ‘study abroad’ program that teaches students for a semester all the details of putting on a show: set up, technical production, choreography, songwriting, etc. Their final exam is going on tour around the U.S., and one of their stops this year was Dickinson!
Each performance featured a lead singer, guitarist, bassist, backup singers, keyboardist, and drummer; and some acts included trumpets and trombones. Every part of each of the dozen acts were completely original and created by the students themselves.
The concert had all different genres: punk, pop, indie, metal, rap, and others! There was something for everyone to enjoy. The students put on amazing performances and our DJs and the audience loved it. We hope to see them again next year (or even next semester…).
CMC Nashville & WDCV Exec
This past week, October 26th, WDCV walked in Carlisle’s annual Halloween parade! Our theme was Favorite Artists. How’d we do?
Original WDCV 640 AM Sign
Our lovely radio station was founded in 1959. The 60s, the radio’s baby years on the air, had a few hiccups with DJs being locked out and having to climb through windows to get to their show on time or the station being absolved, but we’ve persevered (Woohoo!). Our station’s original members shared their stories of dedication to the radio, where some admitted they may have become addicted to the radio (I mean, who wouldn’t be?) and others traveled to DC to report on the MLK Jr.! The “egg crate capital of the world”, as Michael Conrad ’68 calls it, holds a special place in our 60s alums’ hearts who were among the first to bring WDCV to life!
Thanks to all the alums who shared their stories!
Bernard Jay Adler ‘66, Alan Bronstein ‘66
Joel Korin ‘67
Steve Mortimer ‘68, Steve Myers ‘68, Michael Conrad ‘68, Tom Hoffman ‘68, Paul H. Silverman ‘68
Thomas Walters ‘69, Richard A. Kolb ‘69
“Played classical music and mainly read album covers relating to the composer in by best FM voice. Occasionally I would play a Broadway show album (I went on to a thirty-three year career as a Broadway production stage manager.)”
“The studio was lined with egg cartons. The equipment usually worked. I verified an audience of one – my girlfriend – Elizabeth Lane.”
“Best of luck to current and future Dickinsonians who are priviledged to intone, ‘THIS IS WDCV, THE VOICE OF DICKINSON COLLEGE IN CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA!’”
WDCV Glossary of Terms
“I started in ’63. When the station moved out of Bosler(?) into the new HUB, I was elected as program mgr.”
“The big memory is the transition from an attic room with walls covered in cardboard egg crates to provide some sound deadening into a beautiful properly soundproofed studio with office and storage space in the lower level of the student union right by the spiral staircase.
I came to appreciate the homier, warmer feel of the attic location though. It also had a more “piraty” feel to it.
I dropped out for a semester to get my head together . . . and when I came back I had to leave WDCV out of my extra-curricular activities. Something had to go in order for me to actually graduate. I was busy enough with Mermaid Players, being photo editor of the D’sonian, and a student rep on the Omnibus D’Arts committee.
Oh, one thing that I really appreciated was learning how all those DJs in every town seem to be buddies with all those music legends. I used the recorded interviews we received on reel-to-reel tapes a lot. I’m sure you still get those (downloadable at this point in time, I’m sure), the DJ is given a script with questions and the answers are by the celeb on the sound track. We can all sound like we’re “one of the in crowd.” I’d never seen those when I was working at WPEN in Philly during high school.”
“Bosler(?) on the SE corner of Louther and College. then it moved to the HUB by the spiral stairway.”
“1. I think that college radio stations can fill a slot not filled by commercial stations. Good examples are the stations at UPenn and Temple. Those, tho, have become less student run and more professional.
“I loved that part of my life and would love to do it again. Some of that rubbed off on my favorite student, who then went on to Villanova and had her own show on their radio station.”
December 1, 1967- Dickinsonian Meets WDCV Next Week On Gridiron in 195th Annual Classic
“Soul Joel Show Tuesday nights 10 to midnight”
“1963-64, At the old Music Building (now a cafe).The studio was upstairs. Egg crates served as acoustical tile. My first year Steve Fishman and I had a show together.”
“On the air I endorsed a fraternity brother who was running for Student Senate Office. The next morning at breakfast. WDCV was playing in the dining hall, About every 10 minutes someone from the station would come on and denounce my remarks.
On my last show, two senior women came to the studio and danced during the whole show, Someone also recorded my last show on a reel to reel tape.”
“Freshman year, 63-64 in the Music Building. In September 64, the HUB opened and the studio moved to the basement.”
Pics of the Station ’68 (shared by Michael Conrad ’68)
“I started in 1967 with a Friday evening slot. I played contemporary R&R and some selected oldies. I guess I called it the Steve Mortimer show for want of a more creative name. In 1968 I got one of the coveted noon time slots. The station was broadcast into the dining hall at that time… very cool”
“Just a humble DJ”
“I used to insert cartoon voices that were on a tape in the middle of some songs and probably got carried away with it. Sometimes students from the college and even from town would call in and make requests for their favorite tunes. We had a news feed in on the hour and I never got the hang of cutting to it correctly. It was alot of fun and the music at the time was a mix of “soul” and the newer psychedelic stuff”
“The station was in the Union basement where the quick stop store is now”
“It’s VERY important as a connection with the larger music and cultural world”
“For a geeky kid like me, it was an opportunity to express myself and the music that I loved and still do.”
Pics of the Station ’68 (shared by Michael Conrad ’68)
“’64 – ’68 DJ/news announcer
’66 – ’68 Manager – station shifted from phone line broadcast repeaters in dorms to lo-power FM”
“Moving the station into HUB (what a goat rope) and during slow hours (past midnight, for example) some DJ’s would dial an operator, say, in California and ‘build’ his/her program around chats with her”
“In 1964-65, studio was in the attic of a former fraternity house behind Althouse Science Bldg. Moved to HUB in 1965”
“Aside from obvious reasons, press freedom needs to be robust – an make government a bit afraid of it. Radio has both a technical and an arts face, making it fit nicely into a liberal arts college environment. Good on Dson for holding on to its call letters!”
Michael Conrad ’68
“Initially, I did a show called “The Jazz Sound” for a couple hours on Friday nights. When the station moved into new facilities next to the student store in the HUB I continued playing “middle of the road” music several times a week. Eventually, during my last year and a half, the station went to a complete top 40 format and I became a “rock jock.” This last experience served me well as I went on to other radio stations.”
Michael Conrad ’68
“To my detriment, I got involved with the station shortly after arriving on campus in 1964. From late 1966 through graduation in 1968, I was chief engineer and jocked throughout the week. As if that wasn’t enough, I also did play by play for Dickinson Basketball home and away games. My association with the station became so extensive that it impacted my academics and I nearly flunked out.”
“During my four years at Dickinson, DCV was a “carrier current” operation. That meant that an AM signal was fed into the electric cirsuitry in the dorms. The signal was supposed to be confined to each building. IT WASN’T! When all the dorms were wired up, our signal was so strong that it could be heard all over town. We didn’t care. It actually got to the point where stores were playing us in both malls. We loved it. Ultimately, this gross over-extension of our signal led to the station being sited by the FCC and shut down in 1969.”
Michael Conrad ’68
“Initially, the studios (or should I say studio) nicknamed the “egg crate capital of the world” were located on the top floor of a small home behind Althouse. “Egg crate” because acoustics were controlled by egg cartons glued to the walls.In 1965, the station re-located to a four room complex next to the student store in the HUB.”
“For me, college radio was extremely important as a platform from which I was able to learn enough about broadcasting to launch a part-time career which I still pursue to this day.”
“BE CAREFUL! Radio is addictive. If you are not cautious, it can sink your academics which is the real reason that you (your parents) are paying all that money to be a Dickinson student.
Have fun!!”
DJ in the Station ’68 (shared by Michael Conrad ’68)
“My first slot was on Sunday mornings. Someone was supposed to unlock the building so I could get in. If they didn’t do that, you had to climb up on the roof and get into the “studio” through an unlocked window. That got trickier in the winter.”
“Well, it was important to me. In fact, in was indirectly responsible for my career in the energy industry.”
Pics of the Station ’68 (shared by Michael Conrad ’68)
“1. In the beginning we broadcast from the second floor of the old music house. It was in the shape of a castle turret, low ceiling, tight fit, one room, called the “Egg crate capitol” of D’son because the ceiling and walls were covered with throw away egg-crates that were our version of sound baffles to quiet the room. It was a one man operation. The DJ did the sound check, Qued the record, and worked the per-recorded adverts and public announcement. That was pioneering. When we move to the newly built Holland Union, ground level, it was a new era. The DJ and the sound technician in two rooms with glass partition.
“The second floor of the music building which just a bare stone faced house with a second floor in the shape of a round turret. When completed, moved to lower level Holland Union which was considered spacious and state of the art audo broadcasting for our size college.”
“My radio show certainly was a plus to my personal growth. The show called upon me to take responsibility for every word I spoke, to control my time, to enlarge my vocabulary, to learn how to project my voice, to work with others.”
November 14, 1969- WDCV Absolved
“I held many slots over my four years. As program director if somebody couldn’t do their show I had to either find a replacement or do the show myself. My favorite time was 8PM to 10PM however.”
“Disc Jockey 1965-66
Executive Board 1966-69
Program Director part of 1966-67
Program Director 1967-68
Program Director 1968-69”
March 7th, 1969- Martha and the Vandellas to Play in Holland Union Building
“The 1969 Micrcosm suggests that I graduated with a degree in economics, but in reality I spent more time at WDCV in my four years than I did with my major, so I always felt that I majored in radio and minored in economics. I did go on to law school and have been practicing law for about forty years now, but my experience in managing the radio station in those years was an invaluable experiece that I could never duplicate. The years 1965-69 were an incredible time to be a college student and had to be four of the most turbulent years for our nation and it was equally significant for the growth of the radio station. Prior to 1966 it was difficult to muster enough people to participate in the station but by 1969 there were was a waiting list. This was in large part due to the relocation to the HUB coupled with a group of students who truly wanted to see the radio station become a successful part of the campus community. During that period we added hourly newscasts with both national and local news, added “wire services” for more news, started broadcasting home and away games for both football and basketball, and added a “record” subscription service from the major record companies for promoting all of the popular music. We patterned our operation after other “Top 40” radio stations from Philadelphia and New York that were popular at the time and later added “progressive rock” shows as musical tastes changed. I’ve got alot of memories about my involvement at the station including the death of MLK, the allnight broadcast of the 1968 elections, and some of our failed attempts to cover live student demonstrations and some sporting events but this may be more information than you really need. Thanks for reaching out to me on this and if I can be of any help let me know.”
“The station moved to the HUB in early 1966. Prior to that it was located across the street in the old religion building.”
March 13th, 1969- Focht To Give WDCV Countdown: ETV Prepares for ‘Trivia Program’
“Started out on Sat nights with “Easy Lsitening” but later the station went to Top 40 format – did several shows a week at different times”
“Probably the most memorable events occurred in 1968 – the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Presidential election that year. We did all night coverage of election results with the aid of UPI service (now long defunct). My most interesting experience personally was a trip made to Washington DC after the King assassination when there were riots in the Nation’s Capital. I went with Scott Geare, who was then News Director, and we managed to get into the city despite a military quarantine and were even able to attend a press conference held by Cyrus Vance who was appointed by the White House to oversee the restoration of peace and reforms after the assassination. Quite a time when the city was essentially under marshal law.”
“In the basement of the HUB – there were 2 small studios and a work area. One was used for AM broadcasts and the other for the very beginnings of an FM station.”
“It is a great outlet for learning about the broadcast/media industry. It also provides a source of entertainment for the college community and, I presume, beyond Dickinson itself.”
“I have old tapes (cassettes) of our trip to Washington, DC and the broadcast we did of the King memorial held at the college.”
