35000 Watts: The Podcast

In this episode, we explore a soon-to-be breakout hit from a Dallas band, a UK #1 that is more performance art than song and an all-time classic from an iconic goth(?) band.

If you listened to a college radio station in the late 1980s, you probably heard at least one of these songs every day. Tune-in as we talk about three bands that helped define college radio and alternative music.

In this episode, we're diving into two of the most influential bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s - Pere Ubu and Joy Division. We're also dipping our toes into some 70s funk with an 80s twist: a cover of Get Down Tonight by Shriekback.

Our exploration of MTV's 120 Minutes continues into the dog days of 1988, featuring a pioneer of electro-pop, an all-time college radio icon and one of our favorite bands of decade.

In July of 1988, 120 Minutes served up a couple of American rock bands with classic videos and one Icelandic pop song with a bit of a dark story hidden in the lyrics.

Buckle up and get ready for possible whiplash as we run the gamut from quiet, contemplative folk to heavy-duty industrial, plus a fun video from an excellent mystery artist.

An eclectic mix of styles from our three choices this week, plus one of the most unlikely mystery bands of all-time just happens to be our mystery video for the month.

Our regular picks are all solid songs, don't get us wrong. But we'd be lying if we said the mystery song wasn't the star of the show this time around. You are definitely going to want to check this one out!

In this episode, we look at some lesser-known artists played on 120 Minutes in March of 1988, including our first "repeat offender". Will Keith be able to bring Scott and Michael over to his side? Tune in to find out!

In this episode, we dip our toes into the playlists of February 1988, where we find one of the architects of "shoegaze", a goth powerhouse and an early '80s classic one-hit wonder.

In this episode, we kick off our tour through 120 Minute's 1988 playlists, starting in January with three amazing artists who each represent a completely different genre of music.

We finish off 1987 with a couple of big name artists in Violent Femmes and The Smiths, along with a track from the unexpected later stage of Wire's excellent catalog.

This episode features a fun mix of styles, from the punk-meets-funk vibe of Fishbone, to the acapella stylings of The Housemartins and finally the lush electro-rock of Depeche Mode...plus a mystery song that you'll just have to hear for yourself.

Host Lisa chats with WUNH-FM alumni Ray Fournier about his time in college radio.

In this episode, we lean away from the more iconic artists on the 120 Minutes playlist and instead land on a couple contenders for "one-hit wonder" status and an influential band who never hit the heights that some of those that borrowed from them did.

Our interview series continues with a conversation between our host, Lisa and Charles Driebe, an alumni of the venerable WTUL-FM 91.5 in New Orleans.

A little something for everyone in this episode of 120 Months, as we talk about early Concrete Blonde, peak New Order and later-stage John Lydon (in the form of Public Image Ltd.).

In this episode of 35000 Watts: The Podcast, host Lisa is chatting with WGSU 89.3FM alumni Joe Lomonaco.

The summer of 1987 draws to a close with a couple of artists who were mainstays on college radio for years, plus a one-hit wonder that is beyond iconic almost forty years after its release.

The original 35000 Watts podcast returns for season 3, and we're coming back with a greater focus on the people who make college radio great. We're kicking off the season by featuring host Lisa Girard's interview with Jonathan Lee, an alumni of WKNS 90.3FM.

For this episode, we're deep in the summer of 1987 and talking about an eclectic group of bands that were all at (or pretty close to) the height of their powers at the time: Black Flag, Nitzer Ebb and R.E.M. 

We're halfway through the year 1987 and in this episode, we dive in to the early years of bands that would go on to bigger and better things as the decade comes to a close.

This week brings us three heavy-hitters from the UK, all of which were massive successes on college radio and gained a fair amount of airplay on the US Pop charts during their career. Plus, we discover a mystery artist with a fairly mysterious sounding song.

Continuing our deep dive into the early years of MTV's 120 Minutes, we revisit three bands that were all staples on college radio in April of 1987.

In the spring of 1987, MTV's 120 Minutes was starting to bring college radio and indie favorites into the mainstream with national TV exposure. This week, we look at three songs that got airplay in March of that year, with a classic '80s track and a couple of iconic college radio bands.