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Friday WPRB DJ Pinup: Scott Lowe!

Years on air: 1985-1991. I was barely in high school when I got the radio bug in 1984 and managed to score a weekly show at another nearby college station, but getting on WPRB became a goal, which happened a year later. I became a volunteer DJ during seasonal breaks, plus emergency fill-ins during the school year. I’m not sure there were any other WPRB DJs as young as I was at the time.  Since then, my professional career in radio has taken me all over from stations in Philly to Los Angeles. I continue to champion new music and push the envelope with the spirit of college radio as my inspiration.

Favorite bands: XTC, The Fall, Let’s Active, Elvis Costello, New Order, Talking Heads and Devo are among my all-time picks.

Memorable on-air moment: At WPRB, I got to interview Martin Atkins (Public Image Ltd./Brian Brain), Dramarama, Salem 66, Chris Hartford and my fellow schoolmates, Dean and Gene Ween before they were signed to a label.  A lesser fond memory would be the cockroaches in the basement of Holder Hall that were the size of your thumb!

Advice for current WPRB DJs: The role of a WPRB DJ is part showbiz.  Remember, when the mic is on, you’re in the spotlight. Be prepared with what you’re going to say and have fun.

Bonus Audio: Here’s a pair of mic breaks from Scott’s show, circa 1987.

 

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LISTEN: Artificial Artifacts cover “Gilligan’s Island”

I started listening to WPRB during the summer of 1985 or 1986. For a misfit kid who’d not yet established a strong sense of self-identity, everything WPRB played at that time seemed utterly revelatory in comparison to the bar-band hokum, limp dance tracks, and horrific hair-metal that populated the corporate airwaves of the day. Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for me to become completely hooked. One of the first bands I associated with the station was a local hardcore act called Artificial Artifacts. They did a ridiculous cover of the Gilligan’s Island theme song, which (I soon discovered) many WPRB programmers were happy to honor requests for. THIS IS THE STORY OF THAT BAND, THAT SONG, AND THE NOW-OBSOLETE TECHNOLOGY NEEDED TO PLAY IT. (As told by Artificial Artifacts member, former WPRB DJ, and noted filmmaker Jeff Feuerzeig.) -Mike Lupica

Glenn Tucker and I were roommates at Trenton State College in 1985 where I was production manager and a DJ at WTSR 91.3 FM doing the Jeff Eph show (also known as “Radio Of The Absurd.”)  [A guy named] Gene was in a hardcore band named Send Help who had a 45 out titled “Buffy’s Dead” on the super cool Long Branch NJ Brighton Bar label Mutha Records owned by a leather and chains biker named Mark “The Mutha” Chesley. This of course spoofed the TV show Family Affair.  Here’s a link to the song and cover art.

John and Dave Tamp, along with Adam Bushman, were friends of Glenn’s from New Brunswick where we used to rehearse in a wild crumbling space owned by the leader of Terry Hughes and the Backyard Party. Terry also hosted Monday night jam sessions at the Court Tavern.

After hearing the Dickies and Circle Jerks do humorous covers and particularly ISM doing the fantastic Partridge Family cover of “I Think I Love You”, we were inspired to tackle Gilligan’s Island which we recorded live to 2 track in some cheap basement studio in Princeton on a reel of used 1/4″ tape from WTSR.

DOWNLOAD or LISTEN: Artificial Artifacts – “Gilligan’s Island”

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