The KJHK Story
You are now tuned in to your favorite KU radio station on your FM dial.
This is…
I know what you’re thinking. How did you get to listen to KJHK for the first time on the radio? Well to explain, I’ll tell you.
It all started the first time Stephanie and I were just hanging out together inside the car listening to the radio ready to go places. When we turned on the music when the car started, and suddenly out came KJHK. Ever since we started listening to the radio, we listened to that station all the time before I listened to my favorite radio stations too. It was so authentic and totally independent.
In case you wanna know more, hear this.
KJHK is a campus radio station, located in Lawrence, Kansas at the University of Kansas. On December 3, 1994, the station became one of the first radio stations in the world to broadcast a live and continuous stream over internet radio. It currently broadcasts at 2600 watts, with a broadcast area covering most of northeast Kansas. The station is overseen by the Kansas Memorial Unions but is completely run by KU students. It airs local music, classical music, classic country, jazz, specialty talk shows, world music, and variety shows. Plus, it airs home football, basketball, and baseball games.
So let’s talk about how the radio station got started from back in the day.
Way back KJHK’s roots go back to 1952, when KDGU signed on as a carrier current station on 630 AM. In 1956, it changed its calls to KUOK. Wilt Chamberlain hosted his own show on the station during his days as a KU student. And by the 1970s, the popularity of the station was outgrowing its limited range and on October 5, 1975, the FCC gave final permission to broadcast at 90.7 megahertz, and granted the station the new call letters "KJHK". On October 15, 1975, Steve Doocy played the first song at 12:25 P.M., broadcasting at 9.9 watts. In the 1980s, KJHK was granted a power increase to 100 watts. During the protest in 1988, the University Daily Kansan was telling their side of the story and exposing an overzealous effort to expel the past, successfully forced the journalism faculty to reinstitute the Sound Alternative and the backward K on this pioneering college station's logo and compromised with the faculty in its demand to end the uncontrollable “wide open rock-n-roll prairie” era, of the station, formatting the music programming but mandating that students (not faculty) adopt the alternative formats of their choice. A policy and philosophy that remains in effect today, ensuring the creative progressive legacy that KJHK was founded on and excelled in rather than of the drab commercial sameness found across the rest of the dial. It was a rare victory for student protest anywhere in this world, but not unexpected by rebellious KJHK staff, who were raised on the creative gumption that KJHK. Then on December 3rd, 1994, the station became one of the first in the nation to broadcast a live, 24-hour signal on the internet. In 1995 KJHK changed its tagline from "The Sound Alternative", which it started using in 1976, to "The Hawk", because of alternative’s association with top 40 music. And in the year 2000, it reverted to "The Sound Alternative". The station increased its signal to 2600 watts in 1998. In 2003, after 28 years of supervision, the William Allen White School of Journalism decided that it could no longer support the station's operational budget. However, KU Memorial Unions agreed to take up oversight of the station. KJHK today is funded in-part by the KU Student Senate Media Fee as well as through donations by local businesses and private individuals. In 2005 KJHK celebrated its 30th anniversary by bringing a diverse group of artists to Lawrence such as Mates of State, LCD Soundsystem, and public Enemy’s Chuck D.
And today, the station currently has over 150 student volunteers, and continues with independent music as its charter and format. KJHK has two stipended staffs, Multimedia and Arts & Culture, and seven volunteer staffs. These current staffs are content staff, music staff, live music committee, street team, production, sports, and archive staff. On May 5, 2010, KJHK moved from its longtime home, "The Shack", to newly constructed studios in the Kansas Union. The studios were renovated in January 2017.
One of the first of the songs from this station I heard was a song from Atom and his Package. The song was called “I’m Downright Amazed at What I Can Destroy With Just a Hammer”. And the first time I listened to that song was from a suggestion from my friend Stephanie. I couldn’t believe it when I first heard that track. It was really cool! I’ll never forget my first time I listened to that song.
One of the other artists I listened to on KJHK are Gorillaz, Hot Hot Heat, Karen O and the Kids, Jamiroquai, M.I.A, and Reggie & The Full Effect.
They play a lot of good music here on campus, and that’s really good!
And the best part is, that I’ll never get tired of that. Shout out to the campus radio station, and to Stephanie Harsin.
My favorite part of KJHK is the friendly DJs and the staff here and they play the good local music there. The reason I chose this station is that I can get in touch with the music, and sports, and everything else. Now let’s get to the really good part. Every year, the radio station teams up with SUA to bring you the Farmer’s Ball. What is Farmer’s Ball, you ask? Well, it’s an event that both KJHK and SUA come up with together every year. And this year, it’s at Liberty Hall. According to KJHK’s website, it also says that the semi-finals and finals will be taking place here in April. So next time I’m here, I’ll participate in the Farmer’s Ball in KU. The staff at the station would like to look forward to hearing some music. I sure hope that I can be part of it someday. That’s way in the future, I might be able to come up with a couple ideas of bands, music groups, or rap groups. Like my friend Speed Mack.
When I first lived in Lawrence before Bluffton, I listened to KJHK once ever since I listened to LAZER 105.9, 96.5 The Buzz, Wild 929, Smooth Jazz 106.5 The City, Jack FM, and Mix 93.3. But now that I have yet another radio station to listen to like KJHK, I can enjoy music once again.
I had no idea KJHK can play a lot of good music on campus. And good thing I have free music CDs too. I wish I had the Lorraine Feather ‘Ages’ album again.
Well anyway, if you’d like to talk more about KJHK, let me know and maybe you can help me with some information on the Farmer’s Ball event. Also feel free to send me a special KJHK t-shirt in 3XL size. I wonder if maybe I can join KJHK sometime in the future. And who knows what music I can play next.
Plus if you have any ideas for participating in special KJHK events in downtown Lawrence, let me know. You know how much I enjoy watching battle of the bands at the Lawrence Public Library. And that’s really good music I love listening to.
That’s all for now, I hope that you love my next blog story on KJHK. Have a super great day and I’ll see you next time.
And now, back to the music.
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