When WWCF began operation, one of our central goals was to provide a radio experience akin to that of WHFS 102.3 FM out of Bethesda, Maryland, which we were devoted fans of back in the day (when it was “a good place to hang your ears.”) We certainly weren’t the only fans of “HFS,” and there’s a documentary celebrating the station’s pioneering progressive era available through PBS.

Fans of Bethesda’s beloved and influential free-form progressive rock radio station, WHFS-FM 102.3, will be able to see what they were hearing when regional PBS station WETA broadcasts the feature-length documentary Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM multiple times in mid-September.

The documentary is scheduled to premiere at 9 p.m. Sept. 14 and will be available to stream for free that day on the PBS app, according to WETA. It is also set to air at 2 p.m. Sept. 15, 9 p.m. Sept. 16 and 3 p.m. Sept. 17. Early streaming access on the PBS app with WETA Passport begins Sept. 1 . 

The film follows the station through the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s and includes new interviews with local and national musicians, fans and record executives detailing the influence of the station, which went off the air in Bethesda in 1983. It will also air on the WETA Passport streaming library and will be available on-demand on the PBS Video App.

Special Programs This Week (May 13, 2024) on Global Village

5/13/24 – Stevie Wonder Birthday Special – 9 pm

5/15/24 – Brian Eno Special – 9 pm

5/19/24 – Taj Mahal Birthday Special (2 days after his birthday) – 11 am 

Tonight at 7pm, Stuck in the Psychedelic Era takes a look at Bear’s Sonic Journals. Owsley Stanley, known as Bear to his friends, was constantly looking for ways to improve his skills as a live sound man for the Grateful Dead and other San Francisco bands. Starting around 1966, Bear began taping every performance he did sound on, listening back to what he called his “sonic journals’ in order to critique his own work, often in the company of the performers themselves. Over a period of about 15 years Bear managed to accumulate in excess of 1,300 reels of live performances in a variety of venues, including the legendary Carousel Ballroom (later known as the Fillmore West) and it’s New York counterpart, the Fillmore East.

Since Bear’s death in 2011, his family and friends formed the Owsley Stanley Foundation to preserve and, when necessary, restore these Sonic Journals. To finance the project, the Foundation has released a series of CDs featuring a variety of artists ranging from Johnny Cash to the Allman Brothers Band.

This week, we present excerpts from some of these CDs, including an extended look at the latest release of the Bear’s Sonic Journals: Sing Out, a benefit concert recorded on April 25, 1981 at the Berkeley Community Theater, with additional commentary from Hawk Semins, one of the founders of the Owsley Stanley Foundation. For the first hour, the emphasis is on album tracks, with a couple of singles tossed in for good measure. It all begins with an “impossible” battle of the bands featuring one group that stopped doing live performances around the same time as the other was being formed.

See thehermitrambles.blogspot.com for a complete playlist.

This Giving Tuesday, consider supporting WWCF Radio with a donation that allows us to continue providing all of our listeners with a quality radio experience. Your donation assists in providing WWCF with the necessary funds to continue operating and incrementally improving the station in addition of lessening the financial burden of maintaining the station out of our own pocket.

Visit our donate page to make your contribution online. WWCF is a registered non-profit (501c3) organization, so any donation you make is eligible to be tax-deductible. Also check out our contact page for our mailing address if you would rather donate via check.

To those who have previously donated and to any first-time donors, thank you. A lot goes on behind the scenes and your generosity keeps the station alive and the music coming.