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WKPX

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Coordinates: 26°10′41″N 80°15′22″W / 26.178°N 80.256°W / 26.178; -80.256
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WKPX
Broadcast areaMiami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood
Frequency88.5 MHz
BrandingWKPX
Radio X, "WNSU"
Programming
FormatEducational
Ownership
OwnerBroward County Public Schools
(off-hours programmed by Nova Southeastern University)
History
First air date
1982
Technical information
ClassA
ERP3,000 watts
HAAT30 meters

WKPX (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial educational high school radio station owned and operated by the Broward County Public Schools|Broward District School Board and is located at Piper High School in Sunrise, Florida. The station broadcasts with the talent of students, school days from 7:30 am to 6 pm and also sometimes after school hours. After hours, broadcast students from Nova Southeastern University man the station, under the name Radio X.

HISTORY

WKPX 88.5 FM is a non-commercial, educational high school based radio station owned and operated by the Broward District School Board with studios and transmitters located inside Piper High School, northwest of Fort Lauderdale in Sunrise, Florida.

The station was conceived by Warren Exmore — a child prodigy earning his FCC Engineering license while still a teenager — who served as an electronics and computer instructor at Piper High School. Also instrumental in putting WKPX on the air was its first program director and broadcasting instructor, Sheldon Shores. Exmore and Shores, working with the hard politicking skills of former Piper principal Robert Beale, and a proposed yearly budget of a $120,000, the station had its maiden broadcast on Valentine’s Day 1983.

Several of the station’s students moved onto successful broadcasting and media careers; the most notable being 1992 alumni and production manager of WKPX at the time Michael Biggins (born as Michael Bigansky) who is better known as his actor/artist name Blackout. He was the first FCC licensed under 18 student to be granted a mixed format comedy talk & music show called 'No Class' that took LIVE phone calls with no on air delay. He went on after WKPX to release several albums of crank / prank calls as well as both talent and technical work in radio, TV, music, theater, film, and the internet. He currently runs his own multimedia production company Blackout's Box Studios in New York City and was one of the pioneers in internet streaming and internet radio including being the first person to stream real time audio of a prank call over the internet. Much of his work from his time at WKPX is still popular and circulating today - given away freely on his http://blackout.com website. Blackout / Biggins was heavily involved in the fight to keep WKPX alive and on the air when they were sued by media giant CBS several times over an 8.5 year battle by CBS to attempt to take the high school station down because they claimed it interfered with one of their local conglomerate stations.[1] Other notable alumni's include Linda “Energy” Emery who worked at New York’s “Power 95," as well as South Florida’s WHYI “Y-100” and WBGG “Big 106,” and Steve Robertson, who went onto to work for the defunct South Florida rock station, Miami’s WZTA 94.9 FM “Zeta 4.” He would go onto to become the music director for WJRR in Orlando, Florida.

Inspired by WKPX’s programming philosophy of giving airplay to local unsigned artists, Robertson used the airwaves of WJRR to break three of the top selling alternative rock acts of the early 1990s: 7 Mary 3 (“Cumbersome”), Collective Soul (“Shine”) and Matchbox Twenty (during their days known as “Tabitha’s Secret"). His ability to pick hit bands led to a successful career in A&R with Atlantic Records.

Other station graduates also found success in the acting world: Todd Allen, the host of the chart tracking show “Modern Music Countdown,” became an multiple award winning actor in the South Florida theatre scene, and went on to earn roles in the South Florida based TV Series, “Burn Notice,” “Graceland,” “Magic City” and “The Glades.”

Allen’s classmate Gregg Stewart, the host of “the Alternate Route,” also had a recurring role on “Magic City,” along with roles in “Burn Notice,” “The Glades.”

Flip to Alternative Music

Initially, the station broadcast Top 40 and Classic Rock formats on a 24-Hour schedule from 1983 to 1985. However, staffing a 24-Hour Operation with high school aged students (in the days before computer automation) proved to be difficult, and presented risk management issues to the school board. Another contributing factor in reducing WKPX from a 24-hour operation to a 12-hour operation was to cut the stations operating costs, which threatened to silence the station permanently. Thus, WKPX was successful in petitioning the FCC to broadcast on an sunrise/sunset schedule, usually reserved for AM Radio operations, of 7 A.M to 7 P.M.

However, the weekends still presented staffing difficulties for the station. At the time, Piper High School also served as an Adult Education/Community School, so an Adult Education Program in Radio Broadcast Journalism was developed in 1987 to recruit and train adult aged/college graduates from the community to build a weekend air staff.

It was during this period that Helaine Blum, an English teacher from New York, who also worked as a English instructor at Piper High School, was appointed as the station program director and broadcasting instructor.

During those first night school classes held in mid-1987, Scott David, a rock club disc jockey and record store manager, would became the first graduate of the adult education program to air college/alternative music at the station. The show proved to be popular enough that Helaine Blum flipped the station format to alternative rock music 7 days a week.

In an effort to offer alternative programming heard nowhere else in Broward, she developed early morning specialty block programs on the weekends airing Blues, Jazz, and Reggae, in addition to the immensely popular Wednesday afternoon Heavy Metal program “Overdrive” hosted by Amy Downing, and "The Bump Show," a Rap/Hip-Hop Bass program that aired on Friday afternoons.

In addition to the format flip to alternative, the station began airing unsigned local bands championed by Scott David on his program, “The Alternative Beat.” David is noted as the first DJ to air the music of Marilyn Manson (signed to Interscope) and Collapsing Lungs (signed to Atlantic). Other local bands first aired on WKPX, then signed to major labels, include; Nuclear Valdez (Epic), Mary Karlzen of Vesper Sparrow (Atlantic), For Squirrels (Epic), Saigon Kick (Atlantic; Top Ten hit “Love is on the Way), Manson protégés Jack Off Jill (Risk Records), and the Mavericks.

Geordie White, whose Coral Springs based thrash AmBoog-a-Lard aired on the WKPX hard rock Specialty Shows “Tea Time” with Yvette Lam, “Iron, Led and Steel,” and “Overdrive with Amy Downing,” moved onto a successful career with memberships in Marilyn Manson, The Perfect Circle (fronted by Tool front man Maynard James Keenan), and Nine Inch Nails. White also auditioned for a spot as bassist in Metallica, which is featured in their film, Some Kind of Monster.

1989

The station’s rise in popularity wasn’t without its problems. The first problem arose when broadcasting giant CBS planned to complete their purchase WCIX Channel 6, effectively on January 1, 1989.

It was the contention of CBS that WKPX’s 3,000 watt signal on 88.5 was too close to Channel 6 on the FM band at 87.7, and the radio signal would interfere with the already weak television signal in Broward. This opinion was based on the FCC’s rules that are supposed to keep the low end of the FM band clear in areas that have television channel 6, and that WKPX should have never received its construction/operating permit six years ago, in 1983. As result, WKPX was not able to become a fully licensed facility.

While WKPX and the School Board battled the FCC, the staff of WKPX and the school board administrators had a battle of their own behind the scenes.

As result of the adult education program graduates working as a volunteer staff at the radio station, according to School Board policy, those volunteers needed to be fingerprinted and subjected to background checks for insurance and risk management purposes.

Another issue was the servicing of music to the radio station by record companies.

During the pre-Alterative Music years of the station from 1983 to 1989, the music library was the culmination of records purchased by the station, and the personal collections of the air staff. As result of being the only College Rock/Alternative formatted station in South Florida, records companies sent massive amounts of compact disc, LPs and cassettes for airplay to the specialty show disc jockeys. As result, Piper administrators instituted a tracking system of cataloging and distributing the music sent in among the adult education/weekend specialty show air staff; which required the opening of mail addressed to particular individuals by others. It was the managment's position the music was the property of Piper High School.

The fingerprinting and the opening of mail resulted in an air staff revolt. Scott David, the man responsible for bringing the alternative format to WKPX quit in protest. Then Joe Disano, the host of the techno/rave program “Dance Therapy,” misplayed a song that violated station policy against airing any music with profanity; he was fired. Disano’s firing resulted in his replacement host J.J Cruz going on the air with a highly politicized on-air commentary the following week regarding the changes in station policies; he was fired.

At that point, program director Helaine Blum quit as Program Director, and most of the weekend air staff walked out in solidarity. The disgruntled staff members — along with its listeners and several local bands — began a campaign of protests outside the grounds of the radio station in mid-1990. The station’s music director Rick Myers even went as far to mount an unsuccessful campaign for a seat on the Broward School Board to change the policies affecting the station.

Since the adult educational program classes in broadcast journalism were proving to be more of a determent than a benefit to the station, the night class program was cancelled by Piper Community School. They did however; retain the college rock/alternative format initiated by Scott David and Helaine Blum.

1990

While the weekday high school staffing went through changes as result of graduations; the adult weekend air staff that abided by the new station policies solidified. It was during this period from 1990 to 1997 that WKPX cultivated some of its longest running and best remembered weekend programs and disc jockeys: Yvonne Ortiz’s Techo/rave/avant-garde dance rock program “Beauty of the Beat” (who took over for the fired Joe Disano/JJ Cruz), Keith MacIntosh (who took over Vic Paul’s roots rock/Americana program “Eclectic Embryo,” who quit in protest), R.D.B’s underground punk/noise rock program “Over the Edge” (in place of the departing Chuck Vertuoso’s “One Step Beyond”). New hosts also took over and continued the popular reggae, blues and jazz programs initiated by Blum.

It was during this period that Dar Lopez would begin her reign as WKPX longest running weekend/adult disc jockey, a feat formerly held by Genie White with her punk/new wave oldies program “Saturday Rewind,” which ran for ten years from 1992 to 2002. Prior to Genie White’s successful run, R.D.B served on the air for eight years from 1988 to 1996.

Dar Lopez was hired as the Blues D.J for the station upon the departure of its former host, Steve Robertson, who moved onto successful stints at Miami’s WZTA 94.9 and Orlando’s WJRR 101.1.

Since 1993, WKPX has been the home for “The Sunday Blues with Dar,” a volunteer effort initiated as part of the old adult program of Piper High School. The nationally recognized show is a three hour weekly broadcast that airs Sundays from 10am to 1pm.

1996 and Beyond

In 1996, another set of changes in policy affected the station.

As a series of new administrators were brought in as operational directors for the station, a decision was made to return WKPX to its original mission to being an educational facility; to turn the weekend programming into a continuing educational program for the Piper High School seniors who graduated from the high school based radio journalism program. These changes result in the departures of Yvonne Ortiz, Keith MacIntosh and R.D.B, but the change also brought back the popular hard rock/heavy metal program “Amplified” hosted by Beth Jordan in 1996 – the only show of its kind in South Florida. Between Jordan’s high school years with the program, and her continuing education years, she’s noted as the longest running program/disc jockey cultivated from the high school program.

By 2002, with the rising operating costs of the station, which included a scheduling of substitute teachers as operational supervisors on the weekends, WKPX instituted a cost cutting measure utilized by many stations, both commercial and non-commercial — radio automation. WKPX incorporated the broadcast software, Audiovault, in which the DJ portions were pre-recorded, and the music was played from a broadcast automation computer system. The station also changed its weekend music format to the more popular Alternative and Punk genres.

And with that, the remaining weekend air staff — a few leftovers from the adult educational program and mostly high school graduates — were let go. As result of the impending dismissal of Dar Lopez’s Blues Program, the blues loving community of South Florida pulled together to cover the programs operational costs to keep it on the air. Beth Jordan was also able to raise enough funds to put her show on the web only at amplified-radio.com where it continues to air to this day.

In 2006, radio journalist Micheal Hibblin wrote a print story for the Miami Herald, in addition to producing a radio version for public radio station WLRN 91.3 FM. The report concerns the impending, proposed move of WKPX from its Piper High School location to the McFatter Technical School located in Davie, Florida. The link to the mp3 of the report is available at www.hibblenradio.com.

In 2007, Broward Teen News did a story on WKPX. The video of the news report is available on the web at schooltube.com.

February 14, 2013 marks the stations 30th anniversary as South Florida’s Radio Alternative.

Programming on WKPX included “Not Real,” which focused on alternative rock with comedy; and Halon 121, another long running Heavy Metal program on the air from 1996–2003.

During 2005–2007, WKPX showcased the popular morning show "Breakfast with Frankenstein,” with its refreshing mix of punk, alternative, and comedic sketches.

During the same time, the station was also recognized for their highly popular weekend hip-hop programs which included: “Sichop” and, later, “The Asylum,” hosted by Sydney Crawford, Curtis Steele, and Gerald Dagher. After two sets of graduating classes, and the loss of their popular on-air personalities, WKPX saw a decrease in its hip-hop listeners.

More recently, there were variety shows hosted by the Music Directors of each corresponding year: from 2001 to 2010 - "Noise Pollution" (Punk Variety), 2008 to 2009 - "Special Delivery," and 2008 to 2010 - "Dead Air."

Another popular show airing during the early 1990's was the weekday program "No Class," hosted by Micheal Biggins, known on the air as "Blackout," with his co-host, "Geekhead." Blackout's popularity was fueled by his studio based, Weird Al inspired music projects, Blackout's Box, and the Rooksnitzien Society; the projects produced two of the stations most popular local tunes,"I Ain't Got No Turkey" and "Little Dead Jesus Fish."

Rich Pierce, the first host of the hour long, local rock block program “KPX Goes Local,” went onto become a critically acclaimed guitarist with endorsement deals for Schecter Guitars, Krank Amps , Knucklehead Strings , and Guitar Star Wear. Rich Pierce’s son, Robert (then 6 years old) stars in the video for song “Lunchbox,” from Marilyn Manson first album, “Portrait of an American Family.” Robert also sang on the Manson song, “My Monkey.”

The format of WKPX still varies in music genres. Listeners can request songs at the station's request line which is (754) 322-1818. Currently, WKPX broadcasts with the talent of students, school days from 7:30 am to 6 pm, then from 6 pm to midnight, broadcast students from Nova Southeastern University man the station, under the name “Radio X.”

The Sunday Blues With Dar

Since 1993, WKPX has been the home for The Sunday Blues with Dar, a volunteer effort initiated as part of the adult education program of Piper High School. The nationally recognized show is a 3 hour weekly broadcast. A listener supported program, it airs Sundays from 10am to 1pm in the Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties of Florida through WKPX 88.5 FM and around the globe online at blueatheart.com. The show broadcasts a mix of old, new, acoustic and electric, Delta, Chicago, jump swing, and rockin' blues music, including at least 30 minutes of a local talent showcase every week. Produced and hosted by Darlene "Dar" Lopez, The Sunday Blues With Dar is the longest lasting live show on WKPX.

References

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26°10′41″N 80°15′22″W / 26.178°N 80.256°W / 26.178; -80.256

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