Commercial broadcasters represented by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) dropped their opposition to the new act, in part due to their new president, Gordon Smith, who envisioned  LPFM stations as allies and not as threats. In the Seacoast we have seen how WSCA-LP has contributed to the fabric of our vibrant community and now many more communities will have the opportunity apply for a LPFM license. If you know of a community, maybe your home town, that could be enriched by having a LPFM station, encourage them to start organizing. 

More information about how to apply for a LPFM license is available at Prometheus Radio and  fcc.gov/mb/audio/lpfm/index.html .

Radio junkie just says no to CDs
John Scavo presents ‘Scratchy 45′s and Beyond’ on WSCA

 By Jeanné McCartin
features@seacoastonline.com
January 29, 2011 2:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH — Lines like, “Where did you find that?” “Wow! Haven’t heard that one in a long time!.” These exclamations are music to John Scavo’s ears. So is the ’60s through ’80s pop music he spins on “Scratchy 45′s and Beyond” on WSCA-FM 106.1, Portsmouth Community Radio.

Scavo, or “Supersport,” as he’s known on his show, is a fan of it all, luring others to music, listening to music, spinning actual vinyl and doing it on a community radio station. He was involved early in the

“Even in Boston, we were losing that local touch, what I’d grown up with,” he said. “I didn’t lead the campaign, it was out of California when I got involved. But I got in early.”

He’d always been a “very, very big” fan of local radio. “And before that of broadcasting itself. I’d always wanted to be a DJ or be involved with radio,” said Scavo, whose day job is operation manager for Philips Health Care. “Basically, you can call me a radio junkie.”

He settled in York, Maine, about eight years back after deciding it was time to “visit the city not live in it,” and found his way to WSCA in 2009. He arrived with credentials. Back in Boston, Scavo had founded EB, a “micro flea power” few-blocks-wide station in East Boston, “the best rock on the block.” He built its equipment, produced the shows, went on the air in ’95 and took it to the Web in ’98.

He launched “Scratchy 45′s and Beyond” just short of a year ago.

“What I brought to WSCA is what you couldn’t hear on the radio in this area. Most stations weren’t playing hits from the ’60s through the ’80s — pop music. They had, but it faded away,” he said. “I grew up with the big radio top 40s. I just took that and brought it here for a two-hour show.”

“Scratchy,” which runs Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon and generally takes four hours to prepare for weekly, is “somewhat of a trivia show,” he said. In addition to playing the rarely heard oldies, he talks music: maybe obscure facts about the tune, the artist or placing the work into the context of its era. “A lot of it I have up in my head, I was a groupie of music growing up. I also do research …; using books and the Internet.”

Scavo nearly always spins originals, a combination of 45s “with big hole in the middle,” and albums. Only rarely does he throw on a CD.

The vinyls come from his private collection. “I want to say I probably have about 1,000 to 1,500 albums, and 800 or 900 45s.”

Scavo referred to his “Scratchy” as the fastest show on air. Today’s tunes generally run four to seven minutes. Those he features average two to three minutes, making for a lot of turntable action.

“It’s what I love to do. I could easily put my music on a CD; I have a home studio. But that takes the fun out of it. I love the pressure of the timing; love using the turntables. To others, it looks like I’m a chicken with my head cut off, but I’m having a blast,” he said. “I want to take it off the vinyl. It’s part of me — the geeky side.”

In addition to the spin, there’s the usual bits of radio business, such as logging in each tune as required by licensing and online for webstream listeners — a bit more busy-work when playing shorts, he noted.

In addition to music there are the chats with and about callers, not to mention with the occasional guest. Last Saturday he gave a shout out to a few regular listeners who were having birthdays that week.

He was joined that day by Shawn Henderson, another WSCA DJ ,and Gary Lowe, a member and former WSCA DJ, now with WUNH. They all chatted with musician Jeannie Daniels, who called in to answer a question posed on the show regarding her upcoming benefit concert for WSCA. “It’s not just about playing music but making sure the local culture is coming across as well.”

“I really love to bring back and present the localism, if you will, of the station I’m working for, in this case the Portsmouth and Seacoast area.”

Perhaps one of the more unique elements of Scavo’s show is the jingles — yes, the jingles, with their familiar tunes and slightly corny, fun lyrics

“I grew up in that environment as people in my age did, hearing jingles,” Scavo said.

Scavo had the jingles crafted by JAM, a top, national jingle company in Texas — yes there is such a thing. Scavo wrote the lyrics and chose the bed (tune) from their catalog and had them customize a few. “So, people from day one have certainly noticed …; Most the initial calls said ‘you sound like a real radio show now,” he said, laughing. “Many listeners can relate, they remember.”

Finding WSCA was a dream come true, right up there with launching “Scratchy,” Scavo said.

“I have the utmost respect for Tim Stone and his crew that got this off the ground and Portsmouth for keeping it going,” he said. “I love this place, love this area. I love listening to the station and living here, and having York Beach in my back yard.”

… what recent mp3 files were available for Portsmouth at Large, you would click on the the link in the menu above and a submenu similar to the one below will open. 

              
If you left click one of the mp3 files for a particular date, the file will stream and play on your default media player. If you right click, you can then choose to download the file and save it on your computer.

If you wanted to access an older program, say one from 2010 or earlier (if available), scroll to the bottom of the page to locate the link Technical Index.  Click on the link and an Index of Audio Files will open giving you access to older material listed in folders by program titles, often with initials denoting the names of individual programs.

If you look at the original Archive menu at the top of this section and imagine that you selected Hourly Recordings, you would see a menu like this…

This menu shows the date and time (in 24 hour format) for every hour of a broadcast day.  Simply left click and the program that was aired on that date and time will stream to your computer and will be heard through your default media player.  If you right click, you can choose to download the mp3 file and save it to your computer.

The Hourly Recordings will allow you to access musical programming as well as our public affairs and cultural shows. However, in addition to the date, you will need to know the time of day the show you are looking for was aired.  Time information can be found on our PDF Program Schedule here or at the top of our main page at www.wscafm.org under Programming and Events.

Often, Steve adds even more spice to the show, featuring a special artist or band or a particular musical theme.

On other Monday nights, Jean Gagne and Larry Newman (“LJ Delta”) alternate hosting duties on Under the Radar.  But the first Monday of each month is devoted to Big Band Mondays.  Don’t miss it.