Free-Form AM
When I was young, traveling in the car meant listening to the AM radio built into the dashboard. Perhaps that is why I still enjoy searching out local stations as I drive through different areas of the state and country, and of course my irrational obsession with AM in particular means I occasionally find things others might miss.
Case in point: on a recent trip to Arlington, Virginia right outside of Washington, DC, I started tuning around the AM dial just to see if I could find some music.Â
Boy, did I.
Imagine a station playing Ian Gommâs âHold On,â Five Man Electrical Bandâs âSigns,â Larry Darnells âOh, Babe!,â Cyndi Lauperâs âShe Bop,â, Brooks and Dunnâs âMy Next Broken Heart,â Gene Pitneyâs âIt Hurts to Be in Love,â and Wang Chungâs âEveryone Have Fun Tonightâ all in the same hour, plus more.
Ever hear âHundred Flowersâ by Time Columns? Or âBoom, Like Thatâ from former Dire Straights lead Mark Knopfler? âPeaches and Creamâ from Darts? âTiny Cities Made of Ashesâ by Modest Mouse? Sound a bit freeform? It is. And itâs marvelous!
Itâs all found on The Gamut, an (almost) all-digital appropriately-named station out of Frederick, Maryland. Almost all-digital because until recently it could only be heard over the air using an HD radio, one capable of decoding digital radio streams sent on the traditional AM and FM bands. They have the first and only-remaining all-digital AM signal in the world, broadcasting on WSHE (820 AM), as well as on three local FM HD sub-channels and one FM translator, a low-powered FM signal that covers a very small area.Â
I happened to run across the station by accident, tuning in on its only full-power analog signal on WBQH (1050 AM), which only recently began simulcasting the programming.Â
The flagship station of the simulcast is WSHE (formerly WWFD), which was the first station to ever try all-digital AM full-time back in 2018. Unfortunately, my rental car does not have HD radio so I canât try it, at least not yet. As I write this I am trying to find someone locally with an AM HD radio I can borrow. Of course you can also listen on apps as well as at live.gamut.fm.
Itâs a flashback to the freeform FM stations of the 1960s, which played almost anything and everything. The difference here is that the station has no DJs â music is automated outside of a few special weekend shows â and has no commercial breaks that I heard the entire time I listened. The former is not surprising â automated playlists keep the costs down. The latter shocked me – even though the reach is limited, I would think the format would have a rather dedicated following. There is simply no other station that I know of playing anything similar ⊠I like it.
Focus on Women
Have you noticed more female vocalists on Go Country (KKGO, 105.1 FM)? Perhaps not, as there are quite a few artists making hit music both on country and top-40 radio. But Go Country owner Saul Levine wants to make sure that female artists get the airplay they deserve.
âCountry radio has neglected the ladies for too long,â Levine told me in an email. âAnd I am on a crusade to force the Nashville industry to present a fair share of airplay to female vocalists.â
This is not the first time Levine has spoken on this; indeed, we have had numerous conversations over the years on the same subject. So as he added more music from the recent past to his stationâs playlist, he made sure he included the ladies. âWomen comprise 51 percent of the population,â Levine told me on one of those calls.
As I said, though, luckily music creators and fans have helped the movement along. Levine just wants to give it an extra push.
Mail Bag
âHelp!â writes Ken Barrett. âPlease help me find six AM and six FM stations that play oldies but goodies from the â60s and â70s if possible.â
This is a question I get periodically. Unfortunately, the answer is not good: Unfortunately, there are none on traditional radio. If you have an HD radio you can pick up 60s and 70s oldies on an HD3 sub-channel of KKGO, but otherwise no. However, it is really easy to find things online: If you have a smart phone (iPhone or Android), a smart speaker, or even just a regular computer, there are many choices; you just need to search them out.