Live from the Underground - by Katherine Rye Jewell

About the Book

"Bands like R.E.M., U2, Public Enemy, and Nirvana found success as darlings of college radio, but the extraordinary influence of these stations and their DJs on musical culture since the 1970s was anything but inevitable. As media deregulation and political conflict over obscenity and censorship transformed the business and politics of culture, students and community DJs turned to college radio to defy the mainstream-and they ended up disrupting popular music and commercial radio in the process. In this first history of US college radio, Katherine Rye Jewell reveals that these eclectic stations in major cities and college towns across the United States owed their collective cultural power to the politics of higher education as much as they did to upstart bohemian music scenes coast to coast. Jewell uncovers how battles to control college radio were about more than music-they were an influential, if unexpected, front in the nation's culture wars. These battles created unintended consequences and overlooked contributions to popular culture that students, DJs, and listeners never anticipated. More than an ode to beloved stations, this book will resonate with both music fans and observers of the politics of culture"--

Book Synopsis

Bands like R.E.M., U2, Public Enemy, and Nirvana found success as darlings of college radio, but the extraordinary influence of these stations and their DJs on musical culture since the 1970s was anything but inevitable. As media deregulation and political conflict over obscenity and censorship transformed the business and politics of culture, students and community DJs turned to college radio to defy the mainstream--and they ended up disrupting popular music and commercial radio in the process. In this first history of US college radio, Katherine Rye Jewell reveals that these eclectic stations in major cities and college towns across the United States owed their collective cultural power to the politics of higher education as much as they did to upstart bohemian music scenes coast to coast.

Jewell uncovers how battles to control college radio were about more than music--they were an influential, if unexpected, front in the nation's culture wars. These battles created unintended consequences and overlooked contributions to popular culture that students, DJs, and listeners never anticipated. More than an ode to beloved stations, this book will resonate with both music fans and observers of the politics of culture.

Review Quotes

"A meticulously researched book."--Boston Globe

"An interesting and insightful look at how this nationwide phenomenon has sculpted American culture. . . . Live from the Underground teaches us the importance of listening to college broadcasters while supporting their experimental stations as sites of free speech and free expression critical to our Democracy."--Midwest Book Review

"Deeply researched . . . Jewell tells some wonderfully obscure tales. . . A pleasure for fans of alt-rock and its dissemination in the face of corporate and academic resistance."--Kirkus Reviews

"From breaking explosive news stories and discovering the next exciting underground music scene to challenging the status quo by allowing ALL voices to be heard, college radio continues to be a vibrant cultural force. Katherine Jewell provides an entertaining, authoritative, and in-depth look at this unique medium and all it has to offer."--Jim Bolt, Founder, KSSU Student-Run Radio, Sacramento State

"In writing Live from the Underground, Jewell accomplished an enviable feat--she produced a cultural and political history of college radio that has mass appeal. There is something for historians, music fans, and former radio DJs in Live from the Underground."--Society for U.S. Intellectual History

"Jewell (history, Fitchburg State Univ.) deftly chronicles college radio's story . . . Although music is central here, this monograph shines by illuminating the intricacies of stations' various allegiances to governing bodies (parent institutions, funders, the FCC), their audiences (campus, the broader community), and their staff (fomenting creativity, professional skills, or both), while revealing the profound connections between DJs, artists, industry, politics, and culture."--CHOICE

"Jewell chronicles the rise, fall, and legacy of college radio in this sprawling and richly detailed account. . . . [Live from the Underground] offers both an animated homage to college radio as a microcosm of American culture and reassurance for readers that the medium isn't dead. It's a fascinating deep dive."--Publishers Weekly

"Jewell masterfully presents college radio as a battleground for debates about free speech and censorship, which audiences should be served by public airwaves and how, and the very role of higher education in American society."--American Studies

"Offers a deeply researched, insightful account of college radio from its beginnings up to the present day. . . . Live from the Underground will be influential on future histories of radio and broadcasting. Jewell expertly shows how to source rich narratives about ephemeral media."--American Journalism

"The large and small stories told [are] valuable . . . Jewell follows the interesting tension in the college radio idea of musical, social, and political communities. Without commercial pressure, they could stand outside dominant commercial culture."--Brooklyn Rail