One of the forgotten dayparts of the first station I worked at aired weekends from 9pm to midnight for two semesters starting (I think) in the fall of 1995. The three-hour block played what one might call underground alternative and/or experimental industrial music, a hodge-podge of sonic silliness that probably was devoid of regular listeners since so many students left the campus on weekends. But we tried, right?
There was already a rock format (the Pulse – see Insane and risin' in my own weird way) and therefore the need for a splinter format doesn’t seem justified – even all these years later. Surely someone would have had the sense to interject some unknowns (like Wool) in with the clichéd cultural norms (like Pearl Jam or Alice in Chains). In keeping with the format designations, this weekend program was dubbed the Pit - partly named for a mosh pit as well as the colloquial nickname of the gaping hole in the ground where one of the historical buildings on campus had burnt down the previous decade.
Hear me now and believe me later: Wool was a Washington D.C. area band featuring brothers Peter and Franz Stahl. Releasing an EP in 1992, the album Box Set appeared in 1994 and featured the mildly popular single Kill the Crow. Wool stands out as one of the bands on the Pit because of its album cover. Recalling the logo of a particular brand of cigarettes – which I guess was as identifiable as Joe Camel (may I rot in hell) – I remember finding the album tossed back in the music library once the Pit format was disbanded a year later. With no ill will toward Wool, I don’t think anybody cared.
Still, looking back I have to think that the Pit was a bad move on the part of the student management. By my best guess, the Pit’s only true purpose was to make our bare-boned college station sound like a top 40, top-ten market radio station – a makeover attempted more than once by Syd ("the Kid"), the then-Program Director. By sweeping not-as-popular music under the rug, our weekday primetime rock shifts could focus on the popular currency at hand and, in the Program Director’s mind, perhaps we wouldn’t sound too “immature” or “amateur.” While I don’t think everything you heard on the Pit deserved regular airtime, I was disappointed that there was so much music sitting unused on our shelves after everyone gave up on the format. Surely we could have added it into rotation somewhere?
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Kill the Crow
(Peter Stahl/Franz Stahl)
Wool
From the album Box Set
1994
