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lii Membriam: I want to start this week off
v/ith a profound thank you to WHbur T.
Herrington for his years of service.to WUOG
90.5 FM. Herrington, who had served as the
station's chief engineer since its launch in
1972, passed away at age 83 on Mar. 29.
Remembehed not only as an extremely patient
man who ? woutd climb the five flights of stairs
up to the station's old Memorial Hall location
at ail hours to repair equipment and maintain
the station's transmitter, he is recalled as a
dear friend by the generations of students
who knew him. For those of us who didn't
know him personally but have enjoyed WUOG
for many years, let me assure you that it's
no exaggeration to say he was personally
responsible for much
of the station's con
tinuity of service. A
veteran of WW1I,
Herrington worked
for the department
of radio and televi
sion at the then-
named Grady School
of Journalism as an
electrical maintenance
engineer previous to
the launch of WUOG.
He obtained his FCC
broadcast license
after his service, and
by early 1972 he was
giving FCC classes to
prospective WUOG
staffers, i.e., those
who would make up
the station's very first
group of workers.
In a 2007 interview
with The Red & Black,
Herrington is quoted as saying, "It's been
one of my biggest joys... to sit in your office
and have a student come back who graduated
several years before [and say] 700 taught me
more than anybody else in school.' That really
gets to you. That's the greatest feeling in the
world you can have."
Wilbur T. Herrington
possible. Due to continuously changing chart
positions and new DJs unfamiliar with phi
losophy, though, some artists slip through
the cracks. Unfortunately, there are also
DJs that just don't care, and intentionally
try to test their limits. We address DJs that
blatantly, or regularly, break philosophy, but
the execs don't have time to address every
first-time offender...we sometimes give well-
loved local artists special treatment. R.E.M.
is way out of philosophy, but we put Collapse
Into Now into rotation because R.E.M. helped
shape our station. So the philosophy change
will have as much teeth as possible, but
strict enforcement can be tricky and time-
consuming." So will the new policy represent
a marked difference in
listener experience?
My guess is no.
Vinyl Frontier:
Futurebirds will
celebrate Record
Store Day on Apr.
21 by playing at the
Georgia Theatre and
by releasing a special
limited-edition live
LP. Titled Seney-
Stovall, the album
was indeed recorded
at the band's show at
Athens' Seney-Stovall
Chapel in February
2011. The album is
limited to 1,000 cop
ies and is available
only from participat
ing Record Store Day
retailers, including
Wuxtry Records,
which is also presenting the band's show
that night at the Theatre. Tickets are $15 in
advance at www.georgiatheatre.com. If you
miss out on the actual LP, a digital version
will follow. For more info on the band, see
www.futurebirdsmusic.com, and to learn about
the venue, see www.cviog.uga.edu/chapel.
The Last One Left?: In other news WUOG has,
at least in word, made a substantial change
in its music philosophy, i.e. the main guiding
principle which dictates which records the
station will air. An announcement made last
week and post d to the station's DJ listserv
by station music directors JJ Posway and
Ryan Rudder reads, "Rather than excluding
bands whose albums have hit the 8illboard
100 anymore, we are only excluding those
who have hit the top 50." Presumably this
does not include albums that have stipped
below the top 50 but, rather, those which
never made it that high. The previous policy
specifically states, "If one of the artist's
albums has entered the top 100, then a
DJ cannot play that artist" It is question
able, though, how closely the previous policy
was followed, anyway, as ICO Soundsystem,
Animal Collective, Deerhunter, Lyfcfce Li and
other artists the station has regularly played
have each had albums that peaked in the top
50 of the actual Billboard 200 chart sperifi-,
catty distinguished from more easily reached
specialty charts (e.g. Heatseeker, Dance, et
at), far above the previous cutoff. Posway
responded to these questions by saying, "It's
true that our philosophy isn't super strict
espedaliy applied to specialty shows, but we
try to stick by it—and enforce it—-whenever
Summer's Spring: Hope for Agoldensummer
has a busy couple of months ahead. The long-
running dream-folk group is heading out on a
tour that will occupy most of April and May.
The band is celebrating the release of its new
album. Life Inside the Body, which comes
courtesy of Athens label Mazarine Records on
May 1. The band will celebrate locally with a
release show at Whole: Mind. Body. Art (127
N. Jackson St.) on Saturday, May 5 at 7 p.m.
Advance tickets are available now at www.
hopeforagoldensummer.com. The show alone
will run you five bucks, but you can pre-order
the album and grab a ticket to the show for a
mere $12. Madeline shares this bill.
A Real Beaut: Matt Whitaker is busy record
ing his first full-length album under the
name Young Benjamin. To be titled Quiver,
which I find to be wonderfully elusive and
double-edged, the album is almost half com
pleted and is set for release in August Young
Benjamin offers mood setting electronic pop
songs that are somewhat pulsing and some
what dark. I've just listened to The Fall three
times in a row, and the exercise wouldn't hurt
you, either. Go grow with Young Benjamin via
www.y0ungbenj3min.com.
. Gordon Lamb ftrealsandpromtses^ffegpole.corn