KALX Studio – 2009 (photo: J. Waits)
I’ve visited more than 23 radio stations all over the world, from tiny store-front operations like East Village Radio in New York City to small town community radio stations to a big corporate commercial station and everything in between.
Not only am I passionate about what goes on in the DJ booth, but I’m also obsessed with the artifacts of radio, especially at college stations. What is hanging on the walls? What weird objects are lurking on shelves? What types of conversations between DJs have taken place over the decades on the covers of LPs?
At KFJC, where I DJ, there’s an ever-changing collection of items rotating through the make-shift gallery in the lobby. There could be the latest find from the station’s monthly highway clean-up gig (animal skulls, a prosthetic arm) propped up on the KFJC tiki bar. Or the walls may be graced with found objects, like a note from a kid, newspaper clippings from decades ago, and fan letters.
Skull in WBAR office – 2009 (photo: J. Waits)
As I wrote a few months ago in my post, Top 5 Things Found at Every College Radio Station, I’m particularly obsessed with ubiquitous items, like musty old couches and sticker-covered cabinets. Surprisingly, there are some even weirder objects that keep showing up on my visits, like skulls.
With that, here is a listing of skull-like items that I’ve seen in my travels:
1. Skull keeping its eye on DJs in the booth at UC Berkeley’s KALX.
2. Paper mache skull and crossbones loitering in a locked office at Barnard College station WBAR
3. Skull and cross-boned cat logo on T-shirts, banners, stickers, windows and wall art at Pirate Cat Radio in San Francisco
4. Deer skull at Foothill College station KFJC
Are there any skulls haunting the halls of your favorite radio station?
