My husband and I asked [Nashville Jumps' Pete Wilson for] help in creating a playlist for our wedding reception, and he was incredibly kind and generous with his time and talent. He gave us a thoughtful list of love songs to consider, as well as helped research artists that might work well. We were complete strangers who sent him an email inquiry, and his love of music (and love of love, maybe?) led him to help us. I've never forgotten his kindness, though I probably never thanked him properly. I was in bridezilla mode, after all. Nashville Jumps was a show I looked forward to every week. Pete took such great care in planning playlists that made sense. The flow was incredible. And his devotion to fulfill requests, even the most obscure, was admirable.
Amanda Saad, 91 Rock listener
When I was in college at MTSU (1995-2000), I delivered pizza for Domino's in Franklin. I used to listen to the weird college radio station 91.1 all the time, especially late at night. They were the first to inform me of so many different kinds of music and the first to tell me Chris Farley was dead. Sad to hear they are no more and that some kid like me won't have the same pleasure I had.
Daniel Ross, Jasper, Ind.
Back in April, my husband, John Reed, and I got married on a Wednesday on the Shelby Street Bridge. We had a houseful of friends who flew in for the wedding. I was downstairs getting my wedding dress and shoes together when my friend Craig from Chicago hollered, "Guys! They're playing your song!" And sure enough, Laura from 91's Needles + Pins dedicated "Chapel of Love" to us, and so we cranked it up high and all danced around in the carport. It was the perfect beginning to a memorable day.
John and I include WRVU, or 91 Rock as it was known back then, as we trace our relationship back through time. I'm a graphic designer, and I made the posters and T-shirts for the seventh annual 91 Rock benefit. That year there were two separate shows at the Exit/In on Saturday, April 4. The 2 p.m. show was the all-ages show, with Social Circle, Johnny Panic and Faith Like Guillotine. Later that night, the Boilers, the Questionnaires, the Dusters and Jet Black Factory played, with "Mystery Guests" headlining.
The Mystery Guests turned out to be Raging Fire, and that gig turned out to be John's first show playing bass with the band. I can't tell you how many times we have talked about that night, and wished that we had met up then instead of 20-plus years later.
But we did finally meet. On our first date, I sang a few bars of "Everything is Roses" to him over our table at 12 South Taproom. That's the Raging Fire song that was on the 1986 City Without a Subway compilation LP released by 91 Rock. I think it's why he fell in love with me.
Heather Lose, former 91 Rock DJ, graphic artist
91 Rock was a great part of my Vanderbilt experience (four years plus a "victory lap"). After all, it's where I officially got the last name "Dread." My first show, program director Kurt Denny walked in and said, "Adam, you're dreadful." For the next few years Adam Dread's Happy Camper Show was a 91 Rock staple, with a house band (The Enemy/Royal Court of China), "Call Girls" (the bevy of local high school girls who answered the phones for my on-air contests) and celebri-bits, like Webb Wilder reading "Police Beat" out of the Vanderbilt Hustler. The one time I really remember pissing off the tragically unhip AEPi's who ended up running the place is when I played a John Hiatt song. They burst into my studio and told me not to play that "country music." From then on, I locked them out, and played at least one John Hiatt song per week.
I enjoy the memories of WRVU, but understand how technology has changed radio, and support Vanderbilt in their decision to sell the signal.
Adam Dread, former 91 Rock DJ, attorney
WRVU was the most influential radio station in town when it came to sales of records and CDs at Grimey's. Customers would come in asking for songs they heard on WRVU. ... It rarely happens with the commercial stations in town. WRVU listeners were active music consumers and early-adopter types.
I keep having to correct the tense in the sentences I'm typing. I keep saying "is" instead of "was" and so forth. It's just so damn sad.
Doyle Davis, former 91 Rock DJ, co-owner, Grimey's
WRVU DJs played music that could not be heard on any other radio station in the Nashville area. By taking this music off the airwaves, it will be harder for a new/younger generation to happen upon, for instance, a Howlin' Wolf recording that could very well be a life-changing experience for a young listener. Lots of people were listening and paying attention and using the radio station as a tool to stay informed on the happenings of the local music scene.
Luke Schneider, musician
I've lived in Nashville for 15 years and throughout those years, I've enjoyed listening to the cornucopia of cool that has been WRVU. In August of 2007 when I found myself "relieved of my on-air duties" at Lightning 100, I immediately started the training process to get a show on WRVU. As a result, the Cat Beast Party was born and for about two years, I was allowed to do the punk/garage/surf show that I'd always wanted to do. Sure, my time slot changed and it was scary roaming about the Vanderbilt campus at two in the morning, but I had a reasonable amount of radio freedom. Plus I got to make friends with all of the cool WRVU DJs.
Then came November of 2009, when the hammer came down on a lot of us community people who didn't have an affiliation with Vanderbilt University. The Cat Beast Party was on the chopping block, along with The Best of Bread, Nashville Mixtapes, etc. There were rumblings about Chris Carroll and how he'd destroyed other radio stations, so I moved to my current happy home at Radio Free Nashville. I would have to say that my favorite moment was the Friday in December of 2008 when Doyle allowed me to guest-host the D-Funk show and I was able to blast Jermaine Stewart's "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" to all of Nashville.
The worst thing about the demise of WRVU is that Nashville has lost a great station that helped to let our freak flag fly and let people know that Music City wasn't just about country music. Many a band (local and otherwise) found an on-air home at WRVU. I will always be grateful to WRVU for helping me rebuild my confidence, and my favorite thing will be the friendships that have been formed between many of the DJs. You can't get that many music freaks together and not have some sort of camaraderie.
Angie Dorin, Cat Beast Party, 1-3 p.m. Saturdays on www.radiofreenashville.org
The DJ who signed WRVU off the public airwaves describes the end
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What's up with WRVU, WPLN and the new WFCL as supporters and opponents alike plan their next move
