I’ve had people ask me how I got into podcasting, which, truth be told, may seem a little odd to people who know me. It’s certainly not because I am so arrogant and outspoken that I feel a need to force my opinions on the world, nor because I think I am a particularly entertaining on-air personality. Mostly it comes from the thrill of sharing interesting news and ideas with like-minded people.
But I was recently thinking about what it is that really introduced me to the concept of broadcasting in general, because never once when I was growing up did I ever dream of being a radio DJ or anything of the sort. I believe I can trace it all back to my first brush with college/community radio, and a certain program called Mods and Rockers.
When I was in high school, Mods and Rockers aired on Monday nights on CIUT, the University of Toronto’s campus radio station. At the time, I was becoming heavily enthralled by punk rock and various kinds of alternative music, and suddenly here was this weekly radio show that introduced me to a limitless supply of bands that I never even knew existed. The host, JC (aka Jeff Cohen, a well known concert promoter in Toronto), spoke with a high-pitched chipmunk-y type chatter and could not hide his excitement and enthusiasm for the music he was playing. He would also often go off on personal stories and diatribes about various issues that he felt were important to himself and the “scene” as it were.
This was unlike any kind of radio programming I had ever known… completely unprofessional, but totally genuine and honest, and I absorbed as much of it as I possibly could. It blew my mind that there was so much good music out there, and I somehow made it a point to tune in almost every single week.
Now keep in mind, this was also just when the internet was still in its infancy and things like Napster didn’t quite exist yet. No one had an internet connection fast enough to share full MP3s — in fact, I don’t think MP3s had even been invented yet. Little did I know that the internet would soon become the ideal medium for independent broadcasting and communication, and the ultimate resource for alternative music and just about any other underground culture.
As it turns out, Mods and Rockers inspired me to start my own radio show in my last year of high school, when our school started up a “radio club” that broadcast throughout the hallways before class. A few years later, I continued to do a radio show in university when Brock U founded their own campus FM station as well. For years I continued to have various forms of involvement with CFBU, until the station was eventually shut down by the student union due to a financial dispute (a common fate among college radio stations). Brock Radio eventually found its way back on air again a year or two later but in a rather tentative and low key manner. Most of my own passion for it had long since been exhausted, so we thought it best to call it quits.
It was around this time when I started to hear about something called “podcasting”. To me it made sense… recording MP3s of yourself talking and sharing them online. It actually wasn’t anything new, but with iPods and portable MP3 players gaining steam, suddenly people could take these pre-recorded MP3s with them anywhere they wanted. More importantly, there was no rules and you didn’t need a professional mixing studio and a transmitter to get your message out there. (Think about how much work it was for Christian Slater in Pump Up The Volume!) Once someone came up with the clever idea of using RSS feeds to syndicate the content, presto… a phenomenon was born.
We started doing a podcast for the Space Junk website (now Film Junk) about a year and a half ago, inspired in part by a desire to get back to the fun we had broadcasting on CFBU, and also in part by our friends at The Movie Blog who had just started one of their own. I’m pretty sure we now have more regular listeners than we ever did on Brock Radio, although one can never be 100% certain. But we definitely have more fun with it and all the freedom in the world to do what we want, and that’s really what counts.
As an aside, Mods and Rockers eventually fell apart after being pulled off the air due to some comments that JC made about a local club owner, accusing him of anti-semitism. They attempted to regroup and broadcast the show online instead, but online radio technology wasn’t quite there yet. I soon stopped listening because I was growing out of punk rock anyways, but it’s too bad podcasting wasn’t around to save Mods and Rockers at the time. Weird to think that around the world there are now so many people just like JC, informing and educating their own online communities in much the same way he did for his listeners in Southern Ontario. Now *that* really blows my mind.
i think that what you do is great, even though i may not get to hear it all the time. i would if i had a computer at home. i think that everyone has an audience, you just have to find it. and if you like what you are doing, well, thats the important thing.
Wow this is awesome.
I remember when I was in highschool and I basically am in debted to the exposure that Mods and Rockers gave to me growing up.
Exposure to the music soical politics and desire to instill change within my community.
Also to read that there are other people out there who feel a strong connection to a very unique and well produced program is exciting.
Keep doing what you’re doing. Its amazing how art inspires art.
Ciao
Dave
Cool to hear how Mods and Rockers influenced you. Same thing for me, I used to listen to CIUT off and on, and one day i happened to bump into the mods and rockers show. That moment was pretty key in my life, because after that I got into so much music that I wouldn’t have know about. And it also connected with what was going on in terms of live shows in the GTA. My first show I ever went to was a Propaghandi, Maryln’s Vitamins show at the Elmo after hearing some trax on his show, followed soon after by a KingPins show. I’ve since broadened my tastes considerably but will always remember the good times I had listening to his show on Monday nights… I wonder what JC is up to now…
it’s funny reading this for me . i used to sit in / co host with jc for a few years actually . mods was a great great time in my life .
Hey, you must be Ed Fox - I totally remember you!
I still have my Mods & Rockers tapes I used to record (although nothing to play them, lol).
I was that Tom guy that would win tickets to shows pretty much every week… people musta hated me for it ;]
As for JC, he was probably hands down the most important influence in my early teens. Lots of love and respect to him.
Although I don’t listen to much punk rock these days (but definitely still enjoy it every once in a while), I’ve really fallen in love with hip hop around the turn of the millennium (along with other diverse musical genres).
For years I’ve wondered if there are people like JC, who still speak their mind and influence growing youth in a positive light…
Now, just very recently I came upon this - http://www.illdoctrine.com/ - it’s a video blog from Jay Smooth, a long-standing underground hip hop radio host in NYC, who’s content, passion and convictions mirror quite closesly those of JC.
So having remembered JC, I was really curious to find out what JC has been up to lately - and that is how I came upon this blog post here.
Anyhoo, I know it seems like I’m just rambling… but really, my point is that, although the genre and generation are different, it makes me really happy to know that there are people out there in the various music communities who are willing to take on the difficult task of speaking up on issues surrounding the music and its culture - or any important issues affecting all of us - and really make an effort to have a positive influence on their listeners through the music they promote and the strong convictions they portray in their commentary.
I hope to actually connect with JC, thank him for his influence for myself and others, and perhaps introduce him to Ill Doctrine and see whether he finds parallels between the two worlds (punk and hip hop).
And for everyone else reading, do check it out - I’m certain that if you enjoyed JC’s passionate rambling during the show, you would dig Ill Doctrine as well.
Peace and all that jazz.
PS. And shout outs to Sandy and Damian as well!
I had the exact same experience and a few of you guys with Mods n Rockers.
Great show, amazing exposure. 89.5 was such a great station back in 1996-1999. It was like a new world of music from Mods n Rockers on mondays to Renegade thursdays and Capital J with jungle drum n bass.
all the best to anyone who’s life was changed by that great music and radio station.
Too bad when I was at U of T it kinda sucked
this highlights the power of community radio. I also was inspired by mods & rockers. I made mixed tape of the show, that I’ll still pull out once a year to listen to. J.C.’s and ed’s relaxed and unprofession was punk in the way it let the listeners know that anybody could do a radio show, it wasn’t reserved for any professionals or elite. Just like the ramones and sex pistoles got other to start bands. I loved when the c.d.’s/records would skip, because JC was dancin round.
I also broadcasted a radio show in London’s CHRW for about 8 years, and put on a few concerts. It’s great to come across this after so many years to see how impact the show had on people’s lives. Who know how many others are out there.