Campus Radio: The End of Audacity in FM Audio

I am a certified audiophile. My digital music collection which is close to 20,000 in total, includes songs from various genres--pop, rock, RnB, house, jazz, classical, new age, techno, animé, Christian. This collection is a growing one. When I have the time, I make it a point to shop for music or download online. Do I get to listen to all of them? Well, I admit that I collect some songs just for the mere fun of it. But I get to listen to most. I hope some day they can coin up a term like philatelist or numismatist for someone like me who loves keeping music.

Thanks to advances in technology music is now available anytime, anywhere. But for me--you may refute me on this--nothing beats old school FM music.

In the Philippines, FM radio stations enjoy a high level of competition against each other. Today, it is impossible to tell one from another, save for their call signs announced every half hour or so. They offer basically the same type of music in a battle for supremacy and domination over the airwaves. Of course, there are exceptions: 89.9 Magic known for Good Times with Mo (his Forbidden Questions being the most awaited part of the program), RX 93.1 which has Chico and Delamar as its most famous jocks, Mellow 94.7 and 96.3 WRock which both play mellow and lite rock music (go figure!), 98.7 The Master's Touch which serves as an abode for classical music lovers and NU 107, the home of nu rock, and home of the annual rock awards. For a time, there used to be another radio station that went against mainstream music. It was known as Campus Radio WLS-FM until midnight of February 13, 2007--the eve of Valentine's Day. Even after its reformat however, somehow people still associate the frequency and the call letters with the old name--Campus Radio--because of its impact to a generation of listeners it once had.

When I think of Campus Radio, I think of my fondest High School and College memories. I imagine waking up each day to the early morning mix of John Hendrix, which I as listen to as I prepare myself for school. I see myself as a teener, calling up at noontime, trying to best out all others just to guess the top 12 songs and catch a prize from snobbish Triggerman. I remember sleepless nights working on endless projects, theses, term papers while tuned in to Joe Spinner. Plus of course, how could I ever forget Braggy, Master T and Jimmy Jam?

Campus Radio was like MTV, only without the videos. Its programs offered were revolutionary for a radio station that played music 24/7. Campus Radio sought not only to entertain, but to inform.

I literally grew up on Campus Radio. For me, it was not just another radio station; it was a way of life.

I was saddened by the change in format of the old home of Campus Radio. I thought, GMA would be kinder to its target audience. I thought an acquisition of another weaker radio station into the RGMA network would be GMA's move to reach out to the masa. But I was wrong.

I love GMA. I love DZBB. I used to love WLS-FM but now I'm unsure, because I feel it has alienated itself from people like me who listen to more thought-engaging music than what is being played in most radio stations today.