WXPN 88.5: live radio from Philadelphia

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WXPN 88.5

Careers start on this signal.

Rock, roots, and soul, with the new names up front.

It began in 1945 as a carrier-current station wired through the University of Pennsylvania's dormitories, took a ten-watt licence at 88.9 in 1957, and briefly lost that licence altogether in 1975 after an obscenity complaint. The frequency moved to 88.5 in 1990, and the year after that the station put out the first World Cafe, David Dye's daily hour of interviews and live sessions, which public stations across the country carry as their own. It is licensed to the university and paid for by its members.

A week on air runs to roughly two thousand records and nine hundred artists: indie songwriters and post-punk guitars set against modern soul and R&B, with bluegrass pickers and Nashville's outliers holding the country end. Free at Noon plays to a live room, Echoes takes the small hours with ambient soundscapes, and The Key covers what Philadelphia's own bands are doing.

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Philadelphia, United States

WXPN 88.5

Careers start on this signal.

Rock, roots, and soul, with the new names up front.

It began in 1945 as a carrier-current station wired through the University of Pennsylvania's dormitories, took a ten-watt licence at 88.9 in 1957, and briefly lost that licence altogether in 1975 after an obscenity complaint. The frequency moved to 88.5 in 1990, and the year after that the station put out the first World Cafe, David Dye's daily hour of interviews and live sessions, which public stations across the country carry as their own. It is licensed to the university and paid for by its members.

A week on air runs to roughly two thousand records and nine hundred artists: indie songwriters and post-punk guitars set against modern soul and R&B, with bluegrass pickers and Nashville's outliers holding the country end. Free at Noon plays to a live room, Echoes takes the small hours with ambient soundscapes, and The Key covers what Philadelphia's own bands are doing.