KAAY's Beaker Street 1966-1977: Late Nights Of Underground Radio Programming, From Little Rock To The Western Hemisphere, On The Airwaves Of The Nighttime Voice Of Arkansa

Author

Richard Cyril Robinson, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

1-1-2009

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Mass Communication and Media Arts

First Advisor

Johnson, Dr. Phylis

Abstract

During the 1960s in the United States, AM radio stations began broadcasting an underground format. The purpose of this study is to examine the Beaker Street program on Little Rock's KAAY AM-1090. This show presented non-mainstream programming. Disc jockeys supported alternative points of view, while playing underground music. The 50,000-watt directional AM radio signal at night aired KAAY across the Western Hemisphere. The host, engineer Dale Seidenschwarz, was named Clyde Clifford. Research utilized interviews with Seidenschwarz and KAAY employees. Sources included newspapers, magazine, documents, audio recordings and artifacts. Findings reveal a popular, undocumented radio program. This study tells the significant story of a radio program that people remember and listen to today, now on an FM station.