here's your free music download
KWOD plays with modern rock in the early nineties
KWOD began experimenting with modern rock under Operations Manager Gerry Cagle and Program Director Adam Smasher in April 1991 after a consistently losing battle with FM 102. KWOD remained at the bottom of the ratings (despite a brief initial surge in the Spring 1991 Arbitron ratings) until the station officially switched to alternative in 1993 then dominated all the rock stations in the ratings for the next few years. This is my story about how I took over programming of a dark horse independent station with limited resources and we were able to take the market by surprise in the ratings. Read my story called The Rise of Alternative Radio. The line-up in which KWOD had its best success ever as an alternative station included Shawn and Jeff in mornings, yours truly Alex Cosper ("A.C.") in middays, Giles Hendriksen in afternoons and Ally Storm in evenings.
Ally left in 1996 to do middays at KOME in San Jose, which in 1998 turned into the midday show at Live 105 in San Francisco. She remained there through the mid 2000s. Another KWOD personality who ended up on Bay Area radio was Morris B, who was my original co-host of the local show The Sound of Sacramento. Now he goes by Morris Knight on Bay Area urban station KISQ (98.1 Kiss FM) in afternoon drive. Giles, who demonstrated incredible creative energy especially when doing bits with the market's traffic goddess Julie Ryan, left in 1997 to pursue web design and teaching. I left KWOD in 1996 and went on to do radio in Milwaukee, San Francisco and Palm Springs. In 1995 KWOD was among the highest rated alternative stations across the nation. That was the alternative rock format's heyday, when it looked as though it might become the new mainstream.