^^Just get in the water by 8 and you'll be fine. 8)

Hey TomKat I was 17 at Mel Hi but went to that Pat Matheny show..I loved WFIT back then..Eventually went there for my BSBA and MBA but the station was toast by then..Got most of my music at local shops and the Groove Tube in Indialantic after a while.  I got most of my new music from WFIT for years..Out here in San Diego the choices are great but nobody touches the old FIT.  There was a show in the late 80's/early 90's I think that David Lee Beowolf had on that had a lot of death/thrash metal on and I think I first heard Slayer and a few other bands late at night then.

I lived in O'ville while attending UCF from 81-85, then commuted from Melboring to O'ville for grad school thru 1991.

I loved what WUCF was playing "after hours" and same for WPRK (Rollins College); and loved even more what WFIT was playing back then -- one of three huge factors (along with a job and waves) in my moving to South Brevard.

I donated money to WFIT every fund drive for a couple years. About 2 weeks after I upped my donation to $150, they switched to all jazz and NPR (~1993?)...

Sheez, that's where I discovered Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins and Jane's Addiction months before they ever made commercial radio. And where else was I going to hear Dead Serios, Wishbone Ash, Ozric Tentacles, and Frank Zappa's Muffin Man, especially w/o having to change stations???

It was sad because at the time, WFIT seemed determined to "clean up" their public image while catering to corporate culture (which is where a lot of donation money comes from). Maybe a coincidence, but that was around the same time Northrop Grumman opened their big operation by Melbourne Airport.

WUCF was going thru the same thing at the same time, and lost their battle for the most part as well. "Screw the students, the University's radio station is a window to the community" seemed to be the attitude at both. Can't have granny hearing the Butthole Surfers or Scatterbrain or Mudhoney when she wants to tap her toes to a little jazz after dinner.

After WFIT switched formats, I wrote them a long but passionate letter explaining my disappointment. Shortly thereafter, I received a call from a lady there. I thought she wanted to talk to me about my letter, but apparently she had not read it; she was just calling to ask for further donations. I hit the roof.

And in the ~18 years since then, I have not tuned in WFIT even once.

However, I do still have a nice collection of VHS tapes with the night shows from WFIT. I'd set up my VCR on a timer to record in 8-hour mode from 10pm to 6am. Video input was usually ESPN, but audio was from my tuner's line out jack feeding in 89.5 all night.

I haven't tried or checked lately, but you might be able to get the Rollins Station (WPRK) over the air with a *really* good antenna pointed straight at them. If not, I think they still stream their broadcast (but iirc, there might have been an issue with that).

One of the other internet streams I found and fell in love with back in 1999 was the "Triple-J" from Australia. Heard them in the car all over Oz, then found the feed back home. Definitely (was) a diverse source of music not influenced by the American radio dictatorship.

Sadly, my passion for new music never died, but my access to it basically did. I don't seek it out as much now that it takes more effort to find. WFIT was truly a gem back then. And man, they are missed... They were basically the center of the soul of the "youthful" culture here.



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That boy's got somethin' wrong with his medulla oblongata.


Edited: 04/09/2011 at 09:20 PM by wetspot