<Part 2: Beginnings   <Start

Anyone whose clock alarm went off in those early years woke to classical music. NPR´s Morning Edition wouldn´t exist until 1980 - and as WUNC signed on the air, host Bob Edwards was paired with Susan Stamberg as the anchors of NPR´s only news magazine, All Things Considered. Of course, if you set your alarm early enough, you may have heard nothing at all—the station was on the air only from 5 AM until 1 AM Monday through Friday and 6 AM to 2 AM on weekends. It wasn't until 1995 WUNC added overnight classical music programming for a full 24-hour broadcast day.

Craig Curtis as Music Director and Announcer

The classical tone of the station was set by Craig Curtis, one of the hosts of classical music and the afternoon "mix" of music and information. Craig was also WUNC's Music Director in the early 80s and became the Program Director in the mid 80s.

Local voices were a part of the WUNC tradition early on and short commentaries covered everything from astronomy and gardening to book reviews and thoughts on art, photography and life. During the early and mid 80s, WUNC's news staff included Fay Mitchell Henderson and John Dalzell who reported often on developing cultural and news happenings in the area surrounding the Triangle.

Local Voices in 1980s

Heard for many years on Thursdays: Chapel Hill photographer and essayist, John Rosenthal (pictured left). Hear one of his earliest commentaries for WUNC.  For nearly a decade John waxed poetic on the nature of images, life, love, sadness, burning passions, dodging responsibilities, losing focus, the perfect snapshot and many other considerations.  Here's a link to his current website.

WUNC Reporter Gayle Kalveledage (pictured right) reported extensively on the events surrounding the civil rights rallies and protests in Greensboro following the murder of Communist Party workers at an anti-KKK rally in late 1979. This piece demonstrates WUNC's early commitment to the NPR vision of allowing sound to tell the story. There's an extended introduction recorded at the Greensboro protest and then you hear the first minute of this original 20 minute piece that aired on WUNC in February 1980.

In the early 1980s, news producers Fay Mitchell Henderson and John Dalzell produced a series called "People Talking To People", showcasing some of the rich voices of North Carolina. The reporters talked with people with interesting stories to tell and these were presented in a sort of audio verite full of local color. This clip presents two of these two minute conversations.

1988: How it was... Here's a full day of WUNC radio squeezed into 20 minutes, exactly as it aired on WUNC on August 8, 1988. By the way, this clip was entered in a nation-wide public radio competition and placed second for best over all sound and station flow. You'll hear the voices of WUNC's Kevin Wolf, Craig Curtis, Dean Olsher and Carl Halperin. Note: the Dow Jones Industrials began the day at 2107.40...

Gary Shivers, WUNC General Manager and host of "Gary Shivers On Jazz"

On weekday evenings you could sit in your living room and imagine you were in the concert hall with live-recorded broadcasts from leading symphonies and chamber music performers. In the early ‘90s financial constraints on the orchestras forced them to discontinue offering these broadcasts. WUNC's broadcast day concluded with radio drama like Firesign Theatre, followed by jazz until sign off.

Weekends began a little later in the morning with classical, signing on at 6 AM. WUNC's second general manager, Gary Shivers, offered his distinctive blend of music drawn from his enormous personal record collection. Gary Shivers on Jazz was a Saturday midday staple from 1978 until 1990, after Shivers left the station.  Today, WUNC's extensive jazz collection resides at public radio station WNCU in Durham.

Gary Shivers on Jazz

Since 1977, Back Porch Music has set toes a-tappin' on Saturdays nights, beginning with hosts Joan Fenton and Brett Sutton. Back Porch Music has expanded to Friday through Sunday nights, with the musical emphasis evolving under many different hosts. Today, Keith Weston and Freddy Jenkins provide the mix of bluegrass, blues, folk and country to devoted listeners.

If you happened to be listening one Saturday in May in 1981, you might have heard pharmacist Joe Graedon, who also was a WUNC commentator, take calls from local listeners. What began as a monthly call-in show, Joe Graedon Live, became the syndicated weekly show The People's Pharmacy with Joe and Terry Graedon, now heard on more than 500 radio stations worldwide.

NPR's Weekend Edition joined the WUNC lineup in 1988. On an early Weekend Edition Sunday, two wise-cracking guys from "Cambridge,MA, Our Fair City", made their first appearance on National Public Radio giving advice on cars and car repair. Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the Tappet Brothers, began a new career, Car Talk has become one of NRP's most popular programs.

Part 4: The 90s>