Music: Discovery and Sharing

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Nominated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

It's been about 40 years, but I still remember the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Back then, I was into music on the edges. I was looking for and finding things that were outside the mainstream.

When I was discovering groups like Paul Butterfield and Blues Project and guitarist Michael Bloomfield, none of it was on the radio. I tried stuff. I would sort through records racks and buy based on the look of the cover. I looked for tracks that were over three minutes. Some of the search was based on the labels like Electra and Verve Folkways. Some of it was based on word of mouth and sharing.

So, while many of my contemporaries were listening to "This Diamond Ring" and "Red Rubber Ball," a few of us were listening to "Born in Chicago," "Two Trains Running," and "Wine." Having Paul Butterfield nominated affirms, in a way, the choices made over 40 years ago.

Underground radio broadened these horizons for a few years. In Milwaukee we had WTOS, WZMF and WRKR. I even worked part time at WRKR for a while where that spirit of sharing music lived. We kept the focus on the music. We took pains to get out of the way and let the music speak. These three stations were commercial. The format could not sustain itself with advertisers, but the music is still there if you look for it. WTOS was sold and became an EZ Listening station. WZMF had a weak signal into the Milwaukee Market. Eventually, it was sold and became the Commercial Classical Station in the market, WFMR. That has since been sold and is now an urban adult contemporary station, WJMR. WRKR moved its transmitter closer to Milwaukee and changed formats several times. It is now owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. with the call letters WKKV playing urban hot hits.

That spirit sharing still lives on AAA stations on Public Radio. Stations like The Current, WTMD and WXPN are discovering and sharing daily.

Click on the links below to see what I was sharing with my friends in the late sixties.