On December 1, 1975, an FM radio station was born.  Broadcasting originally at 89.7 megahertz from a now-demolished ramshackle studio on Winnebago Street, WORT first hit the airwaves 50 years ago, to the day.  The project was the result of tireless planning and fundraising by a small scruffy group, seeking a down home, easygoing, unpretentious approach to radio, as reflected in the groups’s name “Backporch Radio.”  At first, they wanted the station to be called WOMB, then WART, but finally settled on WORT after the FCC informed them that their other choices for call letters were already taken.  Safe to say, no-one involved in that first broadcast had any idea if the station would live through its first year, let alone a half a century.  Over the past 50 years, WORT moved its physical location to South Bedford Street, its frequency location to 89.9 megahertz, went from mono to stereo, has turned over its volunteers, staff and board members dozens of times, has experienced its ups and downs, near calamities and exuberant successes.  Somehow, against all odds, the one constant has been a steady stream of voices, sounds and music that you could hear nowhere else.  Here on the Monday Buzz, Engineer John Wilson brings you a look back at WORT’s wild and wooly past.

All images courtesy of WORT Shared Archives.

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