Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Year after year, as other radio stations fall in and out of favor and change formats and call letters, ALBUM 88 never seems to change. Year after year, it just plays great, cutting-edge, alternative music. The only drawback is that the Georgia State stalwart, WRAS-FM (88.5), doesn’t broadcast on the Web — it’s been trying since 2003, but refuses to comply with federal regulations that would threaten the station’s fierce independence to play exactly what it wants to play. Thankfully, the station has a booming 100,000-watt signal. You first heard R.E.M. and U2 and the Police on WRAS. Today, it is where you’ll first hear tomorrow’s stars: Jennifer O’Conner, Sufjan Stevens and Silversun Pickups. We don’t know what the institutional formula is for Album 88’s success, but we hope the station’s managers never lose it.
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Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2006 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Check the playlists at some of the urban stations in the A, and it’ll seem as if the program directors are stationed in New York. But take a listen to HOT 107.9 (WHTA-FM) and you’ll immediately hear the difference — Hot 107.9 keeps it dirty. In addition to the hit parade, you’ll hear unknown local/regional hip-hop acts, no matter the time slot or the on-air personality. The station has a history of breaking out new artists, and Hot 107.9 is responsible for launching a bevy of musical trends such as bass, bounce, crunk and (these days) snap.
www.hot107atl.com
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
People laughed when Infinity Broadcasting dumped its tired classic rock formula on Z-93 and created something called “DAVE FM” at 92.9, promising “rock without rules.” But the format works. A typically unpredictable set can include the Kinks, Better than Ezra and Jane’s Addiction, with a refreshing emphasis on B-sides and lesser-known tracks. And for its morning show, the station brought back former 99X jock Steve Barnes, who in turn enlisted ubiquitous CNN personality Holly Firfer to create a morning team offering a welcome alternative to the usual noise.
404-741-9393. www.929davefm.com.
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
For all your crunk desires, you can’t beat Hot 107.9. Riding in your old-school Olds, listening to everything from the Ying Yang Twins to T.I., Ludacris to Trap Boiz, the hotness factor is not so much boom-bip as it is beats to bump. WHTA-FM is probably the best place to hear tracks fresh off the latest mix tapes, which makes sense since the station employs at least four for-real DJs. Although the somewhat contrived diversity in the station’s billboards for its “A” Team morning show may throw you for a loop, you’d be loopy not to have your radio pre-set to the all-the-way-to-the-right station.
404-741-1079. www.hot1079atl.com.
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
It might be well into its 30s, but ALBUM 88 hasn’t lost a shred of edge. In what can be a somewhat despairing sea of radio bile, the student-run station broadcast out of Georgia State University is one of the most powerful (100,000 watts) and widely heard (with an estimated 150,000 listeners) college radio stations in the country. That’s not by accident. Album 88 has more than 40 specialty shows, running the gamut from math rock to space rock, post-punk to Japanese, instrumental hip-hop to drum and bass, as well as live, in-studio performances by bands whose tours pass through Atlanta.
404-651-4488. www2.gsu.edu/~www885.
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2005 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2001 » Cityscape » Critics Pick
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2001 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2000 » Cityscape » Readers Pick
Best Radio Station BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2000 » Cityscape » Critics Pick