Rollins College radio station WPRK turns 71 this week and it's still essential listening

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Photo via Anthony Mauss

Phantom Third Channel at Rollins College radio station WPRK 91.5-FM

In a city as transient and ephemeral as Orlando, it can be difficult to think in terms of legacy. Sure, there are the expected "august" institutions of high culture, but you'd be foolish to overlook the importance of the freeform transmissions emanating from the Rollins College campus on WPRK 91.5-FM. With its inaugural broadcast announced by then President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower in December 1952, this is a station that has withstood the tests of time.

While the station has seen many changes in format, broadcast range, music delivery and location, WPRK — "The Best in Basement Radio" — remains an important and integrated part of the larger Orlando community. It's still a harmonious alliance of students and community DJs sharing new music that they love.

I first heard WPRK on June 22, 1999. It was the first day of what would become my life here in Orlando. The immediately identifiable chiming tones of Johnny Marr's guitar rang out from the radio as I unpacked my suitcases. And thus my concerns were calmed almost immediately about finding a place to belong here in the center of the Sunshine State.

I was a devoted listener for five years before I found my way into the station as a volunteer for the 110-hour marathon attempt to break the world record for longest continuous broadcast undertaken by WPRK DJ [and former OW staffer] Dave Plotkin in 2005.

Since then, I have been a volunteer, DJ, poll-worker, fundraiser and fierce advocate. But I'm only one of many impacted deeply by working at the station. I reached out to longtime radio colleagues for more insight into the importance of WPRK in Orlando.

"WPRK doesn't just give Rollins students and the community a voice, it gives them an audience," says Plotkin. "The community listens and provides a sense of expectation well beyond the scope of just the campus."

"From the first day I set foot in WPRK, it was clear that everyone there truly valued serving the whole community that resided in its broadcast range," says former general manager Dan Seeger (2001-2007). "We constantly strove to represent not just the college but all of our neighbors in the Winter Park and greater Orlando area."

"Growing up as a teenager in Winter Park, WPRK offered a window into a kind of music fandom that was more diverse and idiosyncratic than that offered by commercial radio," says Michael Constant, a veteran overnight DJ at WPRK.

"I was unfamiliar with WPRK and college radio until a classmate invited me to a show he was hosting at the station. This was such an eye-opening experience," remembers "Villains' League Radio" host Kurt Isaacs. "It changed my perspective on the music and the greater Orlando community. I now host my own show and this experience inspired me to DJ locally in bars and cafés simply because I love seeing people enjoy the music."

Maggie Finley, a Rollins College alum and "Punk Rock in Your PJs" host since 1998, sees WPRK "as a place for everyone — artists of all kinds. I have heard more interviews, live in-studio music, and different perspectives on 91.5 FM than I have on any other local platforms. WPRK is an institution."

WPRK has been a devoted supporter of local musicians, venues and the arts in general, going back years. Brian Esser of Yip-Yip and Cabo Boing enthuses: "WPRK was the first radio station to play my music, and we played live on-air a few times too. 'WPRK Comes Alive' was huge for the local music community. Also, I met my wife Rachel there when she was a DJ."

The aforementioned Rachel Keene Esser responded: "It sounds cliché to say that WPRK changed my life but it truly did. My involvement there led to some unexpected experiences like staffing polling places and even set me on a new career path thanks to a former station director. I moved away from Orlando a decade ago, but I still could talk about the station for hours to anyone willing to listen."

DJs current and former, fans, friends and the general public can celebrate WPRK's 71st Birthday Bash at Ten10 Brewing on Friday, Dec. 8,  with an evening of live music, vendors, DJs and a custom drink just for the occasion. You don't sound your age, WPRK.

OW contributor Anthony Mauss has been a longtime late-night DJ for WPRK as the enigmatic Phantom Third Channel, embodying the best and weirdest of the station's freeform mission. His show, "Bargain Bin Bonanza," airs weekly Sunday nights/Monday mornings at 1 a.m. on 91.5-FM.