KAOS (FM)

Infobox Radio station
name = KAOS


city = Olympia, Washington
area =
branding =
slogan = "Chaos Community Radio"
airdate =
frequency = 89.3 MHz
format = Variety
power =
erp = 1,250 watts
haat = 74.0 meters
class = A
facility_id = 65611
coordinates = coord|47|0|58.00|N|122|54|57.00|W|region:GB_type:city
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns =
owner = The Evergreen State College
licensee =
sister_stations =
webcast =
website = [http://www.kaosradio.org kaosradio.org]
affiliations =

KAOS 89.3 FM is a hybrid college-community radio station founded by Dean Katz of The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. When he traveled to Seattle to apply for the station license, his official papers had the radio station call letters as KESC (for "Evergreen State College.") However, unbeknownst to his adviser and almost everyone else, Katz had other ideas, being a fan of the TV show Get Smart. The license was granted under his surprise application and broadcasts began January 1, 1973. Since then, the station has been a mainstay in Olympia's local music scene, including a famous early appearance by Nirvana on April 17, 1987 (their second ever) and a Kurt Cobain solo acoustic performance on 1990 (both included on the Nirvana box set "With the Lights Out"). Today the station, which continues a music policy of at least 80% independent music, broadcasts at a power of 1,500 watts and also streams live via the Internet. The station continues to offer free radio broadcasting training to any member of the community.

Programming

KAOS's mission is to present voices that are underrepresented in mainstream media. This includes Native American, Women's, Hispanic, alternative news programs, and independent music. KAOS currently broadcasts many syndicated public affairs programs, such as Amy Goodman's Democracy Now, as well as original, locally produced public affairs shows like Free & Fair and Parallel University. A wide variety of music is played, including world music, jazz, blues, metal music, folk, experimental music, garage, psychedelic, electronic, Celtic, surf, alt country, comedy, indie pop, prog, free jazz, indie rock, bluegrass, dance, dub, reggae, hip hop music, salsa, roots rock, r&b, and more.

Music Policy

KAOS is famous for its independent music policy, devised in KAOS's earlier years by John Foster. The policy states that at least 80% of the music broadcast must be from sources other than the four major record labels and their subsidiaries. Green lines on a record, CD or tape in the KAOS library represent independent labels and red lines represent major labels. A more recent development includes blue lines for local artists.

Long-running Programs

There are a number of programs that have been around for well over ten years and are currently still on the air. These are some:
*El Mensaje Del Aire - "Spanish-language"
*Retroactive - "Roots rock, R&B, Soul"
*View From the Shore - "Native"
*Music from the Underground - "Psychedelic"
*John's Place - "Jazz"

Former DJs

Over the years, the station has had many former DJs go onto larger fame, such as Victoria Hart Glavin (Victoria Barreca) hip hop journalist and founder of PileDriving Records, Calvin Johnson (founder of K Records), Bruce Pavitt (founder of Sub Pop Records), Chris Scofield (founder of Strange Attractors Audio House Records), Tobi Vail, Lois Maffeo, Mark Hosler (of Negativland) Arrington de Dionyso (of Old Time Relijun), and Steve Fisk (producer and musician).

External links

* [http://kaos.evergreen.edu/ KAOS 89.3 FM Olympia Community Radio]
*FMQ|KAOS
*FML|KAOS

how Links

* [http://duckhugger.com/cue.html Chuggypig Unlimited Express]
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~rainbon1/dancingincircleskaosinwonderland/ Dancing in Circles]
* [http://owlkite.blogspot.com/ Dark Woods Casino Party]
* [http://www.myspace.com/excuseallthebloodradio Excuse All the Blood]
* [http://existentialhappyhour.blogspot.com/ Existential Happy Hour]
* [http://misfitsradio.tripod.com/id3.html God's Misfits]
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~islandmusic/index.html Island Time]
* [http://ravenredbone.blogvis.com/only-on-kaos-893-fm Make No Bones About It]
* [http://www.geocities.com/oc2a/ One Chord to Another]
* [http://ooalradio.blogspot.com/ Out on a Limb]
* [http://www.myspace.com/piningforthefjordskaos Pining for the Fjords]
* [http://www.geocities.com/chickentrailer/Retroactive.html Retroactive]
* [http://www.earball.net/spintheglobe/ Spin the Globe<]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/pop2/thinktank/ The Think Tank]
* [http://4nsound.blogspot.com/ Xenophilia]