WKOR hopes to give MSU students an idea of what a college radio station might be like.
New tracks are being laid in Starkville.
“Inside Tracks”, a new progressive radio show on WKOR, is offering college students a taste of what they might hear on a regular college station. The show airs on Saturday nights at midnight and features the music of progressive groups such as Hoodoo Gurus, the Replacements and Depeche Mode.
According to Dee Tracy, host of the weekly show, “Progressive music began as new-wave and was actually an underground movement. Basically anything that wasn’t top 40 was considered progressive, but now the music has moved into a 60s sound similar to the Bird’s. Though now the styles of progressive music are really starting to vary.”
The need for a program like this is obvious. Being a college town, Starkville naturally consists of a greatly varying population, ranging from local high school students to MSU students from around the world.
Mike Grace, operations manager at WKOR said, “The broad influx of college students naturally creates a need for alternative programming. We can’t please everyone, but this allows us more freedom in our format to reach an audience that is hungry for this type of music. We want to appeal to as many people as possible.”
Station officials at KOR said the push for a radio station at Mississippi State University was not a reason for getting “Inside Tracks” on the air. Grace said “Inside Tracks” had been on the drawing board for quite some time. Station officials were simply waiting for the right time to start the program to insure its success.
In fact the management at WKOR is very much in favor of a campus radio station at MSU. “We feel a radio station at State would be extremely beneficial because college stations act as a training ground for later work at commercial stations. Many times we get students and graduates who have had no radio experience. Some of them have never even seen a control panel.” added Grace.
Feedback for “Inside Tracks” has been very positive. Radio and Records trade magazine compiles lists of the hottest songs being played on campuses across the nation and KOR uses this to determine which songs they play. The station also takes a lot of requests from callers.
Tracy said, “the future of the show looks bright… It’s important that progressive music be played and not blocked out. In Tuscaloosa it’s really the trend and I think it’s fast becoming the trend here too.”
