Radio as It was Meant to Be

Classical radio is back on the air in Detroit and not a moment too soon. Almost a decade ago, WQRS, Detroit's only commercial classical station, switched formats. Out with Mozart and snobby ads for Jaguar and Park West Gallery; in with bubblegum rubbish.

Then in August 2005, the Detroit Public School radio station, WRCJ, jettisoned its old format - a tiresome, shambling mishmash of rap, soul, reggae and warmed-over PTA meets Black Panther talk - and embraced classical music by day, jazz by night. Not only do you get fantastic music, including a lot of new and old Detroit Symphony recordings, the hosts (Dave Wagner and Chris Felcyn in particular) offer charming erudite commentary on the music.

It is a magical combination that may seem antique considering the prevaling fetish for all things digital. Satellite radio stinks. It's the sonic equivalent of bowling alone. A robot spits out a play list that is beamed into space and then down to earth where millions click onto a channel that puts them into direct contact with... a robot thousands of mile away. This is luxury? This is convenience? This is cutting edge?

There is nothing quite like driving home in autumnal twilight listening to the slow movement from Ravel's Piano Concerto in G with the tot slumbering in the back seat. A traffic report comes on and you realize that you are part of a network of fellow travellers feeling the same luscious vibrations as we move through different parts of the city.

I'm not just talking about the suburbs. I can't help but think that the format change is part of a larger project by the Detroit Public School system to remake their education model beyond the rote testing and "tough love" of No Child Left Behind. Getting kids into the middle class headspace that education experts suggest is essential to academic success can't be limited to the classroom. WRCJ creates a sonic environment that challenges the lazy yet overloaded ears of many young people locked into iPod playlists dictated by peers and peddlers.

And what about their parents? Baby Einstein CD's sell so well because Americans are so clueless about classical and jazz music yet they read in various parenting magazines that it can benefit their children. The American Medical Association recommends no television in the first three years. What to do, what to do? Turn on the radio. A week after my boy was born, I scurried to Meijer and bought a cheap transistor radio. WRCJ just went on the air a month before. It is with great fondness that I remember the hours just sitting listening to Ravel and Jobim as the tiny bundle of joy reclined in my lap. The music may be good for the kid; it'll work wonders for you. McLuhan was absolutely right - all mediums are not created equal.

I like to think my boy is growing up in Detroit by being in Detroit - seeing it, tasting it, hearing it. Quality broadcast radio offers him the experience, the shared experience, of art alive in a vibrant metropolis unlike any other.