I Want My WUTK

Oh those crazy non-commercial radio stations... They play great music (most of the time) and always manage to keep the internal friction going. If you hear a really good station on the air in East Tennessee, there's probably some kind of power struggle going in the back room.

Once again there has been an upheaval at WUTK New Rock 90.3 FM. Since last week's Eye on the Scene report, program director Brian Brooks has been replaced by longtime station insider Brian Sherry. Sherry says he wants to return the focus to music and the eclectic fare that gives college radio its charm.

"Now it's back to the way it's always been: music oriented, student DJs and occasional quirks and mishaps," says Sherry.

The last couple of semesters have seen a clash between stalwarts of the college radio format and broadcasting students who prefer more mainstream types of programming. Sherry reports that Brooks was a lame duck of sorts because of his affiliation with former station operations manager, Jeff Oberg.

"Brian was handed the job in an unbusinesslike way to begin with," says Sherry. "He was appointed program director by the old operations manager, Jeff Oberg—the same guy who fired Col. Bacchus and Cap'n Jim.

"So Brian's appointment made us all hesitate because he had never been a DJ. He didn't know the DJs and he was already against the format. He wanted to stop the 'weirdness' because he didn't understand it.

"Brian had this idea that he was in ultimate power because he was program director. If he had done things right and had gotten a schedule together, he'd still be here. But he wasn't communicating with anybody on the staff and there was a lot of infighting and 'he said, she said.'"

Brooks agrees that a personality clash with many of the DJs at WUTK precipitated his removal as program director. "They told me that WUTK was a DJ-run station, and I was trying to make it more businesslike and management oriented," says Brooks. "They said that I was a square peg trying to fit into round holes. And they also said that I didn't know how to deal with people very well."

As to the scheduling problems, Brooks says that the delay was caused by irresponsibility on the part of the DJs. "I was trying to get a schedule together, calling everyone and leaving messages here and there, and lots of people weren't calling me back. On Sunday, Sept. 12 [the night before the new schedule was supposed to go into effect], I still had some of our supposedly hottest DJs checking in with me to get on the schedule. So a lot of the DJs were upset when their shows got shifted."

When the new schedule was not ready on time, Brooks was fired. "We had set a goal of having a new schedule up on Sept. 13," says Sherry. "That didn't happen, and then he (Brooks) was saying that he'd have a schedule in two more weeks. That just wasn't acceptable."

Listeners will be pleased to know that there have been updates made on the virtual DJ system, including the removal of several grating public service announcements.

Col. Bacchus and Cap'n Jim will not be returning because of their non-student status, but The Cock Rock Hour is back on schedule, to the delight of spandex metal fans everywhere.

But don't get too comfortable with the good old college format. Positive feedback from the community will be essential to keep WUTK from becoming more mainstream.

"It would be nice to know that people out there would support us if the administration decided to make a format change," says Sherry. "I know in April they're going to do a review of this past year, including this semester and the upcoming spring period.

"If there's ever a format change it will be about money; so it would be nice for people to voice that they like what we're doing now. People just need to keep in mind what college radio is all about."

Kids, Don't Try This At Home

Moody and mysterious, former Police-man Sting burned for his nameless lover; Diamond David Lee Roth, whilst still the high-kicking 'Halen mouthpiece, declared himself "On Fire"; folkie/bard/all-round wuss James Taylor sang a gentle ode to "Fire and Rain"...Yep, rock music has always endured more than its fair share of incendiary metaphors. But local roadie Skip Harris' flaming escapades may have all of 'em beat.

Harris, who works for long-running local thrash/metal mooks Lust, felt the heat on June 18 when, during a performance at the Longbranch Saloon on Cumberland Avenue, a flame-throwing (used for on-stage pyrotechnics) device uh, backfired, leaving the hapless roadie a bit black around the edges. "It was all over his head and upper body," remembers Lust bassist David Smith, who was standing in front of Harris when the mishap occurred. "I put him out. He's doing fine now; he's got a pencil eraser-sized scar next to his eye and a little scab on his earlobe."

As it so happens, Harris's fiery faux pas was captured on video, and word of the incident somehow reached the producers of Real TV, one of the countless candid camera-ish "reality" programs that currently litter the airwaves. The Real TV producers have purchased the footage, and were scheduled to visit the band in Knoxville last week and interview them for a segment that will appear on an upcoming show. (Real TV airs in Knoxville on WBIR at 12:30 p.m.)

"They're making a big deal out of it; they've asked us to play a song," says Smith, noting that Harris, ever the gamer, has agreed to "blow a couple of flames for them" during the performance.

"That's the second time he's caught himself on fire, so he pretty much knows the drill by now," Smith adds matter-of-factly. "The last time (in 1996) may have even been a little worse; we just didn't get it on film. That one didn't leave any scars, but it sure did blacken up his skin."

The Skinny

Thursday: Cruz Contreras String Band at Union Jack's. Appalachian 'grass at an English Pub?

Friday: Geisha with Luck at Manhattan's. Chicks rock—and leave your hippie skirts at home.

Saturday: Crystal Armentrout at Borders. Sometimes, you've just gotta hear a singer/songwriter.

Sunday: Kid Snack with Minute 61 at Electric Wizard. Punks meet punks at an arcade.

Monday: Husband-wife team David Andrews and Judith Condon at Carson-Newman's Omega Gallery. Andrews is a Metro Pulse shutterbug who has also been published in the Oxford American and The Sun. Condon is a painter and sculptress.

Tuesday: Einstein Simplified at Manhattan's. Funny guys doin' it impromptu.

Wednesday: Male-Female Oil Wrestling at Electric Ballroom. Why the heck not?

—Zippy "Pass the Wesson" McDuff