WHFS (historic)

WHFS
	File:WHSFnew.jpg
Catonsville, Maryland;
Broadcast area	Baltimore, MD/Washington, DC
Frequency	105.7 (MHz)
Branding	"105.7 HFS Free FM"
Programming
Format	Talk/Modern Rock
Ownership
Owner	CBS Radio
History
First air date	1960s
Call sign meaning	W High Fidelity Stereo
Technical information
Class	B
ERP	50,000 watts
Links
Website	www.1057freefm.com

WHFS are the call letters for the FM radio station transmitting on 105.7 MHz, licensed to Catonsville, Maryland, and broadcasting from studios in suburban Towson, Maryland. They originally stood for "High Fidelity Stereo." That station and its predecessor are owned by CBS Radio (formerly Infinity Broadcasting). WHFS has broadcasted in the Washington, DC / Baltimore, Maryland market on various frequencies for over 40 years, usually referred to as 'HFS. Jake Einstein was the prominent partner during the station's heyday of progressive rock when it was located in Bethesda, Maryland. His sons David and Damian were members of the air staff.

From the mid-to-late 1960s until January 12, 2005, WHFS broadcast a progressive/modern rock format. The station's target demographic was listeners aged 13-25. For many local residents, it was the first place to hear such bands as R.E.M., Pixies, and The Smiths. On Sunday nights, the station broadcast indie and local music.

History

1960s

WHFS began broadcasting in the 1960s on a frequency of 102.3 FM in Bethesda, Maryland. Its studios, on the second floor of a luxury condo on Woodmont Avenue, were located directly across the street from the Psychedeli, a venue for live performances by bands playing the club circuit, and many musicians, famous and not yet famous, traipsed across the street to do interviews and perform live at the station. Many cut WHFS-specific i.d.s. One classic example of a legal i.d. done by a bass-vocal centered rhythm & blues group went "Of all the stations we like the best, it's W - Hhhhh---F-Sssss; We'll be rockin', we'll be rollin', on W - Hhhhh---F-Sssss - - - 102.3 - Bethesda." The enthusiastic and knowledgeable interviews by such deejays as Jonathon "Weasel" Gilbert, who held down the drive-time afternoon weekday slot - about the time that bands setting up across the street were ready for a dinner break before a performance - provided both fascinating details about the artists' experience, as well as providing plugs for the upcoming appearance. Weasel's obvious friendship with many of his guests elicited striking candor from them.

1980s and 90s

The station moved to Annapolis, Maryland and broadcast on 99.1 FM in 1983 after a change in ownership. When the station switched formats, it was located at the Infinity Broadcasting Center in Lanham, Maryland.

Since 1991, WHFS has sponsored the HFStival, an annual (sometimes semi-annual) day-long (sometimes two-day-long) outdoor concert. The concert, often held at Washington's RFK Stadium, featured many local and national acts. For example, the 2004 lineup included The Cure, Jay-Z, Modest Mouse, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Cypress Hill.

Though becoming famous as a cutting-edge station playing the latest underground music (and often beating the mainstream to the punch by months and even years), the station, under Infinity's management, became the local modern alternative station in the mid 90's. No longer playing semi-obscure indie rock, nor the modern and classic hard rock of its Baltimore counterpart WIYY, HFS was now formatted more towards the younger alterna-pop crowd; fans who would listen to Green Day and Fuel long before, say, Fugazi or Lou Reed. The station broadcast much of the alternative side that the mainstream press and MTV were broadcasting, turning off many old-school HFS listeners, but in return gaining the majority of the coveted 13-25 age group in the Maryland area. Though in the few years before the infamous 2005 format switch the station did begin to combine more underground programming with its modern rock format, it never fully reverted to its prior all-indie status.

The station's iconic DJs included Jonathon "Weasel" Gilbert, Neci Crowder, Cerphe Colwell, Johnny Riggs, Damien Einstein and The Sports Junkies. Mark Avery held down the 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. slot for many years. And then there was "Meg in the Morning." (Or "Happily Married Meg" as Weasel regularly referred to her, after her nuptials.) Tom Terrell regularly debuted club music that he had brought back from the UK and Europe.

Death of WHFS

On January 12, 2005, 99.1 WHFS switched formats to a Latin/Salsa broadcast called WLZL El Zol 99.1, a switch that, though rumored over several months due to slipping ratings (22nd) in both the Washington and Baltimore markets, was not publicized beforehand and took many long-time fans, and even most of the station's staff by surprise. Staffers and DJ's allegedly reported that management and new staff literally walked into offices and the broadcast booth itself and essentially kicked everyone out before beginning the new Latin programming themselves. Though nearly always met with harsh criticism, such abrupt format changes are a common practice in the radio industry.

Competition quickly filled a gap in programming:

In the Washington market, Z104 adapted their pop format to more of "modern pop", while longtime rival DC-101 (WWDC) had long since gone to a hard rock/alt rock style.
In Annapolis, WRNR 103.1 FM, already an established alternative and underground music station, by default assumed the top spot in modern/indie rock listenership of the area, with many pre-Infinity HFS staffers on board.
In suburban Towson, Maryland, WTMD 89.7 had similar playlists to WRNR, while WIYY 97.9 (98 Rock) continued to broadcast classic, hard, and modern rock out of Baltimore but covering the entire region.

Live 105.7 and the revival of WHFS

Meanwhile, in September 2001, 105.7 FM became the home of WXYV, a hip-hop station called "X105.7", when WQSR, an oldies station, moved to 102.7 FM to broadcast a better signal in the Baltimore area. Both stations were owned by Infinity Broadcasting (now CBS Radio). As rival station WERQ-FM was consistently beating X105.7 in the ratings, WXYV later changed to a talk radio format. During the morning hours, the station simulcasted the Howard Stern program. In the afternoons, the Don and Mike Show was simulcast for the Baltimore area. The station adopted the name "Live 105.7".

After much protesting from WHFS fans after its departure in January 2005, a partnership between Infinity and America Online was announced on January 21 that revived the WHFS rock format online as part of AOL Radio. This deal included carriage of WHFS programming on Live 105.7; WHFS programming would air on weekday evenings and all day on the weekends. The call letters for 105.7 were changed to WHFS.

Current programming

On October 25, an announcement was made that the Sports Junkies, who were the last morning show hosts on 99.1 WHFS, would return to host the morning show at the station (from the studios of WJFK-FM in Washington) once Stern departs for satellite radio. It was also announced that the station would be rebranded as "105.7 HFS Free FM". The Don and Mike Show would continue to be carried on the station.

WHFS 2 Music HD

WHFS is currently testing their HD radio technology for a spring 2006 launch of their all music sub station on High Definition radio. It is currently being advertised as being HFS music 24/7 and commercial free. WHFS2.com has already been launched with an online stream coming soon. [[1]]

The Ed Norris Show

WHFS currently runs a lunch time radio show called the "Ed Norris Show", hosted by former Baltimore City Police Commissioner Ed Norris. The show was formerly called "Out to Lunch with Big O and Dukes", and then "Ed Norris with Big O & Dukes" when Ed Norris came to Baltimore to do the show in studio. But it was renamed when Big O and Dukes , the former hosts, were dismissed from the station during the first week of September 2005.

Line-Up

6am-10am The Junkies ("in the morning")

10am-1pm The Ed Norris Show

1pm-2pm Jim Cramer's Mad Money

2pm-3pm Penn Jillete

3pm-7pm The Don and Mike Show

7pm-11pm The Legendary HFS w/Tim Virgin (also called HFS radio)

11pm-6am The Legendary HFS DJ's (Neci, Johnny Riggs, Rich, Spam, Pat, Reada, Gina Crash)

Weekends

Friday 7pm - Monday 6am The Legendary HFS DJ's (Tim Virgin, Neci, Johnny Riggs, Rich, Spam, Pat, Reada, Gina Crash)

Trivia

After passing ownership of WHFS to other hands, Jake Einstein formed a new company named Cardinal Broadcasting and considered buying the former Washington, D.C. Top Forty powerhouse WEAM-AM in Arlington, Virginia (the Cardinal is the Virginia state bird) for conversion to an 'HFS format. When this fell through, he was a partner purchasing WLOM-AM and FM in Annapolis, Maryland in 1983 and changed the FM side over to a reborn WHFS. In 1989 when Duchussois Broadcasting purchased the station, Einstein departed and in 1993 he bought WNAV-AM and FM, transmitting from Grasonville, Maryland, across the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis, and recast the FM side as a reborn 'HFS securing the call letters WRNR (Rock & Roll) for it and hiring some of the old Bethesda staff. However it has a limited throw of 6,000 Watts and only reaches the eastern edge of Washington, D.C.

David Einstein, former program director of WHFS-FM, Bethesda, probably has all of the old "102.3" jingle spots in his archive. On his last morning on the air at the station in the fall of 1989, he aired a number of retro i.d. spots, even though the station was now broadcasting from a frequency of 99.1 FM. He has moved on to other music industry-related jobs.

Damian Einstein suffered serious head injuries on December 13, 1975 when the pick-up truck he was in hit a low bridge while driving in Rock Creek Park, east of Bethesda. His two companions were killed. This accident left him with a pronounced condition of aphasia, noted by a slight delay in speech diction. Despite his thorough knowledge of music canon and intelligent interviews with visiting artists, new station management attempted to remove him from the air in 1989. This led to a support rally held at Joe's Record Paradise in Wheaton Plaza, Wheaton, Maryland, at which bluesman Catfish Hodge and musicians from Little Feat and Bonnie Raitt's band played live for the protest benefit. An estimated 10,000 supporters showed up to hear Junior Cline and the Recliners, Jimmy Thackery from The Nighthawks, Danny Gatton as well as the Rosslyn Mountain Boys and Freebo, among others, to protest the action of the new management. He filed a discrimination suit through the State of Maryland and it found that he was fired without cause. Damian was ultimately restored to the air.

When the original Bethesda WHFS ownership broke up in the 1980s, the station's extensive library of music was divvied up and thus only certain components accompanied the Einstein family onto their new enterprises. (This item of fact provided by an overnight deejay, circa 1989, in a phonecall as to why he could no longer pull out a copy of Keith Emerson's pre-Emerson, Lake & Palmer band, The Nice.)

After an a cappella "Join The Band," Cerphe Colwell can be heard leading the crowd in spelling out "F-E-A-T" on track one, side one, record one of Little Feat's live album "Waiting For Columbus" recorded largely at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium August 8-10, 1977 and released in 1978.