San Diego radio stations | The Che Underground

We’ve talked a lot (sometimes heatedly!) about what we listen to nowadays since heading our separate ways into adulthood. But I’m also curious about where we’re listening to music new and old.

The musical authorities of our youth (from record stores to select radio shows) have given way to whole new avenues for musical exploration, and I have to admit I have trouble knowing where to start. I watch and listen to a lot of music on YouTube; I spend some time with Pandora; I don’t personally own an MP3 player, although my family has a few. Satellite radio is a mystery to me, and I don’t really have much of a line on radio of the old-school terrestrial variety, either.

Read moreThe way we listen now

(In which Ray Brandes channels frequencies of our youth.)

The recent announcement of bankruptcy and sale of San Diego radio station 91X has had many of us here at the Che Underground reminiscing about rock-‘n’-roll radio in San Diego.

The events of my own formative years were accompanied by a soundtrack that emanated from a small transistor radio. Powered by those little rectangular nine-volt batteries that are nowadays are only used to power smoke detectors and guitar tuners, mine had a tiny two-inch speaker and a wrist strap for easy portability. Late at night, under the covers, I listened to pop and soul hits like Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff” and The Three Degrees’ “When Will I See You Again,” interspersed with “oldies” like the Seeds’ “Pushin’ Too Hard” and the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun.”