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I have several fond memories of WPRB, however, two events rise above the others, like hot cheese:

I was scheduled for a 24-hour broadcast on Christmas day, 1993, immediately following Jon Solomon's sixth annual 24-hour Christmas music extravaganza. Originally, I had planned to broadcast twenty-four hours of Pink Floyd. Then, just weeks before the broadcast, Frank Zappa died and I felt it would be appropriate to hold a 24-hour celebration of one of the world's most prolific and challenging composers. The response was overwhelming. We received numerous calls; DJs from other Delaware Valley stations who were tuned in, Princeton faculty who rarely listen to 'PRB (one, in fact, brought a tray of fresh-baked cookies from his wife. "You take these down to that nice boy. He's been up all night and needs a snack," she allegedly said.), a group of Emersonians debating Zappa's contributions to and detractions from culture, and innumerable callers remembering when they first heard Zappa and how he had influenced-revolted-inspired-enraged them. After nine showers, five thermoses of coffee, 32 visitors, and 72 albums/CDs, the show finally ended...25 1/2 hours after it had begun.

One of my favorite broadcasts occurred on the night of September 8-9, 1995. Studio A was undergoing complete reconstruction and the staff threw an all-station cleaning party (part of the preparations for the newly renovated Studio A) while Marc Coleman broadcast Sounds of the Underground from Studio C. I drove home where I had set up the WPRB sports department's remote equipment. We had never attempted to send a musical program through the phone wires before and were a little nervous as the tests began. However, after five or so minutes, we were satisfied with the results and the broadcast from my music room at home began. Producing a live radio program from the Casa de Los Cosmos had been a dream of mine for years and, thanks to WPRB, it happened. As the broadcast began, I imagined Henry Theis '42, WPRB's founder, relaxing in the familiarity of his dorm room (which doubled as the original broadcast facility) and spinnin' the disks 'til dawn. Ah, homegrown radio...

Throughout the seven-hour broadcast, Sean Murphy '94 would join in from the 'PRB studios and he and I created complicated, multi-layered mixes with astonishing (it was spooky) synchronicity. Josh Klevens '96, the Station Manager, and Peg Laird, the PSA Director, also jumped in, as if on cue. It was a night of spontaneity and good fun and we had dozens of calls from confused and excited listeners. At 5:00 a.m., I called Phil Taylor '97, who was engineering for me back at the station and told him to pull the plug. I shut down the gear, and trundled off to bed, only 21 steps away. - Dr. Cosmo; Esq.

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When his friend David Sempliner passed away, one of our jazz DJs was thoughtful and generous enough to encourage the donatation of his friend's outstanding CD collection to WPRB. The CDs in the collection include jazz, world, and arcana discs, and are marked with a stamp reading "From the David Sempliner/Deep River Collection" to commemorate the original owner.

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WPRB ended the 90's on a good note. Jon Solomon ended 1999 with the twelfth installment of his 24-hour Christmas marathon, and Dr. Cosmo welcomed the new year (and century) with a New Year's Eve show.

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To read a decade-by-decade history of WPRB, click on the links below.

1940s - 1950s - 1960s - 1970s - 1980s - 1990s