Shockwave Radio Theater

Shockwave Radio Theater was broadcast for 28 years on Fresh Air Radio, the community radio station KFAI, 90.3FM Minneapolis, 106.7FM St. Paul. Much of Shockwave Radio is archived on archive.org[1] or on the audio page of Dave Romm's portal.[2] Podcasts of some shows are available as Baron Dave makes them.[3]

The name of the program was Shockwave. To distinguish the broadcasts from the Macromedia software (which came much later), it's often referred to as Shockwave Radio. To expand further and to emphasize original productions, the full name of the program was used: Shockwave Radio Theater.

Shockwave Radio Theater specialized in science fiction humor, but diverged into science fact, strange music of any genre and just general weirdness. Baron Dave declared that "Politics is a subset of science fiction humor." The program occasionally interviewed politicians including then-Governor Jesse Ventura and the station's Congressman Keith Ellison. Political commentary on a progressive slant was common. Quite often the show would share time with Jerry Stearns' Sound Affects: A Radio Playground to present hour-long science fiction radio theater programs.

Origins

In the summer of 1979, three broadcasters on a new station wanted a program to showcase science fiction music. They named it after John Brunner's novel Shockwave Rider. Everett Forte, Chris Dronen and Charles E. Hamilton III volunteered on Fresh Air Radio. Within a few weeks, Charles had left for greener pastures. Everett and Chris went to a local science fiction convention and asked if anyone wanted to help. The next show, September 19, 1979,[4] five science fiction fans showed up at the station and were interviewed by Chris. This is the date used for anniversary, but Everett, Chris, and Charles are owed much thanks.

Dave Romm (now Baron Dave) was one of the people on the first show, and is now the main producer and host of the program. Many people have contributed their talents as writer/performer over the years, and many more have been interviewed or have been part of a Shockwave program in some way. Everyone associated with the program, either as a broadcaster or a listener, is known as a Shockwave Rider.

Unfortunately, the show went off the air in 2007 due to a reshuffling of KFAI's schedule. Romm has some podcasts recorded during the summer of 2008 on his site.

An incomplete history of Shockwave live stage shows

Shockwave performed a live radio program at Minicon from 1981–1999. The first Live Stage Show was at Not-Anokon I in 1980, the most recent was at MarsCon in 2004. Opening Ceremonies/Middle Ceremonies/Closing Ceremonoies at LACon III in 1996 was written by Baron Dave but was not technically a Shockwave Radio Theater Production.

An incomplete list of Shockwave Riders

The list is very long and will be added to. Included here are people who wrote for or performed in productions. The list of interviewees will be in a different section.

  1. Baron Dave Romm
  2. Brian Westley
  3. Doug Friauf
  4. Jerry Stearns
  5. Kara Dalkey
  6. Emma Bull
  7. Kate Worley
  8. Chris Dronen
  9. Everett Forte
  10. Steven Brust
  11. Rob Hunter
  12. Curtis H. Hoffmann
  13. John M. Ford
  14. Jane Yolen
  15. David Cummer
  16. Howard Harrison
  17. John Bartelt
  18. Barney Neufeld
  19. Hillary Posner
  20. John Houghton
  21. Denny Lien
  22. Terry Garey
  23. Ed Eastman
  24. Beth Eastman
  25. Ruth Anderson
  26. Sheryl Lies
  27. Mike MacKinnon
  28. Rick Crabtree
  29. Erik Baker
  30. Nate Bucklin
  31. David Emerson
  32. Eric M. Heideman
  33. Allen Varney
  34. David Ossman
  35. Phil Proctor
  36. Barry B. Longyear
  37. Jon Singer
  38. Luke Ski

References

  1. ↑ "David Romm's Bookmarks". The Internet Archive. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
  2. ↑ "Shockwave Radio Broadcasts". Romm.org. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
  3. ↑ "Shockwave Radio Theater Podcasts". Romm.org. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
  4. ↑ "The First Show". The Internet Archive. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
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