In 1968, Georgia Tech launched WREK, an entriely student-run music radio station. They are the only Atlanta-based college radio station to broadcast 24 hours a day. And at 100,000 watts, 91.1 rivals the reach of many commercial radio outlets.
WREK celebrates 50 years on the airwaves this week with a festival called “WREKtacular.” The concert and art show will take place at The Bakery in Atlanta, and will feature local bands like Omni, Elf Power and The Pylon Reenactment Society.
“In the mid ’80s, that’s when the folks who were running WREK decided to really go after a different sound; to go after that quality, diverse music that you don’t hear on any other college radio station. And I think it caught a lot of folks ears who were touring at the time, because it was more interesting music,” said Charlie Bennett, WREK’s faculty adviser.
“It wasn’t what you’d expect on a college radio station. It got really strange for a while there. People used to make jokes about — if you turned on WREK you might hear punk rock or you might hear bricks being bashed against each other, and you might enjoy the bricks more than the punk rock because they would’ve found the ‘really difficult to listen to’ punk rock.”
“Closer Look” producer Trevor Young recently took a tour of WREK to learn about the station’s past and present.
