Area radio.in tune with many tastes
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By JOHN SINKEVICS
It's hard to say what kind of possessions students value
oday. But one thing is almost certain: While the room of any
V student may not necessarily be cluttered with books,
'snearly a sure bet that the room will contain at least one
dio. And while preferences in types of music range from
assical to new wave, Ann Arbor radio offers an earful.
The campus stations, WRCN (650 AM and Cable Channel
and WCBN (88.3 FM) are part of the Campus Broadcasting
etwork with studios located in the basement of the Student
tivities Building.t
Upbeat student DJs spin Top 40 tunes on WRCN, and even
ough the station is broadcast only to dormitories and on
ScableTV, many students enjoy listening in because of the
heavy emphasis on requests.
"WE'RE A LOCAL station run by students to fulfill stu-
dents' musical needs as far as Top 40 goes," said WRCN
Program Director Reggie Brown. "We give the students a
chance to call in requests here, instead of having to call
Detroit or something."
Brown said WRCN plans to broadcast Michigan Student
Assembly (MSA) meetings, dormitory council gatherings,
and other organization meetings in the fall in order to serve
students better.
The FM station, WCBN, is described by Jazz Director
Roger Cramer as "free-form" radio-without commer-
cials-which features jazz, new wave-punk rock, rock and
roll, classical music (on Sundays), bluegrass, and reggae.
WCBN also broadcasts a number oflpublic service programs,
including talk shows with University administrators and
organization leaders.
"We appeal to people with diverse musical tastes as well
as specific tastes," said Cramer. "People that are frustrated
with commercial radio will turn to us."
WCBN-FM CAN be picked up within one-and-a-half miles.
of the Student Activities Building, and Cramer said the power
output of the staion will be increased within a year.
WUOM (91.7 FM) is a University-run station that features
mainly classical music. "Our primary goal is to bring the in-
formational, academic, and cultural resources of the Univer-
sity to people in the state," said WUOM Promotion Coor-
dinator Lynn Jackson. "In general, we play 65 per cent
music, and 90 per cent of that is classical."
Ann Arbor's WIQB (103 FM) offers progressive rock,
blues, and country to its listeners. "We're the last of free-
form radio," claimed DJ Chuck Horn. "We go for album
rock, and we're all over the road (musically)." WIQB also of-
fers a jazz program nightly (except Sunday) called "Jazz Af-
ter Hours" which starts at midnight.
...to new wave
WPAG (1050 AM) and WAAM (1600 AM) are the city's
middle-of-the-road easy-listening stations, and WPAG's FM
counterpart (107 FM) features modern country music.
Students at the University also hvae access to many
Detroit and Toledo stations, ranging musically from hard
rock to jazz to disco. The three big rock stations in
*Detroit-WABX (99.5 FM), WRIF (101.1 FM), and WWWW
(106.7 FM) claim they are not easy listening stations. One DJ
described the stations as playing "white rock and roll."
WJZZ (105.9) plays be-bop, mainstream jazz, and com-
mercial jazz music. "We appeal to people from all economic
rungs of the system," said Program Director Herman.
Haines. 'It's not a black or white sound-it covers the entire
spectrum."-- Page 10 has a chart of area stations
Music
acts rock A2
By TIM YAGLE
The amplifiers have been connected to the
speakers. The house lights dim. The performer,
maybe a soft rocker like Carole King, maybe a
theatrical showman of screaming vocals a la Alice
Cooper, comes on stage. At last the staff people of
the University's Major Events Office can
relax-until the next show.
Major Events is responsible for luring major
musical acts to the city. The extensive campus
facilities help entice a good portion of the top
touring acts, according to Major Events staffers.
The largest such facility is Crisler area, the huge
pillbox next to the football stadium. It used to be
called the Events Building, because just about
every type of event has been held there, from com-
mencement exercises to basketball games.
WITH AN ATHLETIC event seating capacity of
13,609, the acoustically mediocre complex seats
only 8,000 for concerts since many of the seats are
behind the stage.
Older but acoustically much better, Hill
Auditorium is also the site of many concerts. The
dignified and very classy auditorium offers good
stage visibility and audience comfort.
The 2,500-capacity building has played host to
such world-renowned performers as violinist Isaac
Stern, pianist Vladimir Horowitz, and Metropolitan
Opera stars Beverly Sills, Marilyn Horne, and
Luciano Pavarotti.
More contemporary-style artists are also attrac-
ted to Hill. Rocker Frank Zappa and pop stars such
as Billy Joel, Harry Chapin, and Judy Collins have.
often enchanted Hill audiences.
"WEREWOLF" WARREN Zevon, folk artist Steve
Goodman, and Doug Henning's "World of Magic"
have performed in the quaint Power Center for the
Performing Arts. But the 1,420 capacity auditorium
is used mostly by theatrical groups.
Meanwhile, Lyidia Mendelssohn Theatre greeted
its first new Wave band last year, the upstart rock
group Talking Heads.
With rare exceptions, tickets for all such campus
shows are available in the lobby of the Michigan
Union.
If the Major Events Office anticipates a heavy
detmand for tickets for a particular show, it will
distribute a certain number of tickets to specific
retail area distribution outlets. For example, this
scheme was used when Linda Ronstadt came to
Crisler Arena two years ago.
MAJOR EVENTS Office director Karen Young
said the organization's "main priority is students,"
a policy she said is reflected in the ticket prices.
According to Young, Major Events' main com-
petitor for attracting top name acts is the Detroit
market. Motor city promoters like Brass Ring and
Bamboo can offer groups more money because of
higher ticket prices, Young said. She added that
while promoters would probably charge $9 or $10 for
a Detroit Cobo Hall concert, Major Events would
probably charge a maximum of $8.50 or $9 for the
same event.
But concert hall availability is another reason
Ann Arbor doesn't attract as many top acts as the
Detroit area, Young said.
The Major Events Office also acts as a consulting
agency for Eclipse Jazz and other student
organizations in the areas of sales, programming,
and promotion work.
An all-student organization that works under the
auspices of Major Events and the University Ac-
tivities Center, Eclipse Jazz attracts many of the
world's prominent jazz artists. Sonny Rollins, Ella
See MEO, Page 10
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Daily Phot
Restaurants boast
culinary escape
It becomes painfully evident
almost immediately to incoming
dorm residents that University
food lacks much in both variety
and quality. After a grueling
four-hour chemistry lab, the last
thing most students need is to
head into a University eatery
only to face what the school
claims are hamburgers.
Fortunately, Ann Arbor offers
some relief for those who have a
little extra cash to spend.eating
ouf. The variety is equally ac-
commodating to both the person
who just has a couple bucks to
spend and the one who is the
beneficiary of a meal out on the
town compliments of mom and
dad.
ANN ARBOR'S restaurants
also include old-time spots that
have been favorites of University
students for decades as well as
new establishments trying to
gain footholds in the area's
demanding market.
Since most University students
can't afford to eat out very often,
even the most modest of fare is
often regarded as a treat. And
with the great variety
possible-from frankfurters to
falafils, from burgers to burritos,
from eggrolls to eggplant-
there's no doubt the name of the
game is tasting, trying, and ex-
ploring the diverse cuisine of-
fered in the city's many restau-
rants.
In order to give you some idea
of what many eating establish-
ments around town are like, we
went out and tried them our-
selves.
For brief C mmentary on many
of the area's res ta urants, see
Page 9,
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Daily Photo
BOB SEGER, NEIL YOUNG, and Bob Marley (left to right) are three popular University Major Events Office is constantly attempting to persuade the country's
performers in today's music scene who have appeared here more recently. The top musical acts to appear at the school's many facilities.
CITYDANCES UP A STORM:
A 2 residents, kick up their heelsr
aIT'a.
2 r e
By KATIE HERZFELD
One doesn't have to look far in Ann
Arbor to find people dancing, whether
they are simply prancing around cam-
pus, participating in anstage perfor-
mance, or fulfilling dance class
obligations.
The local possibilities for the itchy-
footed are varied-for those wishing to
pursue a career in the art, those who
enjoy it as creative exercise, and even
those who have never danced before at
all.
Because of the city's potential as a
dance market, several graduates of the
University graduates' is, the Mirage
Dance Collective. The recently
established group adheres to the
pbilosophy that-movement is instin-
ctive and comes from the emotions:
The teachers at Mirage "try to get
photography, martial arts, and theatre.
CHRISTOPHER WATSON and
Kathleen Smith, co-directors of Dance
Theatre 2, would like to see their com-
pany become a permanent professional
dance company. The group frequently
Ann Arbor
is the place for
the
wish to pursue choreography, perfor-
mance, or dance teaching careers.
Each term, artists-in-residence teach
classes to dance majors to give the
students experience in performing.
Dancers such as Laura Glenn and Gus
Solomons have come to the University
to present their work.
The professional dance companies
that occasionally visit Ann Arbor, such
as Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, and
Paul Taylor, usually offer intermediate
and master classes through the Dance
Department.
For the few in town who enjoy disco
fleet-or not sofleet-offoot to check
out a variety of dance forms and par-
ticipate, whether one 's motives are
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