KJHK Lore - AM Only

We student broadcasters enjoyed safe harbor during the 1980s. Safe harbor meant language content restrictions were lifted on programming between midnight and 6am. Songs, spoken word performances, and even station IDs were designated "AM Only" if they contained one of the seven dirty words. This is one reason the Monday Night Thrash program was on the air after midnight (lots of hardcore singles featured profanity) and another reason the KJHK MNT jock on duty on April 5th, 1988 felt empowered to go ahead and drop an F-bomb over the air for Mr. Billy Tubbs, following KU's tournament championship victory. But I digress. The "AM Only" honor system worked well for KJHK in the 80's, primarily when the artists did the cursing.

Here's something else nearly as old as profanity: People who make Wizard of Oz jokes when visiting Kansas. What these would-be mirth-makers forget is that Kansas natives won't think your Toto joke is top drawer. We've heard them before, from lots of traveling Travelinas, some better than others. Go ahead, make your funny, but please don't ask me if I've seen Toto or Dorothy. Yesterdays papers.

Today Little Hits posted a fabulous single from the Vancouver Complication, a collection of Canadian punk rock. Head over there and check out The Dishrags doing I Don't Love You. Joey Keithley, also on the compilation as part of D.O.A., helped get this time capsule re-released a few years ago, and long before that, during his first visit to Kansas, recorded this "AM Only" KJHK artist drop, complete with a better-than-average dig on Dorothy and Toto.