There was a time before FM radio was a big deal, and a time when someone had to imagine it. A fairly conventional-appearing lawyer named Ray Rieman did just that in Boston, and started by assembling a team of colorful misfits. Mirroring the counter-culture, these guys invented just about every aspect of the album-oriented FM radio that became ubiquitous in American cities within just a few years.The documentary WBCN and the American Revolution tells this story.
Rieman was an iconoclastic genius who faced new challenges daily. For example, what happens if you run a radio station and your news director learns from the new wire that he has just been indicted for terrorism?
One of the less remembered aspects to hippie culture was that it was pretty sexist. That’s how WBCN started out, but these guys were very open to change, especially after local women listeners delivered a pointed gift of live baby chicks to the station.
We see WBCN’s impressive set of firsts – the first alternative radio news show, the first female rock DJs, the first gay radio show, and the first time that Bruce Springsteen was live on the radio, along with Patti Smith’s obscenity-laced poetry.
Of course, WBCN and the American Revolution is a time capsule, rekindling vivid memories for Baby Boomer and serving as an excellent cultural history for those younger,
Cinequest is hosting the world premiere of WBCN and the American Revolution.