WBAU (90.3 FM) was the call sign of the student-operated radio station located at Adelphi University in

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within ...

, east of

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

History

WBAU was located at 90.3 on the FM dial, which it shared with

WHPC WHPC (90.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Garden City, New York. The station is owned and operated by Nassau Community College, and began broadcasting on October 27, 1972. WHPC w ...

, owned by Nassau Community College. Under the original agreement, WHPC owned the frequency from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm, and WBAU owned it from 5:00 pm until 1:00 am. From 1:00 am until 9:00 am, the two stations switched ownership of the frequency on an "odd–even day" basis, although neither station generally operated between 1:00 and 9:00 am until 1982, when the agreement was amended to allow WBAU to operate daily between 6:30 and 9:00 am. WBAU did take advantage of its time during its annual "Radiothon" fundraiser. WBAU was originally called WALI, and broadcast entirely through carrier current at 640 on the AM dial. When, in 1971, the school decided to expand broadcast to the FM band, a protest by nearby WHLI (based on the call letters sounding so similar) led to the change to WBAU. Under these new call letters, the station began FM broadcasting in July 1972. They also continued broadcasting via carrier current to the school's dormitories and were piped directly into Post Hall (the resident students' dining hall) and the cafeteria in the Student Center. The first record played was " Long Time Gone" by Crosby, Stills & Nash. WBAU's broadcast tower was originally located in Mitchel Field; however when the tower was taken down in 1981, the station reduced power to 130 watts and moved their antenna to the top of the student center. Three years later they secured a new, higher location atop the Marriott Hotel in Uniondale, New York. The new antenna broadcast WBAU's signal at an effective radiated power of 1,100 watts, making it one of the strongest signals on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

at the time. In August 1995, due to a clash of philosophies between the university president and the student-run radio station, WBAU was abruptly shut down by the university. Its license and equipment were sold to WHPC. The remnants of the dual control room, multichannel studios and the 10,000+ album record/CD library, which took over 40 years to collect, were discarded by the university.

Notable alumni and former radio staff

* Andre " Doctor Dré" Brown, (former '' Yo! MTV Raps'' host), T-Money (also a former ''Yo! MTV Raps'' host), Rapper G., Easy G Rockwell, and Wildman Steve of

Original Concept Original Concept was an American 1980s hip-hop group from Long Island, New York, best known for their single "Can You Feel It". They only made one album and it was notable for the absence of lyrics on many of the tracks. The group are perhaps ...

* William " Flavor Flav" Drayton Jr. of Public Enemy *

Gary Dell'Abate Gary Patrick Angelo Dell'Abate (born March 14, 1961), also known by the nickname Baba Booey, is an American radio producer who has been the executive producer of ''The Howard Stern Show'' since 1984. His autobiography, '' They Call Me Baba Booey'' ...

* Carlton "

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped creat ...

" Ridenhour, Hank "Shocklee" Boxley, and Keith "Shocklee" Boxley of Public Enemy *

Adario Strange Adario Strange is a New York–based writer, film director, and artist. He is best known for his documentary fil''The NYU Suicides''detailing a year of strange deaths at the famed university. In recent years he was Editor-in-Chief of the weekly n ...

* Jonathan M. Wolfert, founder of Jam Creative Productions

References

External links

* {{Long Island Radio Adelphi University Defunct radio stations in the United States BAU Radio stations established in 1972 Mass media in Nassau County, New York Radio stations disestablished in 1995 1972 establishments in New York (state) 1995 disestablishments in New York (state) BAU

History

Notable alumni and former radio staff

See also

References

External links