Established in 1971, GSU’s student-run radio station Album 88 was once at the “leading edge of your radio dial.” Broadcasting with the call sign WRAS (which stands for “Radio at State,” because WGSU was taken) on 88.5 FM, it is still very much around, but unfortunately Album 88’s glory days are long gone. In 2014, the school secretly sold off 14 hours of the daily airtime to NPR affiliate Georgia Public Broadcasting. The radio tower off of I-20 is still owned by the school, but the students only get to broadcast on the FM waves from 7pm-5am daily. However, the students stream their broadcast 24/7 online and on the 88.5 HD2 frequency which you can enable in some cars.
Album 88 was named for the station’s signature approach to its music rotation: playing multiple songs from each new album instead of only the big singles. The station created its brand in the 80s to differentiate itself from the other stations rather than just going by its call sign WRAS. Album 88 enjoyed massive listenership throughout the 1980s-2000s and helped popularize artists such as the B52s, REM, Outkast, and more. Today, the music consists of local and underground albums released in the past 6 months along with weekly specialty programming after 7pm.
The student station broadcasts within the Student Center West (formerly the University Center) room #271. Though it’s just a few unassuming doors from the outside, the multiple interconnected rooms are richly decorated with music posters, awards, stickers, drawings, and other mementos that serve as an archive in their own right, not to mention the walls of CDs and vinyl records. This picture of me is taken in the broadcast room, and you can see a little slice of the living archive on the walls (and every other surface). If you ever find yourself in SCW, you can knock on the door or peek in the window and someone might be willing to show you around!
I’ve been involved with our radio station for two years and now hold the Promotions Director position, managing concert ticket giveaways and the social media among other things. The station is still persevering, we have 40+ DJs on the schedule with a few more in the training process, as well as 15 weekly specialty shows. Though it’s a shame that most GSU students don’t know we have a radio station at all anymore, I’ve found it to be an incredibly fulfilling experience to participate in. I don’t plan on going into the music/radio/entertainment industry, but my time at Album 88 has introduced me to so many friends and improved my confidence, and it’s truly just an awesome space to get to experience my college years in.