I have to take a moment to share somet recent developments at WFDU-FM. This radio station has been a major portion of my life and has played an important role in keeping the music alive in North Jersey!

WFDU transmits from the historic Armstrong Tower in Alpine, NJ. The tower was built by Edwin Armstrong, who used it for his experiments that led to FM radio. The site also hosts the building where the nations first FM radio station – W2XMN was housed. The building still stands and it now houses a museum(open by appointment only). When I first started at WFDU in 1975, the building had been left untouched. We would walk in and marvel at the old tubes and equipment that were left scattered in the building.

WFDU’s program Director, Barry Sheffield, recently put together a video tour of the transmitter site and the WFDU-FM studios. You can view it at our website homepage – http://www.wfdu.fm/ or find it an YouTube by typing in “WFDU”.

We recently opened a new studio on our home campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ. We are calling it “The Atomic Underground” because the studio is housed in what used to be a nuclear reactor! Yes, FDU during the late 1950’s and 1960’s had a nuclear lab right on the campus the overlooks the scenic Hackensack River. I’m not sure of the reason, but the reactor was decommissioned by the Physics department in the early 1960’s leaving the university with a building with 4 foot thick walls lined in lead sheathing. Perfect place for a studio!

The studio will enable WFDU to mix live music for broadcast. We can accomodate larger bands – the studio is equipped with a drum kit as well as a weighted keyboard. We can also squeeze a few people in the room to serve as an audience. The room is equipped with all the bells and whistles to produce a really fine performance. For solo performers, we will continue to share their music from our main studio.

Since WFDU is located in Teaneck, NJ – a suburb of NYC, we are just a few minutes drive off of the NJ Turnpike, Route 80, the Garden State Parkway and other major highways in the garden state. If any bands are traveling through the area, get in touch – perhaps we can work out a live appearance or a taping!

The Bergen Record ran a nice article about WFDU and the studio in today’s edition. To read the article, click on link HERE. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) you won’t be able to see the photo of yours truly. You would discover why people tell me that I have a face made for radio.

Anyway, I’m very proud of our little station with a great history and a university that still understands the importance of community radio.