The “Bill and Pete Show” aired for only one year, but it secured Bill Taylor the gig as host of a weekly radio show at his college radio station, WKCO, for all four years of college.
In those days, the kids who ran college radio shows were the real music fans. “Music was all vinyl and, therefore, you used two different turntables,” recalled Taylor, “so I had fun with the challenge and art of mixing the end of one song into the beginning of the next one.” Taylor didn’t study radio production, or have any special training, he learned “by doing it.”
College radio became an integral part of Taylor’s life at Kenyon College. Inspired by disc jockies Scott Muni of WNEW in NYC and Larry the Duck on WLIR, “Bill’s Radio Show” featured the “new wave” music of the early 80’s. Taylor was fortunate to have popular night time slots for featuring his favorite bands like Talking Heads, U2, New Order, The Clash, Depeche Mode, The Cure, The English Beat, and The Jam, to name a few. By senior year, Taylor’s radio show was the pre-dance party radio show that everyone listened to on Saturday nights. Taylor was voted Best Radio Personality during his senior year – 1985. “That was a highlight!” he recalled.
“Hosting a radio show made me much more comfortable speaking in public because of the semi-anonymity that is provided by the radio,” said Taylor. “I learned how to speak succinctly and with a focus on clarity.” “Now there are many people who I am sure would like me to speak less!” he joked.
This winter, Taylor co-guided a self-designed Winter Project by juniors Ryan Winn and Chris R. Taylor, who pursued a research project that combined their passion for music with the history of local broadcast radio. Their project culminated with their own hour radio show at the local Pawling Public Radio, complete with a Bill Taylor cameo. “It is important that students learn to follow their own interests and passions, in addition to following a prescribed course of study,” he said. “Both are essential.”
Chris and Ryan’s archived show can be heard on pawlingpublicradio.org