- Twelve stations plan to go a full 24 hours of vinyl-only for the event
- Don McLean (American Pie) and Daniel Lanois (co-producer of U2’s The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby) have both provided exclusive interviews for the event
- Stations will also help fundraise for the College Radio Fund that provides grants to college radio stations that need them the most
- “Before computer algorithms and commercially-driven streaming services there was college radio – and we passionately believe that we are still the best musical curators out there!” says event founder, Rob Quicke
SATURDAY, APRIL 22: 72 campus stations across the country will come together to celebrate the unique music format of vinyl for the second college radio Vinylthon on Saturday, April 22nd. The day is also the 10th annual Record Store Day.
The Vinylthon is being organized by the College Radio Foundation and will see college radio stations broadcasting special programs entirely with music played from vinyl records. Twelve stations have also pledged to broadcast a full 24 hours of nothing but vinyl music. By doing so, they will be awarded the inaugural Golden Slipmat Award sponsored by Glowtronics, whereby they will receive an actual custom golden slipmat as their award!
Legendary singer-songwriter Don McLean will provide an exclusive interview for the event that stations can play, as well as an interview with 11-time Grammy Award winner Daniel Lanois. Lanois is an accomplished musician and producer who has worked with artists such as U2, Bob Dylan and Peter Gabriel, to name just a few. Both McLean and Lanois support the Vinylthon efforts of the stations.
Founder of College Radio Day, Dr. Rob Quicke, says “the idea of this Vinylthon in conjunction with Record Store Day makes sense because college radio is still probably the only remaining broadcast medium that regularly plays music on vinyl. A lot of college students still buy vinyl at record stores and then bring them to the studio to play them on the air.”
“We want to remind everyone that for college radio, vinyl is still very important,” says Quicke.
The event is being organized by the College Radio Foundation, a non-profit charity based in New Jersey, that also organizes the annual College Radio Day event (this year on October 6). The CRD event unites hundreds of USA college radio stations every year and has been recognized and supported by such luminaries as President Obama, Moby, Coldplay, Wilco, Andrew WK, Aviici, The Lumineers, and Wyclef Jean, among others. TIME has called College Radio Day “a nationwide movement, illuminating the cultural significance of student-run radio.”
