History of the Show
Background
Background
In
1989 Messiah College re-launched WVMM 90.7fm. The station was
only100watts but it had a range that considering it's actual power was
incredible. This is a coverage map of WVMM. The blue line is considered it's fringe area but with a good receiver, I
have picked up WVMM all the way to Newport Pa to the north, almost to
Shippensburg to the west & east as far as Tower City. The southern
edge is about 15 miles because of an adjoining station in York Pa
belonging to Temple University.
I picked it up, for the first time, on my car radio in November 1989. Sitting in the K-Mart parking lot in Mechanicsburg. I was amazed that we finally had a station that was ready willing & able to spin Christian Rock in Central Pa. I became an avid listener & in the spring of 1990, I called in to a rock show featuring a young lady named Christine calling herself "the Rock n Roll Kid". She gave me a phone number to call in order to become a DJ on WVMM. I spoke to then Mgr April Herring, she trained me & I went on the air June 5, 1990, under the air name of "the Commodore". At the time I considered my self lucky due to the fact I was on 6 - 8pm Tuesdays & Thursday. Fridays 8-10pm & Saturdays 8-10. Later I dropped Saturday because it was to much for me to handle.
The Friday night show got nicknamed Rockworld, but that ended in the fall when the students came back. I got a Saturday morning spot & had to play light contemporary Christian music. It was ok, but I wanted to rock. When Christmas break came around I was ready to quit unless I could get a Rock slot in the next semester. I explained this to April Herring & she told me not to quit! She said that she would do her best to get me a rock slot for spring semester.
In the mean time I recruited a friend who I had worked with at Willow Mill Amusement Park who was having "a rough time of it." He would become the first co-host on the New Show in February 91'.
The new show "Rockworld" was inspired by a local morning show on WTPA Mechanicsburg, called "Coffey & the Jammer." The morning show was our inspiration, but "Rockworld" carried a completely different message not just because of the music, but our features were ministry based. The show ran Saturday Nights from 5-8.
My friend took on the air name "Sam Shem" & the team of the Commodore & Sam Shem was born. For the next 6 1/2 years "Rockworld" Rocked the airwaves of Central Pa.
In the spring of 1997 "Rockworld" was moved to Friday nights 9pm - Midnight. Not bad for a KFC cook/ shift supervisor & a Kid from Perry county with no experience in radio! The show continued till it was announced that Deb Adkins the faculty adviser, was leaving . The station would be shut down for the summer so they could hire & train the new person. Subsequently "Rockworld" would go on hiatus for the summer of 97'.
That fall we were told that the community DJ's would no longer be needed, that the College was rededicating WVMM to the students. Sam & I were crushed! We had spent the summer going to concerts, obtaining artist liners & interviews to use on the show. We later found out that the Community DJ's were "let go" because of a legal issue with a fellow DJ " selling his show on the Internet." Which by the way turned out to be pretty much BOLOGNA after speaking to said D.J.!
Five years went by. Sam went on to College @ H.A.C.C. (Harrisburg Area Community College). & got a job at a National ISP. Ending up working for Sprint. I worked as a shift supervisor for KFC, & a grill operator at Wendys. I was also involved in the launch of SOH97.com, an Internet radio project but that's another story. In 2002 I received a call from an old friend & former WVMM DJ, Ken Price, that the station was re-opening the vollentere program for summers only. I contacted them & went on the air with Sam again with an updated version of the show we created in the early 90s.
We loved being back on the air at the V90.7 during the summers of 2002 & 03, but as they say "all good things must end." At the end of 2003, Sam Shem stepped down as co-host because of schedule conflicts with his job. After 6 1/2 years & 2 summer seasons I actually considered ending our run. Sam was not coming back & I wasn't sure anyone could replace him.
As Spring 2004 approached, the prospect of Rockworld returning to WVMM was not looking good! Financial difficulties with SOH97 & my own personal situation was interfering with my ability to get things ready for launch. At that point a relitivly new friend, Alec Bohn seemed interested in taking over the co-host spot for at least that summer. Again things fell into place for the show to go on. This would be our last full season on WVMM.
In 2005 against the advice of both friends & family, Rockworld returned toWVMM. But it was short lived, due in part to my health & transportation difficulties, Wvmm Management in mid-summer season Canceled Rockworld. Forcing us to end our relationship with Messiah CollegeRadio, our home since 1991. That said, it was a good run.
In Sept 2006 I moved back to Mechanicsburg. Set up a radio production studio & began to work on Re-launching Rockworld, this time into Syndication. This included the setting up a library of Modren Christian Rock. Classic Christian Rock, Rock Power Praise, Blues & Metal. Then the challenge of getting serviced by the record companies with out having a show on the air at the time. Signing up a new co-host & setting up the features again.
In May 2007 I contacted WVMM (yes I am a Glutton for punishment) thinking that they would want to be the station we considered to be our home in Central Pa , they turned me down flat!! At this point I don't think that Rockworld will ever be on WVMM again!
June 2007, Rockworld Has been launched into Syndication with a new co-host Neo SayAmen on 3 College stations with more to come!
On August 1, 2007 After contacting over 30 College & Internet radio stations with varying success, the show just been added to a full time Internet Christian Station out of Austin , Texas called XNRadio.com
In September we were picked up by WGMU & WVYC other stations are slated to be added soon.
In October we took the liberty of doing a Series of Messages concerning the Occult. Including New Age, Wicca, Satanism, & of course Hell-oween. Which included an Interview with Mike Warnke; Former Satanist/ Witch turned Christian Comedian, and a very funny one to boot.
The show will air twice a week! Friday & Saturday Nights
9-11pm Eastern time, 8-10pm Central time!
Listen to
The Rockworld Promo
for the Journey.
I picked it up, for the first time, on my car radio in November 1989. Sitting in the K-Mart parking lot in Mechanicsburg. I was amazed that we finally had a station that was ready willing & able to spin Christian Rock in Central Pa. I became an avid listener & in the spring of 1990, I called in to a rock show featuring a young lady named Christine calling herself "the Rock n Roll Kid". She gave me a phone number to call in order to become a DJ on WVMM. I spoke to then Mgr April Herring, she trained me & I went on the air June 5, 1990, under the air name of "the Commodore". At the time I considered my self lucky due to the fact I was on 6 - 8pm Tuesdays & Thursday. Fridays 8-10pm & Saturdays 8-10. Later I dropped Saturday because it was to much for me to handle.
The Friday night show got nicknamed Rockworld, but that ended in the fall when the students came back. I got a Saturday morning spot & had to play light contemporary Christian music. It was ok, but I wanted to rock. When Christmas break came around I was ready to quit unless I could get a Rock slot in the next semester. I explained this to April Herring & she told me not to quit! She said that she would do her best to get me a rock slot for spring semester.
In the mean time I recruited a friend who I had worked with at Willow Mill Amusement Park who was having "a rough time of it." He would become the first co-host on the New Show in February 91'.
The new show "Rockworld" was inspired by a local morning show on WTPA Mechanicsburg, called "Coffey & the Jammer." The morning show was our inspiration, but "Rockworld" carried a completely different message not just because of the music, but our features were ministry based. The show ran Saturday Nights from 5-8.
My friend took on the air name "Sam Shem" & the team of the Commodore & Sam Shem was born. For the next 6 1/2 years "Rockworld" Rocked the airwaves of Central Pa.
In the spring of 1997 "Rockworld" was moved to Friday nights 9pm - Midnight. Not bad for a KFC cook/ shift supervisor & a Kid from Perry county with no experience in radio! The show continued till it was announced that Deb Adkins the faculty adviser, was leaving . The station would be shut down for the summer so they could hire & train the new person. Subsequently "Rockworld" would go on hiatus for the summer of 97'.
That fall we were told that the community DJ's would no longer be needed, that the College was rededicating WVMM to the students. Sam & I were crushed! We had spent the summer going to concerts, obtaining artist liners & interviews to use on the show. We later found out that the Community DJ's were "let go" because of a legal issue with a fellow DJ " selling his show on the Internet." Which by the way turned out to be pretty much BOLOGNA after speaking to said D.J.!
Five years went by. Sam went on to College @ H.A.C.C. (Harrisburg Area Community College). & got a job at a National ISP. Ending up working for Sprint. I worked as a shift supervisor for KFC, & a grill operator at Wendys. I was also involved in the launch of SOH97.com, an Internet radio project but that's another story. In 2002 I received a call from an old friend & former WVMM DJ, Ken Price, that the station was re-opening the vollentere program for summers only. I contacted them & went on the air with Sam again with an updated version of the show we created in the early 90s.
We loved being back on the air at the V90.7 during the summers of 2002 & 03, but as they say "all good things must end." At the end of 2003, Sam Shem stepped down as co-host because of schedule conflicts with his job. After 6 1/2 years & 2 summer seasons I actually considered ending our run. Sam was not coming back & I wasn't sure anyone could replace him.
As Spring 2004 approached, the prospect of Rockworld returning to WVMM was not looking good! Financial difficulties with SOH97 & my own personal situation was interfering with my ability to get things ready for launch. At that point a relitivly new friend, Alec Bohn seemed interested in taking over the co-host spot for at least that summer. Again things fell into place for the show to go on. This would be our last full season on WVMM.
In 2005 against the advice of both friends & family, Rockworld returned toWVMM. But it was short lived, due in part to my health & transportation difficulties, Wvmm Management in mid-summer season Canceled Rockworld. Forcing us to end our relationship with Messiah CollegeRadio, our home since 1991. That said, it was a good run.
In Sept 2006 I moved back to Mechanicsburg. Set up a radio production studio & began to work on Re-launching Rockworld, this time into Syndication. This included the setting up a library of Modren Christian Rock. Classic Christian Rock, Rock Power Praise, Blues & Metal. Then the challenge of getting serviced by the record companies with out having a show on the air at the time. Signing up a new co-host & setting up the features again.
In May 2007 I contacted WVMM (yes I am a Glutton for punishment) thinking that they would want to be the station we considered to be our home in Central Pa , they turned me down flat!! At this point I don't think that Rockworld will ever be on WVMM again!
June 2007, Rockworld Has been launched into Syndication with a new co-host Neo SayAmen on 3 College stations with more to come!
On August 1, 2007 After contacting over 30 College & Internet radio stations with varying success, the show just been added to a full time Internet Christian Station out of Austin , Texas called XNRadio.com
In September we were picked up by WGMU & WVYC other stations are slated to be added soon.
In October we took the liberty of doing a Series of Messages concerning the Occult. Including New Age, Wicca, Satanism, & of course Hell-oween. Which included an Interview with Mike Warnke; Former Satanist/ Witch turned Christian Comedian, and a very funny one to boot.
On Feburary 2, 2008 Rockworld was picked up by
The show will air twice a week! Friday & Saturday Nights
9-11pm Eastern time, 8-10pm Central time!
Listen to
The Rockworld Promo
for the Journey.
In
July of 2008 Neo SayAmen stepped down as co-host on Rockworld, citing
the fact that he could no longer commit to a weekly program due to
an increasingly demanding schedule! He will continue to be an active
part of the team, just not on the air!
In March of 2009 we began doing a monthly Christian Rock countdown show as part of our regular programing. The charts we use are a combination of 3 separate Christian Rock Charts.
CRW, Christian Rock Net, & R&R.
Change is inevitable, & Signal of Hope inc has been part of our lives for 17 years. In June 2009, Signal of Hope will be re-organizing to become TemporalGrace Productions. It will be the same team, the same music, the same attitude.
In March of 2009 we began doing a monthly Christian Rock countdown show as part of our regular programing. The charts we use are a combination of 3 separate Christian Rock Charts.
CRW, Christian Rock Net, & R&R.
Change is inevitable, & Signal of Hope inc has been part of our lives for 17 years. In June 2009, Signal of Hope will be re-organizing to become TemporalGrace Productions. It will be the same team, the same music, the same attitude.
The Legacy Continues...
