KDGE-FM
Encyclopedia
KDGE is a Dallas, Texas
, based radio station
operating on FM
frequency 102.1. It is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications
and plays 'alternative rock
.'
102.1 HD-2 (HD Radio
needed) broadcasts a limited commercial interruption version of its format with tracks never before played on the radio in between known as "The Cutting Edge".
Created and led from 1989 to 1994 by Wendy Naylor and George Gimarc
(originator of the first punk rock radio show in Dallas, the Rock n Roll Alternative in 1978), "The Edge" became an important force in the local music scene in Dallas, being the only station to play local and national "alternative" styles (although "The Eagle 97.1" had switched to a more modern format around 1982, by '89 that station was largely playing hits from national playlists.)
Important contributions were made by Gimarc. Along with designing the station's musical format, and being its primary DJ, he also assembled a series of 11 compilation CDs of local bands under the name Tales from the Edge. Released between 1990 and 1996, each CD featured between 15 to 20 bands, mostly from Dallas
, Austin
and Denton
. The CDs were value-priced: the first four include the prominent slogan "Still Only $2.94!" (sponsorships and advertising paid for the bulk of production). Several later issues were double-CD compilations, with one CD featuring current local bands, and the other being more specialized, including one focused on the area's earliest punk bands, including tracks by The Nervebreakers
, The Telefones, Stickmen With Rayguns, and The Hugh Beaumont Experience
, while another, put together by DJ Jeff K, featuring the (then-)newer styles of dance-club music including techno
, trance
and electro-pop (a direction the station was increasingly taking in 1994-95, after the departure of Gimarc, and with the increasing prominence of Jeff K). Notable artists featured on the CDs early in their careers included Course of Empire
, Horton Heat, Deep Blue Something
, Tripping Daisy
, Sister 7
(as "Little Sister"), and Poi Dog Pondering
. All told, over 100,000 CDs were sold in the series.
There were also seven editions of The Edge Home Movie, a free rental - full hour of music videos hosted by Edge DJs. One was filmed at Edgefest in 1994, and another at Lollapalooza that same year. Other notable jocks during this time include Alex Luke, Brian the Butler, Jerry Lentz, Ernie Mills, Jeff K, Josh Venable, DJ Merritt, and Valerie Knight.
The station featured an annual music festival called Edgefest once or twice a year. Past Edgefest acts included Pearl Jam, The Charlatans, Sugarcubes, Tripping Daisy, Seether, The Origin, Nickelback, Staind, My Chemical Romance, Muse, The Killers, Placebo, Kaiser Chiefs, Weezer, Toadies, Blue October, INXS, Beck, Social Distortion, Everclear, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Default, Korn, Deftones, Hole, Phoenix, Flogging Molly and Drowning Pool. The first Edgefest was documented in the Jerry Lentz film "Angry Blue Planet."
The station's 'unofficial' 20th Anniversary party was on July 3rd, 2009, at the Lakewood Theatre with performances from Zac Malloy of the Nixons, John Easdale of Dramarama, Deep Blue Something, Pop Poppins and the Bat Mastersons.
The hard rock has been reduced due to sister station KEGL flipping back to active rock, and the station has begun to play indie rock
artists such as Kings Of Leon
, Snow Patrol
and The Bravery
among others. Even songs from alternative rock
-based adult album alternative
artists such as Jack Johnson
had been played on the station's rotation.
Specialty programming includes the Saturday night electronic dance music show called "Edgeclub" with DJ Merritt (nation's longest running and highest rated mixshow!) and Sunday shows "The Old School Edge" with Jeff K, "The Adventure Club" with Josh, and "The Local Show" with Mark which features music made in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex.
Edgeclub was taken off the air in 2010.
Josh Venable became the Program Director in 2011.
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, based radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
operating on FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
frequency 102.1. It is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
and plays 'alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
.'
102.1 HD-2 (HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
needed) broadcasts a limited commercial interruption version of its format with tracks never before played on the radio in between known as "The Cutting Edge".
History
Frequency 102.1 FM was known first as KDFW, then later as KTXQ, Q102 from the early 1980s until the late 1990s. During that time the very popular station had a classic and mainstream rock format. Bo and Jim were popular Q102 DJ's for most of Q102s existence. In 1998, after several days of stunting, Chancellor Media changed KTXQ's format to Rhythmic Oldies as "Magic 102." In 2000, as a condition of Clear Channel's purchase of AMFM Communications, the 94.5 frequency, along with the intellectual property of Magic 102, was sold to Radio One. When Radio One moved the rhythmic oldies format to 94.5, Clear Channel moved 94.5's alternative rock format to 102.1 as KDGE "102-1 the Edge."Created and led from 1989 to 1994 by Wendy Naylor and George Gimarc
George Gimarc
George Gimarc is an American disc jockey, record and radio program producer and author based in Texas. He is known for his extensive and authoritative knowledge about the classic rock radio format, recorded music in general, and specifically the era of punk rock...
(originator of the first punk rock radio show in Dallas, the Rock n Roll Alternative in 1978), "The Edge" became an important force in the local music scene in Dallas, being the only station to play local and national "alternative" styles (although "The Eagle 97.1" had switched to a more modern format around 1982, by '89 that station was largely playing hits from national playlists.)
Important contributions were made by Gimarc. Along with designing the station's musical format, and being its primary DJ, he also assembled a series of 11 compilation CDs of local bands under the name Tales from the Edge. Released between 1990 and 1996, each CD featured between 15 to 20 bands, mostly from Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
and Denton
Denton, Texas
The city of Denton is the county seat of Denton County, Texas in the United States. Its population was 119,454 according to the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the eleventh largest city in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex...
. The CDs were value-priced: the first four include the prominent slogan "Still Only $2.94!" (sponsorships and advertising paid for the bulk of production). Several later issues were double-CD compilations, with one CD featuring current local bands, and the other being more specialized, including one focused on the area's earliest punk bands, including tracks by The Nervebreakers
The Nervebreakers
The Nervebreakers are a Dallas-area proto-punk and punk rock band that formed in 1975. Well known for their melodic, rocking punk with a liberal smattering of George Jones and psychedelia, they have the distinction of being one of the only bands to open for The Sex Pistols.-Background:The...
, The Telefones, Stickmen With Rayguns, and The Hugh Beaumont Experience
The Hugh Beaumont Experience
The Hugh Beaumont Experience was a punk rock band from Fort Worth, Texas. The band's original lineup was Brad Stiles on vocals, Tommie Duncan on guitar, Clay Carlisle on bass, and Carter Kolba on drums. Formed in 1980 by members of the private school, Fort Worth Country Day School, in Fort Worth,...
, while another, put together by DJ Jeff K, featuring the (then-)newer styles of dance-club music including techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
, trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
and electro-pop (a direction the station was increasingly taking in 1994-95, after the departure of Gimarc, and with the increasing prominence of Jeff K). Notable artists featured on the CDs early in their careers included Course of Empire
Course of Empire
Course of Empire was an Alternative / post-punk band based in Dallas, Texas.- Biography :Course of Empire was a hard-edged, post-industrial, alternative music group based in Dallas, Texas from 1988 to 1998. In the early days, large drums would be placed throughout the audience as a means to...
, Horton Heat, Deep Blue Something
Deep Blue Something
Deep Blue Something is an American rock band best known for its hit single "Breakfast at Tiffany's." The group was founded in 1992 in Denton, Texas by University of North Texas students Todd and Toby Pipes, Clay Bergus and John Kirtland...
, Tripping Daisy
Tripping Daisy
Tripping Daisy was a neo psychedelic pop rock band that was formed in Dallas, Texas, USA by lead singer/guitarist Tim DeLaughter in 1990 along with Jeff Bouck , Wes Berggren and Mark Pirro .-History:...
, Sister 7
Sister 7
Sister 7 was an American rock band from Austin, Texas.Singer Patrice Pike met guitarist Wayne Sutton at a street festival in Dallas, Texas. After a brief stint in Austin, Sutton returned to Plano, Texas, where, in 1991, the two formed a band and began writing and rehearsing...
(as "Little Sister"), and Poi Dog Pondering
Poi Dog Pondering
Poi Dog Pondering is an American musical group, noted for its cross-pollination of diverse musical genres, including various forms of acoustic folk music, and electronic music. Founded in Hawaii in 1985, the band moved to Austin, Texas in 1987, where they recorded their first three albums...
. All told, over 100,000 CDs were sold in the series.
There were also seven editions of The Edge Home Movie, a free rental - full hour of music videos hosted by Edge DJs. One was filmed at Edgefest in 1994, and another at Lollapalooza that same year. Other notable jocks during this time include Alex Luke, Brian the Butler, Jerry Lentz, Ernie Mills, Jeff K, Josh Venable, DJ Merritt, and Valerie Knight.
The station featured an annual music festival called Edgefest once or twice a year. Past Edgefest acts included Pearl Jam, The Charlatans, Sugarcubes, Tripping Daisy, Seether, The Origin, Nickelback, Staind, My Chemical Romance, Muse, The Killers, Placebo, Kaiser Chiefs, Weezer, Toadies, Blue October, INXS, Beck, Social Distortion, Everclear, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Default, Korn, Deftones, Hole, Phoenix, Flogging Molly and Drowning Pool. The first Edgefest was documented in the Jerry Lentz film "Angry Blue Planet."
The station's 'unofficial' 20th Anniversary party was on July 3rd, 2009, at the Lakewood Theatre with performances from Zac Malloy of the Nixons, John Easdale of Dramarama, Deep Blue Something, Pop Poppins and the Bat Mastersons.
The hard rock has been reduced due to sister station KEGL flipping back to active rock, and the station has begun to play indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
artists such as Kings Of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...
, Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...
and The Bravery
The Bravery
The Bravery is an American rock band from New York City that consists of Sam Endicott , Michael Zakarin , John Conway , Mike Hindert , and Anthony Burulcich...
among others. Even songs from alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
-based adult album alternative
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
artists such as Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson (musician)
Jack Johnson was born May 18, 1975 is an American folk rock singer-songwriter, surfer and musician known for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. He has since released four more albums, a...
had been played on the station's rotation.
Specialty programming includes the Saturday night electronic dance music show called "Edgeclub" with DJ Merritt (nation's longest running and highest rated mixshow!) and Sunday shows "The Old School Edge" with Jeff K, "The Adventure Club" with Josh, and "The Local Show" with Mark which features music made in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex.
Edgeclub was taken off the air in 2010.
Josh Venable became the Program Director in 2011.