WSDP is the student-operated radio station owned by the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park

Plymouth-Canton Educational Park

The Plymouth-Canton Educational Park encompasses three public secondary schools—Salem High School, Canton High School, and Plymouth High School—in Canton Township, Michigan, United States. PCEP is located on a campus in Wayne County...

 in Canton, Michigan. WSDP positions itself as 88.1 FM the Escape. WSDP is operated out of Salem High School and has been in operation since February 14, 1972. The station's current manager is Bill Keith (1991-present).

"88.1 The Escape" specializes in playing independent 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...

 artists not played on any mainstream commercial station in the area. Special programs heard on WSDP showcase classic rock

Classic rock

Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...

, electronica

Electronica

Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

, contemporary Christian and other musical genres. The station also serves the Plymouth-Canton area with local news and information and high school sports broadcasts. One highlight of the WSDP schedule is "Static Age", a punk/psychobilly show that features local bands from the Ann Arbor/Detroit, MI Area.

History

WSDP began as a dream of Plymouth High School English teacher Bonny Dore and principal Bill Brown in 1969, as preparations began to replace Plymouth with Salem High School. The station broadcast at 89.3 FM from its 1972 sign-on until October 1977, when a frequency swap with Eastern Michigan University

Eastern Michigan University

Eastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ypsilanti is west of Detroit and eight miles east of Ann Arbor. The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School...

's WEMU

WEMU

WEMU is the public broadcasting service of Eastern Michigan University.A National Public Radio affiliate whose primary market is Washtenaw County and the surrounding area, WEMU carries the standard NPR news magazines All Things Considered and Morning Edition...

, which had been at 88.1, saw WSDP taking over 88.1 and WEMU moving to the 89.1 spot on the dial, where it remains to this day. The station commenced Stereo broadcasts in 1985.

Former WSDP staff members can keep tabs with the station at http://www.myspace.com/wsdpalumni

Station Managers

There have been only six station managers in the 38 year history of WSDP. Four of them were graduates of the Plymouth Canton school system and the last three were graduates of the WSDP program.

1972-73 Bonny Dore

1973-74 Mary Phyl Godfrey

1974-82 Jeffrey Cardinal

1982-87 Andy Melin

1987-91 David Snyder

1991-Present Bill Keith