WMBR 88.1 FM

Wonderful radio station, one of the Boston greats.

Divine, sublime and unvarnished.

As a college radio veteran, I take every opportunity to scan the radio dial, and now Internet, to find the best that the local colleges have to offer for listeners. College radio is truly an art form and allows students and community members to grow as individuals in so many ways. I could go on forever about it but I will not here. This is about the wonder that is WMBR 88.1 FM Cambridge.
No matter what your taste is, there is a music format on this station for you at some hour of the day. If Breakfast of Champions’s indie rock and the punk of the Late Risers’ Club does not suit your morning commute, listen to the news on your way home, or hip hop and r&b at night. How about bluegrass, roots, and Americana on Saturday mornings? No matter what type of show, all of the DJs have distinct tastes and high aptitudes for music. Turn it on and listen a while. It will open your mind.
Since WMBR is a free-​format station, push lists and required play is virtually non-​existant, but new music will definitely be coming in to get out to listeners’ ears daily. With the station comprising of non-​professionals and all volunteers, the magic of college radio is ever present; there are sometimes equipment malfunctions, ramblings about how good a song is, long tracks that would never make commercial radio, lots of ums, ahs, and uhhhhhs – all of which are utterly charming when higher up on the dial are over-​produced, glossy tracks and DJs that are programmed to do everything now.
Give us real people again! Give us college radio!
It’s magic and I miss being behind the mic but WMBR makes me feel like a college kid again… in a good way. Every amazing new (and some old) musical artist I have «discovered» lately has been due to them.
Thank you to each and every DJ at that station. Someone is listening and don’t ever doubt it.
(Pro-​tip: 6:00 am Monday mornings is a French music show. Listen for the accents alone.)

Pushes the envelope…

One of the top three radio stations in Boston along with WZBC and WBUR (if you can call that college radio — it’s really not). Incredible variety and great, long-​standing, committed and consistent DJs. Not your average college radio! I listen every day and on the web when I’m not in Boston. Viva WMBR!!!

Get up early during the week and from 8am-​10am, WMBR is blasting indie rock, punk rock, New Zealand pop, Aussie rock, and everything in between… great stuff! Jon Bernhardt anchors the crew with his Friday show, where he goes all out, occasionally addressing the holiday of the season with a special show, the guy has been bending the airwaves left of the dial for 25 years now and his show, as well as Keith Sawyer, and journeyman Ted (Theodric) Young have also been on for significant tenures, each adding their own special spark to the morning commutes of indie rockers across Boston.
After that, we get the Late Risers Club, which gets a little more punk rock and raucous, perfect after that first cup of coffee… and the station continues on with Lost & Found which digs deep into their vast record library unearthing, psych, soul, funk, 60s garage, and many other treasures…
Those are the main stalwarts of my listening, but I also really enjoy Pipeline on Tues nights which features live local bands, and the Saturday morning shows, Lost Highway and Backwoods, which mine the roots of American rock, folk, blues and country… great stuff… John Funke is funny as hell when he gets wound up on Backwoods and delivers his stream of conscious spiel in his pork pie hat!!! Explore the corners of your radio and you will find a lot of great stuff out there… if you’re interested in more oddities check out some of my other reviews…

I don’t have a review up for WMBR?!? Oh god! Forgive me! Worst oversight ever!
Look, I believe in healthy radio market diversity, especially on the lower, non-​commercial end of the dial. I’m a big proponent of small-​time radio of the for– and non-​profit varieties, and I put my money where my mouth is and support those who support my ears. That said, if WMBR were the last station on earth I wouldn’t be that unhappy.
These guys must devote so much time to digging out good stuff to put on their shows, amazing tracks you’d never hear if it weren’t for them in many cases. They’re largely nuts about the music they play, and their devotion pays off in the consistently high quality shows day in and day out. Hardest working people in Boston broadcasting, and they don’t even get paid.
Highlights include:
* Pipeline (best local music show around)
* Late Riser’s Club (daily punk/​garage)
* Breakfast of Champions (daily indie rock)
* Lost & Found (daily old and hidden), esp. Brother Wayne, Eli Polonski
* Backwoods (more songs about cadillacs and chickens)
* Subject to Change (featuring Somerville Speak Out)
* Gorilla Got Me
* James Dean Death Car Experience
* Lost Highway
* R&B Jukebox
* The Intercontinental
* The Jazz Train
* Music for Human Beings (the WWF of WMBR: is it real?)
Oh, hell, I may as well copy and paste the whole schedule, because I’m surely forgetting lots of good shows. Listen today, and remember them come pledge time. They bust their asses for you!

I spent a month working in Boston once, in February, confined to the inside of a truck 95% of the time. It didn’t take me many times hitting the scan button to stop on 88.1. I tried to find other stations, but after about two days, I didn’t see the point. There was ALWAYS something great on WMBR. Always.
It should be said that I spent almost all of 2008 traveling with that damn truck. I’ve spent long stretches in Miami, Boston, New Orleans, Dallas, Chicago, LA, NYC and DC. And places in between. Everywhere I went, I listened to the radio. So I feel I am reasonably experienced enough to make this statement: WMBR is one of the two best radio stations I have heard. That’s not to say that it is #2. I’m not about to pick between WMBR and KEXP (out of Seattle). Bottom line, THANK YOU WMBR! I appreciate it, very very much. You made early, frigid mornings rock to the core. Good stuff! Now that I am back home in Portland, Oregon, I listen often online.
And, before I go, an extra shout out to The Intercontinental.

i accidentally went to this station when i hit scan from WERS. five minutes into listening they were giving away tickets to see milk at coolidge corner and i won the tickets. then they played my favorite laura veirs song. i can’t think of anything more awesome than that. i almost crashed my car i was so excited.
breakfast of champions is the only program i actually listen to, i’ve «tuned in» a few other times and wasn’t so into the songs being played, but i’m sure there are other great programs.
i agree about the signal, i have to put the boombox i have in my office under my desk and sometimes stand on it to get the station to come in.

A star for «Breakfast of Champions.» Two stars for the Late Riser’s Club.” A star for the wonderfully eclectic mix of music played on this station. No star for the signal… why WMBR, can’t you bump up your wattage enough so I can get you in Burlington?
I love this station. WMBR rocks! May it always do so.

I love wmbr cambridge the late night shows are good if you like romantic music slow jams DJ PJ Porter every saturday night 12am till 2−4am is great hes been doing radio there for the ages and the jazz music is great too angelynn grant and charlie colhase and jazz train show are wonderful shows that make you feel good.

great mix, the epitome of what college radio should be. i have listened to BoC (breakfast of champions, 8 – 10 am weekdays) and LRC (late riser’s club 10-​noon) on and off since the mid-​90s, and rarely am i disappointed. LRC was one of the original punk rock shows in the US (a small-​run documentary film was made last year) and it has evolved well, staying relevant. when i have a late morning, i’m listening to MBR.
outside those hours is a little funkier. the afternoon psychedelia is quite good, but not my speed. evening programmng is very hit-​or-​miss. the weekend gives us the hilarity of biologue, (8pm sat) which sounds like two undergrads bantering about science-​y stuff; unfortunately that means they’ll graduate soon and the show will???
saturday also gives us sue, the sexy-​voiced stalwart of the boston indie/​punk scene, who always puts together a fantastic show, and is extremely flexible in her tastes. her voice, i’m pretty sure, inspired «madame psychosis,» the MIT radio DJ character in david foster wallace’s «infinite jest.»

I used to work at MIT and somedays we’d listen to MIT radio all day long. Not always my favorite stuff, but was always fun and introduced you to new (or old!) music.
My faves are the morning shows – Breakfast of Champions (alternative «college radio» tunes) and Late Risers Club (punk, old and new!). These shows will keep you happy from 8a ’til noon. We also used to really like Tonto’s Fury, which came on in the late afternoon one day a week. This was a show that played only stuff by Native American artists. It’s these kinds of shows that expose you to things you definitely wouldn’t find on commercial radio, and what makes me love WMBR. Just wish their signal was a bit stronger so I could get it at home!

Let me start off by saying that I typically hate the radio. I have obscure hours, a huge music collection and tivo so I have grown accustom to listening to what I want and when I want to, with no commercials. MBR has no commercials and I can download the shows I like and listen to it when I want, so now I love them! I still hate most other radio stations, but these guys kick ass!
Killer shows to check out…
Gorilla Got Me. As the listing says; «Crazed sounds created by the rejects, rebels and assorted losers of rock ‘n’ roll!» I say heavy on old glam and punk and and rock and everything good. basically a shuffle of my record collection with some new things I’ve never heard.
Lost and Found. «rock, pop, and soul from the 60’s and 70’s» Sounds cheesier than it really is. I always sing a long and show off my music geekyness!
Backwoods. «vintage rock ‘n’ roll, country ‘n’ western, and rhythm ‘n’ blues» so true, John Funke is GOD
Late Risers Club. It’s a great mix of mostly good stuff from the year I was born to the present. Hmm. I’m getting old.
ok, so there are a few other shows that are good that I didn’t mention, and ones I don’t like and just don’t bother with, sorry guys.
They have the most eclectic mix around.

Definitely my favorite station. In my old age, non-​student life I’ve transitioned from Late Risers’ Club to Breakfast of Champions, which I adore. It’s my lifeline to the indie world since I can’t stay up late enough to go to shows that start at 11pm. (Second runner up is BC radio, whose phone number is only one digit off of mine, since I also work at BC. I’ve fielded some calls about concert times and locales…)

Decent college radio station and a 3 overall. With all the colleges in the area, there are better (Emerson, BC).
But American Primitive on Saturdays is my favorite (music) radio show in Boston. It’s honestly the only reason I get my butt up at a decent hour on Saturdays and out for a run.

MIT radio. Another great commercial-​free college station. A good mix of programming but I really enjoy the morning and early-​afternoon programming. If you’re sick of listening to fart jokes or acoustic stuff that will just put you back to sleep in the morining, listen to MBR. From 8 – 12 t Breakfast of Champions and Late Risers’ Club will rock you awake with a great mix of rock, pop, punk, metal, and garage. Lost and Found plays 60s and 70s psychadelic and garage stuff that you won’t hear anywhere else.