Interview with Kathleen "Kakie" Ruth Urch, July 2, 2009

Partial Transcript: My name is Mick Jeffries and, uh, this is a continuation of a oral history project about, um, the, um, the beginnings of WRFL, the University of Kentucky student radio station.

Segment Synopsis: In this opening segment, Urch talks about having to give up journalism to try to start a radio station. She did not feel it would be ethical to report on a radio station that she was heavily involved in. Urch talks about her academic reasons for choosing the radio station over working at the Kentucky Kernel.

Keywords: Coverage; Ethics; Newspaper columns

Subjects: College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Journalism; Journalistic ethics.; Journalists; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Now El--I talked to Ellen Jett yesterday.

Segment Synopsis: Urch talks about Ellen Jett Mills and about her role in building the station. Mills was part of RFL for a period of time and did a lot while she was a part of the group but did not stay with the group long enough to see its completion. Urch talks about the importance of people like Mills who were a part of RFL but were unable to see the radio station come into being.

[Cross reference interview with Ellen Jett Mills, 2009oh133_hbk055 for more information on this subject.]

Keywords: Committees; Ellen Jett Mills; Meetings; RFL; Ria Perkins; WRFL; Zines

Subjects: College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Music; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: You are adored by, I, I will tell you, at least four dozen people.

Segment Synopsis: Urch talks about her struggles in academia during her freshman year and during the rest of the her student career. Urch ended up failing out of school during her freshman year and coming back to school years later. Urch talks about the struggles she has had and the education she received from building the radio station.

[Cross reference interview with Ellen Jett Mills, 2009oh133_hbk055 for more information on this subject.]

Keywords: Classes; Ellen Jett Mills; Lessons; Passed; Passing; Work

Subjects: College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Music; Newspapers.; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Um, let's, um, let's back up a little bit.

Segment Synopsis: Urch talks about how she got into the music scene and the state of the local music scene before WRFL. She talks about her interest in music and how someone would find out about new music. She also talks about the different people who influenced her musical tastes.

Keywords: Bands; Cassettes; Flyers; Records; Rob Olson; Scenes; Squirrel Bait (Artist); Talking Heads (Artist); Tapes; Tickets

Subjects: College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Music; Musicians; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky; University of Kentucky. Kentucky Kernel.; WUKY. (Radio Station: Lexington, Ky.).

Partial Transcript: But Rob Olson had an incredible impact really introducing me to a lot of the hip hop.

Segment Synopsis: In this section, Urch continues to talk about the local music scene in Kentucky and focuses specifically on hip hop. Urch says that the RFL group definitely wanted to play hip hop on the radio station. She explains why this was so, as well as impact the civil rights movement had on the station's development.

Keywords: Bands; Folk; Hip-hop; Public Enemy (Artist); RFL; WRFL

Subjects: African Americans--Civil rights; African Americans--Civil rights--Kentucky; College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington Herald-Leader; Music; Musicians; Racism; Racism--Kentucky--Lexington; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky; University of Kentucky. Kentucky Kernel.

Partial Transcript: And I just listened and I lived in, um, I lived in a really, uh, bad neighborhood so that I could play my music really loud.

Segment Synopsis: Urch shares the story of getting an apartment to so that she could play loud music. She specifically got an apartment in a rougher neighborhood so that she could play her music loudly. This brought problems with her next door neighbor who was a student.

Keywords: Neighbors; Playing music

Subjects: College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Music; Musicians; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So this is how--like 'cause like Louisville's scene was, was, was before our--was before Lexington's scene.

Segment Synopsis: Urch talks about the Lexington music scene in comparison with the Louisville music scene. Both scenes developed at about the same time and had similar music types. Urch talks about some of the bands from Lexington and then about some of the bands in Louisville.

Keywords: Records; Remembering; Scenes

Subjects: College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Lexington (Ky.).; Louisville (Ky.); Music; Musicians; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Like you were talking about record service earlier.

Segment Synopsis: Urch discusses some of the work she had to do to have record companies send the radio station music to play. There were a lot of phone calls, meetings, and discussions to get music from record companies. She talks about some of the record companies she contacted and some of the problems she faced getting music for the station.

Keywords: Airing; Mark Beaty; People; Plays; Record labels; Record services; Superstitious

Subjects: College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Music; Musicians; New York (N.Y.); Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Um, okay let's see, I'm gonna change the, change the--

Segment Synopsis: Urch talks about some of her favorite memories about the building of the station. From concerts to road trips to every day events at Miller Hall, there was a lot that Urch was involved with. Urch also talks about some of the people who helped build the station and talks about their contributions.

Keywords: Bands; Cards; Favorites; Holes; Interviews; Mark Beaty; Memories; Remembering; Theo Monroe; Trips

Subjects: College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Music; Musicians; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: You know, I just, I just remember--and I remember sitting in that board room, talking about this with, you know, some of Lexington's biggest radio people...

Segment Synopsis: In this closing section, Urch talks about the time she spent with different members of the University of Kentucky administration. She talks about the members of the administration that helped the RFL group and what their contributions were. In the last moments of this interview, Urch thanks Jeffries for conducting this series of interviews.

Keywords: Administrative; Assistants; RFL; WRFL; Working

Subjects: College students; College students--Kentucky--Lexington--Societies, etc.--History.; College students--Social life and customs; Music; Musicians; Radio; Radio broadcasters--Interviews; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky; Radio broadcasting--Kentucky.; Radio stations.; Radio--History.; Singletary, Otis A.; University of Kentucky; University of Kentucky--Administration; University of Kentucky. Kentucky Kernel.