KCPR

KCPR debuted in August 1968, making its first broadcast with a small two-watt transmitter.{{cite journal |url=https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/studentnewspaper/1307 |title=Campus radio goes on the air |journal=Cal Poly Student Newspaper |date=2 August 1968 |volume=1 |issue=5 |publisher=Associated Students of California Polytechnic College |location=San Luis Obispo, California }} According to station lore, the first words spoken on-air were, "Is this the damn switch?"{{cite interview |last=Brown |first=Brad |title=An interview with Brad Brown }} However, an archived version of KCPR's website from 2000 holds the station's first words to be, "How the hell do you turn this thing on?"{{cite web |url=http://www.kcpr.org:80/ |title=KCPR 91.9 FM |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000408165857/http://www.kcpr.org/ |archive-date=April 8, 2000 |access-date=May 11, 2006 |url-status=live }}

Cal Poly professor and former KCPR disc jockey Jim Cushing describes the station's musical philosophy as "to provide people with a blend of music that they will not find on any other station, to remind people that the musical culture belongs to them". Among the programs that have anchored the KCPR program schedule for years include The Breakfast Club, Afternoon Delight, The Comedown, The Lounge, and Club 91.

Musician Alfred "Weird Al" Yankovic served as a disc jockey at KCPR while attending Cal Poly in the late 1970s as an undergraduate architecture student.{{cite news |url=https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39491970.html |title='Weird Al' Yankovic: Cal Poly alum still getting laughs after 35 years |newspaper=The Tribune |location=San Luis Obispo, California |access-date=December 13, 2016 }} He recorded his iconic parody song "My Bologna" on campus in the bathroom across the hall from the station's original location on the second floor of the Graphic Arts Building (Building 26).{{cite news |last=Mendonca |first=Kylie |title=A long, strange trip |url=https://www.newtimesslo.com/cover/1444/a-long-strange-trip/ |access-date=December 21, 2012 |newspaper=New Times |location=San Luis Obispo, California |date=November 25, 2008 }}{{cite news |url=https://mustangnews.net/from-cal-poly-bathrooms-to-no-1-on-billboard-200-weird-al-through-the-years/ |last=Nunez |first=Melissa |title=From Cal Poly bathrooms to No. 1 on Billboard 200: Weird Al through the years |newspaper=Mustang News |publisher=California Polytechnic State University |date=August 14, 2014 |language=en-US |access-date=December 13, 2016 }} Yankovic returned to Cal Poly in the 1990s for an interview and recorded a station identification for KCPR.{{cite web |url=https://kcpr.org/downloads/carts/weirdal.mp3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311213535/http://kcpr.org/downloads/carts/weirdal.mp3 |title=KCPR Weird Al Promo |website=KCPR |archive-date=March 11, 2012 }}

KCPR is branded as "Cal Poly Radio". Previously, it was known as "Burnt Dog Radio", an axiom that is reflected in one of the station's early logo designs that featured the RCA Victor dog.{{cite web |url=https://localtown.us/cal-poly-university-ca/media/radio/ |title=Cal Poly University, CA Radio Stations |website=Local Town |access-date=December 13, 2016 }} A logo from the 1980s shows the RCA dog with its head blown off, next to a speaker, and a dog bowl labeled KCPR. Presumably, the loud music is what caused the RCA dog's head to explode, a visual representation of the alternative direction that KCPR took after abandoning its top 40 format in 1983.Mustang Daily, October 14, 1983, page eight

In the summer of 2008, KCPR moved to a new studio in the same building after 39 years of continuous operation.

In 2017, Great Value Colleges, a consumer resource website for prospective university students, selected KCPR as one of its top 30 college radio stations in the United States.{{cite news |url=https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/education/article184631698.html |last=Leslie |first=Kaytlyn |title=Cal Poly's KCPR named one of the best college radio stations in the nation |newspaper=The Tribune |location=San Luis Obispo, California |date=November 14, 2017 |access-date=February 9, 2021 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.greatvaluecolleges.net/college-radio-stations/ |title=30 Amazing College Radio Stations 2017-2018 |website=Great Value Colleges |date=2017 |access-date=August 16, 2018 }}

Occasionally, KCPR hosts concerts at SLO Brew in downtown San Luis Obispo. Some notable artists have performed at these shows, including Jorja Smith and The Strokes.{{cite web |url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-strokes/2001/downtown-brewing-co-san-luis-obispo-ca-43d60b03.html |title=The Strokes Setlist at Downtown Brewing Co., San Luis Obispo, CA, USA |website=Setlist.fm |date=August 6, 2001 |access-date=August 16, 2018 }}

During the 2017–2018 academic year, KCPR began hosting Club 91 events at Underground Brewing Company in downtown San Luis Obispo. Club 91 features live music played by KCPR student DJs.

• David Kerley, ABC News correspondent; previously an anchor at KCOY (channel 12) in Santa Maria, California and KCPR news director{{cite web |url=http://www.calpolylink.com/s/699/alumni/index.aspx?sid=699&gid=1&pgid=1209 |title=Cal Poly Alumni - Honored Alumni Dinner |website=www.calpolylink.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006100734/http://www.calpolylink.com/s/699/alumni/index.aspx?sid=699&gid=1&pgid=1209 |archive-date=2015-10-06}}
• Eric Schwartz, comedian; was KCPR News director and journalism student; graduated 1996{{cite magazine |url=https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1398&context=calpoly_magazine |last=Momburg |first=Stacia |title=Funny Boy |magazine=Cal Poly Magazine |publisher=California Polytechnic State University |location=San Luis Obispo, California |page=11 |access-date=August 16, 2018 }}
• "Weird Al" Yankovic, musician

• Campus radio
• List of college radio stations in the United States

{{reflist}}

• {{official website |https://www.kcpr.org/ }}
• {{URL |https://kcpr.org/event/club-91/ |Club 91 Facebook page }}
• {{URL |https://www.zimfamilycockers.com/KCPR.html |KCPR from 1975 to 1977 }}
• {{FM station data|8324|KCPR}}

{{San Luis Obispo Radio}}

{{California college radio}}

{{California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo}}

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Category:California Polytechnic State University

CPR

Category:Mass media in San Luis Obispo County, California

CPR

Category:Radio stations established in 1968

Category:1968 establishments in California