A They Might Be Giants track got things going.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Officially, it all started at 1:32 p.m. on May 27, 1993.

That's when KWVA (Willamette Valley Alternative) went on the air with the song "Hey Mr. DJ" by They Might Be Giants. According to reports in the Oregon Daily Emerald newspaper, there was a faint humming to be heard when the DJs and newscasters spoke.

"In the beginning, people were like, `You guys probably won't be around too long,' ' recalls Steve Woodward, the station's first music director. "There was skepticism."

Woodward, aka "the Screamer," now hosts "The Edge" show on KFLY and produces the regionally syndicated music video show "Hard Times." He says he wouldn't be where he is today without the technical exper- ience he gained at KWVA.

As the first music director, it was Woodward's job to start the KWVA music library, a feat he accomplished by begging the record labels for music.

"I wrote letters, basically a form letter saying we're brand new, we have no money, we have no budget, please help. And I sent them out to over 300 record labels."

Attempts to launch KWVA began years before the station actually went on the air. In 1988, the general manager of KWAX, the university's classical music station, petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to acquire a frequency for a news and information station.

Ultimately, KWAX bowed out of the process, releasing control of the station, then dubbed KRMA (for "karma') to the students. The Associated Students of the University of Oregon began funding the future station in 1990.

With the application process tied up in red tape, the students involved in getting KWVA acquired a small office and then moved into a larger room when a custodian named Merv agreed to give up his space (The adjacent women's bathroom would later become part of the station's domain as well).

While waiting for the application to go through, Woodward says KWVA began broadcasting a closed-circuit signal into the cafeteria area at the Erb Memorial Union and its downstairs activity center. The arrangement allowed the station to begin keeping track of its playlist and presenting itself as a real player.

Ultimately, Woodward claims, it was the disgraced U.S. senator from Oregon, Bob Packwood, who applied the political pressure that helped force KWVA's FCC application through to acceptance. When the station went on the air, the core staff members introduced themselves and each played a song.

"It was a fun time, I really do miss it," says Woodward, who picked, Kiss' "I Love it Loud" for his debut. "I'm happy that sucker is still on the air."

- Lewis Taylor