UW Gazette, October 15, 1997
     
     In the CKMS archives, an infamous document forbids
disc jockeys to play "rock-and-roll or Backroom Ballads."
     The directive from station managers dates back to
1964, when CKMS made its debut as the weekly "Campus Sound"
program on CKKW AM. Later it would go by the name of Radio
Waterloo.
     Today, as CKMS 100.3 FM celebrates its 20th birthday
as a licensed radio station, the four staff and some 100
volunteers - students, alumni and community folks - spin
not just rock but a melange of music including alternative
rock, urban dance, jazz, blues, reggae and classical.
Programs include "Boot to the Head", "Touch My Monkey",
Eating Glass with Carl" and "Ed's Bad Records".
     Everything, that is, but "Backroom Ballads."
     The station also provides a forum for multicultural
programming in eight languages, poetry, literature and
drama, the gay and lesbian communities, and local and
international news.
     Operating from the out-of-the-way Bauer Warehouse on
the north campus, Radio Waterloo received an FM licence and
the call letters CKMS in 1977, then in 1992 moved from 94.5
FM to 100.3 with a power boost to expand its listening
range. An independent organization, the radio station is
supported by a student fee and run by a board of directors,
primarily students.
     To celebrate this milestone in its history, CKMS will
present special programming today, featuring some of the
best "alternative music" from the past two decades. On
Friday night, it will conclude the celebrations with a
"Local and Live" coffeehouse at the Graduate House from 9
p.m. to 1 a.m. Admission will be a non-perishable food item
or cash donation for the Waterloo Food Bank.