KCOU

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KCOU, originally known as KCCS (the Kampus Carrier Current Station) is a college radio station at the University of Missouri-Columbia in the United States. It was founded in a dorm broom closet in 1963 as a carrier current AM station at 580 kHz.

In 1973, the Independent Residence Halls Association was granted a broadcast license by the FCC to operate in monaural at 88.3 MHz FM with 16 watts. Historically, this was the first license ever issued to a student group within a university, instead of to the university's administration. Operation began Halloween evening, playing the oddball tune "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!".

In the mid-1970s, the Missouri Student Association essentially bought the Station from the defunct IRHA, and upgraded it to 435 watts stereo, and moved to the current frequency of 88.1 MHz. In the early 1990s, the Station license was assigned to the University of Missouri Board of Curators, destroying the historical legacy of independently-owned student radio.

The student-run station gained notoriety during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s by staying on the forefront of "cool" in alternative music/college rock. KCOU has established itself as a leader in college radio by constantly remaining ahead of the pack in discovering new artists, new trends and new sounds.

In 1993, the station reunited the cult favorite Big Star as part of its annual Springfest concert. That show featured original bandmembers Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens, along with Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of the Posies. A recording of that reunion show was released as Columbia: Live at Missouri University 4/25/93.

In 2006, the station played the "Monster Mash" for 24 hours in a row on October 30th at 11:59 P.M. Unsurprisingly, it was a graveyard smash.

[edit] External links

• KCOU-FM website