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WORK TITLE: Cerphe’s Up
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Colwell, Don Cerphe
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://musicplanetradio.com/
CITY: Leesburg
STATE: VA
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
“Cerphe Colwell began his career on WHFS 102.3 radio, one of the first freeform stations in the United States. Cerphe’s radio resume includes WAVA, DC101, WJFK, and current station Music Planet Radio.” * http://musicplanetradio.com/cerphes-progressive-show-2/ * https://www.washingtonian.com/2014/11/24/former-whfs-deejay-cerphe-colwell-remembers-the-alternative-rock-station/ * http://www.beinkandescent.com/articles/549/music-cerphe-the-soul-of-dc-s-airwaves * http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/03/AR2009040304084.html
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2016030625
Descriptive conventions:
rda
LC classification: ML429.C569 Biography
Personal name heading:
Colwell, Cerphe
Found in: Colwell, C. Cerphe's up, 2016: ECIP t.p. (Cerphe Colwell)
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PERSONAL
Married Susan Colwell.
EDUCATION:Attended American University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Radio personality, interviewer, and memoirist; co-owner and host, Music Planet Radio, Washington, DC, 2009–. Disc jockey at radio stations WHFS 102.3 radio, 1971-77, and WAVA, 1977-82; program director, WJFK; also worked at DC101, Arlington, VA. Host, Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM (documentary).
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Radio disc jockey Cerphe Colwell has been, in many ways, the voice of Washington’s rock-and-roll community for decades. “One winter night in 1969, Cerphe Colwell hitchhiked up Wisconsin Avenue to the Bethesda office of radio station WHFS to pass the time with his roommate, who was an overnight DJ,” said Barbara Ruben in the Beacon Newspapers. “He enjoyed that so much that soon he was a regular visitor, bringing with him armfuls of records by such groups as Buffalo Springfield and Jefferson Airplane, and bantering with his roommate on the air. A few weeks later, he, too, had a job at the legendary radio station—known for its eclectic rock playlist, not fettered by the usual mandate to play top forty hits.” Because of his longevity at stations WHFS and WJFK, he has created connections with major figures in the music community. “He’s famous for originally `breaking’ Bruce Springsteen on radio back in 1973 and for hosting the local concert that would become Little Feat’s blockbuster live album, Waiting for Columbus,” declared Sally Kline in Home and Design. “Quickly transitioning from Frank Sinatra to Frank Zappa, the station would soon evolve into one of the East Coast’s most iconic, cutting-edge rock stations ever: WHFS. Cerphe helped symbolize a musical movement there for nearly a decade before commencing a long tenure with Infinity Broadcasting in the 1980s, for many years at the powerhouse WJFK-FM.” “Over the next five decades,” wrote a contributor to Loudoun Now, “he would have a front row seat for—and a significant hand in—the growth of rock and roll. More so, he would become a familiar, trusted voice to generations of Washington area radio listeners.”
Colwell’s tenure at the major Washington-area stations was partly a product of the times. “In the late 1960s and early ’70s, lured by the static-free FM sound, young people across the country turned in droves to the free-form, album-rock format pioneered by stations like WHFS,” explained a Washington Post contributor. “The music was introduced (and personally selected) by DJs such as Cerphe, Jonathan `Weasel’ Gilbert and Damien Einstein, who became minor stars in their own right (Gilbert was let go by WTGB in October).” The DJs made personal connections with their audiences and led many of them to explore and appreciate new music. “HFS made eye contact with the audience,” Colwell told James Michael Causey in an interview appearing in the Washingtonian. “The deejays were creative. My set list might start with John Coltrane, the Moody Blues, the Beatles, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Joni Mitchell, Sonny Rollins, … [and] segued into Frank Zappa.” Colwell has evolved into a guru-like figure in the rock community. “Over the decades, Colwell … never left the local airwaves, and never strayed far from rock,” the Washington Post contributor concluded. “He outlasted … the radio industry’s periodic convulsions and eruptions.”
Colwell relates anecdotes from his life and long career in Cerphe’s Up: A Musical Life with Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, CSNY, and Many More. “The book is an account of his life and career,” explained Peter Rouleau in the Sentinel. “`For people who grew up in [the Washington] … area, it will be a trip down memory lane,’ Colwell said, “But what I hope that most people take away from reading it, is that you should be passionate about what you do, whatever you do.’” “Colwell is humble,” stated Hannah Schneeberg in the Woodgrove Outlander, “and claims that all of his success came from the music he played, but his on-air personality is more than a just a persona. Washingtonian Magazine once referred to Colwell as `everyone’s cool older brother,’ and indeed that is a great description.” “You won’t find much dirt here–like his voice, Cerphe’s book, written with Stephen Moore, is smooth and inviting–but there are little details that conjure up Washington in the 1970s,” stated a Washington Post contributor, “including an appendix that lists every band that ever played at the Childe Harold, near Dupont Circle.” “Cerphe’s Up,” declared a Talk Planet Radio reviewer, “is both historically significant and a fun, revealing ride with some of the greatest rock-and-roll highfliers of the twentieth century.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Beacon, December 12, 2016, Barbara Ruben, “Cerphing with Rock’s Royalty.”
Billboard, March 27, 1993, Phyllis Stark, “Cerphe Colwell: WJFK Washington, D.C.,” p. 77.
Home and Design, May 1, 2007, Sally Kline, “Cerphe and Susan Colwell: The Veteran Radio Personality and His Green-building Wife Share a Zen-like Retreat in Reston.”
Loudoun Now, October 31, 2016, “Cerphe’s Up: Homegrown Rock and Roll History.”
PRWeb Newswire, September 10, 2015, “HFS Documentary ‘Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM.'”
Publishers Weekly, September 12, 2016, review of Cerphe’s Up: A Musical Life with Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, CSNY, and Many More, p. 48.
Sentinel, June 1, 2017, Peter Rouleau, “Local Disc Jockey Reflects on Years in the Business and Changing Music Tastes.”
Washingtonian, November 24, 2014, James Michael Causey, “Former WHFS Deejay Cerphe Colwell Remembers the Alternative-Rock Station.”
Washington Post, April 3, 2009, Paul Farhi, “Legendary Classic Rock DJ Cerphe Signs Off as WTGB Switches Formats;” November 28, 2016, “Remembering a Time When Downtown Washington Was Gritty, Not Pretty.”
ONLINE
Be Inkandescent, http://www.beinkandescent.com/ (July 18, 2017), Hope and Michael Gibbs, “Soul-Man Cerphe Colwell Talks about the Future of Radio.”
Music Planet Radio, http://musicplanetradio.com/ (July 18, 2017), review of Cerphe’s Up.
Talk Planet Radio, http://talkplanetradio.com/ (November 1, 2016), review of Cerphe’s Up.
Woodgrove Outlander, http://www.thewoodgroveoutlander.com/ (May 22, 2017), Hannah Schneeberg, “`Cerphe’s Up’: Renowned DJ Cerphe Colwell Shares Career Experiences.”*
Cerphe’s Up: A Musical Life with Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, CSNY, and Many More Hardcover – November 1, 2016
by Cerphe Colwell (Author), Stephen Moore (Author)
Kindle Price: $33.24 Hardcover Price $34.99
Cerphe’s Up is an incisive musical memoir by Cerphe Colwell, a renowned rock radio broadcaster for more than forty-five years in Washington, DC. Cerphe shares his life as a rock radio insider in rich detail and previously unpublished photographs. His story includes promotion and friendship with a young unknown Bruce Springsteen; his years at radio station WHFS 102.3 as it blossomed in a new freeform format; candid interviews with Little Feat’s Lowell George, Tom Waits, Nils Lofgren, Stevie Nicks, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steven Van Zandt, Robert Plant, Danny Kortchmar, Seldom Scene’s John Duffey, and many others; hanging out with George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, John Entwistle, Jackson Browne, and many more; testifying on Capitol Hill with friend Frank Zappa during the “Porn Rock” hearings; and managing the radio syndication of both G. Gordon Liddy and Howard Stern. Player listings and selected performances at legendary DC music clubs Childe Harold and Cellar Door are also chronicled.
Cerphe’s Up is both historically significant and a fun, revealing ride with some of the greatest rock-and-roll highfliers of the twentieth century. Cerphe’s Up belongs on the reading list of every rock fan, musician, and serious music scholar.
About the Author
Cerphe Colwell began his career on WHFS 102.3 radio, one of the first freeform stations in the United States. Cerphe (pronounced “Surf”) helped promote the early careers of Bruce Springsteen, Lowell George, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, and many other rock luminaries. Cerphe’s radio resume includes WAVA, DC101, WJFK, and current station Music Planet Radio. Cerphe lives in Leesburg, Virginia.
Stephen Moore has coauthored three books, Johnny Holliday: From Rock to Jock, Helen Hayes: A Bio-Bibliography, and Hoop Tales: Maryland Terrapins Men’s Basketball. A research technologist at Georgetown University, he plays in the Bethesda, Maryland, rock cover band The Razors.
Cerphe’s Up: Homegrown Rock and Roll History
2016-10-31 LoudounNow 0 Comment
A love-struck Boston kid followed a girlfriend to American University to study art in 1967. Over the next five decades, he would have a front row seat for—and a significant hand in—the growth of rock and roll. More so, he would become a familiar, trusted voice to generations of Washington area radio listeners.
Cerphe Colwell documents the rise of DC’s rock music scene and the birth of many of the industry’s greatest contributors in a new autobiography. “Cerphe’s Up,” which debuts locally Wednesday evening, when Cowell and co-author Stephen Moore will hold a book signing at the Leesburg Vintner, 29 S. King St. downtown.
His introduction to the DJ booth came at the invitation of a housemate and fellow student who had a part-time job at a 5,000-watt Bethesda radio station that played easy listening music during the day, but let the DJs play whatever they wanted overnight. WHFS would become one of the most influential rock stations in American and, starting fulltime in 1973, Colwell was among the core group of the station’s famed free-form DJ line up.
Colwell helped bring acts such as Bruce Springsteen and Little Feat to prominence and developed life-long friendships with a roster of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. “Cephe’s Up” shares those stories through Colwell’s recollections and interview transcripts.
But there is more. There is the night he played in the backing band for Chuck Berry. There are tales of the rise and fall of important DC music spots such as the Childie Harold and The Cellar Door. And you learn the colorful effects of a health-conscious DJ going a bit overboard with carrot juice.
Colwell’s run at ‘HFS ended after eight years, but he remained a force on Washington airwaves for decades more. He worked at WAVA, DC 101, WJFK, and 94.7 (through its Classic Rock/The Arrow/The Globe stages) during an era that saw the rise of national media conglomerates that now dictate what is played on local airwaves. Today, Colwell controls his own playlist once again with Music Planet Radio streaming new music and classic hits 24/7 online and through an app.
These days it is not just Colwell’s voice that is familiar around Leesburg; his face is, too. He and his wife Susan have moved to the Leesburg area and are working with Todd Wright, Stilson Greene and others to support the town’s community of performers and songwriters.
Cerphing with rock’s royalty
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Monday, December 12, 2016
By: Barbara Ruben
Date: Monday, December 12, 2016
Cerphe Colwell, a former DJ at the legendary independent rock station WHFS and many others in the Washington area, now hosts four daily shows online at Music Planet Radio. His new memoir, Cerphe’s Up, recounts his career, and describes many of his interviews with rock stars — from Bruce Springsteen to Jerry Garcia to George Harrison.
Photo courtesy of Cerphe Colwell
One winter night in 1969, Cerphe Colwell hitchhiked up Wisconsin Avenue to the Bethesda office of radio station WHFS to pass the time with his roommate, who was an overnight DJ.
He enjoyed that so much that soon he was a regular visitor, bringing with him armfuls of records by such groups as Buffalo Springfield and Jefferson Airplane, and bantering with his roommate on the air.
A few weeks later, he, too, had a job at the legendary radio station — known for its eclectic rock playlist, not fettered by the usual mandate to play top 40 hits.
“It was a happy accident,” he recalled in a recent interview. “WHFS was a community-minded station where the inmates ran the asylum.
“The counterculture fostered the birth of great music, a mosaic of creative drama. And we radio DJs got to satisfy our relentless, inventive impulses by playing whatever we wanted,” Colwell recalled of his eight years at the station that launched his 45-year (and counting) radio career.
Colwell, who is 67 and lives in Leesburg, Va. with his wife Susan, recounts his life on and off the air in a new memoir, Cerphe’s Up.
Subtitled “A Musical Life with Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, CSNY and Many More,” Colwell recalls the dozens of on-air interviews and backstage visits he has had with rock’s biggest stars of the last half century.
Colwell has always gone by his middle name, Cerphe (pronounced “surf”), a family name, and uses only that name as a DJ.
He followed his high school girlfriend from his hometown outside Boston to American University in Washington for college and has never left.
“The D.C. scene, with music clubs like the Cellar Door and Childe Harold, were attracting major acts like Neil Young and Miles Davis, and then also showcasing local musicians like Emmylou Harris, Nils Lofgren and virtuoso guitarists, Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan. On WHFS I had the opportunity to introduce unknown artists to local audiences and watch them develop,” he recalled.
Introducing the Boss
Take Bruce Springsteen in his D.C. debut at the Dupont Circle bar Childe Harold in 1973. Springsteen came onto Colwell’s show for an interview, a “bearded and skinny” guy who was “shy and unassuming.”
Two years later, Colwell emceed a Springsteen show at Carter Baron Amphitheatre in Rock Creek Park on a rain-soaked night. By 1978, Springsteen was selling out shows at huge arenas, and Colwell was still announcing him.
His favorite interview was with George Harrison. Colwell felt like a fish out of water with his long hair and “hippie jacket” at a Harrison press conference in 1976 with music critics from the Washington Post and Washington Star.
But as he describes in his memoir, “As I talked to one of the suits, I noticed George looking at the tantric yoga button pinned to my jean jacket. He looked at the button, up at me, and back at the button.
“Then something crazy happened. With his eyes fixed on me, he wrapped up the conversation and walked over. He said, ‘Hi, would you care to have a cup of tea?’”
“Here was a Beatle asking me if I would like to have tea with him! And it was the Beatle I most closely identified with,” Colwell writes.
He’s also interviewed numerous other musicians whose stratospheric careers meant their albums were best sellers around the world. They include: Stevie Nicks, Robert Plant, John Prine, Frank Zappa, Bonnie Raitt, the Rolling Stones, Lowell George of Little Feat, Tom Waits, Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. Most of his conversations with them are recounted in Cerphe’s Up.
Moving on
But Colwell’s career at WHFS came to an abrupt halt in 1977, when the station’s owner fired him. The reasons are a little murky, but Colwell says the station owner didn’t like the way he was promoting artists on the air. The firing of the popular DJ made headlines in both the Washington Post and Washington Star.
“I felt terrible. It was my first and only job for eight years. Getting fired shook my faith in radio,” Colwell said.
WHFS itself went off the air in its rock format in 2005 when it abruptly changed to a Latin music format.
But Colwell went on to spin records at numerous Washington stations. He landed on his feet at WAVA for the next five years, where he helped the station transition from soft rock to a more album-oriented rock format. Listeners have also heard him on DC101, WJFK, WARW and WVRX.
In the last decade or so, the Internet has reshaped the listening landscape. Streaming music from around the globe means that listeners now have seemingly infinite choice at their fingertips if they tire of the same FM music playlists.
Since 2009, Colwell has had an online show, “Cerphe’s Progressive Show,” at Music Planet Radio that airs in both the mornings and evenings at 7 and 10. He plays lesser-known classic rock tracks as well as new music by favorite artists, such as Paul McCartney, Tom Petty and Bonnie Raitt.
He also tries to mix in some local musicians like Todd Wright, Stilson Greene, Patrick Thornton, Kim Pittinger and Jon Carrol, since his shows, while available worldwide, focus on Washington.
“The songs I play aren’t dictated by a corporate music executive a thousand miles away, so it’s much like my time at WHFS. I can play and say what I want. It’s spontaneous, improvisational and free-wheeling,” he said of his online show.
Beyond radio, he helps with fundraising events, such as one for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He recently worked with Sting and Paul Simon, raising $1.2 million for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington. He’s also a member of the Global Advisory Committee at Earth Day Network.
Surprisingly clean living
Fans might be surprised to learn that in an industry rife with drugs and hard living, Colwell doesn’t imbibe. He’s also a vegetarian and meditates.
Between playing soccer when he was younger and having asthma, Colwell said he never had an interest in drugs.
“I think many listeners found me disappointing in person because they had in their mind that I was ‘Cerphe, the party guy,’” he said. “I’ve been this way for over four decades. That’s why they call me the Guru of Tofu, Sultan of Soy, Vicar of Vegan, Maharaja of Meatless!”
Colwell said he enjoyed unspooling the years as he recounted his adventures for the book, which he wrote with coauthor Stephen Moore, who plays in the Bethesda, Md., rock cover band the Razors.
The idea for the book took shape during a 2013 reunion with fellow WHFS DJs, which led to the genesis of a documentary film, Feast Your Ears, about the station. The film is still in production.
“I’ve been very fortunate, and I’m fine with the changes in the radio biz. That super-creative, freeform underground format that was WHFS has pretty much vanished,” he said. “Streaming radio and what we do now on MusicPlanetRadio.com is making music more exciting again for the adult audience, the way we felt about it 25 or 30 years ago.”
“Cerphe’s Up”: Renowned DJ Cerphe Colwell Shares Career Experiences
Senior Felipe Osorio and host teacher Sallie Street posing for a photo with famous Radio DJ Cerphe Colwell.
Photo Provided by Mrs. Street
Senior Felipe Osorio and host teacher Sallie Street posing for a photo with famous Radio DJ Cerphe Colwell.
Written by Hannah Schneeberg
May 22, 2017
Nationally renowned DJ, Cerphe Colwell, recently visited Mrs. Sallie Street’s Den-time class to share experiences from his lengthy career as a DJ in the DC area, and to introduce his new autobiography, Cerphe’s Up, co-written by biographer Stephen Moore.
Laughing, Colwell told the students, “I’ve been on DC radio since your parents were your age.”
Hailed by The Washington Post as “the voice of Washington’s rock generation,” his first foray into radio began while he was attending American University in the ‘70s. He first worked for the legendary rock station WHFS, and later worked for DC 101, WFJK and The Arrow.
Colwell has interviewed hundreds of musicians through the years, and he lists George Harrison of The Beatles as one of his favorites. Harrison and Colwell kept in touch through the years, and a photo of the two graces the cover of Colwell’s autobiography.
Colwell said, “I met George Harrison about seven or eight years after The Beatles broke up. He ended up talking to me longer than anyone else in the press room that day, and we continued to have contact throughout the years.”
As for other intriguing interviews, Colwell says there are too many to recall, but he did mention an interview with Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. He said that he believes that the band is still popular after all these years because “they still resonate.”
While sharing his own personal story, Colwell gave Mrs. Street’s class advice on finding success.
“I started out purely by mistake 45 years ago. I was an art major, and yet my first big job ended up being in rock radio. You never know where your path is going to take you,” Colwell told students. “I got lucky, and being lucky is a combination of paying attention to detail and being smart. Always pay attention to what’s going on around you, take notice, read, and keep a journal.”
Colwell and his wife Susan reside in Leesburg where they run Music Planet Radio (MusicPlanetRadio.com), streaming songs by many of the same artists Colwell interviewed through the years. The Colwells are also strong supporters of musicians on the local scene.
Colwell is humble and claims that all of his success came from the music he played, but his on- air personality is more than a just a persona. Washingtonian Magazine once referred to Colwell as “everyone’s cool older brother,” and indeed that is a great description of how he interacted with the students and teachers of Woodgrove High School.
Several teachers who grew up listening to Cerphe attended the event. Attendees included Mrs. Street, who hosted the event, and Mr. Tim Brown, Mr. Tim Greening, and Mrs. Lea Longerbeam.
Mrs. Longerbeam said, “Cerphe has always been my favorite DJ. He always had a great on-air persona, but he is just as friendly and personable in real life. During the presentation, he made every student and teacher feel comfortable and important. I think that his gift for relating to others is a big part of his success.”
Colwell’s book, Cerphe’s Up, is available on MusicPlanetRadio.com, and Colwell and Moore will also be promoting the book at several events around the DC area. By sharing his story, Colwell hopes to give fans “a little peak behind the curtain” of the music world.
Asked to sum up his successful career, Colwell said, “Always let the music be the star.”
Local disc jockey reflects on years in the business and changing music tastes
01 Jun 2017
Written by Peter Rouleau
Published in Entertainment
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(Donald) Cerphe Colwell’s 45 years in the D.C. area’s music scene began in 1971, when Colwell, then a “struggling art major” at American University, was invited by Steve Walker, a DJ at Bethesda-based station WHFS, to visit the station.
Colwell was hired to work the 7 p.m.-to-midnight shift on Saturdays.
“I saw the world with fresh eyes,” Colwell said of the experience. He said he’d been fascinated by radio since his childhood in Boston, when he listened to a transistor radio in bed at night. Colwell would go on to work for several years at WHFS – the first station in the area to broadcast in FM stereo.
“There was a real feeling of creativity and community,” Colwell said. “I could go from the Beatles to John Coltrane. I went around and talked to bands who were being ignored by the larger stations and invited them to come on my show. Bands loved to come to our studio because we didn’t put time limits on them. Frank Zappa would come on and talk about all kinds of things. We were one of the first five radio stations in the country to play Bruce Springsteen’s music. Bruce played five or six sets on on my show.”
Colwell said one of the most memorable episodes of his career occurred in 1977, when he attended a media event in D.C. promoting George Harrison’s new album, “Thirty Three & 1/3.”
I was in the hotel room with George and a whole lot of other reporters, and I had a tantric yoga pin on my lapel, and George caught sight of it,” Colwell said. “The crowd of reporters parted as George walked over to me and he said, ‘May I get you a cup of tea?’ I was about to weep. A Beatle was offering to get me a drink!” Colwell interviewed Harrison at the WHFS studio shortly afterward.
Colwell’s work led to his witnessing and involvement in several political events in the area.
“In 1971, there was a huge anti-Vietnam War protest in Washington, and the Metropolitan Police made a mass arrest and locked up thousands of people behind a chain-link fence near RFK Stadium,” Colwell said. “I went down there to cover it. I look through the fence and I see an older gentleman in glasses and sport coat. It was Dr. Benjamin Spock.”
Spock, one of the most influential American pediatricians of the 20th century, was heavily involved in the antiwar movement, including helping draft resisters migrate to Canada.
In 1985, Frank Zappa invited Colwell to join himself, folk singer John Denver and Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snyder in testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee against labeling objectionable content on commercially sold music.
The hearing was held in response to the efforts of the Parents Music Resource Center, a committee founded by Tipper Gore, wife of then-Sen. Al Gore, and the wives of other prominent Washington figures to increase parental control over children’s access to music containing profanity or references to sex or illicit drug use.
“Frank was the first to testify, and he opened up by saying, ‘Ladies, how dare you? This is like treating dandruff with decapitation,’” Colwell said. “Nobody realized what an articulate guy he was.”
After leaving WHFS, Colwell worked at WAVA in Arlington, DC101, program director at WJFK where he was responsible for managing Howard Stern and G. Gordon Liddy's talk programs, and 94.7 FM which was then a classic rock station called “The Arrow.”
Colwell laments the decline of locally oriented and creative radio stations.
“In the late 1970s and 1980s, radio began to get more corporate,” Colwell said. “WHFS was sold to a bigger company, and then a bigger company, and then a bigger company before being sold to CBS. DJs haven’t picked music for about 35 years. The corporate offices in New York or Los Angeles send out a playlist of required songs. That’s why you hear the same 120 songs over and over on the radio nowadays.”
Colwell currently hosts “Cerphe’s Progressive Show” twice daily on the Internet radio channel Music Planet Radio. The program features vintage and new material from classic rock artists. Colwell views the program as a step toward a renaissance of the D.C. area’s cultural and music scene.
“When I started out, there was a great club scene,” Colwell said. “There’s a lot fewer places to play now. Thank God for the 9:30 Club and Merriweather Post Pavilion. The Bethesda Blues and Jazz Club does a great job, but they have trouble filling their seats. There’s a lot of great talent and people who have migrated to the area, bringing lots of different styles with them, and we need an infrastructure that supports that. Part of what we’re doing at Music Planet Radio is trying to build that infrastructure, just like we did in the early days of WHFS.”
Last year, Colwell published his book “Cerphe’s Up.” Co-authored with Stephen Moore, the book is an account of his life and career. The book recently entered its second printing, and Colwell promoted it at the Kensington Day of the Book and Gaithersburg Book Festival.
“For people who grew up in this area, it will be a trip down memory lane,” Colwell said, “But what I hope that most people take away from reading it, is that you should be passionate about what you do, whatever you do.”
Former WHFS Deejay Cerphe Colwell Remembers the Alternative-Rock Station
Colwell reflects on his time as every Washington teen’s cool big brother.
By James Michael Causey on November 24, 2014
Former WHFS Deejay Cerphe Colwell Remembers the Alternative-Rock Station
Cerphe Colwell on fellow WHFS deejay Josh Brooks’s porch in Frederick. Photograph by Deborah Jaffe.
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In its heydey in the 1970s and ’80s, radio station WHFS functioned as a barometer for cool: Devotees were too hip for Top 40, too edgy for DC101. HFS promoted local bands while helping launch national acts like Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and Blondie. For the past year, North Potomac filmmaker Jay Schlossberg has been assembling Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM, interviewing former deejays Cerphe Colwell, Jonathan “Weasel” Gilbert, and Josh Brooks, plus musicians who fed—and fed off—the HFS phenomenon: Marshall Crenshaw, members of Little Feat, Bill Payne, and David Bromberg. Here Colwell talks about his time as every Washington teen’s cool big brother.
What was so special about WHFS?
HFS made eye contact with the audience. The deejays were creative. My set list might start with John Coltrane, the Moody Blues, the Beatles, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Joni Mitchell, Sonny Rollins, then bluegrass that segued into Frank Zappa. You had to kind of come along for the ride. Now [at radio stations] the sets are on a hard drive. You go off the list, you get fired. You have a car payment and mortgage, so you play “Free Bird” and go home.
How did you make connections with so many prominent musicians?
In 1976, George Harrison was promoting his album Thirty Three & ⅓at a press junket. I was wearing a tantric-yoga button on my lapel. He looked at it, then headed toward me. The crowd parted. He came up and said, “I’m going to get a cup of tea—would you like one?”
Who did WHFS bring to the Washington market?
Local acts like the Night-hawks but also Springsteen, Zappa, Nils Lofgren. Springsteen was playing the old Childe Harold in Dupont Circle in front of 60 people when we put his first record, Greetings From Asbury Park N.J., into heavy rotation. He was on my show many times.
What do you think is interesting about a WHFS documentary after all these years?
I was on WAVA, DC101, WJFK, Classic Rock 94.7, but the thing everybody wants to talk about is HFS. We were able to get up close and personal with acts, the club scene was powerful, there were beautiful girls, fights in bathrooms, surly managers—that whole thing. It was rock ’n’ roll.
Cerphe and Susan Colwell
The veteran radio personality and his green-building wife share a Zen-like retreat in Reston
By Sally Kline
Cerphe and Susan Colwell and their cat Ludwig catch
some rays on their deck overlooking Lake Audubon.It’s only rock ‘n’ roll, and radio veterans Cerphe and Susan Colwell have always liked it. But a shared love of music is not the only ticket to their harmonious sanctuary on Lake Audubon in Reston. Rather, this progressive couple is in concert with the environment and in tune with health-conscious living, which has given their modern-style home and a new socially responsible business venture its heightened rhythm.
With their recently purchased five-level, 4,700-square-foot town home in northern Virginia as an archetype, last year the Colwells started MyGreenCottage.com. The company specializes in outfitting clean, energy-efficient custom homes that improve occupants’ health and have a neutral effect on the planet.
But as the adage goes, it isn’t easy being green—or, at least it wasn’t at first for an early adopter. “The whole thing began about 35 years ago. I became a vegetarian when it was still considered a very strange thing to do,” recalls Cerphe (a family name pronounced “surf”), a legendary Washington-area disc jockey. He’s famous for originally “breaking” Bruce Springsteen on radio back in 1973 and for hosting the local concert that would become Little Feat’s blockbuster live album, Waiting for Columbus. “That was around the same time that I started on air. I was a visual arts student at American University. They let us crazy hippies play our music during the overnights at a Big Band station in Bethesda.”
Quickly transitioning from Frank Sinatra to Frank Zappa, the station would soon evolve into one of the East Coast’s most iconic, cutting-edge rock stations ever: WHFS. Cerphe helped symbolize a musical movement there for nearly a decade before commencing a long tenure with Infinity Broadcasting in the 1980s, for many years at the powerhouse WJFK-FM. The 55-year-old Cerphe now hosts the afternoon drive-time show on 94.7 FM. He says he works standing up during the whole five hours he’s at the station.
“I have a passion about being healthy. Anything you can do—exercise, yoga, meditation—will help ‘the machine’ and help you in the world.” You only have to glance around the Colwells’ sleek yet funky, Stanley Martin attached home to glean their devotion to the intertwined pursuits of physical and spiritual health, music and eco-friendliness.
Just the fact that it’s an attached home with a southern exposure makes it green. “Townhouses require less land and materials to build and place less of a load on resources than do single-family homes,” Susan Colwell notes. The vast, low E-coating windows are not only energy efficient, but also allow for a feeling of organic warmth in the loft-like great room.
Flanked by a raised deck overlooking the picturesque lake, the combined living room, dining room and open kitchen offers contemporary comfort with more than a hint of individuality. With occasional consultation from Washington, DC, interior designer Michael Fratz, the Colwells decorated the place themselves using local, easily accessible retailers.
The rugs come from Pottery Barn. Crate & Barrel supplied the dining table and the black leather Italian-inspired dining chairs, as well as the aluminum outdoor furniture. Other upholstered pieces came from Random Harvest Studio. Concrete Jungle crafted their two custom fireplaces. A cabinet made of renewable bamboo from Theodore’s stands adjacent to the great room’s vivid and most personal statement: Cerphe’s collection of more than 8,000 CDs, arranged in alphabetical order.
“Sure, you could put all this music on an iPod,” he allows, pointing to the extensive mounted library, “but look at my wall treatment! I like the old school retro of it. I like seeing my music. It’s comforting.”
Nearby, next to a massive Saguaro cactus skeleton that the pair attached to the roof of their car and drove back themselves all the way from Arizona, an amp and two 1960s-era Fender guitars and a newer acoustic one rest ready for Cerphe’s solo weekend jam sessions. “Eric Clapton, I’m not,” he smiles.
An acrylic-on-paper, pop art portrait of Albert Einstein by Belgian artist Jean Francois Detaille, acquired at a local Habitat for Humanity auction, overlooks the main space. Its expressive color and playfully impulsive technique reflect the discriminating cool of the dwelling and its owners.
In keeping with their ecological mission, Benjamin Moore’s line of low-VOC paint, other non-off-gassing materials, L.E.D. lighting, Energy Star certified appliances, low-flow plumbing fixtures and composite outdoor decking made of reclaimed wood and plastic are used where possible throughout the home. Wall colors everywhere combine an affirmation of nature with a hip flare in fresh variations of pumpkin orange, walnut brown and leafy green.
Proceed down to the home’s lowest level to find Cerphe’s office/production studio. Flooring made of renewable cork serves both an acoustic and conservationist function.
On the interim floor between that and the great room—“the Zen den” level, as they call it—the Colwells have a spot dedicated to body and soul. The combined home gym and meditation area reflects their omni-denominational, Buddhist fusion credo. “We’re spiritual but not religious,” Susan says. An antique Burmese Buddha resides atop a wooden stand with a cross, rescued from an old church. “It’s an Eastern icon on a Western altar,” she observes. On the same floor is Susan’s office, where she runs MyGreenCottage.com as its president. A licensed builder with five years of experience as a construction company representative, the 40-year-old entrepreneur grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, and began her professional life in travel journalism and radio broadcasting. That’s, of course, how she met Cerphe.
They became friends while working at the same station in 1990. But as they were both in and out of other relationships with precision bad timing, it would be another eight years before romance finally bloomed. Cerphe called Susan out of the blue one day, quipping, “Hey, I think we better hurry up and start dating before one of us gets married again!”
On the top floor is the couple’s tailored but cozy master suite—with most of the furniture by Ralph Lauren for Bloomingdales—including bedroom, bath and sitting room. Hanging above a sofa in the sitting room is a gold record of Springsteen’s Born to Run album presented to Cerphe by CBS Records in 1976. “It’s one of my most prized possessions,” the music connoisseur concedes.
On the floor below the master suite is an open gallery, which overlooks the great room and the lake beyond. It serves as an entry way and gallery with more prized rock memorabilia in the form of rare original photographs, including two taken by Linda McCartney in the 1960s and acquired through Georgetown’s Govinda Gallery.
It’s all a testament to the Colwells’ conviction that you can have both what looks good and what is good. “You really don’t have to make a choice,” Susan insists. “You can have things that are beautiful, meaningful and green.” As their new business gears up to market its log home, timber frame and conventional home packages—offering such options as mass insulation, geothermal and solar energy systems, clean air furnaces and eco-friendly building materials in prearranged or custom adapted floor plans—Cerphe’s current radio station, WARW-FM, has jumped on the pro-planet bandwagon.
He helped inspire the recent format change at the station, now referred to as “94.7 The Globe.” The programming emphasizes environmental awareness both in content and in its operation. Among other practices, it will pay a premium to Pepco in order to power itself through wind-generated energy. Adding to Cerphe’s rock-solid credentials, how’s that for an encore?
Sally Kline, a Washington-area arts and culture writer for 16 years, is a regular contributor to Home & Design. Photographer Michael Ventura is a based in Silver Spring, Maryland.
In the great room, a pop art portrait of Albert Einstein, acquired
at a Habitat for Humanity auction, hangs above the fireplace.
“Wall art” in the dining room area consists of Cerphe’s collection
of 8,000 compact discs.
On the home’s lowest level, Cerphe’s office is equipped with
technology to broadcast his show from home should the need
arise.
A custom display cabinet shows Cerphe’s personal toy collection.
A gallery on the home’s entry level showcases photographs of
rock ‘n’ roll icons. Linda McCartney made the portraits of the Beatles
and Jimmy Hendrix, and Dick Waterman took the picture of Mick
Jagger. In front, the harpist sculpture was carved from a former
newel post.
The shower in the master bathroom celebrates nature indoors
by incorporating river rock.
Green low-VOC paint reflects the home’s leafy surroundings.
Another level of the house includes the “Zen den,” where the
couple exercises and meditates. An antique Burmese Buddha
resides atop a wooden stand salvaged from an old church.
Legendary Classic Rock DJ Cerphe Signs Off as WTGB Switches Formats
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By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 4, 2009
No more Zeppelin. No more Skynyrd or Tom Petty or Rolling Stones. And not a whole lot more Don Cerphe Colwell, either.
Classic rock and the DJ who brought that music to local radio audiences long before the rock was considered "classic" are both fading from the airwaves. Beginning Monday, Colwell's station, WTGB (94.7 FM, "The Globe"), will switch to playing contemporary pop tunes. With the demise of the region's only classic rock outlet, the music that helped transform FM radio into a cultural force in the 1970s will become just another baby boomer memory.
Colwell -- who has always gone by his middle name, pronounced "surf," on the air -- is arguably the voice of Washington's rock generation. As an undergraduate at American University in the early 1970s, he began working part time at a little FM station in Bethesda called WHFS, where he explored records by such artists as Jimi Hendrix and interviewed such up-and-coming talents as Bruce Springsteen.
WTGB's end closes a chapter for FM radio in the Washington area. Until the rock era, AM radio was the dominant force, with narrow, Top 40 playlists. But in the late 1960s and early '70s, lured by the static-free FM sound, young people across the country turned in droves to the free-form, album-rock format pioneered by stations like WHFS. The music was introduced (and personally selected) by DJs such as Cerphe, Jonathan "Weasel" Gilbert and Damien Einstein, who became minor stars in their own right (Gilbert was let go by WTGB in October).
Over the decades, Colwell, 57, never left the local airwaves, and never strayed far from rock. He joined WHFS full time in 1973 as it grew from hippie outpost to tastemaking mainstream force. He outlasted changing musical styles and the radio industry's periodic convulsions and eruptions. For years, he was the knowledgeable and smooth-voiced "rock guy" at such stations as DC101, WJFK and the Arrow 94.7, the predecessor of the Globe.
Until yesterday, that is, when Cerphe signed off his final afternoon shift. The Cerphe-selected soundtrack for the day included the Beatles' "The End" ("And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make") and Jeff Buckley's "The Last Goodbye" -- the song that carried WHFS off the air in 2005 when it switched from alternative rock to Spanish-language pop tunes.
"It's been an amazing run," said Colwell, trying to sound as upbeat as possible yesterday in an interview. "Most people in radio don't get to stay in the same job, or on the air, for a very long time. The only business with a higher turnover is Taco Bell."
Commercial radio had been in decline even before the recession, beset by competition from Internet streaming, satellite radio and iPods. But classic rock stations have their own set of problems. The audience for such a format is no longer so young, or very large, making the station less attractive to sponsors. WTGB has ranked in the top 10 among adult listeners only once in the past five months, and it typically finishes about 14th overall among adults.
Colwell, whose business card lists his title as "Music Guru," was loath to criticize WTGB's management, or the often repetitive, research-generated playlists of many classic rock stations. But he said he believes that the genre still has resonance: "People like to go back 25 years. They hear a song and they remember what was going on in their lives back then. It takes you back to a kinder, gentler time."
If he had his own station, he said, he would keep some of the popular acts of decades past but add new music to expand the playlist: "If I could, I'd put [WHFS] of the '80s together with what we're doing now, add [new music] and put it in a blender and hit liquefy."
The station's switch to a contemporary pop format -- it will be called "Fresh 94.7" and will play such hitmakers as Kelly Clarkson, John Mayer and Jason Mraz -- is motivated by a desire to attract a larger, younger and more female audience, primarily women between the ages of 18 and 49. Classic rock performed "well" in the ratings, but "we're in the business of delivering mass audiences," said Michael Hughes, vice president of programming for CBS Radio's four local stations, which include 94.7 and the former WHFS. Hughes calls Colwell "one of the most knowledgeable and respected musical experts I've known."
Colwell said he didn't ask to become part of the new station, and probably wouldn't have fit in anyway. "Could I do it? Yeah," he said. "I really love radio, and I really love Washington. But I'm really not a Kelly Clarkson kind of guy. I'm more of a Springsteen, U2, Coldplay guy."
Cerphe won't disappear entirely. CBS has offered him an occasional role as a "musical correspondent" on a sister station, WJFK (106.7 FM), which has a talk format. He'll do interviews with touring musicians and report stories from time to time. He's also considering working for a company, started by his wife, that designs energy-efficient houses.
As for the abrupt end of his regular radio gig, Colwell said he has no hard feelings. "We're living in a time when things are rapidly changing and the way people use radio is changing," he said. "You have to constantly entertain them, and you have to perform well consistently. I understand that. This is radio. It's a numbers game."
May 2011
Soul-Man Cerphe Colwell Talks About the Future of Radio
By Hope and Michael Gibbs
Publishers
Be Inkandescent Magazine
Don Cerphe (pronounced Surf) Colwell is no stranger to change. He got started as one of the most popular DJs in DC just a few years after The Beatles rocked the world when they arrived on the music scene.
That was around the time that the teen from Boston hitched a ride with his girlfriend on her way to American University. The relationship didn’t last, but Cerphe found a home in the nation’s capital. In 1972, while still an art major at AU, he was hired by WHFS to be its nighttime DJ.
“At the time, WHFS was mostly playing tunes by Sinatra and Tom Jones,” says Cerphe, whose job it was to play album cuts of young rockers who couldn’t get airplay by day.
Over the course of the next decade, he made a career of finding new recording artists, including the then-unknown Bruce Springsteen. However, changes in music tastes, philosophy, and ownership at the station led him to move on, and Cerphe’s signature soothing voice could be heard hosting rock shows on WAVA, DC101, WJFK, and until two years ago, at Classic Rock 94.7 The Globe.
He can be heard each weekday afternoon on 105.9 The Edge, and now calls Eco Planet Radio home. There, he hosts “The Progressive Show” and “Global Café,” as well as the “Vinyl Vault” on his own website, cerphe.com.
Despite the gyrations, one thing has stayed constant: Cerphe’s passion for green living. The practitioner of yoga and meditation, who has been a vegetarian for more than 20 years, was recently named the “Greenest DJ in America.” He was also appointed to the Global Advisory Committee by the Earth Day Network.
We recently sat down with Cerphe to talk about his illustrious career, his favorite interview, his plans for the next step in his career, and his thoughts on the future of radio.
Be Inkandescent: When you started at WHFS, DJs were known for their musical expertise as much as for their voice and radio presence. As music specialists, they provided context and background, made connections, and introduced new music. Nowadays, DJs seem to be either morning hosts who don’t play music, or play what they are told. Does DJing seem like a bygone art form?
Cerphe: Absolutely not. The industry has changed and will continue to morph, but DJs are as important today as they were during the WHFS era. While it’s true that we played whatever we wanted on WHFS, we always had a relatively small audience. Our listeners were very loyal and passionate, but were a microcosm in the Washington, DC, market.
Today, DJs are more important than ever. Where services like Pandora and Genius are an impersonal jukebox, DJs inject warmth and personality, and bring local-ness to radio. This is what we’ve always provided. Personalities are the antidote to iTunes. Especially if these personalities are music trendsetters. The very thing that differentiates an iPod from a radio is on-air, local personalities.
Be Inkandescent: As a DJ, did you ever get sick and tired of hearing certain songs over and over? How did you feel about playing certain songs you really disliked?
Cerphe: I never tire of hearing great songs. The Classic Rock I play on my FM afternoon show on 105.9 The Edge gives listeners fun memories of simpler times, a bit of escapism. That’s why we trend heavily in ratings with the adult audience. Stevie Nicks was a guest on my show last year and related similar stories of how people love to hear “Rhiannon” and “Go Your Own Way” when she performs. Concert audiences and radio listeners enjoy familiarity. A great song is much like a good friend.
Be Inkandescent: Two years ago, your stint ended at 94.7 FM The Globe, because The Globe itself ended, switching formats. Given your vast experience in radio, could you see this sea change coming? If so, when did things start shifting?
Cerphe: Yes, I knew about the change. At CBS Radio, we were trying something new and I was glad to be a part of it.
Be Inkandescent: You now have an Internet radio show. How did that come about? How does it compare to broadcast radio? There’s no interaction between DJ and listener; do you think that will change in the future? Or do you think radio as we know it will eventually die off? What, if anything, might take its place?
Cerphe: Radio today is more complicated than it was when I started. When I left 94.7, I had to wait out a non-compete with CBS and I was looking for a creative outlet. I have such a love for music and for art, and Internet radio pushed all my buttons. In broadcast radio, a large team of people steers the ship and makes decisions.
With Internet radio it’s just me, a microphone, and the songs I choose to play. One thing I love about Internet radio is that I can take an idea and carry that thread through an entire show. If I’m having a lousy week, I play a lot of dark, moody stuff and if all’s right with the world, I rock out! It’s like journaling, but with music, it’s cathartic. If you miss the original, free-form spirit of WHFS, my Internet show, www.ecoplanetradio.com, has a lot of the mojo of what Damian [Einstein], [John] “Weasel” [Gilbert], and I did there.
Be Inkandescent: Throughout your career, you had a talent for spotting the next big musical hotshot. What were you looking for? Did you ever flub? Did you help boost or discover a new talent? What was the highlight of your DJ career?
Cerphe: I was one of the first to play Bruce Springsteen on radio, and I appreciate Rolling Stone magazine associate editor, Dave Marsh, for crediting me in the Springsteen biography, “Born To Run/Two Hearts” for that. As a new artist, Bruce came to town and played The Childe Harold, a tiny club in DC. There were only around 60 of us there, and I invited him to be a guest on my show. That was the start of an amazing ride that began in 1973. It wasn’t enough to just hear his music, you had to see it, too! Even then it was like seeing my brother or best friend on stage. I really connected with Bruce … still do.
It’s hard to pick just one highlight. I have been onstage MC-ing a number of his shows, it’s great fun. I was one of the first true Bruce believers and that’s a great short list to be on. Also, the band Little Feat included me on their seminal live album, “Waiting for Columbus,” which was recorded at GWU/Lisner Auditorium during multiple nights of sold-out concerts.
Another special moment was getting to know Frank Zappa and testifying with him on Capitol Hill during the infamous Senate Porn Rock Hearings on record labeling. Frank’s opening statement set the tone, saying, “How dare you, this is like treating dandruff with decapitation!” Frank was kind enough to include me in his autobiography, “The Real Frank Zappa Book” and recently his son, Dweezil, was a guest on my show when a statue of his dad was unveiled in his hometown of Baltimore. I miss being able to pick up the phone and call Frank. He always made me smile.
Be Inkandescent: Have you ever considered using that access and perspective in another medium, say an interview show, a book, or other venture?
Cerphe: Yes, if the right opportunity presented itself. I would have a very entertaining screenplay … the things I’ve seen in radio and rock ‘n’ roll, you couldn’t make up.
Be Inkandescent: Have you stayed in touch with Weasel, Damian, and the other folks from WHFS? I’m sure a lot of people miss those days; the hand-off between you and Weasel was pretty entertaining.
Cerphe: I occasionally see some of the WHFS folks — Thomas Grooms is the overnight host on 105.9 The Edge, so I see him a lot. I’m sure I’ll see Damian at the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival this summer. We usually co-host that event in Annapolis.
Be Inkandescent: You have to tell us about your collection of 8,000-plus CDs that are proudly displayed as art in your dining room. We understand that this is a small part of your total collection, which at one time included 40,000 record albums?
Cerphe: I know it’s old-school to have CDs. I could put them on an iPod but I wouldn’t have this wonderful library wall-treatment! I sold my entire album collection a while back to one very motivated buyer, but kept a few items just for their cool factor. Vinyl sounds great and I’m still buying certain releases on LP, like Bruce Springsteen’s last three albums, the entire Tom Waits catalog, the new Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews Band, the latest Arcade Fire, and Kings of Leon.
Be Inkandescent: You are known for your calm, cool approach, which in previous interviews you have attributed to your passion for yoga, meditation, and vegetarianism. What influenced you to embrace this?
Cerphe: This lifestyle just made sense to me when I became a vegetarian 38 years ago. Hey, balance is good. The longer I do it with diet and meditation, the better I feel.
Be Inkandescent: Your passion for being “green” is also well known. In fact, you were named the “Greenest DJ in America.” How do you see the proliferation of Green playing out in the future?
Cerphe: I was honored to be named “Greenest DJ in America” by Earth Day Network and at the same time appointed to the Global Advisory Committee alongside Leo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Philippe Cousteau, and others. This country has so many lawyers and not enough biologists. I’d like to see a shift in that dichotomy. Overcoming formidable odds regarding the safekeeping of our planet requires each of us to be good stewards of Mother Earth. This common goal, with hard work and smart politics, can become a health and economic benefit on so many levels. Every day is Earth Day.
Be Inkandescent: What are your plans for the future. And, if you could do anything in radio, what would it be?
Cerphe: I’m really a one-trick-pony; I want to continue doing compelling radio and to understand the new listener — their technology and sociology. The iPad is the new radio, the new television, the new magazine or newspaper, the new book, maybe even the new computer for some users. I believe on-demand listeners will opt for short- or shorter-form radio, whatever that turns out to be.
I like the concept of building the new radio station in the digital world around a group of like-minded people (not that different from what we did on WHFS!). Then you service them, talk to them, put them in touch with each other (music, food, lifestyle) in a way they couldn’t achieve elsewhere. In other words, entertainment that can be carried around on mobile devices and eventually available anywhere from the cloud. This is the direction I’m going in with my Internet Progressive Show and Global Café on EcoPlanetRadio.com. “Rock without rules, music without borders,” consumed on demand. I love it. The future is here.
About Cerphe Colwell
Work
MusicPlanetRadio.com
Radio Personality/Host · Washington, District of Columbia
Earth Day Network
Member, Global Advisory Committee
Infinity Broadcasting Corporation
CBS Radio
Radio Personality
Education
American University
Washington, District of Columbia
School of Rock
Kents Hill Prep School, Kents Hill, Maine
Favorites
Music
[Darius Rucker]
Darius Rucker
Books
[The Tipping Point]
The Tipping Point
Movies
[Food Inc]
Food Inc
Television
[The Americans]
The Americans
Other
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Cerphe’s Up: A Musical Life with Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, CSNY, and Many More— Hardcover
by Cerphe Colwell (Author), Stephen Moore (Author)
Kindle Price: $33.24 Hardcover Price $34.99
Cerphe’s Up is an incisive musical memoir by Cerphe Colwell, a renowned rock radio broadcaster for more than forty-five years in Washington, DC. Cerphe shares his life as a rock radio insider in rich detail and previously unpublished photographs. His story includes promotion and friendship with a young unknown Bruce Springsteen; his years at radio station WHFS 102.3 as it blossomed in a new freeform format; candid interviews with Little Feat’s Lowell George, Tom Waits, Nils Lofgren, Stevie Nicks, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steven Van Zandt, Robert Plant, Danny Kortchmar, Seldom Scene’s John Duffey, and many others; hanging out with George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, John Entwistle, Jackson Browne, and many more; testifying on Capitol Hill with friend Frank Zappa during the “Porn Rock” hearings; and managing the radio syndication of both G. Gordon Liddy and Howard Stern. Player listings and selected performances at legendary DC music clubs Childe Harold and Cellar Door are also chronicled.
Cerphe’s Up is both historically significant and a fun, revealing ride with some of the greatest rock-and-roll highfliers of the twentieth century. Cerphe’s Up belongs on the reading list of every rock fan, musician, and serious music scholar.
About the Author
Cerphe Colwell began his career on WHFS 102.3 radio, one of the first freeform stations in the United States. Cerphe (pronounced “Surf”) helped promote the early careers of Bruce Springsteen, Lowell George, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, and many other rock luminaries. Cerphe’s radio resume includes WAVA, DC101, WJFK, and current station Music Planet Radio. Cerphe lives in Leesburg, Virginia.
Stephen Moore has coauthored three books, Johnny Holliday: From Rock to Jock, Helen Hayes: A Bio-Bibliography, and Hoop Tales: Maryland Terrapins Men’s Basketball. A research technologist at Georgetown University, he plays in the Bethesda, Maryland, rock cover band The Razors.
Cerphe Colwell: WJFK Washington, D.C.
Phyllis Stark
105.13 (Mar. 27, 1993): p77.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 1993 e5 Global Media, LLC
Abstract:
Cerphe Colwell is program director for radio station WJFK Washington DC. He started out with the station in 1987 as an afternoon jock. According to him, promoting and marketing WJFK is being made easier by the media attention the station's shows generate. Howard Stern, G. Gordon Liddy, Don and Mike, and the Greaseman are among the station's air talents. His goal for the station is to achieve ratings dominance in its target demo.
HOW'S THIS FOR a cut-to-the-chase positioning statement: "Howard Stern, G. Gordon Liddy, Don & Mike, and the Greaseman"? That's not only WJFK Washington, D.C.'s primary positioner, it also happens to be the station's talent lineup.
By adding a collection of outspoken and outrageous talkers over the last several years, the Infinity Broadcasting station has transformed itself from a rather ordinary classic rock outlet to a very unusual--and successful--personality-intensive talk station that also happens to play adult alternative music in overnights and on weekends. PD Cerphe Colwell oversees the whole package and has taken the station to sixth place overall in the market following a 3.1-4.1 rise in the fall Arbitron book.
Colwell has spent his entire broadcasting career in the D.C. market, beginning at WHFS in the late '70s, then moving on to stints at WAVA and WWDC-FM (DC101), before joining Infinity in 1987 as afternoon jock. Shortly after his arrival, the station flipped to an adult alternative format, and Colwell became MD under PD John Sebastian.
In October 1988, the station began simulcasting the Stern morning show from sister WXRK (K-Rock) New York and, at the same time, flipped to classic rock. Don Geronimo and Mike O'Meara, from crosstown WAVA, joined WJFK for afternoons in October 1991. Liddy joined in February 1992. Greaseman, formerly heard in the market on WWDC, made his debut Feb. 8 of this year.
At some point after the addition of Stern, Colwell says station management made a conscious decision to flip to talk, but the transition took place gradually because "it's not that easy to find the next Howard Stern. We have methodically, show by show, found the right talent."
Ironically, since the launch of the personality talk format, the station has reverted to the adult alternative format in overnights and weekends.
Despite the odd pairing of talk and adult alternative music, Colwell claims there is no listener confusion. "I've got this station in your face all day, and at night it's a little more relaxing," he says.
Colwell takes great pride in the fact that the station is quite different from most others. "What we're doing with block programming here is very unique," he says. "We're the most unique, active, and visible station in the market."
WJFK's air talent makes the promotion and marketing job somewhat easier because they are constantly generating media attention with their stunts, on-air discussions, and events, according to Colwell. As a result of the attention the shows generate, the station doesn't do traditional promotions or marketing. "It's such a dream team of people that at the end of any given month, we have a stack of press that the shows have generated," Colwell says.
"Stern garners amazing publicity nationally ... Liddy is constantly being called on as an expert because he can draw on his days as a prosecutor, as an FBI agent, and his five years as a prison inmate. There are few people who can draw in such a wealth of knowledge ... Don and Mike are publicity-stunt heaven. They constantly do great antics |and~ they are really good entertainers. And Greaseman is a proven ratings winner in Washington. He's going to attract a whole new cume.
"It is so different from music-driven stations because we have four morning shows, each with fanatically enthusiastic, supportive listeners," he adds.
As for the format, Colwell calls it "a very clean approach. Music |stations~ can be duplicated and attacked on several fronts. These shows, the way they redistribute cume to the next show, music can't beat that.
"It's great to be working with this kind of talent," Colwell continues. "We focus on the positioning of the radio station around all these top-drawer shows we've got."
But Colwell claims he rarely has to worry about his talent crossing the line into indecent or offensive territory. "These guys know how far to go," he says. "They walk the line, but one of the things that we do in keeping the station different is we give our listeners some real entertainment here. Very frequently, it's on the edge."
During the fall book, Colwell says there was nothing unusual going on that might account for the full share-point gain. "People were constantly discovering us," he says. "We're providing something real different here, and I just think people are tired of the sameness. There is a huge street buzz on this station."
Colwell's goal for WJFK is to achieve ratings dominance in the station's target demo. "My job is to provide the resources and motivation to help my air staff of superstars to achieve this." He would also like to eventually find the right talk host to fill the overnight shift.
Finally, Colwell adds, "There is no way to translate just how damn exciting it is to be here. It's an amazing feeling. People who have been in the business for a long time will understand. There is a certain magic when everything falls into place, and this station has achieved that. The station really stands out from the crowd."
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Stark, Phyllis. "Cerphe Colwell: WJFK Washington, D.C." Billboard, 27 Mar. 1993, p. 77. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA14039100&it=r&asid=20252749cc6dae8b4d5031ac9cafdc26. Accessed 12 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A14039100
Cerphe's Up: A Musical Life with Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, CSNY, and Many More
263.37 (Sept. 12, 2016): p48.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Cerphe's Up: A Musical Life with Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, CSNY, and Many More
Cerphe Colwell, with Stephen Moore. Carrel, $34.99 (298p) ISBN 978-1-63144-052-6
Colwell's memoir provides the distinctive perspective of a rock personality, but it ultimately fails to provide a full portrait of its author. Colwell focuses on the influence of rock music on his life, sharing his viewpoint of major events such as testifying along with Frank Zappa at the Parents Music Resource Center Senate hearings on obscenity in music. The book profiles several artists, including Bruce Springsteen, whom Colwell met after Springsteen's first show in Washington, D.C., in 1973, and George Harrison, whom he met at a press party in 1976. It also contains interesting factoids gleaned from Colwell's proximity to the D.C. press world. However, the memoir too often focuses on telling stories the reader probably already knows, and though Colwell interjects personal anecdotes in the midst of these straightforward profiles, he often relies on quotes from reviews or articles written at the time instead of his own voice. When he puts himself into the story, as when he discusses the introductions he used to do for Bruce Springsteen at live shows or his time at D.C., radio station WHFS 102.3, the narrative comes alive. The rest of the time, the overall arc of the memoir fails to emerge. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Cerphe's Up: A Musical Life with Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, CSNY, and Many More." Publishers Weekly, 12 Sept. 2016, p. 48. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA464046294&it=r&asid=9fa98368b1cd63c7ac45c6b40ae8e67b. Accessed 12 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A464046294
Remembering a time when downtown Washington was gritty, not pretty
(Nov. 28, 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 The Washington Post
If you weren't in Washington in the 1970s or 1980s, probably the best way to get a taste of those pre-Bikeshare, pre-CityCenterDC, pre-artisanal cupcake days is to wander around downtown in the company of Chris Earnshaw, the photographer-bard who carries in his head the memory of D.C. before it was cool.
And if you can't tag along on a walking tour with Chris, you could look at some of his photographs.
Currently, you can do both. Chris is one of three photographers whose black-and-white work is featured in "District II," an exhibit at the National Building Museum. It was organized by the Historical Society of Washington and relocated when that group's home in the Carnegie Library was found to harbor mold.
This is not the downtown Washington of today. This is a Washington of rooming houses, pawnbrokers, topless bars, delis, five-and-dimes, furniture stores, camera stores ...
Camera stores! Can you believe people once inserted tiny canisters of coiled, light-sensitive plastic in boxes of metal and glass? The plastic slowly unspooled, capturing specific moments in time. It was soon-to-be-obsolete technology commemorating soon-to-be-obsolete structures.
The late William Edmund "Bill" Barrett is another of the photographers whose work is on display. There's a 1963 letter to Barrett "concerning the photographing of old buildings in the Washington area" from the Kiplingers, the D.C. publishers who funded the project.
That's exactly what Barrett did: took a lot of pictures of places that would soon be demolished.
Joe Mills, the third photographer, is more concerned with people than buildings. Like Chris, Joe focuses his camera on the shabbier side of things. I think my favorite image is of a leg poking out from behind a pillar, the appendage of an unseen man. There's a metal brace on the ankle and heel of his black lace-up boot. Joe's Washington walks with a limp.
Various events are being held in conjunction with "District II," which is up till Feb. 12, including downtown walking tours with Chris this Saturday and on Jan. 8. For information and registration, visit dchistory.org.
And if you can't make a walking tour, the National Building Museum is selling playing cards with Chris Earnshaw's images on the back, $20 a deck. You can build your own house of cards and watch it fall.
Radio, radio
If the "District II" show is about the sights of old D.C., "Cerphe's Up," the new autobiography from longtime area DJ Cerphe Colwell, is about the sounds of the city.
Cerphe got his start at the late, lamented and increasingly-eulogized WHFS, and he often seemed like the only DJ there who actually possessed a voice for radio.
You won't find much dirt here -- like his voice, Cerphe's book, written with Stephen Moore, is smooth and inviting -- but there are little details that conjure up Washington in the 1970s, including an appendix that lists every band that ever played at the Childe Harold, near Dupont Circle.
And I chuckled when I read the account of Cerphe chasing down two guys he'd caught breaking into his car in Georgetown. Cerphe clattered after them in his clogs.
Cerphe is a bit of a new-agey health nut -- a lapel button for tantric yoga once caught George Harrison's eye and got him an interview -- and there was a time when he was drinking so much carrot juice that he started to resemble the root vegetable. Roger McGuinn once grabbed Cerphe's hands to examine them. "I was just checking to see if your skin was still orange," the ex-Byrd said.
Another memory: Cerphe is among the DJs backstage at FedEx Field in 2002 for a Rolling Stones concert, each shuttling their lucky listeners who've won a meet-and-greet with the band. The crowd parts and up walks Dan Snyder, who autographs a football, hands it to a mystified Mick Jagger and walks away.
Cerphe has worked for most of the rock stations in town -- WHFS, WAVA, WJFK, DC-101 -- and now broadcasts online at musicplanetradio.com.
When I caught up with him at a recent book party, Cerphe seemed very happy to no longer be on traditional radio.
"I don't have to play 'Freebird' anymore," he said.
Helping Hand
It's the time of year when our thoughts turn to giving. I hope you'll think about giving to The Post's Helping Hand fundraising campaign. We've partnered with three great local charities that aid homeless families and youths: Community of Hope, Homestretch and Sasha Bruce Youthwork.
You can find profiles of some of the clients whose lives have been improved by their efforts at posthelpinghand.com. That's also where you can find out how to donate.
Twitter: @johnkelly
i For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Remembering a time when downtown Washington was gritty, not pretty." Washingtonpost.com, 28 Nov. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA471974173&it=r&asid=3ef5fe2dc4b26890354759e70e6255e1. Accessed 12 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A471974173
HFS Documentary "Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM"
(Sept. 10, 2015):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Vocus PRW Holdings LLC
http://www.prweb.com or www.vocus.com
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) September 10, 2015
Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM, a feature length documentary currently in production, launches a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the film by Executive Producer and Director Jay Schlossberg, owner of Media Central Films in North Potomac, Maryland. The live stream concert event hosted by former WHFS deejays Cerphe Colwell and Weasel, features DC-based band The Rhodes Tavern Troubadours followed by the feature musical acts Marti Jones and Don Dixon, Jon Carroll, Dave Chappell and T. Michael Coleman. The event takes place Saturday, September 19th, 9:00 PM, EST, at Villain and Saint, 7141 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland. All door proceeds will be given to the Kickstarter campaign. General admission ticket cost $30. VIP ticket cost $75 and includes a meet and greet from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM with the musicians, WHFS DJs and the filmmaking team.
Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM will focus on the radio station's golden years from 1968 to 1983 when WHFS was a bright shining light of music, politics, social change and community. It covers an historically transformative era in time, depicted through the WHFS radio waves, where "free form progressive" music was played. In between songs the deejays interviewed musicians and might sound off about the times (usually through a set of songs) uniting a "tribe" of fans through the music of the day. The film will feature 'HFS staffers and deejays including Cerphe, Weasel, Damian, Thom, Adele, Josh, Fred and other legendary radio personalities who stood out in an era of radio sameness. Also featured in the film are musicians including Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), Nils Lofgren (from Grin and Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band), Rickie Lee Jones, Paul Barrere & Bill Payne (Little Feat), Terry Adams (NRBQ) and many others as well as TV producer David Simon (The Wire), Michael Lang (Woodstock) and even a few politicians who explain what WHFS meant to them personally and to their careers.
Executive producer Jay Schlossberg explains, "People are nostalgic about WHFS and how much it meant to them. I've been overwhelmed at the positive response to the film from fans. Their passion and love for what the station, the music, the deejays and that time meant to them is immeasurable. What we hope to accomplish is to highlight what HFS gave to the community in the DC area during the civil and women's rights and anti-war movements. We will show how HFS affected people's lives, and how many of us still carry those positive messages, and that spirit, forward in our lives today."
The pre-concert VIP meet and greet with HFS DJs, musicians and the filmmaking team will take place at Villain and Saint from 7-8pm. Confirmed attendees include WHFS DJs Cerphe Colwell, Weasel, Thom Grooms, Josh Brooks, Fred Sirkey, John Hall and more. The Rhodes Tavern Troubadours, Don Dixon and Marti Jones, Jon Carroll (Starland Vocal Band), Dave Chappell and T. Michael Coleman will also be in attendance.
Villain and Saint the Haight-Ashbury-inspired rock 'n' roll music hall in downtown Bethesda, is famed DC chef Robert Wiedmaier's RW Restaurant Group's latest restaurant and first live music venue. V & S chef Tom Meyer, who made a name for himself at Palladin's Peche restaurant in Dupont Circle, serves up an eclectic bohemian menu. The bar offers a standout selection of premium whiskies and bourbons, American beers, and a slew of signature cocktails.
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/WHFS/Radio/prweb12952988.htm
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"HFS Documentary 'Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM'." PRWeb Newswire, 10 Sept. 2015. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA428217877&it=r&asid=17618b492c6afc7233976df130f82ba3. Accessed 12 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A428217877