Ask around and you'll find I'm not the only one who thinks that way. By the time I was baptized as a WMSE hanger-on in 1984, I knew a lot about music, especially of the Jamaican and UK variety. But I more than met my match in the likes of Paul Host, Tom Litza, Scott "Rude Boy" Ruud and even John Hoppe and the other denizens of WMSE. To say nothing of my friend Eric Beaumont, who initiated me into the Frontier Radio society.
Paul Host, one of the genuine good guys of Milwaukee's music scene, is a pretty low-key guy. So, when his face lights up -- like when he talks about Prince Far I, for example -- you take it seriously.
Although Hoppe's passion for obscure industrial grind -- "check this out, the LP is encased between glass, then stored in a slate box secured with a motorcyle chain and the title is engraved into the stone cover" -- never caught on with me, he was nevertheless passionate to the point of obsession about music. That, I could relate to.
Thanks to midnight to six marathons that included everything from entire sides of Coltrane Impulse discs to debuting the latest Sugar Hill Records 12"s, I learned a lot at WMSE and generations of people afterward have learned as much.
For local musicians, WMSE has been no less crucial and that is captured on "Play/Pause/Stop: From Cassette to Cart. A Brief History of the Local Tape Culture at WMSE," a three-disc set that celebrates the 25th anniversary of Milwaukee's only music radio station (most others are engaged in commerce, not music).
There are comments by Host and by Die Kreuzen, Carnival Strippers, Crime & Judy and Tambours bassist (have I forgotten any?) Keith Brammer, and a couple of unforgettable blurbs by late station boss and Brewers' stadium announcer Bob Betts.
The bands represented are a crazy mix of Milwaukee music. The result is a 63-song stroll through the quirky local scene. There are some mainstays, of course, like The Frogs and The Haskels and Wild Kingdom and Cherry Cake, who were among the most popular bands in the Brew City of their day. But there's also hard workin' but lesser-remembered groups like Woolton Parrish, Urinal Cake and rock/rap pioneers Down by Law, to name a few.
The set deftly captures the true beauty of WMSE. You don't have to be Paul Cebar (with all due props to Paul, of course) to get airplay and to get attention, because WMSE is undoubtedly Frontier Radio.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
