Last spring, Friday March 7 at 1 p.m. to be precise, the air waves at 102.7 FM, otherwise known as radio Free Hawai'i went silent. It has been almost six months since Radio Free Hawai'i was sold to Caribou Broadcasting Company, owners of KQMQ and KPOI. And what a long six omnths of silence it has been for thos who enjoyed Radio Free Hawai'i's special mix of music.
   Radio Free Hawai'i was an original here in the islands. It played music the listeners told it they wanted to hear, the music listeners actually voted for on ballots. When listeners got tired of certain songs, Radio Free let them vote to sledgehammer the disks - literally. Radio Free Hawai'i broadened the spectrum of music played and listened to in Hawai'i and exposed to a diversity of musical styles all of us who listened to music we might not have heard otherwise on any other local radio station.
   Radio Free not only taught its listeners to tolerate diversity, Hawai'i's specialty, but it also helped establish groups like Sublime, NOFX, Hepcat, Homegrown, and Dance Hall Crashers. In the process, according to Sheriff Norm Winters, owner of Radio Free Music Center, and program director of the now defunct Radio Free Hawai'i, the station brought more ska and punk shows to Hawai'i then ever before.
   Winters believes the station helped clarify a confused local concert situation by making concerts "totally connected" to Radio Free Hawai'i because the station gave air play to such a wide variety of different kinds of bands and types of music - sounds other local stations would not schedule. According to Karin Last, publicist for Golden Voice, Hawai'i's major concert promoter, without Radio Free Hawai'i there will be a lot "less underground music" brought to Hawai'i.
   However, all is not lost, says Winters, who confirms rumors of a possible comeback are well founded. "they are becoming fact," according to Winters who, back in March organized a drive to reestablish Radio Free Hawai'i. Needed were 40,000 signatures on a petition, with each signatory donating ten dollars. So far Winters has 14,000 signatures and a little less money then expected.
   To raise additional funds and acquire even more signatures, two benefit concerts were held this past summer to help bring Radio Free Hawai'i back. The most recent was the Hemp Feast, featuring Ocean II, Homegrown, Dread Ashanti, and Red Session. The concert took place on July 19 at the Waimanalo Polo Field, and all the proceeds went towards Radio Free's planned resurrection.
   Also this summer, bumper stickers reading "Radio Free Hawai'i is coming back" were passed out to help generate support for the cause.
   Winters hopes to have the station up and running by October 31. However he feels that this time around it is going to be a lot harder to get the station back unless Radio Free Hawai'i's supporters sign the petition to show their support.
   Anyone who wants to help out the Sheriff and the other DJs, or who misses the music Radio free Hawai'i used to play, should go down to the Radio Free Music Center, 1311 Kapiolani Blvd. Suite 106, and sign the petition. Check out the RFH web site at http://www.lava.net/radio-free-music/. Or call 591-1150 and ask for Winters or Otto.

This article was originally published in the Kalamalama - Hawaii Pacific University Student Newspaper. Volume 21, Number 7, September 1, 1997.