KRAB was a ground-breaking, eclectic community-owned radio station that was on the air in Seattle at 107.7 FM from 1962 to 1984. For many, KRAB was practically a life-altering experience. If you were one of them, now you can relive some of the sights and sounds of KRAB-FM.
.jpg)
Local resident, and longtime KRAB volunteer and employee, Chuck Reinsch has developed a great KRAB-FM website, which includes photos of the KRAB years - including pictures from the very last KRAB broadcast - and archived audio from many of the KRAB shows.
You can visit the website here.
There are great photos, like the ones you see here, many provided by former KRAB volunteers Paul Dorpat and Dave Rowland. The man many credit as the father of KRAB, Lorenzo Milam, is seen in the picture below on the last KRAB broadcast, April 15, 1984.
 |
| Bob West; Phil Bannon; Lorenzo Milam |
KRAB was operated by the Jack Straw Foundation which ran into financial challenges and ended up selling the frequency to a commercial broadcaster. It's now owned by Entercom of Pennsylvania and is branded as "The End". That name must seem ironic to many of the KRAB faithful.
One of the cool things about KRAB was it's truly free-form format. The hosts, mostly volunteers, played the music they wanted to play and talked about the things they wanted to talk about. One of the not-so-cool things about that format was that it failed financially.
 |
| Seattle Times; April 17, 1984 |
After several years of trying to regain a broadcast facility in the Pacific Northwest, the same group was able to secure the rights to another broadcast signal, 90.7 FM And today 90.7 is operated by the KSER Foundation.
If you loved KRAB, or you just want some insight on the birth of community radio in the Pacific Northwest, you should spend some time at Chuck Reinsch's KRAB website. KRAB's 'last night' even has it's own page.
And Chuck is hoping there are more people who might have photos, clippings or audio from the glory days of KRAB. Chuck has an email link on the website.
Happy KRABBING!
