Y.P.R.: Y.P.R.'s WLIR/WDRE Shreek-of-the-Week of the Day

Monday, January 9, 2006 | Etc.

Y.P.R.’s WLIR/WDRE Shreek-of-the-Week of the Day

WYPR Two years ago today, WLIR ((f.k.a. WDRE) 92.7 FM, from Garden City, Long Island) signed off the airways the last time, its parent company switching its playlist to Spanish music. By that time, WLIR had evolved into a Top 40 rock station, but during the 1980s and early 90s, it was the source for underground, new wave, modern rock—the place that New Yorkers who could receive its sketchy signal first encountered bands like R.E.M., the Smiths, the Cure, Depeche Mode, and later, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and the grunge scene that took “alternative” music to the forefront.

A longtime staple of the station was the Shreek of the Week, where listeners called up to vote for their favorite new song. Sort of a precursor to today’s mp3 blogs—had Arcade Fire or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah emerged twenty years ago, the Shreek of the Week is where you’d discover them.

Beginning today, Y.P.R. will listen to and review each and every Shreek, in chronological order—the good, the bad, the classic, the forgotten, from ABC to Yaz.

First, the fitting farewell from the station to its listeners as it signed off: Alphaville’s “Forever Young” (a Shreek from December 1984), recorded off the radio, and found via the Internets.

January 9, 2004: WLIR Signs Off
[Please don’t crush our bandwith; right-click and Save Target (or Link) As.]

To be clear, Y.P.R. is in no way endorsed by or affiliated with the late WLIR, or any of the music artists or labels presented here. The intent of this feature is to remember and celebrate some long-forgotten, much beloved music—a fanzine and mix tape in one. Any links to mp3 files will be active only fleetingly, for purposes of review and relevance, and removed upon request, following the self-policing protocol of the music-blog community.