WYEP 50th Anniversary

Before websites became a thing, WYEP needed a way to share information about its sometimes-complicated program schedule with the public. This need was served by printed program guides for several decades.

The first song ever played on WYEP was “If I Needed You,” by folk and bluegrass legends Doc and Merle Watson, a cover of a Townes Van Zandt song. The recording was released in 1973 on the father and son duo’s "Then and Now" album.

“Before you could even play any record from that library, you could smell it first” — WYEP’s Rosemary Welsch

While WYEP has evolved over the years to be a music station with a general sound to it — a mix that is eclectic but still distinctive — the early years of the station were radically different. Every couple of hours could go in a sharply new direction, from music to talk and back again.

Broadcasting live concerts on WYEP wasn’t new. In fact, we aired live gigs from around the community during the station’s earliest months of existence, including daily broadcasts from the Shadyside Art Festival on Walnut Street in August 1974.

WYEP officially began broadcasting on April 30th, 1974. We're looking back at the first on-air transmission from the station.

Working at a radio station like WYEP can bring the staff in close contact with many musicians, often leading to indelible special moments—although these interactions can sometimes end up awkward, embarrassing, or worse.

Anyone responsible for any public radio station is always looking for the next dollar to pay the bills. The pressure to raise money was, at times, particularly dire in WYEP’s first decade.

As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we look back at four early WYEP hosts and the shows they aired.

Getting WYEP on the air for the first time back in April of 1974 was a challenge in dozens of ways.