In the newsroom, Maya Sargent, a graduate fellow from Fordham’s public media program, sat at a computer editing What’s What, the station’s daily news podcast on current events, cultural news, and issues affecting the New York City area. Down a few seats, Sam Davis, a Fordham College at Rose Hill senior, chatted with Bobby Ciafardini, the station’s sports director, about the guests they’d feature on One on One, the city’s longest-running sports call-in show. A few hours earlier, Jim O’Hara, FCRH ’99, associate director of technical operations, met with several students who would document the next day’s recording session with beabadoobee, a Filipina British artist, in the station’s intimate Studio A setting.

Elsewhere, Rich McLaughlin, FCRH ’01, GABELLI ’10, the station’s program director, met with General Manager Chuck Singleton to review the rundown for the station’s On the Record event, which would take place the following week. And music director Russ Borris was finalizing details for the station’s annual Holiday Cheer concert—a lineup headlined by venerable indie rockers Spoon and featuring Lucius, Grammy-winning blues prodigy Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and the Brooklyn-based band Say She She.

But afternoon drive host Dennis Elsas tuned all of that out when he stepped up to the microphone in Studio 1. “That is Beck and ‘Loser’ from 1994. And new before that: Arctic Monkeys, ‘I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am’—here at WFUV,” Elsas said, then quipped “I’m here!” with comic timing and a smile that traveled hundreds of miles across the airwaves. He cued up the next song, and as he hit play, said, “Member-supported and supporting each other, it’s WFUV.”

It’s the kind of scene that has played out, almost hidden from sight, in Keating Hall on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus for more than 75 years. Before Dennis Elsas, there was Pete Fornatale, FCRH ’67, who created the station’s first pop music show as an undergrad in 1964. Before Sam Davis, there was Malcolm Moran, FCRH ’75, who launched One on One as a student and went on to become a Hall of Fame basketball journalist; and there was Vin Scully, FCRH ’49, the late, legendary baseball broadcaster who was among WFUV’s original voices. Before Maya Sargent, there was Alice Gainer, FCRH ’04, the Emmy Award–winning anchor and reporter at WCBS-TV, New York; and Charles Osgood, FCRH ’54, former longtime host of CBS Sunday Morning.

A Unique Beginning

“1947 was quite a year,” Fordham Provost Dennis Jacobs, Ph.D., told the crowd of more than 200 attendees at WFUV’s On the Record event, held November 2 on Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus. “Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, and the transistor was invented. And at Rose Hill, New York’s first noncommercial, educational FM station signed on the airwaves. The University’s 25th president, Robert Gannon, S.J., remarked that ‘Fordham in her time has seen many beginnings. Today, we mark a beginning that is unique.’”

In mid-October, the University’s recently installed 33rd president, Tania Tetlow—who had her own unique beginning at Fordham as the first woman and first layperson to lead the institution—stood onstage in front of Walsh Family Library. “We’re here to celebrate 75 years of WFUV, the coolest thing about Fordham University,” she said during a station-organized concert that was part of the inauguration festivities. The station still trains “students who are learning journalism and sports broadcasting and everything about the industry,” and now, in addition to serving the city, it reaches “300,000 listeners in all 50 states—Idaho and Hawaii listen to WFUV—and we’re just so proud of what it is.”

Throughout its 75-year history, many things have changed. For starters, in the mid-1980s, the station became a professionally run NPR affiliate, with ample training and broadcast opportunities for students. Darren DeVivo, GABELLI ’87, now the station’s Saturday afternoon and weeknight host, was working at the station as a Fordham undergraduate at that time.

“When I got here, there was a general manager who was a paid Fordham employee. We had a chief engineer who was a paid employee from Fordham, and everyone else was students—program director, news director, music director, all student-run,” he said. “If you had some skills or had some abilities, you worked your way up.”

In 1985, Ralph Jennings, Ph.D., was hired as the station’s general manager. He brought a fresh vision to the station, working to create an authentic sound, filled with more consistent, impactful programming that would attract an audience and help the station receive financial assistance to support its growth.

“You’re bringing change to what had been a college station—there’s a mix of responses to that,” said Singleton, who started as the station’s first professional news director in 1987 and later served as program director before succeeding Jennings as general manager in 2011. “I think for a lot of alums and students at the time, there was a fear that the students would just be swept out.

But Singleton, who expanded WFUV’s coverage of community issues and helped develop its robust news journalism training program, said that WFUV strived to employ a different model. “It’s not the pure student station, it’s not the pure professional public station: It’s a professional, public station with a lot of public service impact, but one where students are a core part of this. And those opportunities [for students] are really core to the station’s mission.”

In the late 1980s, there was also a shift overall in the field of radio, according to Singleton. “You couldn’t offer a little bit of this and a little bit of that—it wouldn’t get you anywhere,” he said. “So there was new understanding that for a public radio station to attract a loyal audience, you had to be consistent in what you were offering.” Jennings and his team studied the market and found “holes that we could fill,” Singleton said, and at the time, that was primarily singer-songwriters in an “acoustic vein.”

“That format—by the early ’90s—I think it was the first sparks of what it is that we have today,” Singleton said. He noted that these efforts, in addition to technological advances like internet streaming, have paid off and allowed the station to expand its reach: WFUV went from having around 30,000 to 50,000 listeners a week in the 1980s to around 325,000 a week today. At times, the station has reached as many as 450,000 listeners.

Today, staff and students at WFUV are using new platforms like TikTok and podcasts to reach audiences beyond the radio dial. The station’s studios have even moved—from the third floor of Keating Hall to bigger, state-of-the-art studios on the lower level of the Rose Hill campus’ signature academic building. But despite all of its iterations and evolutions, WFUV’s mission and goals have remained consistent—to be a home of music discovery in New York; to be a training ground for the next generation of journalists, broadcasters, and behind-the-scenes wizards; and to provide the community with significant public service.

Home of Music Discovery

Throughout its history, WFUV has played a variety of music—from opera and jazz in its early decades to rock in the ’60s and ’70s. But it really found its place more than a quarter century ago, as commercial radio stations began making their playlists “tighter and tighter,” according to Singleton. That left less space for DJs “who had done great creative work”—FM rock pioneers like Dennis Elsas, Vin Scelsa, Pete Fornatale, and Meg Griffin, he said. Elsas, whose legendary career has included a famous two-hour in-depth interview with John Lennon of the Beatles, said that shift came for him after working in commercial radio for more than 25 years. More and more “shock jocks” were coming in and classic rock DJs like himself were being phased out. When he heard about an opening at WFUV in 2000, he jumped at the chance.

“I felt at times challenged because while I was playing a lot of music that I was very familiar with, I was also learning on the job because we were digging way deeper into blues and some more esoteric music,” he said, adding that this allowed him to “expand my musical horizons even further.”

Elsas said that he believes the station’s tagline—Music Discovery Starts Here—fits its work in more ways than one. “You could discover new music, which you couldn’t necessarily find on any other station on the market, and I think it also gave us the opportunity to say you could rediscover old favorites,” he said, adding that he’s had his own discoveries at WFUV, including the pleasure of working with and mentoring students.

DeVivo said that he personally has enjoyed finding new music and sharing it with his audience. “A band like the Jayhawks is a good example, [or] singer–songwriter Freedy Johnston—I remember the day that the album came in, and I put it in and go, ‘Holy smokes! Why don’t we hear this on whatever commercial rock station, because these guys are great,’” he said.

WFUV’s national reputation as a home for music discovery can be traced to Rita Houston, who delighted in introducing listeners to artists from a wide range of genres—folk, blues, indie rock, hip-hop, electronica, and more—and who came to be regarded not only as a tastemaker in the industry but also a trusted mentor and friend to the stars.

For more than 25 years at the station, in her roles as a DJ, music director, and program director—and with her unerring ear for talent—Houston helped elevate the careers of countless artists, including Norah Jones, Brandi Carlile, and Mumford and Sons. When Houston died of ovarian cancer in 2020 at age 59, Carlile recalled how Houston was “the very first person to play my music on the radio.” She also helped Carlile feel accepted and welcome as a fellow LGBTQ woman. Carlile recalled a time when she was showing Houston photos, and a picture of her girlfriend popped up on her phone.

“‘Is that your plus one?’” Houston asked. “‘It’s OK to talk about it.’ She could immediately tell that I was uneasy with people in the music business knowing I was gay,” said Carlile, who was 22 years old at the time.

But Houston, who joined WFUV in the mid-1990s, didn’t stop at artists. She also helped launch the careers of WFUV employees, including McLaughlin, who succeeded her as program director, and Alisa Ali, PCS’14, the station’s midday host, who has helped carry forward Houston’s passion for supporting artists, particularly local musicians.

Houston is the reason Ali came to WFUV—and Fordham—in the first place. She was listening to WFUV, thinking about how she’d love to work there, when she heard Houston say that she was going to give a talk at the Museum of Television & Radio.

“And like any naive person, I was like, ‘I’ll just go see Rita and ask her if I could get a job there and she’ll give it to me,’” she said. So Ali went to Houston’s talk and waited around to chat with her after. “And I’m like, ‘Hi, I love the station. Can I work here?’” she said, smiling at the memory. “She’s like, ‘That’s cute. No, of course you can’t. You have no experience.’”

Ali said that Houston paused and asked her if she was a Fordham student, which was “the only way you could work at FUV” without having any experience in radio.

“I went home and looked up ‘how do you enroll in Fordham University?’” she said. “I was kind of at a crossroads in my life because I didn’t really like what I was doing. And since I never graduated college, I was like, ‘Well if I don’t get a job at WFUV, at least I’ll have a college education.’

“The day after I was accepted, I came back to the station. I was like, ‘Hi, remember me from the talk? I go to school here now. May I have a job now?’” Ali said. “[Houston] was like, ‘All right, kid. I like you. You remind me a lot of myself.’”

At that point, Houston was the midday host and music director, and Ali became a production assistant. She worked her way up to morning show producer and then host of The Alternate Side, which allowed her to discover and play new artists. More recently, as the midday host, she created a segment called “NY Slice,” which features local musicians from the tristate area.

“In New York City, we have so many opportunities to see huge bands, and I think a lot of these little bands get overshadowed,” she said, describing how she came up with the idea for the segment. “Local bands actually have it easier outside of New York City—it’s a disadvantage to be a local, small band in New York City. So I just want to support these people.”

That support has helped artists including Rén with the Mane and Blonde Otter. The two bands were featured on “NY Slice” and later chosen to perform at the October concert following the inauguration of Tania Tetlow. “I love you, Alisa Ali!” Rénee Orshan, the artist behind Rén with the Mane, said from the stage that night, adding that Ali and WFUV are the “only radio station” to play their music.

The concert also featured New Orleans’ legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which has been celebrating its 60th anniversary with a national tour. The group marched down Old Elm Road with the horn section playing the gospel classic “I’ll Fly Away.” As they reached the stage, Tetlow, who grew up in New Orleans, added her own soaring voice to the mix to the delight of the crowd. She later said she was grateful to WFUV and to all the performers for helping her “feel at home here at Fordham.”

Greater Connection to the Artists

The inauguration concert was a prime example of WFUV tying its penchant for music discovery to its commitment to live music. O’Hara estimated that in a typical year, the station hosts about 200 sessions in Studio A and 20 to 30 live concerts and performances at venues throughout the New York City area.

“Live music really gives you a good insight [into]who the artist is,” O’Hara said. “You really get to understand a lot about them by hearing them perform their songs live,” and then listening to a WFUV host interview them in the studio. “It really presents a greater connection to the artists. I think that’s a great thing that we provide to our listeners.”

One of his most memorable sessions came in 2017, when Gorillaz, the Damon Albarn–led British band that doesn’t do a lot of live appearances, reached out to bring their “huge, full-scale tour” to Fordham’s Rose Hill campus. “When we first took the phone call about this, I was like, ‘Well, there’s no way this is going to happen,’” he said, laughing. “Along the way, I was expecting any one of a number of issues to be the deal breaker.” But those issues, ranging from bringing semi-tractor trailers onto campus to hooking up the band’s equipment to the building’s main power source, didn’t stand in their way. The session was a go.

“It was literally an all-day process—we got here, I think it was 7 a.m., and we didn’t leave until like 8 or 9 p.m.,” O’Hara said. “They took over the entire station. They brought the entire tour, what they would bring into Madison Square Garden. And I had just an assembly line of students, working the elevator out there, bringing stuff in, bringing cases back out. I think there had to be 30 members of their team. Every studio was filled up with something.”

But O’Hara said the takeover was absolutely worth it. “It was unique content—we were the one station that got to do that, so it was affirming as to who we are in the industry that we were offered that and were able to accomplish it,” he said. “It was just a really great source of pride for me.”

While Fordham students Allen Wang and Caitria Demeroto weren’t at WFUV for the Gorillaz performance, they’ve gotten their share of hands-on opportunities. The studio sessions typically range from two to four hours and include up to 10 students working on the production—three to four audio engineers, four to five videographers, and usually a few trainees—while the live performances at city venues also call for a mix of students and external contractors.

“There was a show for Phoebe Bridgers at Forest Hills Stadium, which is actually in the neighborhood I grew up in,” said Wang, a junior in the Gabelli School of Business. “So to go and be part of the backstage team, it was a very fulfilling experience. It was also really insightful to see how larger productions work in terms of production teams and sub crews and what their day is like.”

Demeroto, a Fordham College at Rose Hill junior, said she really enjoys the personal, intimate setting of Studio A, where she shot video of the session featuring Gang of Youths, an Australian alternative rock group.

“I think it’s just really authentic—and you feel very close,” she said. “And it definitely is a different sound than a recording. It’s so cool to see them, without any editing yet, and how they interact in their creative process—actually capturing that on camera is really great.”

Launching Pad for Success

Paul Cavalconte, FCRH ’83, a longtime radio host, got his start as a Fordham undergraduate at WFUV before his career took him to WQXR, WNEW, and Q104.3. He came back to WFUV as a guest host in 2013.

“I owe my radio career to 90.7 FM,” he said from the stage of the inauguration concert last fall. “And this is a very, very proud moment for us. We have a unique training program in sports and journalism—some of the most famous voices in media have come through Keating Hall and out into the airwaves of the world.”

That’s a credit to the hands-on training the students receive at WFUV, which Robin Shannon, the station’s news director, described as “vastly different than a lot of other organizations.” Over the past two decades, Shannon and former news director George Bodarky, FCRH ’93, who now serves as the community partnerships and training editor for WNYC, helped to grow and enhance the training program that Singleton established in the late 1980s. Today, “we have a reputation in the broadcast world of training students in a way that is going to benefit newsrooms all over the country,” Shannon said.

A big reason for that is the work of Bodarky, who was honored at WFUV’s On the Record event in November for his more than 20 years of service to the station. From 2001 until last year, he helped train many Fordham journalists.

“The thing about George is that dozens, maybe hundreds of people could be giving these remarks right now, telling you how George changed their life, how George opened the door to what became their career and their vocation,” said one of his former students, NPR White House correspondent Scott Detrow, FCRH ’07.

Shannon said the journalism program is about giving students ample opportunity to practice their skills in a professional environment. “It’s not just opening a book and reading about microphones or reading about interviews— it’s learning the equipment, going out, and covering stories that people are talking about.” She said students are also “allowed to make mistakes” and, with her guidance, they can “explore and experiment and kind of see what works for them.”

For Liam Dahlborn, a junior at Fordham College at Rose Hill, that opportunity to explore allowed him to develop his own role at the station—running the news department’s social media accounts. “That kind of position wasn’t really something that they were necessarily training for, but I was able to talk to Robin and talk to George, and be like, ‘This is something that I think we need to build on, the digital assets, now that we’re transitioning into a digital world,’” he said. “And they were really supportive of that.”

Dahlborn said that all the skills he’s acquiring at WFUV, which include writing a weekly subscriber newsletter, posting to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and launching the station’s TikTok account, will help him pursue a career in media when he graduates from Fordham.

“Being able to have this professional environment in college is something that’s very unique,” he said. “Being able to work in a newsroom that’s professional, that’s state-of-the-art—that’s something that I think you don’t really get at other universities. And to be in New York City, pretty much everyone who I’ve talked to in New York City knows of WFUV.”

Noah Osborne, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill, said that his experience at WFUV opened doors for him, including his most recent internship at BronxNet television.

“That wouldn’t have been possible without WFUV,” he said. “Having WFUV anywhere on a resume seems to be the big talking point. I feel like a lot of my communication skills were honed here—especially as a reporter, as an anchor, even as a podcaster.”

Osborne said that until he worked at WFUV, he hadn’t thought much about podcasting and how it can be a great way to communicate with the audience. “I feel like it’s just made my delivery of certain lines of the news just so much more authentic, a lot more conversational, a lot more relaxed. It definitely did build my confidence as an aspiring media person.”

On the sports side, the WFUV legacy runs back to Vin Scully, the late, legendary voice of the Dodgers, who is considered the patron saint of Fordham-trained sportscasters, an ever-growing group that includes NBA Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Breen, FCRH ’83; Michael Kay, FCRH ’82, the voice of the Yankees; Chris Carrino, GABELLI ’92, radio voice of the Brooklyn Nets; Tony Reali, FCRH ’00, host of ESPN’s Around the Horn; Bob Papa, GABELLI ’86, the radio voice of the New York Giants; and Ryan Ruocco, FCRH ’08, of the YES Network and ESPN.

When WFUV shifted from a student-run station to a professional staff overseeing the students in the late 1980s, Marty Glickman, the former New York Knicks, Jets, and Giants announcer, came on board as a coach, schooling the young sports journalists in the art of play-by-play and other types of broadcasts. He hired a producer named Bob Ahrens, who took the sports department to the next level, helping them gain press access to all 11 of the New York– area professional teams.

It’s that tradition that current sports director Bobby Ciafardini looks to build on. “I like to think that a big part of the legacy that I’m hoping to carve out here is that we have expanded the programming to include a lot more of the video component and the streaming part of what we are doing these days,” he said.

For example, One on One, New York’s longest-running sports call-in show, was founded in the 1970s, but now, in addition to catching it on the radio, viewers can tune in to a livestream and watch video clips on social media.

“The students are … learning more now than ever because they are multimedia sports professionals,” Ciafardini said. “When Sam [Davis] goes to a game now, he’s not just going to get audio; he’s doing a standup and interviewing players in both capacities.”

Davis, whose roles include social media coordinator, Mets beat reporter, and on-air broadcaster for Fordham sports, said that he wouldn’t have gotten the opportunities WFUV offered him anywhere else. “I think that covering the professional New York teams—as far as I know, I don’t think there’s really another college in the country that does that,” he said. “With the fact that everything is video now, we’re getting a lot of hands-on experience … not just being on air … but also video editing and pushing that out on social media, learning what works and what doesn’t.”

Both the news and sports departments have grown more diverse in recent years and provided more opportunities to students, something that is a strategic goal of the station, according to Singleton. For example, the sports department, which has traditionally been mostly male, now has an all-female sports podcast, All In.

Breen, who received the department’s Vin Scully Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting last year, said that he’s proud of the students who are a part of the station’s legacy. “Every Fordham student who decides to join this amazing radio station feels a responsibility, a responsibility to uphold the standards that all the previous students and student broadcasters have set,” he said, noting that he and his peers certainly felt it during the 1980s. “You’ve not only upheld the standards,” he said, “you’ve raised them. And I say bravo.”

Companionship for People

Students who work at WFUV said that they were drawn to the station—and Fordham in general—not only for the chance to hone their technical skills but also to be part of its public media mission. That certainly was the case with Maya Sargent, which is why she applied to Fordham’s master’s degree program in the field. The program led her to a fellowship at WFUV, where she gets to tell the stories of a diverse group of New Yorkers.

“I’ve always kind of had that intrigue to learn more and find out more about communities, and New York feels like the epicenter of cultural engagement,” said Sargent, who came to Fordham from the U.K. “It’s such an eclectic mix, and I think that injects a lot of life into the media that we produce.”

That connection to local communities is something that Thao Matlock, co-chair of the WFUV Advisory Board, has found especially helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s a companionship for people, and I think it’s what kept a lot of us sane during the pandemic, especially the first part when it was all doom and gloom,” she said. “A lot of us tuned in to WFUV because it was great music—we just kind of hung out; there was no anxiety. And then, the news part, the COVID news, was very calm, very sane.”

That’s been a hallmark of WFUV for decades—giving its listeners the news and music they need to find community and a reason to believe, especially in trying times. WFUV DJs received responses similar to Matlock’s from listeners in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m a nurse,” read one March 2020 message. “Today I listened in, [and] for the first time all month, danced in my kitchen, relaxed for the first time in ages. Grateful to WFUV for helping us stay safe, stay sane, stay connected in these uncertain times.” Another listener said the station’s DJs kept her company. “Now more than ever, many of us, myself included, are alone, and music means so much in our daily mindset.”

Breen, who went on to become a Hall of Fame basketball broadcaster, recalled his time as a late-night DJ for WFUV. He was on the air on December 8, 1980, the night John Lennon was killed. “The phones rang off the hook, and they were talking about what John Lennon meant to them,” he said. “One gentleman told me how he was about to commit suicide, but John Lennon’s song stopped him. Another told me he had a drinking problem, and John Lennon helped them through that. And it was the first time in my life I realized what music meant to people.”

Chuck Singleton, general manager of WFUV, said September 11, 2001, was another time when the power of music and the strength of the WFUV community were evident to the team at the station. “That day, as we reported on [the terrorist attacks], we were there for people. … I have a whole folder of letters and emails that people sent us that in their own, individual way, said, ‘I don’t know what I would have done without you.’”

Never Stopped Moving

Rich McLaughlin, who got his start at WFUV as an undergraduate just over two decades ago and is now the station’s program director, said putting all the pieces together—the commitment to music discovery, training young journalists, and providing a compelling public service to the community—is what makes WFUV “completely unique and dynamic.” “Not only do we take part in training that next generation of media professionals, but we really rely on our students to help push WFUV forward into the future,” he said. “And that’s one of my favorite things about working here because I find when it comes to social media, when it comes to music, when it comes to just general technology, our students, they know as much or more than some of us.”

One way to make sure the station remains unique and dynamic is to continue to diversify—both the musicians it plays on air and the staff it employs, Singleton said. For example, three years ago, Houston helped spearhead the station’s EQFM initiative to take on the issue of gender disparity in the music industry. It has a goal of 50% representation of women and gender minorities in music programming, events, and online features. Those efforts help the station continue to grow and reach new audiences, McLaughlin said. “Wherever there’s a platform that a WFUV listener is looking to listen to the station, or consume our content—wherever they are, we want to be.”

That spirit of innovation has run through the station since 1947, he said. “It’s really important that we maintain that heritage and the tradition that we have and take that with us as we move forward. I think you can do both—you can change and think about things differently from a content standpoint, from a technology standpoint, and still take into consideration the station’s history and legacy. I think that’s what the station has done all along.

“WFUV is celebrating 75 years—it’s never stopped changing. It’s never stopped moving. And that’s why it’s still as relevant as it is today.”

—Kelly Prinz, FCRH ’15, is an associate editor of this magazine. As a Fordham undergraduate, she was a WFUV sports reporter, host, and producer from 2012 to 2015.

Correction: An earlier version of this story, including the version that appeared in the winter 2023 print edition of Fordham Magazine, mistakenly indicated that Chuck Singleton “initially developed WFUV’s coverage of community issues.” In fact, he expanded coverage that began more than a decade earlier. Thanks to John J. Robb, FCRH ’76, who served as WFUV’s founding public affairs director from 1974 to 1976, for helping us set the record straight. 

“There’s a certain magic to seeing artists perform live in the studio,” Rita Houston noted in 2012, when she was WFUV’s program director and the station’s then-nascent video channel became an especially rich source for music discovery.

In a typical year, WFUV hosts and documents about 200 sessions in Studio A and 20 to 30 concerts at venues in and around New York City, with students working as audio engineers and videographers. The videos are beautifully shot and edited, and the artists thrive on the authenticity and immediacy of it all.

Here are some of the Fordham Magazine team’s favorites.

Joan Armatrading: “Down to Zero”

When legendary British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading visited Studio A in May 2018, she was 67 years old and in her fifth decade of making music. Yet her performance of her 1976 song “Down to Zero”—a classic tale of a wayward lover begging to come back—is filled with enough raw emotion to make one think she had had her heart broken that very day. Armed only with an acoustic guitar and her contralto voice (oh, that voice), Armatrading displayed the deft musicianship and openhearted intensity that has made her a cited influence on artists including Fiona Apple, Melissa Etheridge, and Morrissey. From the opening guitar chords to the pained final recitation of the phrase “fall at my door,” it’s a gripping, stunning performance of a timeless song by one of modern folk music’s leading luminaries.
—Adam Kaufman

Lake Street Dive: “You Go Down Smooth”

The band Lake Street Dive’s WFUV roots run deep. In December 2012, at the station’s annual Holiday Cheer concert at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan, then music director Rita Houston introduced them as one of her “favorite up-and-coming bands.” It was the biggest stage the group had played, leader singer Rachael Price noted at the time. Like many other popular WFUV artists, Lake Street Dive combines a variety of genres, including swing era jazz and classic pop, which you can hear in their November 2012 Studio A version of “You Go Down Smooth.” But the lyrical inspiration for this song, according to original band member Mike “McDuck” Olson, came from the Beatles’ “Got to Get You Into My Life.” Olson said that he was inspired by Paul McCartney’s description of that song as an ode to marijuana, and he wanted to write a love song that also could be a “veiled ode to some vice.” You can hear this contradiction play out as Price sings, “And I am afraid to need you so / And I am too sober not to know / That you may be my problem, not my love.” One thing that wasn’t a problem for the group? Capturing attention with this performance, which has garnered more than 4.2 million views, making it one of WFUV’s most popular videos.
—Kelly Prinz

Elle King: “Ex’s & Oh’s”

When Elle King belted out “Ex’s & Oh’s” live in WFUV’s Studio A in early 2015, not even her drummer could resist the urge to lip sync along. Recorded in February, the intimate performance was bluesy yet full of angsty pop charm and a bit of soul. Just a few days after the session in Studio A, King’s debut album, Love Stuff, was released, with lead single “Ex’s & Oh’s” helping to launch the album as high as No. 28 on the Billboard 200. Since then, King has pivoted into country music, singing alongside the likes of Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley.
—Sierra McCleary-Harris

Pixies: “Wave of Mutilation”

With a penchant for cryptic lyrics, pop hooks, and extreme dynamic shifts, the rock band Pixies released a string of influential albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They broke up in 1993 and reunited about a decade later. When the band visited WFUV in September 2019, they closed with the “UK Surf” version of the classic “Wave of Mutilation.” Unlike the loud and fast rendition on 1989’s Doolittle, the surf version maintains a slow, dreamy vibe that underscores the song’s surreal mystery and melodic beauty. Lead singer and songwriter Black Francis (Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, aka Frank Black) recounts the narrator’s underwater adventures after driving his car into the ocean: “I’ve kissed mermaids / and I rode the El Niño. / I walked the sand with the crustaceans,” he sings. When he adds, “Could find my way to Mariana / on a wave of mutilation,” there’s a yearning in his voice that, together with Paz Lenchantin’s breathy harmonies and guitarist Joey Santiago’s bent, twangy surf tones, seems to belie the violence implied by the song’s title and refrain.
—Ryan Stellabotte

Adrianne Lenker: “Anything”

For two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, from March 2020 to April 2022, WFUV ceased hosting artists in Studio A. Instead, the station worked with them to share videos of intimate performances at their homes or other remote locations. One of the artists to offer FUV an at-home performance was Adrianne Lenker, who had appeared in Studio A several times before, both on her own and with her band, Big Thief. In one of the videos from her performance, she sits inside a home in Joshua Tree, California, where she has lived on and off in recent years, and plays “anything,” from her 2020 solo double album, songs/instrumentals. The sunlight and desert landscape are barely visible through the windows, but the clip feels bathed in warmth and intimacy, with Lenker strumming her guitar in her understated-yet-complex style and singing lines like, “Weren’t we the stars in Heaven? / Weren’t we the salt in the sea?” Like much of Lenker’s music, the performance feels both earthy and cosmic, equally concerned with the small moments and big questions.
—Adam Kaufman

Kamasi Washington: “Truth”

“Cosmic” is also an apt way to describe the WFUV performance by Kamasi Washington in 2017. The jazz saxophonist brought his 10-piece band to Studio A, and one of the songs they played was the 13-minute space-jazz odyssey “Truth,” from Washington’s 2017 EP Harmony of Difference. “Truth” is a huge, awe-inspiring track that feels like one long crescendo, with each instrumental layer—from the opening of the rhythm section to the soaring, wordless vocals that begin several minutes in—making it feel like you’re being lifted even higher into the air. It’s the kind of song that makes you want to sit in silence for some time afterward, to stay floating on its groove for as long as you can. While Washington’s was not the biggest Studio A production in terms of personnel (hello, Gorillaz!), it’s hard to imagine a much bigger sound emanating from a small room than the one the band achieves in those moments when each player is locked in, working in unison to create something that feels not quite of this world.
—Adam Kaufman

Weyes Blood: “Everyday”

The first thing you see in the WFUV video of Weyes Blood’s May 2019 performance of “Everyday” is a shot of the artist (real name Natalie Mering) in a white blazer and sunglasses playing a simple melody at the piano in Studio A. It’s a fitting visual for a song with a bright West Coast sound and an infectious melody that could make Brian Wilson sit up and take notice. Mering’s music is generally tinged with psychedelia and a certain darkness around the edges, but “Everyday,” from 2019’s fantastic Titanic Rising, is as close to pure pop confection as Weyes Blood gets, with lovely “baaa baa-baa baaa” vocal harmonies that recall the Mamas and the Papas. Still, Mering’s lyrics reveal that underneath the breezy delivery, dark clouds of doubt and loneliness are threatening to creep in. “True love is making a comeback,” she sings at the start of the third verse, only to follow it up with “for only half of us, the rest just feel bad.” That moment of pulling away from traditional love song territory speaks to the larger project of Weyes Blood’s body of work—one that incorporates so many familiar sounds of the past but always pushes them along toward some mysterious future.
—Adam Kaufman

In June, he was named program director at WFUV (90.7 FM, wfuv.org), the University’s public media service, succeeding the late Rita Houston.

“Rich is uniquely qualified for this role,” said Chuck Singleton, WFUV’s general manager, citing McLaughlin’s blend of terrestrial, digital, and streaming radio experience. “His accomplishments speak directly to the transition WFUV and the wider industry is experiencing. Rich’s leadership will be a booster shot for our content development and programming outreach to diverse new audiences.”

McLaughlin, who earned a bachelor’s degree and an M.B.A. from Fordham, gave listeners a sense of his musical taste when he joined Paul Cavalconte, FCRH ’83, as guest co-host of Cavalcade, Cavalconte’s Sunday evening show, on June 13.

He kicked things off with what Cavalconte called a set of “fist-pump-in-the-air great New York songs”—from “An Open Letter to NYC” by the Beastie Boys to Boogie Down Productions’ “South Bronx” to St. Vincent’s “New York”—before playing a song in memory of Houston, his former mentor and WFUV’s longtime program director, music director, and DJ who died of ovarian cancer last December after 26 years at the station.

“Rita’s last show was poignant and touching, to say the least,” McLaughlin said, noting that “until the very last song, which happened to be ‘In My Time on Earth’ by the Waterboys,” she was committed to introducing listeners to new music. “And so I thought I’d play her a Waterboys song to start off my stint at WFUV.”

The song he played, “The Whole of the Moon,” with its refrain, “I saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon,” was a fitting tribute to the woman who took him under her wing when he was an undergraduate working at the station.

“WFUV’s rich history and culture is steeped in its training mission,” McLaughlin said. “The education I received from Rita is evidence of her mission accomplished.”

McLaughlin also spoke about the sense of community that unites the station’s staff, listeners, and donors—and he and Cavalconte underscored the station’s commitment to music discovery. “I love the fact that we are music discovery on all fronts,” Cavalconte said, “not just for brand-new music but also deep dives into the past.”

And they both said they’re looking forward to a return to live events, particularly for WFUV’s marquee members. “I think it’s going to be very special,” McLaughlin said.

“It is hard to imagine a WFUV without Rita Houston,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham.

“She has expertly shaped the station’s programming and been one of its prominent voices for many years, and of course has been a beloved member of the station on the air and off. Our hearts go out to her wife, Laura, and their families, in their hour of grief. I know you join with me in keeping Rita and all who loved her in your thoughts and prayers.”

Houston joined WFUV in 1994 and rose to the position of program director in 2012. From that perch, she was responsible for driving the ethos of the station that is summed up in the slogan “Music discovery starts here.”

Chuck Singleton, WFUV’s general manager, announced news of Houston’s passing in an on-air message to WFUV’s listeners on Dec. 15.

“Rita was the north star of WFUV’s sound and its public service, guiding the station’s musical direction for decades. She was a New York original, a trailblazing woman of exceptional talent who shaped a unique style behind the microphone—informed and informal, intimate, warm, genuine. But also, one of tremendous joy,” he said.

“You may know that Rita had been fighting cancer for six years. Her courage and resolve were an inspiration. Cancer or no cancer, she gave her all every day to her dear Laura and their family—to her friends and colleagues, to WFUV and our listeners, and to artists and music lovers everywhere.

An Immediate Connection to Radio

A native of Mount Vernon, New York, Houston got her start in radio when a faculty adviser at Westchester Community College gave her an evening slot at the college’s radio station. In March, she recounted the feeling of going on the air for the first time for singer Joseph Arthur’s podcast Come to Where I’m From.

“I was just so happy, and I don’t even know how I knew what to do. Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose, you know?” she said.

“It was the ’80s, so I think I probably played Nu Shooz or something. I don’t think my first song was Velvet Underground or Richard Thompson. I just remember thinking, ‘I like this talking into a mic, I like this feeling.’”

DJing paid very little, so Houston eventually took a job as an engineer for ABC Network News. The mic lured her back though, and in 1988, Paul Cavalconte, FCRH ’83, the program manager at Westchester’s WXPS, hired Houston as a DJ. She would go on to make her name as the host of the evening show Starlight Express, where she showcased new artists such as David Gray, Ani DiFranco, and Dar Williams. That nascent adult album alternative format was, Cavalconte recalls, a very early version of today’s Triple A radio format embraced by WFUV and other stations around the country.

Cavalconte, who worked at WFUV as a student, said that he knew immediately that Houston would be a hit.

“Rita’s voice was rough and ready. It wasn’t the sort of pear-shaped, feminine voice that would expect to do ads for perfume. It’s a real-person kind of voice,” he said.

“She was a full package. The voice had an honesty and directness, and she was able to communicate her larger-than-life personality, which was there from the very first moment.”

When WXPS changed ownership in 1993, it was renamed X107, and playlists swung to the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, and other “alternative rock” bands. Cavalconte recalled that he was fired early on, but Houston hung on, albeit under the condition that she, along with all the on-air staff, change her name to include an X. Tongue firmly in cheek, she opted for “Harley Foxx.”

A New Home at Fordham

But Houston would soon depart as well, in 1994, for the place she’d call home for the next 26 years.

“I was driving from the East Village to Westchester every day, listening to FUV, and I was like, ‘I want to work there,’” Houston told Arthur.

“I just called the station and was like, ‘Hey, can I work here, please?’ That was 25 years ago. I’ve never really been the kind of person who thought they’d do anything for 25 years, but I love it as much as ever.”

Hired in 1994 to host WFUV’s midday show, Houston was promoted to music director in 1996 and in 2012 she was promoted to program director, a post that she used to introduce listeners to new artists such as Mumford & Sons, Brandi Carlile, Gomez, Yola, Seratones, and Lake Street Dive.

Outside of the studio, she was instrumental in the “Required Listening” series of shows that showcased new and underappreciated artists at the Greenwich Village club The Bottom Line; she also interviewed songwriters for the club’s “In Their Own Words” series.

She took a hiatus from DJing in the late-’90s but returned to the mic in 2001 with her show The Whole Wide World, where she spun everything from M.I.A. and Marvin Gaye to Ella Fitzgerald and Mark Ronson.

A Trusted Friend to Artists and Listeners

In 2013, Houston brought Cavalconte aboard at WFUV, where he now hosts the freewheeling Sunday night show Cavalcade.

Cavalconte said one of his fondest memories of Houston is from the station’s 2018 Holiday Cheer benefit concert, which was headlined by the late John Prine. Houston’s father died that day, but she still attended, knowing how big a deal the show is to the station.

“At one point, Prine looked out and said, ‘This one goes out to my pal Rita. She had a rough day; she lost her daddy today. But she’ll always have him in here.’ He put his hands on his chest, and then he dedicated Hello in There to Rita’s dad,” Calvalconte said.

In a 2019 Fordham News profile that marked her 25th anniversary at WFUV, Houston said she felt a sense of responsibility to her fans when she chose songs.

“When listeners hear something new at WFUV, there’s an inherent trust it has been selected with their general taste in mind,” Houston said. “You develop trust with the audience, with artists, and with record labels. You become a trusted source.”

Guiding WFUV Forward

Singleton noted that like many WFUV personalities, Houston’s public persona benefited greatly from the digital revolution that made it possible for the station’s 400,000 weekly listeners to stream live on their computers, tablets, or mobile phones.

Thanks in part to Houston, WFUV also established a strong relationship with National Public Radio. Houston anchored NPR’s coverage of the Newport Folk Festival for several years and provided input into the organization’s “best of the year” lists. She also appeared on the national program Morning Edition.

Supporting women artists was a passion of Houston’s at WFUV as well. Just this year, she helped spearhead the station’s EQFM initiative, which is geared toward a goal of 50% representation of women and gender minorities in music programming, events, and online features.

“It’s part of our DNA as open-minded music lovers,” she said when EQFM launched in May. “Good songs come from everywhere, across race, age, and gender. Good radio should celebrate that, without bias.”

Houston was an insatiable student of the art of the DJ, going so far as devoting a series of interviews in 2012 to conversations with fellow hosts from FUV and other public radio stations. One of them was Dennis Elsas, who celebrated his 20th anniversary with the station this year, and who said it’s inconceivable to separate WFUV from Houston.

“Her determination to keep FUV as a defining place of music discovery for the audience and the industry was constant and unrelenting,” he said.

“Rita’s skill at booking and creating assorted shows and events for the station was the ‘secret sauce’ that made FUV sparkle.”

A Stalwart in the Industry

Daniel Glass, the founder/president of Glassnote Music, called her “the definition of soul,” while City Winery founder and CEO Michael Dorf lamented the fact that a tribute concert in Houston’s honor that was planned for this spring had to be canceled after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. For 15 years, Houston had worked as an offstage introducer at the Winery’s annual Carnegie Hall tribute series.

“It was a ritual that cemented a friendship,” Dorf said. “[It felt as if] our roles in the eco-system of independent music and their fans, and the ability to turn them on to something special, made us members of an exclusive limited club. And even if that was a total illusion made up in my head, at least, she made me feel that bond.”

The tribute concert was to have been the latest in a long line of accolades for Houston. She was named non-commercial program director of the year in 2019 and 2020 by FMQB and JBE, was a three-time designate of Gavin’s Music Director of the Year, and received an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for Broadcast Excellence.

In April 2019, on the occasion of her 25th anniversary at WFUV, she was officially acknowledged by the City of New York and Mayor Bill de Blasio for “bringing joy to listeners throughout the five boroughs, providing a platform for new talent that deserves to be heard, and enriching the cultural vitality of our city.”

Champion of Artists

Artists were no less moved. Her early, loyal support was often a harbinger of a musician or band’s subsequent mega-success—and it was never forgotten by those she championed. When Mumford & Sons won the Steinbeck Award in 2019, the first collective to ever do so, the band asked Rita to deliver their induction speech at Stanford University that September. When Brandi Carlile cast her very personal video for “The Joke,” a single that went on to win two Grammys in 2019, she asked Rita to be in it.

She also remained faithful to artists who experienced a lull in their careers, as David Gray observed on the occasion of Rita’s 20th anniversary at WFUV.

“I will never forget the support you gave me when I needed it most when nothing was really working out,” Gray said. “It was very much me and my acoustic guitar. It’s easy to be someone’s friend when everything’s rosy, but that’s when it mattered and that’s why we’re pals.”

Carlile said that Houston was “the very first person to play my music on the radio,” She recalled that when she met Houston for the first time, she was showing Houston photos of her horse when a shot of her girlfriend popped up on her phone.

“‘Is that your plus one?’ she said to 22-year-old me. ‘It’s ok to talk about it.’ She could immediately tell that I was uneasy with people in the music business knowing I was gay,” Carlile said.

The two became fast friends, she said, calling Houston a “soulful, stabilizing force.”

“She was absolutely packed full of life, up for anything, and the amount of charisma she possessed was just plain criminal. Don’t even get me started on that hair.”

In one of her last public appearances, at Fordham’s annual Women’s Summit in October, Houston reflected on her work, joking that she’d picked up the nickname “The Tank,” since “I go and go and go until I stop going.”

“The tank thing for me is really looking at the things that fill my tank, versus the things that empty my tank, and my job really fills my tank,” she said.

“I’m so lucky to have a job that fills my tank, where working more is almost better for me than working less.”

It was just last week that Houston stepped away from her duties at the station.

In her March podcast conversation with Arthur, she was candid about living with cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 2015.

“When I do put my head on the pillow at night, I do feel some sense of comfort, or maybe satisfaction is the right word. Peace, I guess, that I have lived [a good]life, warts and all, mistakes and all.”

Houston is survived by her wife Laura Fedele, new media director at WFUV; her sister Debra Baglio; and her brothers Richard and Robert Houston. She is predeceased by her older brother Bill Houston and her parents William and Rita Houston. A private funeral ceremony will be held for family.

More Tributes for Rita Houston

 

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A post shared by Mavis Staples (@mavisstaples)

Really sorry to hear of the death of Rita Houston. She was the best kind of DJ, a passionate fan of the music she played. Always enjoyed heading out to the Bronx to talk to her about life, music and politics. A huge loss to American radio. https://t.co/iFkxKMjJ0c

— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) December 15, 2020

Rita was a maverick in our world, a true leader, a golden ear, a flair with words, always positive in a cynical ecosphere. Brave beyond words and taught me to carry on and be curious regardless of pain or fear. I will miss her, but will call on her spirit often.
Amy https://t.co/yv8htcDP5Y

— Indigo Girls (@Indigo_Girls) December 15, 2020

 

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A post shared by Brandi Carlile (@brandicarlile)

“I’m a nurse,” read the message sent to Rita Houston, WFUV’s program director. “Today I listened in [and]  for the first time all month, [I] danced in my kitchen, relaxed for the first time in ages. Grateful to WFUV community resources for helping us stay well, stay safe, stay sane, stay connected in these uncertain times.”

Another message to Houston from a woman from New York said that the station was keeping her company during this isolating time.

“Please know we appreciate the continued joy we have always received from FUV. Now more than ever, many of us, myself included, are alone and music means so much in our daily mindset,” the message read.

For Houston, the messages are a reminder of why it’s important that she and other staff members at WFUV, 90.7 FM, continue to work hard each day, even under their own set of difficult circumstances.

“We are hearing from so many listeners about the comfort, entertainment, community, and meaning that WFUV is bringing in these tough times,” she said. “And that means so much to all of us at WFUV. The authenticity that WFUV has always represented with our music and our DJs is what listeners are responding to. Our DJs are doing a great job keeping that going under the difficult circumstances of working remotely.”

It’s been over a week since any show was broadcast live from the WFUV studios at the Rose Hill campus of Fordham, according to WFUV’s General Manager Chuck Singleton.

“Our administrative team had followed most of the work world and the rest of the University, to remote work in mid-March,” he said. “Until last week, a small crew of essential air staffers including Corny O’Connell, Delphine Blue and others, as well as George Evans, our director of technical operations, stuck it out on site at FUV’s studios. But with expanding social distancing and Governor Cuomo’s executive order, we knew the clock was running out on that.”

Evans said that the team had been putting things in place since early March to get ready for a fully remote set-up.

DJ Dennis Elsas was the first to go remote due to his experience with working from home for his other work with Sirius XM satellite radio.

“I know how to do it,” he said. “I was already set up and we figured if it works for me, we can roll it out for everyone.”

That meant making sure that on-air hosts had the recording equipment they needed set up at home, and engineers were able to make sure their shows hit their airwaves while they all were in different locations.

“Our Bronx studios are currently off-limits, but the music plays on,” Kathleen Allard, membership director, wrote in a letter to listeners. “Our hosts are broadcasting remotely from their homes, as our programmers and engineers work from theirs, performing an intricate and complicated series of processes that keeps the music going strong for you.”

Elsas said the experience isn’t that different than broadcasting from the studio, but he and others try to focus on keeping their connection to the listeners, even while remote.

“I can stay in touch with the world as I would in the studio,” he said. “With the internet, I can stay in touch with my listeners through their emails, tweets, social media, Facebook, and the music is the music.”

Evans estimated that programming has been able to stay about 95 percent the same, with just a few small items that had to go away for the time being as the staff logistically adjusted.

“There are some things that we used to do like ‘Question of the Day’ in the morning and some other things and we took that away for now—once we get a good flow and get settled then we’re going to bring what we can bring back,” he said.

Singleton said that’s a credit to the staff working quickly and learning their new remote processes.

“Our music team, newscasters, engineers, and producers rallied to get all the pieces in place, and last week our air staff began hosting their shows from home,” he said. “It was all a kind of radio moon shot, and thanks to many people, we’re now 100% remote and continue to bring you radio without interruption.”

Elsas said the biggest struggle for him and other on-air personalities is striking the right mix between entertaining the listeners and being aware of what’s going on in the world.

“I think that the biggest challenge for anyone, certainly for me or my fellow FUV DJs, but the biggest challenge is to maintain the balance between doing what we do on any given day, which is to entertain, share the music, be part of a community…[and]the seriousness of the situation that we’re in,” he said.

The station is still continuing to record its daily morning and afternoon newscasts, and the news team has created a live blog for wfuv.org to keep track of the latest coronavirus happenings. The station’s goal is to strike that balance between being a place people can go to “get away” from the constant news, but also stay a little bit informed, Evans said.

“We have a mission statement for times like this… that basically says: WFUV is here to provide a place of respite from the news cycle. We’re here to entertain, but not put you in a bubble,” he said. “We’re here to entertain you, but also give you a dose of news as well to keep you informed, but just enough that keeps you in the loop.”

“Thank you for all your energy, your passion, your vision,” said station manager Chuck Singleton, who hired her in 1994 to host FUV’s midday show. “Thanks for piloting FUV’s musical direction for two-and-a-half decades.”

As WFUV’s program director since 2012, Houston has developed a national reputation as a tastemaker for new music and a champion for emerging artists—both on the air and in live music settings. Along with her administrative duties, Houston still hosts her Friday night show, The Whole Wide World, where the anniversary celebration was heard live.

With her co-workers celebrating around her, Houston proceeded to play her signature eclectic blend of tunes. The Friday evening program, which airs from 6 to 9 p.m., welcomes listeners to the weekend with music she says will get you dancing in the kitchen. It showcases artists from the ’60s and ’70s, like Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye, as well as singer-songwriters and indie bands from today’s scene, like Andrew Bird and the Mavericks.

Houston knows fans have come to depend on her to introduce them to new music they’ll love.

“When listeners hear something new at WFUV, there’s an inherent trust it has been selected with their general taste in mind,” Houston said. “You develop trust with the audience, with artists, and with record labels. You become a trusted source.”

The music that Friday was interspersed with recorded messages from artists such as famed rhythm and blues singer Mavis Staples and the Indigo Girls.

“I love you girl,” cooed Staples. “You keep on keeping on.”

There were also appeals for donations in the station’s spring fund drive, with one of Houston’s fans pledging a matching gift of $25,000 in honor of her anniversary.

Dressed in a flowing white- and blue-striped blouse, with her mop of curly blond hair falling on her forehead, Houston went live after spending the afternoon preparing for an upcoming interview with singer-songwriter Patty Griffin. Her voice that night was vintage Rita: upbeat, conversational, informed, and at times, personal.

Upon reflection, Houston said she was a bit surprised it had been so long since she began working at WFUV on April 5, 1994. But, she said, for all the changes in the radio and music industries, the essential element of her work remains the same.

“I have the same passion for the work that I had 25 years ago,” she told listeners. “There’s no coasting. There’s always new stuff to learn. And like any creative work, there are always new layers to peel.”

Houston has held many roles over a quarter-century at WFUV, Fordham’s public media station. After starting as the station’s midday host, she became FUV’s music director, and since 2012, has served as the station’s program director. Her current post includes involvement in radio programming and content for WFUV’s website, as well as fundraising, membership programs, and WFUV’s live concert series.  She also produces and sometimes emcees live shows for WFUV’s Marquee members—those who contribute $125 or more a month—at small venues like Rockwood Music Hall and City Winery in lower Manhattan. Performers have included Lucinda Williams, Rosanne Cash, Steve Earle, and Richard Thompson.

The digital revolution in the music industry has broadened Houston’s work—and changed how music lovers hear the songs they grow to love. Many of WFUV’s 400,000 weekly listeners access the station, as they always have, on the radio dial at 90.7 FM. Others also stream WFUV live on their desktop computers, tablets, or mobile phones. Others, still, listen to archived shows online at WFUV.org and attend WFUV events in the New York metropolitan area.

“We have dreams at WFUV, and we work to make them happen,” she said.  “But the competition has never been greater, with Spotify and other streaming services. When I started here, if you wanted to hear Joni Mitchell or Dar Williams, we were the only place to hear them. It’s a crowded field today.”

Houston’s national reputation has been developed partly through the station’s relationship with National Public Radio. WFUV is a member of the NPR Music partnership, a group of stations that collaborate with NPR on content. Houston has anchored NPR Music’s coverage of the Newport Folk Festival for several years, providing input into its “best music of the year” lists, appearing on NPR’s Morning Edition, and contributing to a project that spotlights women in music.

“Rita is an irrepressible force,” said Anya Grundman, NPR’s senior vice president of programming and audience development. “She has a great relationship with artists that shines through every time you hear her.”

Her friendships with recording executives like indie record label executive Daniel Glass, founder/president of Glassnote Music,  also keep her informed about new talent on the rise.

Glass calls Houston “the definition of soul.”

“She is a deeply soulful person, the music she plays has soul, and the artists she discovers, nurtures, and champions all have soul, regardless of the genre of music they fit into,” he said. “We are all enriched by Rita Houston’s ability to escape to a blissful aural theater.”

Houston, a Westchester native, moved to Nyack, New York, in 2002 to a home she shares with her wife, WFUV new media director Laura Fedele, and her Boston terriers Banjo and Emmy Lou, rescues from Tennessee.

The music Houston enjoys at home—like the music she plays on the air—spans more than a half-century – from Frank Sinatra and the Grateful Dead to Lucinda Williams and the Hot Sardines. When she goes to what she calls her personal “music church,” she listens to ’60s rocker Van Morrison, who Houston heard play in Chicago in April. And though she didn’t listen to the Grateful Dead during that band’s heyday in the 1970s, when she was deep into disco, punk, and new wave, she has since gained an enduring appreciation for the group.

“The Dead was so rooted into American roots music, and they brought it somewhere nobody else had taken it,” she said.

As much passion as she has for classic artists like those, Houston’s love of talented emerging musicians has been a large part of her success—and that of the station. In addition to playing their tunes, she often engages these artists in live studio interviews for the WFUV audience.

“Rita is hugely respected for her ears, and her ability to discover rising talent,” said Singleton. “She has smart, informed conversations with them about their work. She champions them and maintains a relationship with them throughout their careers.”

Marcus Mumford, leader of British folk-rock band Mumford & Sons, recalls meeting Houston at WFUV’s home in Keating Hall on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus during the band’s first tour in the U.S. several years ago.

“Fundamentally, her importance is rooted in the fact that she cares so much about her job and the team around her and the music she is passionate about,” he said. “It’s pure and untainted, and by no means naïve. Quite the opposite. She has the rare quality of a wealth of experience without being at all jaded. Rita is a real legend, and we feel, as many artists and non-musicians do, grateful to know her. We’ve deeply appreciated her support over the years.”

That passion for the music is one of the things that kept Houston’s spirits up during her recovery from ovarian cancer in 2014, after surgery and several months of chemotherapy. She remains in treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering in an immunotherapy clinical trial, which has kept her healthy almost five years after her initial diagnosis.

“It has been quite a roller coaster,” she said. “Getting healthy is a full-time job in itself. I’m still in treatment, have a job I love, and surround myself with beauty and the healing power of music to keep me going.”

–David McKay Wilson