How KKUP brought out the 60s in me

Last Saturday I was staying in Palo Alto ((I spent Thursday and Friday in business meetings in San Francisco, and Monday to Thursday at Stanford University. But that’s for another post.)) and I decided to drive down to Carmel Valley to visit Merry’s parents. As I headed over to 101 for the drive down, I hit the scan button on the rental car radio, and came across a Jefferson Airplane cut. I kept listening, and heard a steady stream of great psychedelic music from the late 60s and early 70s – bands like the 13th Floor Elevators, the Byrds, Iron Butterfly, and the Buffalo Springfield. (Even Blue Cheer!)
So what was this radio station, and where had it been all my life? It turned out to be “KKUP Cupertino – 91.5 FM – Non-Commercial People’s Radio”, and they were having a “Psychedelic Marathon” fundraiser. And fortune smiled: it turned out that KKUP covers both Silicon Valley and the Monterey Bay area, so I was able to hear them almost all the way there (and back, later in the day).
I meant to phone in to make a donation (and get the great Timothy Leary t-shirt that they were describing), but I got distracted by the time I reached my hotel in the evening. So just now, a week later, I visited their website, and the special shirt is no longer available… shucks. Anyway, I ordered a regular station logo shirt, to remind myself to tune in when I’m next in the Bay Area.
Now listening: “Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man” by the Byrds.