Jake Einstein, Guiding Spirit Behind WHFS and WRNR, Has Died

Jake Einstein, Guiding Spirit Behind WHFS and WRNR, Has Died

There's nothing to see here, kids. That's right; turn up your iPods. Move along.

No obituary or appreciation for the man has appeared in any newspaper, but DCRTV has been reporting for the past two days that alternative radio station owner Jake Einstein died earlier this week. There was a paid death notice in the Washington Post on Saturday morning. Longtime DC and Baltimore area listers of a certain age can recall fondly just how good WHFS was back in the days.

From the DCRTV Mailbag:



WHFS in the Really Old Days

Since Georgetown's non-commercial alternative FM station WGTB was shut down by that school's administration in 1979, DC was without a college radio station, with any sort of signal strength, that played alternative rock. The station at the University of Maryland could barely be heard in northern Virginia. By contrast, WGTB could be heard as far south as St. Mary's County, Maryland. WGTB's history was told in an article in the Washington City Paper many years ago.

Commercial WHFS filled the void. If they had a playlist, it was not evident. You couldn't begin to guess the next song that would come over the airwaves. There was a time that I listened to only two stations. If my receiver wasn't on 102.3 MHz, WHFS, then it was tuned to that rarity of broadcasting, a commercial classical station, WGMS, at 103.5 MHz.

WHFS was always on the verge of being sold, with resultant change of format. During one such threat, I went to a "Save WHFS" rally at the Kemp Mill Records in Georgetown, where I met WHFS DJs Weasel (real name, Jonathan Gilbert) and Damian (Damian Einstein, Jake's son). I even wrote a letter to the editor, which got printed, suggesting that a college take over WHFS's library in exchange for a tax deduction. Eventually the station did get sold, and the whole kit and caboodle moved down the dial to 99.1 MHz. That station brought the first Lollapalooza to the DC area (actually, Reston), but eventually it dropped the alternative format, going to mainstream rock for several years before switching to a Spanish-language format nearly two years ago.

Commercial alternative progamming, though, was not gone forever. Some of the staff and the record library moved over to Jake Einstein's new station, WRNR in Annapolis. It is as close to a duplicate of the old WHFS as is possible. Damian is still on the air. I have never been bothered by his halting speech pattern, the result of a near-fatal car accident, for no one has been more supportive of local musicians.

Jake, you meant so much to me and untold thousands of other listeners. I'm really going to miss you.

I still remember the day they disappeared. The DJ (Damien? I honestly don't remember which one) played Jeff Buckley's The Last Goodbye, thanked us for listening, and after 30 seconds of dead air the station was broadcasting in Spanish.

the station at 99.1 MHz that had the call letter WHFS didn't resemble the original WHFS in the least. Damian had been at WRNR in Annapolis for several years.

in its day. (way before Clear Channel)
So was WAMU and WPGC for that matter of fact.
God knows there wasn't much good radio on
the Virgina side of the river.

Weasels show started at midnight. I was just starting to look for rock music beyond the commercial stations, and HFS played Greatful Dead songs other than 'Trucking' and 'Casey Jones'. god times, good times....

Weasel's show was in the afternoon. When he signed off on Friday afternoons, he always played the same songs. He'd play the Beastie Boys, "You Have to Fight for the Right to Party," King Corasco and the Cocoanuts (something like that; it's past my bedtime. I'll Google tomorrow), "It's a Party, a Party Party Weekend," and something by Nick Lowe, "Here Come the Weekend."

That station was reeeeeaaaallly good back in 1982 and 1983. That was when they were on 102.3 MHz. The move to 99.1 MHz happened after that station was sold.

In '83 I moved from MD's Eastern shore to Arlington and lemme tell ya - the switch from Ocean City radio to HFS was a revelation. Many years have passed and I'm now out of the DC area, but I will never forget that station during its "glory days." And come to think of it - the original 9:30 Club.

Actually, Damian is no longer on the air at WRNR. Apparently he had some sort of falling out with the management. He is missed as both an on-air personality and a local Annapolis character.

I lived in Alexandria, VA from late '81 until the end of '84. I am thankful that I heard WHFS at their peak. What great radio! Their live interviews were fantastic. I was introduced to so much new music that really shaped my musical interests even today. I've never heard another FM radio station that came close to their quality, before or since.

RIP, Jake.