KPFT

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup.
Please discuss this issue on the talk page, or replace this tag with a more specific message. Editing help is available.
This article has been tagged since August 2006.

**KPFT-FM** <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">Image:KPFT Logo.gif</td></tr><tr><th>City of license</th><td>Houston, Texas</td></tr><tr><th>Broadcast area</th><td>Houston, Texas, Galveston, Texas</td></tr><tr><th>Branding</th><td>"KPFT 90.1"</td></tr><tr><th>Slogan</th><td>*Radio For Peace*</td></tr><tr><th>First air date</th><td>March 1, 1970</td></tr><tr><th>Frequency</th><td>90.1 MHz</td></tr>
Format	Public Radio <tr><th>Callsign meaning</th><td>Pacifica, Texas</td></tr>
Owner	Pacifica Radio <tr><th>Website</th><td>www.kpft.org</td></tr>

KPFT is a radio station in Houston, Texas which went on the air on March 1, 1970 as the fourth station in the Pacifica radio family. Larry Lee sold the idea to Pacifica to establish listener-supported radio in Houston as an alternative to main-stream broadcasting.

KPFT commenced broadcasting on the 90.1 FM frequency with the song "Here Comes The Sun" from the then-brand-new Abbey Road album by The Beatles

[edit] The bombings

Just two months after going on the air the station's transmitter was bombed and destroyed on May 12, 1970. The new station was off the air for three weeks until repairs could be made. Five months later on October 6, 1970 while the station was broadcasting Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant," the transmitter was bombed yet again and the damage was significantly more extensive. The second bombing took KPFT off the air for three months.

On January 21, 1971 KPFT Management invited Arlo Guthrie to visit the Houston studios and he performed "Alice's Restaurant" live as the station commenced transmitting yet again.

After months of inactivity by the FBI and local police, Pacifica took the initiative to mount a media campaign designed to draw attention to the unsolved case and seek support for pressuring authorities to act. Federal agents ultimately arrested a Klansman (Jimmy Dale Hutto) and charged him with plotting to blow up KPFA and KPFK, as well as the actual KPFT bombing. Hutto was convicted and imprisoned in 1971.