Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

How about some info on border radio stations..I remember hearing the wolfman howling at night way back when...

George, those stations South of us played by a different set of rules. They had no FCC (which in way might've been a good thing), so there were few rules. Only a handful of stations in the U.S. were licensed to 50,000 watts. Mexico had a number of 50,000 watt stations, and obviously they didn't fall under FCC rules and regs. Many U.S. stations had directional broadcast patterns. Mexico's were non-directional. In other words, a 360 degree pattern. Those closest to the border could really be 'piped' in. XERF where Wolfman worked was one of those stations. It was a contentious situation for a number of years between the U.S. and Mexico.

Part of their outlaw image

Border Radio by the Blasters! Very nice. The two brothers from Rank and File wrote that song, I think. Their version, as The Tony's, is even better. It's from, go figure, Border Radio (1987).

http://www.criterion.com/films/802