SOUNDWAVES 1983-2008

1983-1986

Soundwaves, an after-school request program premieres on PCT. The show is produced and hosted by 16-year old Dennis Willis (who actually preceded SW with 52 editions of The D & D Rock Show in the same format). But with Soundwaves, the format grew to include multiple cameras and a rotating onscreen cast and crew of teenage volunteers that all would become personalities on the show. With the addition of director Gerold Gorman and co-producer Steve Maggioncalda (a wildly-popular local DJ), Soundwaves added remote segments and a dynamic "live music video" look that set the show apart visually from the other similar shows.

The show attracted Bay Area radio personalities and musicians as guests, and had morphed in two years from a simple format to something decidedly more complex.  But once Steven Kirk joined the show in January 1985, all bets were off.  Sharing practically the same birthday, Steven and Dennis struck up a fast creative and personal friendship that endures today.

Suddenly, it was not uncommon to stage entire live shows in the parking lot, throw dance parties, host contests and  feature movie parodies (before there was a thing called YouTube). But the coup de grace was "Who Shot Gerold," a live multi-week arc in which the show's demanding director was "shot" offscreen. The "mystery" was to play out over a couple of weeks but attracted immediate notoriety when viewers called the police, thinking the "shooting" was real. 

Proving there is no such thing as bad press, Soundwaves remained a popular fixture on PCT for another year until internal politics (over those rowdy kids) forced the show off the air in May, 1986.

1988-1993

It was the return of the Dennis and Steve show, but much had changed.  Gone was the live format, replaced by a hodgepodge mix of music videos, movies, video releases and the music charts.  Also gone was the ensemble of personalities and the behind-the-scenes creative team.  Worse, their friendship had strained, causing inconsistencies in just about every aspect of the show. 

But this era was not a total wash.   In fact, some noteworthy things emerged from the rest of the filler.  In particular, the Soundwaves 30-Hour Marathon, in which Dennis and Steve set a local broadcasting record by mixing music and hosting for 30 hours straight.  The show was held just three weeks after the Loma Prieta earthquake and there was a serious need for donations -- food, clothing and essentials that local resource centers had exhausted.  They devoted much of their banter to this cause and as a result, the annual Soundwaves Christmas Party was born. To date, the show has raised over 32,000 food, clothing and toy items that have been redistributed into the community.

The boys wrapped up the show's run with Forever Young, a 2-hour documentary that celebrated the history of the show through its various incarnations and served as a final episode.  But just a year and a half later, they reunited for  1993's Soundwaves Goes Hollywood, a pre-reality show document of Dennis' vacation in Hollywood (where Steve had relocated to).  The 1-hour show was well-received by viewers, but served as a reunion of sorts between Dennis and Steve, who resumed a creative partnership that had been long dormant.

1994-2002

Dennis relaunched a weekly version of Soundwaves in a new format.  Now totally pre-taped with a roster of rotating hosts (Joe McCaffrey, Suzanne St. John, Moira Szasz, Amy Atkinson and Jennifer Stanonis among them) and a "bigger" look, the show broke new artists, featured the occasional live performance and used every corner of the Bay Area as a background.  When the opportunity called, Soundwaves took the show even farther on the road, visiting places like Puerto Vallarta, Universal Studios Hollywood and Hawaii. 

With the annual Christmas shows and frequent host mashups, the show reflected the party atmosphere established in the early days of the show, while occasionally pausing to take on event shows or serious topics.  A visit to the Soul Train Awards brought appearances from Will Smith, TLC and Mary J. Blige; a 1995 episode hosted by Suzanne St. John was devoted to women's resources; Joe McCaffrey produced a touching tribute to Jerry Garcia following his death; in 1997, the show world-premiered lost footage of Tupac Shakur that would preceded the reshaping of his posthumous image from gangsta to street prophet; in 1998, Soundwaves welcomed the Spice Girls as guests at the height of their popularity; and days after 9/11, SW joined a cathartic peace march.

2003-2008

In 2003, several events kicked Soundwaves to the next level.  The 2-hour special Soundwaves/20 was a look back at two decades of the show, complete with a big reunion party and clip packages.  Months in the works and with hundreds of clips, SW/20 was a seminal event in the show's history.  The show was named Best Entertainment Program in 2004 at the WAVE Awards and has enjoyed much popularity in reruns.

The reunion also kicked off much creative goodwill among the ensemble, attracting Bay Area actor and personality Jason DiLorenzo to the fold.  Dennis and Steve shot a road trip across four states, culminating in Vegas.  Soundwaves went after other markets, finally expanding beyond the Bay Area and into half a million homes weekly.  Bay Area musician and promoter Eric Alan joined the show, further establishing a commitment to emerging artists.

But in late 2005, Universal Music informed the industry that their music videos would now become a source of revenue and that show like Soundwaves were expected to pay a hefty fee for the privilege of promoting their artists.  Soundwaves changed course and embraced its history, creating "Greatest Hits" episodes and artist blocks.  The show also solidified its web presence with podcasts and solid expansion of the Soundwaves Cinema brand.  But the damage was done.  Music videos moved from the television to the internet and regional shows around the country all died. 

On August 15, 2008, past and present cast members assembled for the 500th -- and final -- episode, appropriately titled Wrap Party.  But the name Soundwaves will not go gently into obscurity.  The party continues, on our own terms, and you are all invited.  Stay tuned!