Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Rasta redemption

Local radio rediscovers reggae

FM-94/9’s Carlos Culture says he isn’t “throwing salt on anyone’s game. I’m just doing the stuff I like to play.”
FM-94/9’s Carlos Culture says he isn’t “throwing salt on anyone’s game. I’m just doing the stuff I like to play.”

The positive vibrations championed by Bob Marley are not exactly what’s driving the increase in reggae airtime on local airwaves.

A few weeks ago, 91X brought back Brunch with Bob and Friends. The 10 a.m.-to-noon Sunday show is hosted and produced by Tommy Hough, just as it was when it first aired on FM-94/9 (2000–2010). It still focuses on the catalog of reggae godfather Bob Marley.

Not to let 91X get an inch of rasta ratings redemption, alt-rock competitor FM-94/9 decided to counter-program with its own reggae show in the same two-hour time slot, hosted by longtime reggae impresario Carlos (Torres) Culture.

Sponsored
Sponsored

San Diego radio has historically supported reggae. Makeda Dread hosted a Sunday-night reggae show on 91X from 1983 to 2008. But local mainstream radio has ignored reggae specialty shows for seven years. Now there are two. Airing at the same time.

Torres makes it clear he’s not part of any radio station F-U ploy. “I’m not anyone’s pawn,” he says. “I’m not doing this as a part of anyone’s agenda. I’m doing it because I like the music. I don’t care what the other station is doing.”

Torres has been involved in reggae radio going back to 1984 at Ohio State Radio/WOSR and then at a station in Boston’s Emerson College. That’s when he says he couldn’t get enough of “Anthem” by Black Uhuru and “True Democracy” by Steel Pulse.

Torres started promoting reggae culture locally in 1991 by spinning reggae vinyl at Winstons Thursday night in O.B. “I dealt directly with Bill,” he says of the club’s late founder, Bill Winston.

Place

Winstons Beach Club

1921 Bacon Street, San Diego

Eventually he started promoting live shows by artists such as Luciano, Mykal Rose, and the Dub Syndicate. He worked with Makeda Dread on her 91X show until 2007 when “I turned in my key [over differences with her].” Torres continued doing DJ shows at Winstons and the defunct Gallagher’s in O.B. when FM-94/9 asked him to host his own Sunday night show on their all-reggae HD-2 “sub-channel” station, Bob Radio.

Regarding his new Sunday show on FM-94/9: “I’m honored just to be doing it. I’m not throwing salt on anyone’s game. I’m just doing the stuff I like to play.” He still organizes live shows. “If a local band asks me for a show, nine times out of ten I will find a slot for them.”

But aren’t there a lot of P.B./fratboy/reggae poser bands out there? “Some are fun. Some are not. I support the ones who are.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tyler Farr, Blue Water Film Festival, Mustache Bash

Events March 21-March 23, 2024
Next Article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
FM-94/9’s Carlos Culture says he isn’t “throwing salt on anyone’s game. I’m just doing the stuff I like to play.”
FM-94/9’s Carlos Culture says he isn’t “throwing salt on anyone’s game. I’m just doing the stuff I like to play.”

The positive vibrations championed by Bob Marley are not exactly what’s driving the increase in reggae airtime on local airwaves.

A few weeks ago, 91X brought back Brunch with Bob and Friends. The 10 a.m.-to-noon Sunday show is hosted and produced by Tommy Hough, just as it was when it first aired on FM-94/9 (2000–2010). It still focuses on the catalog of reggae godfather Bob Marley.

Not to let 91X get an inch of rasta ratings redemption, alt-rock competitor FM-94/9 decided to counter-program with its own reggae show in the same two-hour time slot, hosted by longtime reggae impresario Carlos (Torres) Culture.

Sponsored
Sponsored

San Diego radio has historically supported reggae. Makeda Dread hosted a Sunday-night reggae show on 91X from 1983 to 2008. But local mainstream radio has ignored reggae specialty shows for seven years. Now there are two. Airing at the same time.

Torres makes it clear he’s not part of any radio station F-U ploy. “I’m not anyone’s pawn,” he says. “I’m not doing this as a part of anyone’s agenda. I’m doing it because I like the music. I don’t care what the other station is doing.”

Torres has been involved in reggae radio going back to 1984 at Ohio State Radio/WOSR and then at a station in Boston’s Emerson College. That’s when he says he couldn’t get enough of “Anthem” by Black Uhuru and “True Democracy” by Steel Pulse.

Torres started promoting reggae culture locally in 1991 by spinning reggae vinyl at Winstons Thursday night in O.B. “I dealt directly with Bill,” he says of the club’s late founder, Bill Winston.

Place

Winstons Beach Club

1921 Bacon Street, San Diego

Eventually he started promoting live shows by artists such as Luciano, Mykal Rose, and the Dub Syndicate. He worked with Makeda Dread on her 91X show until 2007 when “I turned in my key [over differences with her].” Torres continued doing DJ shows at Winstons and the defunct Gallagher’s in O.B. when FM-94/9 asked him to host his own Sunday night show on their all-reggae HD-2 “sub-channel” station, Bob Radio.

Regarding his new Sunday show on FM-94/9: “I’m honored just to be doing it. I’m not throwing salt on anyone’s game. I’m just doing the stuff I like to play.” He still organizes live shows. “If a local band asks me for a show, nine times out of ten I will find a slot for them.”

But aren’t there a lot of P.B./fratboy/reggae poser bands out there? “Some are fun. Some are not. I support the ones who are.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

A poem for March by Joseph O’Brien

“March’s Lovely Asymptotes”
Next Article

Hip-hop artist Don Elway makes movies for his music

Not Ordinary EP tells a story of life on the streets
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.