Messenger - Vol. 1, No. 3, Page 19
Spring 1992
Alumni Profile;'Crazy College' DJ spins looney tunes

     If you live in the Philadelphia area and you're tired of rock'n'
roll, fed up with rap and bored with those TV ads endorsing easy
listening radio, tune in to WHYY (90.9 FM) every Saturday at 4 p.m.
and listen to Crazy College.
     Instead of soothing strings or incomprehensible rock, you'll hear
such classics as "Chasing the Birds" by Yosemite Sam, "Mickey Mouse
and Minnie's in Town" by the Don Bester Orchestra, "Alvin's Orchestra"
by David Seville and the Chipmunks and "I Crept into her Crypt and
Cried" by Homer and Jethro.
     The host of Crazy College, George Stewart, Delaware '74, says,
"No one's ever too old to play stupid, moronic music."
     The show's title pays homage to Kay Kaiser's Kollege of Musical
Knowledge, a 1940s Big Band show that incorporated novelty tunes and
silly questions in its format. Believing he was becoming too old to
play rock music, Stewart says he decided to "age gracefully" with a
new type of show. He first incorporated a 40-minute set of Spike Jones
tunes into his campus progressive rock show called Side Two. During
its 14-year run at Delaware from 1971-1985, Side Two lasted through
three sets of call letters for the station-WHEN, WDRB and WXDR-and its
growth from a closed circuit station in the residence halls to a 1,000
watt, educational station at 91.3 FM. When the Spike Jones set was
well-received, Stewart did three more novelty tunes specials,
including one three hours long that became the pilot for Crazy
College.
     He eventually sent a copy of one his tapes to the production
manager at WHYY, and later contracted to do a 26-week run. Stewart,
who groups all the songs he plays by theme, says he hopes Crazy
College will "incorporate all the important novelty tunes by the end
of its run." Past shows have featured such themes as space invaders,
Mickey Mouse and dead animals. One of his self-imposed rules is "to
repeat only one song from a previous show."
     Stewart, who works during the week as a freelance video producer,
also writes and collects novelty tunes. He has a 50-foot stack of
novelty albums. "Inventory control is a big problem," he says. Many of
his novelty albums were found in cut-out bins and junk shops or sent
to him by his fans, including his Mother.
     Stewart says he hopes the show will one day be syndicated because
he believes that the "world is ready for a novelty tunes show."
                                     -Cassandra Lassiter, Delaware '92