Welcome to Swarthmore Classic Radio

This site maintains links to a small number of radio show archives of WSRN Swarthmore in Pennsylvania. The emphasis here is on original content produced at Swarthmore College, though I've also included a Novelty Connection archive since I happen to have some of those shows available.

Current maintained archives:
- The Banana Desperados
- Off The Cuff
- The Novelty Connection
- Carts and promos

If you have audio archives of a radio show that aired on WSRN Swarthmore in the 20th century that featured original (student-written) content, and you'd like to have your audio files linked from this site, please contact the site owner / editor.

The files archived here are hosted at MediaFire, which unfortunately pastes a lot of ads within its download pages, so just ignore the ads and get the MP3's.

The shows archived here are provided for historical and educational purposes. This site is not affiliated with or maintained by Swarthmore College.

The Banana Desperados

The Banana Desperados is a 5-episode comedy-drama detective series that aired on WSRN in spring 1988. The shows are 30 minutes each and have a story arc, so you need to listen to them in order. The current archives are from cassette tapes that recorded the on-air broadcast versions of the shows.

- Banana Desperados episode 1
- Banana Desperados episode 2
- Banana Desperados episode 3
- Banana Desperados episode 4
- Banana Desperados episode 5

Off the Cuff

Off the Cuff was a 30-minute comedy sketch series written and produced by Swarthmore college students from 1988-1999. The initial or "first series" run of the show was 6 episodes broadcast in fall 1988. The "second series" began in spring 1989. Only a few episodes of the latter are presently available. The shows have no story arc, so you can listen to them in any order.

The current archives come from cassette tapes of the on-the-air broadcasts. Sound levels in the transfer from cassette to MP3 weren't perfect, so some audio distortion is present, however the shows were never designed to be a high-fidelity audio experience to begin with (heh).

Fall 1988, "first series":
- Off the Cuff episode 1
- Off the Cuff episode 2
- Off the Cuff episode 3
- Off the Cuff episode 4
- Off the Cuff episode 5
- Off the Cuff episode 6 part 1
- Off the Cuff episode 6 part 2

Spring 1989, "second series":
- February 12, 1989 show - "mostly sex"
- February 26, 1989 show
- March 26, 1989 show - "mostly death"
- April 23, 1989 show

Spring 1990 and uncategorized:
- "Best of off the cuff", spring 1990
- "Truly tasteless show", unknown date

The Novelty Connection

(New shows added June 2010). The Novelty Connection was a 30-minute show, hosted by this web site's editor, that played comedy songs and sketches by a variety of artists. The show initially aired in an extended-length format during summer 1988, and then ran in a 30-minute format from fall 1988 through spring 1990. Only a few of the shows are available. These archives are from tapes of the original live on-air broadcasts. Several of them are originally from the collection of Alex Weirich, whom we will always greatly miss.

Summer 1988:
- July 6, 1988 show part 1
- July 6, 1988 show part 2
- July 6, 1988 show part 3

Fall 1988:
- October 16, 1988 show

Spring 1989:
- February 12, 1989 show
- February 19, 1989 show - "animals edition"
- March 5, 1989 show - "stress and panic edition"
- March 26, 1989 show - "potpourri edition"
- April 2, 1989 show
- April 9, 1989 show - "pre-college edition"
- April 16, 1989 show - "room-choosing edition"
- April 23, 1989 show - "food edition"
- April 30, 1989 show - "physical abuse edition"
- May 6, 1989 show - final spring 1989 semester show

Uncategorized / unknown date:
- The "mostly sex" show
- The "not so serious" show
- The "obnoxious human beings" show
- The "offensensitivity" show
- The "somewhat serious" show
- The "superheroes" show

Spring 1990:
- May 1990 last show - the last Novelty Connection

Carts and promos

(NEW as of June 2010). WSRN staff and volunteers have produced a variety of short station identification and promotional pieces over the years. The traditional name for these is "carts", named after the magnetic tape cartridge packaging used to hold the recorded audio material in the 1980's. Thanks to Jeff Hildebrand for this archive set.

WSRN promo: "Bombastic"
WSRN promo: "Bullwinkle"
WSRN promo: David Frasier
WSRN promo: "Jacques Cousteau"
WSRN promo: "Like Mom Used to Make"
WSRN promo: "Warp"

Botticelli promo: "You're on the air"