The First Sounds and Still Going
The day of KUVO’s first broadcast – August 29, 1985 – was literally a blur for KUVO’s General Manager, Flo Hernández-Ramos. Dolores Atencio, KUVO’s fundraising specialist, had submitted a proposal to the Denver Foundation and agreed to a site visit on the very day when KUVO was to go on the air for the first time. The General Manager had been up all night getting ready for the next day’s broadcast, the centerpiece of a celebration party. She had such swollen eyes that she could not reinsert the contact lenses that she had taken out around midnight. Dolores and Flo (sans functional vision) met the Denver Foundation representative, gave him a tour and a heartfelt presentation about the need for a Latino-controlled public radio station. KUVO received the grant, in fact the Denver Foundation unilaterally increased the requested amount by $10,000, but to this day Flo does not know what the Denver Foundation visitor looked like.
There were so many details to prepare for both a first broadcast and a celebration, but everyone pitched in. Teodora, Jesus and Mary Hernández had the studios and offices spic and span. Veronica Gallegos ensured that the studio was ready to perform properly. And although Suzy Cotton was the DJ that was to make the first public broadcast, her trainer and KUVO’s volunteer Program Director, Mercedes Hernández as well as numerous other volunteer on-air hosts were there to step in if necessary.
Listening on a boom box in the basement of 1225 Wazee, guests at the party listened as KUVO’s first broadcast from the third floor went on without a hitch at 7:00 p.m. Flo’s subdued, emotional on-air welcome reflected the great efforts everyone engaged in to get KUVO on the air. She was too tired and emotional to deliver an inspirational, rousing speech but Suzy’s musical selections of “Guaguancó Arsenio” by Tito Puente preceding Flo’s welcome and following it with Brazilian artist Mauricio Tapajós doing “Falando de Cadeira” aptly conveyed the high energy and tempo that was KUVO signature sound.
The cheers and applause that erupted from the party goers told KUVO how essential it was to always involve community. La Voz reported on the historic event and Kathy Walsh from CBS 4 - who had just started her television news career in 1984 - covered and broadcast a report about the new public radio station during the 10 o’clock news.
Although KUVO had authorization to broadcast 24-hours a day, it started with an 18-hour schedule with a mix of fusion jazz, salsa, blues and spoken word programming like "Grandmas Was an Activist" and "Panorama Latina.". Elated at the success of the first night of programming, the mood was quickly deflated by someone observing that now KUVO had to broadcast something every second of every day because there is nothing worse in radio then “dead air.” Silence is not golden at a radio station.
Fun Fact: KUVO had been “broadcasting” in testing, soft-opening construction mode months before its “official” broadcast and celebration party of August 29, 1985. We intentionally made the KUVO “anniversary” on August 29 so that we could dedicate the first broadcast to Rubén Salazar a Latino journalist who was killed by police August 29, 1970 in Los Angeles during his coverage of the National Chicano Moratorium Against The Vietnam War.
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