WMNF changes some of its tunes

In WMNF-FM 88.5's biggest overhaul in its 23-year history, the community radio station is creating a variety of new music programs as well as an evening news show focused on local events.

Listeners are bidding farewell to several longtime programs, notably Friday Nite Cruisin', which has been on the air with host Linda Reisinger since the station's inception and has its last cruise tonight from 7 to 9 p.m.

Starting Tuesday, the station will air WMNF Evening News from 6 to 7 p.m., a locally produced, commercial-free program. Stories from Free Speech Radio News and Florida Public Radio will still be heard, but more time will be allotted to in depth state and local coverage, in response to listener surveys. Assistant news director Mitch Perry, along with Nell Abram and Randi Zimmerman, who produce the Free Speech Radio News headlines for national broadcast, will co-host.

Fresh Air, which now airs from 6:30 to 7 p.m. will move and expand to an hour from noon-1 p.m.

The new music programs include:

* 11th Hour: Aimed at younger listeners seeking an alternative to the corporate programming of mainstream radio, the show features an array of hip "college music," culled from the charts of CMJ, the college music journal. 11th Hour will be DJ-driven, with alternating hosts, and will air from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, beginning Tuesday.

* Florida Folk Show: Host Peter Gallagher, a St. Petersburg writer, says, "Florida folk music is not just a guy or girl with a guitar singing about the Suwannee River." He aims to present music by artists from the Sunshine State who perform traditional -- and not so traditional -- folk tunes on a regular basis. The program airs from 9 to 10 a.m. Thursdays.

* Sonic Detour: A drive-time program featuring a rock-based mix by artists such as the Flaming Lips, the Donnas, The Clash and Talking Heads, according to its hosts, longtime WMNF DJs Flee, Jane Doe, Glen Hatchell and Nell Abram. It will air from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, beginning Tuesday.

* Hip Hop Flavors: Host DJ Lazy of local hip hop act Red Tide assures this program will be as educational as it is entertaining, including music from the genre's pioneers such as Run-DMC and Kurtis Blow, as well as recent releases. The show will also present classic soul and R&B music frequently sampled in hip hop, tunes by artists such as Parliament-Funkadelic and James Brown. Hip Hop Flavor airs from 1 to 4 a.m. Tuesdays.

* Cacophony: The Metal Underground: Hosted by DJs Lothax (Paul Stonebridge) and Pazuzu (Sean Daniel-Ennis), the show will feature underground music of heavy metal, black metal and death metal from Europe and the United States, giving special attention to what the duo call Florida's own "ostracized metal subculture." Both DJs vow they will never play music by pop-metal bands featured on mainstream radio and MTV. The show airs from 1 to 4 a.m. Sunday, beginning Jan. 26.

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