Still Rumbling

Still Loud, Still Local: "I know where the bands are coming from," says Tommy Conwell of local artists seeking airplay on his show. "When you get up on stage or on the radio, you’re putting your stuff on the line." Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Rock-star-turned-DJ Tommy Conwell puts local artists on the air.

by John Vettese

Say "Tommy Conwell" and what do most Philadelphians think of? The Young Rumblers. "I'm Not Your Man." Mid-'80s hometown music.

Not as widely known, but perhaps just as significant, is the erstwhile rocker's job hosting 94 WYSP's Philly talent showcase, Loud and Local. Since spring 1998, Conwell has taken to the airwaves at 10 p.m. on Sundays, spinning regional bands and occasionally welcoming them into the broadcast booth for a raucous live set.

He was in the midst of his second career, teaching third grade in Montgomery County's Springfield School District, when he got a phone call at work from YSP marketing director Karin Buck. The show's previous host, Mel Toxic, had just departed and the station wanted him to fill the slot.

"I totally lucked out," says Conwell with a gruff chuckle. "I guess they remembered me from when I was making records in the '80s. You never know what's going to happen down the road."

Back in the early days of The Young Rumblers, Conwell says the path to radio play was a tough one. With fewer local spotlight shows on the dial, the stage was the place to take your first steps to stardom.

"You really had to prove yourself live first, you had to be hot shit as a club band," he says. "If you had a following and a good live show, that's what got [the station's] attention."

Conwell remembers Robert Hazard and The Heroes were the first Philadelphia act to break with "Escalator of Life" in the early '80s, followed by The Hooters with the still-classic "And We Danced." With two acts from the City of Brotherly Love getting national love, he says his band was simply the next in line.

At the time, he says WMMR was the station truly championing the Philadelphia scene. But, exhibiting no small amount of pride in his current gig, Conwell boasts the situation today has flip-flopped.

Likewise, his own situation has flip-flopped; he's gone from a local musician struggling to get heard on the air to the guy on the air helping local musicians get heard. "It's an awesome feeling," he says. "I know where the bands are coming from; when you get up on stage or on the radio, you're putting your stuff on the line. It can be scary, so I try to eliminate that. I'm real nice and let them know I love them."

Conwell says he picks bands to play from the scores of CDs that show up at the station each week. He describes himself as open to anything, as long as it's interesting and playable, and as long as the drumming is tight. "I have a real soft spot for crazy hardcore," he says. "If you're yelling, you're pretty much in."

The late Kid Dynamite is one such act that got in. A seven-song live set from Loud and Local in 2000 closes out their new odds-and-sods collection, Cheap Shots, Youth Anthems, complete with Conwell's oft-hysterical banter in between cuts.

"Being on that Kid Dynamite CD is a thrill," he says. "[The band's 2000 album,] Shorter, Faster, Louder, is still one of my favorite Philly CDs."

Another facet of his show, and a way it spreads beyond the late-Sunday hours, is the "Local Rock Star of the Month" feature; bands from Loud and Local that get a good response are plugged into the station's regular rotation. At month's end, they play live on Conwell's show.

"That's a big deal for a local band to be added to regular rotation, 'cause its not really how radio works," he says. "It's very political with the record companies, you don't always just play what you like. To spin a local band like that, it's got to be in the station's heart."

Live and Local airs Sundays, 10-11 p.m., 94 FM WYSP.