WSDP is the student-operated radio station owned by the

Plymouth-Canton Educational Park The Plymouth-Canton Educational Park (commonly PCEP or "The Park") encompasses three public secondary schools—Salem High School, Canton High School, and Plymouth High School (Michigan), Plymouth High School—in Canton Township, Michiga ...

Canton, Michigan Canton Township (commonly known simply as Canton) is a charter township in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Canton is located roughly west of downtown Detroit, and e ...

. The station positions itself as 88.1 The Park. WSDP is operated out of Salem High School and has been in operation since February 14, 1972. The station's current manager is Bill Keith (1991–present). On December 31, 2011 at noon, after stunting for several days with songs or song lyrics with the word "change" in them, such as

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

's ''

A Change Would Do You Good "A Change Would Do You Good" (also known as "A Change") is the fourth single from American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow's 1996 self-titled album. The song uses a series of non sequitur lyrics to describe what one should change in life. It became ...

'' and

The Georgia Satellites The Georgia Satellites is an American Southern rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. They achieved mainstream success with their 1986 self-titled debut album, featuring their best-known single " Keep Your Hands to Yourself," which peaked at No. 2 o ...

' '' Keep Your Hands to Yourself'' (which opens with the lyric ''"I got a little change in my pocket, going jing-a-ling-a-ling"'') with announcers promoting that "change is good" and to listen at the promised time, WSDP switched its format from alternative rock as 88.1 The Escape to

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

as "The New 88.1, Plymouth and Canton's Hit Music," with a playlist of pop and rock hits spanning the 1970s through today. The station also announced a contest to name the new station, in which the winner would receive a $100 gas card. The name eventually became "88.1 The Park". The first song on The New 88.1 was ''

I Gotta Feeling "I Gotta Feeling" is a song by American group the Black Eyed Peas from their fifth studio album '' The E.N.D.'' (2009). It was written by the group members with the song's producers David Guetta and Frédéric Riesterer. The song was released a ...

'' by

The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

. The former "88.1 The Escape" specialized in playing independent

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

artists not played on any mainstream commercial station in the area. Special programs heard on WSDP showcased

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

, heavy metal,

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

and other musical genres. One highlight of the WSDP schedule was "Static Age", a punk/psychobilly show that featured local bands from the Ann Arbor/Detroit, MI Area. In 2014, 88.1 The Park was honored by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation and took home the High School Station of the Year award. It has also since 2014 up until present day, been nominated for a Marconi award for Non-Commercial Station of the Year by the NAB. The station continues to serve the Plymouth-Canton area with local news and information and high school sports broadcasts.

History

WSDP began as a dream of Plymouth High School English teacher Bonny Dore and principal Bill Brown in 1969, as preparations began to replace Plymouth with Salem High School. The station broadcast at 89.3 FM from its 1972 sign-on until October 1977, when a frequency swap with

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

WEMU WEMU (89.1 FM) is a public radio station owned by Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. On weekdays, it carries NPR News and Information shows in morning and afternoon drive time, with jazz programs heard the rest of the day. On ...

, which had been at 88.1, saw WSDP taking over 88.1 and WEMU moving to the 89.1 spot on the dial, where it remains to this day. The station commenced Stereo broadcasts in 1985. Former WSDP staff members can keep tabs with the station at http://www.myspace.com/wsdpalumni

Station managers

There have been only six station managers in the 38-year history of WSDP. Four of them were graduates of the Plymouth Canton school system and the last three were graduates of the WSDP program.
1972-73 Bonny Dore
1973-74 Mary Phyl Godfrey
1974-82 Jeffrey Cardinal
1982-87 Andy Melin
1987-91 David Snyder
1991–Present Bill Keith

References

External links

* {{coord, 42.3495, N, 83.4958, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title SDP Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States