Rock'n'Swap Helps Keep USF Radio Station Rolling Along

By Michael Nowak

Radio station KUSF 90.3 FM has a program guide that reads like a brochure for a bizarre whirlwind trip around the world.

On Thursdays evenings, Radio Goethe, "The German Voice in San Francisco," precedes Surfing Astrology. On Saturday mornings, Hamazkayin Armenian Hour backs up against broadcasts from the New York Metropolitan Opera. And on Sundays, Radio Finland, almost certainly the Bay Area's only regular program geared exclusively to the Finnish expatriate community, shares the airwaves with Rampage Radio, which bills itself as "the world's heaviest radio show."

But that's just par for the course for KUSF, which prides itself on the diversity it brings to the local airwaves. It should come as no surprise, then, that the station's primary fundraiser, known as the Rock'n'Swap, is itself a hodgepodge of merchandise and memorabilia targeted at a vast range of interests.

The swap takes place five times a year on the University of San Francisco campus and draws buyers, sellers and traders from all over the world to haggle over rare Beatles recordings and paw through bins of Japanese imports - all the while helping to keep the non-profit station running.

The Rock'n'Swap has been a regular fixture at USF's McLaren Hall for more than 10 years now, though its roots stretch back even farther.

"One of its first incarnations was in 1984 at the Kabuki (movie theater), back when the Kabuki was a nightclub," said Robert Barone, the station's advertising and marketing coordinator and the driving force behind the Rock'n'Swap.

In the early days, the event was part swap meet and part auction, with such items as the space suits worn by the '80s band Devo going to the highest bidder. But after it moved to its current location in the early '90s, the auctions were discontinued and the content shifted, becoming exclusively geared to independent dealers.

Today, these dealers are the Rock'n'Swap's sole vendors, with each booth representing a different private collection.

"Record stores aren't usually involved, nor are labels. It's usually just individuals, private people. This is what they do for a living," Barone said.

As a result, the Rock'n'Swap has become one of the biggest events for independent vendors on the music swap meet circuit. Dealers come from all over the United States, with a few regulars hailing from as far away as Germany and Japan.

"A lot of the dealers tell me this is the best swap in the U.S.," Barone said.

Surprisingly, the buyers seem every bit as devoted as the sellers. The affair averages around 500 attendees, with most customers paying a $2 charge to attend during the official hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. However, Barone said, "There's an early-bird admission at 5:30 a.m. It's $10 to get in and it's jumping. There's usually a hundred or more people there."

The Rock'n'Swap is not just for diehard collectors and vinyl junkies. The event is open to the public and despite a lack of paid advertising, turnout from the local community has been consistently high over the years. This makes for an interesting mix - it is not uncommon to see a horde of casual fans flipping rapidly through the bargain bins at one booth while a serious collector haggles over the cost of a classic Rolling Stones album (in mono!) five feet away.

For many people, going to a swap meet without knowing what to expect doesn't stand out as the most convenient way to shop for music. But at the same time, it seems fitting that a station with such broad appeal on the air would draw its support from an equally diverse base off the air. After all, if there's anything KUSF's supporters have in common, it's that they don't have much in common at all - just a love for music and an interest in exploring things that are a bit different from the daily routine.

The next KUSF Rock'n'Swap will be held in McLaren Hall at the University of San Francisco on Aug. 31. Doors open at 10 a.m. or 5:30 a.m. for those seeking the early-bird special. For more information, visit www.kusf.org/rocknswap.shtml.