“Welcome to The Mosh Pit… the Land of ALL that is metal!”
The Mosh Pit is a Heavy Metal focused radio show on WORT-FM in Madison WI. The show airs live every Monday night from 11pm – 2am (US Central Time) on 89.9 FM. WORT is also streaming live on the internet at http://www.wortfm.org
You can also listen to the past two weeks of the Mosh Pit on WORT’s archive server here.
The Mosh Pit tries to focus on new releases from a wide variety of the metal music genre. Prog, folk, black, thrash, stoner, power, brutalcore, metalcore (sometimes), death, melodic death, etc etc. are just some of the different genres of metal you might find on the show. While we try to focus on playing a wide variety of all of the new stuff that’s out there, we also take requests and throw in a classic here and there.
Every week we feature “Mike’s Picks” where Mike (“The Book”) picks three songs, usually classics, that may or may not fit a certain theme. The time that this airs floats around from week to week as to fit with the flow of the show. It’s just another reason why it’s a good idea to listen to all three hours!
Matt’s metal story….
I got my start in metal radio by resurrecting the “Heavy Metal Meltdown” at UW-Platteville’s radio station WSUP in the fall of 1991. Prior to that, I filled in frequently on the Hard Rock/Metal wannabe show called “Powertrax.” The Meltdown aired years before, and when WSUP’s format changed to strictly classic rock, the Meltdown was replaced with Powertrax and featured more of the lighter metal of the day such as Tesla, Great White, etc.
I wasn’t really into metal in those days, just a big fan of Led Zep, Rush, and the “cooler” classic rock of the day. I had the chance to fill in on Powertrax, and played listeners requests from bands like Exodus, Metallica, Megadeth… while not really having a clue of what good metal really was! As I played more requests, I got to learn the power of metal and was converted to a true metal head! When school came back in the fall 1991, “Powertrax” was now my show! I actually got a hold of the last host (I think his name was Kelly Fiedler) of The Heavy Metal Meltdown and asked permission to resurrect the name and of course I changed the focus from hard rock to real metal! He gave me his blessing, more like “yeah, that’s cool, I don’t care.” Well, long time Platteville residents were happy to have it back. I took over Metal Director duties, which entailed reporting playlists to trade magazines, previewing new music to add to the rotation and maintaining contact with record labels and promotion companies. I continued with the honor of those duties until I graduated in 1993.
During the summer of 1993, I already knew that WORT existed and what a great station it was. To my luck, they did not have a metal show, and it was my goal to be WORT’s metal guy! However, there was not a time slot available, so I volunteered in the music department from the fall of 1993 until late 1994. I got to preview new music, sort by genre, enter CDs in the station database and mark up CDs and records with “PROPERTY OF WORT” in sharpie and stuff. All the while, I was crossing my fingers that a time slot could open up and I could apply. A host of a Monday night 2-5am show took a month off and I was asked to fill in. This was August or Sept. 1994, however, I remember playing Slayer’s Divine Intervention… The trial proved successful and a timeslot did open up in early 1995. By that time “The Mosh Pit” became the name of choice, for my lack of creativeness couldn’t think of anything better. I figured keep it simple, and have it be what the show is all about… The first permanent time period for the Mosh Pit was Sunday Nights/Mon. Mornings 2-5am. After a year or two, the time moved to Wednesday Night/Thurs. Mornings 2-5. After a year or two again, Monday nights, 11p-2am opened up and the Mosh Pit was on after the Loud Music Seminar, and it’s where we have been ever since.
Mike has been a fan of the show since nearly the beginning, he was a frequent visitor to the studios checking out the new music and being a general encyclopedia of all that is metal. He became a regular in 2001 and is now a permanent fixture! Mike has been a metal fan for most of his life and like me, loves a wide variety of all that is metal.
A.J. Striker
Still running the Mosh Pit, huh?
Good run – 10+ years…Congrats!
A.J.