WORT 89.9FM Madison
Listener-Sponsored Community Radio
WORT-FM is an independent, noncommercial listener-sponsored and volunteer powered community radio station in Madison, Wisconsin founded in 1975.
Chuck France
- Email: cmfrance@wisc.edu
- Since: 1975
- DJ Calendar
Chuck started doing jazz shows on WORT the first month the station was on the air from the Winnebago St. studio, December 1975. He began as a co-host with Eliza Hobson who had a huge collection of 1930s and 1940s jazz. When Eliza moved into news and public affairs broadcasting, Chuck drew his shows from an expanding WORT jazz library. He continued doing jazz shows for 5 years until his work life as a cinematographer/editor made it impossible to juggle weekly shows with editing "The War at Home", producing his film "Jazz in Exile" and working on magazine shows and documentaries for Wisconsin Public Television.
Chuck continued his interest in jazz after retiring from WPT. He kept in touch with Professor Richard Davis by taking his Black Music History class as a senior auditor for 8 semesters in a row. Chuck is working with Professor Davis remotely to finish his memoir now. When the opportunity to host a WORT jazz show came up in fall, 2019, Chuck applied as a co-host with Elton J. Crim, Jr. We play mainstream jazz, mixing old and new recordings. While doing shows from our laptops currently, we miss the hardworking staff at WORT and doing the shows "live".
As always, thanks for listening!
