Quirky radio hosts get wide audience

Jonathan London and Kevin McCaffrey are the Ivy League's version of Beavis and Butthead. Like the MTV cartoon characters, the two WQHS 730 AM student radio disc jockeys and best friends share tasteless stories, make obscene sound effects and improvise comedy sketches which even they sometimes admit "just totally suck." And like the popular animated television program, London and McCaffrey's show, Hung Over, has also attracted a national audience. Although few Penn students know the radio program exists, hundreds of fans from across the country tune in to the College juniors' live broadcast via the Internet each Tuesday night. At 10 p.m., the radio station's soundboard lights up as listeners from as far away as Texas, Virginia and New Jersey call in with requests for songs and comedic skits. The two-hour show integrates alternative and punk music into a storyline that mixes Three Stooges slapstick with Days of Our Lives droll. Each week the two hosts add new twists to the plot. "It reads sort of like a comic book," London said. "We use soundtracks and special effects, explosions and all sorts of stuff to make dramatic stories." London and McCaffrey give voice to over 50 different characters, often switching voices in mid-sentence to allow dialogue between multiple characters. Among their creations are Razorblade, a fiercely competitive African-American inline skating champ; Claude Bonner, a Belgian movie star ^ la Jean-Claude Van Damme; and Randy, a timid 8-year-old or 11-year-old boy, depending on whether the amateur hosts correctly remember his age. While the lack of planning can lead to spontaneous moments, it also causes the show to drag along at times. "It's hard to keep the show consistently funny," London conceded. "Sometimes we're funny and the kids like it. And sometimes we're not funny and they still like it." Funny or not, the show has attracted a loyal, almost cult-like following. "Our fans are borderline fanatical," London said, giving the example of a fan who asked if Razorblade was a real human being. "The listeners know more about the show than we do. It's scary." Not only do listeners call into the program to ask about the status of their favorite characters, they also e-mail the two disc jockeys to ask for autographs and advice. One female listener from Texas even came to Philadelphia to spend her spring break with the duo. And another fan is currently writing a Communications term paper on how to listen to their show. Since the pair began hosting the show during their freshman year, the program has evolved to include more music. In addition to playing the music of their favorite bands -- which include the Mr. T Experience, Green Day and Weezer -- London and McCaffrey invite bands to record songs in their studio, and play some selections on the air. "We've always had the humor element," London explained. "But now the kids come to us to listen to the live music they can't hear anywhere else." The format has proven so successful that WXPN 88.5-FM radio offered the two student hosts a slot in their syndicated line-up. Since last April, London and McCaffrey have hosted a two-hour show beginning at midnight during the first Sunday of each month. The program features their own studio recordings and interviews of up-and-coming alternative and punk acts.

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