IGGY SCAM - "79th Street Radio" - Tape - 1998

    Iggy Scam has been self-publishing his zine, SCAM since 1991. It tends to focus on the underbelly of society: the underprivileged, the downtrodden, the folks sleeping in the doorways, the freaks and the punks...and it treats them with dignity and respect. It has consistently been one of my favorite zines since I first encountered SCAM #2, which was bigger than the telephone directory of the town where I grew up.
    Iggy appeared on NPR's "This American Life" on Lil' Bobby Hutton Day in 1998, reading his story "79th Street Radio". It chronicles the mystery and wonder of stumbling across a pirate radio station in North Miami and trying to figure out its origins; trying to find the story behind the story. It conjures up images of lonely boulevards at 3am, old rusting cars, and a time in Miami that may be nonexistent in the near future. It's good listening and helps me to remember why I love radio...not the pop stations, but the crackly AM country, the Coast To Coast weirdness, the things you stumble across in the middle of Wyoming and of course, pirate radio.

Download 79th Street Radio

   In the mid-00's, Iggy Scam changed his name back to Erick Lyle and continues to write SCAM. In addition to this, he has contributed articles to SF's Bay Guardian, written articles for many zines and authored the book On The Lower Frequencies, which chronicles years of activism and struggle in SF during the dot-com boom and the ensuing era of living in a world that does not want poor people to exist. He is currently working on a new book and a collaborative art show in SF that is sure to blow some minds.