By Melissa Morgan
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – Every Thursday afternoon at Camden County College, students Bryce Youngberg, Jack Bauman, Noah Young and Eric Amorelli host the Twelve O’clock Rock Block, a radio show that provides news, banter and discussion of classic rock music.
“The show started with our friend Bryce,” said Bauman, one of the first students to host the show. “He was the sound guy for Mainstage Center of the Arts. Kyle Nardine, who’s in charge of the station, his sister worked with Bryce. He got the show through that connection.”
While the Twelve O’clock Rock Block started small in September 2018, friends began to tag along early on. The group went from one to four in a matter of months, as friends of Youngberg with the same interest in classic rock caught wind of what he was up to.
“When they started asking if they could join, I figured it wouldn’t do any harm,” said Youngberg, the original host of the show. “It was easier and more fun to host the show with a lot of people.”
With the group chemistry, the show has evolved from being solely about classic rock to fun, light banter among friends who share a love for music. More often than not, they can be found cracking jokes and talking about new releases from their favorite bands.
“Greta Van Fleet is one of my favorites to play,” Amorelli said. “They’re a smaller band, they were only signed two years ago in 2017. I just like to hope I’m exposing our audience to something innovative and new.”
That said, they haven’t strayed from classic rock completely. Each week, one of the hosts shares a “Rock Fact of the Week” that they think their audience may not have known otherwise, along with a connection of the music to news.
In one of their most recent shows, they discussed the emergence of the first real photo of a black hole but not before playing the song “Supermassive Black Hole” by the English rock band Muse.
“They’re all right, I guess,” joked Andrew Linden, loyal listener and occasional guest on the Twelve O’clock Rock Block. “Seriously though, it’s one of my favorite parts of the week. They put on a really good show.”
The Twelve O’Clock Rock Block can be caught on 91.5 WDBK-FM every Thursday from noon to 1 p.m.
Eric Amorelli hosts the Twelve O’clock Rock Block last Thursday. By Melissa Morgan, CCC Journalism Program