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John Diliberto

In John Diliberto's sophomore year at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, he got involved with the campus radio station, WXPN/Philadelphia. It wasn't long before he was hosting a show that included space music, avant-garde, jazz, and new wave sounds.

Upon leaving the University in 1976, Diliberto worked in various record stores while starting to write for the local alternative paper the Drummer." His editor was David Fricke, now music editor of "Rolling Stone." He continued hosting shows at WXPN, and in 1981 he and the station's music director, Kimberly Haas, began producing programs for national distribution.

More documentaries followed — "The Mythic Worlds of Sun Ra," "Bird Flight: A Portrait of Charlie Parker" and "Edgar Varese's Liberation of Sound." The latter was a runner-up for the prestigious Armstrong Award.

Then came "Totally Wired: Artists in Electronic Sound." Originally conceived as a 26-part series, it evolved into a weekly documentary series, highlighting artists working at the cutting edges of music. "Totally Wired" ended when "Echoes" began in October 1989.

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