Doug Wendt has been working in radio & the music business since co-hosting BISON REVIEW on KUDI
in Montana in the mid-60s. After two summer stints at KUDI where he hosted a nightly
progressive rock show (The Man Of Constant Sorrow) on Central Montana's best rated Top 40 station Doug received a Masters Degree in Filmmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1973.
Doug's films have been awarded festival prizes and been seen in museums and on NBC
TV's SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. "Wendt possesses one of the most original and zany minds in film, (forging) a totally personal style of filmmaking by blending satire with a unique perception of mankind's follies."-Pasadena Film Forum. He has served as President and Board Member for CANYON CINEMA, the world's largest repository for independent films. He's provided assistance for many films including several on Bob Marley as well as acted as Music Consultant for (Nelson) MANDELA, SON OF AFRICA, FATHER OF A NATION (a Best Documentary Oscar nominee in 1997); Soul Syndicate's WORD SOUND & POWER; and others. Wendt worked as Production Manager for a film on Art in China and for Paramount Pictures' hit movie 48 HRS with Nick Nolte & Eddie Murphy. His revealing interview with Peter Tosh is featured throughout Tosh's STEPPING RAZOR RED X film.
Since 1974 Doug has been active on commercial radio stations beginning with KTIM
in San Rafael, California and moving to San Francisco's KQAK in 1983 and KFOG in 1988 where he began syndicating world music programs nationally. Since the mid-80s he has
also been producing radio programs for non-commercial stations including KCRW, KPFA,
KUSF and KECG. He has organized and hosted several fund-raising events on the radio.
Mr. Wendt was Station Manager & Program Director at KGPR in Montana from 1998-2002
where he hosted or produced several radio shows including NATIVE SON RISING, BIG SKA
COUNTRY , REGGAE MOUNTAIN FRONT, LETTERS FROM ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE, VOICES & VIEWS, and WORLD SOUND VISION. He was nominated for the prestigious Tom Donahue Award for Best DJ Of The Year in 1994 by the S.F. bay area's Coalition For Eclectic Radio.
Since 1994 Doug has been spending most of his time in Montana where he was born and raised. He has worked part-time as a journalist contributing to
ROLLING STONE, BEAT MAGAZINE and others as well as written major articles for BILLBOARD,
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, PULSE, BAM, CMJ, ROCKPOOL and more. Wendt has
penned liner notes for recordings issued by Island Records, Heartbeat/Rounder, Alligator,
Shanachie, Putumayo, Bongo Boy, Rhino and Ras labels.
He is currently working on a series of compilation CDs based on
his radio programs and custom mixes after previous compilations co-produced for Midnight Dread Records with Rhino (NATTY & NICE-A Reggae Christmas) & Pow Wow Records ('MOTOWN MEETS TRENCHTOWN') plus consulting for Putumayo Music (AFRICAN REGGAE, REGGAE AROUND THE WORLD, now in its 10th Anniversary Edition, and an upcoming Bob Marley cover versions project due for release in July 2010).
Wendt was also Music Director for PBS' local arts and entertainment series, "Q", produced in 1992 for KQED-TV, Channel 9 in San Francisco. He has also served as resident Worldbeat Reporter for American Public Radio's long-running daily nationwide WORLD CAFE program originated from WXPN in Philadelphia.
Earlier, for nearly 25 years, Doug worked independently (and in association with Bill Graham Presents concert promotions) providing publicity and public relations
for special events while producing thousands of radio spots for a wide variety of sponsors.
Doug is well known internationally for his popular worldbeat dance party originally presented from 1988 to 1994 at San Francisco's KENNEL CLUB. Featuring world
music videos from all over the globe plus custom edited videos compiled by Doug projected
onto three large screens; this ever-changing, all-inclusive five hour filmic trip around the world was hailed by DETAILS MAGAZINE as "Best Night Out In America". Thousands have watched as Wendt brought the world to their feet. His sets at 1995's massive AIDS Dance-A-Thons in Los Angeles and San Francisco were described by the events' Entertainment Coordinator as "the talk of the evening. (Doug's DJ sets) totally galvanized the crowd. Incredible! Fantastic! The audience (over 7,000) loved it!"
In the print interview featured at daintycrew.com,
world renowned reggae archivist & expert Roger Steffens says his "favorite sound system is Doug Wendt's Midnight Dread as (Midnight Dread Sight & Sound System) is an absolute on the dance floor and world beat hero". Filmmaker Jonathan Demme has repeatedly called Doug "my all-time favorite DJ". Canyon Cinematheque curator Carmen Vigil described Wendt's films as continuing "to please upon repeated viewings... his humor is based on the language of film in much the way the writings of Thurber derive their humor from the language of words. (Doug's) a versatile film artist with an expansive lyric wit and a gifted ability to work with what is mysterious and absurd in our real lives and collective dreams."
Wendt's big-screen video selections helped ring in the New Year with Santana and
Al Green at Oakland Coliseum in 1995. His rare Bob Marley videos appeared on the bill at the annual Bob Marley Day Festival at Kaiser Auditorium in 1996 and 1997. His video set-up at 1997's ARTI GRAS, a fund-raiser for Paris Gibson Square's Museum Of Art helped
make that event a success. Doug rang in 1998 with a 3-screen video extravaganza at Bozeman's Emerson Cultural Center. His live band appeared along side his special visual creations at Alley Galleria in June 2009.
He was named Program Director at KGPR in June of 1998 and became Station Manager there that September. In 2002 Wendt left KGPR to fully pursue his various interests. KGPR regularly broadcasts his radio production, now in its twelfth year year, entitled NATIVE SON RISING featuring music by & for indigenous peoples. It had its premiere there on January 24th, 1999. It's currently broadcast on the web thru WorldOneRadio.org and over the airwaves in the San Francisco area most weekday mornings. Since 2009 Doug has been producing BEST OF ALL WORLDS for World One, a series of world music specials, 1960's flashbacks, & other themed radio shows which are aired throughout programming every weekday during the school year. It's the most Wendt has been on the air in prime time anywhere.
Doug's new live performance creation GHOST TOWN SOUND, a mix of
western/indian/reggae, debuted July 4th, 2008 at the World One Festival in El Cerrito in the San Francisco bay area. He played there again July 3rd & 4th, 2010 as well as at The Fillmore and Ashkenaz that same week. He's been producing a highly acclaimed series of
Ghost Town Sound radio shows for World One since 2009. He's been an adjunct professor teaching Film History at MSU-GF since 2007. Wendt also continues to work at special events including the World One Festival and The Fillmore. He's also appeared at Amazing Gallery, Dreadstock, Reggae On The River, Reggae On The Ranch, New Orleans By The Bay, Alley Galleria, clubs in Amsterdam and private parties (including a world music staff celebration at Lucasfilm's Skywalker Ranch). Currently he's working as Music Consultant for special projects while writing, performing and producing material for his GHOST TOWN SOUND, DEEP WORD DUB, and THE BASEMENT DUBS projects. Look for those, plus special Midnight Dread's rare record sales & auctions exclusively through eBay links on this site now and in the future.
