Bill came up on KCMU (now KEXP) at the University of Washington in the early 80s, spinning records far outside the commercial radio dial. . From there he went to KJET, Seattle  (one of Seattle’s first “commercial alternative” stations) to host the morning show from 1983 until 1987. It was his favorite station of his career and he to this day he loves running into people who listened to that station.

In 1987 he left to do mornings at Pirate Radio Laser 558 where DJs did live radio from a 200 foot “rust bucket”, a Panama-registered ship named the MV Communicator located in international waters in the North Sea, off the Thames Estuary of the UK. Their strong signal was broadcast to Europe and the UK in competition with the BBC. It was definitely not the glamorous lifestyle that was portrayed in the movie “Pirate Radio” starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, but it was an incredible adventure.

In 1988 Bill moved on to the LIVE 105 in San Francisco,  a great commercial alternative station and the hippest station in town. He did a specialty show there called The LIVE 105 Independent Hour where he got to play (and interview) his favorite bands (Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Husker Du, and countless others) in the #5 market in the country.

In 1991 it was a move back to Seattle to sign the commercial alternative powerhouse 1077 ‘The End’ Seattle onto the air, where he was one of the original air staff, starting on mid days and eventually switching to afternoons. The station had the good fortune of signing on within a month of the release of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album and the beginning of the Alt Rock Revolution and Seattle Grunge Explosion. The End dominated the ratings (demo 18-34) for much of the 90s. It was the right place at the right time.

In 2019 Bill moved to Vashon Island and established the one hour per week “Alternative Vashon with Bill Reid” radio show on Voice of Vashon where he plays whatever the hell he wants out of his garage on the north end of the island. The show also features rare live tracks and artist interviews. Be sure to check out Bill’s latest shows below.