This Radio Station Has Played One Song for 15 Years

Approaching the intersection of Bellevue Ave and Valley Road in Montclair. Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Looking for a unique listening experience? Look no further than Montclair’s very own pirate radio station, broadcasting 91.9 FM on Valley Road between Bellevue and Lorraine Avenues. For more than 15 years, listeners have been able to tune their radios to this frequency and hear the same song on repeat: “I’ll Make Love to You” by Boyz II Men.

The station was created by musician and former Montclair resident George Louvis. As he recounted to NorthJersey.com, Louvis first installed a small radio transmitter in the office above his family’s former restaurant (which has since become the Montclair Diner) in 1999. At first, the signal was used to broadcast advertisements for nearby stores. But after Louvis piped out holiday music and old radio plays at Christmastime, he turned the signal into a hyperlocal station that he called Village Radio Montclair, or WVRM. The tiny station played music and a couple of shows, from local news to sports commentary.

So how did WVRM turn from a small-town channel to 24/7 Boyz II Men? Turns out, it was an accident. Louvis had moved WVRM online in the early 2000s and stopped using his transmitters. A friend borrowed one of them around 2007, and somehow—Louvis has never quite been sure exactly what happened—it came back with a 60-second recording of “I’ll Make Love to You.” When the transmitter lost power, the device would automatically start broadcasting that minute of audio on a loop. And at some unknown point, that automatic broadcast began playing the recorded section of Boyz II Men’s hit 1994 single on repeat.

Louvis didn’t even know it was happening at first, but once it was brought to his attention he let the broadcast keep going. It became a fan favorite among listeners, and dedicated fans have gone so far as to design commemorative T-shirts to celebrate their love for Montclair’s pirate radio station.

Though Louvis has attempted to shut down the transmitter a couple of times over the years, loyal listeners have convinced him to keep the station running. “The mystery of it has been so amusing to people,” Louvis told NorthJersey.com, “I feel obligated to let it play until the machine dies.”

Know Before You Go

As the pirate radio station is located at an unconventional location and with no physical contact information available, it might be tricky to find the exact spot without guidance. However, visitors can use the address 613 Valley Rd., Montclair, NJ 07043 for GPS directions and tune in 91.9 FM on their radios when they get close. The transmitter is operating under the part of the FCC's rules that govern things like TV remote controls and garage door openers—basically with such low power that it doesn't require a license—so the signal is usually only strong enough to be heard about a block away in either direction before it's crowded out by interference from more powerful signals from licensed stations.

Visitors may have to park near the Montclair diner to tune in to the frequency. Please note that the antennas on car radios are usually best at picking up weak signals like this.

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