Rest in Peace, Passim Folk Music and Cultural Center

What do WGBH-fm, WUMB-fm and now Club Passim all have in common? An aversion to the peoples' music. Each has gone to great lengths to re-invent themselves, scrubbing their programming and websites of the F word (folk, that is).

The first to go was "Folk Radio WUMB" (UMass Boston), when it accepted federal funding from NPR and CPB, which mandated a format change to AAA. Read Wahlberg and gang take over oyster house, 1/2/09.

Next to go were WGBH's folk and blues programs, all of seven hours on Saturdays and into early Sunday morning. Read RIP, "Folk on WGBH" & "Blues on WGBH", 11/28/09

The most recent folk dump occurred yesterday, when the executive director announced the 50+ year old Harvard Square icon had a new mission and would be henceforth be called "Passim", which is a throwback to the 1980's-era for-profit club. Read Rest in Peace, Passim Folk Music and Cultural Center, 11/1/10 and the original prediction from 2/10/10, Name change in store for Club Passim?

So far the establishment Boston media has not picked up on this, but if they do, expect a flattering puff piece that could have been written by the suits' public relation functionaries.