By Johnny Diaz, Globe Staff | January 20, 2007

Asia Chandler paces back and forth inside the cramped Roxbury studio of WTCH-FM (106.1) . She sets up her play list. Brandy: check. Fantasia: check. Coming up: Avant and Destiny's Child. With her big headphones hugging her baseball cap, she leans into the microphone and sends a shout-out to Boston.

Surrounded by small banners with positive slogans such as "Information to build a nation" and "The leaders not the followers," she says, "What's up, y'all. It's Asia, your hot girl . . . You're listening to Boston's own fabric of the black community."

Throughout the day, Chandler and the other full-time DJ, T-Clark , will spin a mix of R&B, soul, dance, and hip-hop that promotes positive messages to a community that often gets a bad rap as the setting of the city's latest shooting or homicide.

"I wanted to have a station that actually touched the hearts of the folks," says Charles Clemons , a former Boston police officer and one of three co founders of WTCH, whose nickname is "Touch FM." "Our community is divided, not united. We want to adjust the mind - set of how we think. We want to provide a positive influence."

Touch FM has been on the air since Nov. 19, trying to reach a community that recently mourned the loss of its only black-owned station, WILD-FM (97.7) . Entercom Communications Corp. bought WILD and converted it to a rock format last August, leaving Jam'n 94.5 (WJMN-FM) as the area's only other source for less-mainstream urban hip-hop and rap.

As a low-power station, Touch has a signal that extends for a radius of 3 miles or so. From their offices at the Neighborhood Development Corp. in Grove Hall, Touch owners are trying to fill a void and be a voice in Boston's black community. The radio market in the Hub and its surrounding area is 6.4 percent black, and Clemons and his all- volunteer crew hope to reach those listeners and others outside Boston when they begin streaming broadcasts from the station's website (touchfm.org ) at the end of the month.

Don't expect to hear some of the harder and more popular hip - hop and rap songs that revolve around strippers and drug dealers by 50 Cent , T - Pain, or G-Unit over at Touch FM.

Touch's DJs stress a mix -- jazz and classic soul along with R&B and dance. DJs also inform residents about where to find free tax help, homework assistance for their children, and community events such as the Boston debut of "Color of the Cross," a film that depicts Jesus as a black man.

"Our music is clean and family-oriented," says Clemons, a 45-year-old father of seven. "You won't be hearing the n-word, the b-word . . . The positive things outweigh the negative. It's definitely a time for change." He says much of today's music has become misogynistic, with lyrics full of vulgarity and violence.

On its morning show "Touch Talk," which runs from 6 to 10 , local guests discuss real estate, health, education, and the dating scene. A recent show featured local psychotherapist Dr. Terri Nelson and her husband, Lester , discussing their book, "On the Way to Finding Your Soul mate." A call-in segment called "Boston Audition" provides a venue for poets, writers , and singers to perform. A Sunday morning show, "Recovery Expressions," is an open forum addressing substance-abuse issues and local treatment programs.

"It was something that was needed, and we needed to make it happen," says Leroy McLaurin , a former news photographer who launched the station with his friends Clemons and John Laing , a local general contractor. The three pooled their resources to get Touch on the air with help from 40 volunteers, who host shows and help coordinate guest appearances. The station does not sell commercials.

The Federal Communications Commission defines a low-power station as one whose signal does not exceed 100 watts and reaches a radius of only 3.5 miles, which serves as a noncommercial educational entity, and does not interfere with larger stations. While Touch can be heard loud and clear in Roxbury and Dorchester, its signal fades into a swirl of static on Interstate 93 heading south, where one begins to pick up WCOD-FM (106.1) from Hyannis. Heading north, the closest station with the same frequency is WSCA-FM in Portsmouth, N.H., another community-based station.

But an FCC spokesman said low-power FM stations do need a construction permit or a license to broadcast, which Touch does not have. Clemons told the Globe he does not need a license because his station operates at no more than 100 watts ; the FCC says he is mistaken.

"Right now, our goal is to get the word out to educate our people in the community," says Clemons, who grew up in Mission Hill listening to Motown greats such as the Temptations.

"Music should have feeling and meaning. What better way to get to your people than through music? " he asks, as "Lean on Me" plays inside the station's tiny studio at Cheney Street and Blue Hill Avenue. Contractors are renovating a larger space below the Neighborhood Development office for Touch.

In 1979, Clemons began working as a music director at the former WILD , where he mixed rhythm and blues with pop music from Shannon and Eurythmics . He became a Boston police officer in 1990 and patrolled his neighborhood streets in Roxbury before moving to districts in West Roxbury and eventually Jamaica Plain for 10 years.

Looking to be his own boss, he left the force and launched his own company, First Choice Limousine Service , but he never tuned out his love for radio . He says he 's been spinning records at clubs and hosting shows on local radio stations under the DJ alias "The Conductor "; he now hosts "The Love Train" at Touch. Last year, to promote local music with a positive edge, he helped organize and host the first New England Urban Music Awards at Berklee Performance Center. He's planning a second show April 14 .

"Music should be clean, conscious, informative, empowering , and innovative," Clemons says , "so that parents and children can comfortably listen."

So, during the "Time Tunnel" show, you'll hear classics from Al Green to Luther Vandross . In the afternoons, listeners might catch '80s R&B by Evelyn " Champagne " King , socially conscious rap from Public Enemy , and newer tunes from Beyoncé .

"It's not the cookie-cutter radio station where you are forced to play the same song over and over," says Chandler, the DJ , who came from the former WILD-FM. "We play what is requested. We are a community-based station. We listen to our listeners. They are our program directors."

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2007/01/20/message_received/