Bad Radio is a secret archive of shows devoted to a society of 20th century avant-garde musicians and their influences. He studied composition at San Francisco State University from 1955-1957, then at the San Francisco Conservatoire of Music. He worked his way through school by playing ragtime at the Gold Street Saloon in San Francisco. Riley was influenced by the improvisation and small group recordings of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Then starting in 1962, he became a member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center, along with Pauline Oliverous, Morton Subotnick, and Steve Reich.