THE WIND TOP 1000 - REDUX!!!

 Hi, everyone!

Six months ago, I shared a set of recordings that I made in 1971 and 1972, of Chicago radio station WIND, AM 560, when they featured their countdown of the biggest hits of the rock and roll era. Here's part of what I wrote at the time: 

In 1970, WIND had produced a list of the top 500 hits of all time (well, when they said "all time", they meant from 1955 onwards, it would appear). They aired the entire list, from #500 to #1- before doing so, they had a contest with prizes awarded to whoever (or one of those who could) guess the top ten in the correct order. After the program aired, the list was available at local stores or you could get it by mail, which I did. In retrospect - having studied the Billboard charts my entire adult life, and done my own figuring of the top hits many times over - it's clear to me that the WIND list was based directly on Billboard's rankings, which is as it should be. 

The following year, 1971, WIND announced that the list would be expanded to a top 1000, and that they would again play them, from #1000 to #1, starting on an upcoming weekend. There would be no changes to the all time top 10, as no song in 1970-71 had been nearly big enough for that. 

What I didn't remember at the time, and what I just recently discovered, is that not only did WIND re-run their entire Top 1000 in November of 1972, but also that I recorded large chunks of that presentation. Not only that, but I think (without immediately going back to listen to the earlier shared tapes) that these recordings contain considerably more of the commercials and newscasts that accompanied the presentation than did the previous share. You can hear these songs anywhere, but those news and sports breaks and commercials are moments in time which are always worth hearing, especially given that the 1972 presidential election was taking place the day after this countdown ended. That election, and the local elections, are covered at length in those newscasts. 

The list was the same for both presentations that WIND aired in 1972, although interestingly, there is not really that much overlap between the songs I recorded earlier in the year, and those heard in this set of portions of the countdown. Also, this recording of the countdown has the full top ten, some of which was missing in my earlier recordings/post. 

The songs heard here - almost, but not all of them heard in their entirety - are #'s 158-110, #103, #'s101-100, #'s 95-80, #'s 56-34 and #'s 12-1. 

The recording exists in my collection on two reels - the first of these reels contains nothing but recordings of the presentation, on both sides of the tape, in monaural - four tracks in all, lasting just moments under six and a half hours - and that's a good thing, because the software I use will not make a sound file longer than six hours and 34 minutes. That limitation means this is probably the longest single sound file I will ever share here. It contains all of the songs mentioned in the previous paragraph except for #'s 12-1: 

Download: The WIND Top 1000, November 5-6, 1972

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And here is the second tape which I used to capture the countdown, in this case, the very end of that big, long show. Oddly enough, my favorite moment among all seven hours plus that I'm sharing today is a a pretty crazy short news story about the incompetent way that the BBC covered the final game of that year's world series. That segment is heard starting at the 11:15 point in the segment below. 

Other than that, I remain deeply impressed by the long-ago tastes of the American radio listener and record buyer. Aside from the songs at # 9 and at # 1 (neither of which do much for me), ten of these twelve tracks are all fantastic records, thoroughly deserving of their massive success (and, I have to add, "Singing the Blues" by Guy Mitchell is simply one of the 10-15 best records ever made). Plus they represent a pretty wide range of styles and genres. 

And certainly, this is a list that is almost infinitely better than such a list of the top 12 hits of the 51 years since 1972 would be (a list from the last fifty years would likely include such material as "I'll Make Love to You" by BoyzIIMen, "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey, "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone, "Candle In the Wind 1997" by Elton John, "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John "Smooth" by Santana, and (God help us), "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd, none of which will ever stay on my radio for more than ten seconds if I'm physically able to change the station). 

Download: The WIND Top 1000, November 5-6, 1972, Conclusion

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Okay, for our "Very Short Reel" this week, I am cheating. 100% cheating. Because this is not the sum and total of any one tape, nor is it a small segment of an otherwise uninteresting tape. But it is quite short, and it is relevant to the material above. For here you will hear Yours Truly, Bob Purse, at age 12 and a half, telling the listener that the show is over and you can "Stop Playing the Tape" now, then going on far too long with the shtick (and proving that one CAN go on far too long in 58 seconds), as well as a tuneless little song . Who, exactly, this directive was aimed at is unknown, but it was probably the same fictional "listener" that was in my mind whenever I was recording and pretending to be the host of a show or to be doing something I imagined other people listening to (as you can hear in this post).  

Anyway, here's what's on the tape immediately after the end of the second segment, above. 

Download: "Stop Playing the Tape"

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And for those who want more than just an imaginary "Bob" to go with the above 58 second recording, here is an exceptionally unflattering picture of me, taken perhaps three months or so after that recording was made, from one of those "four-pictures-for-a-quarter" photo booths. Actually, I think, in this shot, I look like I was just about as irritating a child as I sound like I was in that "Stop Playing the Tape" segment. You can probably use this to scare your kids on Hallowe'en this year.  

A Fake Newsman (and his wife), A Letter Home, A Real Newsman and His Guest, A Stereo Preview, a Kid Sings Along and More!

We'll get to today's fun in just a moment, but first, a couple of words about the last post. . 

A few commenters suggested, more strongly than I did, that Mike Starr Reading the News was definitely a demo tape. And I was also corrected that I was not hearing an echo effect, but rather, tape echo. Thanks to all those who chimed in about other aspects of the post, too. I'll try to have more of everything asked for.

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Today, I want to start with a fairly goofy tape, one some of you may find even stupid. But it's harmless, and cute, if you're of a mind to view it that way. 

But first, just in case you're not old enough - or, if you're younger, you have enough knowledge of the history of television - I'll mention that Edward R. Murrow was perhaps the foremost television news journalist of the 1950's, and if nothing else, deserves hero worship for being the person who started the end game for those opposing Joseph McCarthy.

Anyway, here we have a couple of Chicago area residents, transplanted to Gainesville, Florida, I'm assuming due to some sort of alternative prison sentence, alternately portraying not just Edward R. Murrow, but Mrs. Edward R. Murrow, too, in each case, interviewing the spouse of the opposite gender. 

Have at it, Edward and Joan Winters: 

Download: "Mr. and Mrs. Edward R Murrow" Interview Edward and Joan Winters of Gainesville, FL

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When the tape is turned over, the nature and purpose of this recording becomes clear. The jokey A-side of the tape was for the amusement of a friend left behind in the infinitely superior city of Chicago, someone named Joe. And that second side of the tape contains the following audio letter to Joe in Chicago.  

Download: Audio Letter from Ed in Gainesville to Joe in Chicago

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Now, let's go to an actual newsman, one who was almost as revered in his time as Murrow, and who was actually one of a team known as "Murrow's Boys". That would be Howard K. Smith. Some many years ago now, I bought a huge lot of tapes which included, among its myriad TV-broadcast related  treasures (many of which I've shared), a batch of raw tapes of Howard K. Smith interviews, one of which I shared back in 2018. These contain not only the interviews themselves, but also the recordings, after the interviews, done so that the camera could capture Smith asking the questions. Here's a little inside TV for those who don't know: In interviews such as these, the camera just takes shots of the interviewee. Then, the interviewee either stays or a double sits in his or her seat while the camera moves behind his/her shoulder and the interviewer asks the questions again, exactly as were asked during the interview. Then the two shots are stitched together as if the questions and answers all took place at the same time. 

The tape is labeled "Rangerone Sync", and the same phrase starts off the tape. This is apparently the name of a tape recorder brand which was used specifically to sync these recordings to the video. 

Download: Howard K Smith - Rangertone Sync - Cuban Interview with Gabriel Cardenas

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And now, yet another preview tape. In the early days of reel to reel tape, labels producing pre-recorded material were hot to demonstrate to buyers and potential buyers just what they could expect from this new wonder of audiophile-level recording. The Omegatape label was one of the first in this field, starting up in 1954, and here we have one of their earliest releases, which is little more than a series of short excerpts from the label's releases, covering several genres, with an odd segment in the middle of the tape to be used "for head alignment". 

Download: Omegatape D - Preview of Available Pre-Recorded Tapes

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Last time around, I shared another tape of some guy singing atrociously bad to the pop hits of the day, and, remarkably, I got a request for more of the same. I know I have some more, maybe of that same guy, but had trouble tracking it down. In the meantime, however, I do have a tape of someone else who can't really sing, singing along with the radio. However, in this case, it's a small child, certainly someone younger than 10 and maybe quite a bit more. The child is named Terry (or Terrie or Teri) Clark, and as opposed to that guy from last time around, I find this tape deeply endearing. But then again, I've worked my whole life in one way or another with kids, and this sort of thing was bound to resonate with me. I hope you enjoy it, too. 

Download: Terry Clark Sings Along with the Radio, 1958

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Perhaps the most "fun" item I have to share this week is this recording of the TV show "You Asked For It" from around 1954. Clearly, in the early days of television it was sufficient to televise novel events and exhibitions and have a successful show. For me, the most interesting segment here is the first one, "Basketball on Roller Skates". Surprisingly, this seems to be a "sport" which has been tried out in the early 1900's, in the 1990's, and, clearly, as is heard here, in the 1950's, without catching on very much at any point. 

Anyway, the whole show is fun, but that was the most interesting part for me. 

Download: You Asked For It, Circa 1954

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Next, for all of you who adore the dubbing tapes I've shared over the years (which are also from that treasure trove of TV reels that brought the Howard K. Smith tapes), here's another one. These are tapes of the producers and actors of a production looping in retakes of dialogue, to be overdubbed into the previously recorded scene, for whatever reason. I have no idea who the actors here are, or the production. The only thing the box makes clear is... this was recorded on a Thursday. 

Download: Dubbing on a Thursday

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And finally, our "Very Short Reel" for today, in this case, a small wisp of a tape containing an unknown news reader updating his listeners on a tragedy that took place in Tehachapi, California on July 21st of 1952. 

Download: Newscast Fragment - The July, 1952 Tehachapi, California Earthquake

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