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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