An Interesting Mid-'70's L.A. Radio Station, More Right Wing Buffoonery, The Infinite Voyage, A High School Band, Ella and Steve, and Helping to Relax a Dick.

I'm going to start off this post with a tape I found featuring recordings from KNX in Los Angeles, made sometime near the end of July, 1974. Someone out there is going to be able to tell us the exact date, based on the status of the prison story and the Watergate story, as explained in the news (both stories went on for several days around that time). 

I found this station's format pretty remarkable - there's certainly been nothing quite like it here in Chicago during my 55+ years of radio listenership. Everyone has heard of Album Oriented Rock stations. This is an Album Oriented POP station. Some rock and roll slips through, but the majority of these tunes are from the softer end of the spectrum, and a not insignificant percentage of the tracks are album tracks rather than hit songs. 

According to Wikipedia, at some point in 1973, the station switched to "Gentle Country". This tape would appear to contradict that timing. 

Download: KNX, Los Angeles, Circa Late July, 1974

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Just over two years ago, I shared one tape from a collection of John Birch Society reels, containing an episode of a truly clueless (which should go without saying) mid '60's radio show called "Are You Listening, Uncle Sam", along with a bit of text for those not familiar with these loons. I have here compiled three more episodes of the same show for your perusal, heard back-to-back, belly-to-belly in one file. 

Download: The John Birch Society - Are You Listening, Uncle Sam? - Three Episodes Circa 1967

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I am not familiar with a late 1980's Public Broadcasting show called "The Infinite Voyage", which ran for five very short seasons. IMDB opines that it is "an exceptional series about of humanity, the stars, the dinosaurs, and other mysteries of the world and the universe" in their page about the show. I found a tape containing some of the music from the show.... somewhere, labeled "#3". Whether that's simply tape three or music from the third season or something else, I do not know. The show is available on YoutTube so maybe someone who wants to can find out exactly where this music came from. 

Download: WQED - Music From 'The Infinite Voyage' - # 3
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Now here's a man who is overly confident in his ability to provide the service he's been asked to provide. This is a relaxation tape - by all appearances a homemade relaxation tape done by an amateur. At least I hope he was an amateur, as his work here is... whatever the opposite of stellar might be. 

The man speaking, as you will hear, made this tape for, and provided this tape to, another man, named George Dick. And as you will hear, none of you are supposed to listen to this tape. None of you are supposed to use this tape, either. Do you hear me? NONE OF YOU. 

Download: Relaxation Tape to Be Use BY GEORGE DICK ONLY!

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And now, here is one of two tapes which came to me more or less stuck together. I'll share the other one in another post soon. 

What we have here is a high school band, playing a concert, most likely in 1972. Now, I was IN high school bands starting in 1974, and I must say, I was taken, and taken aback, by the percentage of tunes played by this band which were current and fairly recent pop hits. My bands never did that. And I have collected band albums over the years and have not found this sort of pop-hits-dominated material on any of them. I don't recognize all of the songs, but I suspect that even the one I don't recognize was a popular songs, rather than the standard band repertoire of the day. You'll hear "Morning Has Broken", "Jamaica Farewell", "El Condor Pasa" "Bridge Over Troubled Water", and a medley of Chicago hits. 

The brief news promo heard at the end of the tape, clearly from a completely different source, dates that part of the tape, at least, to April of 1972. 

Download: A High School Band Concert Featuring Lots of Popular Songs ("Wilson Band'), Possibly Circa 1972

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To close, a Very Short Reel. This is pretty neat, and I wish it was longer. It's a few fragments of an appearance by Ella Fitzgerald on what I assume is The Tonight Show during Steve Allen's period as the host. Ella's birthday was April 25th, so this is no doubt from that date, given the content, and the references (including the mentioning of Davy Crockett) seem to indicate that it is from 1955, although I wouldn't swear by that. But she had returned from a European tour that spring. 

The recording is sort of choppy, with conversations cut off and resuming at some later point, but there is a complete performance of "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" 

Download: Fragment of Ella Fitzgerald with Steve Allen, circa April, 1955

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A Steve Allen Awards Show Recording, An Audition Tape, More Beautiful Music, Guitar at Home

Hello, hello, hello!

Before I get to this post's features, I want to thank a few people for writing in. Well, thanks to EVERYONE who writes in (except the spammers) - I appreciate it more than I can say. 

But two commenters mentioned the Anthony Bilbow stories, the most recent of which I posted last month. They both let me know that these stories were aired as part of a show called  "Morning Story",  part of the BBC's Light Programme in the 1960's, and that it can be researched at this BBC site. It started as "Worthington" in 1954 and ran through the '60's, eventually as "Morning Story".

Also, Chad let me know that the radio portion of the "Humorous Moment" I shared in my last post is from KFOR AM 1240 in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Again, thanks!

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First up, I have something I think is pretty special, and which I don't think is available anywhere else. This is a recording of an episode of The Steve Allen Show from the day after Christmas, 1959. On that date, the entire show was turned over to Steve announcing the nominees and winners of "The 10th Annual Look Magazine Awards", in several categories, and the comments of the winners,  as well as brief comedy bits with his regular troupe (Don Knotts, Tom Poston, etc.), and a few musical numbers. 

This appears to be the entire show. The sound quality ranges from fairly good to fairly iffy - the last few minutes have very poor sound quality, and there are a few other spots of poor quality, as well. But hopefully, if this is your thing, you can stand the less than pristine sound. I think this is a real find. 

Download: The Steve Allen Show - The 10th Annual Look Magazine Awards - 12-26-59

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KTUR, Turlock, CA, 1390 on your dial, existed at that frequency from 1949 to 1962. Relatively near the end of that period, someone whose name might be Jack Hield (I've probably got that wrong - let me know what you think he's saying) seems to have sent in an audition tape, using some then-recent news stories to demonstrate his skills. Those stories are all from October of 1958, so I'm guessing that's when this tape was made. 

Download: Jack Hield - Audition Tape for KTUR, Turlock, CA, circa October, 1958

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Oh, and how do I know it was an audition tape and not an actual aircheck? Well, I have the tape box, dear reader/listener. And here is the part of that box that has writing on it: 

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And now, here's a treat (?). The following 45 minutes or so contain the remainder of what was on that audition tape reel. And what does that consist of? Someone playing electric guitar - everything from noodling to chord progressions to recognizable songs, at times loudly, at times softly, at times in tune, at other times out of tune. Then, at certain moments, the guitarist sings with his guitar playing. And then, at a couple of points, we are treated to some 1969 Top 40 radio. Best of all (?), some of this material was recorded on the right channel at 3 3/4 IPS, while the above audition is on the same spot on the tape on the left channel, at 7 1/2 IPS, and the audition tape bleeds through, at the wrong speed, making for a delightful listen during that segment. 

Download: Unknown - Some Solo Guitar, Some Singing with Guitar, A Bit of Top 40 Radio

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Here's something multiple people have asked for - I'm not big on the so-called "Beautiful Music" stations which existed way back when, but plenty of folks love this stuff, and when I find it, I always share it. Here's an hour from WTVN in Columbus. This seems to be from around 1961. I am mystified as to how this station made money - there are very few breaks of any sort for the announcer and nothing I would consider a "commercial" during this hour long excerpt - only a promo for their own programming and a PSA for Radio Free Europe. And even those sound canned, as if the entire broadcast was just a tape someone made earlier, or perhaps even a subscription service. Anybody have an idea? 

Download: WTVN, Columbus - Beautiful Music Programming Circa 1961

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And now it's time for our "Acetate of the Month". I think the titles here are completely self-explanatory.: it's a bunch of people singing at home, doing more than a half dozen songs on two sides of an unlabeled acetate. SING IT, GANG!

Download: Unlabeled Black Acetate - Singing Together At Home - Leela Leela, By the Light, My Happiness, Too Fat Polka

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Download: Unlabeled Black Acetate - Singing Together At Home - You Are My Sunshine, Down On the Levee, Working on the Railroad

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And now for a "Very Short Reel". In this case, this is really a "Very Short Excerpt", because it's really just the first few minutes of a tape that I've been exploring this week. It has a bit of an audio letter (maybe almost the whole thing, but it doesn't seem like it), which is then - partially - interrupted by a recording of an orchestral piece. But the original recording continues on for a bit longer, and we hear both recordings more or less at equal volume. Sort of like part of that guitar player tape up there earlier in the post.

As I said, I've continued to listen to this tape after finding this little segment, and there are several more segments where it is doubly recorded, with both music and talking. I know of at least one reader who enjoys such things, so I may share more of this tape, the next time around!

Download: Brief Fragment of an Audio Letter (with Orchestral Interference)

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A 1950's Rock Session, TV Variety from 1962, Some Odd Interviews, a Truly Bewildering Acetate, and 1980's Radio Jingles

What a wondrous cornucopia of sounds I have for you, this last night of  January, 2002. Let's get right to it. 

First up, a tape which is probably the most fascinating (to me, at least) that I've shared in some time. The box states that it contains excerpts from "The Brazilian Suite", but rather than that, this seven minutes of tape features a small combo, making an attempt to record a song, sometime very likely in the late 1950's, judging from the style of the song and the design of that Scotch tape box that housed it.

I can find no indication that this is a "known" song, and I've labeled it "Blue Tears". And a lovely little number it is, bathed in echo, with a soft backing of a few instruments and a female trio adding some "oohs" and such, and fronted by a lead singer who sounds frozen in 1957-58 or so. There is one complete take, followed by a few breakdowns, and another take is starting just as the tape runs out. 

What a lovely, mysterious little wonder. 

Unknown - Blue Tears (multiple takes)

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Okay, that's the tape that I was most excited about. Here's one that many other readers may find even more fascinating. It's from a collection of tapes that I bought a few decades ago, and am still going through (!), by someone who recorded television shows and performances which were of interested to him or her fairly incessantly in the 1960's. There is a photo of the inside of the tape box, below, but here is a rundown of what you'll hear, during the nearly 90 minutes contained in this recording: 

1.) Mort Sahl hosting the Tonight Show - the last show of a week of hosting duties, while NBC was waiting for Johnny Carson to be available. The date is June 15, 1962, and lengthy excerpts of the show are heard, including an interview with the secretary for the Gemini astronauts, and conversations with someone who appears to be a professor, about some fairly weighty subjects. The recording of this show takes up more than half of the tape. 

2.) The Dave Brubeck combo performing on The Ed Sullivan Show on June 17, 1962

3.) The next subsequent episode of the Tonight Show - from the following Monday, June 18th (hey, that was my brother's eighth birthday!), featuring Steve Lawrence hosting, Steve Allen and songwriter Billy Rose as guests (Allen sings) and, believe it or not, Mort Sahl returning, as another guest.

4.) Oscar Peterson performing on The Today Show (undated)

5.) And my favorite segment, at the end, the wonderful, incomparable Limeliters, performing a few songs on what appears to also be The Today Show (also undated) 

Download: TV Recordings, 1962 - Mort Sahl, Dave Brubeck, Steve Allen, Oscar Peterson, tThe Limeliters

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And here's the inside of the tape box, with The Limeliters' name spelled incorrectly!: 

 

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Here's a tape which is more than a bit of a mystery to me. It sounds like a series of interviews for various positions, but the variety of positions makes me think that this was something else, perhaps even a rehearsal or practice at either interviewing people or being interviewed. 

There are a few references to the Indianapolis Hilton, so I suspect that's where this was being recorded, and most of the jobs being interviewed for involve hotel work of some sort. But not all of them, and not a single one seems to be for the same specific job as any of the other interviews. So it's sort of strange. Strange enough that I thought I'd share it with you. See what you think!

Download: A Series of Interviews at the Indianapolis Hilton

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And now it's time for our "Acetate of the Month". Now if you thought the purpose of the interview tape was inscrutable, or if you thought the "Blue Tears" tape was mysterious, that all may be true, but neither is as inscrutable or mysterious as today's Acetate. 

Imagine my surprise and bewilderment when I heard the following sounds - clearly and entirely backwards - coming out of an unlabeled acetate. 

Download: Bizarre Backwards Acetate

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My guess is that this was made for use as some sort of effect on some radio program. 

Now I'm sure a lot of you have the ability to turn this around, using one type of software or another, but I've done it for you, and the results are just as bewildering - here we have an old woman singing a sort of nonsensical folk song - one I am unfamiliar with, in which one of the key words is "pumpernickel" - with her performance chopped up so as to make the rendition all the more incomprehensible. Then, of course, they flipped it backwards for the acetate recording. Wow. 

Download: Bizarre Backwards Acetate (reversed)

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Finally, our very short reel, and a return to normalcy. What we have here is the production of a company called Continental Recordings, with a little more than three minutes of jingles and production music for WGAN, AM 560 in southern Maine

Download: Continental Recordings - WGAN Jingles and Production Music, 1982

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And here's that tape box: 

Comments are welcome and encouraged!

See you next time....

Steve Allen Highlights, A Soldier Vacations in Japan, News From the Dawn of Reel Recording and More!

 Howdy, 

I have a wide variety of recordings today, so let's get right to it!!

First up - and this may be Manna from Heaven for some of you - here is a compilation someone made, featuring (mostly) musical performances as seen on the Steve Allen show. This was not his pioneering Tonight Show, but rather from The Steve Allen Show, most likely the late in the run of his of his NBC Sunday night show, or from his brief run thereafter on ABC. Here's the top of the tape box: 

I think the tape largely speaks for itself. There are a few spoken segments, including a short bit about angry letters in the paper and a phone call, among others, but most of this is music. It's not really my type of music for the most part - for me the best part by far comes when the always great Smothers Brothers show up at the end. But if you want a preview of what you're going to hear, here's the part of the back of the tape box that has the lineup: 

Download: Musical Highlights from the Steve Allen Show

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And now, here's the entire contents of a reel which is Manna from Heaven for me. For this is one of those elusive paper reels, of the type only produced between about 1948 and 1952. Often these turn out to be a letdown, containing recordings of classical music off of radio or records. But this one is the jackpot - news and comment from 1951 and 1952. 

At first, I thought the first segment was simply a newscast, but the amount of commentary, from decidedly left-of-center, led me to realize that it was something else, more akin to what Paul Harvey used to do, but from my side of the aisle. A more careful listen - d'uh - indicated that it was a broadcast paid for by the American Federation of Labor. The host is Frank Edwards - he hosted this show for close to ten years. As seen by the note contained in the tape box, this program was dated 9/17/52. 

Following this, we hear the well known and respected voice of Edward R. Murrow, delivering a eulogy for the then-recently deceased Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan. Oddly, although this seems to start with the turning on of the tape machine, this broadcast (heard after Frank Edwards) clearly dates from more than a year earlier, both because that is when Vandenberg died, and because that's what it says on the other side of the paper: 

The tape ends with some Western Swing. Usually, when there are records recorded on a tape that I feature, I leave that segment, but here, I wanted to present the tape in its entirety, plus, the music is SOOO great - first, there's Merle Travis with "Alimony Bound", then there's a rendition of "Orange Blossom Special", following which there is just a moment of some walkie talkie conversation. 

Download: A Paper Reel - 1951 News and Comment, An Obituary and Some Western Music

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And speaking of Walkie-Talkie Conversations, here's an oddity I found on a three inch reel of tape. It's a series of police calls and dispatches from somewhere in England. Like many three inch reels I find, this was recorded on a machine which did not keep its speed very accurately throughout the recording, and if you compare the background hum throughout, you'll note that it varies in pitch from spot to spot: 

Download: Some Police Calls From England

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And now - and I hate to bury this wonderful tape so far down, but I like everything I'm sharing today - here's a really neat tape featuring a young soldier in Japan, recording a chatty tape for the folks back home in the spring of 1968, all about his vacation through parts of Japan, with loads of great detail and thoughts about what he did and saw. 

This tape was recorded on all four tracks of a three inch reel - as you'll hear, he realizes he has a lot to say after finishing side two, so he went back to side one and started using the right channel. 

By the way, each of the four segments, except the second one, starts with what "used to be" on the tape, before he started erasing it, and I've left these in. On parts one and four, this isn't that interesting, but part three starts with someone starting up The Beatles' "I Feel Fine", and proceeding to play drums along with it, in possibly the worst possible mismatch for the record, and exceptionally badly, to boot. I found that most entertaining. 

Here is the mailer cover for the tape: 

And here is the tape: 

Download: Audio Letter About a Vacation in Japan, 8/27/68

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For my Acetate of the month, I've chosen to dig into my mother's collection. As I've mentioned here and elsewhere, she was a coloratura soprano, and as her training and career began in the 1940's, she had many acetates of herself performing, that being the most convenient way to hear oneself, in those days. 

I share this, not to feature her vocal performance, although it is nice, but because her comments at the end - starting at the 2:10 point - make me smile, and I hope it does the same for you. One thing mom didn't lack for was belief in herself....

She was exactly a month shy of her 23rd birthday, the day this was recorded. 

Download: Mary Frances Godwin - Addio, del passato (with Comments) - 3/16/46

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And now, it's time for our "Very Short Reel". On the tape, the label says "Coke Theme" (I am unable to get my scanner to replicate the very light writing on the reel). On the recording itself, Coke is not mentioned, and the show is called "Refreshment Time". The entirety of the tape is heard here - it features someone named Singing Sam, who sounds a bit like Bing Crosby, saying goodbye at the end of the show. 

Download: Close of 'Refreshment Time' With Singing Sam

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I hope you've found something - hopefully a lot of somethings - to enjoy here today.