"Shut Up and Listen", a Few Country Tunes, the Newest in Cameras and More!

This is an intensely busy moment in my work life, but I really wanted to get a post up this weekend, so I am doing so, but my comments will be uncharacteristically brief. And as an aside, the Acetate of the Month will return in the next post. I'm just out of time....

~~

The big feature here - at least from my viewpoint - is a favorite tape of mine which someone made during the great Chicago snowstorm of January, 1979. 

Here we have just over an hour and a half of a radio talk show/call in show, as heard on WNUR Radio, which was and is the radio station for Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. 

I was 18 when this show aired, and if I'd known there was a show that sounded like this - free form, incredibly loose hosts, silliness and everything else you'll hear here, I would have made a point to tune in as often as possible. There should be more radio - a lot more - like this. I find this endlessly entertaining, almost intoxicatingly so. 

By the way, in the final minutes of this tape, the dreaded tape squeal comes in, at times with a vengeance. Nothing I did - including baking the tape twice, cured this reel of that issue. The last several minutes are rather hard to listen to, as a result.  

Download - "Shut Up and Listen" - WNUR, Evanston, January, 1979

Play:

~~

Next, here's a tape featuring just a few minutes from a Country Music station. There's some dreamy guitar, then an odd Spade Cooley offering. There's some DJ patter, followed by Skeeter Davis with the # 10 hit of the week (nicely dating this to 1961), more DJ, and finally, a country singer named Johnny Mathis (not that other one), with a song I've always enjoyed (although this version was new to me.

Download: Brief Excerpt from a Country Music Station, 1961

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Next, here's the sort of tape which will ALWAYS resonate with me. It's a few kids, just having fun with the tape recorder. In the first segment, they try to sing a religious song without cracking up, without success, Then there is a lengthy segment in which one of the kids pretends to be a reporter at Grand Central Station, interviewing kids (played by the others who are present) who are going to ride on the trains. After a very young child sings a few songs, we have an NBC news parody, with "Chet Winkley", complete with commercial parody, as well. 

Download: Various Kids - Media Parodies, Songs, Etc., Early 1960's

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And finally, here is our "Very Short Reel" for the week. Here we have the recording of the voice-over for two television ads for new Kodak Instamatic Cameras, complete with recording studio intro and noises. It's amazing what one can do with cameras these days!

Download: Two Kodak Ads

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Life in the Eisenhower Years: Sports, Slumber Parties, Live from Riverview, and Making Fun of the Hits

Howdy, y'all, 

I have a nice little collection of obscurities for you today. And after I selected them, I realized that they all fall within a very specific period: 1953-1960, nearly an exact overlap with the Eisenhower years. I'm not sure what that means, aside from something I already knew, which is that I'm particularly fascinated with recording made in the years before I was born. But I selected them because they are each wonderful in their own ways. 

To start, a tape of a grown man being completely silly. And I don't know who this guy is, but I love him. I have an image of "the Man of the House" in the 1950's, and it isn't this guy. He's not afraid to be ridiculous. I'm not sure if he was trying to amuse his grade school children (who are heard elsewhere on the tape, in less interesting segments), or just amuse himself, or what, but I have rarely come across a tape in recent months that I've adored as much as I do this one. And I'll say this right off - your mileage may vary - I could see this tape annoying the hell out of a person who is not like me. 

Basically, and for the most part, the gentleman in question is simply interacting with the radio, talking back to the announcer, making fun of the songs played, sometimes with satiric asides or comebacks, but just as often with wordless noisemaking. And it's not just the hits - classical music and quiet pop also get razzed - even the newscaster doesn't escape his playing. At one point near the end, he simply sings listing from TV guide over a rendition of "I've Got You Under My Skin". One of his kids joins in a few times, too. 

I am indebted to Brian B., who popped up in my e-mail, out of the blue, back in March, and offered to donate a stack of 1950's reels to me, for my perusal and possible use. Other tapes from Brian will be featured in the future - I've listened to three of them - but this was killer segment, and like I said, one that I couldn't wait to share. 

I love this guy. 

Download: Unknown - Singing Along with the Radio in 1958

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~~

Shooting back a half-decade, we head to Riverview Amusement Park, which was the place to be for teens and young adults in Chicago, right up to it's closure following the 1967 season. 

Apparently, the mighty WGN radio, which was conveniently located about six blocks from Riverview, had a regular remote broadcast from the park in 1953, and a then-newcomer to the station, Buddy Black, hosted that half-hour broadcast. 

This is another in the series of tapes that I've owned for decades, which I've started revisiting in recent months, and it's another of my favorites. There is a cornucopia of pre-rock 1950's feeling to this reel, from the songs played to the interaction between the host and his friend, to the interviews with attendees. 

Download: Buddy Black at Riverview Park, WGN, 1953

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Now let's head right back into 1958. 

Clif Mercer (and that is how he spelled his name) was a mainstay in Chicago radio for somewhere around 25-30 years, mostly at WGN, and later, briefly, at WJJD when it was a big band oldies station. He also worked at WGN TV and did everything from news to commercials to DJing. 

He is said to have been a fairly wonderful person. That said, I always wondered, from the first time I heard him, how he ever ended up trying to make it in radio, and once he did, how he succeeded. My mother had the same reaction, as did most of the radio-heads that I knew when Mr. Mercer was still on the air. 

Because, as you'll hear, while Clif Mercer had a lovely, deep and authoritative-toned voice, he also a prominent lisp. One that would, I would think, preclude entry into the field of on-air broadcasting, let alone a 25 year plus career. 

I have several recordings of Clif Mercer, the best two of which I've been wholly unable to put my hands on, since starting this project. Many, many thanks to my best pal Stu, who sent me a digitization of a segment from 1958, featuring a Clif Mercer sports report, that I believe I sent him some time in the early 1990's. Now you can enjoy the dulcet tones of Mr. Mercer, too. 

Download: Clif Mercer - WGN Sports Report, May, 1958

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~~

And here's a discovery! Would you like to eavesdrop on a slumber party from 1960? Our host set up her reel to reel machine, and for part of this recording, her pals knew it was on, and at other times, it seems to be a surprise to them, particularly the last few minutes when they talk a bit more openly about certain things. 

The sound quality goes up and down here, and there are sections where nothing of very much interest goes on, but the overall tape is interesting to me in its one-of-a-kindness and just that "fly on the wall" aspect that makes, for example, the Beatles "get back" rehearsal tapes (50+ hours of them available on bootleg) so fascinating for some of us. Just to hear people being themselves when they are not conscious of being recorded and don't expect anyone else to hear large sections of it. 

They talk about school (a lot), boys, things they've been doing, etc. - there's even a few moments when they discuss (with someone's father present for a moment) what food to order. 

We're in (or near) Chicago, and the radio gets turned on in the last quarter of the recording. I'm assuming it's WJJD, which was a top 40 station at the time, as this is clearly the winter of 1960, based on the songs played, and WLS didn't flip to Top 40 until May of that year. 

Download: A Chicago Area Slumber Party, Winter 1960

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For our "Very Short Reel", I've selected two items today, and they're from two sides of the same tape. The first is just under 100 seconds worth of an interview, at Bell Island in Canada, and a then-new ferry called "The John Guy". Since the ferry began its work in 1960, I'm guessing that's about when this is from. 

If you want to read about Bell Island, you can find that here. If you want to see a picture of The John Guy, that's here. 

Download: Brief Interview About "The John Guy" on Bell Island, circa 1960

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Finally, on the flip side of that tape, is a series of short ads, which clearly date from the same era, just based on the sound of them (and that they're on the same tape). 

This is not actually three ads, but three recordings of the exact same ad. That's the way they're heard on the tape, as indicated on the box (below), and that's what I've provided here for you. The ad is for"Terra Nova Motors", which, like Bell Island, was and is in the vicinity of Newfoundland and Labrador, in Canada, where the dealership has been located since 1930. 

Like the guy who makes fun of the radio at the top of this post, I simply love this little ad. Those tight sixth and seventh chords in the final section are intoxicating to me - like manna from heaven

Download: Terra Nova Motors - 3 Jingles - "All Same"

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What's "In the Bag"?, Greetings from Germany, A Few Moments on WLS and More

Helloooo.....

What a cornucopia of sounds I have for you today, all of them seemingly from about 1958 to about 1969. 

First up, another of my "old favorites", the reels I filed away, in some cases decades ago, before I started sharing things online, but which I believe to be very much worth sharing. 

In this case, it's an impossibly rare recording of (most of) a local Chicago TV attempt at a game show along the lines of "What's My Line?" and "I've Got a Secret". I've owned this tape for about 30 years, I think. 

As far as I can tell, "In the Bag", only existed as a pilot episode, and a video of it exists in at least one library of such ephemera. The sites I read didn't seem to indicate that the show ever aired, but it clearly did, as you can hear a promo for another June, 1958, show at the end. 

Anyway, if you want to hear the results of someone taking the genius of "What's My Line" and making it stupider, especially when you throw in the always ridiculous Irv Kupcinet for flavoring, you are bound to get a great deal of enjoyment out of "In the Bag". 

The start of this tape is a bit confusing - we hear the tail end of "In the Bag", followed by a bit of a promo for "What's My Line", another promo and part of a commercial. Then we miss the start of the actual episode, and jump into the episode which is already under way, with celebrity guest Jimmy Durante, who's secret is guessed right away - probably not what they'd hoped for when they involved so great a star....

Download: "In the Bag" - CBS, Chicago, June, 1958

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Next, as a bit of a sequel to last week's lengthier WLS excerpts, here is a sort of medley of two bits of the same WLS, about seven years later. This comes from a longer tape which unfortunately - and like a lot of radio tapes - features only the songs, with the DJ banter, commercials and other items heard on the station edited out. Undoubtedly, our (teen?) recordist only wanted the song, which is usually the case. As everyone out there has probably heard (or doesn't want to hear) the songs of 1969 as the sounded over AM radio, minus all the "fun" stuff, I didn't share the entire reel.

But two segments on the tape have a bit of the whole story. The first part is from early 1969, and features, primarily, a newscast, while the second segment, after the fade, is from later that same year: 

Download: WLS, Chicago, 1969, News and Top 40

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~~

Now... at some point, I seem to have purchased the audio letter holdings of someone named Larry - you can catch his last name on the tape, I think. I have at least six or seven audio letters that he received, from multiple people, during the 1960's, and I may have already featured one before. 

At least three of them are from an audio correspondent in Germany, and it's at least somewhat likely that they never actually met. I should explain that, starting in the 1950's, a mailing list (perhaps even a magazine) was developed that contained the names and addresses of people all over the world who wanted to be "reel pals", a la the pen pals of the old days. I don't know exactly how this worked, but perhaps each person's interests were listed - and languages - so that you could pick an appropriate person to send your three inch audio letter to. 

I'm pretty sure Larry was one of those recipients. And so, from late August of 1963, here's an audio letter - which also features some appropriate music - from Germany to Larry. 

(Incidentally, I believe the microphone test at the start of the tape was recorded later, perhaps by Larry himself, but I left it on, because it was there.) 

Download: Audio Letter from Germany to Larry - 8/31/63

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Another recent addition to this site, by request, is the "Acetate of the Month". And today I have one that can only come from a point at which recording acetates were on the way out. 

I would put money on it that this brief, unlabeled recording, which almost certainly comes from 1964 or so, was made at a booth at a store, or an event such as The World's Fair, because home acetate machines were simply no longer a thing in the mid 1960's. And I personally have memories of those "store acetate booths", which remained a thing into at least the late 1960's. 

Anyway, this is a charming, if quite short, performance (appropriately, it's 64 seconds long) of "I Saw Her Standing There", by a group of kids who are clearly having a good time. 

Download: Kids Sing "I Saw Her Standing There"

Play:

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And finally, as part of yet another series, here is our "Very Short Reel" for today. As you can see, it's labeled "Guided Missile Effects" on the three inch box: 

As I didn't actually have the box in front of me when I saved the digital version of this tape's contents, I attached a simpler title: "A Series of Explosions". And here it is!

Download: A Series of Explosions

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The 1953 Indianapolis 500, A Bit of Runner-Up Football, and Early WLS Top 40 Radio

Greetings and Happy 61st Birthday To Me!

After I posted what turns out to be a very rare recording of part of the radio broadcast from the 1954 Indianapolis 500, about three weeks ago, I was beseeched by a handful of readers/listeners to also share the record I had mentioned, of the 1953 Indianapolis race, which I'd picked up at the same sale, some time in the mid 1980's. 

Like the 1954 race recording, this is an incomplete capture of the 1953 broadcast, at 103 minutes, just a little bit less of the race than the '54 recording. It starts with a very short recording of a presentation of "The Band of America", but after 85 seconds, it's the race all the way. 

The only other comment I'll make is that I was astonished at the sort of dismissive, or at least minimalized way the announcer mentions that one of the racers had almost literally baked to death in his car, on what was apparently an exceedingly hot day. 

Here's the tape!

Download: The 1953 Indianapolis 500

Play:

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Aside from our "very short reel", the rest of what I have to offer today comes from another favorite reel, one I plucked from a shelf of my "favorite reels" just for you this week. 

The entire second side of this tape is wonderful, and the three recordings on it go in reverse chronological order. This happens quite a bit, actually. What happens is that someone used the entire of the tape to record... something. In this case, that happened in the early winter of 1961-62. Then, at some later point, that same someone - or someone else - starts at the beginning of the tape, again, and records something else, using most, but not all of the tape, and leaving the last few minutes of the original recording. In this case, that happened in the first week of 1962. And finally, someone starts the side yet again, and records a third thing, using, in this case, just about half of the side, and leaving the last part of the second recording, along with that already existing tail end of the first recording. In this case, this final recording took place in May of 1962. 

I will link them here in the order heard, which, again, is the opposite order from which they were recorded. 

The first, and by far the most fun for me, is a recording made of WLS, the Top 40 Powerhouse of Chicago, during its earliest heyday - in fact, it's from their second anniversary as a Top 40 station, which was on May 2, 1962. And best of all, it's an uninterrupted recording of the end of their countdown show for the week, containing the top seven hits in Chicagoland for that week. 

The countdown contains a couple of songs I consider to be among the most wonderful of the era ("Old Rivers" & "Stranger On the Shore", along with four that range from okay to pretty awful, and, in a miscarriage of musical taste for the ages, a Number One Record for the week which is surely one of the worst records to ever grace the hit parade - so awful I will not deign to type out its name here. What were the teens of 1962 thinking?

That atrocity aside, this is one of my favorite finds, one I've owned for at least as long as the Indianapolis 500 tapes. 

Download: WLS, Chicago, 5/2/62 - The Top Seven Songs

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When the countdown ended, the recorder was turned off, and we get to hear that recording from January of the same year, specifically, from 1/6/62 - the end of a true oddity, "The Playoff Bowl", essentially "The Third Place" bowl, which was held for several years before the NFL merge, between the second place teams in each division of the NFL, in this case, Detroit Vs Philadelphia. This was held a week after the championship, and must have been just as unexciting as the pro bowl is today. 

What a weird concept. Anyway, here are the 23 minutes or so of The Playoff Bowl, 1962, which survived after the Top 40 Countdown recording. 

Download: End of "The Playoff Bowl - Detroit Vs. Philadelphia, 1/6/62

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Finally, the game ends, and the recording is stopped, leaving us with more WLS - the recording that was initially on the tape. In this case, it's someone - whose name I can't quite make out - filling in for the Legend to Be: Dick Biondi. There's only about five minutes here, but it does contain a local hit by someone named Johnny Cooper - a song which only charted locally, and then only for one week, in January of 1962 on the WLS chart, meaning this recording probably was made in the week or so before "The Playoff Bowl". 

Download: WLS, Chicago, Very Late 1961 or Very Early 1962

Play:

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And now, here's our "Very Short Reel" for the week. In this case, it's three minutes as heard on a three inch reel of tape, containing two different men speaking through what sound like Walkie-Talkies - one sided conversations in both cases. 

First, for about 45 seconds, we hear what I'm guessing to be a military man complaining about the performance and behavior of someone under his command. Then, for the last two minutes plus, a different man talks about some sort of water rescue where at least two boats (or something) collided. As he says "A miserable night to be flouting around out in the water..." He also veers off topic a couple of times to wonder about why someone named John doesn't keep in touch with him. 

Download: Brief Walkie Talkie Recording - Water Rescue

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The 1954 Indianapolis 500, The Hits of 1952, More from Germany, Some Pizza, and Then Some!

What a cornucopia of sound we have to enjoy together on this Memorial Day. 

To start, because it's topical, here's a tape I bought at least 35 years ago - I remember listening to it when I still lived with my parents - digitized at least 20 years ago, and forgot about until yesterday, when I was watching part of the Indianapolis 500. 

It is that very same race, as called and broadcast on the radio just a short 67 years ago, in 1954. It's not the entire race - there are sections that were not recorded, but it runs nearly two hours (the race itself lasted almost four hours). 

The only other things I'll add is that it starts with a very softly recorded introduction, but the sound gets better after about 30 seconds, and that at the very end, there is another very brief section (another 30 seconds perhaps) containing a moment of a baseball game. I don't think there's a lot more to be said, as it pretty well speaks for itself.  

Enjoy the greatest auditory spectacle in racing, 1954 style!

Download: The 1954 Indianapolis 500

Play:  

(By the way, on the same date, I also bought a tape of the 1953 broadcast, and if anyone's interested, I can share that one, too.)

~~

Last time around, I played an interesting audio letter from the family of an Army man in Germany, talking about a variety of things, but largely about their visit to the Berlin Wall. As promised, here is the second of three tapes I have from this family. As you can see from the tape box (below), the receiving family was in Warren, Michigan, but I wasn't looking at the tape box when I digitized these, and as the family mentions Detroit a few times within the tapes, that's what I called the tapes. 

I also labeled this as being from the soldier and his family, but it's not - it's just the Major himself. Also, the sound gets downright weird about halfway through, just before side one is finished. 

Here is that second tape. 

Download: Audio Letter from an Army Man in Germany to his Family in Detroit

Play:  

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Next up, here's a short segment (about half, I think) of a broadcast of "Your Hit Parade" from the fall of 1952, which was not exactly the pinnacle moment of 20th century pop music. An interesting side note here is that there is a small group of people (half) listening to this show, wherever it was being recorded, and they can be heard having conversations at points during the broadcast. 

Download: Your Hit Parade (Segment), Fall, 1952

Play:

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The Dominos Pizza "Noid" commercials were aggressively annoying - and for some reason have been brought back. Here is a tape - unmarked - that I found featuring some "takes" of a "Noid" ad being made, as well as some production music. 

Download: Dominos Pizza - "Noid" Commercial and Production Music - 11/7/88

Play:

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Continuing on with my "Acetate of the Month" series, here is an acetate I found which features The Fisher Family, on February 4, 1941, with a tiny bit of music and general good fellowship on the very brief first side, and, on the slightly longer second side, a bit of chat about what the visiting family (from Grand Rapids) thought of Miami, where they appear to have been visiting at the time of this recording. After a bit more merriment, the recording is over. 

Download: From the Fisher Home, 2/4/41, Side One

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Download: From the Fisher Home, 2/4/41, Side Two

Play:

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And finally, my other series, the Very Short Reels. Here is the box for today's Very Short Reel, which says just about everything you need to know: 

I do find it curious that a series of PSA's from The American Heart Association contains a spot about warning signs of stroke, don't you? 

Download: Four American Heart Association PSA's - Summer, 1981

Play:

Odd Happenings at The Palmer House, A Visit to the Berlin Wall, Arthur's Presentation and Some Philosophical Talk

Greetings!!!!

I have something truly memorable to kick of this post, a tape I'm labeling (down there in the labels) as "The Inexplicable". 

The tape box gave absolutely no indication of what I was going to hear. In fact, I was pretty sure I was going to hear some vintage commercials, given the 1950's Scotch box, and the writing on the back, as you can see here: 

What is actually on the tape, however, is a different creature entirely, and I can't say I've heard anything quite like it. 

The entire tape - just over 40 minutes, with dozens of "tracks", complete with leader banding between each and every one of them - is some sort of bizarre presentation related to - and presumably made for - the Palmer House, a legendary hotel in Chicago's Loop. 

(A side note here: I have an extremely fond memory link to The Palmer House". In 1977, Chicago's first Beatlefest was held there, and as I had only had my driver's license for about six weeks at that time, going to that Beatlefest was the first time I ever drove into Chicago on my own, and I have wonderful memories of their old and glorious ballrooms. The Palmer House is in poor shape these days, and may not survive the next few years, and that's a shame.)

Anyway, there is very little apparent rhyme or reason to this series of songs and vignettes. There does seem to be some focus in the first third, in which there is a series of calls about how to treat hotel guests and other subjects related to running a hotel. But then, for the last 2/3rds, it's something of a hodgepodge.

First, there are a series of phone calls, presented as being handled by the Palmer House operators, of many, many sorts, interspersed with calls from a Palmer House executive who keeps calling to keep tabs on a meeting he is missing. At one point, a hotel guest asks about the hotel's air conditioning, and then, in between other items, we hear bits and pieces about the details of that air conditioning system, ending after about five segments in a lame joke. Near the end, there is a lengthy bit about a man stuck in an elevator, which is almost unbearably stupid. And interspersed near the end, as well, is a series of laments from a sad operator, who can't stand how bad things have gotten. The tape actually comes to a screeching halt - with no closing bit to match the opening song - with another one of these operator laments. 

Again, presumably, this was done for some sort of presentation about and/or for Palmer House employees, perhaps (maybe even likely) a show that they put on for each other. I doubt it was one of those dreadful (but entertaining) Industrial Musicals, but maybe it was a distant cousin of those. But what a weird, wonderfully weird tape. 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do: 

Download: A Bizarre Presentation of Sketches About the Palmer House

Play:  

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Next, here's a very interesting (and fairly lengthy) audio letter. This is one of three audio letters that I have from this same family, and I'll share the other two over the next month. 

The family lived in Germany, where the man of the house was serving in the Army. He appears for a longer period on the other two tapes. Most of this tape is made up by the "visiting" of the woman of the house, then some reporting and other thoughts by the children of the house. 

It's those reports that make this tape fascinating to me - the entire family had visited the Berlin Wall at some recent point. In going there, the children had been given some very specific rules to follow (don't wave at the soldiers), and had learned about some horrific stories about those attempting to escape being shot dead (which they report with virtually no emotion whatsoever). 

A couple more comments and then I'll let you discover the other interesting parts of this tape. First, this was recorded on an ultra-thin three inch reel, and the last few minutes of the first side/first few minutes of the second side are completely unplayable. When you hear the transition about half-way through, there are a few minutes of material missing. 

And finally, am I right that the mom "had to spank" one of her kids, because he was crying? What the hell is that? 

Download: Audio Letter From An Army Family in Gerrmany, Including Visit to the Berlin Wall

Play:  

Oh, and also, I'm going to try and make a concerted effort to include images of the tapes, when there is something even remotely interesting about them. I'm also going to go back and upload pictures to previous posts. Here is the mailer from the tape you just listened to: 

~~

And now for something completely different. I mentioned a few posts ago that I'm going to dive into my long-held tapes for some of my favorite things from the years before I was a blogger. 

This one is actually for my best pal Stu, as the recording - and it's odd appearance on a tape - has always been a favorite of his. 

It's just a moment in time: A man - Arthur - presenting his wife (I assume) - Winifred - with the gift of a tape recorder. 

What always struck us as funny is that this 39 second statement of love and birthday wishes, is labeled on the outside of the tape box, as so: 

And in more detail on a slip of paper inside the box, noting exactly what number on the tape the recorder is at, at the moment of the presentation.

And that's the real odd thing. One would think such a "presentation" would be at the very start of the reel, likely the first thing ever recorded on the tape. BUT IT'S NOT. 

It comes after ten minutes of a young child giving a short violin recital. And then a bunch of blank space. And that's all that's on the tape. So someone used the machine (probably) and the tape (definitely) then Arthur ran the tape halfway through and recorded his best wishes to his beloved. And then they never used that tape again!

Weird. And oddly endearing. 

Download: Arthur's Presentation to Winifred

Play:  

~~

Here, in fact, is another tape I grabbed from that large batch of "I listened to these years ago" tapes, on the same shelf, actually, as "Arthur's Presentation". In this case, I had five tapes which were labeled in the same handwriting (nothing interesting, just "# 2, # 3, #4, etc., although not #1). I had no memory of what was on these tapes - I suspect I've had them for over 30 years. 

It turns out that the first one I grabbed (#2), and presumably the others, contain conversations in what appear to be a VERY loose college or university class, somewhere near the North Shore of Chicago (an area where I no doubt bought these tapes) - the conversations occasionally make reference to that area. The tape appears to be from 1970. 

That suggests Northwestern, but I'm not actually even sure this is a class. The man who is clearly a professor or doctor of some sort, at one point, asks if the young people present mind him being there - not something a leader of a class would likely say. 

At one point, one of the youths present even starts noodling around on a guitar. The conversation is quite varied and extremely unfocused at times. It becomes irritable a few times, but mostly seems equally theoretical and argumentative (in a friendly way) than it does in terms of being about these students' real lives and real world experiences. 

And I think that's all I'll say. If anyone has any more thoughts about where this is from or what the purpose of this gathering was, I'm interested in hearing it.  

Download: College Class Philosophical Discussion

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~~

And finally, here's our very short reel, grabbed at random. This time, it's another vocal talent demo reel, in this case, for a woman named Nancy Eger. A quick web search did not turn up anyone who was clearly this Nancy Eger, so perhaps she didn't have a long career in the field. 

Download; Nancy Eger - Voice Talent Demo Reel

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Vintage John Birch Material, Scouting Slides, "Puppy Day" and More!

Hi, everyone, 

With April, 2021 about to expire, I thought I'd better try to keep my streak going, of posting twice a month for 15 straight months now. 

Let's start with something ridiculous. 

Almost two years ago, I shared a tape of one Mary Davidson offering a screed against the United Nations on what was "Tape Four" of a series, and I bemoaned that I didn't have any other parts. Well, it turns out I do have at least one other part, which I came across last week. 

So, without further ado, here, again, is Mary Davidson to tell us more things we need to know about that terrible, awful, no good, very bad United Nations. 

 Download: Mary Davidson - The United Nations, Part Two

Play:  

As a bonus, or perhaps a punishment, this tape features another John Bircher, Hugh A. Locke, Jr., heard here in the second of three parts (parts one and three, presumably, were on the b-sides of Mary Davidson's tapes numbered one and three), of a speech at a New England Rally. 

Download: Hugh A Locke, Jr - 1967 Speech At New England Rally, Part Two

Play: 

~~

On to something more entertaining. I know people have enjoyed the slide show presentation tapes that I've shared in the past, and here I have another one. And OH, how I wish I could see the slides in this case, as the description makes them sound deeply entertaining. 

This was recorded for what was apparently the first in a series of slide shows, made for a troop of Boy Scouts, in an attempt to teach them First Aid. In this first episode, the slides, and the narration, are concerned with what to do when someone has fallen off of rocks onto other rocks (and glass), what to do when someone "has drowned" (the narrator's term, not mine - I would think First Aid in such a case would be a bit too late), and in the event of electrical shock.

I think you'll agree with me that when you want to teach children how to save someone who is injured, a slide show beats a live demonstration every time, and the areas to start with, due to their immense likelihood, would be a fall onto rocks, a drowning and an electric shock. 

At the end of the segment I'm sharing, we're told that further slides will follow, of a recent "camperee", but unfortunately, the accompaniment was simply a series of instrumental marches, so I faded the tape out. 

Download: Narration for Scouting First Aid Slides

Play:  

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Last October, I shared a Stereo Demonstration Reel from the Voice of Music company. And today, I have another one, again from the dawn of Stereo recording, in this case from a company called "Sonotape"

Like other tapes of this genre, this tape attempts to demonstrate the versatility and breadth of what stereo tape can bring you, and the variety of material available from the label, from classical to pop to sound effects. In the case of this tape, and I'm not sure this is a positive, our narrator is accompanied by a cartoonish voiced sidekick who shows up now and then, but who states his name in the final moments, almost as if we were supposed to know who he was, all along.  

Along the way, we do get to here a magical track from those early, experimental and fascinating albums by Ferrante and Teicher, and that's the highlight for me.  

Note the high quality sound you are hearing here. This tape is about 64 years old. In a few weeks, I'll be sharing another demonstration reel of the same vintage which has not held up so well. 

Finally, I will quote here from something I wrote back in October, which applies here, again: 

Because this tape dates to the days when "Stereo" meant two channels recorded across the entire width of the tape (and not the four channel, two direction style which became the industry standard by the end of the '50's), we're technically only hearing half of the programming here. It's still in stereo, but my more modern stereo machine is only playing half of each signal. I hope that makes sense. 

Download: Sonotape Inline Demonstration Reel

Play: 

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And now it's time for episode three of my new series, "Acetate of the Month". In today's offering, we have what seems to be a few minutes from a show called "Surprise Package", a segment in which a puppy was given away to a child. One hopes - as the host claims - that the parents of the winning child were on the same page with the show's host and producers. The name on the label is the name of the child interviewed during almost the entire length of the acetate. It's not clear if she was awarded the puppy, but either way, I suspect this acetate was given to her after the show. Perhaps each child interviewed got an acetate with their segment. 

By the way, can you believe she gives her address and phone number out? Although it appears that she was visiting another town at the time, and it's doubtful anyone from her home town would be listening. Still, it was certainly a different time and place, eh? There is also a deeply uncomfortable moment here, which I'll let you experience without further comment. 

The acetate contains the exact same recording of the same broadcast on both sides, and it looks like this: 

And here's the acetate: 

Download: "Puppy Day" on "Surprise Package" Show, with Deborah Hoskins

Play:  

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Here is our "Very Short Reel" for this posting. Three inch reels can be deceiving - depending on the thickness of the tape and the speed at which they're recorded, they can be filled up complete and last barely a minute (a thicker tape recorded at 15 IPS), or close to a half hour of material (1 thinner tape recorded at 1 7/8 IPS). 

In this case, we have one of the briefest audio letters ever, with a recording at 7 1/2 IPS taking up barely the first minute of tape on one side; the rest of the tape is blank. And for me, this recording brings up a whole host of questions. The narrator - Jerry - claims to be in Times Square, and seems to have quite the story to tell to his friend - Jinx - and even says it was going to be easier to tell him on tape than in a letter. But then... he doesn't explain what sounds like quite the experience. 

Listen for yourself!:

Download: Brief Audio Letter to Jinx from Jerry in Times Square

Play: