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Post by fkaJimmySee on Aug 2, 2020 6:10:42 GMT -5
One of my joys in my high school and undergrad years, and on cross-country road trips, was late night radio. Thought of this again with news of the death of WBAP all-night man Bill Mack. Mack's show, aimed at long haul truckers driving all night, playing country music and broadcast from Ft. Worth, TX on big signal clear channel WBAP, was a favorite listening stop for me. But not the only favorite. WLAC, Nashville, the voice of the Life and Casualty Company, had John R, Hoss Allen, Gene Nobles, and Herman Grizzard, four white guys spinning stone r&b and soul records that reached all of the south and much of the country. Way at the top of the dial, I recall, 1510, I heard music there that was just not played elsewhere. Others with mega-signals included WLW (New Orleans), WWVA (Wheeling, WV), WLS (Chicago), KOMA (OK City), and of course WSM (Nashville) with the Grand Ole Opry broadcasting Friday and Saturday nights from the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. One night zI even managed to pick up Rev. Ike preaching from Harlem on some signal waaaaay up beyond WLAC on the dial. On occasion, I also managed to pull in WNBC from New York, when Long John Nebble had the all-night show. On drives heading east when we returned from New York or Boston trips, there was always WOWO in Ft. Wayne, IN, with its strongly directional signal pointing east, playing soul music late night, primarily. For me, those 50k-watt clear channel stations really knit together the country, sending a message to a kid from Wisconsin that there was a lot out there to see and explore. www.nytimes.com/1982/07/12/us/rise-of-radio-s-black-music-source.htmlen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverend_Ike |
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Post by Sharkie on Aug 2, 2020 7:06:17 GMT -5
I’ve listened to a lot of late night talk radio. We always received the signal from WBZ Boston up here crystal clear in the evening. Back in the 80’s I’d listen to Larry Glick nightly.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Aug 2, 2020 8:23:41 GMT -5
One of my favorite memories is my brothers and I listening to Clyde Clifford Beaker Street KAAY Little Rock. This was from our family cottage at the very northern tip of Lake Superior.
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Post by Taildragger on Aug 2, 2020 9:55:48 GMT -5
Wolfman Jack, bay-bay. D'mighty 1090 XERB..."you gon' love it t' DEATH" ! R&B, doo-wop, rock-n-roll and blues. Used to catch him late at night both in the car and on my little table radio through junior high and high school. The way he'd mess with people who phoned in song requests was hilarious. He reprised that shtick "to a T" in the movie "American Graffiti", which perfectly recreated the flavor of the years of my youth growing up in California. You could hear him all up and down the state because the signal was being blasted from a huge transmitter in Rosarita Mexico.
On Sunday nights, I'd often catch live broadcasts of church services out of Watts and Compton to hear the gospel singing and theatrical cadences of the preachers: the sermons starting out with slow, quiet deliberation and gradually building to a wild, shouting crescendo punctuated by organ riffs and animated verbal responses from the congregation. Way different from the prim Methodist services our folks took us to.
We also sometimes listened to rock-n-roll stations KRLA and KFWB in the car when we were out "cruising".
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Post by Rick Knight on Aug 2, 2020 10:30:55 GMT -5
One of my favorite memories is my brothers and I listening to Clyde Clifford Beaker Street KAAY Little Rock. This was from our family cottage at the very northern tip of Lake Superior.
That's impressive range. I thought we were doing well to pick it up about an hour North of St Louis.
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Post by fkaJimmySee on Aug 2, 2020 10:55:36 GMT -5
Wolfman Jack, bay-bay. D'mighty 1090 XERB..."you gon' love it t' DEATH" ! R&B, doo-wop, rock-n-roll and blues. Used to catch him late at night both in the car and on my little table radio through junior high and high school. The way he'd mess with people who phoned in song requests was hilarious. He reprised that shtick "to a T" in the movie "American Graffiti", which perfectly recreated the flavor of the years of my youth growing up in California. You could hear him all up and down the state because the signal was being blasted from a huge transmitter in Rosarita Mexico.
On Sunday nights, I'd often catch live broadcasts of church services out of Watts and Compton to hear the gospel singing and theatrical cadences of the preachers: the sermons starting out with slow, quiet deliberation and gradually building to a wild, shouting crescendo punctuated by organ riffs and animated verbal responses from the congregation. Way different from the prim Methodist services our folks took us to.
We also sometimes listened to rock-n-roll stations KRLA and KFWB in the car when we were out "cruising".
When we lived in Santa Monica, we'd go down into Baja Norte for weekends -- there's a plaque on a building a block or so from the Rosarito Beach hotel commemorating where the studios of XERB were located. For anyone interested in border radio -- there's a great book ...> (and American Graffiti is one of my all-time favorite movies! "Where were YOU, in '62?") www.amazon.com/Border-Radio-Yodelers-Pitchmen-Broadcasters/dp/0292725353/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1I4SHRG07FLFL&dchild=1&keywords=border+radio+book&qid=1596383674&sprefix=border+radio%2Caps%2C386&sr=8-2 |
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Post by Taildragger on Aug 2, 2020 11:08:43 GMT -5
Thanks for the headsup on the book, Jimmy. Had never heard of it previously and may have to check it out.
Think I spotted Reverend Ike on the cover pictured in your link. He, A.A. Allen of Miracle Valley, Arizona and King Narcisse out of Oakland were all vying for my wallet over the radio back in the day.
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Post by fkaJimmySee on Aug 2, 2020 11:48:11 GMT -5
Thanks for the headsup on the book, Jimmy. Had never heard of it previously and may have to check it out.
Think I spotted Reverend Ike on the cover pictured in your link. He, A.A. Allen of Miracle Valley, Arizona and King Narcisse out of Oakland were all vying for my wallet over the radio back in the day.
It's an interesting book -- going back all the way to Dr. Brinkley and his goat glands implant operation for what is now called "ED." Also has a chapter on the Carter Family and their time down in Del Rio, TX, the cross-border location of one of the original border-blasters. I tried but could never get Jack and XERB from Wisconsin way back when -- but did hear him when he made it to WNBC in New York. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 10:26:23 GMT -5
When I was a kid, supposedly sleeping' I had a A/M radio at the head of my bed. Memphis stations were about all I could pick-up. After my folks were asleep I would turn it down really low until I heard my Dad yell "turn that thing off." Then I would turn it even lower and put my ear right against the speaker to be able to hear. Then I would hear Dad again from down the hall "I said turn that #%*?@ thing off"!
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Post by guildx700 on Aug 4, 2020 14:27:20 GMT -5
Used to listen to Ron Cuzner's program The Dark Side, he was THE premiere jazz DJ and night time personality out of Milwaukee. Miss him.
Cat was kool.
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Post by rkstrat on Aug 4, 2020 15:31:51 GMT -5
Anyone remember this from the Long John show?
From Wiki:
“Jackie Gleason was a frequent guest. On one show, Gleason offered US$100,000 to anyone with physical proof of aliens visiting Earth (Gleason later upped the amount to US$1 million, but it was never claimed).“
I was also a “Glicknic”. We could use these guys now for some light entertainment.
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Post by fkaJimmySee on Aug 4, 2020 16:53:29 GMT -5
Used to listen to Ron Cuzner's program The Dark Side, he was THE premiere jazz DJ and night time personality out of Milwaukee. Miss him. Cat was kool. Until his station dropped the format? |
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Post by guildx700 on Aug 4, 2020 19:09:12 GMT -5
Used to listen to Ron Cuzner's program The Dark Side, he was THE premiere jazz DJ and night time personality out of Milwaukee. Miss him. Cat was kool. Until his station dropped the format? I think he retired, don't remember the particulars. He passed away some years back. The voice of Ron Cuzner: onmilwaukee.com/music/articles/roncuznerremembered.html |
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Post by Taildragger on Aug 4, 2020 19:31:26 GMT -5
Most people who were under 30 and living in the Bay Area during the late 1960s listened to this:
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Post by fkaJimmySee on Aug 5, 2020 5:50:26 GMT -5
KSAN was a powerhouse. Like WNEW-FM in New York.
But as FM signals, their range was pretty limited to their metro areas. No long distance listening possible. No Internet to carry the signal like today -- which makes it possible for me, in Madison, to listen to ClassicFM from London all day.
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