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Gene Price is back, driving the Country Express A while back, I heard a tape of Gene on Oakland radio doing top 40 and it sounded natural. He could probably be The Gene Price Show with anything.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
LaRita Shelby 1994
I was so happy to find this. Last year LaRita sent several of her AFRTS shows and somehow this one wasn't posted then. Here's LaRita Shelby with guest Paul Hardcastle.
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
New Year 1946
Happy 1946! In 1945 the network assembled the top bands in the country to celebrate the win:
New Year's Dancing Party. December 31, 1945. AFRS origination. Happy New Year's from bands around the country. An assembled program. Harry James and His Orchestra, Count Basie and His Orchestra, Freddy Martin and His Orchestra, Woody Herman and His Orchestra, Henry King and His Orchestra, Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra, Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, Les Brown and His Orchestra, Artie Shaw and His Orchestra, Stan Kenton and His Orchestra, Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, Carmen Cavallaro and His Orchestra, Louis Prima and His Orchestra, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, Guy Lombardo and His Orchestra, Don Wilson
Chris Noel 1967
To find out the history of Chris Noel, her biography at IMDB is a great place to start Click here
Chris sent the radio shows she did for AFRTS to us to hear again. I'm grateful.
She still does the GIs proud. Please consider making a generous donation to Chris's Vetsville Ceasefire House.
Pete Smith 1975
Dinnertime, the evenings... AFRTS had your easy favorites from Jim Ameche, John Doremus and Pete Smith. Interesting stories wove with a mix of fine orchestras. It's something not heard anymore. Here's Pete Smith with a 1975 broadcast from AFN Frankfurt. Many thanks Ray for making it available.
Mary Turner 1984
Received a nice note from Mary Turner:
"I often think about my 18 years at Fort McCadden with great fondness. Loved that Roach Coach-I remember always getting teased for actually paying for a bottle of water. I was ahead of my time!"
And she certainly was.
Saturday, December 28, 2019
Joe Ferguson 1983
In Panama, my biggest complaint with the network was how LA centric the programming was "There's nobody good in New York?" would usually be how that tirade started. They surprised me with series of jocks from around the country with an AFRTS connection.
In the weeks before the Bob Moke show, Joe Ferguson from KUPL in Portland had his turn. Joe also saved the disks and has made them available once again:
First of all, I was an army brat with my dad a 30 year career man. In the early sixties, we were stationed in Germany and I attended high school in Frankfurt. The school had a radio club and produced a weekly program for teenagers. We produced and recorded it at AFN studios just outside Frankfurt. I was part of that club and got my first exposure to radio and was hooked.
When I graduated, I returned to the US for college and got a job as a dj at a local station to pay for my education. After graduation, I went to visit my family, now stationed in Italy. On the way I had a stopover in Frankfurt and went to see a couple of people that were still at AFN from my high school days. They told me there was a civilian announcer job open in Italy and I should talk to the SEN folks, so I did.
SEN was interested and offered me the job. As a result, I was in Vicenza for a couple of years. It was great and I have many wonderful memories from the experience. Next stop, (1971) KFOX AM-FM Los Angeles, where I was the afternoon jock. I was working with people whose programs I had played while at SEN. While I was at KFOX, I was on staff with Charlie Williams, Hugh Cherry and Gene Price as well as some other great talent. I had to pinch myself frequently to convince myself I was actually there.
I also did some syndication work in Hollywood for Programming DB which was one of the pioneers for syndicating long form programming. It was a partnership of two of the innovative programmers of the day, Ken Draper and Chuck Blore. At one time, I think I was doing a daily 4 hour program in 20 or so markets, all via voice track and automation equipment.
My next encounter with AFRTS was in 1983 when they contacted me at KUPL AM-FM in Portland, Oregon, where I was the program director. They asked if I was interested in doing a 30 minute, daily show from Portland for 13 weeks. It was part of a project where they selected a personality from a different part of the country to highlight a new area every quarter. Of course I was delighted to accept.
Don Tracy 1980
Never really mattered what day it was, it always felt like the weekend during the Don Tracy Show.
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