The late Mark White had his claim to King of Jazz. He brought some wonderful music to Berlin for well over three decades. Chris Muermann was a big fan at the time and recorded several of his broadcasts. Garry made them available. Today it's a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, coming to Berlin for a concert. Mark, keep swinging...
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Mark White -AFN Berlin 1980
Labels:
1980,
AFN,
AFN Berlin,
Berlin,
Mark White
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Chris Noel 1970
I'm still reading Chris's book "Vietnam and Me". It's highly recommended.
But right now, it's 1970 and time for a Date With Chris
Labels:
1970,
Chris Noel,
Date With Chris
RIP Mark White
One of the great voices of radio history has been silenced. After spending a wonderful Christmas day with his family, Mark White went to bed and passed away in his sleep 12/29/2013. He would have been 89 on the 2nd of January. Mark was the manager of AFN Berlin from the 1950s until 1988. He left behind a great legacy and many friends. (David Glen Andersen facebook feed)
Labels:
AFN,
Berlin,
Mark White
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Roland Bynum 1983
Roland always gets the party started.

Roland's recruiting show
It's late summer 1983, let's check in on the Creators Workshop...
Labels:
1983,
Roland Bynum
Melody Roundup 1944
Melody Roundup brought top Western talent. This time with Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers.
Hard to tell what the source material was 78s, radio transcriptions, movie soundtracks.
Labels:
1944,
Melody Roundup,
OTR
Friday, December 27, 2013
GI Jive - 1946
Martha Wilkinson was one of the first big stars of AFRS. During WWII there was a show called "GI Jive", one of the DJ shows. Pretty non-descript until Martha became GI Jill and the voice of home.
Labels:
1946,
GI Jill,
GI Jive,
Martha Wilkerson
Roger Carroll - 1981
Young Roger at WMFD
There's always time for a Happy Hour. When I was working civilian, one time I had a PD wondering how I could do so many "universals". To him that meant being able to do a break without necessarily doing a station promo or talking about the record. I learned it from the Roger and the AFRTS-LA talent. Many thanks.
Labels:
1981,
Roger Carroll
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Gary Owens
Thanks Jerry for sharing these, they were airchecked off of the Thailand network. I finally heard from Gary, letting us know it's okay to share these. When I was a boy DJ, I kept the postman busy with incoming KMPC airchecks. Amazing.
Labels:
1969,
Gary Owens
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas 2013
Merry Christmas and thank you for visiting. It's been a nice year with family, my day job and people in general. More and more people are stopping by every month so I guess it serves a purpose.
If you haven't checked in yet, you can email afrts@live.com or facebook Thom Whetston or the afrtsarchive.blogspot.com page (click "Like" on that one).
Approximately every week I send out an email about what's new, sometimes asking questions, sometimes looking for people. Just let me know if you'd like to be on the mailing list.
If you saved any recordings or memorabilia about the network, please let me know. There are a lot of people that'd like to remember it.
Chris Noel
Labels:
Christmas
Monday, December 23, 2013
Gene Price - 1975
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.
Over at Gene's website, he's done the nicest children's book and you can check in there or on Facebook.
Labels:
1975,
Army,
Gene Price,
Recruiting
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Enchanted Keyboard - 1951
By the early 1950s radio had changed. Prior to that the networks were doing great comedy, mystery variety shows and AFRTS could clip the commercials and send them out. But now they were tasked with creating a lot of programs. Many information and education programs were produced along with entertainment offerings.
"Enchanted Keyboard" was typical. Classical piano with Don Thompson announcing. Some wonderful talent was available to come in and play the piano.
On this broadcast, Edward Rebner
Labels:
1951,
Enchanted Keyboard
Charlie Tuna - 1983
"Boss Angeles" Charlie was one of the guys that made KHJ happen. The things Bill Drake did with that station had a lot to do with every top 40 station in the United States. Charlie started there in the mid-60s and went with us in 1971. Thanks for the memories. Stay Tuna'd!
Labels:
1983,
Charlie Tuna
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Redd Harper - 1948
Redd was a part of a concert band that became more and more successful until they were invited to join an Oklahoma City radio station in 1924. From there, his career took off and his music was in greater demand. In 1931 he joined a larger radio station in Des Moines, found more success, and then decided to head to Hollywood, California. However, he arrived at the end of the Western Jazz era and the beginning of the Great Depression, thus finding it hard to find work and was not as successful as he had been. He struggled to find work in the city. When World War II started, he joined the Coast Guard for three years. After the war, Redd was doing shows for AFRS.
After the war he found success again in Hollywood as he began working with other big name artists of the time from both radio and movies. During this time he also found success in the movie industry and starred in several films, including The Strawberry Roan.
Labels:
1948,
Redd Harper
Friday, December 20, 2013
Ronnie Landry - 1959
Ron Landry, later of Hudson and Landry was drafted into the Army in 1958. By 1959 he was doing a show on the network from AFRTS New York.
I was usually assigned with the infantry, this was a classic:
Labels:
1959,
Ronnie Landry
Jim Ameche - 1965
"The Most Beautiful Sounds Around" Orchestral music just isn't heard anymore. Jim Ameche brought it to AFRTS.
Jim was a huge star during the "Golden Days of Radio" and managed to stay very successful as a DJ.
Labels:
1965,
Jim Ameche
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Chris Noel - Christmas 1969
Labels:
1969,
Chris Noel,
Christmas,
Date With Chris
AFN - Bob Debasia - 1984
Labels:
1984,
AFN,
AFN Munich,
Bob Debasia
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Wolfman Jack - 1975
It's the call of the Wolfman, a magic thing. Wolf, we miss you.
Labels:
1975,
Recruiting,
USAF,
Wolfman Jack
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Connectivity
We're back on the air. About a week ago Comcast pushed out an update that killed my Motorola SGB6580. I managed to get it back to defaults and running again. I own my modem, rather than paying the 7 bucks every month.
Yesterday it was the same thing and I couldn't get it back online.
I spent four years working for Comcast, getting modems activated and online. I do know this stuff.
Just wanted to let you know that Comcast and Motorola have a long history of not playing well on certain Motorola models.
On with the show...
Yesterday it was the same thing and I couldn't get it back online.
I spent four years working for Comcast, getting modems activated and online. I do know this stuff.
Just wanted to let you know that Comcast and Motorola have a long history of not playing well on certain Motorola models.
On with the show...
Monday, December 16, 2013
Roger Carroll - 1981
I'm grateful that Roger made so many great shows and made them available to us.
Today it's memories of 1981. If you have any of Roger's Christmas shows please contact me!
Labels:
1981,
Roger Carroll
Sunday, December 15, 2013
AFVN The Early Years - Adrian Cronauer
Adrian Cronauer explains the early years of AFVN and block programming.
Labels:
1965,
Adrian Cronauer,
AFVN,
Vietnam
Chris Noel Christmas 1969
Because of the way the transcription disks were sent out, there was no way to tell when they were actually broadcast... Except for Christmas week. That week we would get disks with actual airdates. They'd send them almost a month early to make that happen.
This was aired worldwide December 19, 1969
Labels:
1969,
Chris Noel,
Christmas,
Date With Chris
Friday, December 13, 2013
Good Morning Vietnam - the real story
Paul Bottoms let me know about this:
"Adrian Cronauer, Tony Booth who was at AFKN in Korea and I gave a presentation in February 2011 for two days at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond."
Here's the first part:
"Adrian Cronauer, Tony Booth who was at AFKN in Korea and I gave a presentation in February 2011 for two days at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond."
Here's the first part:
Labels:
1965,
AFVN,
Paul Bottoms,
Tony Booth,
Vietnam
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Charlie Tuna - 1982
If you see the film "Rollercoaster", there's a DJ MC...
Charlie's back with another sixty minutes in the radio. I hope that you've visited his website charlietuna.com He really has taken the show... trivia, humor and great stories and made the transition to the internet.
Labels:
1982,
Charlie Tuna
Saturday, December 7, 2013
FEN - 1964 the start of the Vietnam War
Here's live coverage from FEN August 5th and 6th 1964 of the Gulf of Tonkin, pretty much the beginning of the Vietnam War.
Roger Carroll - Christmas 1973
I really wish I had audio of one of Roger's Christmas shows, with that familiar open... (Do you have one??)
But this is very nice, in 1973 he did an Air Force recruiting show with Ray Conniff. Great radio!
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Labels:
1973,
Christmas,
Recruiting,
Roger Carroll,
USAF
Chris Noel - Christmas 1966
Chris had just started doing "Date With Chris" and it was the holiday season
Labels:
1966,
Chris Noel,
Christmas,
Date With Chris
Friday, December 6, 2013
Roland Bynum - 1981
Soulin' with the Roland
Roland is still on the air in Los Angeles on weekends and sounding better than ever.
Labels:
1981,
Roland Bynum
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Mosquito Network - The Ulithi Encyclopedia
During WWII we had a base in the Western Carolines and a LT (jg) John Vollbrecht found the local Ulithi population interesting. He studied them and presented talks on AFRS WVTY. There was enough interest where the station published a book about the culture.
Labels:
1944,
Mosquito Network,
WVTY
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Johnny Bond - 1961
To the strains of Les Paul's "Cimarron" and a bushel basket full of gramophone records. It's old school country from 1961.
Happy listening!
Labels:
1961,
Johnny Bond
Bob Hope - Christmas 1968 Long Binh
We've made it to December. Christmas is coming. This is Bob Hope's 1968 Christmas show from Long Binh, Vietnam. Whet was it like to be at one of these shows?
Saturday, November 30, 2013
AFN Weekend World - 1970
From Munich, Bill Swisher brings us the "Weekend World" 29 Nov 1970
AFN Weekend World - November 1970 hour one
AFN Weekend World - November 1970 hour two
AFN Weekend World - November 1970 hour three
AFN Weekend World - November 1970 hour four
AFN Weekend World - November 1970 hour two
AFN Weekend World - November 1970 hour three
AFN Weekend World - November 1970 hour four
Labels:
1970,
AFN,
AFN Munich,
Weekend World
Friday, November 29, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Chris Noel - 1970
This certainly has been the biggest project. Chris is letting us hear the disks she saved from her AFRTS run. Great radio. We're up to 1970.
Labels:
1970,
Chris Noel,
Date With Chris
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
This Is The Story - Red Ball Express 1946
During the 1940s there were a lot of programs on the stateside networks that were educational, in a good way. The best of these were repackaged by AFRTS.
This is the Story - "Red Ball Express" with Louis Calhern narrating. Label notes it was originally broadcast on "Warriors of Peace", June 9, 1946.
This Is The Story - Red Ball Express 1946
This is the Story - "Red Ball Express" with Louis Calhern narrating. Label notes it was originally broadcast on "Warriors of Peace", June 9, 1946.
This Is The Story - Red Ball Express 1946
Labels:
1946,
OTR,
This is the Story
Wolfman Jack - 1974
Here comes de Wolfman...
While Wolfman was doing his AFRTS shows he was also doing shows for Air Force recruiting for Roger Carroll's company. These shows aired in the states, usually very early Sunday mornings (they counted as 30 minutes of PSA time). While he was doing those he was jocking on WNBC NY and doing "Midnight Special" for NBC TV. Kept busy...
Labels:
1974,
Recruiting,
USAF,
Wolfman Jack
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Colonel Robert Cranston - funeral 16 November 2013
MILITARY BROADCASTING PIONEER
BURIED WITH HONORS AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Arlington, VA .....16 Nov ...(Special to the AFN Bulletin
Board)
93-year-old
Colonel Robert Cranston, the "Iconic" G.I. Broadcasting officer with
more than a quarter of a century of service to this country, was laid to rest with full military honors on
a green hillside, among many other fallen heroes, at Arlington National
Cemetery Thursday, on a beautiful, late fall morning, under a verdant blue sky, as a gentle breeze whispered through the
still colorful, fall foliage.
The burial service was conducted by Army Chaplin Captain
Matt Madison, a three-tour veteran of the fighting in Afghanistan, who briefly,
but completely, summarized Colonel Cranston's military career in the historic
Old Post Chapel on Fort Myer, home of the Honor Guard, and immediately adjacent
to Arlington National Cemetery. About 40
people attended the service at the chapel, including Sandra "Sandy"
Cranston, the Colonel's widow, her two adult children and two of the Colonel's
grandchildren. There were nine people
altogether in the family group. Outside
the chapel, prior to the service, as the Honor Guard was doing its last minute
drilling, Piper Gustav "Gus" Person played a variety of tunes to the
left of the main entrance. Person, a
retired Lt. Colonel in the Army, and a
bagpiper with The Alexandria City Pipes and Drums, served in Berlin during his
military career, and was a regular listener to AFN Berlin.
At least five
former AFN broadcasters also attended
the burial, including Kayo Mullen aka Jack McCarthy, who flew from Central
Florida to be present at the service.
Also in attendance was retired Navy Captain Maury Cagle, a former
civilian AFN news editor, the current AFN Bulletin Board "co-webmistress,"
Judy Boysha, who took time off from her federal Video Production Chief
job, Shel Smith, who was hosting Kayo
Mullen, and your reporter, retired Army
Pvt. Andrew Guthrie As people did not
wear name tags, there may well have been a few former AFNers in the group who
were not recognized. In addition to
family friends of the Cranston's from Bedford County, Virginia, was a group of
three or four retired officers from the SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied
Powers Europe) Officers Association Washington chapter, with whom Colonel
Cranston served.
Following the
short service in the chapel, the Chaplin led the procession of the urn carrying
Colonel Cranston's ashes out of the chapel, where the Third U. S. Army Band,
"The Pershing's Own," played a salute as the urn was placed on the
caisson for the procession to the cemetery.
At Colonel Cranston's request, the caisson was drawn by six white
horses, and the traditional riderless horse, with upturned boots, led the
procession to the burial side, about a quarter mile away. The mourners were given time to return to
their cars, and followed the caisson. At
the burial site, Chaplin Madison again welcomed the mourners, and recited
verses from the Bible dealing with death and everlasting life. Then the U.S. Flag that draped the caisson
was undraped fully by the honor guard over the casket, then, with crisp
precision, was folded into the all-too-familiar neat triangle, and Chaplin
Madison presented it to Mrs. Cranston with some whispered remarks.
This was followed
by a volley of three shots fired by the Honor Guard, and then Taps, as the
crowd and the troops, stood at attention, rendering the salute. Immediately following Taps, the Cemetery
official declared the burial over, and the Piper then played the traditional
Scottish funeral aire, "Flowers of the Forest" as the crowd remained
standing. With the mourners then
returning to their cars, the Piper played the stirring "Scotland the
Brave."
A reception was
held after the burial at the Fort Myer Officer's Club, with a wide selection of
hors d'oeuvres, including delicious hot crab dip on French bread. There was punch for some, however many of the
mourners elected to honor Colonel Cranston 's passing with a variety of single
malt Scotch and other drinks. The
reception lasted at least an hour, during which Piper Person serenaded the
group with more tunes on the bagpipe.
Following the reception, the
retired AFNers and the Cranston family group drove to Pat Troy's
Ireland's Own Pub in the historic downtown area of Alexandria, a city founded
in the mid 1700's by Scottish merchants when it was the tobacco port for
Northern Virginia, in sending that cash crop to smokers on the continent. Those of age partook of several glasses of
Glenlivet 16 year-old single malt, and the four AFN veterans told the Colonel's
grandchildren stories of their time at the Castle von Brunning in Hoechst and
what life and broadcasting was like in the time they served under Colonel
Cranston.
During the period prior to the service, your reporter
passed out copies of Colonel Cranston's obituaries to the Honor Guard and to
the members of the unit attending the horses that would carry the caisson to
the burial site. I also took the
opportunity to tell one of the horses that he and his mates would be carrying a
very special officer to his final resting site and that they should be
proud. He may have understood me. I can tell all of you that several sergeants
and the Captain of one of the several Honor Guard components, himself a veteran
of a tour in Afghanistan, told me that no one, of the many burial parties for
months before this one, (Arlington does 30 funerals every day!) had ever taken
the trouble to inform the Guardsmen of the background of the officer they were
honoring. It occurred to me, that, as so
many of us feel so deeply about Colonel Cranston, I did not want him to be, at
his burial, yet another "anonymous"
military officer, to them, but
rather a man who's expansion of G. I. broadcasting had most likely been a part
of their lives. And several of them
thanked me for including them.
Mrs. Cranston, who
is a real computer artist, produced, at the last minute, a service program, with a color and black and
white cover montage of Colonel Cranston's life
It was beautiful, and inside was
a brief history of his accomplishments.
In an effort to allow all of you to feel that you were with us at the
burial, not just "in spirit" I am including an attachment of the
lovely program. Please understand that
Sandy did this in just a day or two, so bear with her in the misspelling of
Fort Meyer. It was an outstanding
achievement!
For your information, you reporter wore his ancient
Guthrie tartan kilt, with the Pfc. stripes on the jacket that Colonel Cranston
purchased for me on his 90th birthday, and four ribbons, about which the
Colonel took the trouble to write to me, when I told him I never got a single
medal at the end of my service. He even
included a catalogue with each one circled!
Sadly and respectfully,
Army Pfc. (by Colonel's order) Andrew Guthrie (Ret.) AFN
Headquarters Newsroom 1960-'61 Frankfurt am Main Hoechst
Labels:
Robert Cranston
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Gary Owens - 1969
This is a much better transfer of something that was presented a while back. I was sent a bunch of disks that weren't stored in sleeves and were in pretty rough shape.
Labels:
1969,
AFRTS,
Gary Owens
Friday, November 22, 2013
1945 AFN scripts
A couple of weeks ago I heard about this. Some personal papers that seemed to have some AFN scripts from the 40s. I did the deal. The owner turned out to be in Minneapolis so I could pick them up and get the history (provenance is rarely available) . Jack Pratt led the ATC Orchestra after Glenn Miller. These were a batch of his personal papers. The ATC band toured Europe after the war. It was some incredible history and yes a bunch of AFN scripts. Countdown shows, T/5 Mickey Rooney in a show and this one. Jack Benny went to Europe during his summer break in 1945 and did a show exclusively for AFN (anyone have audio of this???)
I'm just happy to be able to give it a home. Now how to share it...
Chris Noel - 1969
The weekend is almost here. Chris Noel has memories of 1969
Chris's new book is out "Filming the Glory Stompers: Behind the scenes with Dennis Hopper"
Labels:
1969,
Chris Noel,
Date With Chris
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
AFN Bremerhaven 1993 - Bill Boyd
Labels:
1993,
AFN,
Bill Boyd,
Bremerhaven
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
Melody Roundup - Spade Cooley
He made some pretty amazing music and performed for the troops a lot. Take a listen.
Labels:
1947,
Melody Roundup,
OTR,
Spade Cooley
Saturday, November 16, 2013
The AFRTS Story - 1962
In 1962 the network sent out their 20th anniversary broadcast. Marvin Miller does a wonderful job. Only thing that puzzles me is the muddy transfers of shows from the 1940s. Good listening, time to reenlist!
Labels:
1962,
Anniversary,
Marvin MIller
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Charlie Tuna - 1987
Charlie with "Mama" Cass Elliott
I have never heard a scrap of tape where Charlie didn't have his groove. It's talent and working hard.
Labels:
1987,
Charlie Tuna
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