Bill Stewart 1969

  

Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Leonard Feather

Bill Stewart swung.  He played a lot of the best of jazz.  AFRTS had a lot of famous guests on the radio shows.  Leonard Feather had a unique role in the history of jazz, responsible for a lot of legendary recordings.  By the 1950s he was documenting the "Encyclopedia of Jazz" with a lot of first hand knowledge and friendships.  In 1969 volume two had come out and Leonard made an appearance on the Bill Stewart show..

Bill Stewart - 1969

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Jim Pewter 1982

 

Our AFKN brother Jim Pewter is back with another oldies party from the malt shop!  If it starts with Louie, Louie it's gotta be great!

Jim Pewter - 1982

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Don Tracy 1980

 

 

Young Don Tracy at WTIC, Hartford

It's a Friday with Don Tracy.  The party starts now...

Don Tracy - 1980

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Chris Noel 1967

 

The run wasn't that long but "A Date With Chris" was a very important thing to a lot of Vietnam era troops.  It's easy to hear why.

Chris Noel - 1967

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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.

Joe Ferguson 1983

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John Doremus 1967

  

Music about hands and letter writing... It's the John Doremus show..  Wonderful stories wound into beautiful orchestral music.

John Doremus - 1967

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Could This Be You? 1961

 Beginning in the 1950s, KVI Seattle produced an intriguing show called "Could This Be You?" which aired on the Golden West stations and later on Mutual.

The program featured live recordings of people being pulled over and served as a precursor to shows like "Highway Patrol" and "Cops."

It was an impressive example of educational radio, making it ideal for AFRTS.

Could This Be You? - 1961

Gene Price 1974

  

This is another program from a nice cache of transcriptions I picked up last month, Gene Price's Country World

Gene Price 1974

 

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Ira Cook 1961

  

Ira Cook with Elvis Presley

Ira started with us in 1960, still there 20 years later.

Ira Cook 1961

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Mary Helen Barro 1983

 

Mary Helen Barro with Joe Ortiz 1972

Mary Helen is back with some wonderful music.

Mary Helen Barro - 1983

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Charlie Tuna 1978

 

Singing legend Bill Withers backstage at the Greek Theatre with Charlie.(June 16, 2007)

Charlie Tuna taught a lot of DJs how to do it right, pacing, topicality, personality.  Every day it was a textbook.

Charlie Tuna 1978

link is fixed

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Joe Allison 1965

 

Joe Allison is back with more of your favorites from the Country Corner. Joe Allison was country music.  A performer, writer, producer and he brought back home to the radio.

Country Corner - 1965

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Wolfman Jack 1975

 

Time for a 1975 look see with Wolfman Jack.  Much better if you play it loud!

Wolfman Jack 1975

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My Best Sounds update

  After a BUNCH of issues, the streaming station is back online.

www.mybestsounds.com

I'll be merging the best of MyBestSounds from before and "The Hook".  I'm very optimistic.

UPDATE: The biggest problem we've had before was scheduling programs to be heard every day.  There will be a schedule, to make it easier.  This can't be done with all of the shows, but...

Times are Central

0800 Charlie Tuna

0900 Roger Carroll

1100 Joe Ferguson

1:00PM Joe Ferguson

6:00PM Jim Pewter

9:00PM Roland Bynum

11:00 Chris Noel

More will be added.

Roger Carroll 1978

 

Today it is Roger, with the Happy Hour and memories of 1978.

 

"Thom there was a young attractive production lady who worked on a TV show I announced her boy friend was an artist at Disney. They both listened to me on KMPC It was a birthday gift I cannot remember what show it was or her name. I now walk a little slower, memory is not what it used be also repeat things Dad get a hearing aid (you want something at Rite Aid ) BUT I sure do remember she was very attractive I think many of the attractive production ladies maybe were hand-picked may be some of those ladies are on FB they would be old today the ones I worked with."

 

And it had a place of honor at Roger's

 

 

Thank you once again RC!

 

Roger Carroll - 1978

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Mary Turner 1992

    

It was a scandal.  In the early 80s when the network started the Mary Turner show.  Loud Rock and Roll.  What will the generals say?  We'll find out.  Mary brought her KMET show to the world and it was a very good thing.

Mary Turner 1992

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Herman Griffith 1965

    

"Hello Gang!  Here's Herman Griffith with exitement in sound and music in motion!! The rock AND the roll for the young and the old, the brave and the bold on the Record Caravan!!!! "

Don Browne shares some memories:

"When I first heard "The Herman Griffith Show" on AFRTS (at FEN in 1969), I was appalled.

He was "stepping on" the starting vocal (later called "the post") of every song, "talking over" the entire lyric of many songs, and worst of all, mispronouncing AFRTS. Griffith called it "Aye-Eff-Argh-ugh-Tee-Ess!

He was definitely relegated to the "vampire squad" (1 a.m. to 5 a.m.) on FEN!

It was two years later that I discovered what caused "the Herman Griffith syndrome".

I visited AFRTS-LA and took a closer look at their so-called "broadcast studios".

They had been designed as "recording studios" by a contractor who was told that "they were making records" at AFRTS-LA.

A true enough statement. But not making records like for orchestras and singers, with separate channels each with EQ, separate tape-recorder playback of selectable sources designed for multi-track, and combination of audio sources "down-stream" for multi-track. They initially didn't have "mute" when a microphone was "live" because "recording studios" didn't "mute" mikes.

A typical "recording studio", not for broadcasting purposes.

The multi-channel audio control consoles were manufactured by "Unidyne" for four studios at 1016 North McCadden Place in 1965.

When Herman Griffith recorded his show, he heard the music on playback from the tape recorder, two-seconds after the "live" recorder input. Playback was for confidence-only, to ensure that a recording was being made. Herman's voice was combined "down-stream", so Herman in natural radio procedure "cupped-his-ear" to hear his "live" voice.

Therefore, in real time, Herman stepped on every starting vocal.

The radio producers weren't experienced in the R&B format and thought this was normal.

The "Unidynes" were eventually replaced with "broadcast" consoles."

 This would have been the place to rock.  Roland Bynum said that Herman introduced him to the AFRTS gig.

Herman Griffith #129 1965

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Tom Campbell 1971

 

Tom Campbell, asking the great questions.  "Is there really a Denny DeWinter?

Tom Campbell 1971

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Andy Mansfield 1965

 

Andy Mansfield is back with records from his personal collection.

America's Popular Music - 1965

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Roland Bynum 1973

 

Roland was keeping it real in 1973.  Phil had recorded some of his favorite AFN personalities from the Stuttgart station, some noise but that's how I remember it.

Roland Bynum - 1973

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Downbeat 1946

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By 1946 Gene Norman (remember GNP records?)was building quite the name as a jazz promoter.  He was also doing Downbeat for AFRTS

Downbeat - 1946

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Jim Pewter 1980

   

Gene Price, Charlie Tuna and Jim

More memories with Jim.  In 1980 I was at SCN in Panama and would hear the way that he'd craft a show.  Always something that I hadn't heard before...that was good.  Then it was off to the library.  At SCN the 'old library' was typed onto large index cards, with a huge machine that had them sorted.  Do you have a picture of it?  Apparently in the mid 80s it finally gave up.

It's 1980, today Jim tells you "What was Beethoven's favorite fruit?"

Jim Pewter 1980

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Don Tracy 1980

  

It somehow doesn't seem like it could ever be Monday with Don Tracy on deck.

Don Tracy - 1980

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Chris Noel 1966

 

Date With Chris evolved from a late night program of mostly dinner music to the a lot more rock.  This is from the first week of the show in 1966.  

Date With Chris - 1966

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Pete Smith 1969

   

Pete Smith has your favorite easy listening music and cool stories...

Pete Smith - 1969

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Gene Price 1974

  

Gene Price always had a fun show, characters, comedy. Leonard Finsterwald says listen now!

Gene Price 1974

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Ira Cook 1967

 

Ira Cook makes the day brighter!

Ira Cook 1967

Mary Helen Barro 1983

 

Our weekend fiesta begins!

Mary Helen Barro - 1983

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Charlie Tuna 1983

 

Is that what they mean by disk jockey?

Charlie Tuna comin back at you for another 60 minutes in the radio.

It was always great stuff.  Easy to see why Charlie entertained the troops for a quarter century.

Today, it's 1983 and great once again.

Charlie Tuna 1983

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Joe Allison 1965

 

Display honoring Joe at the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage, Texas.

Joe Allison wrote Jim Reeve's biggest hit "He'll Have To Go".  With a credit like that a lot of performers could coast but not Joe.  Writer, performer, DJ, executive and succeeding every time.  He was a giant.  We lost Joe in 2002.

Country Corner - 1965

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