Jubilee - 1942

Here's the first Jubilee show.  I've never heard one of these that didn't have amazing music.

Rex Ingram is the host.  The program was recorded at a small studio in Hollywood in October 1942 with Duke Ellington, Ethyl Waters and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson

Ethyl Waters and Duke Ellington with Vicente Minnelli during the filming of Cabin In The Sky.  Thank you Kurt!

Jubilee - 1942

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Jim Ameche - 1965

Jim Ameche has another hour of the most beautiful music of the best orchestras from around the world.

Jim Ameche - 1965

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Spectrum USA - 1971

Dick Stark was a child actor in silent movies.  He worked in radio from the 1930s-60s.  He was on active duty in the Pacific during WWII and went back on active duty to Vietnam in 1966, later running the NY PAO shop for the Marines until retiring in 1973.

In 1971 LTC Stark was producing a show for Marine reserve recruiting.  It's pretty good.

Spectrum USA - 1971

More recruiting programs

Negro College Fund - 1961

In the 50s and 60s the United Negro College Fund presented a series of choirs from member universities of the fund.  This time, the choir of St. Augustine's College. The series was run on the ABC radio network, hosted by Metropolitan Opera host Milton Cross.  AFRTS picked up the series and ran it worldwide.

Negro College Fund

More from Chapel

Chris Noel - Christmas 1969

Christmas 1969, your present... A Date With Chris

Chris Noel - Christmas 1969

More from Chris Noel

Christmas memories

Spread the word

If you like what you see, I'm pretty sure you have a friend that would like this website.  An email, Facebook share, Twitter link they all help.

If you haven't already, you should be on the mailing list.  About once a week get updates of what has been added. afrts@live.com

There were a lot of us at the stations, listening in the barracks or people that lived in the host countries.  We shared this then.

Tell a friend,

Other ways to help

Downbeat 1943

In 1943 the military hadn't totally decided how to do broadcasting but there were a lot of entertainers that would perform for the troops.  Initially boxes of 12" were sent out.  One of the most popular programs was "Sound Off".  Here's bandleader Xavier Cugat.

Sound Off - Xavier Cugat

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AFN - Rik Delisle - 1977

Another great memory from Hans Knot, here's Rik Delisle with "Old Gold Retold".  Rik had done AFRTS hitches with Thailand and Portugal. By 1977 it was AFN Berlin.  By 1984 he was at RIAS and made a lot of great radio.

 "I'm Air Force Sergeant Rik de Lisle - reminding you, did Rock'n Roll is just a state of mind".

AFN - Rik Delisle - 1977

More Rik Delisle

Independent Radio Station - 1951

So how did they show the overseas troops what radio can do?  Films like this. A behind the scenes look at WMCA, New York.

Carl Reese Obituary - 2014

Carl Reese was a 1940s AFN talent that went on to be a legend in Cleveland

Carl Reese - obituary

Brian Hartzell: I think I met Carl Reese back in the late-60s.  Living in Cleveland at the time.  I was looking for advice on a broadcast career just prior to heading off to DINFOS.    

Country Style USA -1961

Pee Wee King

In 1961, we were (largely) between wars but the Army recruiting command was doing it's job.  Country Style USA had new recordings of top country talent.  Sergeant Tom Shaw was our host.  The program went to hundreds of US stations and AFRTS.  Here's a visit with Pee Wee King and Del Woods.

Country Style USA -1961

Breakfast Club - 1961

Don McNeil was a Chicago tradition with the "Breakfast Club".  The show went on in 1933 and ran until 1968.  AFRTS ran it most years from WWII until the end.

Don McNeil with comedian Sam Cowling

All around the table, it's 1961...

Breakfast Club - 1961

AFN Mike Pervel 1980

Mike Pervel has your favorite summer sounds.

AFN Mike Pervel 1980

Sugar Report - 1946

Joan Edwards has a full plate of the Sugar Report.  The program touched on the news from the entertainment world and played clips from current shows.  We only have part one.  Each of these shows are unique.  They were one of a kind disks for one time airings on the AFRS shortwave station.  The closest I can come to dating this is Wayne King started up his post-war band in 1946.

Sugar Report - 1946

More Sugar Report

AFN SHAPE Bob Switcher 1977

It's a summery night in Soesterberg, 1977 and Bob Switcher has Music Off The Record..

Thanks Hans Knot!!

AFN SHAPE - Bob Switcher 1977

Hans says that this is really Bill Swisher.  This sounds like the makings of a good story...

American Country Countdown - 1977

Before Bob Kingsley took over ACC it was hosted by Don Bowman on this special, Johnny Cash is the guest host on this 1977 visit.

American Country Countdown - 1977

Jon Rivers - Countdown Magazine 1990

Jon Rivers was a Marine in Vietnam that came back and worked for a ton of great stations.  His radio ministry was heard everywhere on  “POWERLINE” , “COUNTRY CROSSROADS, “MASTER CONTROL”, “THE BAPTIST HOUR”, “GOSPEL AMERICA”  and “TWENTY THE COUNTDOWN MAGAZINE”.

Countdown Magazine - 1990

More from Chapel

Jubilee - 1943

I certainly wish I had both parts of this.  In 1943, Art Tatum, Billie Holiday, Red Allen and an All-Star cast were part of Jubilee.

Los Angeles 10/April/1943  Henry Allen Sextet

Henry ‘Red’ Allen(t), J.C. Higginbotham (tb), Don Stovall (as), Alfred Williams(p), Benny Moten (b), Alvin Burroughs (d), Billie Holiday (v)

NBC Studios in Hollywood, and dubbed March 22. The broadcast took place on April 9 or 10, as they were normally transmitted on a Friday night.

Jubilee - 1943

More from Jubilee

Join us on facebook

The afrtsarchive.blogspot.com facebook page is great way to stay updated and share your memories and requests.  click here and be sure to "like" the page.

Thanks!

Thanks John!

Longtime friend of the blog John just made a contribution. A bunch of really great early 60s shows will be finding a new home. I'd like to say thank you!  When you click the "Donate Via PayPal" button it does two things, it allows us to get better things.  Many times thing come up and I'm just a few dollars short of being able to make it happen. It says that this is important to you.  You never have to but I'm very grateful if you choose to do it.  Thank you for visiting!

We Who Fight

This was a great show from WWII with the troops telling their stories.  I've located a few partial shows, recently transferred.  Take a listen:

We Who Fight

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Chris Noel 1968

Chris Noel was very important to Vietnam era troops.  Her show A Date With Chris was the girl next door to thousands.  Today Chris still serves with her shelter for homeless veterans.  She needs you help, please click here.

But here's how it sounded in 1968

Date With Chris - 1968

More from Chris Noel

Army Hour - 1970

The Army Hour had a long run.  PAO shops all over the country getting the message out.  Aired on hundreds of stations in the US, most of the time it was also aired on AFRTS.

Army Hour - 1970

More Army Hour

Top Pops

Between 1962 and 1975 the weeks new hits would ship on special albums, the "TPs" would have this weeks 45s in a handy place.  These 650 albums were a wonderful, easy to find oldies library.  After 1975 they made similar disks but they'd be filed at random in the regular library.  

Jill's All Time Jukebox 1944

Martha Wilkerson did the GI Jive show.  Starting near the end of the war was the "All-Time Jukebox", memories with GI Jill.  Here's a 1944 visit

Jill's All-Time Jukebox - 1944

Here's more from GI Jill

Wes Wilson - AFRTS Torrejon 1982

Christmas is coming.  1982 from Torrejon AB here's Wes Wilson. 

Wes Wilson - 1982 AFRTS Torrejon Spain

Invitation to Learning - 1950

"The Voice Of Information and Education", over the years the network took that very seriously.  Part of that was being done by stateside radio and part of it was an obligation to the troops.  In 1950 "Invitation To Learning" had a panel discussion about the writer Cicero.  I wonder if such things will ever find a mass audience again.  The program continued well into the 1960s

Invitation To Learning - 1950

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Walt "Baby" Love - the Countdown - 1990

Walt "Baby" Love has spent almost four decades in radio.  In 1990 he was doing "The Countdown", which ran every weekend.

The Countdown - 1990

While still making great radio, Walt practices his ministry, visit his website:

http://www.waltbabylove.com/

AFVN PSAs 1970-71

Duke Miller at AFVN

We pause for Command Information.  These are from 1970-71.  Primary voices are Doug Jennings, Phil Davies and Bob Kohtz

AFVN PSAs

More from AFVN

FEN - Frank Knauer 1980

Chip Barris recorded this on Kedena AB. Frank Knauer was running the AFKN Taegu station 1977.  This is the second hour of an East Of Midnight that was posted a few years ago.

Frank Knauer - FEN 1980

Hour One

Chris Noel - 1969

Chris Noel has your Date With Chris.  It's 1969, a Thursday show and the weekend starts a lot nicer.

Date With Chris - 1969

More from Chris Noel

Robert Q Lewis - 1958

By the late 1950s network radio was pretty much done.  Robert Q. Lewis was still doing great radio from New York on CBS    Take a listen.

Robert Q Lewis - 1958

FORSCOM Update - Dan Rook - 1976

The services did their own shows, run Sunday mornings nationwide.  The Army's Forces Command had "Update".  Army Sergeant Dan Rook with memories of 1976.

FORSCOM Update - 1976

Michael Brown AFRS Adak Alaska 1971

Thanks again to Michael Brown for sharing his AFRS memories.  Today it's almost three hours of the request show.

Michael Brown - AFRS Adak - 1971

We went to different high schools together...

Chad Johnson on the board in Adak

This is a page of memories from the Kodiak station.

Melody Roundup - 1944

Lum and Abner were a good fit for the Melody Roundup.  Today they bring a piece of the Jot em Down Store to the troops with Texas Jim Lewis.

Melody Roundup - 1944

More Melody Roundup

SCN-FM Panama 11/83

This is a photo of the  automation from AFVN in the 60s, 15 years

later it was exactly the same in Panama

SCN-FM November 1983

Craig Miller - 1975

In 1975 Craig Miller talked with a lot of stars on AFN.  Today Rob Bachman from Bachman Turner Overdrive on Nightside.

AFN Craig Miller - Rob Bachman 1975

More from Craig Miller

We Who Fight - 1943

Billboard Magazine - 1943

We Who Fight, a half hour in the We, the People style only for and with servicemen.  This one uses men from all the services of all the nations and aims to keep the men in the Pacific posted on what their allies and comrades are doing on other fronts produced before an audience drawn from people with men in overseas service, uses an army band and a name emcee, who will soon be replaced by a man in uniform.  At the moment there are plans to air We Who Fight for domestic consumption.

This was just recently located

We Who Fight - 1943

More Old Time Radio

AFVN Paul Bottoms 1969

It's the summer of 1969 and Paul A. Bottoms is rocking Saigon on the Orient Express.

AFVN - Paul Bottoms 1969

More from AFVN

AFRTS Parade of Sports - 1991

I remember the games, when I was in Korea or Panama we were using very lo-fi network lines (probably 1 or 2k).  In 1991 AFN had a better line and Ric Crawford filling in the breaks. 

AFRTS Parade of Sports

March 3, 1991 Bradley takes on SW Missouri State

Ric Crawford - Radio News Manager for AFRTS

AFN Thurndorf

Last year I didn't win an eBay auction, the seller had a second one of these.  AFN Thurndorf?

This has been driving me crazy for a while.  AFN Historian John Provan clears it up a bit:

 

I checked my files and AFN never had a place called Thurndorf. Whoever made this goofed AFN had a location at Thumsdorf, which belonged to AFN Bayreuth. It began in October 1945 and probably operated until November 1946. It is even listed on many German radios as being a real station. It was not, rather it transmitted the AFN Munich programming.

AFN Bremerhaven PSAs 1989-90

Do you remember the package from the PAO?  In 1989-90 the crew at AFN Bremerhaven did some wonderful work.  Every week all of the stations would be tasked with "command information".  Sometimes it could be fun....

AFN Bremerhaven - PSAs 1989-90

More from AFN

AFN Berlin - Mark White

The late Mark White spent over three decades with AFN Berlin.  He was a legend. 

Here are some big band memories from 1980-83

Mark White AFN Berlin

Mystery Theater - Cary Grant

Mystery Theater was a repackaging of classic radio mysteries. In one form or another it started in WWII and continued well into the 1970s.  AFRTS still had the rights to the best.

In 1950 Cary Grant starred "Suspense" and On a Country Road. A couple is stranded during a storm, with a murderer on the loose! In the early 1970s the program was edited into this Mystery Theater broadcast.

Mystery Theater - On a Country Road

More Old Time Radio

Randy Stone - 1969

As a SP5, Randy was assigned to AFVN for 15 months during 1968-70.  His duties were far-ranging.  In addition to hosting the "Go" show, he often filled in on "Orient Express," along with covering the JUSPAO press briefings.  Then, in what might otherwise have been spare time, he did production work, and he learned to edit film using a razor blade and a splicing bar with the skill of a surgeon.  Although he was based at the Saigon headquarters station, he was often called upon for fill-in excursions to the detachments.

Returning to the Nashville area after his Army service, Randy worked at a number of major broadcasters across the South, including WMAK in Knoxville, WKDA in Nashville, WQXI in Atlanta, and KLIF in Dallas.  He eventually retired from the lifestyle and settled into the life of an automobile repair shop owner for a number of years.

In retirement, Randy and wife Melinda moved from Nashville suburb Gallatin, Tennessee to Bixby, Oklahoma in the Tulsa metro area.

Biography from macoi.net


We lost Randy in March 2015, he was 68 years old.

AFVN Randy Stone - 1969

GI Jive - 1944

GI Jill with another Jive Session, your favorites by request,

GI Jive - 1944

More Old Time Radio

Jim Ameche - 1965

Jim Ameche has another of music from the worlds greatest orchestras

Jim Ameche - 1965

More Jim Ameche

Simple Gifts - 1972

Simple Gifts was a 1972 bizarre set of 5 minute filler shows.  It was shipped as a MISC so it was to be saved for later use.

Simple Gifts - 1972 

What is that all about?

More about Simple Gifts

We get these things...

Thanks for stopping by.  There are a LOT of different stories behind how this material became available.  Sometimes the talent has made their copies available, thanks again Chris Noel, Roger Carroll, Joe Ferguson and several others.  Sometimes a bunch of disks get rescued on their way to the dumpster and sometimes there's a box of disks have been in storage for decades and sometimes something will show up in a junkshop or on ebay with no story.  If you can help or share material it's always very appreciated. Here's how you can help.

Small World - 1965

Small World was a potpourri of music, comedy and the occasional interview.  Sort of like Monitor, hosted by George Church

Chris Noel made her AFRTS debut on a Small World which I would really like to hear.

Small World - 1965

More Small World

Hear AFN live

I've heard from a few people that would like to be able to listen to AFN live.  They use geo-location, a fancy term for not being able to be heard in the US.  That settles that, er... no.

I'm listening to AFN Stuttgart

A proxy server is a computer that transmits data back and forth to your computer.  The point is the original sending computer doesn't see yours, it only sees the one you're connecting to.  

The easiest way to use this is to get Google Chrome Google Chrome allows the easy integration of several features.

Hola is a proxy that directly integrates into Chrome.  It will work with other browsers.

Get Hola

After it's installed, pick the country you'd like to look like you're from, there's a sun/fire icon in the upper right corner of your browser...

Listen to AFN Europe

Listen to AFN Pacific

You should tell a friend about this...

Transcriptions to talent...

When talent did a show for the network, they would be mailed a copy of the finished show.  These are from the late 1940s, but that tradition continued until they stopped recording transcriptions in 1996.  I'm lucky enough to have several of these, over many years.  

AFN - Old Gold Retold - Thom Robinson - 1975

From AFN, music and memories by request.  Old Gold Retold.

Old Gold Retold - Thom Robinson 1975

In about 1940 Thomas J Valentino unleashed the Major sound effects library.  I was the reissued disks at stations well into the 1980s.  This would have been roughly 1943 at AFRS,