Posts
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Wolfman Jack AFN 1975
Monday, May 29, 2017
Roger Carroll 1981
Here's Roger's hit record, Going To Maui:
Roland Bynum 1981
Time for some Soulin with Roland! Those sure were the days. It's a Tuesday late summer day in 1981
Friday, May 26, 2017
Jim Pewter 1970
Jim was a rocker before the radio. In the 60s to AFKN then Los Angeles radio.
But, let's start with a question "Do you wanna dance?"
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Joe Ferguson 1983
Joe Ferguson from Portland OR KUPL radio was part of the 1983 experiment when AFRTS had jocks from around the country record shows. Bob Moke and Danny Kramer from Salt Lake City were some of the others. The deal was supposed to be 13 weeks. Whoever was after Joe turned out to not be available and Joe got another 13 weeks.
A couple of years ago he asked me if I'd be interested in all of the shows on transcription disks. He wanted the opportunity for us to hear them again. I'm very thankful.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
John Doremus 1967
What an incredible voice. Mr Doremus began this style of late night radio on WMAQ Chicago and syndicated on the BIG stations. He also 'invented' in flight music.
AFN Bremerhaven 1968 - Paul Hennessey
Left to right are SP5 Dave Stewart (later became a SGM), SP5 Paul Wetterhahn (aka Paul Drake), myself SP5 and SP5 Dick Dalrymple (not sure of spelling).
A little while ago we posted AFN Bremerhaven in 1968. Paul Hennessey was there and sent some great memories of AFN Bremerhaven in 1968. "I never worked as a dj after my AFN experience. I felt very fortunate to have been able to do it back then. I’m 72 years young and living in the MO Ozarks for the past 13 years. Also, am trying to get some screenplays I’ve written made into movies. Haven’t been able to make the right connections yet even though I worked at SAG Union Headquarters for 20 years from 1984-2004." It must be morning, it's time for the Bremerhaven Bugle Call!
Saturday, May 20, 2017
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.
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.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Chuck Cecil 1979
Chuck Cecil was playing the big band oldies around Los Angeles by the 1950s. He got it on KFI, syndicated it and ran it for decades. We were pretty lucky to have it so long on AFRTS.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Wolfman Jack 1982
KRE, Berkeley was the station in American Graffiti. A low powered struggling AM, still using historical studio gear.
Roger Carroll 1968
I'm still excited about Roger Carroll sending several of his shows for us to hear. The Happy Hour continues for a long time to come. We start with a Fall 1968 show. Enjoy!
Monday, May 15, 2017
You can help!
There's several ways that you can help make this a better place:
- Tell a friend. You know people that appreciated what the stations did over the years. They might like it too. That's the best advertising. Some of us were at the stations around the world. Some were in AFRTS-LA, AFRTS-NY or AFRTS-W, some turned the radio on before a day in the "real army". Some were residents of the host countries. AFRTS touched a lot of people. Tell your Friends on Facebook and Twitter.
- Tell your story. The whole story is huge. All of the groups above were a part and the others would find it interesting.
- Share your media. Some recorded things off the radio or rescued disks from the dumpster. I'd like to hear what you have and I'm sure others would too. Is there a box in the basement/garage/storage?
- Feed the kitty. If you could make a contribution, we can have nicer things. Everyone who has clicked the Paypal box, thank you so very much. If you haven't yet...there's still time. Paypal will convert any currency. Just click the "Donate" button.
Your help makes this a nicer place. Thank you.
If any outside media would like to tell our story, I'll do what I can to help.
Thank you for visiting, let me know if there's anything I can do for you.
Thank you for visiting, let me know if there's anything I can do for you.
Linda Lord
Erkan Acar
Ken Hissong
William James
Dale Nulik
John Miller
Chris Andrews
Glen May
Burt Schneider
Steven Kuhn
Jeff McKnight
Gary Schneider
Robert Baucik
Joseph Webb
Roger Carroll
Garry Terrell
Bill Cain
Joel O'Brien
Pete Pittman
Joe Ferguson
Don Dornberg
Phillip Holloway
Robert Schultz
Barry Thomas
Gerry Fry
Robert Cleveland
AFKN, Korea 1976-77
SCN, Panama 1980-83
612-356-AFRS (612-356-2377)
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Bill Stewart 1969
Larry McClellan had a memory of Bill Stewart:
"I got nostalgic and decided to do a search for Bill Stewart and came upon your blogspot pages.
My ex-wife and I attended the concert at the Palladium in 1969 (thanks for pointing up the year -- I wasn't sure about it after these years.) The house was a little over 400 and we were among less than a dozen civilians in the audience; and we were there because a friend who was a DJ on KRHM was on the air at the time and comped us his tickets.
The story we heard was that Bill's wife had developed cancer and they had gone completely through all their savings trying (in vain) to find treatment. She passed and Bill was destitute -- emotionally and financially. Some performers who felt that he had been instrumental in establishing their careers staged a benefit concert for him. I don't know what the tickets cost -- as I said, ours were comped -- but my understanding at the time was that they were not cheap.
There were four acts: Henry Mancini, with a scratch orchestra (most of whom, I heard, were there pro bono); Johnny Mathis; Andy Williams, with the Osmond Brothers; Peggy Lee. Williams interrupted a rehearsal schedule to appear, and Miss Lee flew in a couple of hours before the show, performed, and flew out again immediately after, to meet appearance obligations somewhere else (Vegas, I think, but memory lapses after 55 years and I was only a spectator anyway.)
Mancini's opening line was "So this is where Lawrence Welk works. Doesn't record here." The acoustics were second-rate. It took Peggy Lee two numbers to get the sound system adjusted so she could hear herself perform.
Mathis performed straight up, just like it was a recording session. We later saw him at the Greek Theater and he was doing his "African Queen" routine for the West LA audience. Same singer, two different performers.
At the time, my ex and I were friends with Skip and Lynn Weshner. Skip had been with AFR in 1945-46 and worked the first show that used Ampex tape decks. A Bing Crosby show, if I remember the story correctly. Lynn had been a torch singer in front of, among others, Benny Goodman. She was also the chick singer of the Rooftop Singers when they cut their first version of "Walk Right In." The tickets were comped to us by Paul Rhone, a regular evening DJ at KRHM. I seldom listened to Bill Stewart's show because he was on at a time of day when I was not around radios. But I know that the DJs all respected and admired him and his work.
I want to recall that Bill's title on the air during the war and early postwar years was "The Master of C" or something similar. I talked with some WWII overseas vets who remembered him fondly.
I hope this is of some interest to you and that it might lead to some research that could round out his biography a bit."
Thank you Larry! From 1969 here's Bill with guest Mort Garson, the writer of "Our Day Will Come", Mort did neat things with the early synthisizers.
My ex-wife and I attended the concert at the Palladium in 1969 (thanks for pointing up the year -- I wasn't sure about it after these years.) The house was a little over 400 and we were among less than a dozen civilians in the audience; and we were there because a friend who was a DJ on KRHM was on the air at the time and comped us his tickets.
The story we heard was that Bill's wife had developed cancer and they had gone completely through all their savings trying (in vain) to find treatment. She passed and Bill was destitute -- emotionally and financially. Some performers who felt that he had been instrumental in establishing their careers staged a benefit concert for him. I don't know what the tickets cost -- as I said, ours were comped -- but my understanding at the time was that they were not cheap.
There were four acts: Henry Mancini, with a scratch orchestra (most of whom, I heard, were there pro bono); Johnny Mathis; Andy Williams, with the Osmond Brothers; Peggy Lee. Williams interrupted a rehearsal schedule to appear, and Miss Lee flew in a couple of hours before the show, performed, and flew out again immediately after, to meet appearance obligations somewhere else (Vegas, I think, but memory lapses after 55 years and I was only a spectator anyway.)
Mancini's opening line was "So this is where Lawrence Welk works. Doesn't record here." The acoustics were second-rate. It took Peggy Lee two numbers to get the sound system adjusted so she could hear herself perform.
Mathis performed straight up, just like it was a recording session. We later saw him at the Greek Theater and he was doing his "African Queen" routine for the West LA audience. Same singer, two different performers.
At the time, my ex and I were friends with Skip and Lynn Weshner. Skip had been with AFR in 1945-46 and worked the first show that used Ampex tape decks. A Bing Crosby show, if I remember the story correctly. Lynn had been a torch singer in front of, among others, Benny Goodman. She was also the chick singer of the Rooftop Singers when they cut their first version of "Walk Right In." The tickets were comped to us by Paul Rhone, a regular evening DJ at KRHM. I seldom listened to Bill Stewart's show because he was on at a time of day when I was not around radios. But I know that the DJs all respected and admired him and his work.
I want to recall that Bill's title on the air during the war and early postwar years was "The Master of C" or something similar. I talked with some WWII overseas vets who remembered him fondly.
I hope this is of some interest to you and that it might lead to some research that could round out his biography a bit."
Thank you Larry! From 1969 here's Bill with guest Mort Garson, the writer of "Our Day Will Come", Mort did neat things with the early synthisizers.
Friday, May 12, 2017
AFN Bremerhaven 1968
This is fun, Hans Knot sent this along. It's wonderful. His friend Paul was a big fan:
I came across a 1968 AFN Bremerhaven aircheck for a almost complete broadcast day. I started listening to AFN Bremerhaven in 64 and stayed with the station till closedown in 93. Especially those 60s recording for me are the best. The programs and the jingles, that’s my AFN Bremerhaven. I did work on the sound quality of this unique recording and was able to enhance it from poor to fair AM quality for those aging radio listener ears.
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Jim Pewter 1980
Jim with Little Richard
Hey everybody, jump up in your seats.
Here is the man with a million beats.
They make you jump, they make you sing.
He'll do just about anything.
Everybody gonna rock and roll steady with the Jim Pewter Show.
Jim lived up to the slogan. I could always feel the respect and love for the music. He introduced me to a lot of amazing memories.
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Chris Noel 1967
Thank you Chris for all that you do. Even today the Ceasefire house is a home to our brothers. Please throw a few bucks to help. Vetsville Ceasefire House on Facebook
Joe Ferguson 1983
In 1983 AFRTS tried an experiment with local jocks from all over the country doing shows. Joe Ferguson was doing great things in Portland OR and gave it a go... Joe shared these shows with us. Thank you my friend.
Sunday, May 7, 2017
AFN Latin Tempo 1980
In 1980, Germany based Latin soldiers had the Voice of Home with Latin Tempo from AFN. Guenther, a German who liked the music used to record it a lot. It had an impact. Here's another of his tapes.
Sports Reel 1948
Sportsreel, with inside stories about the events and personalities in the sporting world. Today Bill Stearns and Bill Brand have stories:
Thursday, May 4, 2017
FEN "The Way Back"
I see a lot of things where the story has been lost. This is from the "Philippine Air Force Show". I'd have to presume FEN, most likely the Philippines. PAF was created in 1947, late 40s? Any ideas?
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Charlie Tuna 1983
Charlie, thanks for all of the memories. This would have been one of the shows I played, right after my morning show in Panama. Always the best.
Monday, May 1, 2017
Chris Noel - 1969
Chris Noel was and is one pretty amazing lady. She brought home to GIs around the world.
AFVN Jolly Jim Lull - 1966
It wasn't quite AFVN in 1966, the Armed Forces Radio Service, Vietnam was rocking out with Jim Lull. This is part two of some great tape Dennis sent along. Many many thanks.
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.
Wolfman Jack - 1979
He sure had the magic. Only one we'd get complaints about. Wolfman could connect to the troops in the field. Complaints would come from Colonels, compliments would come from Corporals. We got him a better time slot.
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