Al "Jazzbo" Collins was quite a talent, broadcasting from the "purple grotto", inspired by horrible paint in the WNEW studios..
"I started my broadcast in Studio One which was painted all kinds of tints and shades of purple on huge polycylindricals which were vertically placed around the walls of the room to deflect the sound. It just happened to be that way. And with the turntables and desk and console and the lights turned down low, it had a very cavelike appearance to my imagination. So I got on the air, and the first thing I said was, "Hi, it's Jazzbo in the Purple Grotto." You never know where your thoughts are coming from, but the way it came out was that I was in a grotto, in this atmosphere with stalagtites and a lake and no telephones. I was using Nat Cole underneath me with "Easy Listening Blues" playing piano in the background."
There was a very jazzy imagery.
In 1967, Al "Jazzbo" Collins brought a retrained Purple Grotto to AFRTS.
