Posts
Happy Halloween Ellery Queen!
Friday, October 28, 2022
Sunday, October 16, 2022
The Other Air War 1967
Sometimes I find the unexpected. In the 60s, we received news panel shows on vinyl ETs.
In a bunch of them was this. Jerry Golden and a team from WLS in Chicago produced a documentary about the air war in Vietnam. Take listen to what can be done on recording tape...
Roger Carroll 1970
It was a long story but several years ago Roger wanted an internet station and I was thrilled to help. He was in his 80s and still sharp as a whip. I learned a lot and am grateful.
This is the show before Roger went to AFN to record some shows in 1970. from his original ET. The Happy Hour continues!
Friday, October 7, 2022
Signature Sounds jingles
In 1978 we got the Signature Sounds jingles. It's been a while. These transcriptions had "locking grooves", so they're awful to transfer. But fun to hear again! Crank it up!
Garry had heard part of this before....
Sunday, October 2, 2022
Tom Campbell AFRTS demo
Tom Campbell is one of the AFRTS-LA friends that's been great in keeping this whole thing running.
After serving in the United States Air Force, Campbell was hired for his first radio job, at KEEL in Shreveport, La., by Al Hart, who would later become a newscaster and radio personality in San Francisco. Campbell subsequently worked in Minneapolis, Minnesota and at WONE in Dayton, Ohio before his move to KYA San Francisco in 1967.
In 1971 was one of the periodic restructurings of AFRTS. They were concerned we'd be rocking too hard.. AFRTS sent a demo...
Saturday, October 1, 2022
Jim Pewter and civilians
Our friend Chris was growing up in Frankfurt in the 70s and taped a lot of AFN. No way to put a date with any certainty on this, but here's a bunch of Jim Pewter.
You might well choose to re-phrase slightly, emphasizing that I was a German kid, and that - as a lot of German kids then - listened to AFN as a daily routine, which helped in improving our English significantly (I have had with some of my teachers a running battle when using american slang, instead of proper (university-style) English as they had been taught); pretty sure US-service people were unaware of Germans being part of their general audience!
Quite a few forums exist in which Germans emphasize the significant contribution AFN had on them and their lives, it is mentioned there that per year about 100.000 letters were pouring in to AFN in Germany, of which the bigger part was probably AFN Frankfurt (the APO number was I believe APO 057), and I remember getting one of my postcards actually being put "on the air" (you got that clip on the DVD as well, when Jim Powers - the Bostonian - presents "Baby Child" by Robin Luke "going out to Christoph in Offenbach, who hit it right on the head when he said that the most important bridge is "The bridge over troubled water".
Another German ex-AFN-listener - and I believe he has got a definite point on that - actually attributes the German radio-system targeted at young people as it still is today to the very existence of AFN and Germans listening to it!
The German public radio stations ran along the lines of the federal states, and were very much targeted to the mature establishment with German Schlager and orchestras. As young Germans were listening to AFN (and BFBS) with their stylish, amusing way of presenting modern (i.e. non-German) music, those national chains had to develop similar offerings in order not to loose their grasp on future audience. These turned out to be the "third program series" such as HR3 in Frankfurt, WDR3 in Dusseldorf, SWR3 in Stuttgart, etc. that today are actually the lynch-pins of their programs!
I remember as of early 1970s, these made big inroads into the German listeners-base of AFN, with SWR3 being the first specifically youth-oriented radio coming "on the air" with music and presenting techniques very much reminiscent to "my" AFN.
Still, I remained faithful to AFN as You see from the tapes.
regards
Christoph
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Hospital Radio
If you've been following the story, many troops were first exposed to military "radio" via closed circuit stations in US hospitals.
I was looking for this to attach to that story. After the war, the stars toured the VA hospitals. This program would have been heard on the "Bedpan Network".
Here's a 1954 magazine story about The Bedside Radio Network
From 1955, Rand's OTR is featuring a Hospital Radio show Hospital Radio Christmas Show 1955
Here's a 1954 magazine story about The Bedside Radio Network
Friday, September 9, 2022
Thursday, September 8, 2022
Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Turn Back The Clock 1958
Turn Back the Clock was a regional show that ended up on NBC (regional?) in 1955. They came over to AFRTS and shared songs from their personal collection. They've got some good ones today.
Saturday, September 3, 2022
Tom Campbell 1978
After serving in the United States Air Force, Campbell was hired for his first radio job, at KEEL in Shreveport, La., by Al Hart, who would later become a newscaster and radio personality in San Francisco.
Campbell subsequently worked in Minneapolis, Minnesota at WDGY and at WONE in Dayton, Ohio before his move to KYA 1260 AM San Francisco in 1967. He was known to loan his personal phonograph, record collection and even his car to individual listeners under the caveat that they simply return them, which they apparently did.
His home and car phone (yes, he had one of the rare car phones in 1967) numbers were publicly listed in the white and yellow pages of most Bay Area phone books, and he would receive calls from listeners at home.
Tom Campbell did two shows for us. "Tom Campbell Stateside" and a more album oriented "Playback". Tom went out to the garage and shared a couple boxes of these. I'm very grateful. It's time for Playback..
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Chris Noel 1969
Vetsville Cease Fire House
291 NE 19th Avenue
Boynton Beach, FL 33435
Phone: (561) 736-4325
FAX: (561) 736-4325
We are running out of money to run our operation. It’s very hard to keep a charity going in the current economy, with most people struggling from paycheck to paycheck. Now, Cease Fire House is in danger of closing its doors forever. I need your help!
I’m Chris Noel. In Hollywood, I did films with Elvis and Steve McQueen. In Vietnam, I performed live, and my radio show was broadcast to our troops, both in Vietnam and worldwide.
Then, in 1993, I founded Vetsville Cease Fire House, a non-profit charity based in Florida that is dedicated to providing food, shelter and care for indigent military veterans.
Vets make great employees. They’re dependable team players who work with pride, but finding full-time employment is often extremely difficult. And that's where Vetsville Cease Fire House comes in. Among the great organizations sponsoring us are the Nam Knights MC, a group of police officers and Vietnam veterans.
We’re also sponsored by groups like Rolling Thunder, Paul Revere and the Raiders, “Good Morning Vietnam’s” Adrian Cronauer, and various community organizations. We also hold popular yearly fund-raisers such as Veterans Day celebrations and Rock ‘n’ Roll Sunday!
Our mission is to provide homeless American military veterans --regardless of race, creed, color, sex or age -- with food, shelter, and a secure environment as we aid them in returning to society. That’s our goal -- and Vetsville Cease Fire House is making it happen ... with the help of your generous contribution!
Thank You For Your Time!Chris Noel
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Herman Griffith - mystery solved
Herman was a mystery to me, not a lot of information. Diana Kelly was researching him and shared results.
Herman Griffith Bio – Short Version
Researched and Written by Diana K.
Kelly, Ph.D.
August 29, 2022
Herman Griffith was one of the
early radio announcers in black formatted Soul radio stations of the 1950’s and
1960’s. He was a well-liked and well-respected
disc jockey on KGFJ in Los Angeles from 1958 to 1967 and brought Soul music to the
American Forces Radio and Television Service from 1966 to 1973.
Herman Dennis Griffith was born on
January 1, 1928 in Birmingham, Alabama, the first child of Herman Council
Griffith and Margurite Branham Griffith.
His parents divorced and remarried, and Herman lived with his mother and
step-father, William Callery, in Flemingsburg, Kentucky where his parents both taught
at the segregated school for black students.
Herman attended school
there until high school, but because the segregated high school had closed in
Flemingsburg, Herman had to travel 17 miles to the segregated black John G Fee
School in Maysville, Kentucky. He
attended his first two years of high school here until the family moved to Cincinnati,
Ohio, where Herman attended the integrated Hughes High School in his
junior and senior years. He graduated from
Hughes High School in 1945.
After high school, Herman attended
college, studying radio and drama at Central State College, a historically
black institution in Wilberforce, Ohio. In
the summers, Herman came home to Cincinnati and worked the late night shift at
the Cincinnati bus terminal as a “red cap.”
Herman graduated from Central State College with a bachelor’s degree in June
1949.
After finishing college, Herman
served in the Navy between June 1949 and November 1951. He had a dream of becoming a teacher, like
his parents, but he wanted to teach radio broadcasting. So after finishing his Navy service, Herman
tried to enroll in the 2-year graduate-level Radio program at the Cincinnati
Conservatory of Music. He needed a graduate degree to be a teacher. Herman applied several times but was turned
away because the college did not allow black students.
So he did the next best thing to
continue his education – he had private educational tutorials with one of the
professors in the radio program at the Cincinnati Music Conservatory. He also did free-lance work on Cincinnati
radio stations and continued working for the Cincinnati Bus Terminal,
announcing arrivals and departures from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Herman’s long battle to be
admitted to the Cincinnati Music Conservatory was well-documented in the
Cincinnati newspapers, the New York Times, and other newspapers. Protests were
held at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in favor of changing the admissions
policy to include black students, and many hearings were held. A signature drive was also done by students
to urge the college to change its discriminatory practices. There were strong feelings that any student
should be admitted based solely on merit and should not be excluded because of race. As a result, the institution made a change to
the admission policy to allow black students to attend. Finally in September of
1951 Herman Griffith was the first black student ever to be admitted to the
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in its 85-year history. Herman studied in the radio department and while
in college appeared in dramatic programs on WLW radio and WKRC-TV in
Cincinnati.
Herman got his first full-time
on-air radio job at a brand new black-oriented radio station, WXOK 1260 AM, in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which went on the air on February 16, 1953. He was part of a strong radio personality
line-up, and his air name was “Golden Boy Griffith.” Herman also worked at the sister station, WBOK in New Orleans
before returning to Cincinnati to do newscasts on WCIN later in 1953. In early 1955, Herman went to work on WWOK,
Charlotte, North Carolina, before returning to Cincinnati in July of 1955, where
he was on the air doing his own Gospel and R&B radio programs at WCIN in
1955 and 1956. WCIN was also one of the early radio stations programmed
specifically for the Black audience.
WCIN went on the air on October 26, 1953 playing Jazz, Rhythm &
Blues and Gospel music and providing news and community events for the large
black population in Cincinnati.
In October 1956, Herman joined the staff of another new radio
station -- WCHB in Detroit. The station
started broadcasting on November 1, 1956 and was the first black-owned radio
station. WCHB was also committed to specifically serving the local black
population in Detroit. When starting
this new station, the program director recruited experienced disc jockeys from other
large-market black-formatted radio stations, including Herman Griffith. The
1957 Broadcasting Yearbook listed Herman Griffith as the News Director for
WCHB. Herman’s time at WCHB was less
than a year due to illness. By November
of 1957, Herman was back on the air at WLEX in Lexington, Kentucky as “Papa
Rock.”
Herman moved on to Los Angeles to work for KGFJ which was
starting a new full-time format for the local black audience. The new format
started in September 1958 as the first 24-hour format for the black community. The air staff at KGFJ was racially
integrated, which was very unusual at that time.
In September 1958, Herman did the evening shift from 6pm to
midnight Mon – Sat, which included three programs – “KGFJ Showcase” (big band
jazz), “Roadside Chapel” (gospel music),
and “Record Caravan” (Soul and R&B
Hits) from 9pm to midnight. On Friday evenings Herman did a program for
the military called “Air Force Record Flight,” and on Monday evenings he had a
program called “Air Force Tiger in the Sky.” Herman’s air shift changed in late
November of 1959 when Hunter Hancock, joined KGFJ. Hunter took over the 6-9 p.m. air shift, and
Herman continued doing the “Record Caravan” program from 9 p.m. to midnight, Monday
– Saturday.
In 1960 Herman Griffith wrote the lyrics to a song composed
by Hal Davis, called “Can I?” It was
recorded by local LA jazz singer Jennell Hawkins and was released as a single
on “Dynamic Records.” Although it
received a favorable review in Cash Box Magazine, it didn’t sell many records. A year later Jennell released another song,
this time on “Amazon Records.” This song was “Moments to Remember” which was a
big hit, particularly on R&B radio stations. The flip side of this single was “Can
I?” Although the original recording
didn’t get as much attention as it deserved, the song was later recorded by
five more artists: Brenda Holloway
(1964), Eddie Kendricks (1971), Vee Allen (1972), Nancy Wilson (1973) and David
Peaston (1989). This song was also used
in a 1997 stage musical “Street Corner Symphony” produced in Florida.
In 1962 Herman was the host of the Thursday Talent
Night at “Club Nite Life” – 3801 S. Western Ave in LA. [NOTE – in 2022 this
building is an Auto Body shop.] These
Thursday night programs were very popular – standing room only. Herman used these Talent events to discover
new music and entertainment talent and he also brought in big-name stars,
including Etta James. Later another KGFJ
DJ, Rudy Harvey, joined Herman on Thursday nights. In September of 1962, Herman
was honored with a party at “Club Nite Life” to recognize his efforts to find
new music talent. The party was hosted
by columnist Gertrude Gipson who was also the owner of Club Nite Life.
In April of 1964 there was a "Payola" scandal in
Los Angeles radio, and 25 high-profile Los Angeles radio announcers and others were
accused of accepting pay from the record companies for playing certain
records. The radio people accused of this included some very highly
regarded DJs, including Casey Kasem -- and Herman Griffith. The court
hearings went on for two years until 1966. The Los Angeles Times covered the
FCC probe at the U.S. courthouse in Los Angeles. After the hearings were completed, the FCC
determined in 1967 that there was insufficient evidence to prove the
accusations of payola.
By September
of 1964, KGFJ had new owners and new management. Tracy Broadcasting
Company purchased the station from Ben McGlashen. A week later a slight format change was
announced in Billboard Magazine, saying that Blues and Jazz and “Dee Jay Picks”
were gone, and the station would be emphasizing Rhythm & Blues and would
have a more consistent sound. Arnie Schorr was the new General Manager and Cal
Milner was called the “Merchandising-Production Manager,” but he later became the Program
Director. Both came from KHJ, home of the
“Boss Radio.” The KGFJ news vans were taken off the streets and there was less
emphasis on local news coverage.
However, the news vans were back in action during the 1965 summer Watts
riots, and were the only news vehicles allowed to be in the streets of the riot
areas. In the summer of 1965, Herman Griffith’s show was moved to afternoons, noon
– 5:00 p.m. Meanwhile, Herman continued to do his Thursday night program at
“Club Nite Life,” teaming up with Rosie Greer for these shows.
At the age of 38, in July 1966 Herman made a slight career
shift. While still working at KGFJ he had
started recording Soul programs for AFRTS, the American Forces Radio and
Television Service (later known as AFN).
AFRTS brought him in specifically to provide the first Soul and R&B
programs for the overseas military. By
August of 1966, Herman announced that he had left KGFJ to work for AFRTS. He produced his programs in the AFRTS Los
Angeles studios from 1966 until 1973.
The studios were located at 1016 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, 90038,
in a large, secure building that looks like a grey box. Although the building is still there, it is
no longer used by AFRTS. Other big-name
Los Angeles radio personalities also recorded radio programs for AFRTS in these
LA studios to be aired around the world for U.S. military personnel stationed
overseas.
By March of 1967 Herman came back to KGFJ to work on the
overnight shift, doing programs at the well-known “Dolphins of Hollywood”
record store. He did this overnight program
through November 1967.
In May and June of 1971, the LA Sentinel published articles about
a minority recruitment program for XERB (later XPRS) which stated that XERB hired
Larry Diggs, Larry McCormick, and Herman Griffith for their air staff. However, it isn’t clear whether Herman was
ever on the air at XERB because his name never appeared in future articles
about XERB’s new format.
In May of 1973, at age 45, Herman Griffith had an illness or
injury that was so severe he was no longer able to work. His last AFRTS
programs were aired in May of 1973. After that Roland Bynum’s show took over
the time slot previously used by Herman Griffith. Not much is known about his life from this
point until his death. At the age of 63, Herman Griffith had a heart attack and
died in Los Angeles on April 4, 1991. Herman
Griffith was married three times. His
first wife died, and his other two marriages ended in divorce. He had no children.
Throughout Herman Griffith’s life, he faced numerous
challenges, but he always persevered and overcame the challenges. Herman was an
outstanding radio personality who broke ground for future black radio
broadcasters. His friendly and energetic
approach on the air made him popular among his Los Angeles audience and among
overseas audiences who heard him on AFRTS.
Herman Griffith made important contributions to the early radio stations
focused on serving the black community.
Herman Griffith – Chronological List of
Radio Stations
1952 – WLW, Cincinnati
– radio acting while in college at Cincinnati Music Conservatory
Feb 16, 1953
– WXOK, Baton Rouge – and later in 1953, WBOK, New Orleans
Late 1953 -
1954 – WCIN, Cincinnati – news
1955-1-5 – WWOK,
Charlotte, N. C.
1955-7-30 – WCIN,
Cincinnati
1956-10-17 –
WCHB, Detroit – news director in 1957 Broadcasting Yearbook
Nov 1957 – WLEX,
Lexington, Kentucky -- as “Papa Rock”
1958-9-1 –
July 1966 – KGFJ, Los Angeles
July 1966 – May
1973 – AFRTS -- recording programs in Los Angeles for distribution to troops
overseas.
March – Nov 1967
– KGFJ, Los Angeles – overnights on the broadcast from “Dolphins of Hollywood.”
Jun 1971 –
Herman was hired at XERB by Golden West Broadcasters. (No references to him at
XERB after that, so he may not have actually done any shows for them.)
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Charlie Tuna 1983
Charlie in the movie "Rollercoaster"
Radio Hall of Fame member Charlie Tuna was great. A quarter century with AFRTS. 40 years on the air in Los Angeles. We lost a great talent. When I was overseas Charlie was one of the key voices of Armed Forces radio. See why...
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Sports Interviews - 1943
Joe Hassle is back with Sports Interviews talking with early 1900s baseball legend Honus Wagner.
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Jim Pewter 1968
Photo copyright Playground Productions. thank you Jim!
Straight ahead, don't bunch up!
Jim Pewter 1968
More Jim Pewter
Friday, July 15, 2022
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Friday, July 8, 2022
Harry Newman 1985
Harry's daughter shared the following:
My dad was a HUGE fan & supporter of those in the military & was thrilled that one of my daughters was born on Nov 10...just a few hours away from Veterans Day. He ALWAYS reminded me when Veteran's Day was coming, bc he just had so much reverence & respect for those who served. And if I happened to be visiting in November, we always ate out on the 11th!
And Harry was the voice of "Cops". On today's show, it's a summer day in 1985 and Ed Bruce stops by.
Thursday, July 7, 2022
Turn Back The Clock
Andy and Virginia Mansfield brought their brand of oldies to NBC and shortly around that time to AFRTS.
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
AFN Pam Windsor 1984
This came in on one of Chris's great tapes that he'd been saving for years. When I asked Pam:
Friday, July 1, 2022
Tom Campbell 1971
Tom Campbell had an amazing focus. He just sounds excited and like every last word is important. And it's not an act, he's excited about life, He really could make reading the phone-book pop.
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
AFN and AFRTS jingles
Some days the jingles rock. This is from several jingle packages. Some are voiced AFN, some voiced AFRTS. Ed Tooma is on the voice drops.
Monday, June 27, 2022
Chris Noel 1968
During Vietnam, actress Chris Noel did the “Date With Chris” show, one of the most popular programs in the history of the network. There are some examples in the blog. Since the war she’s run a shelter for veterans, still fighting the good fight. Take 10 seconds and help a great person. Now she needs your help. Please do what you can. Vetsville
s
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
AFRS Iceland - JIm Rourke 1971
Jim Roark checked in with his memories of AFRTS in Iceland:
Karl Phillips directed me to this site: he worked the Nite Owl show on nights when I was off. I was full time at the radio station from sometime in 71 to sometime in 73. Prior to that I volunteered as Karl did, canning an oldies show called Shake, Rattle and Roark from 70 to 73. Other DJ's from that time were Tom Weicks (mgr), Mark Lazar (Morning Man), Tom Hughes (drive time), Bob Howard (replaced Tom) and Karl. We were given credit by someone for introducing rock music to the Icelanders.
I i left Iceland in 1973 and got out of the navy in October. In November I started the radio/electronics course at Elkins Institute in Atlanta, took the FCC exams in February and got my 1st and 2d Class licenses. As for any further broadcasting, my father, who put DJ's just slightly ahead of used car salesmen, sent me to law school (which occupation, it could be argued, was beneath both of the above).
I practiced law for 12 years then became a judge. I got my old band back together in 2008 and played for two years. I'm now remastering some songs I wrote in Iceland, one of which has been selected to appear on an album.
AFRS Reykjavik - Jim Rourke 1971
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Love with Tony Pigg 1971
In 1971 no one was even sure what AOR was but Tony Pigg was doing it in New York at WPLJ. AFRTS was rockin..
"Love" with Tony Pigg
Love With Tony Pigg - 1971
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Bob KIngsley 1975
For someone who went on to host American Country Countdown, Bob Kingsley could sure rock up a storm. Bob was an Air Force AFRS Iceland vet. Take a listen:
Monday, June 13, 2022
Tom Campbell 1971
Tom Campbell is back with what's happening stateside. Today we see what's going on in Honolulu from KPOI.
Tom has sent over a bunch of shows that he did and his best wishes. Enjoy!
Thursday, June 9, 2022
Charlie Tuna 1973
Charlie and Michael Jackson
I used to do the morning show in Panama then run the Charlie Tuna show...and listen. Charlie had an awful lot of what we wanted to grow up to be" Years later I was working at a station in Manchester and the PD was asked me how I could do content that wasn't cliché "topical" or "music related" but was 'one on one'. It was something I think we learned from all of the AFRTS guys, but Charlie in particular.
Thanks for the memories!
Friday, June 3, 2022
RIP Gene Price
Some sad news:
Gene Price passed away last night. He'd been ill for the last couple years with various ailments.
I'm forwarding the email I received tonight from Gene's wife Janet.
Marc Yablonka
From: Janet Price Date: Thu, Jun 2, 2022 at 11:20 PMSubject: Yesterday
Dear Marc, Rudy and Cathy,Sad to tell you that Gene passed at 8:24 last night. He had been holding his own for quite awhile, but began declining quickly at 4:30 p.m.We were married for 52 years, tho wanted more. But God wanted him Home, so grateful for every memory.You were special friends and I do appreciate all you have meant to us both.From happier times, a few years ago I got Gene on the phone. He was a very special person
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Johnny Bond 1961
Johnny Bond did a lot of songs, movies and had a long term radio gig with AFRTS. Archive.org has much of his music click here He brought the back home music
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Jim Pewter 1979
Album Jim did for the USO
Jim lives the oldies. From his time with his band to AFKN, Los Angeles radio and then the worldwide network it's just really hard to describe. Fire up the grill, grab a beer and remember.
Monday, May 30, 2022
Lyndon Johnson - Memorial Day 1963
Vice president Lyndon Johnson on Memorial Day 1963 as broadcast by AFRTS
.
Harry Newman 1991
There's two more weeks to go on the first Gulf War and time for the Harry Newman show. Harry had a big career in country radio in Los Angeles KBLA, 1965-66; KBBQ, 1967-68; KLAC, 1970-84. Harry retired in 1995 and was living the good life in central California.
Monday, May 23, 2022
Mary Turner 1994
Mary Turner was rocking. In 1994 it had already been a ten year run. Take a listen..
Saturday, May 21, 2022
Silly spots
>
Finding sweet spot between informative and zany at AFN
Friday, May 20, 2022
Harry Newman 1994
In the early 1990s Matt was in England enjoying the sounds of AFN from hundreds of miles away:
I recorded these in east Anglia (approximately 800 miles away from the transmitter at Weisskirchen) using my trusty old boom box. Sometimes, at night, when the weather was right, you could get a pretty good signal. The recordings were all somewhere between 1991 and 1996. Sorry I’m not sure of exact dates. Because I was limited to 30 or 45 min audio cassettes, I didn’t tend to record whole shows, instead recording a section where I was interested, I also seem to have a habit of sometimes stopping the recording if the DJ was playing a song I could get in the UK.
He recorded a lot of things I didn't have. Thanks for sharing!!!
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
Chris Noel 1969
Vetsville Cease Fire House
291 NE 19th Avenue
Boynton Beach, FL 33435
Phone: (561) 736-4325
I’m Chris Noel. In Hollywood, I did films with Elvis and Steve McQueen. In Vietnam, I performed live, and my radio show was broadcast to our troops, both in Vietnam and worldwide.
Then, in 1993, I founded Vetsville Cease Fire House, a non-profit charity based in Florida that is dedicated to providing food, shelter and care for indigent military veterans.
Vets make great employees. They’re dependable team players who work with pride, but finding full-time employment is often extremely difficult. And that's where Vetsville Cease Fire House comes in. Among the great organizations sponsoring us are the Nam Knights MC, a group of police officers and Vietnam veterans.
We’re also sponsored by groups like Rolling Thunder, Paul Revere and the Raiders, “Good Morning Vietnam’s” Adrian Cronauer, and various community organizations. We also hold popular yearly fund-raisers such as Veterans Day celebrations and Rock ‘n’ Roll Sunday!
Our mission is to provide homeless American military veterans --regardless of race, creed, color, sex or age -- with food, shelter, and a secure environment as we aid them in returning to society. That’s our goal -- and Vetsville Cease Fire House is making it happen ... with the help of your generous contribution!
Thank You For Your Time!Chris Noel
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Jim Pewter
Jim Pewter and Mamie Van Doren
Jim Pewter just sent up a bunch of 1995 shows. Didn't we go to different high schools together? Thank you Jim. Thank you Timmy (Radio's best friend)
Sunday, May 15, 2022
Quick Look at DINFOS
DINFOS 1972
The Army began their Army Information School in 1946 at Carlisle Barracks PA. In the following years the school did varying degrees of joint service training until 1951. That was the year that The Armed Forces Information School opened at Ft Slocum NY. The Navy operated their own school at Great Lakes.
1964 brought us the Defense Information School at Ft Slocum, moving to Ft Benjamin Harrison in 1965
In 1992 DINFOS was merged with the Defense Photography School (DPHSCH), and the Defense Visual Information School (DVISCH) at Ft Meade MD.
Every year DINFOS graduates another 4,000 Public Affairs professionals.
DINFOS is where a lot of memories began.
Thursday, May 12, 2022
AFRS Alaska - Steve Phillips 1967
Here's our first visit with AFRS Alaska. It's 1967 and Steve Phillips brings the music.
Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Love - with Tony Pigg 1971
These are fun. By 1971 "Free-form" rock stations started in many markets. In New York ABCs WPLJ sounded great and Tony Pigg was a great example.
Monday, May 9, 2022
John Doremus 1967
I found some complete 1967 John Doremus shows. John originated in-flight music on aircraft and did a nighttime show in Chicago that was eventually syndicated by the airlines to a lot of stations. John was one of the giants of broadcasting in general and to AFRTS in particular
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Battle of Guadalcanal 1942
I was at the record store and saw a used album by the USMC Band. The thing was too thick. With the record were 2 12" 78s that sound like they were done for the troops as a command information thing. This one has a short clip recorded in the studio at Guadalcanal. There's just not much audio from the Mosquito Network. It's a good listen.
Bob Kingsley 1975
Bob Kingsley visits SCN in the Panama Canal Zone 1972 (photo: Gerry Fry)
Somehow it still amazes me. Bob Kingsley was a really good rock jock. He was one of us. He'd done a tour at our Iceland station. Bob later went on to be the voice of country music on American Country Countdown. In 1975, it was time to rock.
Charles Goyette remembers that picture " I was also more than a little surprised to see myself on the page in a photo with Bob Kingsley at SCN. That was in summer of ’72. Also in the shot are LtC. Dan Maguire (our CO and a very fine man), Tom Colvin, John Fisher, Bob Rupp, Paul Warhanik, and Phil Lane. I’m surprised the talented Lee McGowan wasn’t in that shot.
We were good hosts to Kingsley during his visit to Panama. And some time later Bob was an equally good host when Lee, Gerry Fry, and I visited him in L.A. As I recall, Robert Fuller, the actor in TV westerns like Wagon Train, was Bob’s brother-in-law. Among other things, Bob took us on the lot for a shooting of the series Emergency that Fuller was starring in.
Great seeing that picture again!"
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