Thursday, June 29, 2023

Air Rescue Vietnam 1968

 


I was going through crates of ETs looking for something else, and found this.  Glad I did.  Air Force SGT Herb Manchester did this from AFVN.  

Sometimes AFRTS-LA would have contests.  If something was really well done, it was distributed worldwide.


Vance Graham 1973

 





"Vance Graham", was a radio announcer, on-the-scene news reporter and later disc-jockey. He was born in Denver, Colorado. In 1927 he received a scholarship from the United Daughters of the Confederacy to attend the University of Virginia where he studied journalism. After graduation he traveled to Los Angeles. Soon after his arrival, he worked as a cook in a downtown hotel.


Blessed with a deep, clear and resonant voice, he soon found work at radio station KMPC in Hollywood as an announcer, newscaster, interviewer and disc jockey.
During World War II, he worked as "Assistant News Editor" for KMPC and because he was bi-lingual, speaking both English and Spanish, he recorded Latin American music shows for the Armed Forces Radio Network. He did live reports for the station in both Los Angeles and San Francisco.


In the 1950s and 60s, there was a huge surge in the popularity of Latin music with the "cha cha cha" and "bolero", so he had a radio show called "Bolero Time" heard every Sunday on KMPC.  A recorded version of Bolero Time was also heard on AFRTS.   He was married from 1954 to 1958 to Estrellita Santos who acted as co-host for his radio program during that time.

In the 70s he had 2 more Latin American shows on KMPC, KFI and KTYM. Graham hosted the shows called "Latino" and "Viva" as a character he named "Victor".

We lost Vance Graham in 1984, his ashes were spread over the Pacific.
(a more complete version of the above is at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=49068615  )

But now, from 1973, here's Victor:


Roland Bynum 1974

 


Roland Bynum has another "Soul In Motion".  Roland has touched a lot of people, both as a broadcaster and as an educator.  Today it's all about the Air Force and some legendary music.



Gene Price 1974

 

Gene and Janet

Thank you Mr. Pierce.  Gene Price has the best in country on the Country Express, for today's Army!
Thank you Arie!



Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Gary Owens 1969

  


Gary's back with more of his patented brand of silliness.  KMPC, the voice of Space Ghost, Laugh-In.  Somehow it ties together but always great.


In 1969, heard worldwide on AFRTS



Charlie Tuna 1982




 Charlie's back to start your day.  And there's a special broadcast, the third launch of the Columbia space shuttle (all went well).


Chris Noel Interview 1968

 


In 1968 Chris Noel was visiting the troops.  She stopped at Johnston Atoll and it was a big moment to get an interview.


My name is John Rodman and I was a sailor on Johnston Atoll from 1967-1968.
Sometime in 1968 Chris Noel's plane stopped in for fuel and she did an interview for our AFRTS station which I was able to record to reel to reel tape.  The tape and player are old and noisy but I converted it to MP3 just to save it for posterity?  Anyhow it is attached to this email and you're welcome to it.  Maybe a pro like you can clean up the hiss and uneven volume levels.  Some one might get a kick out of it, I know it was a big deal at the time.  There were no woman on the Island in the sixties!

 
Wonderful!  Thanks for sharing the memories.



"Really enjoyed the interview with Chris Noel. I remember well stopping at Johnson Island in 1951 on the way to Manila. There was nothing there but an old airstrip and gooney birds!"
 
Best,
Jim Gough
AFRS Sangley Point 1951 

Herman Griffith 1968

  


Sure was some great music.  Herman Griffith came to us from KGFJ.  A while back I found out what the deal was where he's not "hitting the posts", when AFRTS upgraded their studios there wasn't a proper headphone output.  Herman would have been more dependent on a headphone output that most. Love the energy and the music.



Monday, June 26, 2023

Kris Erik Stevens 1983

   


Kris Erik Stevens made a lot of great radio, taking Chicago then Los Angeles by storm.  Over the last few years, Kris has been the voice of the pre-show music at the theatre.  Here's part of 1983 with Kris Erik:


Wow Thomas........
Hearing my radio show performed years ago was
quite a wakeup call on my Sunday morning ----- 
Takes me back in time..... 
Thanks for sharing memories of my AFRTS radio days.
Kris Erik Stevens




Sunday, June 25, 2023

Harry Newman 1980

  


Top (l to r): Harry Newman and Hoss Barnes
Below (l to r): Corky Mayberry, Bob Jackson, Hugh Jarrett and Larry Scott

Time for more of your country favorites with Harry Newman: Today Harry's guest is Jimmy Rogers.



Saturday, June 24, 2023

Jubilee 1942

 





I normally don't bother with "split" shows but Jubilee is always special.  In late 1942 we recorded the (Nat) King Cole trio, Mantan Moreland with wonderful comedy, Judy Carroll and Noble Sissle. Supporting the troops should always be this good.



Thursday, June 22, 2023

AFN Turn your radio down...

 

When I was a teenager in Minneapolis in the early 1970s this clip periodically ran on Mark Durenberger's WLOL-FM jazz show. Somehow he still had, could locate and sent me a copy of it. Unfortunately he had no further information other than probably late 50s or early 1960s. Do you know who it is?


Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Jim Pewter 1981

 



Jim Pewter has your required dose of the greatest hits of the 1960s.  His feel for that music has never been matched.  Easy to see how this AFKN vet could start with the network in 1967 and stay to the very end of AFRTS-LA programming.

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

AFN Nightside - Craig Miller and Abba 1974

 


The Craig Miller tapes continue.  I had always heard in the past that their English was limited.  What we heard was wrong.


Monday, June 19, 2023

Chuck Cecil 1961



 In the late 1950s Chuck Cecil was doing an oldies show on KFI.  "The Swingin' Years" spotlighted the hits of the 30s and 40s.  It was picked up by AFRTS and was still running well into the 1980s.  Chuck was still doing the show in 2010s on a public station in Los Angeles although he was retired.  Quite a run, a bit of fun, The swingin' years...



Friday, June 16, 2023

Wolfman Jack 1985

 




Wolf has his shows back in syndication, visit the online museum  http://www.wolfmanjack.org

And here's how it was done:





Thursday, June 15, 2023

Joe Ferguson 1983

 


From Portland to you.  Joe Ferguson from KUPL did a series of shows for AFRTS in 1983.  A few years ago he shared them with us.  It's a fun listen.



Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Roland Bynum 1973

 

Roland Bynum with his daughter and son

It's the best Bynum.  Roland has the songs of 1973 in this Air Force recruiting program recorded for Roger Carroll's company and heard from coast-to-coast.


Tuesday, June 13, 2023

AFVN Quang Tri 1970

 Here's some silent film of AFVN Quang Tri



Seems to take forever to buffer

 
Doug Jennings had some more information: "That is SFC Jim Psak editing the film, pulling the slides and later in the TV Studio.  The TV Van was brought from Hue to Quang Tri. From the biography of Vic Sage on the MACOI site, it says, "When he arrived in Saigon as a SP5, he was met by the network OIC, LTC Ray Nash, who explained that he was to be a part of the rebuilding of Detachment 5, which had been relocated following its destruction by Communist troops during 1968's Tet Offensive from Hue to Quang Tri. Victor left immediately, and once the TV van was hauled to its new location he was part of the crew that patched and refitted the equipment. Although damaged, the van was found to be serviceable. There were three bullet holes in the electronics bay and another in the studio section, where an announcer would sit."
 
  • Rick Fredericksen  "I wonder if the bullet holes were caused by the attackers, or, maybe the AFVN engineers damaged it so a workable TV station would not fall into enemy hands???"


  • Gene Price 1974

     

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

     

    Mary Helen Barro 1983

     


    Mary Helen Barro, "la voz de su casa" She carried on on the Latino tradition of Chiquita, Victor, Hernan Escodon and others.



    Pete Smith 1976

       


    When I was in the field, the easy listening shows felt painful. As I "mature" I can understand the genius behind them. Thanks for asking, Chris!

    Monday, June 12, 2023

    Gary Owens 1967

     


     

    You may find this a bit garish.   From the big 810, here's the insegrevious Gary Owens.
     

     

    Charlie Tuna 1982




    Would you like some breakfast serial with that?
    It's almost Christmas 1982



    Saturday, June 10, 2023

    Chris Noel 1969

     


    The weekend is almost here.  Chris Noel has memories of 1969




    Kris Erik Stevens 1981

       



    Milwaukee born Kris was with us after taking Chicago by storm WCFL, WLS (replaced Art Roberts) and to CKLW and Los Angeles.  Visit his website http://kriserikstevens.com/ In 1981 here's what happened...

     

    Thursday, June 8, 2023

    Harry Newman 1986

     


    Time for more Harry Newman.  The next time "Cops" comes on, listen closely to the announcer.  From 1986, welcome back Harry Newman..



    Wednesday, June 7, 2023

    Jazzbo Collins 1967

     


    Jazzbo is back with memories from the Purple Grotto



    Jim Pewter 1980

     


    Jim Pewter was great.  Such a mixture of the familiar and unfamiliar that was the Jim Pewter show.  Jim was an AFKN vet, starting a super Los Angeles run shortly after. 

    This time it's back to 1980.  Friday night, I was at SCN, getting ready for "Evening of the Isthmus".  Time for Jim Pewter



    Tuesday, June 6, 2023

    Learn someting new every day

     We've got our first monthly subscriber.  THANKS SCOTT!!! Paypal will let you pick an amount that's good for you and automatically take care of it.  Couldn't be easier.  Thank you!

    AFRN Alaska - Michael Brown 1971

     




    Yes, Adak, Alaska, (halfway out the Aleutian chain), has a radio station.  Two of them actually,  The AM station on 890 kHz (yep WLS) and an automated  FM.

    I was in the Navy and was a CTM-2 when I arrived on Adak, June 1970.  I  left 1 year, 22 hours and 15 minutes later (plane landing to plane takeoff).

    My main job had nothing to do with radio, but since I had an interest in being a DJ, I managed to get a weekend shift in the late night hours on Sunday, for 1.5 hours.  I eventually got moved to Sat afternoons for 2 hours and then expanded to 3 hrs.  I have tapes of pretty much all of my shows, which I've recently transferred to WAV files on the computer.

    While there, the staff of the station did a radio series called Ptarmigan Tim.
    At my last tour of duty, which was Edzell, Scotland, I did four DeeJay gigs at the EM club near the end of 1973. Did some private party deejaying for a few years after getting out.

    During the hey-day of Doctor Who on PBS, I did pledge drives answering phone banks and a few times did on camera pledge drives.
    Otherwise, I got into electronics as well as computers; self taught Unix system adminstration long before Microcrap came along. So, I am one of those computer geeks and my house has the computers to show for it.

     

    AFRS Adak - Michael Brown May 29, 1971 Last show

    Monday, June 5, 2023

    Roger Carroll 1981

     


    Roger Carroll is back with the Best Sounds in Town and some great memories.


    Wolfman Jack 1983



    When I arrived in Panama, they were scheduling him late in the night.  Wolf said something that made someone mad.  In a very charming way.



    Joe Ferguson 1983

     

    Joe in 1974

    Joe Ferguson has your worldwide favorites in this 1983 AFRTS show.



    Sunday, June 4, 2023

    Roland Bynum 1973

     


    1973 was an amazing year for Soul music.  Was the music great or did Roland make it that much better?  I think it was a bit of both.  We just received several "Soul In Motion", the Air Force recruiting show Roland did for Roger Carroll's company.  These are great listening:




    Gene Price 1974

     



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



    Friday, June 2, 2023

    Gunsmoke 1957


     Around Dodge City they had one way to deal with the killers and spoilers... A US marshal's badge and Gunsmoke.


    Gunsmoke radio cast, upper left is William Conrad (Matt Dillon), also the announcer on Rocky and Bullwinkle and Frank Cannon.  

    We had a lot of places where television was late to the mix.  Radio dramas and comedies ran well into the 1990s. "Professor Lute Bone" originally broadcast October 20, 1957. This recording of the show is from a 1967 reissue.  




    Pete Smith 1993

       


    Pete Smith has your easy favorites, with great stories.  "Sketches in Sound".  Roger Carroll told me Pete had a pretty incredible day job.  KMPC had him as full-time standby.  Fulltime check for just being able to cover any shift.  I don't think that's done anymore.