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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.
Thursday, October 3, 2024
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.
Roger Carroll 1977
Roger Carroll with a Monday show, transfer is a little rough but the music's great and so are the memories. Thanks Roger!!!
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Rebel Randall 1051
Rebel Randall
After GI Jill and the "GI Jive" and before Chris Noel and a "Date With Chris", we had Rebel Randall and "Jukebox USA". It was a Korean War program. Downbeat magazine had said that her show was cancelled after high ranking officers had decided that she was sounding too sexy.
Vance Graham 1974
"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 and Latino!
Herman Griffith 1965
Don Browne shares some memories:
"When I first heard "The Herman Griffith Show" on AFRTS (at FEN in 1969), I was appalled.
He was "stepping on" the starting vocal (later called "the post") of every song, "talking over" the entire lyric of many songs, and worst of all, mispronouncing AFRTS. Griffith called it "Aye-Eff-Argh-ugh-Tee-Ess!
He was definitely relegated to the "vampire squad" (1 a.m. to 5 a.m.) on FEN!
It was two years later that I discovered what caused "the Herman Griffith syndrome".
I visited AFRTS-LA and took a closer look at their so-called "broadcast studios".
They had been designed as "recording studios" by a contractor who was told that "they were making records" at AFRTS-LA.
A true enough statement. But not making records like for orchestras and singers, with separate channels each with EQ, separate tape-recorder playback of selectable sources designed for multi-track, and combination of audio sources "down-stream" for multi-track. They initially didn't have "mute" when a microphone was "live" because "recording studios" didn't "mute" mikes.
A typical "recording studio", not for broadcasting purposes.
The multi-channel audio control consoles were manufactured by "Unidyne" for four studios at 1016 North McCadden Place in 1965.
When Herman Griffith recorded his show, he heard the music on playback from the tape recorder, two-seconds after the "live" recorder input. Playback was for confidence-only, to ensure that a recording was being made. Herman's voice was combined "down-stream", so Herman in natural radio procedure "cupped-his-ear" to hear his "live" voice.
Therefore, in real time, Herman stepped on every starting vocal.
The radio producers weren't experienced in the R&B format and thought this was normal.
The "Unidynes" were eventually replaced with "broadcast" consoles."
This would have been the place to rock. Roland Bynum said that Herman introduced him to the AFRTS gig.
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Andy Mansfield 1964
Bust outside of the Corn Exchange in Bedford, England
Andy Mansfield has the final part of his tribute to Maj Glenn Miller on the 20th Anniversary of his passing.
Tom Campbell 1971
Always grateful when our AFRTS family can share the shows they did for us way back when. Tom Campbell Stateside is on the air!
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