Posts
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Torrejon - 1981
In Spain in the late late 70s and early 80s Vicente recorded a lot of bits and pieces from our station there. The station was FM, the cassettes were well recorded. There's Wolfman, Casey, the Afternoon show and Dallas Burnett with the Parade of Sports. On some weekend in 1981 all of our stations sounded a lot like this..
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Larry McKay - 1985
Larry worked all over the city:
KHJ, 1974-75; KKDJ, 1975; KIIS, 1975-81; KFI, 1981-82; KMPC, 1982-92; KRLA, 1992-96; KFWB, 1996-97; KRTH, 1997-2008; KFWB, 1998-2000. Larry did swing at "K-Earth" for many years.
So with the day job being KMPC, Larry played worldwide:
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Monitor - 1967
"Monitor" was a big deal at NBC. It was a mixture of new, interviews, features and music. They started the show in 1955 and ran until 1975. AFRTS ran it much of the time.
Dennis Hart is the authority of all things Monitor:
NBC gave the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service access to "Monitor" segments, which were edited to remove commercials and much of the hosts' continuity. An hour of the AFRTS version of "Monitor" would be culled from several hours of "Monitor" as it had originally aired over NBC. So what you'll hear in the hour is a compilation of Barry Nelson as he hosted a four-hour Sunday afternoon "Monitor" segment in 1967. (And, yes, the "strange" intro to the segment is something AFRTS put in -- not something NBC aired.)
Barry had left Monitor in December 1966. This show went out in 1967.
Barry had left Monitor in December 1966. This show went out in 1967.
Monitor has a tribute page. Click here
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Danny Kramer - 1983
Always tons of talent. Danny Kramer from KSL in Salt Lake City was one of the hometown jocks that did shows for the network in 1983.
Covering the world, it's the Danny Kramer show. Danny updated us on Facebook:
thanks for responding to this. AFRTS came to me and asked me to do a 26 week series of 3 hour shows based on what I was doing on KSL at the time. Had great response, but it took most of every Sunday doing the prep and engineering. Made my year, for sure.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
AFRTS 1982
Here are some memories, Dick Clark and Kris Erik Stevens jingles and a piece of Humble Harv with the survey...
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Bob Crosby - 1944
Bob Crosby did a lot of shows for us during WWII, usually as a DJ sometimes with his band.
"Yank Swing Session" was interesting. Sometimes they played records. Usually they played unissued music from radio shows. Here's a 1944 visit.
Monday, July 7, 2014
AFN Kaiserslautern Radio Club
Michael Shimp had the following memories, thank you!
I was part of a work study program at AFN Kaiserslautern in the early seventies. I (and many others) read news about our local high school (Zweibruecken American) and played musical requests from the students and faculty. We alternated weeks with the K-Town American high school. This is a page from the Zweibruecken yearbook of 1973. Despite what the pictures show, we seldom touched the equipment, we just wrote scripts together and read them. Army Specialist Dennis Mclintock (sp) recorded and edited the show. I joined the Army a few years later, intending to enlist as a broadcast announcer (I believe a 71R M.O.S.), but my recruiter convinced me to enlist as a medic and surgical assistant (91D), a profession I've worked in for a few decades now.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Small World - 1965
NBC did Monitor, ABC had Flair, AFRTS had Small World.
Small World is where we first heard Chris Noel (I'm looking for those). Today George's guest is Freddie Martin.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Our story
For the last ten years I've had an AFRTS blog online with a lot about the history of the network. It's quite a story.
I know a lot of the people who made the history and have some pretty amazing sources if a question comes up that I can't answer.
If your office/station/paper would be interested in pursuing the story let me know if I can help.
I know a lot of the people who made the history and have some pretty amazing sources if a question comes up that I can't answer.
If your office/station/paper would be interested in pursuing the story let me know if I can help.
AFRS Adak - Michael Brown 1971
A while back Michael Brown sent a bunch of great quality airchecks of his shows from the AFRTS station in Adak Alaska. Quality is great and it's request time...
Welcome!
Thanks for stopping by. If you enjoy this, you should tell a friend. If you'd like to help out, here are some ways Click here
Have a great day!
Thom
Have a great day!
Thom
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Words With Music - Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter reads poetry. She later became a huge star in Streetcar Named Desire. In 1945 she had poetry for the troops.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Casey Kasem 1932-2014 updated
We lost Casey Kasem last week. American Top 40 was a very important part of AFRTS. I've never been able to locate anyone who could give us permission to run some of those shows, with Casey doing the PSAs. Casey was drafted in 1952 and ended up at Radio Vagabond.
RADIO IN KOREA
American Forces Korea Network Provides Security, Information, Education, And Entertainment
Pacific Stars and Stripes April 25, 1953
By PFC John Sack, Pacific Star and Stripes Korea Bureau
TEN-THOUSAND MEN were listening to the radio a few months ago when it went off the air. "We are going off the air," said the announcer. "We will be back in three hours." Then he picked up his mikes, discs, "pets," tapes, and antennas and threw them all in a van, and moved lock, stock and barrel five miles down the road.
"It was the damned artillery," he explained later. "Kept jiggling the phonograph needle."
Short-wave is one source of AFKN programs. Transcriptions from the States are another. Each station has 20 or 30 thousand records too, for disc jockey shows. "Mail from Home," incidentally -- where people in America request songs to be played in Korea -- is the network's most popular show.
But AFKN has the most fun making programs of its own. PFC Bert States, head of production, has carried his tape recorders from orphanages to the frontlines and once, for a story on VD, hid a microphone in his field jacket while a street-walker took him in tow. Pvt. Kemal Kasem has been working one month on a jet pilot documentary. Kasem used to appear in "The Lone Ranger" before he joined the Army (a sample speech, in husky, sinister tones: "OK, if you know who the masked man is, we'll get it from you. If you don't know, we'll find out for ourselves."), but last week he was interested only in getting his sound effects down perfect.
RADIO IN KOREA
American Forces Korea Network Provides Security, Information, Education, And Entertainment
Pacific Stars and Stripes April 25, 1953
By PFC John Sack, Pacific Star and Stripes Korea Bureau
TEN-THOUSAND MEN were listening to the radio a few months ago when it went off the air. "We are going off the air," said the announcer. "We will be back in three hours." Then he picked up his mikes, discs, "pets," tapes, and antennas and threw them all in a van, and moved lock, stock and barrel five miles down the road.
"It was the damned artillery," he explained later. "Kept jiggling the phonograph needle."
Short-wave is one source of AFKN programs. Transcriptions from the States are another. Each station has 20 or 30 thousand records too, for disc jockey shows. "Mail from Home," incidentally -- where people in America request songs to be played in Korea -- is the network's most popular show.
But AFKN has the most fun making programs of its own. PFC Bert States, head of production, has carried his tape recorders from orphanages to the frontlines and once, for a story on VD, hid a microphone in his field jacket while a street-walker took him in tow. Pvt. Kemal Kasem has been working one month on a jet pilot documentary. Kasem used to appear in "The Lone Ranger" before he joined the Army (a sample speech, in husky, sinister tones: "OK, if you know who the masked man is, we'll get it from you. If you don't know, we'll find out for ourselves."), but last week he was interested only in getting his sound effects down perfect.
Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
AFRTS 1979 from Torrejon
Vicente recorded a lot of these in Madrid in the 1970s and 80s but for the most part very similar to what we were doing everywhere. There's clips of Wolfman, Jerry Bishop, Bob Kingsley with ACC, Jim Pewter and some of DINFOS best.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Negro College Choir - 1960
In the 50s and 60s the United Negro College Fund presented a series of choirs from member universities of the fund. The series was run on the ABC radio network, hosted by Metropolitan Opera host Milton Cross. AFRTS picked up the series and ran it worldwide.
Today we have the Fisk University Choir from Nashville.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Thanks for stopping by!
If you enjoy your visit, please tell a friend. There is a mailing list. About once a week I send out an email about the things that have been added. If you'd like to be included, drop me an email afrts@live.com
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Golden Days Of Radio - 1968
Starting in 1968 Frank Bresee celebrated the Golden Days Of Radio. The last network shows had just went off the air in 1962. Frank managed to keep the show on AFRTS until 1996. One pretty amazing accomplishment. Old time radio was a win in a lot of places. Many countries didn't have television. Many of our television stations had severe restrictions in the programming they could show. This show is very early in the run. Next, the Golden Days of Radio!
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Country Crossroads - 1978
Country Crossroads was one of my favorites in the Sunday morning slots. It was a show of faith but incredibly low-keyed with interesting interviews and good music. Here's a visit with Charley Pride.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
World of Show Business - 1962
Bud Widdom started with the network during WWII and did a lot of shows. By the 1960s he went off to run FEN at Camp Drake.
In 1962 Bud was doing the World Of Show Business on McCadden Avenue. A few weeks ago I posted one with a Jackie Gleason one. Today it's Ross Bagdasarian, the record producer that became Dave Seville with Alvin and the Chipmunks. Who has a picture of Bud Widdom?
In 1962 Bud was doing the World Of Show Business on McCadden Avenue. A few weeks ago I posted one with a Jackie Gleason one. Today it's Ross Bagdasarian, the record producer that became Dave Seville with Alvin and the Chipmunks. Who has a picture of Bud Widdom?
Monday, June 2, 2014
Dave Wachenschwanz - Torrejon, Spain 1977
Vicente lived in Madrid at the time and recorded a lot of the Torrejon AB station on nice quality cassettes, and saved them. Dave's no longer with us.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Air Force Weekly - 1983
Air Force Weekly was the official news show of the USAF
Jan Garman and Dave Ellswick were the anchors but PAO shows from all over the world phoned in the latest.
We had horrible network lines. These were probably 2k. That's how all news broadcasts sounded...
Danny Kramer - 1983
Danny Kramer from KSL Salt Lake City was one of the jocks that did shows for a 1983 project when the Voice Of Home included cities all over the country.
Vicente in Madrid recorded many of these.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Golden Days Of Radio - 1969
Frank Bresee started doing the Golden Days of Radio show in 1968. "Network Radio" had stopped in 1962 with the last of the big shows going off of the air so the memories were fairly recent. Frank had the biggest moments of radio from the 1930s-50s and kept that going until 1996, making the last recrorded show for AFRTS-LA. They are in the process of digitizing all of the shows to make them available online. When I have more information, I'll be passing it along.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Clem Stein - 1964
Last year we lost AFNer Clem Stein. Clem had shared memories and sent along a couple of nice airchecks. This is a 1964 "Weekend World" broadcast with him being the booth announcer. Before that sharing some memories.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Marine Band Concert - 1962
"The President's Own" The United States Marine Band had been on the radio back to the 1920s. BY the 1960s they had weekly broadcasts on CBS. Those broadcasts were rebroadcast by AFRTS.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Enchantment Of Music - 1962
"Enchantment of Music" was a light classical show originated by KCBH-FM, Beverly Hills "in the matchless Fidelity of Frequency Modulation." I'd bet it was usually run on our AM stations.
That was the studio. Bruce Wendell was the talent he bounced through several stations before becoming an executive at Capitol records.
World Of Show Business - 1962
Bud Widdom was a jack of all trades at AFRS, hosting variety shows during WWII, hundreds and hundreds of interviews. He did it all. In 1962 Bud was making "The World Of Show Business" a nice interview show. On this one he talks with Jackie Gleason.
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