AFN Thurndorf

Last year I didn't win an eBay auction, the seller had a second one of these.  AFN Thurndorf?

This has been driving me crazy for a while.  AFN Historian John Provan clears it up a bit:

 

I checked my files and AFN never had a place called Thurndorf. Whoever made this goofed AFN had a location at Thumsdorf, which belonged to AFN Bayreuth. It began in October 1945 and probably operated until November 1946. It is even listed on many German radios as being a real station. It was not, rather it transmitted the AFN Munich programming.

AFN Bremerhaven PSAs 1989-90

Do you remember the package from the PAO?  In 1989-90 the crew at AFN Bremerhaven did some wonderful work.  Every week all of the stations would be tasked with "command information".  Sometimes it could be fun....

AFN Bremerhaven - PSAs 1989-90

More from AFN

AFN Berlin - Mark White

The late Mark White spent over three decades with AFN Berlin.  He was a legend. 

Here are some big band memories from 1980-83

Mark White AFN Berlin

Mystery Theater - Cary Grant

Mystery Theater was a repackaging of classic radio mysteries. In one form or another it started in WWII and continued well into the 1970s.  AFRTS still had the rights to the best.

In 1950 Cary Grant starred "Suspense" and On a Country Road. A couple is stranded during a storm, with a murderer on the loose! In the early 1970s the program was edited into this Mystery Theater broadcast.

Mystery Theater - On a Country Road

More Old Time Radio

GI Jive - 1944

GI Jill with another Jive Session, your favorites by request,

GI Jive - 1944

More Old Time Radio

Simple Gifts - 1972

Simple Gifts was a 1972 bizarre set of 5 minute filler shows.  It was shipped as a MISC so it was to be saved for later use.

Simple Gifts - 1972 

What is that all about?

More about Simple Gifts

We get these things...

Thanks for stopping by.  There are a LOT of different stories behind how this material became available.  Sometimes the talent has made their copies available, thanks again Chris Noel, Roger Carroll, Joe Ferguson and several others.  Sometimes a bunch of disks get rescued on their way to the dumpster and sometimes there's a box of disks have been in storage for decades and sometimes something will show up in a junkshop or on ebay with no story.  If you can help or share material it's always very appreciated. Here's how you can help.

Small World - 1965

Small World was a potpourri of music, comedy and the occasional interview.  Sort of like Monitor, hosted by George Church

Chris Noel made her AFRTS debut on a Small World which I would really like to hear.

Small World - 1965

More Small World

Hear AFN live

I've heard from a few people that would like to be able to listen to AFN live.  They use geo-location, a fancy term for not being able to be heard in the US.  That settles that, er... no.

I'm listening to AFN Stuttgart

A proxy server is a computer that transmits data back and forth to your computer.  The point is the original sending computer doesn't see yours, it only sees the one you're connecting to.  

The easiest way to use this is to get Google Chrome Google Chrome allows the easy integration of several features.

Hola is a proxy that directly integrates into Chrome.  It will work with other browsers.

Get Hola

After it's installed, pick the country you'd like to look like you're from, there's a sun/fire icon in the upper right corner of your browser...

Listen to AFN Europe

Listen to AFN Pacific

You should tell a friend about this...

Transcriptions to talent...

When talent did a show for the network, they would be mailed a copy of the finished show.  These are from the late 1940s, but that tradition continued until they stopped recording transcriptions in 1996.  I'm lucky enough to have several of these, over many years.  

AFN - Old Gold Retold - Thom Robinson - 1975

From AFN, music and memories by request.  Old Gold Retold.

Old Gold Retold - Thom Robinson 1975

In about 1940 Thomas J Valentino unleashed the Major sound effects library.  I was the reissued disks at stations well into the 1980s.  This would have been roughly 1943 at AFRS,

Record of transcription records...

A fun piece of memorabilia, during WWII the ETs would go from station to station.  The was a pre-computer way to record when they were played.

AFN - Morning People - Jonathan Field - 1975

From December 1975 this is nice, a few minutes of the overnight show (who is the host) "Morning People", Lou Irwin with Gazette (a repackaged Earth News), did the net ever send them out that way? Then Jonathan Field who did some great interviewing/public affairs programs over the years.

Benny Brown updates: The correct answer to your "who" question is Lee Hilliard. He is/was the jock hosting your short clip of Morning People in 1975. The frequent squeak you hear is Lee being cute; that squeak was always a Lee feature on Morning People. Today Lee runs a video production company in Connecticut. Another mid-70's good guy.

AFN Morning People and Jonathan Field

AFN 35th Anniversary - 1978

Time to head to AFN and take a look at their 35th anniversary (1978).
Here's part two


AFN 35th anniversary

AFN Frankfurt - Steve Canyon - 1975

From Hans Knot, who does a great job with covering off-shore radio with his website click here, it's 1975 and AFN Frankfurt is on the Nightbeat with Steve Canyon.

I don't think I ever did a show of really long songs...

Benny Brown "Steve Canyon, whose real name was Steve Robinson. As we already had a Robinson on air . Steve was in the US Air Force, we gave him the airname of the USAF comic strip character Steve Canyon. How do I know this? Because Steve and I shared an office for two years. A great guy, and was last seen in Yuma, Arizona as the Sales Manager of KYMA TV, the ABC affiliate.

AFN - Frankfurt - Nightbeat - Steve Canyon

More AFN memories

History of Country Music - 1981

Hot on the heels of the re-issued History of Rock and Roll, Drake Chenault came up with the History of Country Music.  The show, voiced by WSM talent Ralph Emery told stories and played great music.

History Of Country Music - 1981

This was recorded from the Torrejon Spain station (thanks again Vicente!)

Yank Swing Session - 1944

Yank Swing Session was a DJ show but the very different thing was that it wasn't playing "records".  Almost always the music was from live broadcasts and generally wasn't released on record.

Johnny Mercer has a swinging set in this 1944 broadcast

Yank Swing Session - 1944

More Old Time Radio

Billy Pearl - 1975

Roger Carroll's company did the recruiting shows that you may have heard Sunday mornings, with Gene Price, Roland Bynum, Wolfman Jack, RC and Billy Pearl.

Billy was never a vet of Ft McCadden but was doing some wonderful work on KHJ.  Later to KFMB, , KRLA, KIQQ, KMPC and KABC.  Currently Billy is a lawyer in Long Beach.

Billy Pearl - 1975

More from Billy Pearl

AFKN Reunion - 2014

Brian Hartzell has made it happen.  October 9-11, 2014 at the Paris Resort and Casino in Las Vegas there will be a reunion.  There's more information here:

AFKN Reunion website

Contact page for your questions

When were those used?

More from AFKN

Adrian Cronauer

Here's some video of Adrian Cronauer talking about Good Morning Vietnam.

Top Pops

I miss grabbing an armful of these and rocking a storm....

Meet the Press - 1961

Edward R. Murrow was the journalists journalist.  Eventually Mr. Murrow was a vice president of the CBS.  In 1961 he was the director of the US Information Agency for the Voice Of America, and presented America to the rest of the world.

AFRTS presented the big news interview shows.  This is from a 1961 "Meet The Press"

Meet The Press - 1961

More from 1961

Jill's All-Time Jukebox 1945

While Martha Wilkinson was doing the GI Jive she also did an oldies show.

Jill's All-Time Jukebox - 1945

More GI Jive

AFRTS Torrejon December 1981

Here's more memories from our friend Vicente in Spain.  Way back when he recorded a lot of the Torrejon Air Base station.  I'm grateful he's shared them. We ran many of the same shows worldwide.  On this is Wolfman Jack, Casey, Bob Kingsley, Robert W Morgan with the Special of the Week, morning show and more.  

Torrejon AB

AFRTS December 1981 - Torrejon

Army Hour - 1960 - Audie Murphy

PFC Ralph McDermitt from the 3rd Division PAO shop had the chance to interview the most decorated veteran of WWII, Audie Murphy.

This interview went out on a 1960 "Army Hour"

Army Hour - 1960 - Audie Murphy

More Army Hour

Danny Kramer - 1983

In 1983 AFRTS tried an interesting experiment and used jocks from all over the country.  Most were top talent that had soldiered at an AFRTS station way back when.  Bob Moke, Joe Ferguson and others.  AFRTS Alaska vet Danny Kramer was one.  The day job was KSL in Salt Lake.  Here's part of what went worldwide.

Danny Kramer - 1983

Now Danny has taken the show online.  Take a look/listen

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..

AFRTS Torrejon 1981

AFRTS 1981 memories

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:

Larry McKay - 1985

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.

Monitor 1967

Monitor has a tribute page.  Click here

More Monitor