***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.
More uncle Russ Gibb on WKNR FM. He speaks a lot about the Grande Ballroom which he managed and upcoming shows like Iggy and The Stooges. He also speaks about rock music management and the mid-western music scene as opposed the dominant scenes on the two coasts. His style is unique and rambling. The station broadcast in mono with personalities that would not be allowed anywhere near the mike of a commercial radio station today.
***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.
Charles plays some rare ( at the time) Dylan recorded in mono and turns the stereo feed off and then on again. When he is turning it back on he says “plunk your magic twanger froggy” Classic !
In the best tradition of free form radio the clip starts with a long selection of classical music and then on to Dylan. Recording is from 1971.
Currently I use two decks to transfer my reel to reel air checks and I am trying to determine which sounds better. Below is side 2 of the Cat Stevens album Teaser and the Firecat played on both decks. Clip one on one deck and clip two on the other.
Which sounds better or is there no difference ?
Drop me a line.
The decks are pictured below under the album cover.
More from that collection of tapes that I have written about on my last two posts.
This is the sitar and fuzz tone edition.
Small and medium market AM radio from Halifax, Nova Scotia and North Bay, Ontario from 1967 and 1970.
Before the spread of free form FM stations, some DJ’s such as B Mitchell Reid were experimenting on the AM radio dial and that is evident on these air checks. Regional hits, songs that barely made Billboard and lots of album rock.
You will hear Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane album tracks, a group called Joyride covering the Doors Crystal Ship, Rick Nelson in sunshine pop mode, garage rock by the Gants, Emitt Rhodes and The Merry-Go-Round, The Shocking Blue of Venus fame doing a song called the Acka Raga, Cream’s Swlabr, The Scaffold ( Featuring Paul McCartney’s brother), Dave Allan and The Arrows, The Youngbloods, soul, pop and more. The programmers at the stations certainly selected a diverse playlist.
The air checks are a bit fractured but there is a fair amount of DJ patter but very few ads but there are two for 7 Up which I think were left in by the person recording because of their psychedelic backdrop.
The first two clips are from CHNS, Halifax from the fall of 1967 but I added a small snippet of WABC at the end of the second clip as it was on the same tape.
The third clip is from North Bay station CFCH from 1970 and 1967, the fourth clip is from CFCH from September, 1967.
How cool is it that one station plays a Byrds B side from 1967 ( Don’t Make Waves) while the other takes a dedication for the group’s Feel a While Lot Better.
The fifth clip is a bonus from the same set of tapes and features a bit, probably recorded off TV of the 1964 NHL playoff games.
This is the set of tapes and case these recordings come from and which I scored at a thrift store
Here is more from that fascinating collection of tapes that I wrote about on my last blog post. The individual recorded mostly small town radio but also some from major markets.
This clip features content from CKFH and 1050 CHUM from Toronto and CKOC from Hamilton, Ontario. The clips are regrettably short and snippets rather than full air checks.
The person who recorded this seemed to love the song Do You Know What I Mean by Lee Michaels as they capture it several times.
You will hear Mal Faris, Mike Williams and a few seconds of Tom Fulton, all on CKFH. I believe that I hear Bob Magee on CHUM for a few seconds at 33:28 and Dan Ferguson on CKOC.
The tracks played are mostly very FM friendly like CCR. The Doors, Iron Butterfly, the Moody Blues, Leon Russell and The Who along with some AM only hits.
In the mist of sassafras many things will come to pass.
Much of the content on my site comes from tapes that I personally recorded but throughout the years I have acquired some intriguing tapes. One such collection consists of about fourteen 7 inch reel to reel tapes recorded between 1965 and 1971.
The person who recorded these loved top 40 radio and also recorded a lot of TV and records. They liked the hits as well as off the beaten path stuff . They have albums by sunshine pop and orchestral pop/rock artists like the Cyrkle and early Bee Gees. Material recorded off the radio like the Hollies’ King Midis in Reverse and the Kink’s Waterloo Sunset. Two tracks that were barely if ever played on Toronto radio. They also liked blues, folk, Hendrix and especially The Beatles.
They recorded a lot of stuff off TV, music and otherwise.. There is an interview with Grace Slick, San Francisco promoter Bill Graham and the Grateful Dead from 1967. Have not digitized that yet but it was a show based in Toronto and don’t think it’s available anywhere. The name of the show is not on the tape so that remains a mystery.
Most of the radio is small town (North Bay and Sudbury, Ontario) but there’s some bigger market material.
This is my first upload from that collection and it consists of three segments.Up to 18:17 you will hear CJCH from Halifax and then up to 27:18 it’s Jefferson Kaye on WBZ AM, Boston. Finally perhaps some small town radio or a pirate or a very early Cable access show ? I had a friend who did an audio only show on Wired City Communications ( Cable)in the early 1970’s. Not sure where this comers from as there is no station ID. Don’t think its just a guy playing DJ on tape as they seem to have all of the varied material for a top 40 countdown from the summer of love 1967 at hand. I have not included the entire segment.
The WBZ content is DX’d as the station fades out for a bit but then you can hear Jefferson Kaye clearly.
Also you will not be able to tell on the MP3 upload but I believe they were using a tube tape recorder and possibly tube radio. More to come from this collection.
A clip of the Q 107 Morning Zoo program . Also a bit from Rock 102 and a very brief segment of CHUM FM. All from 1986. Highlights include the the fact that Chuck Berry and The Psychedelic Furs are played.
***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.
The first two clips feature Detroit media legend Russ Gibb on Detroit classic rocker WCSX FM from Feb 1989. I have a number of Russ Gibb air checks from free form WKNR FM on the site and in contrast to his rambling style on those he is more focused here but a free form ethos is still apparent on this air check from 1989.
The music featured is by an early free form staple Jethro Tull and a program called Rock Chronicles and Gibb also plays a track by the Ian Anderson produced Steeleye Span. The outro song he uses for the program is by another early free form artist Tim Buckley.
I have more tape of the regular and somewhat early classic rock format of WCSX that I will upload in the future.
The third clip is from AC giant CKFM FM from May 30, 1974 with Carl Banis. The air check is somewhat fractured but interesting and features some faux classical electronic music.
The majority of audio heard on the site is taken from my personal collection but this is the second contribution from Peter Alexander. The first was uploaded a few years ago and was also from KOME FM. That one was mistakenly attributed to Jona Denz-Hamilton but Jona sent in a correction and informed me that it was in fact Karin Nakamura .
These clips actually feature Jona and you can hear her ID herself. Taken from the Johnson Years special in 1977 with excellent audio quality. I have a lot of other KOME FM content on the site and you can use the search function to find it.
***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.
Continuing with my series on WKNR FM from Detroit ( actually Dearborn, Michigan). Another clip from “Uncle” Russ Gibb. He speaks a lot and there is an interesting section where he “raps” about his goal of one day owning a radio station. He says something that we would never hear on commercial radio today. He says some good and bad things about WKNR FM as well as it’s main competition WABX FM.
He also speaks about an upcoming Iggy and the Stooges concert he is promoting at the Grande Ballroom where the broadcast originates from.
Plus some interesting commercials for a Janis Joplin concert as well as one for a Led Zeppelin, Spirit and Illinois Speed press triple bill.
The original tape was recorded on slow speed reel to reel which offers generally poor quality but the 50 year old recording has survived incredibly well.
