total.pardo

i am fascinated by these programs and can’t get enough of listening to them. to think these were still on whilst i was born - its the same fascination i feel when i listen to cbs radio mystery theater.

NBC Monitor was a weekend radio program broadcast which ran from June 12, 1955 until January 26, 1975. Airing live and nationwide on NBC Radio, originally beginning Saturday morning at 8am and continuing through the weekend until midnight on Sunday, it offered a magazine-of-the-air mix of news, sports, comedy, variety, music, celebrity interviews and other short segments. Its length and eclectic format were radical departures from the traditional radio programming structure of 30- and 60-minute programs and represented an ambitious attempt to respond to the rise of television as America’s major home entertainment medium.

[From Monitor (NBC Radio) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

especially interesting is the embedded news flashes or programs - its a great look into the times and gives a unique perspective on the era the broadcast occurred.

not like i did not know this before, but it is time to go lossless for my audio collection. what a world of difference in sound.

fta @ http://www.obsessable.com/feature/mp3-vs-flac-vs-wav-audio-formats-primer/

FLAC

Another lossless audio codec is the Free Lossless Audio Codec, commonly referred to as FLAC. FLAC is popular with the audio enthusiast scene, as the files created are smaller than WAV files, though the files still maintain all the audio fidelity of a WAV file. FLAC files can also be paired with “cue sheets” that define individual tracks inside of one larger FLAC file. FLAC files cannot be played back with most portable audio hardware, requiring either modified iPod firmware or custom portable players, but several notable players support it such as several in the Cowon line (including the Cowon A3, and iAUDIO 7) as well as the iriver SPINN, the SanDisk Sansa slotMusic player, and a number of Samsung PMPs including the YP-S2. FLAC’s other primary advantage is that it is free, and any device manufacturer can implement FLAC at no charge. If you’re looking for components to handle your FLAC collection, an updated list of many of the devices that support FLAC is kept at Sourceforge.

ALAC

One lossless format implemented on the most popular portable media player, the iPod, is the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC). ALAC allows users to take audio straight from CDs, convert it in iTunes to ALAC, and play it back in full fidelity on an iPod. ALAC files can only be played in Apple’s music ecosystem (iTunes, Quicktime and iPod) and therefore the format is mainly suitable for audiophiles who enjoy listening to lossless music on an iPod exclusively.

since i am almost all mac at home, i am tempted to go ALAC for my collection.  but FLAC is more open.  wish i never sold the old CDs.

from:  http://tinyurl.com/3wtxer

you can buy at amazon:  http://tinyurl.com/53qlnr

its an eclectic mix of orchestral music composed to add a layer to the prodigious NFL Films - muscular orchestral scores provided by Sam Spence, Dave Robidoux and Tom Hedden and film of the players and coaches in the locker room after the game. Many say that through the use of these techniques NFL Films turns football games into forms which almost mimic ballet, opera, and epic battle stories. 

this music is very energizing – i imagine it is a man thing, but every time i listened to: The Power and the Glory with the voices of John Facenda, i remember what it felt like to play football when i was young – i remember the times i watched the games with my family.  its powerful stuff.  somehow this music makes football bigger than it truly is – somehow it embodies the salute to courage of those who play.  the greatest coach of all time, Vincent Lombardi, would agree.  (sorry, papa bear.  vince gets the nod in my book.)

that voice.   John Thomas Ralph Augustine James Facenda: the voice of god.

fta @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Facenda

Facenda was undoubtedly at the pinnacle of his deliveries in 1974’s "The Championship Chase" with his recitation of “The Autumn Wind,” a football poem written by Steve Sabol, personifying fall weather:

The Autumn wind is a pirate
Blustering in from sea
With a rollicking song he sweeps along
Swaggering boisterously.
His face is weatherbeaten
He wears a hooded sash
With a silver hat about his head
And a bristling black mustache
He growls as he storms the country
A villain big and bold
And the trees all shake and quiver and quake
As he robs them of their gold.
The Autumn wind is a RAIDER
Pillaging just for fun
He’ll knock you ’round and upside down
And laugh when he’s conquered and won.

talk about adding layers.  his stentorian baritone, coupled with the music, then the footage. 

a moment decisive indeed.

(p.s. – ole pardo is not a raider fan.  he never was a raider fan.  he must not be accused of being a raider fan.  there is one bronco fan he knows that would take significant exception with him if pardo is thought to be within a zip code of raider fandom.  and the afc rule remains in force.)

wikipedia defines old time radio as:

radio programming lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until television’s replacement of radio as the dominant home entertainment medium in the late 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, when radio was dominant and the airwaves were filled with a variety of radio formats and genres, people regularly tuned in to their favorite radio programs. In fact, according to a 1947 C. E. Hooper survey, 82 out of 100 Americans were found to be radio listeners. The end of this period coincided with music radio becoming the dominant radio form and is often marked in the United States by the final CBS broadcasts of Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar on September 30, 1962.

taking a look at my itunes library, i discovered a high percentage of its content was in the genres of “OTR” (for old time radio) and SPOKEN.  while all the recordings can be considered as “old,” i classify them in those two categories to find them easier.   anything in the OTR genre involves dramatic serials, comedies, and adventures or mysteries.  spoken is everything else, old or modern – things like old time news broadcasts (which are easy to find and very interesting to obtain a flavor for the period – a quick search of the internet archive at http://www.archive.org/index.php will allow you access to download 1000’s of public domain recordings of old news broadcasts from all periods – especially WW2) or more modern podcasts like long delayed echoes or this american life.

my favorite program so far is “yours truly, johnny dollar.”

from: an article by Jim Widner

The opening is familiar among fans of Old Time Radio: “the man with the action-packed expense account…America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator.” And if we still weren’t sure, he always told us himself: “Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.”Opening on a Friday night, February 18, 1949 (The Paricoff Policy Matter), right at the start of television’s golden age, this radio show brought us a high-powered insurance investigator who worked chiefly for the Universal Adjustment Bureau, a clearinghouse for the many insurance companies. The series starred Charles Russell as Johnny Dollar, the smart and tough detective, whose trademark it was to toss silver dollars as tips to busboys and bellhops.

Appearing on CBS Radio, Johnny Dollar was heard each week flying off to a different town filled with danger and possibly murder as he tried to get to the bottom of insurance fraud. There were rarely any recurring characters except Dollar; despite sometimes romance and friends, the character was generally a loner.

In 1955, radio actor Bob Bailey, fresh from his long run as George Valentine in LET GEORGE DO IT, stepped into the role as the fourth Johnny Dollar (there was an audition show with Dick Powell in 1948 that is not counted). It was with Bailey that the series really blossomed. Changing to a 15-minute format five times a week, and under the sharp eye of the new producer/director, Jack Johnstone, the scripts got much deeper into characterization and plot. And Bailey’s depiction of Dollar had shades of a gritty street fighter, yet bright and sensitive.

Among many old time radio fans, Johnny Dollar is usually viewed as the division between original radio drama and the resurgence of nostalgia which began in the seventies.

a more recent interesting series involved “the fear you can hear” - cbs radio mystery theater.  this was a sustained revival of the old time genre which ran from 1974 through 1982.  it featured some 1399 original programs at 42 minutes in length and was sponsored by may different companies including Tru Value Hardware, Buick, Annheuser Busch, and Contac.  there are many sites which have downloads of these quality programs and some feature the news programs which preceded or followed the broadcasts.  those 5 minute CBS newscasts offer interesting insights into the time.

another top flight listening opportunity is jean shepherd’s seemingly meandering shows from his WOR days in the 60’s and 70’s.  jean’s programs were comfortable – like listening to spalding gray or garrison keillor – you get the feeling jean is talking to you alone.  jean still lurks in the darkness if you know where to find him – there is plenty out on the net - http://www.flicklives.com/Misc/who_is.htm jean was prolific in his art and skill in the telling of the story.  many listeners reminisce about listening in the dark with the old transistor radio under the pillow – feeling like it was a one way conversation with jean and themselves.

it seems this style of broadcast is almost dead in the USA – revived only by the enthusiasts who sustain interest in self made websites offering downloads of their favorite programs many times copied or digitized from some third hand source.  dramatic programming is alive and well in europe, mainly over the BBC from the UK.  a recent dramatization of the the douglas adams dirk gently’s holistic detective agency comes to mind as a quality program with professional acting and production that was a joy to listen to and share with friends.

itunes offers a complete gambit of podcasts reproducing the series and programs for all interests.  botar’s old time radio has a wide variety of shows available for download to your ipod or mp3 player.  shoutcast radio has a handful of 24/7 stations devoted to streaming audio of old time broadcasts.  some enthusiasts re-broadcast the programs over the air on low power AM transmitters so the audio can be heard over reconditioned old radios to increase the nostalgia effect.

in the end, its up to you to listen, learn, and figure out what you like.  i find this kind of audio a compelling alternative to audiobooks and sometimes even to music.

7/25/08 – Update:  this link -

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-microstation,0,6541125.story

is an example of an otr enthusiast using low power AM to rebroadcast programs with an automated station.

7/27/08 - Update: this link -

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/07/your-mid-summer.html

presents an interesting take on the mystery/suspense side of the otr genre - plus a nice shot at the men who listen to otr at the dismay puzzlement of the women in their lives.

Edward R. Murrow, 1908-1965: The Famous Radio and Television Reporter Helped Create Modern News Broadcasting

Special VOA program on Murrow.  Decent listen.

VOA News - Edward R. Murrow, 1908-1965: The Famous Radio and Television Reporter Helped Create Modern News Broadcasting

XMicroplayer: Play XM radio on your desktop

a nice alternative to xamp studio.

i am beta testing this program now.

Pandora Presents…

try this podcast to find new music     

n. 1. Liberality in bestowing gifts, especially in a lofty or condescending manner. 2. Money or gifts bestowed. 2. Generosity of spirit or attitude.

largess

YouTube - To See You Is To Love You (Lonely Day) - Full Video

To display their Recent Tracks from Last.fm in your Twitter site:

1. Visit Last.fm’s Data Feeds page and grab the RSS URI listed under Recent Tracks: www.last.fm/tools/feeds
2. Hop on over to Twitter Feed and login: twitterfeed.com
3. Click “Create new twitter feed” and add the RSS URI for your Recent Tracks and set to the desired update frequency

Songza - The music search engine & internet jukebox. Listen. Now.

great site - found every song i tried. just plugin, pic, and play.

the playlist feature is great - just make a list of songs you want playing in the background and let it play.

some of the songs don’t sound that great, a little better sometimes - maybe 64kbs to 128kbs - but it is great in a pinch.

Really cool idea! This guy scans his old records to see if he can extract audio data from the scanned images! With downloadable MP3’s of what he found.

read more | digg story

listen - right click and choose “save as”

property of kyw newsradio.

An annual event at this time of year at KYW Newsradio 1060 is playing Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus, recorded by KYW’s longtime anchor, the late Vince Lee.

Vince was a news anchor there until his death on Mother’s Day of 1977. This recording was originally broadcast in December 1976.

the newspaper clipping was found here.

this is the text:

“DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
“Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
“Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’
“Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
“VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
“115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.”

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

clipped from www.bbc.co.uk

bbc 4 is dramatizing the adventures of dirk gently - if one ever needed a holistic detective agency, douglas adams’ creation would be the place to go! the link to listen is on this site:http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/dirkgently/since phase-shifting has become so important to me (and everyone who has a busy schedule will tell you, record-to-play-later is king!), i use totalrecorder from high criteria software to save the recording for later play in the car or on the iphone/ipod. don’t use this for illegal distribution!also, as for bbc products, there is a plethora of great audio across the pond. i regularly listen to their programming. another stimulating program is from the cbc - ideas with paul kennedy. use a decent podcatcher to save their programs because you will invariably want to listen/refer to them later. i lost a three part series called “the cold war - declassified” and they want $45 to send it via cd. it was a fascinating program that could be listened to several times to learn more about the topic and era. an alternative to using a program to catch the podcasts is google reader - you can right-click, save as the mp3 files from google’s embedded media player.if you want to download older ideas podcasts, be sure to click the “all items” link at the top of the google reader page; it will open up all the available podcast entries from the ideas feed. be careful. good programs drop without warning from this source. happy listening!

i have been listening to a few podcasts on this site:CBC Radio | Ideas: Ideas is a program about contemporary thought. It explores social issues, culture and the arts, geopolitics, history, biography, science and technology, and the humanities.amazes me how much better british and canadian radio is than american.