Top40-Radio-Museum-Roadtrip-Bob Davis Podcast 881

Top40-Radio-Museum-Roadtrip-Bob Davis Podcast 881

Radio’s Unique Museum

I worked in radio for years. Radio is still my first love despite podcasting for ten years now. Most noteworthy in this podcast is a visit to a unique museum. Learn more in Top40-Radio-Museum-Roadtrip-Bob Davis Podcast 881.

Top 40’s Roots

Top Forty radio’s roots are in the mid south and deep south. Now there’s a shrine to top forty radio in Chattanooga Tennessee. Even more, there’s also a working radio station there visitors can tour.

Small and Medium Markets

Especially relevant to the roots of top forty radio in the south, are the many small and medium markets in this region that spawned some of America’s great radio talent.

When Radio Was The Only Game In Town

First of all in the 1950’s, 1960’s, and most of the 1970’s there was no Internet, no social media, no cable television and no way for a generation to communicate except for radio. I’ll explain in In Top40-Radio-Museum-Roadtrip-Bob Davis Podcast 881.

Building Companies and Lives

Second, operators and employees of these radio stations in growing small and medium markets across the country could build companies and lives on the profits.

All About The Music

Above all the music made top forty radio and radio itself a phenomenon.

A One Off Moment In History

The events and situations that made all of that possible will certainly never happen again.

A slice of Architectural History Too

Furthermore during that period of time some of the most successful AM top forty stations were housed near their transmitters. Many in neighborhoods and developments.

Most Are Already Gone

Low slung period brick buildings and mid century architecture and furnishings were the order of the day. Most of those old stations are gone.

This Place Remains And It’s Worth Seeing

In contrast WFLI AM and FM remain exactly as it was through the 1960’s and 70’s, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Fun Fun Fun

Finally my friend and I took a tour and spent an afternoon remembering how much fun radio used to be. Thanks again to the National Top Forty Radio Hall of Fame and Museum.

In Top40-Radio-Museum-Roadtrip-Bob Davis Podcast 881 you’ll hear the story of the radio station and more.

Sponsored By Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Top40-Radio-Museum-Roadtrip-Bob Davis Podcast 881

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Once-Upon-A-Time-1969-Bob Davis Podcast 856

Once-Upon-A-Time-1969-Bob Davis Podcast 856

A Hot August Night In 1969

I’ll be honest. This podcast is a bit of a departure for me. What’s especially relevant? Seems like everything changed on a hot August night in 1969, in Los Angeles. True crime and social commentary come together in Once-Upon-A-Time-1969-Bob Davis Podcast 856.

Brutal Murders and A Turning Point Once-Upon-A-Time-1969

Back in the day, several brutal murders over a weekend in August in Los Angeles formed some kind of turning point.

A Dream Called Life

Sometimes you get in a groove and it seems like things will never change. Life is funny that way. Almost like a dream.

Then, suddenly everything changes.

Fifty Years

It’s been fifty years since the Tate-Labianca murders. We’re just now finally getting a handle on the changes forced in that time period.

Moreover ‘The Summer of Love’ started with Woodstock and ended with Altamont and Charles Manson.

Recreating That Summer In Once-Upon-A-Time-1969

A new film by Quentin Tarantino explores that fateful time period. This podcast is inspired to a degree by the meticulous recreation of 1969 LA in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

More Music

I don’t say much in this podcast. That fact might surprise listeners. Truth is, music does a lot of the talking in Once-Upon-A-Time-1969-Bob Davis Podcast 856.

Music did a lot of the talking then too.

All About The Radio

First of all, there was no social media. For the huge younger generation it was all about the radio. Everyone was on the move. Every car had a radio. Somehow it felt like everyone was connected through the music and the radio stations of the time.

Lyrical and Musical Prophecy

One of the great things about the movie is the depiction of the musical subtext. The music and the lyrics told the story, before the story went down.

Summer of Love Ends In Horror

That summer began started with a pristine moment.

It ended with horror and death.

A time when Innocence lived next door to a deep, dark corruption.

(Editor’s Note: Technically the ‘Summer of Love’ was the summer of 1967 in San Francisco. However, in my experience, it generally referred to the whole time period up to Woodstock and the end of the summer of 1969.)

Sponsored by Reliafund Payment Processors and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Once-Upon-A-Time-1969-Bob Davis Podcast 856

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Remembering Art Bell-Radio Stories-Legends-Podcast 714

Remembering Art Bell-Radio Stories-Legends-Podcast 714

Radio legend Art Bell passed away on Friday, April 13th 2018. Bell’s show, Coast To Coast, was creative and unique. Time to talk about Art’s impact on me and reminisce about radio in Remembering Art Bell-Radio Stories-Legends-Podcast 714.

All Night Wonder

Many stayed up all night to listen to the show. Who got any work done when we stood around talking about Martians, ghosts, aliens living in the hollow earth or The End Of The World?

Saving AM Radio For A Time

These days, radio has become a wasteland of partisan political operatives shouting, cajoling, attempting to persuade. Many broadcasters have given Rush Limbaugh credit for ‘saving AM Radio’, and he certainly deserves his props. On the other hand, many forget that Art Bell probably had as much to do with resurrecting the AM Band for a short time during the 1990’s. For a kid from Chicago who spent summers sitting on the front steps all night listening to the radio, that meant something.

Creating A World You Could Never Forget

Furthermore, it isn’t the political shows I will remember from the past twenty years. It’s the Art Bell shows. The guy from Area 51. Father Malachi Martin. Gary North. Ed Dames and every other crazy person on that show. You knew it was nuts to believe this stuff. But when you’re rolling through the wastelands of Wisconsin at three in the morning, struggling to pull in a thousand watt AM station out of Rice Lake, it seems real. Because Bell was so good at creating a world where anything was possible and probably true.

For radio people, the ability to create a new world, using only spoken word, is truly significant.

The Broken Down Radio Station On The Edge Of Town

Art Bell had a big impact on me because he brought me back to my roots. The radio station in a corn field. On the edge of town. A single tower blinking red in the wilderness. The possibilities endless.

When The Guy On The Radio Was Your Best Friend

So it’s time to tell some stories. A tribute of sorts from someone, like many, who never knew Art Bell. As a listener we felt we he was our best friend. A throw back to the DJ’s of the 1960’s and 1970’s on the big AM stations in the big cities. Or to struggling to pull in a radio station with a big signal in a far away city.

A Voice In The Night

Most noteworthy is the fact that the experience of listening in the night is gone. Replaced with artless and amateur You Tube Channels predictIng the end of the world.

Making Magic

It is good to remember the magic that Art Bell created as a guide for podcasters. I doubt seriously radio will ever be able to accommodate a talent like Bell again.

Sponsored by Reliafund Payment Processors and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Remembering Art Bell-Radio Stories-Legends-Podcast 714

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