Shortwave Radio Recordings: Voice of America, circa 1968

Willis Conover, The Voice of America (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Many thanks to David Firth, who is kindly sharing shortwave radio recordings he made on reel-to-reel recording equipment in the late 1960s.

Firth is uncovering and digitizing these off air recordings as time allows and, thanks to his generosity, we will be posting these recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

The following is a recording of the Voice of America, which Firth recorded in 1968.

This seven minute recording will surely bring back memories with clips from VOA Jazz Hour (Willis Conover), the VOA Breakfast Show, and VOA Special English.

[Confession: the first time I heard this recording, the Willis Conover clip gave me chill bumps.]

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Check out more recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, also check out David Firth’s channel on YouTube.

Want to know more about Willis Conover? Check out David Goren’s podcast for Jazz At Lincoln Center.

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6 thoughts on “Shortwave Radio Recordings: Voice of America, circa 1968

  1. Prakash

    Today i was able to listen to VOA for Africa news at 17895 khz at 4:00 am est. It was received very clear on Kaito KA321 here in Bristol Central Connecticut. I was able to tune this in a park which does not have too much of electrical and other noise disturbances.

    Reply
  2. Mark Fahey

    I’m really looking forward to these recordings. There is a real shortage of recordings from decades past. I would really love to re-listen to Radio Peking, Radio Station Peace & Progress, Radio Tirana etc. There are short clips floating around (mainly interval signal recordings) but anything of a longer form is hard to find.

    Thanks for making the clips available David & Thomas.

    Cheers,
    Mark
    Sydney, Australia

    Reply
    1. uk jim

      Mark

      You can find plenty of recordings of Radio Moscow programming on Youtube and Radio Peking has a couple from the ’60s there too. I used to love listening to VOA they even sent me a copy of the “Readers Digest Guide to the Scenic Treasures of America” when I was a child. However GW Bush killed it. Now it is no different to what Radio Moscow was in the 70s, a government propaganda mouthpiece. Just like RM with the VOA nowadays if you want to know about the country it is broadcasting from you had better go to another organisation. I learn more about America from NPR than VOA

      Reply

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