Category Archives: Radio History

Texas Standard For November 23, 2018

On this Black Friday, we explore how marketing created a legacy of pirates in the air over Texas – affecting music culture and politics. It’s a special edition of The Texas Standard.

With shopping season officially underway, we often think of hyper-commercialism as a creation of Madison Avenue. But one could make the case that America’s hype machine got its start along the border of Texas and Mexico, with a million watts of power leading to a revolution of outlaw broadcasters that’s still making a mark today.

You may have noticed that at the beginning of most of our programs, we say “no matter where you are, you’re on Texas Standard time.” How that came about it no accident. It’s a reference to something we haven’t touched on before here on The Standard – a callback to a time where no matter where you were, a particular sound with its roots along the Texas border, blanketed the country and changed the way we heard music, received distant messages and experienced media. It was outlaw radio – programming considered too dangerous for prime time. That’s the subject of today’s special edition of The Texas Standard:

– The Border Blasters’ Influence: how enormously powerful radio stations broadcasting from the border between the 1930s to the 70s, influenced musicians and music itself.

– Goat Glands And Freedom From The Law: Medical huckster and patent medicine seller J.R. Brinkley made his fortune selling his services via border radio.

– Selling Flour And Politics: In the 1930s, W. Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel used radio, and western swing pioneer, Bob Wills, to market flour. Then, he used the same technique to run for Texas governor, and later senator. He won both those races.

– The British Get Invaded: In the middle of the swingin’ 60s, a group of Texas radio “blasters” used an old minesweeper to beam “Radio London” into England, subverting the BBC’s monopoly on the airwaves.

– Typewriter Rodeo: A Radio Dream.

– Modern Pirates: The days of outlaw radio aren’t all in the past. The FCC has cracked down on those who run stations in defiance of the law, but broadcasters persist, especially in an era when the means of making radio are cheaper than ever.

Click here to listen to this feature at the Texas Standard or Soundcloud.

I should add that if you find the topic of border blasting fascinating, I encourage you to check out the book Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam which tells the story of Dr. John Brinkley and eventually (of course) blasting massive signals across the US/Mexico border.

Click here to view Charlatan on Amazon (affiliate link).

On Thanksgiving, WPAQ will replay a 1948 Mount Airy H.S. Football Game

1 Reply

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Kim Elliott, who shares this fascinating story from WBUR:

For the past 70 years, WPAQ out of Mount Airy, North Carolina — population 10,000 — has broadcast bluegrass and old-time string music.

But music isn’t all you’ll hear on WPAQ.

“If folks call in and say they’ve lost an animal or they’ve found an animal, we will be happy to announce that,” says Brack Llewellyn, a part-time announcer who’s worked on and off at the station since the ’80s.

[…]Kelly Epperson took over WPAQ from his father, Ralph Epperson, who died in 2006. A few weeks ago Kelly was digging around his father’s old office.

“My dad, he held onto everything — it drove my mom crazy,” Kelly says. “And actually in the corner, I saw a box that was sort of halfway open. And I kinda kicked at it a little bit — just to make sure there were no snakes around, ‘cause we have a lot of black snakes up here. But anyway — it was heavy. And I opened up the lid. There were some records in there. And I looked at the label and I couldn’t believe it. It said: ‘Mount Airy vs. Laurinburg. Football. Nov. 25, 1948.’ ”

It was the state championship game, held on Thanksgiving Day.

Kelly didn’t have the equipment at WPAQ to play the records — they’re old lacquer discs — but he took them to a woman who did.

[…]The 2018 Mount Airy Bears had a bye week coming up. There was a Friday night open on WPAQ’s calendar.

So on Sept. 28 at 7:30, when residents of Mount Airy, North Carolina, turned to 740 on their AM dials, they heard this.

“N.W. Quick — co-captain and right tackle of the Laurinburg Scots from Scotland County — the Fighting Scots they’re called — will be kicking off for Laurinburg on the 40-yard line.”

Kelly and Brack say they started hearing from listeners right away.

“We went about as viral as you can in this area with our broadcast,” Brack laughs.

“And I’m trying to concentrate — I was running the board — and I was getting all these messages,” Kelly says. “They were blowing up my phone. I couldn’t handle it. Saying, ‘This is unbelievable! I’m hearing my dad play. I never thought I could ever do this. My dad is playing a football game.’ “

Brack says he heard from one friend who grew up in Laurinburg and recognized the name of a player on the Scots roster.

“And the player whose name he heard grew up to be the doctor who delivered him,” Brack says.

[…]I’d tell you how the game ends, but I don’t want to spoil it — because you’re going to get another chance to listen. WPAQ is rebroadcasting the game one more time, this Thanksgiving Day at 2 p.m. ET.

“So who wants to watch the Detroit Lions when they can hear the 1948 North Carolina 1A State championship game?” Kelly laughs.

You can tune into WPAQ out of Mount Airy, North Carolina, via an online live stream. Click here to listen!

Click here to stream WPAQ live on Thanksgiving Day (today at 2:00 EST).

SWLing Post Contest Question #2: A chance to win a piece of broadcasting history!

Our second question:

Loading…

We will post question #3 next week!

Click here to answer question #1.

Shortwave Archive: 1979 Radio Moscow Mailbag Studio Recordings

7 Replies

If you’ve been a shortwave radio listener since the Cold War, you no doubt remember Radio Moscow‘s Mailbag program with Joe Adamov.

Tom Gavaras, a new contributor at the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, recently shared a series of seven Radio Moscow studio recordings and noted:

These recordings were originally provided to me on reel-to-reel tape directly from Radio Moscow (which I dubbed to a cassette). At that time, I was program director at St. Cloud State University’s radio station KVSC-FM (St. Cloud, MN) and aired Moscow Mailbag once a week during the afternoon news block programming. Transcription shows from other shortwave stations were played on other weekday slots at the same time.

Here’s the first studio recording:

We’re publishing a new recording each week over at the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. Click here to follow this series.

Many thanks, Tom, for sharing these excellent recordings!

Radio Romania celebrates 90 years

3 Replies

(Source: Radio Romania International via David Iurescia)

On November 1, Radio Romania celebrates 90 years since a first broadcast was aired in Romania. Since then, the institution has constantly coped with the challenges of a changing world.

A decade after WWI, when all the territories with a predominantly Romanian speaking population that had been under the rule of neighbouring multinational empires got under Bucharest’s authority, Romania started using the most efficient means of communication of the time – Radio – which could reach all corners of the newly united country.

On November 1, 1928, “the Romanian Radio-Telephony Broadcasting Company” aired its first broadcast, “Hello, this is Radio Bucharest” being the first words uttered on air by the first president of the institution, physicist Dragomir Hurmuzescu. Regarded from the very beginning as a means of information, education and entertainment, the Romanian public radio has practically broadcast programs uninterruptedly for 90 years. It had to permanently adjust its editorial policy, sometimes paying a dear political price, but it has overcome the challenges posed by radical changes of regime, which Romania has seen from inter-war democracy to right wing dictatorships during WWII and from Communist despotism to democracy, restored during the December 1989 Revolution.

Radio Romania addresses the whole society, all generations, catering for all tastes, and along the years it has tried to preserve unaltered the image of an unbiased national public radio. The channels with a national coverage include “Actualit??i”, “Cultural”, “Muzical” and “Antena Satelor”, that is “News and Current Affairs”, “Culture”, “Music” and “the Village Antenna”, respectively, adding to which are two online channels for children and youth. The Romanian public radio started broadcasting programs for audiences abroad in the early 1930’s. Nowadays, Radio Romania International is trying to familiarize foreign audience with current Romanian topical issues and values, and to keep the Romanian Diaspora in touch with the mother-country, helping them maintain the bond with Romania. Radio Romania International broadcasts programmes in 11 foreign languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Serbian, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian) as well as in the Romanian language and the Aromanian dialect.

The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation is currently considered to be the most credible and important media institution in the country, given the large number of listeners who choose to listen to its programmes on a daily basis, the campaigns it carries out and the extensive cultural projects that it develops. The daily reach of Radio Romania stands at over 4.5 million listeners, with a market share of 30%. On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the public radio station, Defence Minister Mihai Fifor, has awarded the “Defence Partner-Emblem of Merit 1st Class” to the “Current and News Affairs” Channel of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation. The high distinction has been offered in token of appreciation for the constant support granted by Radio Romania in an effort to promote the image of the Romanian Army. Also, as a sign of appreciation for serving the public for the past 90 years, at the Film’s Gala in Bucharest, Radio Romania received a trophy from the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce.

Click here to read the full article via Radio Romania International.