Sunday, June 21, 2015

R. I. P FIRESIGN THEATER's PHIL AUSTIN


Among the many characters Phil Austin performed on the Firesign Theater LPs, most people will always think of him as old time radio gumshoe Nick Danger. Here is the complete "The Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye" from their second LP.


 

Saturday, June 20, 2015

R. I. P ALAN ALMOND - MYSTERIOUS HOST OF RADIO'S PILLOW TALK

For a brief time, Pillow Talk with Alan Almond aired in Springfield, Missouri, on a radio station where I worked. At the time, I was lead to believe, by some, that worked with me, at the radio station, that I was the only person in the world that liked this show. However, if you was to do a search on the Internet on Alan Almond, you would find he was a legend in Detroit radio. Of course, I would always get the old saw about how "Ozarkers don't like it," so, of course, it has to be banned from the air waves.

Alan Almond died this week at age 67. You notice that there is no photo of Alan Almond at the top of this post. That is because there isn't a known photo of Alan Almond. The radio station he worked for, WNIC in Detroit, and the syndication company that produced Pillow Talk, never sent a photo of Alan. Just a silhouette, similar to those used on Facebook, when someone doesn't upload a profile photo.

Almond originated the "love song" show in the late 70s on WNIC in Detroit. He talked about it in an article on the Jacobs Media blog earlier this year. Many major and small markets heard about the show's success and created their own version. However, in the late 90s, a major radio syndication company began distributing a "love songs" show from Seattle, hosted by an annoying, sappy, preachy woman with the same name as a hair-cutting, Biblical siren. This woman took calls from people with elaborate sob stories and she played sappy, sentimental songs for them, while telling listeners not to drink soda or not to let your kids play with video games.

I bring this show up (without giving the name) because, when I first went to work for that radio station in Springfield, Missouri, they were the affiliate for the radio show hosted by the woman with the same name as the hair-cutting, Biblical siren. The syndication company was bought out by a large radio corporation (their initials were C-C), they immediately decided that since they owned a radio station in Springfield, their radio station should air that show. They fired a woman, who hosted a local "love songs" show and took the show, hosted by the woman with the same name as a hair-cutting, Biblical siren, away from the radio station where I worked. Personally, I didn't cry over not having to hear the woman with the same name as the hair-cutting, Biblical siren. We replaced her with Pillow Talk with Alan Almond.

Supposedly, everyone in Springfield hated Alan Almond. I don't believe that, because I spoke to some people, who preferred Alan Almond to that woman who has the same name as the hair-cutting, Biblical siren. One thing I should point out is that men said they liked Alan Almond better than the woman with the same name as the hair-cutting, Biblical siren. I noticed the co-workers that hated the show were older people. Go figure. Of course, Ozarkers like preachy stuff.

This is why I was surprised that several of my co-workers alerted me to the death of Alan Almond earlier this week. Then again, these were real on-air radio people. They understood what made Alan Almond great. He created a magic world that he transported you to where wishes came true and love was the most important thing one could possess. He always talked about embracing your inner child, which maybe why Ozarkers hated him (Ozarkers hate kids). Also, Alan Almond didn't played what was know in radio at the time as "quiet storm music" or light R & B, another no-no in the Ozarks.

How better to pay tribute one of radio's greatest voices than with two of his most famous "bits." The "Make a Wish" segment and his closing with "Summer Madness" by Kool & the Gang playing in the background. On the syndicated show, he would use a line borrowed from Red Skelton, "If you remember something I said and it makes you smile, then our time together was well spent. Sweet dreams angel."


Sunday, June 14, 2015

WHEN LOCAL TV STATIONS PREEMPTED NETWORK SHOWS FOR SYNDICATED SHOWS

CLICK TO ENLARGE

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The great thing about the retro blogs are that another blogger's post can be a springboard for another post. Pam at Go Retro! mentioned that the early interactive, (and cheesy) 50s TV show, The Continental, was in first run syndication after its failed run on CBS. Also Gilligan, over at Retrospace, has posted some scanned TV Guides from the 70s. These post got me to thinking about a problem that seems to be nonexistent in today's TV world.

Younger people believe that in the good old days, everyone watched the same TV shows, because there were not as many choices. They have heard that there were only four major networks (CBS, NBC, ABC & PBS) and only a smattering of cable channels. Their parents and grandparents all had to see the same TV shows. Right? Nope!

First off, not every area had access to television.  Until the 80s, there were some areas that were served by dual affiliates or multi affilates. If there was one TV station in small market that was not served by another community with a TV station, that TV station might run The Today Show (NBC), followed by Sesame Street (PBS), followed by The Price Is Right (CBS), followed by General Hospital (ABC), etc. etc. Here in Springfield, Missouri, until the late 60s, there were only two TV stations. One was NBC and the other was CBS. They shared ABC's programming, until an ABC affiliate came along in the late 60s.

The other problem was local TV stations, especially in the early days of TV, would preempt the network shows for a first run syndicated program. Up until the mid 70s, a network show might still get plastered over by another program. Why? There were two reasons. According to a August 29, 1959 issue of TV Guide (posted above), it was the old standby excuse in broadcasting of money. Networks didn't offer very network avails for local ads, but at that time syndicated shows were all local avail slots just waiting for local sponsors to fill. I've seen large ads in old editions of the Springfield Daily News and Springfield Leader & Press advertising the syndicated series, State Trooper, on a local TV station with a local sponsor mentioned.

The second, can be explained in a modern analogy. These were the "hip cable shows" of their day. There was no network censors to dictate what could be shown. They also gathered buzz among the media and viewers alike to become more popular than the network fare they were replacing. This was in the early days of TV when the networks were scrambling for anything to fill the schedule (ABC was showing military training films weekly during the early 50s). You could say that Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt, COronado 9, Shotgun Slade, Science Fiction Theater, Case of the Curious Robin and The Liberace Show, were the Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and Keeping Up With the Kardashians of their day.

There were some companies that specialized in syndication such a ZIV, the company behind Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt, and several others. ITC was a British company that sold British shows to American TV. Many of the early ITC programs were based on popular literary characters, such as Robin Hood, William Tell, Sir Lancelot, and The Invisible Man. One ITC program, The Saint starring Roger Moore, was so successful in syndication that NBC picked it up later in its run. One of ITC's biggest hits would be The Muppet Show in the 70s. The Adventures of Superman (produced by a company called Motion Pictures for Television) was picked up for Saturday mornings by ABC. In the 80s, NBC picked up SCTV for late night (locally it was preempted for Saturday Night Live reruns).

Desilu also syndicated some shows such as Sheriff of Cochise and The Whirlybirds. Universal TV was behind Shotgun Slade, the only Western to feature a jazz score.

The networks themselves got involved and almost cut their own throats in doing so. In 1954, NBC began syndicating reruns of Dragnet under the name Badge 714, while Dragnet was still on the air. In Springfield, it aired on BOTH TV stations. Later, CBS did the same with Gunsmoke and The Andy Griffith Show. They were changed into Marshal Dillon and Andy of Mayberry. The FCC put a stop to the networks syndicating their own shows in the early 70s.

By the 70s, only ITC was producing first run shows exclusively for syndication. What ultimately lead to the end of TV stations preempting network programs was the rise of independent TV stations and cable stations, which could show these syndicated programs. Also  TV stations broadcast 24 hours, so they had room to stick programs anywhere they wanted.

These days if you want to see a TV program, you can get it. You are not at the mercy of your local TV station.


Saturday, June 6, 2015

DESDINOVA'S PODCAST 2

Here is the second podcast mix of retro mayhem. Featuring the music of Marshall Hain, Teegarden & Van Winkle, Diesel and Lighthouse. Enjoy!
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