Radio Archives - The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Aug12011 by Chris Holmes6 Comments

Listening booth — Amy Winehouse (Tränenpalast, Berlin, Germany 2004)

I'll cop to not being the biggest Amy Winehouse fan in the world, but there's no denying the incredible talent she possessed. That talent is on display during the concert I'm sharing with you today. This is from a July 29, 2011 broadcast on Deutschlandfunk, a German radio station. It captures Amy performing in support of her debut album, Frank, on September 28, 2004 at the Tränenpalast in Berlin, Germany. This is the Amy that fans will likely want to remember. Before the scandal, before the very public -- and ultimately losing -- battles with addiction, and before the days of mysteriously canceled shows and poor performances. Here, she's in great voice and hits a groove with her sterling backing band. (These are all in .mp3 format by the way. If you want to download the show in .F...

Jul272011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Be tech-savvy: A handy glossary of CB lingo

Ephemera

CB radios may not be as popular as they were in the 1970s, but you better believe they'll be handy once the inevitable apocalypse comes and renders cell phones and GPS units inoperable. So as a public service, here's a handy dandy glossary of CB (Citizens' Band) radio lingo, straight out of the July 1976 issue of Popular Mechanics. That's a big 10-4, good buddy! Related articles The Ten-Codes (post140.wordpress.com) What does CB stand for in CB radio communications between truckers (wiki.answers.com)

Feb22011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Proud As a Peacock – NBC Logo Evolution

Sep102010 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Book report: The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism

Books

It's hard to imagine, especially for those of my generation or younger, but broadcast news was not always a wasteland of vacuous celebrity gossip, shallow political "analysis", or crude sensationalism. There was in fact a time when the men and women who called themselves broadcast journalists were actually journalists first, broadcasters secondly. A time when networks valued the insight and knowledge these broadcasters brought, with not nearly as much regard for profit. And for a period of almost 20 years starting in the late 1930s, there was one group of broadcast journalists more insightful, knowledgeable, professional, and popular than all others. They were the Murrow Boys, started and led by the legendary Edward R. Murrow. While most people still know his name, the names of the ...

Feb242010 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

This Week in History! (February 22-28)

History

*February 23, 1927: The Federal Radio Commission (precursor to today's FCC) is created with the passage of the Radio Act of 1927. President Calvin Coolidge urges the Commission to execute their duties with "all urgent haste", as Howard Stern's first show is only 50 years away. *February 25, 1964: A 22-year-old Olympic champion upstart by the name of Cassius Clay defeats heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston by TKO. Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali a week later, but I don't care. His momma name him Clay, I'm gonna call him Clay. *February 24, 1988: With their 8-0 verdict in Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell, the United States Supreme Court rules that public figures cannot sue for being made the subject of satire. The decision clears the final obstacle in the path of Larry...

Jan232009 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Retrotisement – Peter Gabriel III

Advertising, Retrotisements

Tucked away on a bootleg Genesis concert recording from 1980 is this little gem I want to share with you. The concert was aired on BBC Radio in June 1980 and this commercial is for former bandmate Peter Gabriel's third self-titled album - retroactively referred to as Peter Gabriel III or Melt. The record was Gabriel's strangest and darkest effort to date, and this radio ad brilliantly plays that up. It intersperses song clips with snippets of people talking about how they use the music to scare pigeons or to put their baby to sleep. God I love British humor. Sorry, humour. As a bonus I've included the rest of the commercial break. In it you get ads for a rental Ford Fiesta, a concert (featuring Bob Marley & The Wailers, Average White Band, Q-Tips, and the Joe Jackson Band), ...

Aug152008 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Mike Francesa’s ego is now free to expand and collapse into a black hole

Sports

After months of speculation, it's now official - the nearly 20-year radio partnership between Mike Francesa and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo is no more. Russo reached an accord with WFAN (and corporate parent CBS) wherein he agreed to stop showing up and they agreed to stop paying him, while Francesa signed a new multi-year contract and is for now the sole host of the show formerly known as Mike and the Mad Dog. Honestly, I think WFAN is getting the raw end of the deal. While Francesa is definitely the more polished broadcaster, and is measurably more knowledgeable about sports in general, he is also half as fun to listen to. Russo, for his numerous flaws, is more likely to be able to carry a show by himself. But since Russo is likely headed to a satellite radio gig, he's pretty much off my ...

Jul92007 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Hit the road Jack

Mental Debris

I can't believe I missed this while I was away, but apparently last week it was announced that WCBS-FM, the long-running New York oldies station, will be returning to the airwaves this week. This is great news not only for oldies fans (of which I am one), but also for listeners who felt shafted by WCBS's unceremonious departure in June 2005. The details of the switch from oldies to Jack FM are chronicled here, but here's the short version - After 33 years as an oldies station (and with still healthy ratings), WCBS was yanked off the air with no notice and replaced by the Jack FM format. Local institutions like Cousin Brucie Morrow were dumped after decades of service, and loyal listeners were left in the lurch. The change was a slap in the face to fans of the station, and epitomized ...

Apr122007 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Just one word about Don Imus

Rants

Look, there are plenty of legitimate reasons for firing Don Imus from his radio show. He hasn't said anything remotely funny or interesting since...well, ever. He mumbles like a mental patient. He's out of touch, irrelevant, and just generally lame. And his ratings suck, to boot. I'm not interested in debating whether or not his so-called joke about the Rutgers women's basketball team was offensive, racist, or both. I'm sure to a lot of people it was. The bottom line is that although CBS was perfectly within their rights to fire him, they did so not because of any sense of moral outrage. So when any suit at CBS claims they were concerned about the impact Imus's words had on society or race relations or blah blah blah, you better believe it's so much bovine feces. No, this firing...