Listening to the Radio (a dying pastime?)

[scottbtdmb]

I started a thread on here awhile back on OTR (old time radio), and wanted to follow-up with a thread about the radio in general. I am only 30 and wasn't alive for the "Golden Age of Radio", but I still have fond memories of listening to the radio as a kid. I remember spending the night at my grandparents when I was little and always having the radio on when we went to bed. Most of the time it was a Baltimore Orioles game, but even so, I remember it was always such a magical experience, and for some reason I always enjoyed it even more than watching the game on TV. When I was a teenager, I would always listen to "Loveline" with Dr. Drew and Adam Carolla every night when I went to bed. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, it was extremely popular in the 1990's and was a nationally broadcasted show where listeners would call in with relationship problems. Dr. Drew would give advice and Adam Carolla would be the comic relief, frequently going on rants that would make me laugh so hard that tears would run down my face.

Sometime around my college years, I stopped listening to the radio. I had a fancy CD player in my car and would eventually have an ipod hook up where I could access all of my music through my car stereo. Watching TV became more of a norm for me and eventually, I don't even think I had a working radio in the house or in my car. A few years ago, I got into OTR and was not only reminded how great radio is, but I discovered a Golden Age that existed years before I was born, where radio was the number one form of entertainment. Families would gather around in the living room in the evening to listen to Suspense, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, Jack Benny, and countless others. I imagine dad would sit in his easy chair and pack his favorite pipe with some good tobacco and pour a glass of his favorite potent potable. Discovering all of these shows really allowed me to travel through a portal back to a different world in a different era than the one I knew.

In the few weeks, I found an old walkman with an AM/FM radio in my storage and was excited to find that it still worked. Additionally, I got an FM/AM hookup put back into my car again. In addition to OTR, I have re-discovered the joy of listening to daily talk radio. There is a great Sports Talk radio channel called "The Fan" here in Maryland and I even have it bookmarked at work on my office computer and it is constantly playing in the background at work. So what do you guys think about the future of radio? I feel that it is dying out the same way other old world pastimes are dying out, including the daily newspaper, and unfortunately the pipe! I take pride in enjoying these traditions that my great-grandfather enjoyed back in the 30's and 40's. Sitting in a comfortable chair in the evening, flipping on the radio, opening a newspaper, and lighting a pipe. These are daily routines that just don't take place anymore in today's world. Everything is so fast paced, I believe McDonalization is the term that has been coined. Everything is fast, efficient, and cookie cutter. Don't get me wrong, I love the Internet and the modern convenience it offers of giving me up to date news, weather, sports, and of course great access to tobaccos through etailer sites. I love my ipod and how I can fit 25,000 songs on it (basically my whole music collection). But there is something comforting about having a newspaper in one's hand, putting on a classic vinyl record, and flipping on the radio that modern conveniences don't provide. I think it allows us to slow down our lives a little bit and forces us to take a little time out of our day to relax and not rush. Sorry for the tangent, but I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Any thoughts?

-Scott

 

[Simple Man]

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[Doc Manhattan]

My three favorite memories of radio as a kid:
1. Listening to some important soccer match (I had no idea what it was) with my Grampa on his brick-size, brick-heavy transistor radio.

2. Taping a song off the radio--a feat that required lightning reflexes and finesse.

3. Staying up late in my bed with my ear jammed against a Radio Shack radio that was built into a stuffed plush dog to hear the end of the 1987 World Series. I thought that Christmas present was the tackiest thing in the world until that moment--then it became Bond-class spy equipment.

I've rekindled my romance with radio, now that for the first time since college, I have a job that involves a substantial auto commute. It was all walking and mass transit before that.

I'm not big on wacky drive-time radio, but CT has some solid theme-specific music stations, and our NPR affiliates' local programming can be pretty good (especially the classical music shows on WSHU.) There's even a station that just broadcasts 90s music, just like it did in the 90s... shameless, but yes, I will tune in for some high school nostalgia.

 

[Carlos]

I detest commercial radio now that I am older. Advertizing has gotten mostly stupid. I really do not understand what they are teaching now days because it cannot work well. So I am an NPR fan when it comes to broadcast band radio.

When I was a kid, I listened to all sorts of stuff. SW, AM, & FM. I was a late night fan of the Charlie Douglas Road Gang on clear channel AM out of New Orleans. "King Edward Cigar time". LOL!

The majority of my listening now days is spent on the ham bands. Working contests and rare DX stations. There is a group right now on several bands giving out contacts from Malpelo Island in the pacific. It's only activated maybe once a decade. Think of it like Stone Mountain. Only surrounded by water. No place to land a boat safely. They use a sort of catwalk with a ladder to get onto the rock. A lot of climbing. Temps to 115F daily. The ham population in the US is now over 700,000, A lot of people playing radio.

 

[Simple Man]

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[Bub]

Let me go back a few years.
My dad bought me a radio shaped like a champaign bottle. There was a nob at the base that turned it on and I changed the stations by turning the top.
I fell asleep listening to boxing matches.
I also remember a lot of the "old time" radio shows and hope that some of you remember them also.
Did you ever get into soap operas on the radio when you were sick and home from school?
Since time marches on now I listen to npr and kdhx
http://kdhx.org/

 

[riff raff]

Radio fan freak checking in here. I grew up in the 70's, living in Germany on an Army base, but listening to Top 40 music via the military radio station rebroadcast on a little AM transistor radio.

Since I drive a lot, I've listened to talk radio for a long time. The Greaseman was huge in this area in the 80's. I was a huge Don & Mike fan, I miss those guys. I have XM now, and listen to many different shows. I've driven just over 500,000 miles in the past 9 years and the XM radio (original subscriber) has been on for almost every mile. I'm a big Ron & Fez fan now, with some Opie & Anthony. I started listening to Jay Thomas last year and really like his show. He's been in radio a long time, I always assumed he was an actor only.

Theme shows on XM that I enjoy - Tom Petty's "Buried Treasure" and Eddie Trunks Metal Show on Monday evenings. I used to love Marty Stuarts show with the Superlatives, that was outstanding, but no longer on.

I love to listen to Football on the radio. Tuning in the Indy 500 is a tradition in the garage while I wash and wax my car.

If I could have a dream career, it would be to have an on-air radio job. In my restaurant work, I've had opportunities in the past to talk on the air with personalities while delivering food for promotional events or live events at the restaurant. They pretty much had to throw me out or take my mic away... The biggest show was the "Sports Junkies" in DC. A restaurant owner and myself spent about an hour shooting the breeze about football, that was a blast. One of my best friend was a rock DJ during the 80's. He knows some tidbit about just about any rock song you can name and can hit the post every time.

 

[puros_bran]

Two words....

Satellite Radio.






ANY thing from those songs you taped in your youth, to important soccer matches, and football, and talk, and npr, and OTR and OTR
(old time radio, two stations, and over the road stations for truckers..lol) If you want to listen to it Sirius/Xm has it. I would give up my smartphone (and for those that know me you know what I'm saying) before I gave up my satellite radio.

 

[Dutch]

I remember listening to Dr. Demento show.....

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[riff raff]

I'm just reading the playlist for this mornings "Breakfast With The Beatles". The wife and I never miss this on Sunday morning, on XM's "Underground Garage", a favorite channel.

http://www.breakfastwiththebeatles.com/

 

[Buckshot]

As I type this I am listening to The Prairie Home Companion on Public Radio. Great stuff!

 

[idbowman]

Love radio. Especially talk radio.

I listen to some local sports talk (gets a bit too repetitive to listen to all the time), and the local NPR affiliate. Cleveland still has some great radio, including a local station that plays the music of the 30s-50s (pre-rock stuff...jazz, standards, "rat pack," blues, etc.). Really, really good stuff.

In the office I use Pandora.


The best thing on the radio? Baseball games. It's my favorite major American sport and it's just as entertaining to listen to as it is to watch. I'm not an Indians fan, necessarily, but I listen to the games whenever I'm in the car our outside (in the house I'll usually find a way to stream the Cubs' game). There's just something about radio, baseball, a pipe, and some light yard/garage work to set things right.

 

[Richard Burley]

I like Rush Limbaugh. I like his style, if not 100% of his content. I am not part of the Jesus/fetus crowd, but I admire anyone who is the best at what they do. And he has what he calls "liberals" completely figured out--they just don't know it. I believe the man is credited with rescuing AM from oblivion.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I like radios, they're what got me into synthesizers. Weird? Not so much. Amplitude modulation and frequency modulation are both components of quite a few instruments. I've built a few simple radios, fixed some tube radios, have a bunch of SW and other units around, I listen to them quite a bit, but mostly when I'm out in the middle of nowhere. I like Coast to Coast (go figure) and some talk, we have a neat station in the nearby town of Fallon called KHWG 750AM, which plays classic country, which is awesome.

Satellite radio is kind of cool, but the coverage in Northern Nevada is spotty.

 

[scottbtdmb]

Great responses guys! It is good to know that other Brothers share my love of all things radio. XM Radio never really crossed my mind, but I have heard great things from Dad on XM, and it seems that it offers a little something for everyone. I am a huge collector of OTR and often wonder how cool it must have been to have been alive during the Golden Age of Radio. Suspense is probably my favorite, followed closely by the classic detective shows like Yours Truly Johnny Dollar and Broadway Is My Beat. When I am in the mood, I also enjoy the classic comedies like Duffy's Tavern, The Jack Benny Show, Amos&Andy, and Fibber McGee & Molly. On a side note, have any of you heard of Imagination Theater? They are a production company based out of Washington state that record radio dramas live in front of an audience. They are probably most famous for their Sherlock Holmes series, which features some fine acting from John Patrick Lowrie as Sherlock Holmes and Larry Albert as Dr. Watson. They do a nice mix of classic tales from the original "Canon", as well as brand new original dramatizations. Imagination Theater also has a great program called "The Adventures of Harry Nile" that I enjoy, which also features a private detective, but takes place during the 1940's and 50's.

Also, I am curious to hear what you guys think about newspapers, which I elaborated a little bit about in my earlier tangent. With all the news sites available on the Internet, do you still reach for the morning "rag" and how do you feel about newspapers disappearing in the next 10-20 years? Personally, as much as I love checking news on the Internet when I am on the go and am at work, I love having a hard copy in my hand. It just feels right to light a pipe in the morning, have some good coffee at my side, and open up a newspaper. Classic traditions deserve to live on. I read the "shaving" threads on here and wonder if I should take a look at some classic razors as well. Perhaps I have an old soul or perhaps taking up a pipe has made me realize that certain traditions deserve to be passed on, otherwise they will die out!

-Scott

 

[Simple Man]

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[riff raff]

We must be kindred souls Scott (although I'm 50 and guess you are a good bit younger). I still get our local paper "The Herald Mail", 7 days/week. I just finished reading todays edition at the Pipes&Cigars.com lounge up in Albany NY this evening.
Our papers numbers are definitely dwindling and they just released a "pay for content" digital version. I can read it on my Blackberry, but prefer the paper in hand with some coffee and my pipe. In fact, that is a eagerly anticipated Sat/Sunday morning activity for myself. Our paper used to have a morning/evening edition, but now just a morning paper is printed. They also just shifted printing to another paper in Frederick Maryland. The presses in the building could be viewed thru huge glass windows from the street. That is all dark now and the presses were dismantled for scrap. Sad.

 

[lowflyingpenguin]

I have had XM at home and in our cars and RV for several years and our new car has Sirius. Unfortunately in Canada right now they are still somewhat separate and you can't combine the subscriptions.

Love me some satellite radio while camping and driving out of town away from larger centres.

 

[scottbtdmb]

We must be kindred souls Scott (although I'm 50 and guess you are a good bit younger). I still get our local paper "The Herald Mail", 7 days/week. I just finished reading todays edition at the Pipes&Cigars.com lounge up in Albany NY this evening.
Our papers numbers are definitely dwindling and they just released a "pay for content" digital version. I can read it on my Blackberry, but prefer the paper in hand with some coffee and my pipe. In fact, that is a eagerly anticipated Sat/Sunday morning activity for myself. Our paper used to have a morning/evening edition, but now just a morning paper is printed. They also just shifted printing to another paper in Frederick Maryland. The presses in the building could be viewed thru huge glass windows from the street. That is all dark now and the presses were dismantled for scrap. Sad.

Kindred souls indeed. I am 30, but have been told by many that I am an old soul. I smoke a pipe, enjoy black and white movies, prefer radio (especially OTR) over TV, and I enjoy a newspaper and/or book over Internet news sites or a Kindle. Some people my age and even older folks make fun of me for it, but I have always enjoyed (and perhaps romanticized) over classic American traditions, namely the ones that are no longer popular. As far as newspapers go, my mom was a typesetter at our local newspaper (The Aegis) and I grew up spending Friday nights there at the building, parts of which are over 100 years old (The Aegis itself dates back to 1856). I grew up with several newspapers always around the house and it is an activity that a pipe and coffee were made for IMO. I have compromised a little bit with modern technology, especially with the ipods, since they basically hold my entire music collection and nothing beats being able to take a library of 25,000 songs on a roadtrip or camping, as opposed to taking a boatload of CD's along. However, I recently took an old CD boombox out of storage and was amazed with how much better CD's sound than the lower bitrates used for mp3 files. I had almost forgotten how much cleaner and crisper a CD sounded! Hell, I would love to get into analog (vinyl), but my money is tied up with other hobbies like pipes and craft beer. Aside from the ipod, I refuse to go along with subscribing to electronic newspapers and I certainly don't plan on buying a Kindle. There's something about getting that newspaper on the front stoop that I would miss too much and I certainly love going to the library to hunt down a book that I have been wanting to read. Anyhow, shoot me a PM sometime since you are so close. I would love to meet up for a smoke at Faders or even at Main St Cigar if you're ever in the area.

-Scott

 

[Simple Man]

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