Gotta Be Honest

[ghost of miles]

Jsngry, I've experienced this very same sensation over the past couple of years!  I sometimes walk to work holding my phone up to listen to music and definitely feel the old-school transistor vibe.  Last year I asked my dad if I could have one of our old transistor radios and sometimes listen to Cincinnati Reds games on it... will post a photo momentarily.  I loved transistor radios, listening to sports on them as well as music.

[ghost of miles]

Tried to upload the photo, but even after resizing it to 19 KB, I keep getting the message that I'm allowed to upload only 102 KB.  I'll try again later.

[JSngry]

Oh, ball games were GREAT. That's one experience where whatever crackle and fade-iness there was added to the urgency of experiencing a game with no visual input at all, Deep emotional investment in something that could vanish at any time with no predictable return time. Once in a great while, it would be a critical situation, the ball would be hit and then the signal would fade out, and you're like oh SHIT what is happening???? and then it would fade back in to the roar of the crowd, although for what you weren't yet sure...whew!

It's just a different way of experiencing things, not better, not worse, just different. And the kick for me is in hearing things that would have NEVER been heard over a transistor radio back in the day (unless, of course, you homemade spliced it and diced it as mentioned above). It's what I can only describe as an experience merge, merging a past experience onto a current one.

Let me tell you what I DID hear on an AM radio, in real time - Revolution 9. WNOE AM in New Orleans played the entire White Album from start to finish on a Friday night either just before or just after its release. around 7PM Central time is when they started. That was one of those stations that came in stronger as the night went on, but very seldom came in "loud and clear" (and if you lived in the right place, sometimes AM WOULD be loud and clear). So, you know, in and out with the songs, mostly in, but hey, my first time hearing the record, I'm all young-teen awed, and then...WTF??????? couldn't tell if the radio had gone bad, the radio station, the record, just....WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?????????

Different world.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Oh, ball games were GREAT. That's one experience where whatever crackle and fade-iness there was added to the urgency of experiencing a game with no visual input at all, Deep emotional investment in something that could vanish at any time with no predictable return time. Once in a great while, it would be a critical situation, the ball would be hit and then the signal would fade out, and you're like oh SHIT what is happening???? and then it would fade back in to the roar of the crowd, although for what you weren't yet sure...whew!

I used to love the Red Sox radio broadcast so much that I used to play the radio while watching the TV with sound turned off. The delay made it even more fun.

I used to do the same thing with the Celtics... there was nothing like hearing Johnny Most call a Celtics game.

[ghost of miles]

3 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I used to love the Red Sox radio broadcast so much that I used to play the radio while watching the TV with sound turned off. The delay made it even more fun.

I used to do the same thing with the Celtics... there was nothing like hearing Johnny Most call a Celtics game.

Some folks here in Indiana do the same for IU basketball with radio announcer Don Fischer.  Here's his call of IU's 2011 win over #1 Kentucky--a moment that signaled that the program was once again a contender:   Don Fischer's call of IU buzzer-beater victory over Kentucky at Assembly Hall, Dec 2011

 

 

[Scott Dolan]

I actually got into baseball very late in the game, when we moved here in 2002. I started listening to Royals games in the mid 2000's after a co-worker told me there is nothing like listening to baseball games on the radio. He was right. 

[Dave Garrett]

I haven't read this yet, but keep meaning to check it out. Those who have an interest in baseball on the radio might be similarly inclined.

Baseball on the Radio: Review of Crack of the Bat

[ghost of miles]

On 8/21/2016 at 10:35 PM, Dave Garrett said:

I haven't read this yet, but keep meaning to check it out. Those who have an interest in baseball on the radio might be similarly inclined.

Baseball on the Radio: Review of Crack of the Bat

Thanks for the heads-up, Dan--I'll definitely check that out.

[mikeweil]

I always knew that music listening was basically a nostalgic thing 

[Dmitry]

I'm gonna show you something really cool that I picked up in a consignment store, once I get home tonight.

[paul secor]

On ‎8‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 10:45 AM, JSngry said:

 

 

Alive 'N Kickin' (and really, is that not the worst Tommy James imitation ever?).

 

On ‎8‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 10:58 AM, Kevin Bresnahan said:

What are you talking about? Isn't that Tommy James?

Funny how James actually wrote "Tighter, Tighter" for Alive 'N Kickin' after he decided not to give them "Crystal Blue Persuasion" because he wanted to record that song himself.

Haven't heard it in years, but I liked "Tighter, Tighter" back in the day. Not sure what that says about me.

[Teasing the Korean]

One of my favorite musical/cultural experiences used to be listening to AM radio late at night and hearing songs I liked coming from a distant station.  

[Scott Dolan]

And when you say distant, you ain't bullshittin'! The range those AM stations had was staggering. 

[Big Beat Steve]

On 18.8.2016 at 7:25 PM, mikeweil said:

Southern Germany: Südwestrundfunk, which Joachim Ernst Berendt made big, and Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian) - especially the latter played a lot more jazz than the average radio. No wonder you got that impression. The 1980s were the best time span for jazz in Germany, Travelling costs were not as high as today, so you had more people touring than later. Congratulate yourself you were there when it was the best 

During the first half of the 80s I lived in a place in Southwestern Germany near the Rhine that was at the coverage intersections between Südwestfunk, Süddeutscher Rundfunk, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (AM only) and Hessischer Rundfunk - and some French stations too (and AFN as well). There were evenings - particularly on workdays - when I had to work off a really busy listening schedule because one half-hour or one-hour music show would neatly segue into another one of interest on a different station (sometimes with 15-minute overlaps), and there even were days when I set up two radios - recording tunes from one radio via the built-in cassette recorder while listening to the other station on the other radio so as not to miss ANYTHING. Yes, those were the days ...

Edited January 31, 2017 by Big Beat Steve

[JSngry]

http://www.astrosdaily.com/audio/63asproboy.mp3

 

[mikeweil]

He must have been a real jazz aficionado ...