Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

One of my most memorable experiences in the 1960s was recording music using my transitor radio. Yes, good old alligator clips patching into my reel to reel tape recorder. Those were the days recording hours of songs and falling asleep while listening to playback in the wee hours of the morning. Have you ever seen 1200 feet of acetate tape on the floor next to your bed?

My pet peeve of the day was disc jocky chatter over the beginning and the ending of the song. Was this a prerequisite for the position. Why could they not keep quiet? Please tell me Stan, was this a station requirement?

Oh, yeah, especially during the 50's and '60s. Jocks had to blab over the lip of every record they played. Call letters, slogans, and general drivel were a given, or you could have faced a fireable offense. And there was an order as to what came out of your mouth first before a jock could go into his own personal banter.
Every record also had a marked label, (attached to the record label), which stated the songs intro length before the vocals began, and the label would also include whether the record faded or ended cold. This enabled the jock to time out his talk right up to the vocals, as most did. Yours truly being no exception.

Interesting. I always figured they did it because they were supposed to, but what was the reasoning behind it?

I suspect that at the end of the day it was all about advertising. The more often the call letters and AM frequency were mentioned the greater the likelihood the listeners would put this station at the top of their list, or not as the case may be. Who played the coolest music ... why Stan of course.

cjj wrote:Interesting. I always figured they did it because they were supposed to, but what was the reasoning behind it?

As Top 40 became a dominant format, most markets boasted more than one contemporary station. Call letters, and accompanying station liners became a very integral part of identify your station over the competition. Primarily because when it came to a ratings sweep it was essential the listener knew what station they were listening to in the chance they were in possession of an Arbitron diary. The ratings Bible. (There was a predecessor to Arbitron but I can’t recall the company name). Programmers decided calls, slogans etc. had to be pounded into the listeners ears over every record. If call letters and identifiers weren't enough to grab the listener, the personalities had to make the difference. Every station could play the latest by the Beatles, so each station depended on their personalities to often be the final difference. It became the same everywhere. Cookie cutter formats in every state.
But, as stations evolved, FM came along, things began to change...

But, as stations evolved, FM came along, things began to change...

Stan: Please don't leave us trying to adjust our tuners. Why did the FM stations not have similar issues?

Primarily, Peter, I guess you would have to say it was because of a contrary approach...do the opposite. And music really began to take center stage over everything, including commercials.

When a handful of programmers discovered there was more to an artist than their latest 45, things began to change. When FM first came along most in management really didn't know what to do with it, and were unsure of its viability. A few insightful folks though began to use FM to air rock album tracks, starting on the West coast. The whole approach to this format of 'progressive rock' was intended to bring more music to the table and a lot less talk. No long winded breaks, just simple presentations and have a personality who knew his stuff, the music. No screamers, and hardly anything remotely reminiscent of AM Top 40.

In a short time it began to pay off much to the chagrin of the industry. By the early '70's there was an AOR (album oriented rock) station in nearly every medium and major market. I was lucky enough to find my way to two historic FM's in the Dallas/Ft. Worth market in those early years, and radio was never in a more euphoric state than it was at that time. AM Top 40 slowly faded away, and the chatter went with it, but today, its back as news/talk, and in many markets, highly successful!

I always thought they chattered over the intros and outros so that you couldn't get a full recording of the song!

Like you, Peter, I used to record from the earpiece jack on my National portable radio directly into a Sharp 5-1/2" reel to reel recorder through the auxillary input. When I got a small amp (Sansui AU101) and a reasonable pair of speakers (Lafayette if I recall correctly) it didn't sound too bad at all. From then on I'd listen to the radio by putting the recorder on record and pause. Goodness know what having the recorder on pause for hours on end did to it but it lasted a number of years. Then I upgraded to a Revox A77, Sansui AU555 and Celestion Ditton 10s...... the rest is history!

Them was the days.............

Naw, Aitch. It sounds like a devious plan, but alas, just rule of thumb for radio stations.

I did the same thing when I was 14. I called a station and requested a song I wanted to record, and even asked the jock, " Hey, would you not talk over it".
So this clown gets on the air and says, " This is for the cat who wants to record this song, and he asked me not to talk over it...so here you go".

Of course, he said this over the intro of the record.

Of course..........

Yup, me too. I used to record stuff off of the radio. And yes, I know what it's like when your take up reel quits and you get a pile of tape all over the floor.

Anyway, back in the day, I too figured they talked to keep people from recording them clean. But, I doubted they would bother with that since the number of people recording was exceedingly small and I suspect it just wasn't an issue with the record companies in those days.

The advertising/ratings thing makes sense though...

Stan,

If it's any consolation, I used to love hearing the DJ's chatter over our intro's and outro's. It somehow legitimised the fact that our music was being played on the radio. I found that to be so exciting as an artist.

winston wrote:Stan,

If it's any consolation, I used to love hearing the DJ's chatter over our intro's and outro's. It somehow legitimised the fact that our music was being played on the radio. I found that to be so exciting as an artist.

Yeah, I really feel the same way. I recall McCartney and the Beatles' first trip to the U.S. and the video I've seen of him always carrying that Pepsi designed transitor radio around. The excitement on their faces everytime one of thier tunes came on and Murray the K introducing them, or whomever. It was all part of the schtick!!

Even without the DJ chatter, it's still a real rush to hear one's own voice coming from a radio speaker. (I'm thinking FM public radio here.)
JimK

I remember catching a few special programs on reel-to-reel and cussing out the DJ for "spoiling" my recordings. But nowadays I'd love to hear those tapes again sometime.