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Free America's Best Music Airchecks

I'll give these a listen when I get time. There was some technical problem earlier today and I heard "Tennessee Waltz" by Patti Page, apparently because someone at the radio station was playing music until the problem was fixed. I wonder how long it has been since that one was played?
 
Thanks!:cool: The only thing better would be airchecks from my local ABM station before it switched formats.

***Unfortunately the second link was already taken down.
 
bringbackthe80s said:
What was your local ABM station?
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I've had many.

WGLD Greensboro NC, WKIX (later WYLT) Raleigh NC, WSTP Salisbury NC, WMXF Waynesville NC (on vacation), WJXY Conway SC (on vacation), WSIC Statesville NC (on vacation), WIOZ Pinehurst NC (on vacation), and the one I listened to the most, WSAT Salisbury NC, which used the format for eight years.

KKOV Vancouver WA online, and then WNAM Oshkosh WI online.
 
These airchecks are from AM Only/Westwood One Adult Standards, and th 1995 aircheck sounds just like what I remember from 1996 and 1997 on WPTW, Piqua, Ohio.
 
bringbackthe80s said:
What was your local ABM station?

As for the second link, I pasted it in wrong, sorry. I just checked this one and it works. Here it is again:

https://archive.org/details/kkjl-am...is+Obispo,+CA+January+18,+2010+(Unscoped).mp3

As for the Patti Page song you heard, I would imagine it's been 15 or 20 years since that one was played, since it came out in 1950.

Thanks.
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I can't get the first one to work.

There are several songs in the second aircheck I haven't heard in a while. I wish it could still sound this good.
 
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"Close to You" (not the Carpenters song) on WNAM, so it can still sound really good.

Now this is weird. "Are You Lonesome Tonight" played on WNAM and in the aircheck. Not at exactly the same time, but close.
 
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One thing I've never understood is why they kept saying "the 40's, 50's, and 60's" when they only played a handfull of songs from the 40's. Also could someone please explain what the slogan "original hits station" means? Never understood that one either. Thanks.
 
bringbackthe80s said:
What was your local ABM station?
Click to expand...

1450 KSIG out of Crowley, LA. I grew up in Lafayette. Fell in love with the format in the late 90s. Realized it was because a lot of the playlist was from my childhood and my parents were listening to "uncool" music even back then. :D

KSIG is now Sunny 95.1. They play some of ABM's playlist but throw in more uptempo oldies particularly from the 60's. So not bad but it doesn't have the same comfort factor for me.

Thanks! Got the second file!
 
bringbackthe80s said:
One thing I've never understood is why they kept saying "the 40's, 50's, and 60's" when they only played a handfull of songs from the 40's. Also could someone please explain what the slogan "original hits station" means? Never understood that one either. Thanks.
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I was wondering that myself. Stardust played more 40s songs. I finally concluded that the 40s songs they played were actually recorded many years later.

Even when I started listening, they probably played more 70s than 40s.

Beautiful music stations played versions of hit songs, and the originals were the "original hits", but there were several versions of some songs. "Unchained Melody" was best known as a Righteous Brothers song (the other brother played the piano) but before I ever heard their version, I heard Les Baxter's and Al Hibbler's.
 
I believe you are correct. From the airchecks I've heard from 1991-1998, the only actual 40's songs I heard them play were Perry Como - They Say it's Wonderful (1946), Doris Day - It's Magic (1948),and the Three Sons - Twilight Time (1945). The rest of the songs that were supposedly from the 40's were remakes. For example, You'll Never Know by Dick Haymes was originally recorded in 1943 with an acapella chorus during one of the many musician strikes of that time. However, the version that AMO played was recorded later with a piano accompaniment. I think they went out of their way to play the stereo versions as much as possible, which had to have been recorded after 1958.

But perhaps they did this to set themselves apart from MOYL and Stardust, which were already established by 1987 when AMO came on the scene. At that time, MOYL was still in tape syndication and had not gone satellite. SMN's Stardust was their closest competitor, and judging from the airchecks I heard from them (from 1983-1987) they were much more focussed on the big band sounds.
 
Yes, I remember Stardust in 1987 was much more of a big band format. By 1991 it sounded a lot like AMO during the day but as recently as 1997 Stardust still had the big band sound in the evening, and that made the bizarre format of WNMX Charlotte NC even weirder since they were leaning heavily soft AC when they went local during the day, returning to the satellite at night.

I do remember the name Dick Haymes from the early years, and believe it or not he was TOO traditional for me.
 
The Stardust aircheck was probably one of the more fun ones to do considering the circumstances under which it was done. See, my dad's pain-in-the-a relative was down from Sequim for thanksgiving and since my tape deck's currently at their place, it provided a nice escape from his drunken, well, this is liable to get VERY VERY VERY political so I'll stop while I'm ahead.

The Teac A2300SX is not a very gentle or forgiving machine when working with such thin tape. The reel platters are on rather powerful counter-rotating motors to provide adequate backtension (obviating the need for a pressure pad) but with 0.5 mil tapes like this one it appears to stretch the tape out very slightly. There are three "triangles" radiating out from the hub to about halfway up the pancake (the earlier KWHG/KLIN/WOW reel was the same length and had the same issue). Being recorded at 1 7/8 and the Teac only being a two-speed machine meant that I had to take the audio into the computer at 3 3/4 which made very quick and easy work of duplication.

I recently uploaded a new version (PCM!!!) with improved equalisation, mainly to improve treble response which was lacking on the original file. It's a little more hissy than the old file was, but it's low-speed tape, so what can you do. Go check it out. The original unprocessed (but speed corrected) 2-channel tape-in master is also there, crosstalk and all, for anybody who wants it.

bringbackthe80s-- I saw your replies on the AM Only airchecks, PM me when you have the chance. Thanks for spreading the word around over here, you're awesome!
 
Aircheck update: as of a few weeks ago the 1995 KKSN aircheck is now in PCM format (Micro$nort RIFF/44100/16/2), so if you previously downloaded the MP2 file or its derivative MP3, you should delete it and download the new version. This is not simply a reencoding from an old transfer but a complete retransfer at the same time I was retrieving the funky organ music recording from side 2. This new version should (hopefully) sound slightly better since it is free of SCMPX's encoding artefacts but considering the overall quality of the recording itself, this isn't saying much.

There is also another (short) WNAM aircheck that I posted to the WNAM airchecks page last week. It is the file named "WNAMAMAAC_SC.20200722.194044.20200723.004344.m4a" ("ADVANCED AUDIO CODING" option).
 
Something weird got recorded here. It sounded like Joe Lacina was still talking during a commercial. I was finally able to hear the words. Something about "Westwood" and then words similar to "You'll have to call the local station. I can't do anything." I have to wonder if the call was about the glitch I was hearing. But then he should have turned his mike off when answering.
 
vchimpanzee said:
Something weird got recorded here. It sounded like Joe Lacina was still talking during a commercial. I was finally able to hear the words. Something about "Westwood" and then words similar to "You'll have to call the local station. I can't do anything." I have to wonder if the call was about the glitch I was hearing. But then he should have turned his mike off when answering.
Click to expand...

Yes, I heard that. Near as I can figure, he was talking on the phone with someone before he went on the air, then when he was finnished with the break, he forgot to punch his microphone out of the mix buss which was going to air. I believe this is what he said:

"yes sir, is that on radio or TV? Well you probably have to... what station was it? You'll have to call the local number there in Columbus... I have no idea... Give them a call, they'll know, okay?"

Back when you could actually call a network and talk to a live announcer. I used to call the "America's Best Music" studio line and talk to those guys. They taught me a lot about radio when I was still verry young. They were as nice off the air as they sounded on the air.
 
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