Cool web site

[Charlie]

If you spent a lot of time listening to CBSRMT in the 1970's you were probably listening to a lot of other stuff too.

I found a site that I was not aware of the other day that in my opinion is [b:6f349d4f7d]super cool[/b:6f349d4f7d]! It's AirChecks.com (http://www.airchecks.com) and you can use your Real Audio player (http://www.real.com) to listen to streams of radio airchecks from the 60's through the 80's and 90's.

I have been listening to the 70's stuff and it is awesome. Having been on the radio for over 20 years myself I can only wish I had a set of pipes like some of the famous announcers [i:6f349d4f7d](I detest the term "DJ")[/i:6f349d4f7d] from those years. There's even a raw aircheck from a station in Dallas the day of the Kennedy assasination.

Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

<img src="http://www.airchecks.com/images5/ul2reel.gif" border=0>

By the way, if you do not have the "Real One" player from Real Audio, they want you to pay for it. But, there is a free version. Problem is, they make you hunt for it on their site. On the main page scroll down to the lower right hand corner and look for "free." Then on the following page, you have to look for free again. They lead you into the paying version with a "free trial" all the way through so you have to be alert. Even when you install the free one, they try to get you to go for the "free trial" but you can select the "basic installation" if you read carefully.

It's a good program though as it lets you listen to a lot of media and even has a built in browser (integreated with IE) so it's worth the download.

This link (http://www.real.com/RI/RC.021120r1cp_choice_2_rnx.bodymain.txt..RI/rnx/rnx_redir.html?src=121202realhome_3_1,021120r1cp_c hoice_2_rnx) works to download it right now but it may change regularly to keep people from linking directly to it.

Charlie

[vgarci]

Charlie,
Ok, so I had no idea what a radio check was but had to "check" it out. I have to agree, the few I listened to were pretty cool but I still have no idea why they're called radio checks. Anyway, I was born in '63 and listened to a lot of 60's and 70's music on AM and later on FM radio stations. I've got an extensive collection of vinyl albums, though they haven't been played in a very long time, and I've repurchased many of them on CD so my CD collection is in the 500+ arena. Anyway, back to the topic - Why is it called a radio check?

[Charlie]

Vince,

An aircheck is a sampling of an announcers performance.

Many radio stations used to run an "aircheck machine" all of the time so that they could monitor what their announcers were doing on the air.

Not only can this help the announcer improve his performance, it can also protect him or get him fired. A manager or program director can review an aircheck and hear just what the announcer did on their show or shift and in a few minutes hear the whole program. This allows them to offer suggestions, etc., and detect bad habits that might pop up like repeating phrases over and over.

The machine is usually a cassette deck (but could also be a reel to reel machine or even a digital device) that only records when the microphone is keyed - so you only get the announcer or whatever else is playing at the time.

I should also mention that such a thing saved me from a big problem last November.

During political season I interview candidates live on the air - ranging from US senatorial candidates down to all of the state and local offices.

This past November I was interviewing a mayoral candidate that had been the victim of a vicious advertising campaign. While we (the radio stations) do not take sides in the election, I do comment (much like what you see on TV) and challenge the candidates on a number of positions.

This candidate was lamenting that the advertising smears directed at her were unfounded and I commented that I, as well as many others, felt that the advertisements attacking her were likely to backfire and were without a doubt in bad taste.

Before we were even off the air, I could see that the telephone lines were all flashing and as soon as I was off the air I was informed that the accusations were flying. My employer, who frequently does not listen, asked me at once [b:9a9447a4ca]exactly[/b:9a9447a4ca] what I had said and although I could not recite word for word what I said, I was certain that I did not say what I was accused of saying. People were calling for my head and within 30 minutes there was another lady that showed up at the station that said she was "the head of this political action committee" and she was [b:9a9447a4ca]screaming[/b:9a9447a4ca] at me in the lobby of the radio station and telling me that they would get me off the air for sure. (She knows my employer personally and said she would have my head.)

Well, as luck would have it, our news director was airchecking the interview - unbeknownst to me! He produced the tape proving what I had said and solving the problem.

This was a potentially bad situation for me because a number of local officials purposefully lied about what I said and the aircheck saved my hide. smile.gif

I have hundreds of cassettes of airchecks of myself going all the way back to the early 80's - me anchoring coverage of the first shuttle explosion, the first Gulf War, all kinds of elections, big news stories, etc.

Fun to listen to. smile.gif

Charlie

[vgarci]

Charlie,
Your work sounds fascinating but I it sounds like it's not for the meek. It would be very difficult to be accountable for everything you've ever said. I can honestly say I make a verbal gaff each and every day.

Now, after listening to the radio checks last night (I listened to about 1.5 hours worth), it really took me back. I think I enjoy the CBSRMT programs with news segments simply because of the history. It's amazing to me that some of the issues we took for daily news were so historic in the grand scheme. So is there any chance you've converted your radio checks to MP3 or some other digital format? I'd sure like to hear them and the space shuttle tragedy would be of particular interest.

[Charlie]

Vince,

Some day I will do that. I do have an Real Audio clip of me interviewing Johnny Rivers (the singing star) in 2001 and I will get some other stuff together someday.

Here are a couple of my favorites...

Here's what not to do (Chuck "Hot Ticket" McKay): http://www.airchecks.com/bh/index.html#cmcklw75

And, here's a great aircheck (XEROK): http://www.airchecks.com/km/index.html#xerok7780

I listen to that stuff as well as CBSRMT. smile.gif

Charlie

[brian1984_2001]

I envy all of you who grew up in a real radio market with real announcers who had real talent. Growing up, I had one AM station with no range and one talented announcer who was also the chief reporter and station engineer (and would later become my father-in-law) and two FM stations. One FM station was the kind of music to listen to while kissing your cousin in the bed of your pickup truck (Not to insult country music listeners. this was just REALLY bad country). The other played disco which to this day gives me a rash when I hear it.

[vgarci]

Charlie,
I finally got around to listening to the radio checks you had suggested. I have to wonder if Chuck McKay ever worked again while the XEROK station was terrific. The difference seems to be that Chuck McKay was egocentric and he placed the emphasis on himself while the XEROK announces had a collective gift for making the music seem more exciting than it otherwise would have. Incredible examples of radio checks, regardless.

[Charlie]

Vince,

Under each one there is a "comments" button that you can punch and read what people have to say. In many cases people have posted updates on people. I think Mr. McKay (who sounded to me like he had a few too many lines of coke before his shift that night) went on to a career of small town radio stations. Some of them like the X-rock aircheck are just awesome. I like to think the station I work at sounds a little like that today - even though we are in a small town.

Charlie

[vgarci]

Charlie,
I've GOT to read my posts before sending them!! Sorry for all the errors.

I really enjoyed the radio checks and I'll be looking for a lot more as they sure take me back to a different time. So, do I understand your station has live announcers around the clock?

[Charlie]

Vince,

I didn't see any errors in your post but anyway, we are live from 5 AM to late evening when we join a national network that has a format very close to ours and they have live announcers.

The station itself is unmanned from late evening through about 4:30 AM when I come in - although the news director is often here late into the night producing news bits, etc.

I wish I had an aircheck of an interview I conducted last week. I interviewed a priest and he went away from the interview mad - although I didn't detect a problem. So, now I am again being accused of saying and doing something on the air that I did not do.

This guy wanted to get into subjects that I did not want to get into - controversial stuff. I'm not afraid of that but in a small town you're going to p.o. half of the people one way or the other. Of course, in the end it is me that takes the fall.

Charlie :(

[vgarci]

Charlie,
As for small town life, I certainly know what you're talking about because word of mouth is EVERYTHING. I had to smile when I read your comment about the p.o.'d priest....quite an image! Kind of the antithesis to Harry Cohen in the first show of the week you just pitched. Ah, ain't life a blast?

[Charlie]

You wouldn't believe it sometimes. People where I live don't have much to do other than to find something to complain about. :(

Charlie

[Ross]

Yeah, I meant to post on this earlier. Good ole' airchecks.

Neat stuff.

Ross

[NAtlantis]

[b:961c3a250f]Cool site! [/b:961c3a250f] smile.gif Thanks for sharing! I just listened to one of my old favorites... Dave Maynard WBZ Boston in his early years (before I was born). I wonder if any of you have any clue where I could find recordings of old radio talk shows. I would really like to dig up some shows from Larry Glick, Bob Raleigh, and some of the other WBZ guys. Back in the 1980's that was one of the coolest stations to be tuned into. I'd listen late in the evenings. (before and after the CBSRMT of course...). I have some old tapes that I need to convert to digital. Skip would allow to pick Boston up even in NY, relatively clearly most evenings... Now that I am in the deep South, I can no longer pick up WBZ very well, and by no I think that they are pretty much all news most of the time. Anyway input would be appreciated if any of you have any sources. Thanks!

John in Charleston, SC

[Charlie]

I can't comment on those folks directly but there are a lot of fan sites and smaller aircheck sites. You would probably have to do some Googling to find out about particulat people. I know there are some Boston radio history sites, etc.

Charlie

[Lagavulin]

Well... I finally got around to listening to Chuck McKay on the airchecks website. HAHAHA I haven't heard an ego like that EVER!!

"I am what you call your basic radio star."

Thanks for charing, Charlie

Miles