It's a special month here at 33 Revelations. Not just because I'm planning on making more than one post, but because the posts I'm going to make have a little more personal meaning than normal. They're all about radio.
I started in radio 20 years ago this month. It's been a few years since I've done it, and I'd love to do it again if only I could afford to (there's more love than money in radio). But I lived the dream for 12 years. I'm glad I had the chance to do it.
This month, I'm celebrating my 20 years with radio records. These aren't DJ copies of albums you know and heard over and over. These are hit collections from DJs or radio stations. They're commercials and PSAs. Radio shows. And a couple of off-the-wall surprises...one of which has barely anything to do with radio at first glance. So stay tuned. I've got a lot to show you this month.
Showing posts with label Fairs & Events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fairs & Events. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
The Man On The Moon: 45 Years Ago This Week
It was a much different world 45 years ago. We have Afghanistan now; we had Vietnam then. Now it's Google; back then it was anyone over 30. Hilarious mismatches of new songs and old artists ensued in lame attempts to bridge the Generation Gap. Today, kids ask their grandparents about Woodstock and listen reverently to their old Beatles albums. The Smothers Brothers pushed the envelope every week - well, every week they weren't busy arguing with CBS and withholding tapes of their show from them because of what (or who) was censored from their variety show. NBC wasn't owned by a big cable company that's currently trying to buy another big cable company. They were too busy with a little distraction called Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, which, while definitely risque by '60s standards, was nowhere near what you might see today. Yet half the jokes from that show would make a modern day standards & practices person blush, what with their political incorrectness. Political incorrectness wasn't even a thing then. Unless maybe you voted for McGovern and he lost. Yep. Totally different time.
One of America's finest moments came during that time. On Sunday, July 20th, 1969, John F. Kennedy's dream was realized: we sent a man to the moon. Really, we sent three: Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins. We take for granted what a monumental feat it was in light of what we can do today. But this was truly America at its postwar best. The Russians beat us to space, but we showed them by getting to the moon before they did. All the world was watching a true moment in history. And while they were, back here at home Walter Cronkite, the dean of TV newsmen, laid it all out for us on CBS.
You're about to hear a 7" 33 with Cronkite recalling the day Apollo 11 touched down on the surface of the moon. From countdown to touchdown, there are a lot of interesting moments. Relive them...or if you weren't around back then, listen and learn.
Side 1
Side 2
This record is presented for historical purposes only and is not intended for purposes of public performance or profit.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
All's Fair
Hey, did I see you at the fair? If it was the WFMU Record Fair, you probably did. I spent too much money, took not enough pictures, and drank no Chelada whatsoever (because they had the decency not to serve it this year)...but I had a great time and caught up with (and bought a few records from) a couple folks I haven't seen in a while.
I'll say one thing about the money, though: a lot of it was for a good cause. More than one, actually. First, of course, is WFMU. They're the coolest listener-supported freeform radio station in town, don'cha know, and they had loads of $1 LPs, several classes of CDs, and their own compilations (including one of guest appearances from a show a friend of mine hosts)...not to mention tons of swag and a prize wheel you could spin for a buck. All proceeds go right to the station.
The other good cause is this li'l ol' blog right here. I got plenty of blogger fodder for you to marvel at, and little by little you'll see some of it. You might even hear some. So even if you can't go today, you can get a taste for what's there.
The 69th Regiment Armory at 26th/Lexington is the new place for the fair. Right across from it on Lexington Ave. is what must be one of the smallest Popeyes in existence. They could've gotten away with calling it Olive Oyl's. It doesn't even have a bathroom, it's so small. Yet somehow despite that little oversight, it gets an A from the health department. Try the chicken & waffle tenders. But bring your own Purell.
You know what else I got?
Shirt love.
Two people asked to take a picture of my shirt. If you were there and missed your chance, I'll save you the trouble of asking. Pardon the mug - I didn't feel like cropping my head off...and selfies are hard. Besides, I needed a new facebook profile pic, and this was a quick-n-dirty way to get one.
If you want the shirt...make your record store print its own. They could use the publicity. Or see if CafePress has one like it.
Next best thing, of course, is to pick from the variety of shirts WFMU offers. Like I said, there's still time. And there's still a lot of music to discover in the coolest way possible.
www.wfmu.org/recfair
Monday, May 26, 2014
Fair Warning
Attention, east-coast record hunters: your favorite freeform radio station, WFMU, is having its world-famous (what? Well, it SHOULD be, dammit!) record fair this weekend.
One big thing to note is that it's moved from the Metropolitan Pavilion to the 69th Regiment Armory at 26th/Lexington in Manhattan.
If you haven't been there before, change some plans around so you can make it. It's huge. I'm talking literally millions of records from literally every genre, tens of thousands of CDs, and a whole lot of fun. WFMU DJs will be doing their shows live there, and others will be DJing just for you lucky showgoers. There might even be other things going on, too.
$7 a day Friday, Saturday and Sunday; or if you're a die-hard, $25 for the entire weekend with early pre-fair admission on Friday afternoon and unlimited admission all weekend.
Get the full scoop direct from the source. Maybe I'll see you there!
One big thing to note is that it's moved from the Metropolitan Pavilion to the 69th Regiment Armory at 26th/Lexington in Manhattan.
If you haven't been there before, change some plans around so you can make it. It's huge. I'm talking literally millions of records from literally every genre, tens of thousands of CDs, and a whole lot of fun. WFMU DJs will be doing their shows live there, and others will be DJing just for you lucky showgoers. There might even be other things going on, too.
$7 a day Friday, Saturday and Sunday; or if you're a die-hard, $25 for the entire weekend with early pre-fair admission on Friday afternoon and unlimited admission all weekend.
Get the full scoop direct from the source. Maybe I'll see you there!
Sunday, May 4, 2014
All The World's A Fair
I apologize. I was away this week and preparations for the trip kept me from being as timely as I'd have liked with this post. But as it turns out, being away had a benefit. You'll see why soon.
The World's Fair. A showcase of the best that the present and the future had to offer. The Eiffel Tower was unveiled at the 1889 fair in Paris. The 1898 fair in Chicago introduced us to the Ferris wheel. 1939's fair in New York gave us television. The Space Needle stands as a lasting reminder of the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle.
And then there was the 1964/65 World's Fair. Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, NY played host, just as it did for the fair 25 years earlier. Only this time...it wasn't a real world's fair.
Robert Moses, New York's City's Master Builder, helmed the corporation in charge of the fair. He realized that the 1939 World's Fair lost serious money and he hoped to remedy that for 1964. In doing so, he charged the exhibitors rent - a huge no-no per the sanctioning body of the fair, the Bureau of International Expositions. Moses also made the decision to run the fair for two six-month seasons instead of just one, based on calculations that 70 million visitors would be required for the fair to be profitable. Strike two. Not to mention, the BIE had a rule that there could only be one universal exhibition in a 10-year period. With Montreal's Expo 67 already set to open, the New York World's Fair was not it. The BIE refused to recognize this fair and formally requested nations not to attend. The UK, Canada and Australia were among many who took the BIE's advice and sat out. Despite it all, Moses plowed ahead and opened the fair on April 21, 1964.
The visitors, all 51 million of them, got a tantalizing taste of tomorrow. AT&T (aka The Bell System) showed their Videophone. GE exhibited the Carousel Of Progress, a rotating display of America's technological progress imagineered by Disney. Speaking of Disney, they also did the work on Ford's Wonder Rotunda and Magic Skyway, which by all accounts was at least as good as GM's competing Futurama exhibit. And US Steel showed off the symbol of the fair, the Unishphere: the 120-foot, 700,000-pound marvel of engineering made entirely of stainless steel.
No doubt there were pleny of souvenirs. Among them: this album. The 1964/65 World's Fair may not have been official, but it did have an official album. Supposedly. For such a forward-looking fair, this album sure sounds old-timey. It really doesn't have a lot to do with the fair, either. The Little Old New Yorkers, with backing help from The Phil Romano Orchestra, look back to the past with staples like Give My Regards To Broadway, Lullaby Of Broadway and Chinatown My Chinatown. But there are these two originals, done "in the marching band style of the twenties combined with the modern."
Here's the title track, Take Me To New York, Take Me To The Fair:
And the closer, Queen Of The New York World's Fair:
Wild Bill Davison plays cornet...and record label owner. The album's on his Davison Records label. Al Davis, Jr. narrates...and as you'll hear on the first track, not all that well.
A better known (and probably much more official) World's Fair album is this one, which I discovered a sealed copy of while I was away:
Ferde Grofe was commissioned by Robert Moses to compose an official symphony. As Grofe said in the liner notes, It was a challenge: "Here was steel and concrete, nation after nation, a whole constellation of industries, entertainment as well as education - patterns upon patterns. Where to start?...the challenge appeared to be a big one!"
As with the fair itself, the World's Fair Suite is divided into five parts: Unisphere; International, with the Western nations represented by major chords and Eastern nations by minor chords; Fun At The Fair, a lighthearted musical frolic; Pavilions Of Industry, an ode to "both the productivity and promise of a better man-made world;" and National, which reprises the fanfare of Unisphere and its echo of the Fair's message of Peace Through Understanding.
The Suite made its debut at the opening of the Fair with Paul Lavalle as conductor. He's conductor on this album as well. Here's the first movement, Unishpere:
LINKS FOR FURTHER LEARNING:
The 1964/65 New York World's Fair Site
The World's Fair. A showcase of the best that the present and the future had to offer. The Eiffel Tower was unveiled at the 1889 fair in Paris. The 1898 fair in Chicago introduced us to the Ferris wheel. 1939's fair in New York gave us television. The Space Needle stands as a lasting reminder of the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle.
And then there was the 1964/65 World's Fair. Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, NY played host, just as it did for the fair 25 years earlier. Only this time...it wasn't a real world's fair.
Robert Moses, New York's City's Master Builder, helmed the corporation in charge of the fair. He realized that the 1939 World's Fair lost serious money and he hoped to remedy that for 1964. In doing so, he charged the exhibitors rent - a huge no-no per the sanctioning body of the fair, the Bureau of International Expositions. Moses also made the decision to run the fair for two six-month seasons instead of just one, based on calculations that 70 million visitors would be required for the fair to be profitable. Strike two. Not to mention, the BIE had a rule that there could only be one universal exhibition in a 10-year period. With Montreal's Expo 67 already set to open, the New York World's Fair was not it. The BIE refused to recognize this fair and formally requested nations not to attend. The UK, Canada and Australia were among many who took the BIE's advice and sat out. Despite it all, Moses plowed ahead and opened the fair on April 21, 1964.
The visitors, all 51 million of them, got a tantalizing taste of tomorrow. AT&T (aka The Bell System) showed their Videophone. GE exhibited the Carousel Of Progress, a rotating display of America's technological progress imagineered by Disney. Speaking of Disney, they also did the work on Ford's Wonder Rotunda and Magic Skyway, which by all accounts was at least as good as GM's competing Futurama exhibit. And US Steel showed off the symbol of the fair, the Unishphere: the 120-foot, 700,000-pound marvel of engineering made entirely of stainless steel.
No doubt there were pleny of souvenirs. Among them: this album. The 1964/65 World's Fair may not have been official, but it did have an official album. Supposedly. For such a forward-looking fair, this album sure sounds old-timey. It really doesn't have a lot to do with the fair, either. The Little Old New Yorkers, with backing help from The Phil Romano Orchestra, look back to the past with staples like Give My Regards To Broadway, Lullaby Of Broadway and Chinatown My Chinatown. But there are these two originals, done "in the marching band style of the twenties combined with the modern."
Here's the title track, Take Me To New York, Take Me To The Fair:
And the closer, Queen Of The New York World's Fair:
Wild Bill Davison plays cornet...and record label owner. The album's on his Davison Records label. Al Davis, Jr. narrates...and as you'll hear on the first track, not all that well.
A better known (and probably much more official) World's Fair album is this one, which I discovered a sealed copy of while I was away:
Ferde Grofe was commissioned by Robert Moses to compose an official symphony. As Grofe said in the liner notes, It was a challenge: "Here was steel and concrete, nation after nation, a whole constellation of industries, entertainment as well as education - patterns upon patterns. Where to start?...the challenge appeared to be a big one!"
As with the fair itself, the World's Fair Suite is divided into five parts: Unisphere; International, with the Western nations represented by major chords and Eastern nations by minor chords; Fun At The Fair, a lighthearted musical frolic; Pavilions Of Industry, an ode to "both the productivity and promise of a better man-made world;" and National, which reprises the fanfare of Unisphere and its echo of the Fair's message of Peace Through Understanding.
The Suite made its debut at the opening of the Fair with Paul Lavalle as conductor. He's conductor on this album as well. Here's the first movement, Unishpere:
LINKS FOR FURTHER LEARNING:
The 1964/65 New York World's Fair Site
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Record Store Day: The Flip Side
Easter was not the only holiday to celebrate this weekend. For may of us, there was another: Record Store Day. Depennding on what type of record collector you are, you probably saw this holiday one of two ways:
1. A glorious festival, where new music abounded in the form of limited-edition pressings of great bands. You and your friends got together and perhaps even made new friends, and y'allz had a fabulous time helping keep your mom 'n' pop music shop in business just a little longer. You might have even camped out in front of that store for a place in line when they opened, like this guy and his brother did.
2. Main Street's equivalent of Black Friday. Maddening throngs lining up just after midnight oustide of stores that could probably fit inside your apartment, fighting over music you'd either only own for its collector's value or its value on eBay. IF the store didn't out of what you wanted 10 minuted after they opened. You could do without it. You're not the only one who feels that way.
As for me, I see the whole thing with a detached indifference. I applaud the record stores for joining together and having one special day a year to remind us they're still around and have great things to offer. As I said in my last post, a record store done right is a beautiful thing. Problem is, ever since my record store closed down, I haven't been able to recapture that beauty at other stores.
Also, I'm not all that into new music. Sure, I listen to it, and I enjoy it, but I confess: those few times I buy current music, it's on CD. Vinyl is for the older stuff.
And speaking of older stuff, there's no shortage of it at thrift stores. As an inveterate thrifter, you better know I've seen my share of Your Grandparents' Grooves. A&M might as well stand for Andy Williams & Mantovani. But if you dig past all that, you'll find untold treasure. I've found (and bought) rare soul 45s that sell for over $200. Test pressings from record companies. Albums "sung" by celebrities. Radio shows and commercials. Muzak albums (from when Muzak was synonymous with elevator music). TV and movie soundtracks galore. All for a dollar or less. And just about all of them in very good condition or better. I bet if I got them all at record stores, I couldn't pay less than $10 for any one of those types of records. And if I happened to be looking for them, I'd likely have to wait a good long time before my record store was able to find them.
Don't get me wrong: record stores provide a great service to those who need them. My collecting style dictates that while a record store is nice for me to have, I don't exactly need one.
So if you were out yesterday, enjoy that copy of whatever RSD special I saved for you.
INPUT:
Did you celebrate RSD14? Did you sit it out? Which side of the fence are you on?
1. A glorious festival, where new music abounded in the form of limited-edition pressings of great bands. You and your friends got together and perhaps even made new friends, and y'allz had a fabulous time helping keep your mom 'n' pop music shop in business just a little longer. You might have even camped out in front of that store for a place in line when they opened, like this guy and his brother did.
2. Main Street's equivalent of Black Friday. Maddening throngs lining up just after midnight oustide of stores that could probably fit inside your apartment, fighting over music you'd either only own for its collector's value or its value on eBay. IF the store didn't out of what you wanted 10 minuted after they opened. You could do without it. You're not the only one who feels that way.
As for me, I see the whole thing with a detached indifference. I applaud the record stores for joining together and having one special day a year to remind us they're still around and have great things to offer. As I said in my last post, a record store done right is a beautiful thing. Problem is, ever since my record store closed down, I haven't been able to recapture that beauty at other stores.
Also, I'm not all that into new music. Sure, I listen to it, and I enjoy it, but I confess: those few times I buy current music, it's on CD. Vinyl is for the older stuff.
And speaking of older stuff, there's no shortage of it at thrift stores. As an inveterate thrifter, you better know I've seen my share of Your Grandparents' Grooves. A&M might as well stand for Andy Williams & Mantovani. But if you dig past all that, you'll find untold treasure. I've found (and bought) rare soul 45s that sell for over $200. Test pressings from record companies. Albums "sung" by celebrities. Radio shows and commercials. Muzak albums (from when Muzak was synonymous with elevator music). TV and movie soundtracks galore. All for a dollar or less. And just about all of them in very good condition or better. I bet if I got them all at record stores, I couldn't pay less than $10 for any one of those types of records. And if I happened to be looking for them, I'd likely have to wait a good long time before my record store was able to find them.
Don't get me wrong: record stores provide a great service to those who need them. My collecting style dictates that while a record store is nice for me to have, I don't exactly need one.
So if you were out yesterday, enjoy that copy of whatever RSD special I saved for you.
INPUT:
Did you celebrate RSD14? Did you sit it out? Which side of the fence are you on?
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Got Plans Next Weekend?
You do now, espcially if you live in or near Manhattan.
'Case you missed the last post about it, the WFMU Record Fair is back with a vengeance this year. And it's next weekend! That's right, on Fri 11/22, Sat 11/23 and Sun 11/24, not only will you be in the presence of hundreds of thousands
(if not millions) of records to buy, you'll also hear live DJs. You can groove to flexi-discs like you used to get in cereal boxes! You'll thrill to lectures about things like fake Beatles records! You'll marvel at the genius of Telstar producer Joe Meek! And you'll stand (sit?) in peril as filmmakers ponder what would happen if media consolidation went too far.
And I hope you'll at least have some pizza and a Chelada for me since I still can't be there.
WFMU RECORD FAIR
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 W 18th St/6th-7th Ave
New York NY
7-10 PM Fri 11/23, 10-7 Sat 11/24 and Sun 11/25
$7/day; $25 all 3 days with early 4-7PM admission on Friday and unlimited readmission all 3 days
www.wfmu.org/recfair
'Case you missed the last post about it, the WFMU Record Fair is back with a vengeance this year. And it's next weekend! That's right, on Fri 11/22, Sat 11/23 and Sun 11/24, not only will you be in the presence of hundreds of thousands
(if not millions) of records to buy, you'll also hear live DJs. You can groove to flexi-discs like you used to get in cereal boxes! You'll thrill to lectures about things like fake Beatles records! You'll marvel at the genius of Telstar producer Joe Meek! And you'll stand (sit?) in peril as filmmakers ponder what would happen if media consolidation went too far.
And I hope you'll at least have some pizza and a Chelada for me since I still can't be there.
WFMU RECORD FAIR
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 W 18th St/6th-7th Ave
New York NY
7-10 PM Fri 11/23, 10-7 Sat 11/24 and Sun 11/25
$7/day; $25 all 3 days with early 4-7PM admission on Friday and unlimited readmission all 3 days
www.wfmu.org/recfair
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Coming Up: The WFMU Record Fair
We're a month away from one of the best record events I know of: the WFMU Record Fair.
Some background for the unfamiliar: WFMU was formerly a college radio station. The college, Upsala College of East Orange, NJ, went bankrupt in the mid '90s. Through the fervent support of its freeform-loving listeners, WFMU survived apart from the college as a non-profit entity and thrives as one to this day.
WFMU has a lot of things going on - a blog, Twitter, Facebook, a free music archive, an app, and a live stream you can access in about 136 ways, to name a few. They're also getting a 100-seat radio theater in shape, so the Record Fair has a little more of a mission this year.
The Record Fair (capitalized for reverence) is back after a year's absence, and as always it's an orgy of sounds, sights and special events. Actual records for sale number in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. WFMU even sells albums people have donated for $1 each to raise funds for the station.
But it's not just a record fair. Oh no, far from it. There are special events all weekend. Lala Brooks from the Crystals showed up one year; the Trashmen got back together to play Surfin' Bird again...and where else can you get a musical haircut? A guy with electric scissors and amplified clippers gives you a trim like you've never heard before. There are even screenings of music movies. A few years ago, I got to see End Of The Century: The Story Of The Ramones, with a Q&A after.
The dates are Friday 11/22 to Sunday 11/24, and the location is the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. Any day now, special event info should pop up at the WFMU's website, http://www.wfmu.org.
I'd hope to see you there, but I can't make it that weekend. So if you can, do...and let me know how you liked it.
Some background for the unfamiliar: WFMU was formerly a college radio station. The college, Upsala College of East Orange, NJ, went bankrupt in the mid '90s. Through the fervent support of its freeform-loving listeners, WFMU survived apart from the college as a non-profit entity and thrives as one to this day.
WFMU has a lot of things going on - a blog, Twitter, Facebook, a free music archive, an app, and a live stream you can access in about 136 ways, to name a few. They're also getting a 100-seat radio theater in shape, so the Record Fair has a little more of a mission this year.
The Record Fair (capitalized for reverence) is back after a year's absence, and as always it's an orgy of sounds, sights and special events. Actual records for sale number in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. WFMU even sells albums people have donated for $1 each to raise funds for the station.
But it's not just a record fair. Oh no, far from it. There are special events all weekend. Lala Brooks from the Crystals showed up one year; the Trashmen got back together to play Surfin' Bird again...and where else can you get a musical haircut? A guy with electric scissors and amplified clippers gives you a trim like you've never heard before. There are even screenings of music movies. A few years ago, I got to see End Of The Century: The Story Of The Ramones, with a Q&A after.
The dates are Friday 11/22 to Sunday 11/24, and the location is the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. Any day now, special event info should pop up at the WFMU's website, http://www.wfmu.org.
I'd hope to see you there, but I can't make it that weekend. So if you can, do...and let me know how you liked it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)