1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 1: Everybody, we have a big announcement, but Josh, I think 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:05,359 Speaker 1: you need to do your traditional tour announcement. 3 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 2: COURU, there we go. That means it's tour time, everybody. 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,399 Speaker 1: We took off twenty twenty five because it just felt 5 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: like the right thing to do. But we are hitting 6 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,920 Speaker 1: the road again next year and we are super excited. 7 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 3: Yes get this. So we're gonna start hitting the road 8 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:23,279 Speaker 3: in January, starting January twenty seventh at the Paramount Theater 9 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 3: in Denver. The next day we'll be at the Paramount 10 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 3: Theater in Seattle, and on January twenty ninth, we'll be 11 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,840 Speaker 3: back to our beloved Sketch Fest at the Sydney Goldstein 12 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:34,839 Speaker 3: Theater in San Francisco, CA. 13 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 2: That's right, that's our January run. 14 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: And then in April we're going to hit the Midwest 15 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:41,880 Speaker 1: and we're going to some cities we haven't been to yet. 16 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 2: And I'm super excited because on April. 17 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 1: Sixteenth, we'll be in Madison, Wisconsin at the Orpheum Theater. 18 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: On the seventeenth, we'll be back in Chicago at the 19 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: Chicago Auditorium, a city we love, and then to my 20 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: wife's some town. Finally, April eighteenth and Akron, Ohio at 21 00:00:58,760 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: the Goodyear Theater. 22 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 3: That's right, and get this for the January leg. Tickets 23 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 3: are on sale now and we're actually running a pre 24 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,400 Speaker 3: sale today November eighteenth. You can use our code sysk 25 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 3: live to get tickets early. Go to stuff youshould Know 26 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 3: dot com. It'll have all the tickets and info that 27 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 3: you need. And you can buy Sketch Fest tickets right 28 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:19,400 Speaker 3: now as well. 29 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 2: That's right. Sketch Fest on sale the sixteenth of November. 30 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: There's no presale on that one. General on sale is 31 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: happening as we speak. 32 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 3: That's right. So we'll see you guys in twenty twenty six. 33 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 3: We're really excited to get back out there. We hope 34 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 3: you're excited too. If you're not, just bake it when 35 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 3: you see us. 36 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: That's right, and pay attention the Great White North because 37 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:42,400 Speaker 1: there is more to come this summer. 38 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 3: That's right. So we'll see you soon. 39 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 40 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 3: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's 41 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 3: Chuck and Jerry's here too, and we're just keeping it 42 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 3: old school, real mellow style, which is what I understand. 43 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: All of the kids say today, that's right, and hey, 44 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: before we get going, this is probably the perfect episode 45 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: to mention that our episode on how Vinyl Works that 46 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: was released on Vinyl is being reprinted because that thing 47 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: sold out and I think people would love to have 48 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: one of these things for Christmas. 49 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, we're releasing it just in time for the holidays. 50 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:32,359 Speaker 3: As a matter of fact, it's coming out on Black Friday, 51 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 3: November twenty eighth this year, which also happens to be 52 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 3: record store Day from what I understand, and our friends 53 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:42,919 Speaker 3: at Born Losers Records put this out again. They did 54 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 3: the first one, did a magnificent job, of course, and 55 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 3: they printed three hundred red and black marble records that 56 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 3: are just beautiful. Those are available online at syskvinyl dot com. 57 00:02:58,160 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then. 58 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 3: For the actual store where you have to leave your home, 59 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 3: probably put on a cap because it's late November, maybe 60 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 3: a coat, go down to your local indie record store. Yeah, 61 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,679 Speaker 3: they do it. There might be a chance that they 62 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 3: have one of the three hundred Gold Royalty records. Those 63 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 3: are exclusives for record stores. 64 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: Well, you can bet your boopie I'll be going to 65 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: my local record store and supporting ourselves by buying one. 66 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 3: That's awesome. You should draw more people by just spending 67 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 3: like a full day there and telling. 68 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: You, oh, yeah, maybe I could work something out with 69 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: the wack Street here in town. I can go sit 70 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: up there and those guys cannot talk to me. 71 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 3: We'll see if we can get a cutout of you too, 72 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 3: to stand behind you while you sit there. 73 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 2: That's great. 74 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: I'm really excited this is back out though, because people 75 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: really seem to enjoy it. 76 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 2: And what is it again, sysk vinyl dot com. 77 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 3: That's right awesome and thanks again to our friends at 78 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 3: Born Losers. You guys are great. Yeah, they're the best. 79 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 3: Yeah they are, okay, Chuck. So yeah, this is a 80 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 3: really good episode to shout out Records because we're talking 81 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 3: about AM radio and we talked a little bit about 82 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 3: it in our Beautiful Music Short stuff AKAABM. 83 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 2: That's right, I'll. 84 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 3: Never get over. But there's a lot more to AM radio, 85 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 3: And in fact, I didn't realize this. Julia helped us 86 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:25,239 Speaker 3: with this one, and I didn't realize before that AM 87 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 3: broadcasting basically set the standards, yeah, for all sorts of 88 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:35,040 Speaker 3: different things like how news is presented, soap operas, all 89 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 3: sorts of different stuff that lasted for decades and decades 90 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 3: and decades. It all started with AM radio because ultimately 91 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,600 Speaker 3: it was the very first form of mass communication that 92 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:46,479 Speaker 3: was not printed. 93 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean Top forty radio started on AM, which 94 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: is I mean, I think these days the kids, if 95 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: they hear of AM radio probably either don't know what 96 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: it is, or may not if they have as we'll 97 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: see a newer model card especially ev may not even 98 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: have AM radio or a radio in their house like 99 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 1: a transistor radio or something or receiver, but they may 100 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:13,559 Speaker 1: think AM radio is as like you know, news talk, 101 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: sports talk, maybe some foreign language stations, maybe some if 102 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: they're driving through a rural community, some like weird Farm 103 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: Report or something that they've never heard. I remember that, 104 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: And that's that's kind of what AM radio became. But 105 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: it launched Top forty. It was the up until like 106 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,840 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight. It beat FM, and FM had been 107 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: around since what like the thirties, Yeah, it had. 108 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 3: And everybody said, nope, we're really happy with AM and 109 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 3: stuck with it even after FM came around for quite 110 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 3: a while. But let's talk about this because, like you 111 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:49,160 Speaker 3: hit on some really good points. So We're going to 112 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 3: touch on all of those, but let's start at the 113 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 3: very very beginning when AM radio really started to come around. 114 00:05:55,560 --> 00:06:01,479 Speaker 3: Because people had been messing with AM broadcasting since the 115 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,600 Speaker 3: very early nineteen hundreds. There were some inventions that all 116 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 3: kind of came together around the same time. And I 117 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 3: do not understand how this could possibly happen, but putting 118 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:15,920 Speaker 3: these disparate inventions together and figuring out how to broadcast 119 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 3: radio waves that have encoded sound in them is just 120 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 3: I mean, hats off. That's like mad genius stuff. But 121 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 3: that's what happened in the very early nineteen hundreds. 122 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:31,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, there were people broadcasting AM signals at the time, 123 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: and you know, the only people that had these AM 124 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,600 Speaker 1: receivers that could listen were like soldiers at sea or 125 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: something like that. This was before they made it into 126 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: the homes of Americans that pause during World War One 127 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: because they said, hey, we can't have you broadcasting your 128 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: daughter playing violin, even though our soldiers love it that 129 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: are out at sea. We need to kind of lock 130 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: this down for now. But starting in about nineteen twenty, 131 00:06:55,400 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: in fact, exactly nineteen twenty was when commercial broadcast AM 132 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,679 Speaker 1: radio started with KDKA Pittsburgh. 133 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, that was the very first one. I think that 134 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 3: they read the results of the Warren Harding election. I 135 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 3: can't remember the other guy's name, somebody Cox. Warren Harding 136 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 3: obviously won. But right after that, I mean, like, this 137 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 3: was so clearly a groundbreaking medium. It was basically for 138 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 3: the people in the nineteen twenties. It was what people 139 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 3: in the early nineties experience with internet. Yeah, it was 140 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 3: almost like, holy cow, I can't like, you can't even 141 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 3: begin to imagine all the different ways that this thing 142 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 3: is going to change the world. You just know it's 143 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 3: going to change the world. That's kind of what happened. 144 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 3: And so right after that first broadcast, it just exploded 145 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 3: all over the world. And one reason why it exploded 146 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 3: all over the world is because the person who's considered 147 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 3: the father of radio, Gulielmo Marconi. He set up companies everywhere, 148 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 3: so very quickly radio stations started to develop. And just 149 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 3: a year or two after Katie Ka went on the. 150 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: Air, I'm, by the way, a little mad at you 151 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: because ever since you sent me the Marconi tidbit this morning, 152 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: I cannot get we built the city on rock. 153 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 2: And roll out of my head. 154 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 3: How waii. That's that's odd. 155 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: Marconi played the mamba Oh never do the radio. Yeah, 156 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: And I mean, I hate that song so much and 157 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: I can't get it out of my head, all because 158 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: I just saw the word Marconi typed in an email. 159 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 3: I always thought, seriously, it was some gibberish I had 160 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 3: in my head. I knew it wasn't right, but it 161 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 3: was like in La says lebar something like that. I 162 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 3: had no idea Marconi was name check. But that's appropriate. 163 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: Yes, I'm not really mad at you, but boy, that 164 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: thing really gets rooted in your head pretty well. But 165 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: like you said, by the early nineteen twenties, everybody was 166 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 1: on board. In nineteen twenty two, in fact, AT and 167 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,440 Speaker 1: T had the first radio network built when linked to 168 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:04,959 Speaker 1: thirty eight radio stations by phone lines, and could broadcast, 169 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: you know, weaf out of New York all around the country. 170 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 2: So like people, it was it was literally, like you said, 171 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 2: like the. 172 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:15,840 Speaker 1: Internet, it was American life before and life after as 173 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: far as AM radio. 174 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 3: Goes, well, we'll put it and not just American life too. 175 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 3: Like this, like I said, it spread around the world 176 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 3: very quickly. The BBC started broadcasting in nineteen twenty two 177 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 3: Australia's first radio station, two SB, which is now ABC Sydney. 178 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 3: That's they started in nineteen twenty three. Canada got its 179 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 3: first one in nineteen thirty two XWA out of Montreal. 180 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 3: It was just just like the Internet, It's not like 181 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 3: it was just one country. It was everybody who got 182 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 3: involved because it was a humanity altering invention. 183 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:50,079 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. 184 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: By the late nineteen twenties, the major networks had launched, 185 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,359 Speaker 1: and you know, these were radio networks NBC and CBS. 186 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 1: These were international broadcasts from the un United States all 187 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: over the world, and you know they worked by you know, 188 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:06,200 Speaker 1: you had to have a receiver. 189 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:07,839 Speaker 2: So early on, you know. 190 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:12,840 Speaker 1: Vacuum tubes worked with radio receivers connected to loud speakers 191 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 1: and that's how you could hear things. Later on, transistor 192 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:18,959 Speaker 1: radios came along and that's what really changed the game 193 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,559 Speaker 1: because that's when it was like TV's for the olds, 194 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: the young people, we had these little radios in their pocket. 195 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:29,319 Speaker 1: And then they started, you know, putting radios in cars. 196 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: But it's funny to think about a time when like, yeah, 197 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: TV's out outdated, right, and we want AM radio in 198 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: our pocket. 199 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 3: And then it came roaring back eventually thanks to LA Law. 200 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:42,959 Speaker 3: You mentioned something that I think is worth calling out too. 201 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 3: You mentioned that there's a speaker that converts that sound 202 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:51,080 Speaker 3: signal back into actual acoustics sound. They weren't headphones, they 203 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 3: were speakers. So that meant that early radio was a 204 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:56,960 Speaker 3: thing that the family gathered around. It was a social 205 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 3: activity listening to all the stuff that was on the 206 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 3: ra which is really important because I mean that's definitely 207 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 3: become fragmented and fractured today as it you know, personal 208 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 3: media has become like more and more available. But that 209 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 3: was like whatever was on the radio right then, probably 210 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:17,320 Speaker 3: whatever your parents wanted to listen to. That's what the 211 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 3: family was listening to. 212 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, for better or worse. 213 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: I think by nineteen thirty there were forty percent of 214 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: US homes had AM receivers. Hopefully most of them had speakers. 215 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 1: Wise they just sit there and look at it. There 216 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: were more than six hundred radio stations in nineteen thirty, 217 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 1: obviously all of them AM. But like we mentioned, FM 218 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,439 Speaker 1: came along pretty quickly in the nineteen thirties and had 219 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:44,839 Speaker 1: a better sound, but you know, it just didn't take 220 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:47,959 Speaker 1: over until nineteen seventy eight. I think by nineteen forty 221 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,719 Speaker 1: even eighty three percent of the households in America. I 222 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: mean that's really massive coverage had AM radio signals, like 223 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:58,079 Speaker 1: you know, being broadcast through their homes. 224 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, and you said, I mean like FM was around, 225 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 3: but people said, no, we're sticking with the AM. One 226 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,959 Speaker 3: of the big reasons is because the FM receiver needs 227 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 3: more power because of the way FM radio was pumped out, 228 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 3: that was a big thing for a long time. That 229 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,760 Speaker 3: was one reason people stuck around with AM. But there's 230 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 3: definitely an affection that developed for AM radio over the years. 231 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's also something called FM drift, Like you know, 232 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 1: if you're driving around listening to an FM station, it 233 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,560 Speaker 1: can kind of go in and out, you know, to 234 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: the left or to the right. I guess you could 235 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:36,960 Speaker 1: kind of turn your dial a little bit and try 236 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: and dial it back in. But that was an issue. 237 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 1: And we'll talk about some of the AM radio issues. 238 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: But if you're looking at the dial, AM according to 239 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: the FCC, AM waves have to be broadcast on frequencies 240 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:53,840 Speaker 1: between five thirty five megahertz and one point seven and 241 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 1: FM is from eighty eight to one oh. 242 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 3: Eight sounds legit, so check out based on the radio 243 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 3: call signs I'm familiar with. 244 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 2: Do you ever listen to AM radio anymore? 245 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 3: Yeah? I listened to the Bulldogs game on the way 246 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,719 Speaker 3: home from Yumi's parents house on Saturday. 247 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 2: Wasn't that nice? 248 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 3: The ballgame? 249 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:21,119 Speaker 2: Or listening to the radio, listening to a sports broadcast 250 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:21,679 Speaker 2: on the radio. 251 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 3: Yes, I used to do that in college. I can't 252 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 3: remember the sportscaster's name, the legendary one for Georgia with 253 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 3: the hobnail boot. 254 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Larry Munson. 255 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 3: Larry Munson. Yeah, back in college. I would listen to 256 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 3: him and watch the game. Yeah, like I'm mute, and 257 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 3: hopefully they would sync up. 258 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:42,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, that was the preferred method. 259 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: But I still love and it doesn't happen a lot 260 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 1: because you know, I'll watch the game on TV generally, 261 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: but if I'm traveling like you were just talking about, 262 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 1: or I remember when I built we couldn't afford to build, 263 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: like to get a fence company to build our fence 264 00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: twenty years ago. So I built our privacy fence like 265 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: picket by picket over the course of two months, and 266 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,680 Speaker 1: a lot of that was spent with me listening to 267 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: Georgia Bulldogs on the radio. I mean it was pre 268 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: podcast even, and it's just it's still to me a 269 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: great way to catch a game for sure, not even 270 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: nostalgia wise, like it really is a great way to 271 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: listen to catch a game. 272 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 3: Oh yeah. The play calling is like you have to 273 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 3: be really good. There's no assist there. You're telling everybody 274 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 3: going on, you know. Yeah, I say we take a 275 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 3: break because we're getting nostalgic already. What do you think. 276 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm gonna park that and we'll stick to the facts. 277 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 3: Okay, baby, we're taking a break. Everybody will be right back. 278 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: So, if we're talking the golden age of radio as 279 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: a whole, that was about a three to four decade 280 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: period from the twenties through the mid fifties or so. 281 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: That was when am radio starred. We'll also talk a 282 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: little bit later about sort of the seventies period when 283 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: am radio music was like, you know, the Mellow Gold 284 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: stuff was a big deal. But that you know, that 285 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 1: first decade of radio ushered in. You know, it was 286 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: blowing people's minds like they had never heard sometimes any 287 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: of this stuff, or certainly had not heard any of 288 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: this stuff live like a live broadcast and speaking of 289 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: Sports in nineteen twenty one, over about one hundred and 290 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: twenty five thousand square miles from where it broadcasts out 291 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: of Jersey City, New Jersey, people listened to the heavyweight 292 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 1: boxing championship. I can't imagine what that was like to 293 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 1: hear a sports broadcast like that for the first time. 294 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 2: As it happened. 295 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 3: Hopefully the commentator knew what he was doing too, and 296 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 3: when they weren't like long pauses like the boom goes 297 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 3: the dynamite guy. 298 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,760 Speaker 2: One of them's punching another one repeatedly. 299 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Carpentee just went down. 300 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 2: That's right. 301 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 3: One of the other things that we'll see about AM 302 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 3: Radio two, Chuck, is that's it was long considered a 303 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 3: public good, so that the government had like a little 304 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 3: more willingness to be like, no, you can say this, 305 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 3: you can't say that, and you have to do this. 306 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 3: One of the reasons why is because it was very 307 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 3: quickly used to kind of spread public information, Like presidents 308 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 3: took to it very quickly. Remember I said that Katie 309 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 3: Ka announced the results of the Harding election. Within just 310 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 3: a couple of years, Warren Harding was using it to 311 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 3: talk to America and FDR was probably the most famous 312 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 3: president who used the radio to talk to America. Had 313 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 3: a series of like just informal speeches basically called fireside chests. Yeah, 314 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 3: that really made a lot of the countries just fall 315 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 3: in love with them. But it was very it was 316 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 3: it was very clear early on just how much influence 317 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 3: it could have on people's political opinions. 318 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: Well, and it was a lot of people the first 319 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 1: time they ever heard the president's voice. 320 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 2: Speak, you know, how what he sounds like. Yeah, it 321 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:27,600 Speaker 2: wasn't around during Lincoln because everyone would. 322 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: Have been like really, but yeah, you know, there was 323 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:33,680 Speaker 1: definitely public good and we'll dive into that a little bit, 324 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: along with tons of entertainment and you know, it was 325 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: basically like fifteen minute chunks for a long long time 326 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:43,840 Speaker 1: of all over the map variety style stuff, kind of 327 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: reminiscent of vaudeville. Like there were hosts of shows, but 328 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 1: the DJ thing didn't come along till much later. So 329 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: you had like advice shows and news shows and obviously 330 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: comedy stuff, game shows. 331 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 2: You know. Radio dramas were a big big deal. 332 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's where soap op came from. Two They were 333 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:07,200 Speaker 3: broadcast almost exclusively with women as their target audience. And 334 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,640 Speaker 3: at the time, this is just post World War One, 335 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 3: where women had helped the war effort in the factories. 336 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 3: The men came back and they were like, get back 337 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 3: in the house, and women were stuck in the house 338 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 3: all day. So these radio dramas were broadcast to them 339 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:26,359 Speaker 3: and they were almost exclusively sponsored by cleaning product companies. 340 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:27,000 Speaker 2: That's right. 341 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 3: So they became known as soap operas. And one of 342 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:33,400 Speaker 3: the longer lasting soap operas of all time actually made 343 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 3: the jump successfully from radio to TV. That was Guiding 344 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,119 Speaker 3: Light No Way. Yeah. It started in nineteen thirty seven 345 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 3: on the radio and was finally canceled in two thousand 346 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 3: and nine on TV. It was seventy two years of 347 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:49,680 Speaker 3: Guiding Light every weekday. Too. 348 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 1: I had a very very brief foray into soap operas. Yeah, 349 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: I guess it was in college or something. I don't 350 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:58,960 Speaker 1: know why, but I got hooked for I mean, not 351 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: too long, but I was hooked. 352 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 2: I was like, these things are stupid. I was like, yeah, 353 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:04,560 Speaker 2: but what happens. 354 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, the same thing happened to me again in college too, 355 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:11,360 Speaker 3: and I cannot remember the name of it, but it 356 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:13,439 Speaker 3: was just off the chain. I know there was a 357 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 3: main character named Marlena, and she was possessed by the 358 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 3: devil at one point. Someone will remember, like, yeah, certainly, 359 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 3: that's like a very famous plotline that was going on 360 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 3: when I was hooked on them, and then I got 361 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 3: hooked on them enough that I would switch channels during 362 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 3: ads and see what was on other soap operas and 363 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 3: general hospital. Once there was a scene where this couple 364 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,000 Speaker 3: was in bed and they did such a poor job 365 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:41,879 Speaker 3: of editing that they left in the director saying cut 366 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 3: and the two actors roll out of bed. I'll never 367 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:47,880 Speaker 3: forget it. It was one of the greatest things I've 368 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:49,160 Speaker 3: ever seen on television. 369 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: They're like that, the sheets are pulled up, you know, 370 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:53,440 Speaker 1: to their bare skin, and. 371 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:54,800 Speaker 2: Then they roll out of bed and they have on 372 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 2: like blue jeans. 373 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 3: Yeah. I don't remember what they were wearing or anything, 374 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:00,160 Speaker 3: but yeah, I'm sure it was just like that. 375 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 2: That's really funny. 376 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:03,880 Speaker 1: Oh God, to have that time again where you could 377 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:05,920 Speaker 1: just like maybe sort of get hooked on a soap 378 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: for no reason. 379 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure. 380 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:11,439 Speaker 1: Religion was also a big deal early on AM radio. 381 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: All of a sudden, evangelist could broadcast far and wide 382 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 1: from what they call the electric pulpit, and they became like, 383 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:22,240 Speaker 1: you know, big time personalities and stars during the depression era. 384 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, one of the first people that the question of 385 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:29,440 Speaker 3: freedom of speech was raised around his father, Charles Coughlin, 386 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 3: who was a bigoted, hate speech Catholic priest who really 387 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,240 Speaker 3: kind of pushed the envelope, you could say. I think 388 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 3: he said the Nazis didn't go far enough during Crystal 389 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 3: knockt like, he was that kind of guy. 390 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 2: Wow. 391 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,120 Speaker 3: So he definitely rose to prominence during this time. On 392 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:52,920 Speaker 3: the lighter side, one of the most popular long running 393 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 3: shows was the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show, Yeah, 394 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 3: which was a ventralic act on the radio. Yeah. 395 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 1: I mean the jokes still worked, but it's definitely a 396 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 1: visual medium for sure. 397 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 3: But he managed to make it like super radio friendly 398 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 3: and it was super popular. You said that the Golden 399 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 3: Age of radio ended around the nineteen sixty two, and 400 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 3: we should say this was This depends on your perspective, 401 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 3: because a lot of people say no Golden Age of 402 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,440 Speaker 3: radio and all the way to the seventies. This would 403 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 3: be like the first wave of Golden age radio where 404 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 3: it wasn't music. It was like dramas, scripted comedies, like sports, 405 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 3: all this stuff like what TV is today. This was 406 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,879 Speaker 3: the first iteration of radio and it was all am radio. 407 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 3: But there was a year nineteen sixty two when two 408 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:49,000 Speaker 3: shows were canceled, two long running shows, and people point 409 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,920 Speaker 3: to their cancelation as essentially the end of that era. 410 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:54,159 Speaker 2: What were those yours? 411 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:55,719 Speaker 3: Truly? Johnny Dollar? 412 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 2: Okay? 413 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,639 Speaker 3: It was about an insurance fraud investigator. 414 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 2: Sounds like true crime, it is. 415 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 3: It sounds interesting. Each episode was a flashback of him 416 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 3: going over the line items for his expense report for 417 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 3: that particular case, and then each line item would kind 418 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 3: of bring up like a new scene. Pretty interesting. 419 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 2: The radio network guys like can he kill his lover? 420 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,639 Speaker 3: And then Suspense was another one, and it sounds like 421 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 3: it was a little bit of a predecessor to like 422 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 3: Alfred Hitchcock Presents and maybe The Twilight c here or there, 423 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,640 Speaker 3: And both of those were really well produced shows and 424 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,480 Speaker 3: they got canceled the same year, and everybody said that's it, 425 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 3: that's the end of the Golden Age, and they spat 426 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:39,719 Speaker 3: on the floor. 427 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: Well, you mentioned the public good starting in the nineteen twenties. 428 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: To jump back a little bit, you know, like you 429 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: mentioned President speaking inaugural addresses were being broadcast, and the 430 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 1: government really realized, hey, like we have a sort of 431 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: a public service we need to enact when we're sharing information, 432 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: because we got to get the word out about stuff 433 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,440 Speaker 1: sometimes and this is the way to do it. So 434 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 1: the USDA Radio Service began talking to farmers in nineteen 435 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: twenty six. The US Bureau of Home Economics had a 436 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:14,880 Speaker 1: chat program they launched, I believe in the same year 437 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: where they could talk about, like, you know, any emergencies 438 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:23,199 Speaker 1: happening in regards to kids, like health and safety, stuff 439 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: like a new disease going around that your kid maybe 440 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: should get vaccinated against, stuff. 441 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 3: Like that new fangled polio. 442 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: But by the end of the nineteen twenties, they were like, hey, 443 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: there's a limited bandwidth and people are getting political messages out, 444 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,920 Speaker 1: and we need to make sure that everyone in America 445 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 1: is getting sort of equal access to these messages, so 446 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:51,359 Speaker 1: you know, no particular message gets out more than any other. 447 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:53,920 Speaker 1: And that's where the fairness doctrine came about, right. 448 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:56,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, we talked about that in the Presidential Debates episode, 449 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 3: but I think it deserves its own episode. It's so contraal, 450 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:03,120 Speaker 3: But basically, the fairness doctrine is what I was talking 451 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:05,880 Speaker 3: about earlier when I said the government wasn't shy about 452 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:09,719 Speaker 3: getting involved in regulating radio because of what you just said, Like, 453 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 3: you can't just use radio at the time. You couldn't 454 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,760 Speaker 3: to just put out one, say, specific political viewpoint. So 455 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:18,880 Speaker 3: the fairness doctrine said, you have to have equal time 456 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:22,400 Speaker 3: when you're talking about political matters, you have to give 457 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 3: equal time to both opposing viewpoints. It also said some 458 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 3: other stuff too that I thought was pretty cool. It 459 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 3: made sure that commercial concerns did not eclipse social ones, 460 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,920 Speaker 3: so you couldn't screw over the public for your own 461 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:42,280 Speaker 3: bottom line, which is just refreshing these days. The radio 462 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,680 Speaker 3: served the public good and that you have like a 463 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:52,679 Speaker 3: kind of public programming that's essentially like in addition to 464 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,640 Speaker 3: all of the you know, ventriloquist acts and soap operas 465 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,760 Speaker 3: and all that, you have like stuff that makes people, 466 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,880 Speaker 3: helps people be more informed citizens. Like that was what 467 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 3: the government was getting involved in radio for. 468 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe perhaps if we would have been around the time, 469 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 2: it might have been stuff you should know. 470 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,760 Speaker 3: I could see that. I could see that, Yeah, we 471 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:18,040 Speaker 3: would have been great for AM radio. I think as 472 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:20,880 Speaker 3: a matter of fact, we should probably just stop podcasting 473 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:22,840 Speaker 3: and start broadcasting on AM radio. 474 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, we got to get the message of Jackhammer's out 475 00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:25,880 Speaker 1: far and wide. 476 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:26,680 Speaker 3: That's right. 477 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,479 Speaker 1: You know, the fairness doctrine went away, and you know, 478 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 1: like you said, we should do a whole episode on that. 479 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:36,640 Speaker 1: But one of the things that happened was, you know, 480 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: the FM becoming a dominant force and just way more 481 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: choices and way more bandwidth for radio, so they didn't 482 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: need it anymore. So then you know, that's where that's 483 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,200 Speaker 1: really literally where the echo chamber of politics started, where 484 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,200 Speaker 1: you could turn into just your person who only talked 485 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 1: about things that you agreed with. 486 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:55,919 Speaker 2: Yep, and that's it. 487 00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,879 Speaker 3: Yeah. Not coincidentally, in nineteen eighties is when talk radio 488 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,400 Speaker 3: like really started to become a thing with like people 489 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 3: like Rush Limbaugh that did not exist before that kind 490 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:07,320 Speaker 3: of thing. 491 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:12,479 Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, FM when that came around, it 492 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: did create that echo chamber, but it was mostly like 493 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: a wealthy, educated crowd that could afford FM receivers. They 494 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,760 Speaker 1: were more expensive, like you were talking about. I think 495 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 1: there were more than two thousand AM stations on the 496 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,440 Speaker 1: air in the nineteen fifties, some of them would broadcast 497 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:31,160 Speaker 1: on both I definitely remember, you know, both AMFM stations, 498 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:33,680 Speaker 1: but FM did have some. 499 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 2: And still do have. 500 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 1: Some sort of things that weren't in their favor, like 501 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,920 Speaker 1: if you were inside a buildings sometimes the AM signal 502 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,520 Speaker 1: could get blocked and get a little more difficult to 503 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:49,080 Speaker 1: get a lot of AM stations, I think most of 504 00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 1: them in fact, have to either reduce their power or 505 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:54,199 Speaker 1: just go off the air at night, so you know, 506 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:55,960 Speaker 1: back in the day and maybe still you hear those 507 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:57,480 Speaker 1: sign offs at the end of the night, which is 508 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: kind of fun where they play like the stars angle 509 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:00,920 Speaker 1: banner or something. 510 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 2: Then it just goes dead. 511 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:03,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, like in Poltergeist. 512 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 2: That's right. 513 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: But another cool thing about AM is if you've ever 514 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 1: been like driving around out West or something, and you know, 515 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,360 Speaker 1: probably not these days, but back when I was taking 516 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: my big out West trips, when all ahead was like 517 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: a cassette player in the radio. Once the sun went down, 518 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: sometimes you could get an AM station on your radio 519 00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: that's like four states away because of those bear waves 520 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:31,360 Speaker 1: bouncing off the ion a sphere and saying we'll take 521 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:31,920 Speaker 1: it from here. 522 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:35,199 Speaker 3: Yeah. During the day, the ionosphere is super ionized. That's 523 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 3: where it gets its name. At night, it's less ionized, 524 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 3: So there's for some reason AM radio signals can bounce 525 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:44,680 Speaker 3: off of it easier and like you said, end up 526 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:46,840 Speaker 3: down in Mexico for goodness. 527 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,120 Speaker 2: Sake, Yeah, which is pretty cool. 528 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:53,640 Speaker 3: For that reason though, that's why they stop transmitting at night, 529 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:55,880 Speaker 3: a lot of them. Like I'm with you, I don't 530 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:57,520 Speaker 3: know if they still do or not. It seems like 531 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 3: the kind of thing that maybe was licked, but it 532 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,159 Speaker 3: also seems so fundamental that maybe it's still a problem. 533 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:07,679 Speaker 3: But there were some stations that were designated clear channels. 534 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 3: They were allowed to broadcast twenty four hours a day, 535 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:14,640 Speaker 3: and they were spread out both physically around the country 536 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,719 Speaker 3: and in Canada and Mexico, and also spread out on 537 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:22,359 Speaker 3: the dial so that their signals wouldn't interfere with one 538 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 3: another when they traveled really far distances. And one of 539 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:31,480 Speaker 3: the reasons why they had AM stations designated to operate 540 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 3: twenty four hours a day is again part of that 541 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:38,480 Speaker 3: public good, which was a service that AM radio offers 542 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 3: that has kind of overlooked a lot here in the 543 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 3: United States, which is it is like a national security 544 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 3: alert system essentially We'll talk a little more about that later. 545 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,600 Speaker 3: But that's why the clear Channel thing is a thing. 546 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 1: Right, And to be clear, I didn't even mean that, 547 00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:00,960 Speaker 1: not to be confused with former iHeartMedia company Clear Channel. 548 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 3: No, but I bet that's where they get their name. 549 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 2: Man, it'd be a real coincidence. Huh. 550 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,000 Speaker 3: Wasn't that the name of the city that was built 551 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:09,760 Speaker 3: on rock and roll? 552 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:12,520 Speaker 2: Clear Channel? 553 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 3: Yeah? Clear Channel City. 554 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 1: I'm not falling for anything you ever say anymore, so 555 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 1: don't even try. 556 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 2: Should we take another break? 557 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: Yes, all right, we'll take another break talk about the 558 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: rise of TV and you know, music on AM radio 559 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:26,640 Speaker 1: right after this. 560 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,680 Speaker 3: Okay, Chuck, we're back. And we talked about how the 561 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 3: Golden Age of radio ended, but that was what the 562 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:08,760 Speaker 3: old stars considered the golden age. If you were young 563 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:11,240 Speaker 3: and hip, the Golden Age was still yet to come. 564 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 2: That's right. 565 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,800 Speaker 1: I mentioned Top forty was invented on AM and it 566 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 1: was specifically developed by a station odor named Todd Stores 567 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 1: in Nebraska at the beginning of the nineteen fifties. I guess, 568 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 1: and he said, Hey, you know, radio has all these 569 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: great shows. I love those puppets. That ventriloquism is great, 570 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,479 Speaker 1: but we've got rock and roll now and R and 571 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 1: B and soon you know, pop music coming our way, 572 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: pop and pop music. 573 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:44,479 Speaker 2: Who was that is that? Falco? 574 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,520 Speaker 3: No, I shouldn't have opened my big mouth because I 575 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:50,680 Speaker 3: don't remember I even have that on my phone, so 576 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 3: maybe I'll look sometime soon. 577 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,400 Speaker 2: But he said, hey, let's let's start playing this music. 578 00:30:56,520 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: Let's create a what Julia calls a jew box driven 579 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,600 Speaker 1: media and you know, play people stuff that. You know, 580 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:08,400 Speaker 1: DJs became a thing. That's when they became personalities. Each 581 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 1: station started having you know, these sort of wacky that's 582 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,600 Speaker 1: where those first you know, like the Wolfman and all 583 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 1: those sort of wacky early DJs came from that were 584 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 1: like real personalities people would tune into just to listen 585 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 1: to their specific show. 586 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:25,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, Like each station had to have their own personality, 587 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,520 Speaker 3: like the Big Bopper, one of the most famous of 588 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:31,960 Speaker 3: all time. Yeah, he was djaying for a station in Beaumont, Texas. 589 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:34,320 Speaker 3: Like it had like, if you had a station, you 590 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:36,720 Speaker 3: had to have a personality, and some of them just 591 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:41,040 Speaker 3: happened to be so popular that they became international icons essentially. 592 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's amazing. 593 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 3: Yeah, Like the Wolfman went on to own a furniture 594 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 3: store in North Georgia called Gallery Furniture. If you wanted 595 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,800 Speaker 3: a waterbed, you would go ask for the Wolfman. 596 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 2: Boy, that's a niche joke. Should we even explain it 597 00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 2: or not? Okay? 598 00:31:58,440 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 1: Good? 599 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 3: I think if you go onto utube and you look 600 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 3: up Gallery Frensham the Wolfman, there'll be something on there. 601 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:06,800 Speaker 2: Oh. Sure, but that was a wolf mate, Jack. Are 602 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:09,800 Speaker 2: you sure you didn't really think it was the same guy, 603 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:10,880 Speaker 2: did you? 604 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:11,080 Speaker 3: No? 605 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,640 Speaker 2: Okay, See, I don't know what to believe anymore. 606 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:17,400 Speaker 3: I'm not trying, you know, I just wanted to come 607 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:18,040 Speaker 3: clean about this. 608 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 2: Okay. 609 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:22,720 Speaker 3: I've never tried to fool you. That was a thing 610 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,280 Speaker 3: that just kind of evolved. I've just been making dry, 611 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,840 Speaker 3: random jokes all this time, but it's never been to 612 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:33,520 Speaker 3: fool you. You took that and ran with it. I've 613 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,240 Speaker 3: never done it directly to fool you. 614 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:37,720 Speaker 2: This is not what you said during our therapy session 615 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 2: last week. 616 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:41,440 Speaker 3: Well, doctor Krantz said. 617 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,480 Speaker 2: That, Doctor Katz, that's who we should have gotten. 618 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:46,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, doctor Katz said that I needed to make more 619 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 3: stuff up. 620 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:50,040 Speaker 2: So we're not therapy together. By the way, everybody, that 621 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:52,960 Speaker 2: was a joke. But if we did we'd get the 622 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 2: guy who therapied Metallica, right. 623 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 3: Oh, I forgot that they were in therapy together. Yeah, 624 00:32:59,040 --> 00:32:59,840 Speaker 3: I guess it worked. 625 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:02,360 Speaker 2: I'm not knocking at at all. 626 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:04,320 Speaker 1: I mean, we haven't had to do it, but I 627 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,600 Speaker 1: think that's a great idea for any kind of partnership. 628 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:11,120 Speaker 3: You know, agreed? Okay, Was that the therapist that talked 629 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,640 Speaker 3: Metallica out of their emo phase? Right, because hats off 630 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:20,000 Speaker 3: to that therapist. Maybe we're talking, Oh yeah, we're talking 631 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,960 Speaker 3: about what was going on with this transition to music. 632 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:24,560 Speaker 2: Yeah. 633 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 3: Well, one of the reasons why AM radio transition to 634 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,840 Speaker 3: music and away from things like soap operas and all 635 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:35,080 Speaker 3: that stuff was because those things ended up on TV. Yeah, 636 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:38,200 Speaker 3: the older people followed those. Remember, they're like radios the 637 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 3: pits now because the golden there is over And then 638 00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:43,400 Speaker 3: they turn on their TVs and they're like, oh, the 639 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:45,720 Speaker 3: golden there is over here. Now, let's just keep going 640 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 3: and watching now instead of just listening. And that left 641 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 3: the kids to fill this vacuum, which was AM radio, 642 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:55,880 Speaker 3: And like you said, the top forty format started there. 643 00:33:56,160 --> 00:34:00,920 Speaker 3: The like big internationally known DJs started there, and it 644 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,920 Speaker 3: just kind of took off little by little. But really 645 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:07,080 Speaker 3: picked up steam when a few things kind of came 646 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:09,160 Speaker 3: together and one of them you already mentioned, which was 647 00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:12,080 Speaker 3: transis to radios, So now you didn't just have to 648 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 3: sit at home with the oldsters to listen to your 649 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 3: favorite hits. And then also AM radio started to show 650 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:23,160 Speaker 3: up in cars essentially as not even an option after 651 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:25,279 Speaker 3: a while, like you got the AM radio whether you 652 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 3: wanted it or not. 653 00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think more than half of American cars had 654 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:35,080 Speaker 1: AM radio receivers factory installed by the nineteen fifties. And 655 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:39,200 Speaker 1: that was a huge, huge deal obviously, and you know, 656 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:43,560 Speaker 1: it was the dominant paradigm for music until seventy eight. 657 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:48,160 Speaker 1: And there was that period from kind of the early 658 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:52,120 Speaker 1: seventies to the early eighties, little under ten years where 659 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 1: that you know, sort of yacht rocky am mellow gold 660 00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:59,839 Speaker 1: stuff really really took over. Yeah, you had to kind 661 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:02,360 Speaker 1: of watch what you put on the radio because FM 662 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:07,280 Speaker 1: was playing you know, they were playing the AOAR album 663 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:09,960 Speaker 1: oriented rock stuff that had a little more mckismo and 664 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:15,280 Speaker 1: testosterone fuel, like you know rock bands. Big hair, yeah, exactly, 665 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:19,680 Speaker 1: big hair, long hair, not a mustache in sight unless 666 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:22,080 Speaker 1: it was part of a beard probably, but wasn't the 667 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,800 Speaker 1: case on AM with yacht rock, there were mustachioed dudes, 668 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:32,080 Speaker 1: generally sensitive guys. The songs weren't about usually like conquering women. 669 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:34,880 Speaker 1: Most of them were about getting dumped by women. A 670 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,160 Speaker 1: lot of sad sack music coming out, Yeah on AM 671 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:39,520 Speaker 1: radio in the nineteen seventies. 672 00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:41,800 Speaker 2: I still listened to a lot of that stuff. 673 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:44,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, and a lot of the constraints. I found this 674 00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:47,400 Speaker 3: to be true throughout my life. When you put constraints 675 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 3: on something, it automatically fuels creativity because it doesn't mean 676 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:55,480 Speaker 3: you don't still want to get across you know, subversive ideas. 677 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:58,160 Speaker 3: You just have to cloak them within the confines of 678 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:00,400 Speaker 3: these constraints, and it makes you more creative than just 679 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:04,920 Speaker 3: saying the idea out loud, right, which is why album 680 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:09,480 Speaker 3: rockers are typically dumb compared to yacht rockers as far 681 00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:10,319 Speaker 3: as the artist go. 682 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, So, like, if you're a songwriter and you're like, 683 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,000 Speaker 1: I'm a yacht rocker, I'm not going to sing about, 684 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 1: you know, teenage girls. I'm going to sing about things 685 00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:24,000 Speaker 1: I like, like Penia Kalattison and getting caught in the ring. 686 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 3: Man. That guy, I think he's one of the most 687 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:32,359 Speaker 3: reprehensible songwriters of all time. Not song, not just that song, 688 00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:35,480 Speaker 3: the Penia Kalada song. Have you ever heard the song him? 689 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:36,399 Speaker 3: His song Him? 690 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:39,719 Speaker 2: I don't know, I don't know it by name. What 691 00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:40,520 Speaker 2: I recognize it? 692 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:44,399 Speaker 3: You think, I don't know. It's a it's considered yacht rock, 693 00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:47,719 Speaker 3: but it's it's a really despicable song about this this 694 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,319 Speaker 3: guy whose girlfriend is sleeping around on him. So he's 695 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:52,960 Speaker 3: got a teacher a lesson to basically bring her back 696 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:57,200 Speaker 3: to heal and how he's not heartbroken or hurt. He's 697 00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:00,440 Speaker 3: just mad that this guy. He says, like nobody should 698 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:04,160 Speaker 3: get it for free. Yeah, that's what he's upside. Well, 699 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:08,280 Speaker 3: it's a nutsoe song. Go listen to it. But yeah, 700 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:12,640 Speaker 3: Rupert Holmes, I don't think he'd like him Bodies the seventies, 701 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:15,480 Speaker 3: like the worst part of Men in the seventies, I. 702 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:18,520 Speaker 1: Think, Yeah, I mean, I really don't like that song 703 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:20,719 Speaker 1: at all. But I do love most yacht rock. And 704 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:22,600 Speaker 1: I know we've probably talked about it briefly at some 705 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:25,200 Speaker 1: point as a recommendation, but the yacht rock documentary that 706 00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:28,239 Speaker 1: came out last year is really really good. Yeah, and 707 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:30,960 Speaker 1: we do definitely want to say that that term was 708 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:34,279 Speaker 1: not coined until the two thousands, when a comedy web 709 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,279 Speaker 1: series spoofing the genre made up the nam yacht rock. 710 00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:41,200 Speaker 1: Before that, I think, like you know, Time Life put 711 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:43,560 Speaker 1: out those the am Gold series of CDs. I think 712 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:47,920 Speaker 1: am Gold or mellow or easy listening. That sort of 713 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:50,239 Speaker 1: is what we called it, right, didn't that what you 714 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:50,600 Speaker 1: called it? 715 00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:53,919 Speaker 3: Easy listening? Yeah, that's what I was first introduced to it. 716 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:58,680 Speaker 1: As our mutual friend Allison who we used to work with. 717 00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:02,680 Speaker 1: My friend Eddie's wife calls it carsick music because it 718 00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:04,840 Speaker 1: just brings back days of like riding backwards in a 719 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:07,120 Speaker 1: station wagon and being car sick and that stuff just 720 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:08,000 Speaker 1: droning on and on. 721 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:09,239 Speaker 3: That's a perfect name for it. 722 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:10,239 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's good. 723 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:12,520 Speaker 3: But when you know, when you're familiar with the idea 724 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:16,359 Speaker 3: that they had to kind of cloak subversive ideas in 725 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:21,440 Speaker 3: like non obvious terms, right, and you go back and 726 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:23,640 Speaker 3: listen to some of this mellow Gold stuff, it's like, 727 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:26,719 Speaker 3: whoa they were Really it's a little crazier than you thought. 728 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 3: Like for example, love Grows where My Rosemary Goes is 729 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:38,080 Speaker 3: code for let's smoke some DMT. Yeah, that was the 730 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:39,200 Speaker 3: only one I turned up. 731 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:42,080 Speaker 2: I mean, what do you think Ride Like the Wind 732 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:42,520 Speaker 2: is about? 733 00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:46,799 Speaker 3: Come on, right, that's about DMT as well. Oh wow, 734 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:48,920 Speaker 3: all right, but he's talking about what it's like to 735 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:52,640 Speaker 3: be on DMT, not just inviting you to smoke DMT. 736 00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:55,280 Speaker 1: Well, when you know what's funny, I think Christopher Cross 737 00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:57,560 Speaker 1: wrote Ride Like the Wind when he was on LSD. 738 00:38:58,360 --> 00:38:59,000 Speaker 3: I believe that. 739 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:01,279 Speaker 2: I think said that in the yacht Rock doc. 740 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:04,320 Speaker 3: Did he really? Yeah, it's a great song. 741 00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:07,520 Speaker 1: It's a great song and has one of the most 742 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:10,520 Speaker 1: one of the greatest guitar solos because he's a killer 743 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,120 Speaker 1: guitar player. But it's so buried in the mix, and 744 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:15,680 Speaker 1: there's all kinds of YouTube videos now where they're like, yeah, 745 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:17,359 Speaker 1: let's bring it up in the mix and talk about 746 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:18,920 Speaker 1: this solo and like how amazing it is. 747 00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:23,239 Speaker 3: That's kind of like those videos of Van Halen with 748 00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:27,200 Speaker 3: nothing but David Lee Ross's vocals. Have you heard those? 749 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:28,440 Speaker 2: Yeah? 750 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:31,640 Speaker 1: Those are Those are very funny. And to be clear, 751 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:34,680 Speaker 1: it's a ripping solo for yacht Rock. It's no so 752 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:37,080 Speaker 1: it's not like the solo for My Sharona or anything, 753 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:38,040 Speaker 1: but it's still good. 754 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:41,319 Speaker 3: I don't Yeah, neither of the solos stand out to me. 755 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:43,040 Speaker 3: I can't bring either one to mind. 756 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:46,000 Speaker 1: Oh man, the My Sharona solo is a top five 757 00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:49,279 Speaker 1: guitar solo of all time for me. And you got 758 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:51,880 Speaker 1: to listen to the radio version cut out a full minute. 759 00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:55,360 Speaker 1: It's like nineties plus seconds the full version. 760 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:55,720 Speaker 3: Wow. 761 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:57,480 Speaker 1: And they cut out two thirds of it for the 762 00:39:57,560 --> 00:39:59,040 Speaker 1: radio version. So you got to listen to the real 763 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:02,160 Speaker 1: full version. It's like it's way better than it should 764 00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:02,839 Speaker 1: be for that song. 765 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:04,839 Speaker 3: That would be the album at it right? 766 00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:08,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess so it's Kiddler. 767 00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:09,240 Speaker 3: Or the twelve inch version. 768 00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:12,359 Speaker 2: I don't know about the twelve inch Okay. 769 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:15,440 Speaker 3: Well, regardless, go listen to some Mellow Gold. It'll make 770 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:17,320 Speaker 3: you happy for sure. 771 00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:20,120 Speaker 2: But where are we these days with AM radio? 772 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:25,960 Speaker 3: Well, there's this battle over it, just like absolutely every 773 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:29,520 Speaker 3: single other thing that people more than one person talks 774 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:33,760 Speaker 3: about in America, AM radio's actually managed to become politicized 775 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:37,080 Speaker 3: a bunch of car makers, from what I can tell, 776 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:40,080 Speaker 3: led by Tesla. I think they were the first ones 777 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:42,719 Speaker 3: to announce this back in twenty twenty that they were 778 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:48,640 Speaker 3: going to discontinue AM radios in their cars. Boo yeah. 779 00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:50,920 Speaker 3: And I think now you can kind of imagine why 780 00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:57,359 Speaker 3: it's a politicized idea, But the ostensible reason is that 781 00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:03,240 Speaker 3: the AM stereo is interfered with by the ev long story, 782 00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:08,560 Speaker 3: short AM waves are much more susceptible to noise because 783 00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:12,719 Speaker 3: of electrical interference. Well, an electrical vehicle is lousy with 784 00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:15,680 Speaker 3: electrical interference, And so the whole car industry is like, 785 00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:17,680 Speaker 3: we're gonna have to spend a bunch of money just 786 00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:21,080 Speaker 3: to keep this AM radio in there. And the US 787 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:26,120 Speaker 3: government is a pretty adamant that AM radio needs to 788 00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:29,399 Speaker 3: stick around again, not just for the public good thing, 789 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:33,319 Speaker 3: the nostalgia factor, but also because if you are going 790 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:37,880 Speaker 3: to get an alert that you know the Cubans have invaded, 791 00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:41,240 Speaker 3: you're going to probably get that alert over an AM 792 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:44,239 Speaker 3: radio station because that's what the whole system is set 793 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:47,640 Speaker 3: up to do. Not because it's antiquated, but because AM 794 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:50,719 Speaker 3: radio does all sorts of things those they could. The 795 00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:53,160 Speaker 3: waves can travel very far, so it reaches a lot 796 00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:57,040 Speaker 3: of people. Rural people listen to AM radio still today, 797 00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:01,640 Speaker 3: like it's just part of rural life. So it's everybody 798 00:42:02,160 --> 00:42:04,640 Speaker 3: is reached by AM one way or another. And I 799 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:07,920 Speaker 3: didn't know this, but you can make a type of 800 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:14,760 Speaker 3: radio a crystal receiver radio that can play AM radio 801 00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:20,480 Speaker 3: broadcasts without any battery or power source. The crystal manages 802 00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:23,920 Speaker 3: to take the energy in the radio carrier wave and 803 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:27,920 Speaker 3: it's amazing and use that alone to basically reproduce the sound. 804 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:31,279 Speaker 3: So for all those reasons, AM like radio really makes 805 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:33,520 Speaker 3: a lot of sense to put all of your eggs 806 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:36,839 Speaker 3: in that basket. As far as getting like emergency broadcasts out, 807 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:40,880 Speaker 3: So the government said, long story short, you need to 808 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:43,960 Speaker 3: keep AM radios in cars, and they're trying to figure 809 00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:46,120 Speaker 3: out how to get that mandated. 810 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:50,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's called the Emergency Alert System now. 811 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:52,800 Speaker 1: It used to be the EBS, the Emergency Broadcast System. 812 00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:55,040 Speaker 1: And if you're thinking, like man, I get my Amber alert, 813 00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:57,160 Speaker 1: so like all that stuff comes through my phone now. 814 00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:01,719 Speaker 1: And this isn't like gen X saying like, oh, to 815 00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:05,440 Speaker 1: rely on on your phones, but like if you expect 816 00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:08,279 Speaker 1: that phone to always work in all cases for the 817 00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:13,040 Speaker 1: rest of time, you're sorely mistaken because if that system 818 00:43:13,120 --> 00:43:16,640 Speaker 1: is taken out, then you're gonna rely on something like 819 00:43:16,719 --> 00:43:20,399 Speaker 1: AM radio to get important information out, you know. I mean, 820 00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:22,839 Speaker 1: that's why it's still there. That's why they're you know, 821 00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:25,239 Speaker 1: going to the car makers and saying like, hey, like 822 00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:27,839 Speaker 1: you may not listen to it, you may think it's 823 00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:30,840 Speaker 1: old fashioned, but there are still four thousand AM stations 824 00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:34,200 Speaker 1: and eighty million listeners a month that some of them 825 00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:36,920 Speaker 1: rely on this stuff to get information, and you can't 826 00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:39,480 Speaker 1: just say like, well, it seems old timey, so we 827 00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:42,160 Speaker 1: don't interferes with our stuff, so we don't want it anymore. 828 00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:44,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, I do kind of have the feeling that there 829 00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:48,319 Speaker 3: is like a certain scorn toward the nostalgic factor of 830 00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:51,879 Speaker 3: AM radio. Yeah, and that that's part of maybe what's 831 00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:55,160 Speaker 3: driving it, which really ticks me off, because who are 832 00:43:55,239 --> 00:43:58,200 Speaker 3: car makers to decide whether AM radio sticks around or not. 833 00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:02,719 Speaker 3: Congress says, no, we actually have come up with a 834 00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:06,160 Speaker 3: law called the Am Radio for Every Vehicle Act that 835 00:44:06,239 --> 00:44:08,760 Speaker 3: basically says, if you sell a car in the United States, 836 00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:12,239 Speaker 3: it has to have AM radio as a feature, not 837 00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:16,200 Speaker 3: even an option. And a lot of carmakers are like, sure, fine, 838 00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:23,360 Speaker 3: we're on board with that. Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kiya, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Silantis, Subaru, 839 00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:27,399 Speaker 3: Toyota all said we're keeping AM radio. Ford had said 840 00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:30,359 Speaker 3: they weren't, and they said, okay, we didn't realize AM 841 00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:33,000 Speaker 3: radio was so popular, we're going to keep it too. 842 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:35,080 Speaker 3: So I guess if you want to show your support 843 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:37,359 Speaker 3: for AM radio, everybody should just go out and buy 844 00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:38,400 Speaker 3: a Jaguar. 845 00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:44,960 Speaker 1: Well, Tesla, Rivian, Pollstar, BMW, Volkswagen, and Balvo dispensed with 846 00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:47,680 Speaker 1: AM radio and some of their new car models. I 847 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:50,520 Speaker 1: don't think completely across the board for each of those manufacturers, 848 00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:55,520 Speaker 1: but that every AM for Every Vehicle Act failed in 849 00:44:55,560 --> 00:45:00,520 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. Unfortunately, it was reintroduced this year in 850 00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:03,920 Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, just I think recently in September, and 851 00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:06,799 Speaker 1: has a lot of support, like on you know, both 852 00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:10,160 Speaker 1: sides of the aisle. So you know, if the one 853 00:45:10,239 --> 00:45:13,680 Speaker 1: hundred and nineteenth Congress ever decides to do anything at all, 854 00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:15,040 Speaker 1: perhaps that will be reconsidered. 855 00:45:15,160 --> 00:45:19,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's got legs like an intern carrying coffee back 856 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:21,880 Speaker 3: to the office is how they put it in Washington. 857 00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:26,040 Speaker 2: It's good. That was the original zzy top line, but 858 00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:27,080 Speaker 2: it was a little bagg. 859 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:34,280 Speaker 3: Don't forget the Zzy top Eliminator video trilogy. You were feminist, 860 00:45:34,640 --> 00:45:37,319 Speaker 3: that's right. You got anything else? Man? 861 00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:40,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that was that was good support support 862 00:45:40,360 --> 00:45:43,040 Speaker 1: AM radio. It's not a relic it's still important. 863 00:45:43,160 --> 00:45:47,279 Speaker 3: Yeah, well put dude. If you want to know more 864 00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:50,359 Speaker 3: about AM radio, start listening to AM radio. And since 865 00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:52,640 Speaker 3: I started to sign off this episode like it was 866 00:45:52,680 --> 00:45:55,480 Speaker 3: one of the OG episodes, that means it's time for 867 00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:56,200 Speaker 3: listener mail. 868 00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:01,239 Speaker 2: This is from car just kind of a thank you. 869 00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:04,239 Speaker 1: Carra started listening in two thousand and eight when she 870 00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:07,320 Speaker 1: was sick at home from high school with pneumonia. Yours 871 00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:09,680 Speaker 1: was the very first podcast ever listened to, back when 872 00:46:09,719 --> 00:46:13,120 Speaker 1: hardly anyone knew what a podcast was. I've been avid 873 00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:15,320 Speaker 1: listener to a lot of shows since, but you have 874 00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:17,239 Speaker 1: been a constant in my life through the end of 875 00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:20,200 Speaker 1: high school, college, grad school, and beyond. Your voices have 876 00:46:20,239 --> 00:46:23,080 Speaker 1: always been a sense of comfort and familiarity when things 877 00:46:23,120 --> 00:46:25,520 Speaker 1: in life got really difficult. I went to see You 878 00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:29,400 Speaker 1: Live in Boston three times, always on my own, and 879 00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:31,680 Speaker 1: each show felt like a small celebration for myself of 880 00:46:31,719 --> 00:46:33,960 Speaker 1: something that had carried me through so many years. 881 00:46:34,200 --> 00:46:36,560 Speaker 3: I wonder if that's the person who had the laugh 882 00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:38,400 Speaker 3: that we called out in Boston every time. 883 00:46:38,960 --> 00:46:41,920 Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know. Maybe I think Kara would have 884 00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:42,600 Speaker 2: mentioned that. Probably. 885 00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:46,640 Speaker 1: Probably one rule with stuff you should know for me, though, 886 00:46:46,680 --> 00:46:48,800 Speaker 1: is I could not listen to an episode until I 887 00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:53,520 Speaker 1: could really pay attention, like other shows were background podcasts 888 00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:56,480 Speaker 1: for me, but not yours. The only downside was that 889 00:46:56,520 --> 00:47:00,279 Speaker 1: I fell further and further behind unless I had the 890 00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:02,920 Speaker 1: focus to listen. This year, I've had to do a 891 00:47:02,960 --> 00:47:04,799 Speaker 1: lot of driving, though, and things have settled down some, 892 00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:07,080 Speaker 1: so I made it a goal to catch up in 893 00:47:07,120 --> 00:47:09,400 Speaker 1: time to listen to the twenty twenty five Halloween special 894 00:47:09,480 --> 00:47:12,759 Speaker 1: on Halloween. I also told myself, if I did it, 895 00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:14,719 Speaker 1: get finally right in and tell you how much I 896 00:47:14,800 --> 00:47:19,520 Speaker 1: appreciate the information, banter, humor and movie. 897 00:47:19,239 --> 00:47:20,160 Speaker 2: Rerecks and stuff like that. 898 00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:25,520 Speaker 1: So this is a day before Halloween email coming from 899 00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:27,360 Speaker 1: Kara or Kara ka R. 900 00:47:27,840 --> 00:47:32,440 Speaker 3: That's awesome, Thanks Carra. Kara obviously very goal motivated and 901 00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:36,560 Speaker 3: I appreciate that, and thank you for listening to all 902 00:47:36,600 --> 00:47:38,919 Speaker 3: of our shows for so long. That means a lot 903 00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:42,239 Speaker 3: that we have friends who are travelers like you. You know. 904 00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:45,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean We've said it before. If there weren't 905 00:47:45,239 --> 00:47:48,440 Speaker 1: the Cara Karras, then we would not exist as a 906 00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:49,040 Speaker 1: show anymore. 907 00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:51,840 Speaker 3: Absolutely, that sounds like a T shirt if you ask me. 908 00:47:52,600 --> 00:47:55,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, And Cara Carra sounds like I don't know, like 909 00:47:55,040 --> 00:47:58,120 Speaker 2: a food Yeah, like replaced. 910 00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:01,840 Speaker 3: Okay, if you want to get in touch of this 911 00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:04,239 Speaker 3: like Kara Kara did and let us know what we 912 00:48:04,360 --> 00:48:08,560 Speaker 3: meant to you. We love those emails. You can wrap 913 00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:10,759 Speaker 3: it up, spank it on the bottom, and send it 914 00:48:10,800 --> 00:48:17,800 Speaker 3: off to Stuff Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com. 915 00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:20,279 Speaker 2: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. 916 00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:23,959 Speaker 1: For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 917 00:48:24,160 --> 00:48:27,080 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.