Post by Michael BlackThough I was too young, or not close enough, that seemed to be the case
for at least some legendary old time (well, 30 years ago) overnight talk show
hosts.
Two names come to mind. Long John Nebel and Jean Shepherd, both (for the
most part) from WOR in NY, 50's through the 70's.
Long John was the prototype for Art Bell. Yes, they both did (and do)
plenty of "weird stuff", which is just fine with me. What I personally
can't stand about Art Bell is that he spends so much time promoting his own
wacky end-of-the-world theories. Long John was a skeptic, but knew that
some of these people had interesting stories to tell, and let them do so.
It was a much less structured format that Art Bell's.
Most importantly, it was mostly done face-to-face in the studio, rather than
over the phone, and often there were multiple guests. There was more
discussion and interaction than you get now.
Nowadays, there is far too much reliance on listener participation. A
majority of callers are idiots who really have nothing much to say except to
kiss the host's butt and tell him how wonderful he is. That gets real
boring.
I think the master radio talker was Jean Shepherd. He was most noted for
his nightly 45 minute shows on WOR. He just talked about anything and
everything. He told stories about being a kid, disasterous dates, being a
ham radio operator, being in the Signal Corps in the Army, and his various
jobs in broadcasting. He would comment on current events and trends in
society (rarely politics though), music, TV, cars, and his own personal
travel experiences. He mocked the hell out of the commercials that he was
forced to play. On a good night, there was nothing before or since on the
radio that could compare.
He didn't have to rely on callers to fill the show, and he didn't need a
sidekick (like Stern, for example). He didn't need profanity, he didn't
need sex, he didn't need to wallow in the sewer (also like Stern).
Fortunately, tapes exist of hundreds of his shows, so much of his art has
not been lost to time. This material is freely available for download on
the Internet:
http://216.117.144.74/Catalogs/Fatheadcentral/Fathead_cat.html
He died in 1999. Now THAT was a loss.
--
Mike Schultz
Post by Michael BlackPost by Mark OppatCarson really connected with guests. Leno and Letterman seldom do...
they're there just to lead them into their prepared stories, or hype their
latest movie. Carson had MANY guests with nothing to plug, just to come
talk a while...and, those were some great moments. Jimmy Stewart comes to
mind. Dean Martin. others.
Mark Oppat
Though I was too young, or not close enough, that seemed to be the case
for at least some legendary old time (well, 30 years ago) overnight talk show
hosts. I've read of people being on not because of what they were famous
for, but on because they were interested in other things to talk about.
I basically can't stand Art Bell, or whoever took over the show, because
it's narrowly focused on "weird" things. But every so often, someone
is on who isn't there to promote the "weird" and you can see how it
could be an interesting show. I though Wayne Green would be interesting
when he was on Art Bell, after all he always had plenty to say in his
editorials, but the times I've heard him he was just talking about "weird"
stuff. Admittedly I missed the first few times he was on, and maybe
he was interesting then.
Locally, talk radio has devolved to spending too much time talking
about what's already in the news, rather than all the interesting
things and people who are out there. They don't even get the out
of towners coming in to promote books these days. There just seems
no place for someone to talk about their hobbies, antique radios for
example, conveying something that interests them to the general public
and using it as a catalyst for talk. Radio has become so rigid in
form that the minute someone starts talking, they have to be interrupted
(or interrupt themselves) to make room for a commercial or the half hour
news break, or whatever. Even overnight, they no longer let the conversation
roam.
Michael
Post by Mark OppatPost by frenchy<<At least when Johnny was around people were led to think by his
monologues,
and every politician (regardless of party affiliation) was under scrutiny.
Now, we are mentally polluted with the likes, of Limbaugh, Drudge, Imus, and
all the other mediocre ilk that is dumbing down America via the
media!>>
Like Carson wouldn't have done about 5000 sex jokes about Clinton if
he'd still been doing the show? Don't see much difference between that
and Limbaugh or Leno or anybody else milking it like they did. Carson
wasn't doing the friggin' nightly news, it was a bunch of jokes.