And now, back to our irregularly scheduled program. It has been a while since we revisited a classic Dan Lewis program. This time we go back to September 28, 2008. Dan was doing a WBCQ fill-ins for JL, who was taking a bit of time off from the radio.
This show focused on radio and radio people. Dan memorialized Irving Blonder, whose company owned, among other things, UHF Channel 68 near NYC. Dan reminisced about 1970s characters such as Larry McCann and Uncle Floyd who provided Channel 68 viewers with many a strange and interesting program. Irv also was involved in the development of radar during the 2nd World War and later put his radar skills to work searching for the Loch Ness Monster.
Dan shared memories of Tomcat, Tom Kneitel. Tom was a proflic writer about the radio hobby. He was the founding editor of Popular Communications and wrote a well known book about tuning in on telephone calls. His book probably led to the passing by Congress of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Tom also experimented with the Ouija Board as a communication method.
In hour 2, Dan speaks with Bennett Kobb, a community media advocate. In 2008, Bennett was promoting an idea to bring Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) to the 26 MHz shortwave broadcast band, but aimed at a domestic audience. It was a great idea that never materialized.
Dan responds to an email from a listener who enjoyed the July 2008 Dody Cowan interview and heard from Dody Cowan, too. He also talks about the tech used to produce the program.
I hope you enjoy this Dan Lewis reprise about radio. You can listen here.
Showing posts with label Radio Newyork International. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Radio Newyork International. Show all posts
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Memorial Service for Randi Steele
A memorial service for Randi Steele a/k/a Randall Ripley has been announced via the "Fans of WIOLP Woodstock 104" group on Facebook. It will be held on Sunday October 8, 2017 at 6:30 PM at Mountain View Studio, 20 Mountainview Ave, Woodstock, NY 12498. Here are directions.
Monday, October 2, 2017
Just who was Randall Ripley?
I used to know a guy named Randall Ripley. I met him at the Diplomat Hotel in NYC during a phone phreak convention run by YIPL, the Youth International Party Line. They used to publish a newsletter, later called TAP. It was 2600 before there was a 2600.
The setting was a seedy midtown hotel around Labor Day of 1973. Randall had a microphone in his hands but didn't look like the mainstream media. As a 15 year old kid interested in all things tech and media, I let Randall interview me about party lines and loop lines. I then asked what station he was with. He told me that it was a pirate radio station.
Pirate radio! It was in Flushing, Queens. I lived in Flushing, Queens! I had followed the European offshore stations with interest, but now I found that I had a local FM pirate on 87.9 MHz. I was fascinated. That night, I tuned in.
WQLB was part of the Falling Star Network, a network of pirate stations started by Allan Weiner and Joseph Paul Ferraro of Yonkers, NY pirate fame. It had a tramsitter power of approximately 50 watts from an army surplus "TRC" that was modulated by an Eico signal generator. The signal generator was plugged into a crystal socket with a nail. The antenna was a type of circular loop. The studio was located in the basement of his parents' home, much to the chagrin of his mother who always believed that evil was taking place down there. I used to listen to that evil and call in regularly until the antenna came down that November in an ice storm. Randall went by the on air handle of Ed Armstrong.
We used to talk on the phone regularly. I remember one unusual conversation where Randall made a point of asking me if some unremembered person told me he was gay. I think I said yes and also said I didn't care. Randall found a need to insist to me that he was not.
Late in 1974 my family moved from Queens to Staten Island. I lost track of Randall until I next heard his voice on a Brooklyn pirate using the callsign WCPR. The guys who ran WCPR, Perry Harris and John Doe (later Jim Nazium and Hank Hayes), were referred to Randall as someone who could help them with the transmitter that was always on life support, and therefore nicknamed "Karen Ann". I called in, he remembered me, and we exchanged updated contact info. By that time I was in my first year of college, involved with the college carrier-current radio station, and lived and breathed radio.
Shortly thereafter, I was invited out to visit Randall at his house and to see the studio. It had a Gates style board, used 8 track machines as carts, and egg cartons for soundproofing. I wish I had photos! Anyway, it turned our that our interest in radio was supplemented by our mutual interest in marijuana, beer, music, audio technology and leftist politics. A strong and long friendship resulted which, unfortunately, lasted only until 1999. But that is a story for another day.
So who is Randall Ripley and why should you care? Randall was better known to many of you as Randi Steele of Radio Newyork International, WBCQ, and WIOF-LP. Regretfully, Randi's life ended last month, just shy of 63 years old.
Stony Stevenson, one of the several people still breathing who knew Randall longer than me posted this blog entry back in 2012. It is also well worth a read.
Update 10/08/17: Stony Stevenson's final thoughts on Randi were published today. Read his Requiem for a Pirate here.
The setting was a seedy midtown hotel around Labor Day of 1973. Randall had a microphone in his hands but didn't look like the mainstream media. As a 15 year old kid interested in all things tech and media, I let Randall interview me about party lines and loop lines. I then asked what station he was with. He told me that it was a pirate radio station.
Pirate radio! It was in Flushing, Queens. I lived in Flushing, Queens! I had followed the European offshore stations with interest, but now I found that I had a local FM pirate on 87.9 MHz. I was fascinated. That night, I tuned in.
WQLB was part of the Falling Star Network, a network of pirate stations started by Allan Weiner and Joseph Paul Ferraro of Yonkers, NY pirate fame. It had a tramsitter power of approximately 50 watts from an army surplus "TRC" that was modulated by an Eico signal generator. The signal generator was plugged into a crystal socket with a nail. The antenna was a type of circular loop. The studio was located in the basement of his parents' home, much to the chagrin of his mother who always believed that evil was taking place down there. I used to listen to that evil and call in regularly until the antenna came down that November in an ice storm. Randall went by the on air handle of Ed Armstrong.
We used to talk on the phone regularly. I remember one unusual conversation where Randall made a point of asking me if some unremembered person told me he was gay. I think I said yes and also said I didn't care. Randall found a need to insist to me that he was not.
Late in 1974 my family moved from Queens to Staten Island. I lost track of Randall until I next heard his voice on a Brooklyn pirate using the callsign WCPR. The guys who ran WCPR, Perry Harris and John Doe (later Jim Nazium and Hank Hayes), were referred to Randall as someone who could help them with the transmitter that was always on life support, and therefore nicknamed "Karen Ann". I called in, he remembered me, and we exchanged updated contact info. By that time I was in my first year of college, involved with the college carrier-current radio station, and lived and breathed radio.
Shortly thereafter, I was invited out to visit Randall at his house and to see the studio. It had a Gates style board, used 8 track machines as carts, and egg cartons for soundproofing. I wish I had photos! Anyway, it turned our that our interest in radio was supplemented by our mutual interest in marijuana, beer, music, audio technology and leftist politics. A strong and long friendship resulted which, unfortunately, lasted only until 1999. But that is a story for another day.
So who is Randall Ripley and why should you care? Randall was better known to many of you as Randi Steele of Radio Newyork International, WBCQ, and WIOF-LP. Regretfully, Randi's life ended last month, just shy of 63 years old.
Stony Stevenson, one of the several people still breathing who knew Randall longer than me posted this blog entry back in 2012. It is also well worth a read.
Update 10/08/17: Stony Stevenson's final thoughts on Randi were published today. Read his Requiem for a Pirate here.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
1991 Mis-Predictions for the Future of Broadcasting
With 2016 just around the corner, we look back at a vintage Dan Lewis program from April 21, 1991. This hour, pre-recorded the previous Friday night at Randi's Flushing, NY studio, featured an interview with my friend Robert Briel of The Netherlands. Robert has long been in media publishing and was, at the time, editor of Veronica Magazine.
The interview is notable for many reasons. You can sense the higher level of energy working out of Randi's place rather than JP's. It was easily noticeable to listeners as well, because the 2nd hour was done live from Yonkers. Of course, Randi HAD to point out the higher energy as proof of the superiority of his studio vibe vs. JP's.
Also of note, and with belatedly due apologies to Robert, I mispronounced his name repeatedly. It should come out as "Breel", but for some reason I gave it the pronunciation of a well known Staten Island street name, Brielle Avenue ("Bree-El"). Robert, ever the gentleman, never said a word.
Of more interest to listeners in 2016, however, is how we got it wrong all about satellite radio, digital broadcasting, and how no one would ever need better quality video than VHS HQ! It is a shame that youth is wasted on the young because I could use some of that youthful energy now to complement the wisdom of years.
This is another toaster oven tape rescue special, thanks to my trusty metal take up reel described in this post. As you get ready to pop the cork, give a listen to this rescued classic Dan Lewis radio program!
Thanks for joining us this year and there is more to come in 2016.
The interview is notable for many reasons. You can sense the higher level of energy working out of Randi's place rather than JP's. It was easily noticeable to listeners as well, because the 2nd hour was done live from Yonkers. Of course, Randi HAD to point out the higher energy as proof of the superiority of his studio vibe vs. JP's.
Also of note, and with belatedly due apologies to Robert, I mispronounced his name repeatedly. It should come out as "Breel", but for some reason I gave it the pronunciation of a well known Staten Island street name, Brielle Avenue ("Bree-El"). Robert, ever the gentleman, never said a word.
Of more interest to listeners in 2016, however, is how we got it wrong all about satellite radio, digital broadcasting, and how no one would ever need better quality video than VHS HQ! It is a shame that youth is wasted on the young because I could use some of that youthful energy now to complement the wisdom of years.
This is another toaster oven tape rescue special, thanks to my trusty metal take up reel described in this post. As you get ready to pop the cork, give a listen to this rescued classic Dan Lewis radio program!
Thanks for joining us this year and there is more to come in 2016.
Friday, March 27, 2015
The Very First RNI Mailbag and Freedom of Speech?
Sunday September 30, 1990 was just a couple of days before the long awaited October 2nd German reunification, the true end of World War II. Hope was in the air despite the rain in and around NYC that day. And the most unique mailbag program ever to hit the shortwaves debuted that night at 9 PM Eastern (0100 UTC Monday).
Things did not exactly get off to a smooth start. Even before the initial broadcast, the staff was embroiled in an argument over whether a song featuring profanity could be played, if it could be bleeped, or as Pirate Joe wanted, not to play it at all. Dan seriously considered boycotting the maiden mailbag broadcast over Pirate Joe's authoritarian stance (no bleeping in MY studio!) on the matter. However, the program proceeded and the conflict resulted in a good discussion around the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. In the end, Dan prevailed and the profanities were bleeped, ironically in a song called "Freedom of Speech". The prohibited utterance that did go out over the air the WWCR airwaves that night ended up coming from a caller rather than a song.
Pirate Joe joined Dan in the studio for the first hour of the program, which was hosted from the Pirate Central Yonkers, NY studio -- so while we announced NYC on the air, we were about a mile or two north or the city line. Plenty of letters were read, including mentions of pirate scholars Andy Yoder and George Zeller, well known DXers and NASWA members Jerry Berg and Rich D'Angelo, and of course, a commercial for Popular Communications.
Jerry's letter mentioned the Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications (CPRV) and Dan offered further publicity to this still worthy and ongoing effort.
Listen here and enjoy the show.
Things did not exactly get off to a smooth start. Even before the initial broadcast, the staff was embroiled in an argument over whether a song featuring profanity could be played, if it could be bleeped, or as Pirate Joe wanted, not to play it at all. Dan seriously considered boycotting the maiden mailbag broadcast over Pirate Joe's authoritarian stance (no bleeping in MY studio!) on the matter. However, the program proceeded and the conflict resulted in a good discussion around the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. In the end, Dan prevailed and the profanities were bleeped, ironically in a song called "Freedom of Speech". The prohibited utterance that did go out over the air the WWCR airwaves that night ended up coming from a caller rather than a song.
Pirate Joe joined Dan in the studio for the first hour of the program, which was hosted from the Pirate Central Yonkers, NY studio -- so while we announced NYC on the air, we were about a mile or two north or the city line. Plenty of letters were read, including mentions of pirate scholars Andy Yoder and George Zeller, well known DXers and NASWA members Jerry Berg and Rich D'Angelo, and of course, a commercial for Popular Communications.
Jerry's letter mentioned the Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications (CPRV) and Dan offered further publicity to this still worthy and ongoing effort.
Listen here and enjoy the show.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Planes, trains, 800 numbers, and the RNI Mailbag on WWCR
November 11, 1990 was Veteran's Day in the USA and Armistice Day in France. Tina and I were still in the throes of our initial infatuation, and I was hosting the RNI Mailbag each second and fourth Sunday via WWCR's 100,000 watt 7,520 kHz blowtorch.
Al Gore had not yet invented the commercial internet, 800 toll free service only worked within the US and most of Canada, and the cellphone was still in its infancy. Shortwave was still a viable international communications medium and we received letters from all over the world, which I read on the air. The TSA had not yet been invented to dehumanize our air travel experience nor had the Euro been invented to tax the Europeans wallets and inflate prices.
This episode features a story of how we almost missed the show because of an airline ticketing error -- and how, with the help of a wonderful KLM representative in Amsterdam, we were home in time anyway -- much to the dismay of a Parisian bureaucrat. It also features commercials for Offshore Echoes, Monitoring Times, and Radio For Peace International. Listeners call in with their travel stories, letters from around the world are read and there is a brief mention of our visit to the Veronica radio ship "Nordernay" which was anchored in Maastricht. I also confuse the legendary PCJ callsign, predecessor of Radio Netherlands, with PJB, which was the 800 kHz callsign of Trans World Radio in Bonaire. Ah, hindsight!
Enjoy as you listen to this RNI Mailbag flashback from 25 years ago!
Al Gore had not yet invented the commercial internet, 800 toll free service only worked within the US and most of Canada, and the cellphone was still in its infancy. Shortwave was still a viable international communications medium and we received letters from all over the world, which I read on the air. The TSA had not yet been invented to dehumanize our air travel experience nor had the Euro been invented to tax the Europeans wallets and inflate prices.
This episode features a story of how we almost missed the show because of an airline ticketing error -- and how, with the help of a wonderful KLM representative in Amsterdam, we were home in time anyway -- much to the dismay of a Parisian bureaucrat. It also features commercials for Offshore Echoes, Monitoring Times, and Radio For Peace International. Listeners call in with their travel stories, letters from around the world are read and there is a brief mention of our visit to the Veronica radio ship "Nordernay" which was anchored in Maastricht. I also confuse the legendary PCJ callsign, predecessor of Radio Netherlands, with PJB, which was the 800 kHz callsign of Trans World Radio in Bonaire. Ah, hindsight!
Enjoy as you listen to this RNI Mailbag flashback from 25 years ago!
Monday, June 9, 2014
The Second Night of RNI -- Live from the Radio Ship Sarah
On Friday evening, July 24, 1987, my AM radio was turned on. It was tuned in to 1620 kHz and the cassette was in the deck. It was all a buzz until -- the frequency was abuzz with the sounds of the 2nd test transmission of Radio Newyork International. My friend Randi Steele was at the controls, about to show NYC what free form radio was going to bring to the city. The first transmission, the prior evening, went well, but lacked the professional polish that Randi was about to bring to the airwaves. Not that there weren't audible studio glitches, but then it was free form.
My own recorded air contributions to the short lived RNI-fest of 1987 were never aired. They are probably sitting on VHS cassettes on a dilapidated school bus in northern Maine, perhaps never to be heard, perhaps to end up on Area 51 some day as others have. I was to have been part of the original air team on a part-time basis (wisely keeping my day job). Nonetheless, my contributions to the station are heard two-fold in this transmission. I coined the expression "The Wet One" as a station slogan, and Hayes Hayes delivers on its promise as a station slogan for a shipboard station with his deep, laborious pronouncement. I also provided the recordings of the "original" Dutch RNI jingles that were used as production material.
The station was heard all across the Eastern USA. QSL cards were issued and the legend had begun. While RNI is now simply a name used on WBCQ by a Johnny-come-later, this recording of the promise that Allan Weiner and Randi Steele offered NYC media remains for your listening enjoyment.
My own recorded air contributions to the short lived RNI-fest of 1987 were never aired. They are probably sitting on VHS cassettes on a dilapidated school bus in northern Maine, perhaps never to be heard, perhaps to end up on Area 51 some day as others have. I was to have been part of the original air team on a part-time basis (wisely keeping my day job). Nonetheless, my contributions to the station are heard two-fold in this transmission. I coined the expression "The Wet One" as a station slogan, and Hayes Hayes delivers on its promise as a station slogan for a shipboard station with his deep, laborious pronouncement. I also provided the recordings of the "original" Dutch RNI jingles that were used as production material.
The station was heard all across the Eastern USA. QSL cards were issued and the legend had begun. While RNI is now simply a name used on WBCQ by a Johnny-come-later, this recording of the promise that Allan Weiner and Randi Steele offered NYC media remains for your listening enjoyment.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Allan Weiner and Randi Steele on 66 WNBC
The trio speak about their experiences with the FCC and take calls from supportive listeners. Also of interest are the commercials for NYNEX Mobile, proud that they are adding a new 5 MHz of spectrum to their cellular system; and regular advertisers Sears and K-Mart.
Host Alan Colmes also pokes fun at Randi as a former troublemaker, based upon phone calls that he -- yes Randi was still identifying as a he at that time -- made to radio stations back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is also revealed that Randi worked nights at WNBC back in those days as a producer to Big Jay Sorensen who these days is to be found on WCBS-FM in NYC.
Give a listen and I hope that you enjoy it.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
RNI Friday Follies via WRNO, New Orelans
On March 20, 1991 the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision on fetal protection in the workplace in the case of UAW v. Johnson Controls. What does this have to do with Dan Lewis op de radio? The release of the decision was instrumental in dating the next show presented for your listening enjoyment. It was found on an undated cassette tape.
Back in early 1991, Radio New York International made the bold move of providing a 7 day per week broadcast schedule. I took Friday nights, naming them the Friday follies, and Tina agreed to help with the RNI Information news segment.
What is also unusual is that this was part of the brief 5 evening per week broadcast stint done via the facilities of WRNO in New Orelans, LA. I was very happy to find this recording and be able to share it. The date appears to be Friday March 22, 1991 at 9 PM Eastern (0200 UTC Saturday) based upon the release of the Supreme Court decision that week.
At about halfway through the program, Randi is featured in a spot which announced the complete RNI broadcast schedule:
Sunday @ 0200 via WWCR, Nashville
Monday - Friday @ 0200 via WRNO, New Orelans
Saturday - Radio for Peace International, Costa Rica @ 2230 and 0500
Times are UTC but in all instances except the 2230 RFPI transmission, the UTC days were actually the next day. RNI could never get UTC quite right. But on the web, anytime is party time, so listen here whenever you want.
Back in early 1991, Radio New York International made the bold move of providing a 7 day per week broadcast schedule. I took Friday nights, naming them the Friday follies, and Tina agreed to help with the RNI Information news segment.
This program was somewhat unusual. It was done live, and instead of doing a 5 minute news segment over the phone, Tina was able to join me in Randi's Flushing studio that evening. It quite by accident turned into our version of Howard and Robin doing the news for an hour, but it was definitely done in Dan and Tina style. Tina had a lot of airtime and used it well. The discussion took the audience through sex, rape, culture, and strange crimes
of passion. NYC crime in the days before Giuliani, Bloomberg and Kelly was a topic, as were the
price of luxuries and taxes disguised as user fees and tolls.
What is also unusual is that this was part of the brief 5 evening per week broadcast stint done via the facilities of WRNO in New Orelans, LA. I was very happy to find this recording and be able to share it. The date appears to be Friday March 22, 1991 at 9 PM Eastern (0200 UTC Saturday) based upon the release of the Supreme Court decision that week.
At about halfway through the program, Randi is featured in a spot which announced the complete RNI broadcast schedule:
Sunday @ 0200 via WWCR, Nashville
Monday - Friday @ 0200 via WRNO, New Orelans
Saturday - Radio for Peace International, Costa Rica @ 2230 and 0500
Times are UTC but in all instances except the 2230 RFPI transmission, the UTC days were actually the next day. RNI could never get UTC quite right. But on the web, anytime is party time, so listen here whenever you want.
Monday, November 12, 2012
The 2nd Week of the First Gulf War
Now that we're done with Superstorm Sandy, November sno'easters, and other artifacts that confirm global warming -- at least in my mind -- let's go back to the 27th of January, 1991. This program is the third of a trilogy that was archived on a VHS Hi-Fi tape.
It's Superbowl Sunday and the 2nd week of the first Gulf War. What do to, other than to drive up to the Yonkers studio, and take on the Bush Administration, the war, and Senator Jesse Helms.
We had a high quality audience back then and this episode is the proof, including letters from the incarceratedly challenged. One guy even figured out how to get WWCR to overload a AM radio in order to listen to the mailbag program.
You don't have to overload your radio to listen. And while there was no Facebook in 1991, be sure to like us in 2012.
It's Superbowl Sunday and the 2nd week of the first Gulf War. What do to, other than to drive up to the Yonkers studio, and take on the Bush Administration, the war, and Senator Jesse Helms.
We had a high quality audience back then and this episode is the proof, including letters from the incarceratedly challenged. One guy even figured out how to get WWCR to overload a AM radio in order to listen to the mailbag program.
You don't have to overload your radio to listen. And while there was no Facebook in 1991, be sure to like us in 2012.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Dan Lewis Returns to the Air - June 8, 2008
I've taken long breaks from radio broadcasting a couple of times in my life. Perhaps the longest one was after leaving Radio Newyork International in June 1991. I didn't know it then, but I was not to return to the broadcast airwaves for 17 years.
I was involved with my family, including two new step-kids, running a side (on-line) business in the early days of the internet, and building my career. So while I often thought of returning to the airwaves, I didn't take the plunge until I got a call from Big Steve of RNI, asking if I would like to fill in for JL once in a while. I told him that I could not make a regular commitment, but wouldn't mind a guest appearance every couple of months.
This would be a different sort of program, but not too different. It would not be mailbag program this time, but I would present a program of interest to radio enthusiasts that would give me an opportunity to again comment on the state of human affairs.
Ironically, I left the air when one Bush had us involved in a Gulf war and returned when another Bush had us involved in a fraudulent War of Terror. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Who said that?
Please listen and enjoy, and be sure to like us on Facebook.
I was involved with my family, including two new step-kids, running a side (on-line) business in the early days of the internet, and building my career. So while I often thought of returning to the airwaves, I didn't take the plunge until I got a call from Big Steve of RNI, asking if I would like to fill in for JL once in a while. I told him that I could not make a regular commitment, but wouldn't mind a guest appearance every couple of months.
This would be a different sort of program, but not too different. It would not be mailbag program this time, but I would present a program of interest to radio enthusiasts that would give me an opportunity to again comment on the state of human affairs.
Ironically, I left the air when one Bush had us involved in a Gulf war and returned when another Bush had us involved in a fraudulent War of Terror. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Who said that?
Please listen and enjoy, and be sure to like us on Facebook.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Waiting for Operation Desert Storm from the Gloom and Doom Tomb
There were two studios used to produce programming for Radio Newyork International back in the WWCR days. The NYC studio was in Flushing, Queens and operated by Randi Steele. It was a fun and energetic place from which to broadcast.
The other studio was in Yonkers, NY and just north of the City. It was run by Pirate Joe aka Joseph Paul Ferraro. When we were putting together the WWCR programming it was agreed that two out of four Sundays per month the broadcasts would come from JP's studio.
As it happened, I was the staff member other than Randi who best knew JP and had experience broadcasting out of that studio. It was the Yonkers location where I had originated live programming for KPF941 during the early part of the 1980s. So I drew the job of complementing Pirate Joe's programs twice a month.
JP's studio had a quieter, laid back vibe than Randi's. Randi tended to have a more hyper personality than JP. I seem to absorb whatever vibe I'm being exposed to and this led Randi to remark that, at least in his opinion, my programming coming from Yonkers sounded like it was coming from a "gloom and doom tomb". Well, I wasn't looking to do a hyperactive, screaming DJ show anyway. And more of the serious radio seemed to come out of JP's studio, with lighter fare coming out of Randi's place.
This week, we offer up a classic Dan Lewis RNI Mailbag show from 1991. The chronic mail delivery issues seemed to have been resolved and Dan dives right in by reading a letter from a listener complaining about what he perceives as RNI's hard core left wing politics. Alternative agri-fuel gets good attention, too, as an alternative to foreign wars over oil.
The program, done on the eve of Operation Desert Storm, is a time capsule of the early days of 1991 when our nation was on the cusp of going to war, yet again, to police the world. Here in 2012, there is much to learn from the state of the world in 1991. Despite the laid back environment, this week's program features a very heated exchange with a listener who wrote and called to support the war.
Please listen, enjoy and hopefully learn.
Be sure to like Dan Lewis on Facebook for updates of new programs as they are posted.
The other studio was in Yonkers, NY and just north of the City. It was run by Pirate Joe aka Joseph Paul Ferraro. When we were putting together the WWCR programming it was agreed that two out of four Sundays per month the broadcasts would come from JP's studio.
As it happened, I was the staff member other than Randi who best knew JP and had experience broadcasting out of that studio. It was the Yonkers location where I had originated live programming for KPF941 during the early part of the 1980s. So I drew the job of complementing Pirate Joe's programs twice a month.
JP's studio had a quieter, laid back vibe than Randi's. Randi tended to have a more hyper personality than JP. I seem to absorb whatever vibe I'm being exposed to and this led Randi to remark that, at least in his opinion, my programming coming from Yonkers sounded like it was coming from a "gloom and doom tomb". Well, I wasn't looking to do a hyperactive, screaming DJ show anyway. And more of the serious radio seemed to come out of JP's studio, with lighter fare coming out of Randi's place.
This week, we offer up a classic Dan Lewis RNI Mailbag show from 1991. The chronic mail delivery issues seemed to have been resolved and Dan dives right in by reading a letter from a listener complaining about what he perceives as RNI's hard core left wing politics. Alternative agri-fuel gets good attention, too, as an alternative to foreign wars over oil.
The program, done on the eve of Operation Desert Storm, is a time capsule of the early days of 1991 when our nation was on the cusp of going to war, yet again, to police the world. Here in 2012, there is much to learn from the state of the world in 1991. Despite the laid back environment, this week's program features a very heated exchange with a listener who wrote and called to support the war.
Please listen, enjoy and hopefully learn.
Be sure to like Dan Lewis on Facebook for updates of new programs as they are posted.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
RNI Mailbag - December 23, 1990
In 1990 and 1991, I hosted a Sunday radio program on shortwave station WWCR in Nashville, TN. They were -- and are still today -- a radio time broker. Allan Weiner of Radio Newyork International (RNI) fame bought 4 hours every Sunday night to bring RNI back to the air -- legally. I hosted the RNI Mailbag program...but this was not your grandfather's shortwave mailbag program. We took listener phone calls, had commercial advertisements, and focused on liberal politics. I enjoyed doing this program. Allan once told me that his father, Samuel Weiner, called my program a voice of sanity...well perhaps, but we had fun too. In this particular episode, which aired on December 23, 1990, we focused on censorship and freedom of speech.
You can listen here.
You can listen here.
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