AM is it really dead?

[mmckenna]

Summertime baseball broadcasts without the occasional static crash just don't sound right on FM.

Yeah, truth.
There's something about the (lack of) fidelity on AM that makes it feel right. I remember talking to a friend about that once. He reminded me that "back in the day" a lot of music was recorded with low fidelity AM radio in mind, and some of it just sounds "right" on AM. Personally I feel that Glen Campbell just sounds right on a distant AM radio station at night.

 

[trentbob]

Forgot to comment in my earlier post that the stations I listen to the most on AM radio are all around 100 years old. Guess the mid 1920s was the start of heyday for AM radio broadcasting. Would hate see them gone after all this time, but with them being owned by big companies now anythjng is possible.
See the list below.

Two of them have have there locations in callsigns. WSM was owned by insurance company and stands for We Shield Millions.

WBAL Baltimore, MD

WRVA Richmond, VA

WSM Nashville, TN

Or Networks.. WABC in the east and KABC on the West.

 

[trentbob]

Yeah, truth.
There's something about the (lack of) fidelity on AM that makes it feel right. I remember talking to a friend about that once. He reminded me that "back in the day" a lot of music was recorded with low fidelity AM radio in mind, and some of it just sounds "right" on AM. Personally I feel that Glen Campbell just sounds right on a distant AM radio station at night.

Definitely Wichita Lineman.

 

[mmckenna]

Definitely Wichita Lineman.

Your damn right. That was what was in my head when I typed it. It just sounds right hearing it on an AM station from 1000 miles away. Preferably in my truck, out in the middle of nowhere, on a 2 lane highway, at night. On my own.

 

[GlobalNorth]

AM radio needs a personality to shine as a format. I recall listening to Larry King [great on overnight radio - not so good on CNN], Art Bell, Dr. Demento, Jim Bohannon, and others.

 

[trentbob]

AM radio needs a personality to shine as a format. I recall listening to Larry King [great on overnight radio - not so good on CNN], Art Bell, Dr. Demento, Jim Bohannon, and others.

Yes, how many nights sleep did I enjoy losing, listening to Coast to Coast AM in the 90s with terrific shows from Art Bell. George Noory just never matched him and I eventually lost interest.

 

[GlobalNorth]

Yes, how many nights sleep did I enjoy losing, listening to Coast to Coast AM in the 90s with terrific shows from Art Bell. George Noory just never matched him and I eventually lost interest.

As did I. I preferred Ian Punnit more, but alas...

 

[bill4long]

One thing that keeps me listening to AM radio is nothing says it's summertime to me like listening to a baseball game on a picket sized "transistor" radio in the backyard while drinking a beer. There are a number of different things I could listen to in different format but nothing says it's summer to me like that.

When I was a kid in the late 60s my granddad would take us to Dodger games in L.A. We would bring our handheld AM radios and earphones and listen to Vin Skully on the air broadcasting from a booth at the stadium. (Very often we were close enough to the broadcasting box, we could see Vin and his bright red hair.) Also grew up with a tube type AM radio next to my bed. That thing sounded awesome. There was a certain magic to it. I understand why now, but it sounded mysterious and magical back then.

 

[W8KIC]

AM radio needs a personality to shine as a format. I recall listening to Larry King [great on overnight radio - not so good on CNN], Art Bell, Dr. Demento, Jim Bohannon, and others.

The Mutual Radio Network. Bohannon used to fill in for Larry King on occasion. As I recall, he filled in when Larry had had a heart attack and or had cardiac surgery done. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[WA8ZTZ]

When I was a kid in the late 60s my granddad would take us to Dodger games in L.A. We would bring our handheld AM radios and earphones and listen to Vin Skully on the air broadcasting from a booth at the stadium. (Very often we were close enough to the broadcasting box, we could see Vin and his bright red hair.) Also grew up with a tube type AM radio next to my bed. That thing sounded awesome. There was a certain magic to it. I understand why now, but it sounded mysterious and magical back then.

View attachment 175790

Ditto... Ernie Harwell at Briggs Stadium (eventually Tiger Stadium).

 

[trentbob]

The Mutual Radio Network. Bohannon used to fill in for Larry King on occasion. As I recall, he filled in when Larry had had a heart attack and or had cardiac surgery done. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

No that is correct, Larry King had a heart attack in 1987
and Bohannon covered him and eventually took over but it was a late evening show, not overnight so as not to compete with Art Bell who at one time really dominated.. with millions and millions of listeners as he broadcast from the county of Nye.. after his wife Ramona passed on he married an 18 year old Filipino girl Erin and had two children and even broadcast from the Philippines for a while before returning to his compound in the county of Nye.

 

[T680]

Good for you that you don't have all of the interference out there that would cause a radio like that not to work for the average listener, depending on location AM radio is very susceptible to interference, even lightning.. LOL.

I'm just outside of Chicago and can hear the games for both Chicago baseball teams easily and can pick up the Milwaukee games with the Radio Solar. There are times when I have a choice of which game to listen to. It's a part of being retired I really enjoy.

 

[T680]

Your damn right. That was what was in my head when I typed it. It just sounds right hearing it on an AM station from 1000 miles away. Preferably in my truck, out in the middle of nowhere, on a 2 lane highway, at night. On my own.

When I was in college back in the early 80's I had a summer job where I drove around at night spraying for mosquitoes. A lot of us listened to CBS Radio Mystery Theater then. We went to some spooky places too (1 route started across the street from the prison seen in the Blues Brothers) and we'd get too scared to hear the whole episode.

 

[T680]

AM radio needs a personality to shine as a format. I recall listening to Larry King [great on overnight radio - not so good on CNN], Art Bell, Dr. Demento, Jim Bohannon, and others.

Dr Demento used to be on FM radio Sunday nights here in Chicago years ago, and listening to him signified the end of the weekend. I haven't heard him in years though.

 

[a727469]

I would love to put a “Like” for all of these👍. Some great memories!

 

[Omega-TI]

Yeah, truth.
There's something about the (lack of) fidelity on AM that makes it feel right. I remember talking to a friend about that once. He reminded me that "back in the day" a lot of music was recorded with low fidelity AM radio in mind, and some of it just sounds "right" on AM. Personally I feel that Glen Campbell just sounds right on a distant AM radio station at night.

Another thing some AM radio stations did back in the 70's was to speed up the music a tad, while adjusting the tone to prevent the Chipmunk Effect. It allowed them to play more songs to get in more commercials. That could also have attributed to the "feel" of those AM stations.

 

[TGuelker]

When i graduated high school, I had an interest in becoming a DJ. I was the lector on Sundays even when I was in grade school. People used to say I had a voice for radio (more like a face for radio);
My father took me to Broadcast Center in St. Louis where most of the radio personalities in the area started.
My dreams were shattered when I realized I was not going to be the next Johnny Fever.

 

[KK4JUG]

When i graduated high school, I had an interest in becoming a DJ. I was the lector on Sundays even when I was in grade school. People used to say I had a voice for radio (more like a face for radio);
My father took me to Broadcast Center in St. Louis where most of the radio personalities in the area started.
My dreams were shattered when I realized I was not going to be the next Johnny Fever.

It was mostly a side thing for me because there's not a lot of money in the markets where i worked but I really enjoyed it. On my last gig I was moonlighting on a 6:00 to midnight country show. During the day, I was a homicide detective. That was back in the mid 80s. During the early 70s, I worked at an AM/FM/TV combo, mostly TV, but that was news only.

 

[W8KIC]

Your damn right. That was what was in my head when I typed it. It just sounds right hearing it on an AM station from 1000 miles away. Preferably in my truck, out in the middle of nowhere, on a 2 lane highway, at night. On my own.

Wichita Lineman is such a unique song that'll be with us forever. I recently ran across a non-YT video of Glen Campbell performing Mason Williams' all time great "Classical Gas". I was impressed to say the least.

 

[mmckenna]

Wichita Lineman is such a unique song that'll be with us forever. I recently ran across a non-YT video of Glen Campbell performing Mason Williams' all time great "Classical Gas". I was impressed to say the least.

Yeah, he did a great version of that.

My wife and I were fortunate enough to see him in concern many years back, I think it was right after he was diagnosed with Alzheimers, but he was still doing great. Really glad I got to see him in person. Great performer and it was really cool listening to him talk about his music in detail.

Some of those older songs really do sound better on AM, in my opinion, even though I have them all on my phone. Might have to find myself a little Part 15 AM transmitter.