Radio Days, Records and Record Players

I love that Woody Allen movie, Radio Days. He recalls his youth, family life, the times and everyday routines of his household . Great music in the movie - radio music and radio shows.

I suffer from radio addiction. My mother got me hooked. I was very little when I was introduced to the magical air waves. We turned on the radio and waited for it to warm up. Our mornings began with the Breakfast Club .
Our home radio was a large ,brown Bakelite number. It sat on the kitchen counter. Several dials on the front. One for tuning, one for some kind of sound adjustment and finally the station tuner. It was a beauty. The dial had a soft yellow light. The body of the radio, the size of a large bread box would get dangerously hot. The tubes, visible from the open back of the radio would radiate red. The tubes looked delicate but could take serious abuse like the thumping of protest when the program was lost during an important broadcast like the World Series. And my father aided my listening skills and musical knowledge with all our car trips. I could play with the radio!

I can recall turning the dial ever so slowly to find a station with a better , stronger signal. What satisfaction when I heard a clear voice come thru the speaker and how far I could sink ,disappointed, into the bench seat of that 47 Chevy when the signal was lost and the station turned to static as we drove into a hollow or rounded a bend. Shucks!

Some of the morning shows that we heard were recorded the day before but sometimes we had live broadcasts. We were stationed here and there and didn’t always have good reception or we had interference from the receivers on the Coast Guard base. We didn’t care - as long as that radio was on , it meant that we were connected to the rest of the world. My mother could hear music from nightclubs and big cities and my father could hear Life of Riley or Amos and Andy or before it was called Country - we listened to his Hillbilly stations.

Older broadcasts were a hit too. Even though the productions of some of programs no longer starred the original cast - they were good enough for me. I heard the Lone Ranger, The Shadow and a few quiz shows. I liked the Breakfast Club the best. And the Arthur Godfrey Show. “ Hawhy Ya Hawhy Ya Hawhy Ya” he would say at the start of each broadcast. Plus he wore Hawaiian shirts. He played the ukulele , told jokes and had a side kick , Derwood Kirby, who introduced the singers. It was so corny.

The Breakfast Club discussed this and that. A host and hostess. A live audience applauding here and there. Small topics. A few jokes. Harmless chats about right and wrong ways to entertain people at a luncheon etc. How wonderful I thought! You can invite people to your house and have LUNCH? Who knew? There seemed to be loads of House and Garden kind of shows. And also The Bickersons. A husband and wife who cracked wise all the time. They were so mean. I didn’t get it - but my mom and her girlfriends drank coffee and laughed .

Sometimes a gal , given the authoritative title of a home economist, would make, step by step , a dish. You had to listen to the prior broadcast to get your ingredients ready. Listeners had to have everything at hand. The hostess would start. “Ladies, one cup scalded milk…” Well, of course there goes half the audience. Scalded milk! Yikes! All the while my mom is running around the kitchen trying to find the matches to light the burner and dashing around to get a pan to put the cold milk into…the voice keeps , very calmly, giving instructions … “two tablespoons molasses, one cup packed brown sugar…” Still NO DAMN MATCHES! The corner of the my mom’s apron was frayed and gets caught on the pantry door and she is now stuck, with milk, matches and pan in hands when the calm voice slips from the radio …“and bake until it springs back to the touch”.

So we determined that music stations were a better choice after some very unsettling mornings with The Morning Show Home Economist.





I still listen to the radio all the time. I start the day with the radio. I have an XM radio in my car. Pandora comes through Squeezebox sets I own. Can’t get enough of the radio. When I travel to other countries I take a small radio with me - just so I can hear the local music. Have you ever heard Italian Rappers?
They actually say Yo. I will never forget my first trip to Italy .I missed American music so much , that during a brief stay in Naples, I bought a small transistor radio just to  hear the BBC and Voice of America broadcasts. The BBC had a great show called, Desert Island Discs. Celebrities came to the studio and discussed their favorite recordings. I loved it. The first time I heard that program the guest was Keith Richards! No kidding! I pictured him smoking, slouched over and difficult - but he was charming and lovely.

Anyway, I was in Amalfi, in Southern Italy, it was fall and still quite warm there. I spent the evenings with my little radio on a balcony that faced Capri. The radio waves were bouncing around - I could hear music from North Africa. Most were haunting and seemed tied to ancient times. I heard a vocalist that was so interesting. Her name was Om Kalsoum . I still listen to her recordings.



Which brings me to records and record players.

Part 2 soon. . .