As the week draws to a calm close here at SHOUTCast, we find ourselves feeling a tad nostalgic, yearning for those days of yore, before the age of television and computers, when radio ruled the roost of family living rooms and bedrooms everywhere. It's impossible to put into perspective now, despite how compulsively you may watch Mad Men, but no more than 60 years ago, radio captivated the interests and imaginations of audiences nationwide. As the only real means for both entertainment and dissemination of news and current events, the radio was the undisputed epicenter of personal cultivation, as families would gather 'round after dinner (so we're told) to listen to everything ranging from FDR's Fireside Chats to campy-but-classic programming like "The Shadow."
Even if it's impossible to completely relive the zeitgeist of the Radio Era, you can come pretty close, or as close as possible, with the Illinois-based radio station Radio AM 1710. Here you'll find not only a smorgasborg of jazz and big band staples from which to sample, you'll also find classic dramatic and comedic programming from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. (What? Radio without music?? Yeah. We know.) The best part about it is that all the recordings retain that same grainy, static-like sound quality, so whether you're listening to Orson Welles strike the fear of alien invasion into the hearts of his listening public, or hearing Jack Benny run through his routine, you'll always feel as if you were teleported back in time (even as you check your Blackberry). So gather the wife and kids, sit around the old Atwater-Kent desktop, and, in the immortal words of Frightened Rabbit, get old fashioned.
To jump back in time, find it in the Old Time Radio genre of the SHOUTcast Radio Directory.
We listened to Radio AM 1710 on a feel good Friday afternoon and here's a smidgen of what we heard:
To jump back in time, find it in the Old Time Radio genre of the SHOUTcast Radio Directory.
We listened to Radio AM 1710 on a feel good Friday afternoon and here's a smidgen of what we heard:
Playlist Snapshot - Friday 11.06.2009
| Artist/Program | Song/Episode |
|---|---|
| Fred Astaire | The Way You Look Tonight |
| Ella Fitzgerald | Holiday in Harlem |
| Gunsmoke | Second Choice (Ep. 187) |
| Gunsmoke | Smoking Out the Beedles (Ep. 134) |
| The Great Gildersleeve | Marjorie Plans Engagement (Ep. 222) |
| Phil Harris & Alice Faye | The Television Test (Ep. 47) |
| Ted Weems & His Orchestra | A Girl Friend of a Boy Friend of Mine |
| Jack Benny | The Crowd Roars (Nov. 6, 1938) |
| Fibber McGee and Molly | Fibber Makes Fudge (Ep. 452) |
| NBC University Theater | Dodsworth (Ep. 63) |
