Eight Track Flashback

I see by the news that i-tunes celebrated its 10 billionth download. And what tune was downloaded?? Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two and “Guess things happen that way”, a Sun label release that charted in 1958.

Since the files from i-tunes are mp3, we do not use them here on 8trackflashback for technical reasons, but in general the sound has been good on what I have heard. As someone who listens to 8tfb  and likes the old and perhaps obscure stuff, what has your experience with i-tunes been? Let me know by posting a comment, and I’ll post interesting experiences here on the site.

Jim Davis

hello hello…last week was a bear, power was cut to the station at the studio, the generator malfunctioned and I had to spend a bunch of time during my show putting everything to rights with the station equipment. So no playlist on line until now, we have the 13th and the 20th on the site, realized the 6th is not up, will do so in the next few days. Hope you enjoyed the Sam Cooke special from 2-4pm.

Ended up not doing the countdown this week, will do it on the 27th. Thanks for listening…Jim Davis

Good day to stay in and listen to the show.  The snow flurries have stopped but the skies are gray. Time to go work on the current playlist…if the automation computer where I store my music will let me. So if things sound a little rough this week, we are working through the problems and waiting for some new equipment.

Jim

My my my…snow has hit the triangle. Luckily this time we had lots of notice and could prepare. Most everyone here at WNCU has pre-programmed their show so no one has to come in unless absolutely necessary. But I am live on the air today, living 5 minutes from the station, part of my job as the engineer is to clean the snow out of the NPR satellite dish, so we had a ladder at the ready.

And sure enough, driving over just before 11am I heard NPR blip out during the newscast. So up the ladder with the broom and about 30 minutes later we have NPR back.

I fully expect that after the show I will be back up the ladder once again to clear it out, hopefully it will then hold for the overnight programming.

Unlike me, you can stay in and enjoy the radio show or listen on the Internet.

Jim Davis

We have instituted a live playlist which I update as I play songs on the show. So you can log in and follow along with the show and know what I am playing. I have also put the phone number up for requests, please remember if you call that I may not be able to answer immediately, so let it ring, also if you get no answer, then call back.

It is with a sad heart that I report a member of the WNCU family has passed on. Steve Satterfield of Sunday morning’s Precious Memories gospel show lost his long fight with cancer. He was a good friend and co-worker and a fan of 8 Track Flashback, I knew him for over 20 years and many radio stations we worked at together including many years at the old WSRC.  He will be missed here in the Triangle.

Well, we are now well into summer and it’s been a while since I’ve done a post. However, there is a new installment so to speak in my Radio Biography in the “about” section where I chronicle the five years I spent at on the air at WDNC from 1976 to 1982 doing a show with similarities to 8 Track Flashback.
This week we count down the top 18 R&B chart records from July 1959. Whereas 1956 and 1957 witnessed R&B music invading the Pop chart, the melting pot phenomenon (or just better marketing and payola) continued with lots of Pop and “Rock and Roll” (not really, but that’s what folks considered it at the time) crossing over to the R&B charts. A lot of familiar names and tunes which are certainly a mixed bag in terms of standing the test of time. Judge for yourself, I have the playlist posted above.
An interesting item I found while doing research was an article in “Billboard” from 1960, reporting how the FCC requiring radio stations to stop accepting free records from the record companies had sent the radio business into a tizzy. Later the order was rescinded. An interesting parallel to the situtation now when those same record companies that send out recordings for free to be played on the air to promote their artists now want radio stations (including WNCU) to pay by play for the music we play on the air. This pending legislation may have a dramatic effect on what you hear on the air, including 8 Track Flashback, if the record companies prevail. For me personally it may be more a matter of doing all the paperwork to document sources for all the material I play. There are arguments back and forth about fairness to performers, but since the distribution would be through the record companies, I question the process given the record companies shabby treatment of the artists in terms of royalties in the past. We shall see what develops.

Gearhead post: As part of Earth day for 2009 (as we have done in the past) we broadcast live from downtown Durham during breaks in 8 Track Flashback. Thanks (or no thanks) to a wireless Internet carrier who shall remain nameless, we were unable to use our regular remote Internet equipment because a change in their policy made our current system useless. Found this out during testing on Friday, so we had to fall back to two cell phones and conferencing to allow our News and Public Affairs Director Kimberley Pierce-Cartwright to interview various folks. After some fiddling we got it to work reasonably well and got her program on the air.

Boos and hisses to Internet providers who do not support Network Neutrality and the concept that if a customer pays for service they should be able to use it however they want if it does not hurt the network.

On the music side, in hour #2 I had occasion to play some early sixties group sides, and it got me thinking to how much things have improved over the last 15 years or so from what it was like when I first started doing this music on the radio back in the 70s’. The advent of the CD and the willingness of record companies to license material for re-release has made high quality versions of early material available for the first time in many cases. Many late fifties and early  sixties recordings were done in stereo or with three or four track masters, and so stereo mixes are now available. This particular set had Sherry by the Four Seasons in stereo (produced by Bob Crewe and leased to VJ records), I really love you by the Stereos (certainly the Stereos in stereo would have been unusual in 1961) and the classic Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop. It sounds like the original recording for Shimmy Smimmy Ko Ko Bop was at least three track, the group in stereo and Little Anthony on a separate track. I have three version of this song, a mono mix (I think from the Doo Wop Box I) , the standard stereo mix from the Rhino Little Anthony and the Imperials single CD release, and an alternate mix from a Canadian compilation that has Little Anthony swirling from speaker to speaker in the final crescendo.

All for now…Jim Davis

Good fundraiser in spite of th economy! If you missed the fundraiser and would like to make a contribution to 8 Track Flashback and WNCU, you can go to the WNCU website, www.wncu.org.

According to the front office, we raised $4140.  Last October, the total was $3400.70. Thanks to all the folk who pledged. Please remember to honor your pledge, while the support from your phone calls is important, the money is what pays the bills. Let me know about any problems with your premiums, and I will do my best to fix any problems. Once again, thanks, and if you missed the show, go to the WNCU website, and have them credit your donation to 8tfb.

See you on the radio….Jim Davis