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1960sTop Forty Radio lives again!
Date: 04-26-2008
By: Tom J
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Well, the closest thing, anyway, to real 1960s Top Forty Radio can be found at http://www.60sradio.com .
A guy by the name of Richard Kaufman, or "Ricky the K," as he refers to himself on his shows, does a really nice job of simulating the types of radio broadcasts that we all listened to in the 60s. He even uses equipment that makes his voice sound like DJs used to sound on our Top Forty stations, lots of reverb. You can really close your eyes and pretend that you have been taken back in time as you listen to Ricky the K.
Unlike today's "Oldies" shows, where very little is heard from the DJs, Ricky the K does a lot of talking, just like the DJs from the good old days used to do, back when the DJs were really part of the shows, back radio was FUN.
Ricky the K makes use of 500 old commercial jingles, including cigarette commercials. (He always follows cigarette jingles with a warning about the dangers of smoking and an appeal for the listeners to stop smoking or to never start smoking.)
Guess what I heard at least twice on the first download from 60sradio.com? The US 30 Dragstrip commercials! One was for the grand opening for the 1967 season, and I believe the other one was for a race weekend in 1972.
You download five-hour segments, because there is some kind of legal thing about copyrights of old music that requires the downloads to be at least five hours long. It doesn't take all that long to download the whole five hours, if you have a decent Internet connection. In one format, the segments are about 45 MB, and in the other format, they are about 72 MB.
I signed up for the minimum, one month, at $12.95, since I wanted a chance to check it out before committing to a longer subscription. Be aware that the subscription is self-renewing, so you will be charged each month, unless you cancel.
I do believe I might cancel my monthly subscription and sign up for a longer one, which saves a few bucks. You can get the subription cost down to $9.95 per month, if you sign up for a year at $119.40. I'll see how this first month goes before signing up for a year.
Too bad they don't have a totally free subscription for a week or something. I might suggest that to Richard.
I love hearing the old songs and commercials, and it is so much fun having a lot of DJ input, like we used to get "back in the day."
Check out this Fox News story about 60sradio.com
http://youtube.com/watch?v=i8XT8UnIzBo
Just had to share this with my buds here at Sheptalk. I don't know if I will keep my subscription or not, but so far I am really enjoying it.
Tom
A 1967 Graduate of Hammond High who cherishes his memories of growing up in the Hammond of the 1950's and 1960's. Bring back those days!
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/tsjay/Tom%20and%20Georgeann/img014.jpg[/IMG] |
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