So, just for the youngsters here, before the 90’s or so, radio DJs would just play whatever music they wanted to, instead of all getting the same playlist from corporate. It meant there was a lot of regional distinction, all kinds of specialty programming, and pretty much any band could theoretically hit it big if enough people called in to request them.
Sorry, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself- See, back in the day, there was this thing called “radio”…
Ha Pink Floyd, I wonder what Mr Carlson would have thought of hearing Captain Beefheart!
checking back in here after listening to the whole thing: it’s fantastic. i wonder why nobody thought to do this before now?? i mean, i wish i’d thought of it! Also, hearing a couple 80s tracks that made me do a double-take, i realized that some of the Fever bits come from the 1990s WKRP reboot – i definitely know that the original series didn’t play things like M People, Huey Lewis, and Prince… but it works.
hey, thanks to all for listening, and to Jason Weisberger for sharing the page here.
I originally created this mix just for myself, and when there was time for a song that wasn’t played on the show, but fit the time period of the show, and was one of my faves, I’d sneak it in, sometimes with a manufactured intro by Fever, if I could make it happen.
It was all just an experiment, until Hesseman passed in 2021. At that point, I chose to air it, as-is, in tribute to his character. The response has been fantastic.
PS the laugh track is usually a studio audience, who were laughing throughout. At first I did try to remove it. My original idea was to get the recording to a place where it could all be equalized to sound like it was always “only” a radio broadcast, but the problem with moving the laughter is that:
a) it’s in the intro, outro and all during Fever’s lines, so without some fancy filter (or AI, possibly?), I couldn’t have gotten it to completely disappear. b) if it DID disappear, it would be a real trick to respect Hesseman’s comic timing, in the moment of recording, as one of the factors he was responding to was that very audience. And c) He earned those laughs! 
I wasn’t going to take them away from him. So, in the end I felt it had to stay in, just quieter. I cut the volume on the audience by over 50% as a compromise.
Anyway - thanks again. Glad it’s being enjoyed… Jon Nelson
oh I forgot, all of the soundbites are from the original program, there’s nothing from the reboot. and all of the music is from before 1982, when WKRP, the tv show, went off the air… thanks again! Jon Nelson
This was such a great blast from the past! WKRP was one of our favorite shows, and I wish we had good DVDs (with the original music) to watch since streaming is practically non-existent.
Have Audacity rolled back from the spying shenanigans that made me drop them after years of use quite a few years ago? (I do have commercial options so I haven’t kept up but I used to use Audacity on laptops when I was out and about doing stuff)
They were bought by some dodgy Russian firm IIRC.
I haven’t heard of tools trained to remove laugh tracks (vocal stem separation is usually considered not as great anyway) because there would be less use for it. But @jon_nelson 's argument is absolutely right I think. I could listen to the songs if I wanted on streaming. This adds character.
I admire this as a labor of love, and it delights me to drop back into the world of WKRP in a different fashion, but one that makes it seem even more real. Thank you.
Streaming this to my little radio on my desk with a pi on it really sells it though. Like really felt like I was listening to it truly as you would a real radio station. Thanks!
whoa, really? so i’m assuming the ‘manufactured’ intros by Fever are the ones for the songs that weren’t in the original run, like Huey Lewis, Prince, and The Cure? impressive, because they sure sound like him. I also don’t recall M People on the show, but that one made me laugh so hard. Great work – really love it.
thank you! yes, I know for sure The Cure and Prince were my additions, and Pop Muzik. There were a couple of others, too. …However, it WAS the doctor’s voice… just edited. I took and rearranged his words to say what I needed him to, in those situations. Listening again the other day, I realized there’s very few breaks in the mix which haven’t been edited/manipulated at least a little bit. Thanks again! Jon Nelson
damn, that’s super impressive. each of them sound so natural to Hessman’s actual delivery. Now i need to listen again…
We’re commuting 45 minutes one way to a job for a few days. Been listening, good stuff.
This morning we got breaking news from Les Nessman about the lizzard devastating the east coast.
I’m gonna break up the mp3 so I can’t put segments into my playlist.
I don’t think I’ve laughed quite that hard in quite a while.
Grandpa, I know you didn’t have phones, so did you listen to the “radio” app on your, uh, … [remembers] Tee Vees?
I was not familiar with them, but it’s a great name for a band… Very 80s!
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
