Originally published at: The 93 KHJ YouTube channel is a groovy trip back to Los Angeles in the 1960s | Boing Boing
…
I have various cassette recordings from 68 - 72 of FM station WNEW NYC. The DJ’s were so cool, the format(s) was always engaging the audience and the music was awesome. Playing these old recordings brings a flood of nostalgic memories.
Charlie Tuna (Arthur W. Ferguson) also worked at Wichita’s KLEO for a year (as Billy O’Day) before moving to Los Angeles via Boston. That used to be such a great radio station.
This is the kind of modern electronic ephemera I hope more people saved. Even just small local broadcasts, radio and TV; for years I had tapes of my favorite college radio shows from when I was a teen, complete with weirdo DJs announcing odd mixes of underground rock, but those are long gone.
@knoxblox
Daniel here, son of Art Ferguson (aka Charlie Tuna).
I recently came across letters Dad wrote to mom as “Billy” from that era which I never knew existed.
I think I have one of those KLEO recordings somewhere in our archives, but would love to know where to find others.
We have hundreds of Dad’s tapes across many recording formats–50 years of his archive material covering his complete career–plus scrapbooks full of his well-document life (Thanks, Grandma!).
Would love to find someone to help turn his life into a documentary, if anyone knows someone interested in telling his life story, please let us know. Thanks for posting this and keeping the memory of KHJ (and Charlie Tuna) alive.
I’d suggest getting in touch with a local archive in your area, as they might know people working on such a thing. You could also organize a hand over to an institution in the future. It sounds like you have a treasure trove of materials of your father’s that lots of people would love to have access to for the purposes of writing history.
@anon61221983 That is a great plan to pursue. I know of one or two such local archives and will discuss with my brother Bryan when to do that. I’d personally love to make a doc before we hand all assets over to public archives.
Often, archives that people have from parents or other relatives they hang onto them until they pass on, and then leave them to an archive in their will. Most archives are happy to wait (hopefully a long, long time! ).
But the local archive might know if anyone is working on a relevant type of documentary or they can get in touch with other archivists who know someone.
Since it deals with popular music, you could also reach out to the relevant professional organizations to see if there is anyone doing something along those lines, ssay the Popular culture association (PCA/ACA) or the International Association for the Study of Popular Music. Another might be the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University, which organizes a vast network of scholars working on various topics around popular culture, including music.
Echoing @anon61221983 's suggestion, but there seems to be an archivist named Ellis Feaster who might have some leads?
Thank you @knoxblox and @anon61221983 for the great leads. Will follow up on those ideas and see if we can make a connection. Much appreciated.
Happy to help! I study the history of popular culture, so I love to see it preserved for others to do their work, too.
Good luck!
I am the morning dj on w o l d
Playing all the hits for you wherever you may be
The bright good morning voice who’s heard but never seen
Feeling all of forty-five, going on fifteen…
That was the only station I listened to before moving out here. Prog Rock programming and “The Nightbird” Allison Steele spinning prog and synth-orchestral (e.g., Synergy, and Tomita) attracted tens of thousands of regular listeners (like me).
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.