The kitschy topical songs that Art Bell played were never as interesting as the bumper music, for me. My now spouse, then good friend, and I used to drive around listening to Coast To Coast, sometimes stopping and climbing up on the water towers, really mountain top fire cisterns, to sit, eat strawberries, shiver against the wind, and listen to the show with better reception. It was mostly giggles back then, and depending on the radio station we pulled in, the bumper music might be played in its entirety.
I love the wacky Dr. Demento type songs, but they will never be as memorable as Cusco, or Vangelis, or Gershon Kingsley’s Pop Corn from Music to Moog or *Some Velvet Morning (Phaedra) by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood.
I am conflicted about Art Bell and Coast To Coast AM. This giant world of disinformation is amplified by shows like that, and part of me thinks this helped normalize conspiracy thinking. It seemed harmless at the time and there were great guests like Dr. Michio Kaku that attempted to dispel ignorance or reframe peoples beliefs. I loved hearing Big Foot “experts” (yes, I am aware that I should note that they were talking about the North American Skunk Ape 
) and UFOolgists argue with each other. The call in lines were sometimes the most enjoyable part, and perhaps the greatest and most diverse sampling of crazy that any talk show has ever had.
I have fond memories of Art Bell, who sometimes pushed back when people were too out there, but those are memories that can’t be replicated, and I don’t think there will be a show like that again- and perhaps there shouldn’t be. My spouse and I, on our honeymoon, streamed an archived show for fun, while driving around some fields in Hawaii. We held hands and it was nostalgic, and that bumper music is ingrained in our heads, but I am happy there weren’t too many songs like The Ballad of the Grays, fun as they are.
