Best Radio History & Criticism
Blaring the Cream anthem “I Feel Free,” WBCN went on the air in March 1968 as an experiment in free-form rock on the fledgling FM radio band. “Alan’s book traces WBCN’s unassuming birth from the ashes of a classical music station in 1968, through its heyday as the ‘Rock of Boston’ in the ‘70s and ‘80s, to its demise in 2009, when, Alan writes, the station was ‘drained of its blood in the consolidated radio industry of the new century.’ To recount the story, Alan interviewed most every personality involved and willing to speak on the record.”— Boston Globe.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Anyone who loved and listened to this late great radio station will appreciate what's been written here, fondly remembering the DJs and volunteers who staffed the enterprise over the years and the amazing MUSIC that held it all together. It was on 'BCN that I was first exposed to everyone from Robert Johnson and Richard & Mimi Farina to Jonathan Richman and Joy Of Cooking to Spirit, Love and Pentangle to Peter Ivers, White Noise, the Velvet Underground, Frank Zappa's Mothers Of Invention, Steve Reich, Sun Ra and the outer reaches of the avant-garde. I can still remember moments and highlights from the early days, like one late night when a DJ whose identity I can't recall was creating this crazy sound collage that flowed on for some forty minutes interspersing the Firesign (not "Fireside") Theatre's third album with snippets from Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin's "Je t'Aime (Moi Non Plus)" and Ravel's Bolero and an obscure spoken word composition by Takemitsu that I didn't hear again for over three decades. By the time I graduated from Milford High School (Charles Laquidara's alma mater, FYI) in the Bicentennial year of 1976 and left the area to go to school in San Diego, the "American Revolution" was finished as far as I was concerned and I'd already started exploring other stations at the low end of the FM dial, college stations out of Brandeis and Brown Universities which kept the torch of truly freeform radio burning brightly as WBCN inched closer and closer to the mainstream as the years drew on."
"This book blew me away for it's depth and rendering of the decades where BCN ruled the radio universe."
"If you're a person "of a certain age" who grew up listening to WBCN in the 1970's and 1980's, this is an amazing read that paints a fantastic picture of what was going on on the other side of the microphone (or turntable)."
"The reason I do not give it 5 stars is there is some conspicuous details missing and I am guessing it is due to Mr Alan carefully editing a few details to protect his friends."
"I can remember finding 104.1 as I lie in bed turning the thumb dial on the side of my TRANSISTOR radio, the single, nipple-shaped plug embedded in my ear, and wondering if I had tapped into one of those mythical Mexican border stations Wolfman Jack was rumored to have broadcast from."
"I worked in Boston Radio during much of the time covered, and am still in touch with a couple of people mentioned (Capt. It was good to have to complete story filled in on what was "the" Boston Radio station for many, many years."
Now long out of print, John Dunning's Tune in Yesterday was the definitive one-volume reference on old-time radio broadcasting. Now, in On the Air , Dunning has completely rethought this classic work, reorganizing the material and doubling its coverage, to provide a richer and more informative account of radio's golden age. As he did in Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Prentice Hall, 1976), Dunning here provides a storehouse of information about the people and programs of radio's Golden Age (1930s, 1940s, 1950s). Devotees of classic television shows may be surprised to find out that such programs as Father Knows Best , Our Miss Brooks , Queen for a Day , and Sky-King all started as radio programs. Another recent publication, the Historical Dictionary of American Radio [RBB Ag 98], covers a wider range of topics related to radio but has far less coverage of individual programs.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Rather than replace "Tune in Yesterday" with this volume (or not buy "Tune in Tomorrow" at all), I'd advise people who are really into old-time radio to own both as companion pieces."
"There is no article in the book on any of the three (later four) broadcast companies - NBC (with its Red and Blue separate networks), CBS, Mutual and after 1943, ABC (which was the former Blue Network of NBC, forced to sell by anti trust legal action)."
"Very happy with my purchase."
"John Dunning's book is amazingly comprehensive, but so are many other such assemblages of old-time radio data."
"I discovered this book while evaluating encyclopedic resources for my MLIS class; I could not put it down and bought it for my home library and as a gift for an avid radio enthusiast I knew would enjoy it!"
"For most of us today, it's hard to realize just how much good radio programming was available in the 1930s and 1940s, some of which has been preserved, and is available in places like archive.org because a small percentage of the old program records have survived."
"Interesting to find out that child voices were played by adults and black characters were played by whites."
"Being an old time radio fan for more than 15 years and having collected more than 45,000 programs I was looking for a reference book that allowed me to better track what I have and what I wanted to look for."
Based on Chuck's long-running show on Rapstation.com, this massive compendium details the most iconic moments and influential songs in the genre's recorded history, from Kurtis Blow's "Christmas Rappin'" to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill to Kendrick Lamar's ground-breaking verse on "Control." This book is required reading for those who claim to know hip-hop, love hip-hop, and want their information from a true Master and General of the hip-hop culture...Public Enemy #1, Chuck D!― Ice-T. He created the greatest hip-hop album in my opinion to date, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back . Power, awareness, strength, and militancy is his stance in a world obsessed with punishing poor people. He represented for all of us putting his life on the line and making the right music fighting for hip hop, the youth, truth, and justice. "This Day In Rap and Hip-Hop History , with a forward and amazing illustrations by Shepard Fairy, paints a picture of a restless art form that has been constantly evolving and has come to dominate the cultural landscape. "From DJ Kool Herc's early experiments in turntablism to the meteoric rise of Kendrick Lamar and the glorious success of historic hip-hop musical Hamilton , it breaks 40 years of a uniquely American art form down into easily digestible pieces of comprehensive chronology.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Comprehensive, wonderfully illustrated, but much of this has been captured better elsewhere, such as by Ed Piskor."
"So full of info and great photos!"
"Great illustrations with timelines and discography...one of my favorite coffee table exclusives!"
"I grew up during this time in the south Bronx and I was there when the rap and hip hop era begun."
"My grandson will love this book - learning more about hip hop and how hip hop begun."
"This is a must have for anyone who grew up on and loves hip hop!"
Best Radio Reference
Use with ARRL s online Exam Review for Ham Radio. Welcome to Amateur Radio. Radio and Signals Fundamentals. Electricity, Components, and Circuits. Propagation, Antennas, and Feed Lines. Amateur Radio Equipment. Communicating With Other Hams. Licensing Regulations. Operating Regulations. Safety. As you complete each chapter of this book, use ARRL's online Exam Review for Ham Radio to help prepare you for exam day. Once you've finished this book, use the online service to take practice exams with the same number and variety of questions that you'll encounter on exam day.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Some of the other books that I see concentrate more on passing the test by learning the test questions than actually teaching the material."
"Even though you could simply memorize the questions from the FCC test bank, you'll be missing out on a great amount of information that's useful to the new ham operator."
"After the training material, there is an excellent glossary, the complete exam question pool (with correct answers indicated), as well as a supplementary chapter on choosing a ham radio. Excellent graphics -- lots of tables, charts, photographs, and line drawings. As much as I love my e-Ink Kindle, this is the sort of book that is better in paper and in a large format. Table of Contents for the course material -- Radio and Signals Fundamentals; Electricity, Components, and Circuits; Propagation, Antennas, and Feed Lines; Amateur Radio Equipment; Communicating With Other Hams; Licensing Regulations; Operating Regulations; and Safety."
"Or, you can go to hamtestlone.com, pay about the same amount of money and, after studying diligently, in a week pass the course. I HIGHLY recommend getting the book AND signing up for the course. I have NO affiliation with hamtestonline.com other than 10/15/2016 took and passed my Extra Class license exam."
"You will find yourself opening the book to your current topic while you surf the web on related questions, and rather than damage the binding trying to get it to lay open, the spiral binding lets you easily just lay the book flat ... and it keeps your place."
"If you want study material that will teach you everything you need to know to pass the Technician portion of the exam, this book is it."
Best Books on Cassette
A humorous and practical approach from one of the most successful voice-over actors in Hollywood. Patrick Fraley, one of the most successful voice-over actors in the industry, has performed in thousands of TV and radio commercials, 27 feature motion pictures, including The Fisher King , and has lectured and taught at more than 100 schools.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This "professional guide" is really for everyone; speakers, lecturers and teachers who want to enliven their speech; actors who want to make additional income in radio advertising or who want to expand their on-stage presentation; parents who want to read stories to their kids with real impact."
"Great advice on the nature of the voice over business and how to create and do more than just survive in the biz."
"I consider myself a premier voice actor with great abilities but Patrick Fraley really taught me more than that, he taught me to dig into the acting side of the business and learn exactly what steps to take to prepare and train yourself to CATALOG your voices you create."
"...and he is truly the master journeyman of this trade."
Best General Broadcasting
Tolkien's three-volume epic, is set in the imaginary world of Middle-earth - home to many strange beings, and most notably hobbits, a peace-loving "little people," cheerful and shy. Donald Barr has described it as "a scrubbed morning world, and a ringing nightmare world...especially sunlit, and shadowed by perils very fundamental, of a peculiarly uncompounded darkness." Sixty unremarkable years have passed since his triumphant return from the orcmines, where he outwitted the horrible Gollum and carried off his magical ring----a feat that cannot go forever unavenged.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'll keep it brief, this is not a review of the actual story but of this specific edition."
"I did a ton of research and decided upon this version (ISBN 116-1749849-2513827), illustrated by Alan Lee and published by Harper Collins in June 2014 (I am adding these details because the Amazon.com site does not make it clear what this version is). The only drawback is that the facsimile pages of the Book of Mazarbul was not included, which I found to be surprising and a bit disappointing Also, the ring inscription and the Gandalf "rune" are printed in black rather than silver and red. Probably the main issue is the clear plastic slipcover, which is barely bigger than the book itself, and it is difficult to slip the book back inside it after taking it out."
"The font size seems to be based on the length of the books, the longer the books are, the smaller the font is (I suppose this was in order to keep them pocket-sized as well as consistent with the sizes of the other books throughout the set)."
"Most readers shouldn’t have an issue when you consider how comfortable the book is to hold in one hand. It’s a matte vinyl material that has a leather feel with recessed and stained cover lettering. After reading The Hobbit, with no special care, there were no creases in the outer binding."
"The copy I received, however, has a fairly significant manufacturing defect in that the pages of 'The Hobbit' were not cut properly."
"A terribly thick pocket book with dense letters offsets all the convenience this form of book should bring to us."