Orson Welles in Fine (and Funny) Voice

by Kevin Strom, WB4AIO

HERE IS ORSON WELLES, ONE of the truly great voices of broadcast radio and film — and a very original wit — performing, in mock-Biblical style, a sendup of American politics circa 1972. Too bad H.L. Mencken did not live to hear this; I think he would have liked it very much.

The Begatting of the President was released as a vinyl album during the run-up to the ’72 elections, and introduced Welles to a whole new generation of young people who were into avant-garde comedy like the Credibility Gap and the Firesign Theatre.

Orson Welles: The Begatting of the President”]

(recording source: archive.org)

Birdsong Radio

by Kevin Strom, WB4AIO

YEARS AGO I joked that the next niche radio format to be attempted would be continuous bird calls. I never imagined that it could actually happen, but it has, and the results are quite pleasant.

Apparently one of the Digital Audio Broadcast channels in Great Britain (yes, they have real over-the-air digital radio in the UK, not the dysfunctional “HD Radio” that the media moguls forced on this country) started broadcasting ambient bird calls and other natural forest sounds about a year ago, and it developed quite a following. (I have no idea if the station’s creator, Quentin Howard, ever heard of my decades-old suggestion or not.)

Continue Reading →