DCC-CD-The-Golden-Age-of-Underground Radio Vol. 1 &2 Apreciation & Playlist Ideas Thread

I very recently acquired The Golden Age of Underground Radio(VOL 1 & 2) DCC CDs. And I was floored at the "Back-in-Day" vibe they give off! Fantastic CDs.

Now to the purpose of this Thread.....

I like to listen to great Playlists on my IPOD while driving when working.One big perk I enjoy is "Shuffling" as you never know what's going to play next,right? This keeps things fresh IMHO otherwise it becomes much like the movie Groundhog Day(predictable).And this was the magic of Radio back in the day -what were they going to play next?

I linked most the tracks to the before (or after) relevant DJ/commercial track when I ripped to the PC to put on IPOD. Now, I have a KSAN & KMET playlist that I shuffle. A couple of songs and a commercial or two I left floating as un-linked to anything and I listened to this while driving and it was as close as I was going to get to pretending I was listening to a live radio broadcast in the now.

The shuffling broke-up the "Predictability" factor as well as it was going to.Yes, there are sign ins and sign offs that are not going to be chronologically aligned doing this. It's the "VIBE" I'm going for and shuffling these two CDs does "mix" two radio stations as well.BMR & Tom D. compliment each other well in this shuffled format IMHO & I'm fine with that .

Is there any more CDs that have these type of DJ banter/commercials like the Underground 1 & 2 does?I found this closed Thread with some info.......

The Golden Age Of Underground Radio, Vol. 2, B. Mitchel Reed

What I'm looking for is some songs to ADD TO THIS (now)PLAYLIST and keep the "VIBE" in-tacked as best as I can. Trying to keep in the theme and sonics too.What would you add to this?I'm having FUN DOING THIS AS YOU SHOULD TOO

As for me.So far,

The Doors- Riders Of The Storm (DCC) People Are Strange(DCC)
CCR- Fortunate Son (DCC)Born On a Bayou(DCC)
Cream -White Room & Tales Of Brave Ulysses (Strange Brew Cd)
The Band -Chest Fever(MOFI)
Leon Russell- Stranger In a Strange Land (silver DCC)

Sonics on these work here?

Dave Mason- Mystic Stranger? I have the BGO
The Beatles -Tomorrow Never Knows? I have the ORIG silver CD

 

Maybe some some tracks from,
CSN(AF)
America(AF)

 

The "Crusin' " series - although that's probably all AM radio sourced...

 

Good to know. Thanks!Maybe an "AM" radio playlist.......

 

Does the
The KSAN Collection- San Francisco 1966- 68 ( 6CD SET)have radio "Banter "on it?I know it's a mostly LIVE broadcasts from varoius venues . Wondering about tracks with DJs ?

 

Wolfman,gotcha.Thank you for this Forum! I find these two DCC CDs you did great! As I'm driving it's a wonderful vibe hearing air-checks /commercials between songs. I love it.

 

Great thread!

 

I’ll say it again, expanded editions of Golden Age of Underground Radio (both viola) would have been fantastic!

 

Some Tom Donahue from Volume 1

 

What would be some song picks to bulk the music a bit more? The Doors & CCR seem to blend in well as amended songs to the playlist? Chicago Transit Authority was another to get some songs from......hoe about you?

 

The two Golden Age of Underground Radio CDs are my all-time favorite DCC releases.

 

Thanks James. Just reviving the "closed" one you guys were on.But, adding my agenda to the thread here as well.....more music to go with these two volumes. My goal would be to have my "Pretend" FM Radio station from back in the day!Then shuffle away and enjoy how the order goes for the day.If you get what I'm saying.

 

Curious now as to how many people have put these two volumes on a playlist (linked the relevant air. checks/song cues/commercials with the songs associated. Then, shuffle /random play all this? This is what I do every day driving the 5 Freeway down to work then back to home. Makes for a great Radio Vibe for me. Any other members do this or have done this? I highly recommend it.Does the shuffle effect mess with signs /sign offs ?Yes. But , that's besides the point for me.It's that voice/current events between the songs that just brings a magic to an otherwise '60s/'70s playlist! For me at least. I truly wish there was more of this available to use .Steve has mentioned the Wolfman Jack CD and that's one more to get for sure. The KSAN/KMET is a treasure trove!

 

Neil Young-Ohio would go well with KMET News (track 22) from Vol.2 to me .I have Spirit-Nature's Way linked (joined) to the end of this news segment as it ends with the comment about the "Good old L.A. smog" NY's Ohio is in theme of the College unrest the news segment reports about to me.

 

Just got The Zombies (Greatest Hits) DCC CD and think a few songs off of this would "Compliment" the KSAN /KMET playlist here.

 

I only have Vol. 1 and never found Vol. 2, at the time when I was looking actively. I haven't looked for a copy in the last years. Maybe I'll run across a copy of Vol. 2 some day.

 

I just got mine in the last month(both VOLs)
#130 SEALED Uncut Audiophile DCC CD The Golden Age of Underground Radio Volume 2 | eBay

 

Keeping w/the Thread Theme:
[believe well mastered late 70's FM "Rock"]

Some of Steve's other 70's V/A CD's
"Changin' Times"
"Suddenly 70's"
"Reelin' in the Years" Vol. 1-5
"Rock of the 70's" Vol. 1-5
"Rock the First" Vol. 1-10
DCC Samplers
[some repetitive tunes on multiple titles/some tunes not appropriate]
+
the "Outstanding" IMNotSoHumbleO:
2 "Legends" titles on SA-CD [dual layer] releases!!

Hoffman Discography:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/discography/index.php

No FM Jock banter tho!

Enjoy.

 

Thanks for the list . I have all the RITY,ROT70's,one or two RTF You brought up some good choices and great music. For me, I'm honing in on the earlier '70s -1970-late '60s as it appears Underground Radio Vol. 1 & 2 seem to go from excerpts from '68/69 thru '72/73? And this isn't an exact science here either as some songs from this time period may not work well IMHO? The thought is ,to build an "Underground"( pre-FM ROCK ? )Radio playlist and this is going off of what Steve (our Host) has already done. I wish there was some more DJ banter for a "Mid-'70s(more classic rock) Playlist vibe.
Also I just very well might add all the music you mentioned at the end of the day. Just starting with the "Underground" vibe and see how far that can go?

BTW, I do not know about the 2 Legends SACDs? What are they?Curious...

 

What I did was burn them to CDR's for the car but with added extra tracks from the period.

 

Sounds great! I went the IPOD route. Made a playlist of just Vol. 1 & 2 (I joined about half the tracks to some-DJ banter that was relevant to the song or commercial. Then, I shuffle that so it doesn't get redundant (if that makes sense?)stays fresh and have added the tracks I'm mentioning on this thread little by little. I'm getting such a kick out of it too.

 

Old SHMF thread:
Audio Fidelity's Time-Life LEGENDS Compilations in high rez SACD - Crank It Up! and Get It On!
AFZ 178
Various - Legends (Crank It Up)
AFZ 179
Various - Legends (Get It On)

Steve & the entire Audio Fidelity team did a tremendous all-a-round job on these SA-CD dual layer releases.
Don't think the two titles are perfect [mix/"live"/song ~ all come down to personal preference]; however, the 'set' was a great value when released [some secondary pricing on the great Discogs].

Not familiar w/"pre-FM Rock"; as 1st FM "Rock" station started in '66.
Think you may be going for great mid/late 60's "Rock" songs that weren't the typical for the day [re: your "Underground"] AM "Top 40" tunes [tho a lotta great ones of those too!! + crossovers than where both on AM & FM].

Good luck!

 

I have 300+ tunes on my iPhone music player, organized into two playlists...”The LBJ Years” and “The Nixon Years (1st term)”. I had not thought of adding the Age of Underground Radio tracks to the playlists, but that’s s great idea.

 

My good friend, Rick Williams, produced The Golden Age Of Underground Radi0, Vol. 2, featuring B. Mitchell Reed. He has allowed me to share his memories, working at DCC, along side Steve Hoffman.



The Golden Age Of Underground Radio, Vol. 2

by Rick Williams / April 25, 2018

I landed at DCC as a result of my friend of twenty years, Randy California, recommending me to Marshall Blonstein, after working in rock radio since 1970. Randy really liked Marshall, and was not mistaken in telling me that I would as well; he proved to be pretty much my favorite boss, ever. Everyone on staff during my time there, '96-'97, was a daily treat to be around. Steve Hoffman struck me immediately as not only a good guy and real music fan, but also a rock star, (really, a superstar), in audiophile circles. From the existing DCC catalog, I had a special appreciation for their "Golden Age of Underground Radio, With Tom Donahue," as a radio guy myself.

Growing up in the suburbs of L.A., B. Mitchel Reed had long been a favorite jock, at KFWB, KRLA, KPPC, KMET, and KLOS. I had hired, as weekend jocks at the station I programmed in Santa Barbara, a guy named Ted Alvy, who had not only been "Cosmos Topper" on the air at KPPC, but had also been a friend and chief "go-fer" for BMR around the time of Monterey Pop, which Ted had attended with Mitch. Around the same time, I hired a Santa Barbara City College student (and baseball pitcher) named David Reed, who seemed like a natural for radio, despite never having worked or had training. David mentioned, fairly deep into our interview, that his studio comfort and lack of "mic fright" was probably due to having been around it all his life, since his dad had worked in L.A. radio; a major, "Wait! What?" moment for me.

So at DCC, I first floated the idea of an "Underground Radio, Volume Two" with BMR to Steve, who said, "Run it by Marshall, and see." Marshall, as it turned out, was enough of a BMR fan himself, and especially after I told him that David had assured me that his mom had boxes of air checks from his dad since his death some thirteen years earlier. I picked up the tapes from Carole Reed, and for the next few weeks, listened to every single minute, selecting and noting BMR's back sells, commercials, news, and weather that might work best for the project. A lot of hours, but a total labor of love, and I'm still proud of the end result of my work. The added bonus, that rendered the project a really wonderful listening experience, was the good fortune of having it mastered by an absolute mastering artist, Steve Hoffman, whose name definitely deserves to be in all caps in the credits.

As the project progressed, and I contacted various label reps to obtain clearance for use of the music, all of which I'd selected and sequenced, I learned, to my great disappointment, that some of the material I'd hoped to use was simply not available to license, at least not at the time. No Crosby, Stills, & Nash (or CSNY), for love or money, and no Joni Mitchell either. I originally planned to open the disc with Steve Miller's "Living In The USA," but Capitol was in litigation with with Steve at that time, so no dice there either. We had lost Randy California a few months earlier in a tragic accident off the coast of Molokai, Randy having gone out a true hero, saving the life of his young son, while he, himself, did not survive.

The non-availability of Steve Miller made using not just one, but two of Randy's best Spirit compositions a no brainer. No surprise that no Stones material was available to use, but I was fine with Ike & Tina for "Honky Tonk Woman." The only musical change I regretted was Dave Mason, one which was made entirely out of deference to Steve. I'd planned to use "Look At You, Look At Me," from "Alone Together," which I really did feel strongly about, but ended up going with Steve's suggestion to use "Only You Know And I Know," also a great song, just not the one in my own original concept.

I explained to Art Director Bob Wynne that I envisioned a cover that would in style, be noticeably similar to that of "Volume One," and provided him with photos loaned by Carole and David Reed, and Bob came back with some beautiful work for the cover and booklet.
One final, unexpected snag, was that Ted Alvy, whom I'd commissioned to do the liner notes, was so dismayed when he learned that we'd been unable to license any music from CSN, CSNY, or Joni that he kind of lost it, to the extent of insisting we cancel the release
altogether. He suggested (seriously) that I go to Joni Mitchell's home and wait in the bushes near her driveway to speak with her. I passed on that suggestion, and Ted responded that no liner notes would be forthcoming, because a BMR CD without Joni or CSN would be farce and a travesty.

He had given me the impression that he'd completed the notes, but had no intention of providing them to us, for reasons stated above, so it fell to me, a bit under the gun, deadline-wise, to do them myself. So I banged the notes out, just writing from the heart, and dedicated the CD to Randy, which seemed only right. In retrospect, I wish I'd also dedicated it to Marcia McGovern and Jerry Tolmich, two of the many DCC staffers who made my time there a joy, every day. That's my BMR Golden Age of Underground Radio story, and I'm sticking to it.....

Signed,
RW