Fake Weekend Radio Rock Concerts (1970s)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Klondike Bob, Mar 3, 2016.

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  1. Klondike Bob

    Klondike Bob Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Downey, CA
    I've brought up this topic with many friends of mine, but none of them seem to remember the concept.

    In the mid-to-late 70s a couple of our local FM classic rock stations
    would program all-weekend FAKE broadcasts of FAKE rock festivals...

    These fake radio festivals would last from Friday night until Sunday afternoon and they would utilize
    canned audience noises and applause, as well as fake stage announcements from the station's DJs

    ("Next up is Peter Frampton and after Frampton, Ted Nugent will be coming to our stage!!!)

    ("Here he is now, BOB DYLAN!! And next up is FLEETWOOD MAC!!")

    These fake rock concerts would use seamless LIVE recordings from bands,
    as if all the bands were playing LIVE on stage in sequence

    As a kid, I thought these fake rock concert weekends were pretty funny and cool,
    yet I've never read anything about their existence or popularity

    In LA these concert weekends were broadcast on KLOS and KMET,
    but I assume they were done on other stations in other towns

    Does anyone have any details about these things?

    [​IMG]
     
  2. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    I remember something like this in 1980. It was called "SATCON I" and lasted for an entire weekend. It purported to be airing live from around the world, including Moscow, from which there were "technical difficulties" (after all, the Soviet Union rarely hosted rock concerts by Western artists). I tuned in periodically but noticed that the "live" concerts were too note-perfect.

    Earlier, in 1975, another syndicated show used the same concept: "Fantasy Park," which was so realistic that listeners called radio stations begging for tickets and the IRS called the station in New Orleans to make sure it received its cut of the (nonexistent) gate receipts. Never mind that it was hosted by Rod Serling, who was broadcasting from the Twilight Zone, as he had died before the show aired...
     
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  3. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I heard this show on WNEW and couldn't imagine anyone mistaking it for a real concert-- For one thing the music was studio tracks with audience dubbed over them. Guess there's a sucker burn every minute, tho.
     
  4. clhboa

    clhboa Forum Resident

    I remember one that played on a local Country station. Can't remember the exact title but the tagline was "The Greatest Concert That Never Happened". I remember it had a ton of commercials by Lone Star Beer played during it.
     
  5. egebamyasi

    egebamyasi Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
    Sounds like fun. I remember all live music weekends but no stage announcements.
     
  6. WhoTapes1

    WhoTapes1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Greensboro, NC
    I remember this too around 1980/81 - it was even advertised in the newspaper and named which cities many of the bands were recorded in. I was so excited about the opportunity to record a never before released live concert by The Who - I was so disappointed when it ended up being all fake.
     
  7. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    In the mid '70s 3XY in Melbourne would have 'The Ultimate Rock Concert' over a weekend and play a mixture of live albums, bootlegs and King Biscuit Flower Hour. I remember they played an early version of Dark Side of the Moon and an audience recording of Thick as a Brick. At the end they played a Beatles bootleg.
     
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  8. egebamyasi

    egebamyasi Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
    Yes. A mix of live albums and King Biscuit shows. That's how I remember it.
     
    smoke likes this.
  9. maclen

    maclen Senior Member

    Yup. I remember those growing up in LA. Kind of cool but kind of fake too.
     
  10. clhboa

    clhboa Forum Resident

    I think the one I heard was a syndicated program.
     
  11. driverdrummer

    driverdrummer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irmo, SC
    I remember King Biscuit Flower Hour shows being played on the weekends on WAVE 104.1 in South Carolina in the early 90s.
     
  12. chicofishhead

    chicofishhead Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chico, California
    I remember KFRC doing this around 1979. They played some actual live recordings, and other times they played studio cuts and added fake crowd noise. Then we did it on our small neighborhood radio station I had with a couple of friends. We used crowd noise from a picture disc of Frampton Comes Alive.
     
  13. jimjim

    jimjim Forum Resident

    They're sort of doing something like kind of trickery here in Wellington on a station called 'The Sound'. They have these 'Vinyl Appreciation Weekends' where they claim they're playing an entire side of an LP uninterrupted. Nice idea except that you can tell straight away that it's digital and the crackles have been added on for effect.
     
  14. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    I had never heard of any of this stuff. But I was perusing Rod Serling's Wiki entry:

    Serling's final radio performance, which he recorded just a few weeks before his death, was even more unusual: Fantasy Park was a 48-hour-long rock concert aired by nearly 200 stations over Labor Day weekend in 1975. The program, produced by KNUS in Dallas, featured performances by dozens of rock stars of the day, and even reunited the Beatles. It was also completely imaginary, a "theatre-of-the-mind for the 70s", as producer Beau Weaver put it, using record albums recorded live in concert, plus crowd noise and other sound effects. (Stations who aired the special were reportedly inundated by callers demanding to know how to get to the nonexistent concert.)

    KNUS general manager Bart McLendon recruited Serling (his old teacher) to record the host segments, bumpers and custom promos and television spots. Serling himself wrote the disclaimers, which aired each hour: "Hello, this is Rod Serling and welcome back to Fantasy Park—the crowds here today are unreal." "This is Fantasy Park—the greatest live concert—never held."​

    According to another site, the IRS showed up at the door of WNOE in New Orleans, demanding their cut of the gate receipts!

    Apparently a 20 minute demo reel narrated by Beau Weaver is in circulation. At one time there was allegedly a tape of Serling recording his promos and bumpers (complete with profanities when he blew his lines) but whether this still exists I don't know.

    [​IMG]
     
  15. ShockControl

    ShockControl Bon Vivant and Raconteur!

    Location:
    Lotus Land
    I heard this when it aired but learned of Serling's involvement only in recent years. It woul be fun to to hear these now.
     
  16. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    Retired radio program director here:wave: I programmed a classic rock station that did a fantasy concert in the early 2000s. Strictly good fun & kinda campy but listener feedback was positive.
     
  17. Dave Mac

    Dave Mac Retired Sophisticated Gentleman Of Leisure

    Sometime back in the '70s in the DC area a Pop/Rock station (was it WMAL? Down near the end of the dial. 107 - something?) used to run a "Fantasy Concert" series on some weekends (Zeppelin, etc.) Happened to tune across it one time (it wasn't my "usual" station or programming) and it sounded . . . odd. Then it struck me that they were playing the regular studio albums, not even "live" ones, with constant crowd noise running underneath the music. Between album tracks they would bring up the noise/applause to simulate a real concert. Pretty lame, actually.
     
  18. jamesmaya

    jamesmaya Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I recall one such fake rock festival. Throughout the "event" there were hushed rumors of a major special appearance to top all special appearances. Well, you can all guess who reunited to close out the festival. :shh:
     
  19. George Blair

    George Blair Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Not a fake concert, but I remember a San Diego station staging a fake party with the Rolling Stones in a supposed "Stones Mansion." It was pretty silly, with party background sounds intercut with interviews with the band members. :sigh:
     
  20. Farmer Mike

    Farmer Mike Forum Resident

    The Martians killing everyone they could?
     
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  21. Rich C

    Rich C Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northbrook, IL
    Very interesting. I don't recall ever hearing a fake rock festival. But I do recall a fake Zeppelin concert on a Chicago FM outlet in 1977. I remember this is because I had a ticket for opening night at Chicago Stadium. My parents were upset that I agreed to buy a ticket from a scalper vis a vis my cousin for $25. I might have gotten away with that if I hadn't also been recently caught cutting classes.

    I was very happy to hear that a local station, I cannot remember which one, was going to broadcast the show live. I'm going to guess it was The Loop. Sure enough it started around the time one would expect the band to hit the stage. The opening number was Rock and Roll. Even though it started to sound fake I was still believing. Turns out it was the sound track for Song Remains the Same. I figured it out eventually even though I don't think I had yet heard that album.

    Anyone else from Chicago have a memory of this?
     
  22. jamesmaya

    jamesmaya Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    :laugh: Now THAT would have made for great radio! Woodstock meets War of the Worlds.
     
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