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

I have not been on this board for awhile. Life has gotten in the way and pretty busy for me in retirement. But I had to come here and just say a little bit about this CD that has moved me once again in my life:

The Golden Age Of Underground Radio, Vol. 2, B. Mitchel Reed; mastered by our own leader.




This thread is dedicated, with deep gratitude, to Steve Hoffman and the work he has done to keep Audio Fidelity alive!

I pulled this CD out to listen to recently because I have been missing how it was back then. I had forgotten what a real gem this CD is. Although it is a mixed bag of songs, the quality of the audio fidelity is unmistakable. I put in on in my car (I have a decent stereo audio system) and was listening while on the road. It almost sounded as though I had Vibrasonic sound (anyone remember that?) because the clarity of all the instruments in each channel just comes alive, so full it is almost unbelievable. One of the best sounding CDs I own for sure.

But . . . the really important thing here, the thing that is so hard for me to believe, is the fact that I get to have this at all. The fact there is this moment in time that I can still be in, and cherish; a world when there was still B.M.R., L.A. Radio, Wallach's Music City, Jeans West and Fat Bernie's Waterbeds, not to mention $2.99 vinyl of the latest releases in music.

The mere fact that Steve Hoffman was involved in creating this CD (and Vol. 1) is a miracle to me. I am so grateful. You will never know how much this means to me. I was there when it all came down, and this CD can still put me in that moment, for a mere hour or so.

The only thing I could wish for more, would be more B.M.R. broadcasts from those days to listen to, especially from KPPC, if they existed. It was the first L.A. underground FM station ever created, broadcast from the basement of a church in my home town, Pasadena; thanks to the vision of Tom Donahue & B. Mitchel Reed. Then came KMET (where this broadcast is from) and the rest, as they say, is history . . .

I would love to know more about the making of this. Was Steve involved in the re-creating of B.M.R.'s show here, as well as the mastering? How did it come about? Are all the clips from before 1970? Are they all from 1969? There is so much history here, in every PSA, every commercial, every themed piece he plays, which we all know was his way . . . so much I would love to know.

Thank you Steve Hoffman, sincerely, for bringing this joy into an old guy's heart!

 

The "Beamer"!

 

Right on, bro!

 

This was one of my very first DCC discs. I was so impressed that I called up their office and asked if they planned to follow up with a Vol. 3. If The Golden Age of Underground Radio was all that Steve Hoffman ever did, he'd still be in my mastering engineer hall of fame.

 

Is that B. Mitchel Reed on the cover? Looks like Spinal Tap's Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer).

 

Yes it is. The funny thing is I believe Harry Shearer did some stuff on KMET back then.

 

Yes, so true. I totally agree. Luckily Steve did many other great mastering jobs.

 

The Credibility Gap

 

Yes, James, you know yer stuff! The Credibility Gap was a great segment.

 

Both this and the first volume are definitely gems. I remember being blown away the first time I heard them. I had never heard those songs sound so good.

I really wish there had been more in the series. They're very well put together and of course, impeccably mastered.

 

A great CD. Both are great. I'd love to see a whole series based on other parts of the 60's also. Audio Fidelity would sell a ton of these but I'd bet they would be hard to do for legal reasons. Steve should be proud of these and really give thought to doing more. It would be a long term project worth doing. Subscriptions from just forum members would probably make these sell-outs almost on release day.

 

I think the reason that there were not more volumes was that Tom Donahue (Vol. 1) and B.M.R. (Vol. 2) were really the founders of underground FM radio in the '60s. Everyone copied their format, but they were the fathers.

 

Well said, old neighbor! I too am originally from Pasadena and credit much of my musical DNA to evenings and weekends listening to KPPC and KMET. Those were heady days.

(And actually, turning the clock back just a tad further, there was Pasadena-based KRLA, which had me prior to the move to FM radio.)

And finally, yes, kudos to Steve for his mastering of this gem of a disc . . . and kudos to you, sir, for starting the thread.

 

Both volumes are terrific! For someone who missed out on the heyday of FM, it gave me a glimpse of what the DJs were all about.

 

Yes, KRLA and KFWB both. AM did have its good ones.

 

That would explain it. It looks like Harry based his Spinal Tap character's looks directly on Mitchel Reed!

 

Everybody needs to hear the mastering of The Byrds' "Eight Miles High" on this disc. The bass is earth-shaking!!!

 

Yes, I believe that is true, now that I remember. I'm at that age where it can be fuzzy sometimes

 

Yes, Steve's awesome mastering makes this shine better than any version, pretty much.

 

We first listened to BMR on KPPC which was really the first Los Angeles underground FM station.
It was a great time for radio ... Dr Demento, The Obscene Steven Clean, Barbara Birdfeather, Cosmos Topper, Mississippi Fats, Outrageous Nevada.
It was a wonderful freak show and boy do I miss it.
The Credibility Gap started there too (as you obviously know) which included a couple of guys who later became known as Lenny and Squiggy.

Somewhere I've got a few air checks of L.A. Radio including KPPC or KMET BMR, 60's KRLA and KHJ and of course the 2 DCC discs.

If you've got a jones for this stuff google is your friend. There are a couple of collectors out there willing to share ... the truth is out there.

 

And by the way our 1966 Dodge Monaco had the Vibrasonic sound system you mentioned.
Perfect for dialing in that weird concert hall echo/verb.

 

How cool.
I just found a copy of Vol. 1 on line and snagged it as result of reading this.
I'm from San Francisco and grew up listening to Tom Donahue on AM station KYA in the 60's. He had great taste and insight into music even back then in the AM Top 40 format.
When he left and started at KMPX and then at KSAN we really got to hear some great music day and night. A huge assortment of sounds not just rock but jazz, soul, gospel, R&B, movie soundtracks, you never knew what would be next, but you knew it was going to be great.
I wish young people today had the chance to hear what great radio was about.
Can't wait to get this disc.

 

If you enjoy radio "air checks", I never miss an opportunity to promote reelradio.com
They are primarily top 40-oriented stations, running from mid-ffites to early 200os.

My favorite site- aside from this one of course.........

 

Check out this site.

http://bayarearadio.org/

jerol