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

Were you around in Pasadena 1969-70 to see any of the shows at the Rose Palace? The Byrds, Joe Cocker, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, The Who.....
http://hometown-pasadena.com/history/floats-once-mixed-with-electric-guitars/34230

 

I go way back in listening to BMR, since he was a Good Guy on KFWB (AM) here in LA after been a big DJ in New York. He was one of the few who could transition from AM to FM because he was genuine and willing to change with the times.

I saw Zep at the Rose Palace

As they say, those were they days...

 

There was a BMR edition in the Cruisin' series, 1963 in New York.

http://www.amazon.com/Cruisin-1963-...d_sim_m_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0XS72KX7CNQ3293RZY5K

 

No, by then I had moved to Hollywood and was doing the Sunset Strip thing. I did go to one or two of those though.

Yes, I can remember sitting in my room and listening to KFWB. They would have a daily contest/giveaway to guess the top five most requested songs of the day. I won once and won a KFWB beach towel. L.A.'s AM greats: KFWB, KRLA, KHJ; they were all my staples as a kid until FM rock came along. BMR was the only DJ in those early days to go back and forth between stations in NY & L.A.

That is also an awesome CD. I have the whole Crusin' series and BMR's CD is the best one. So, between that and Steve's CD, you really get a good showing of how BMR changed in style, from the fast-talking AM DJ to the laid back FM DJ. A pretty awesome comparison.

 

Wow, Steve! I am humbled that you reopened this wonderful thread. I had so much fun with it back then. I'm glad to see it continue.
So . . . I guess as long as I'm here, I'll give you all another BMR story (BMR: B. Mitchel Reed; "The Beamer").

This story is about the original British vinyl release of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, on Parlaphone records, 1967. Like all Beatles fans, I was full of anxiety at the thought of a new Beatles album, and counting the minutes until it came out. We were all used to Beatles' records coming out every few months, but after Revolver, it seemed like a long time before the Beatles released another album, and the anticipation was enormous.

I was living in Hollywood, CA and, until Tower Records opened on the Sunset Strip, I bought all my albums at Wallach's Music City, on Sunset & Vine.They had listening booths where you could go in, put on headphones and play your record on a turntable to test it out before you bought it. They also were one of the first record stores to offer British imports to buy. I bought the British version of Sgt. Peppers because the cover was shiny, not matted like the U.S. version. I didn't stop to listen to it. I wanted to get home and play the whole thing in private, so I could savor every moment. I would put on the album on the stereo hi-fi in our living room, place the stereo speakers about five feet apart on the floor and then lay down on the floor with my head in between them to get the maximum stereo effect. Wow! What excitement I had listening for the first time. But, I lived with my mom in an apartment and, when she came home, I would have to go to my own room to listen to music. I had a little portable box record player, the kind that was like a little suitcase. You could close the top and it had a handle so you could cart it around with you wherever you went. It was mono, of course, not stereo like a hi-fi. I put the record on and lay on my bed listening in bliss. After the end of "A Day In The Life" on side two, when the needle ran to the label in the middle before I could get up to stop it, I heard the most peculiar sound, which played over and over, non-stop. It was unbelievable! The Beatles had put a secret message at the label, after the end of side two. The amazing thing was, not just that it played over and over, never stopping, but that it was beyond the point of rejection! What I mean is, if you had it on a regular stereo, the record would just reject at the end of "A Day In The Life" and you would never hear the sound at the label, because it was past the point of rejection. What brilliance! Only The Beatles could think of something that clever. And, whatever the sound was, it was on the record backwards! So you could not figure out what they were saying!

I called up my friend, Tony, because I couldn't wait to tell him. We shared all of our music experiences together and I just had to tell him about this! He told me that he had just bought the record too and asked me to wait so he could check it out. He only had a stereo, so he had to manually put the needle at the label point, then turn on his stereo. That was the only way you could get it to play if you had a regular stereo that rejected the records at the end. He tried and tried, but told me he couldn't hear it, that it wasn't there. I said, "Are you sure?" He said, "Yes, I'm sure it is not on my record. We thought for a minute, then I asked him, "Which version did you buy, the British or the U.S.?" He said he bought the U.S. version. We were able to figure it out, that this was only on the British version of the record, not on the American version. He said, "I've got to hear it!" "So I took it to his place in Pasadena (where we had both grown up together) and we played it over and over on my little mono box player." Wow! We were stunned.

Then we wondered if BMR had heard it yet on KPPC, which was the first underground FM rock station in L.A., broadcast from the basement of a church on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. Tony said he knew someone at the station and we should take it over there while BMR was on the air. We did and, as it turned out, he hadn't heard it yet. We actually turned BMR on to the backwards tape loop on the British version of Sgt. Peppers! BMR insisted we smoke a joint with him and we were ecstatic! What a great time we had, smoking with a hero of ours and listening to the Beatles, all the while trying to guess what the message might be that the Beatles were sending out at the label at the end of the grooves!

Well, that's my BMR story. The one and only time I ever met him. So thanks again, Steve, for reopening this thread. These CDs are some of the best and I still get much enjoyment from them.

Steven

 

Great BMR story!

 

Awesome poster James! Thanks for posting it.

 

I came across it at Pasadena garage sale of all places.

 

Wow! That's awesome. What a find.