She was a pain in the ass with
entitlement issues the size of an Olympic swimming pool.
entitlement issues the size of an Olympic swimming pool.
I have not celebrated a birthday in many, many years. How could I, after getting "Whaley" (a 4 foot stuffed whale) for my fifth birthday or maybe my ninth Christmas, maybe I was only four...anyway he was the best gift ever. And no one was ever gonna top this present. Not even I could. Right time, right place.
But, I did receive a "Whaley" like present this year from a comic genius, an original radio voice and a photographer of fine art quality nudes, Mr. Art Fraud....(ahhh what...ummmMrr. Ronn Spencer?). Mr. Ronn Spencer.
His radio program, The Cool & The Crazy aired on public radio KCRW, Santa Monica, CA. For about 4 years, a weekly show, with comedy skits and ads; & with music selections that celebrated the cool & the crazy. The show slowed very litle when co-host/creator Gene Sculatti, Vic Tripp of Vic Tripp's Phony Laugh fame, moved on to other opportunities, including Cryo.The amazing part is how long Art Fraud carried the show. I would calculate 6 months, but the supporting cast was so good, that it may have been longer.The C & C fit my passion for radio entertainment. I missed the 1930's golden age of radio but I also missed the American Depression and World War II. Seeing I may not have survive 2 out those 3, I won't complain. I was able to find, for a while, programs that played "old time radio" - like KNX's Drama Hour. All of theses sources have moved to the Internet and radio is now rarely a creative medium.
Many of these skits, ads and music were dubbed into the PopWorks and Commericalization collages that I am publishing on the Abstract Fidelity blog. Creating these collages helped keep my hand in audio production. I was inbetween Analog and Digital and was wasting money buying "the" current technology. Making these sound portraits of Americana from west coast popular radio probably saved me a lot of money.
On my birthdate, Ronn, who had found my Abstract Fidelity blog & the C & C references, emailed an introduction. It turns out that almost all audio source materials for the radio program has been lost or is no longer available. Over 200 shows. It is a strange tale with lots of drama. Other collectors have sent copies of their recordings. Hopefully, what I have will fill in some gaps.
