Chapter 1: What is the history of AM radio and its significance?
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Chapter 2: How did AM radio shape early mass communication?
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Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's Chuck, and Jerry's here too, and we're just kicking it old school, real mellow style, which is what I understand all the kids say today. That's right. And hey, before we get going, this is probably the perfect episode to mention that our episode on how vinyl works that was released on vinyl is being reprinted because that thing sold out.
And I think people would love to have one of these things for Christmas. Yeah, we're releasing it just in time for the holidays. As a matter of fact, it's coming out on Black Friday, November 28th this year, which also happens to be Record Store Day, from what I understand. And our friends at Born Losers Records put this out again. They did the first one, did a magnificent job, of course.
And they printed 300 red and black marble records that are just beautiful records. Those are available online at syskvinyl.com. Yeah. And then for the actual record store where you have to leave your home, probably put on a cap because it's late November, maybe a coat, go down to your local indie record store. Yeah, do it.
There might be a chance that they have one of the 300 gold royalty records. Those are exclusives for record stores. Well, you can bet your boopie I'll be going to my local record store and supporting ourselves by buying one. That's awesome. You should draw more people by just spending like a full day there and telling everyone. Oh, yeah.
Maybe I could work something out with the Walk Street here in town. I can go sit up there and those guys can not talk to me. We'll see if we can get a cutout of you two to stand behind you while you sit there. That's great. I'm really excited this is back out, though, because people really seem to enjoy it. And what is it again? SYSKVinyl.com? That's right. Awesome.
And thanks again to our friends at Born Losers. You guys are great. Yeah, they're the best. Yeah, they are. Okay, Chuck. So, yeah, this is a really good episode to shout out records because we're talking about AM radio. And we talked a little bit about it in our beautiful music short stuff, a.k.a.
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Chapter 3: What were the major developments in AM radio during the 1920s?
B.M., Which I'll never get over. But there's a lot more to AM radio. And in fact, I didn't realize this. Julia helped us with this one. And I didn't realize before that AM broadcasting basically set the standards for For all sorts of different things like how news is presented, soap operas, all sorts of different stuff that lasted for decades and decades and decades.
It all started with AM radio because ultimately it was the very first form of mass communication that was not printed. Yeah. I mean, top 40 radio started on AM, which is, I mean, I think these days the kids, if they hear of AM radio, probably either don't know what it is or may not, if they have, as we'll see, a newer model car, especially EV, may not even have AM radio.
Yeah.
or a radio in their house, like a transistor radio or something, or receiver. But they may think AM radio is as like, you know, news talk, sports talk, maybe some foreign language stations, maybe some if they're driving through a rural community, some like weird farm report or something that they've never heard. I remember that. And that's kind of what AM radio became. But it launched top 40.
It was the... Up until like 1978, it beat FM and FM had been around since what, like the 30s? Yeah, it had. And everybody said, nope, we're really happy with AM and stuck with it even after FM came around for quite a while. But let's talk about this because you hit on some really good points and we're going to touch on all of those. But let's start at the very, very beginning.
When AM radio really started to come around because people had been messing with AM broadcasting since the very early 1900s. There were some inventions that all kind of came together around the same time. And I do not understand how this could possibly happen.
But putting these disparate inventions together and figuring out how to broadcast radio waves that have encoded sound in them is just, I mean, hats off. That's like mad genius stuff. But that's what happened in the very early 1900s. Yeah, there were people broadcasting AM signals at the time.
And, you know, the only people that had these AM receivers that could listen were like soldiers at sea or something like that. This is before they made it into the homes of Americans. That paused during World War I because they said, hey, we can't have you broadcasting your daughter playing violin, even though our soldiers love it, that are out at sea. We need to kind of lock this down for now.
But starting in about 1920, in fact, exactly 1920, was when commercial broadcast AM radio started with KDKA Pittsburgh. Yeah, that was the very first one. I think that they read the results of the Warren Harding election. I can't remember the other guy's name. Somebody Cox. Warren Harding obviously won. But right after that, I mean, like this was so clearly a groundbreaking medium.
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Chapter 4: How did AM radio transform entertainment and news broadcasting?
How? Why? That's odd. Marconi played the mamba.
Oh, I never knew this.
Listen to the radio. I gotcha. Yeah. I mean, I hate that song so much, and I can't get it out of my head, all because I just saw the word Marconi typed in an email. I always thought, seriously, it was some gibberish I had in my head. I knew it wasn't right, but it was like, and on the lay says La Bamba, something like that. I had no idea Marconi was name-checked, but that's appropriate.
Yeah, I'm not really mad at you, but, boy, that thing really gets rooted in your head pretty well. But, like you said, by the early 1920s, everybody was on board. In 1922, in fact, AT&T had the first radio network built when they linked 38 radio stations by phone lines and could broadcast, you know, WEAF out of New York all around the country. So, like, people...
It was literally, like you said, like the internet. It was American life before and life after, as far as AM radio goes. Well put. And not just American life, too. Like I said, it spread around the world very quickly. The BBC started broadcasting in 1922. Australia's first radio station, 2SB, which is now ABC Sydney, they started in 1923. Canada got its first one in 1932, XWA out of Montreal.
Yeah. It was just like the Internet. It's not like it was just one country. It was everybody who got involved because it was a humanity-altering invention.
yeah for sure uh by the late 1920s um the major networks had launched uh and you know these were radio networks nbc and cbs um these were international broadcasts from the united states all over the world and you know they worked by you know you had to have a receiver so early on uh you know vacuum tubes um worked with radio receivers connected to loudspeakers and that's how you could hear things later on transistor radios came along
And that's what really changed the game, because that's when it was like TVs for the olds. The young people were had these little radios in their pocket and then they started, you know, putting radios in cars. But it's funny to think about a time when like, yeah, TV is outdated and we want AM radio in our pocket. And then it came roaring back eventually. Thanks to L.A. Law.
You mentioned something that I think is worth calling out, too. You mentioned that there's a speaker that converts that sound signal back into actual acoustic sound. They weren't headphones. They were speakers. So that meant that early radio was a thing that the family gathered around. It was a social activity, listening to all the stuff that was on the radio, which is really important becauseā
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Chapter 5: What role did AM radio play in American culture during the 1950s?
There were more than 600 radio stations in 1930. Obviously, all of them AM. But like we mentioned, FM came along pretty quickly in the 1930s and had a better sound. But, you know, it just didn't take over until 1978. I think by 1940, even 83 percent of the households in America. I mean, that's really massive coverage had AM radio signals like, you know, being broadcast through their homes. Yeah.
And you said, I mean, like FM was around, but people said, no, we're sticking with the AM. One of the big reasons is because the FM receiver needs more power because of the way FM radio is pumped out. And that was a big thing for a long time. That was one reason people stuck around with AM. But there's definitely an affection that developed for AM radio over the years. Yeah.
There's also something called FM drift. Like, you know, if you're driving around listening to an FM station, it can kind of go in and out, you know, to the left or to the right. I guess you could kind of turn your dial a little bit and try and dial it back in. But that was an issue. And we'll talk about some of the AM radio issues. But if you're looking at the dial.
AM, according to the FCC, AM waves have to be broadcast on frequencies between 535 megahertz and 1.7. And FM is from 88 to 108. Sounds legit. That's right. Let's check out based on the radio call signs I'm familiar with. Do you ever listen to AM radio anymore? Yeah, I listened to the Bulldogs game on the way home from Yumi's parents' house on Saturday. Wasn't that nice?
The ball game or listening to the radio? Listening to a sports broadcast on the radio. Yes, I used to do that in college. I can't remember the sportscaster's name, the legendary one for Georgia with the hobnail boot. Yeah, yeah. Larry Munson. Larry Munson. Yeah. Back in college, I would listen to him and watch the game like on mute, and hopefully they would sync up.
Yeah, that was the preferred method. But I still love and it doesn't happen a lot because, you know, I watch the game on TV generally. But if I'm traveling like you were just talking about or I remember when I built we couldn't afford to build like to get a fence company to build our fence 20 years ago. So I built our privacy fence like picket by picket over the course of two months. Oh, wow.
And a lot of that was spent with me listening to Georgia Bulldogs on the radio. I mean, it was pre-podcast even. And it's still, to me, a great way to catch a game. For sure. Not even nostalgia-wise. Like, it really is a great way to catch a game. Oh, yeah. The play calling is, like, you have to be really good. There's no assist there.
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Chapter 6: How did FM radio impact the popularity of AM radio?
You're telling everybody what's going on, you know? Yeah. I say we take a break because we're getting nostalgic already. What do you think? Yeah, I'm going to park that and we'll stick to the facts. Okay, baby. We're taking a break, everybody. We'll be right back.
I'm Stephen Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different.
Visit Gentleman'sCutBourbon.com or your nearest Total Wines or BevMo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older.
Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit Gentleman'sCutBourbon.com. Please enjoy responsibly.
Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? I just fell and started screaming. If you lost someone you loved in the most horrific way? I said that to y'all 22 times. The police, right? But what if the person you're supposed to go to for help is the one you're the most afraid of? This dude is the devil. He's a snake. He'll hurt you.
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Dad had the strong belief that the devil was attacking us.
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Chapter 7: What are the current challenges facing AM radio today?
And I can't imagine what that was like to hear a sports broadcast like that for the first time as it happened. Well, hopefully the commentator knew what he was doing, too. It weren't like long pauses, like the boom goes the dynamite guy. One of them's punching another one repeatedly. Right. Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention Carpentier just went down. That's right.
One of the other things that we'll see about AM radio, too, Chuck, is that it's it was long considered a public good so that the government had like a little more willingness to be like, no, you can say this. You can't say that. And you have to do this. One of the reasons why is because it was very quickly used to kind of spread public information. Like presidents took to it very quickly.
Remember I said that KDKA announced the results of the Harding election. Within just a couple of years, Warren Harding was using it to talk to America. And FDR was probably the most famous president who used the radio to talk to America. He had a series of like just informal speeches basically called fireside chat. Yeah. That really made a lot of the country just fall in love with them.
But it was very it was it was very clear early on just how much influence it could have on people's political opinions. Well, and it was a lot of people the first time they ever heard the president's voice speak, you know. Is that what he sounds like? Yeah. It wasn't around during Lincoln because everyone had been like, really? But, yeah, you know, there was definitely public good.
And we'll dive into that a little bit, along with tons of entertainment. And, you know, it was basically like 15 minute chunks for a long, long time of. All over the map, variety style stuff, kind of reminiscent of vaudeville, like there were hosts of shows, but the DJ thing didn't come along till much later.
So you had like advice shows and news shows and obviously comedy stuff, game shows, you know, radio dramas were a big, big deal. Yeah, that's where soap operas came from, too. They were broadcast almost exclusively with women as their target audience. And at the time, this is just post-World War I, where women had helped the war effort in the factories.
The men came back and they were like, get back in the house. And women were stuck in the house all day, so these radio dramas were broadcast to them, and they were almost exclusively sponsored by cleaning product companies. That's right. So they became known as soap operas. And one of the longer-lasting soap operas of all time actually made the jump successfully from radio to TV. Which one?
Guiding Light. No way. Yeah, it started in 1937 on the radio and was finally canceled in 2009 on TV. It was 72 years of guiding light. Every weekday, too. I had a very, very brief foray into soap operas. I guess it was in college or something. I don't know why, but I got hooked for, I mean, not too long, but I was hooked. I was like, these things are stupid. I was like, yeah, but what happens?
Yeah, the same thing happened to me again in college too. And I cannot remember the name of it, but it was just off the chain.
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Chapter 8: Why is AM radio still relevant in the age of digital media?
I know there's a main character named Marlena and she was possessed by the devil at one point. Someone will remember and let you know. Yeah, certainly. That's like a very famous plot line that was going on when I was hooked on them. And then I got hooked on them enough that I would switch channels during ads and see what was on other soap operas.
And on General Hospital once, there was a scene where this couple was in bed and they did such a poor job of editing that they left in the director saying, cut, and the two actors roll out of bed. Yeah.
I'll never forget it it was one of the greatest things I've ever seen on television they're like the sheets are pulled up you know to their their bare skin right and then they roll out of bed and they have on like blue jeans yeah I don't remember what they were wearing or anything but yeah I'm sure it was just like that that's really funny uh oh god to have that time again where you could just like maybe sort of get hooked on a soap for no reason yeah for sure
Religion was also a big deal early on AM radio. All of a sudden, evangelists could broadcast far and wide from what they called the electric pulpit. And they became like, you know, big time personalities and stars during the Depression era.
Yeah, one of the first people that the question of freedom of speech was raised around was Father Charles Coughlin, who was a bigoted hate speech Catholic priest who really kind of pushed the envelope, you could say. I think he said the Nazis didn't go far enough during Kristallnacht, like he was that kind of guy. Wow. So he definitely rose to prominence during this time.
On the lighter side, one of the most popular long running shows was the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy show. Yeah. Which was a ventriloquist act on the radio. Yeah. I mean, the jokes still work, but it's definitely a visual medium. For sure. But he managed to make it like super radio friendly and it was super popular. You said that the golden age of radio ended around the 1962.
And we should say this was, this depends on your perspective, because a lot of people say, no, golden age of radio went all the way to the 70s. This would be like the first wave of golden age radio where it wasn't music. It was like dramas, scripted comedies, like sports, all this stuff. Like what TV is today? This was the first iteration of radio and it was all AM radio.
But there was a year, 1962, when two shows were canceled, two long running shows. And people point to their cancellation as essentially the end of that era. What were those? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Okay. It was about an insurance fraud investigator. Sounds like true crime. It is. It sounds interesting.
Each episode was a flashback of him going over the line items for his expense report for that particular case. And then each line item would kind of bring up like a new scene. Pretty interesting. The radio network guy is like, can he kill his lover? And then Suspense was another one.
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