Tuesday, December 5, 2023

The SOTW - "The Night Owls"

On the platter is a 45 rpm disc from 1981 -- The Little River band with "The Night Owls." I don;t know about you, but this one brings me back! Listen on wednesday, 11am and 11pm (Eastern). 

this song reminds me of the short-lived "Night Owls" digital TV program that aired in select markets in the early 80s. I wrote about this 10 years ago. Check it out below the picture.


(From February, 2013)

Today, as I was playing some songs on the radio, I came across the Little River Band's 1981 hit, "Night Owls."  The video for this song was a common sight on late night video programs and in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV.  But I was reminded of something else:

Nite-Owl on Channel 32 in Chicago.

Does anyone else remember this?  Nite-Owl was a program that dominated the early hours on WFLD-TV in Chicago and consisted of news, weather and sports all provided by funky computerized block graphics played with a soft-rock soundtrack of popular hits and muzak from the time.  I was in junior high  and found myself staying up late, mesmerized by the high-tech (for the time) computer graphics.  One night in 1981, I was at my friend's house across the street and we turned on Nite-Owl after Saturday Night Live and fell asleep to the blue glow and soft music emanating from the tv.

I distinctly remember hearing that Little River Band song and thought it would make a good theme to the program.

Nite-Owl premiered in September of 1981 and was attracting some 75,000 viewers a night within a year.  The company then expanded and started charging a fee, but it soon died out by 1984.

Here's a promo for the premiere of Nite-Owl from 1981:


And here's a 60 minute segment from August 25, 1982, featuring "Love is in the Air" by John Paul Young, "Who Am I?" by Petula Clark and "Biggest Part of Me" by Ambrosia.


The service was provided via teletex, which was hooked up into the computers at the Chicago Sun-Times.  The editorial office for Keyfax was located in Elk Grove Village where editors typed up the copy and sent it back to WFLD in Chicago over a telephone line.  The service was paid for through advertising placed between the 100 or so pages that scrolled throughout the night.

Nite-Owl, although archaic by today's standards, was really ahead of its time.  It foreshadowed 24 hour news channels and internet RSS feeds.  It looked much like the on-line bulletin boards and dial-up services of the early and mid-1990s.  Remember Prodigy and Compuserve?  Nite-Owl looked just like those 1990 internet gateways.

But with  soft-rock soundtrack.

Thursday, November 2, 2023

New Music|November

 


It's a brand new month here at Vinyl Voyage Radio, and you know what that means! New music!  We have 20 new albums streaming, with double doses on Thursdays. Take a listen.

Black Pumas | Chronicles of a Diamond


Rolling Stones | Hackney Diamonds


Bob Cummings, Jr. | Good American Songbook


Carla Geneve | Hertz


Dt/IG | Some Day


The Mona Reels | Record Dealin’ Dick


Maria Basel | Bloom


Nat Vazer | Strange Adrenaline


Virgo Rising | Vampyre Year


Meernaa | So Far So Good


Megan Diana | Cabin Fever


Fridolijn | Catching Currents


Janine Ferguson | Moorpark Street


Michele Stodart | Invitation


Head With Wings | Without Intervention


Wildermiss | Levitate


Hannah Gill | Everybody Loves a Lover


Claire Hawkins | The Name


Greg Dayton | Here to Stay


Easy Weeper | It’s a River Now



Monday, October 30, 2023

Halloween 2023 -- on Vinyl Voyage Radio

Another special Halloween is queued up here at Vinyl Voyage Radio! We have our annual Haunted Mansion vinyl recording ready to go! Plus some great mixes from our friend, J-Bones.

More about J-Bones can be found at FThisMovie and Twitter.

The ghouls take over the airwaves at 1 pm, playing some of the best spooky music out there. And then, we have J-Bones and other specials lined up to cover all of your Halloween needs. This special Halloween stream lasts until midnight, Eastern.


The Haunted Mansion in Story and Song

2:00 pm EST

This is a Vinyl Voyage tradition, played from my vinyl copy bought at the Magic Kingdom in 1976, featuring "Grim, Grinning Ghosts." This is a classic. 



J-Bones Gravest Hits

3:00 pm EST

Pumpkins, King Kong, Zombies and some Haunted Mansion. These are some of J-Bones' favs.





Monster Mocktails

4:30 pm EST

This mix features the likes of Miley Cyrus, the Doors, Johnny Winter, John Lee Hooker, the Champs and many more! Plus trailers of course and lots of Elvira!



Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me
6:30 pm EST

This is a glorious mix of the most melancholy Halloween tunes. You'll hear some Johnny Cash, The Beatles, The Four Tops, Margot and the Nuclear So & So's and many more. Plus, Vincent Price makes an appearance as well.



Color Me Pumpkin Orange
8 pm EST 

This mix features obscure movie promos, and a wonderful selection of Halloween themed songs that are "drenched in Halloween goodness." The artists include Louis Prima, the Specials, Cab Calloway, the Monkees, Cher, Harry Nillson, Radiohead and many, many more.





The Voodoo Show
10 pm EST 

This mix features songs about  ults, graveyards, spider and snakes and bugs, witches and many more!









Saturday, October 28, 2023

Halloween on Vinyl Voyage Radio

We have a new Halloween Mix from J-Bones! He has been making the best and most eclectic Halloween mixes for years, and we are privileged to stream them on Vinyl Voyage. On Saturday, October 28, we will be premiering his new mix, "Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me" at 9pm, Eastern. This is a glorious mix of the most melancholy Halloween tunes. You'll hear some Johnny Cash, The Beatles, The Four Tops, Margot and the Nuclear So & So's and many more. Plus, Vincent Price makes an appearance as well.


Or, you can listen immediately via Mixcloud, where we have all of JB's mixes. You can find JB at F-This Movie, where he writes columns and often appears on the site's weekly podcast.


Stay tuned for our complete Halloween playlist, streaming starting at 1pm, Eastern on Halloween!

Sunday, September 17, 2023

New Shop-New Products-Lower Prices!

We have partnered with Printify to provide our listeners with access to t-shirts, totes, mugs and more. Click on the picture to enter the shop!