Here is another WBAI Folio, this one, from April, 1964, lists our annual broadcast of the previous year's Bayreuth Festival and we even had Miss Rheingold on the cover—well, sort of. I was volunteering at the station, but about to be offered a staff position as announcer. This is the WBAI I fell in love with four years earlier. It is a far cry from the WBAI of today, but I think this schedule is of higher quality, both intellectually and artistically. It is, admittedly, a bit on the precious side, and that was something I set out to correct as soon as I was appointed to the manager's position. Still, there is much variety in this Folio, and you will note that even then—almost a half century ago—the pharmaceutical industry was under scrutiny (see Feb. 21, 8:15pm listing). We didn't give quacks air time to push their wares, but we had our finger on the pulse, as it were.
Notice, too, the program that follows at 9:30pm, Jazz In the Studio. This was a live presentation that did not require any production on our part. We simply turned over our tiny studio to some of the day's most avant garde musicians—ones whose music was shunned by other stations—and told them that the hour was theirs. This quartet, co-led by Bill Dixon and Archie Shepp, asked that the lights be turned out in the studio, and out of the darkness came amazing sounds. Not to everybody's liking, but that was how we thought it ought to be. I don't know if any of those programs was recorded by us, but it would not surprise me if someone out there turned on his or her Webcor or Tandberg.
If you are into jazz and wish to hear a 1969 New Year's Eve interview I did with Archie Shepp, it's on my other blog and here's a direct link.
Click on images to enlarge them.
This note appeared on the back cover:
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