As mentioned in a previous post, WBAI's horrendous sound hit the nadir of audio incompetence with the June 13 show. It was even worse on June 20, so bad that one would not be surprised to hear grumbling from the FCC. To make that a distinct possibility, Bob Fass ran a video clip acquired from Youtube that almost makes George Carlin sound like the old lady who lived in a shoe. It was an irresponsible thing for Bob to do, even in the middle of the night, and there was no bleeping nor warning.
WBAI is falling apart, and so—it would seem—is Bob. Here is the opening of the June 20 show; you can almost hear Chief Operations Manager Tony Ryan's infamous sledgehammer at work and although Bob needs to be wound up, one can't help but feel sorry for him as he rambles and the station hums.
The hum continues throughout, at one point obliterating program content for 25 minutes. This segment is also a good example of how rude Bob can be as he contributes to the eradication of a listening audience.
Bob was broadcasting from his house via Skype and the WHCR control room was manned by Bill Propp and Arnold. As I understand it, Arnold is an engineer from the upstate station that carries some of Radio Unnameable each week. He volunteered to help set up the studio in Bob's Staten Island house and is apparently appalled by the state of WBAI's equipment. Here we hear him break in as Bob stalls in utter frustration. Arnold explains what the problem is and takes the opportunity to register his disgust with WBAI's inept management.
By the way, the profane audio Bob aired appears to have been removed from the station's archive of the show. The vultures who profess to run Pacifica should have deleted the entire program, handed Reimers and the sledge pink slips, and scheduled a real, truthful Report to the Listeners (all 26 of them).
I heard a bit of this utter crap and had to tune out. Besides the technical problems, Fass is just so out of it, spewing comments that make no sense whatsoever at times. Also, his personal attacks and berating of listeners is as bad as right wing radio hosts, to the point of bullying.
ReplyDeleteFor all the people WBAI has fired and lost potential donations over, Fass is one they could fire and lose nearly the least money over. If anything, they should take him off the air because it sounds like it is trying on his health! Oh, wait. WBAI doesn't give a crap about peoples' health, as shown by putting Null, Blosdale, etc. on the air. I DO genuinely fear for the man's health.
In all seriousness, I heard old pirate radio stations that broadcast through those old Mr. Microphones that were technically better than this. Obviously the set-up doesn't work, so why not just do the time honored route and have Fass call it in on a phone? That would sound better than this re-enactment of a demolition derby.
I don't like Fass as a radio personality, but I have nothing against him as a person. All I can say is putting him through this is sad and, maybe, abusive.
SDL
You make a good point. I always felt he could have been nicer to Monroe who while he was a pain in the ass was a good contributer to BAI. He now sensors the calls (he doesn't give out the new #) so that the guy who calls in about the girls in Afghanistan can't call in. The new Afghan President Ghani recently gave a very powerful speech to Congress thanking America for the sacrifice and help as well as asking the US to stay longer so that the progress isn't lost as we saw in Iraq.
DeleteThere's a very old, perhaps ancient, principle that if someone is destroying himself, you just let him/her speak – Bob is an excellent example, as he has been now for many years.
ReplyDeleteThe one pleasant thing to hear was Arnold [tips hat].
Fass is such a screamingly obvious symbol, an icon of WBAI, that in an ideal world he would be the last voice heard from the station – how perfect would that be?
~ ‘indigopirate’
ps: Iconoclasm, anyone?
When Bob Fass and David Rothenberg go, there will be no more WBAI.
ReplyDeleteBob is someone I have known since I brought him back to WBAI fifty years ago. His show took the station into the hippie culture of the flower people and gave it added character. That said, it is my sincere opinion that what we have heard in recent years has been the remnant of a show that has ceased to have relevancy. When time left the station and moved the world forward, Bob was among those who did not hop aboard. The show captured and, in many ways, preserved the moment. Its concept was ahead of its time, but rather than change and build upon its remarkable past, Radio Unnameable rested on its laurels and became a platform for a dying breed, aged folkie peaceniks. As the distance between then and now increased, the show became better known for what it once had been than for what it is. What made the film interesting was that it reminded some of us of a time beyond recall, a time that shaped many of us and imprisoned some. Bob falls into the latter category, but it was his own choice.
DeleteThere already is no more WBAI, so his closing shop would make little or no difference. I was also on hand when David Rothenberg landed at WBAI. He has kept his passion relevant—we may not all share his frequency, but his work for former inmates remains highly relevant and the foundation he laid continues to grow and serve. If, by some miracle, WBAI outlasts David, it will suffer a loss when he switches his microphone off, but no individual at WBAI is indispensable.
Leaving aside the hum and the FCC violations, what does this show have to offer? It isn't like Fass knows anything about Iraq or military affairs. He doesn't prepare for a show on these topics. He has no guests who can speak knowledgeably about these topics. He just sits in a chair and rants. The beginning of the show is just noise. After he is informed that he is on the air, he passively-aggressively goes silent for a minute. After the silence and the inexplicable noise, he starts to make all sorts of wild claims about Iraq and Vietnam. No evidence. No argument. No information. Just rants and assertions. Like Rush Limbaugh, only with no audience. The hum was the best thing about the show.
ReplyDeleteSecond clip: Rank misogyny by Fass. If only the hum could have obliterated all of it.
ReplyDeleteChris, is there a breakdown of how much money came in during the last drive by show? I think I saw such a list once during a previous drive. I'd be really interested to see how much money Fass brought in. I would guess a few hundred dollars.
ReplyDeleteIf you go to wbai.org/staff and scroll down to the third window, you will see "Download Fund Drive Results + Info. There you have a daily semi-itemized tally. I think the bottom lines are more accurate than the details, but it will give you an idea. As I recall, Bob's results were nothing to hum about.
DeleteThose tallies are VERY interesting. It seems the more crackpot the cure, the more money it raises. Oddly, as much as a crackpot cure can raise one time, it can do poorly on the next broadcast. This tells me they broadcast the same infomercials too soon and need to space them out by at least 24 - 48 hours.
DeleteCongratulations to Max Schmid and James Irsay for how much they earn doing real programs
Thom Hartman isn't worth the electric they spend on his show. And he's a big name leftist? What a joke. Amy Goodman trounces him.
Hay-tie and Hayti pull it in. I'll give him that, if nothing else.
Ife Dancy. HAHAHAHA!
Bob Fass? For all the legend worship, the guy pulls in a pittance.
SDL
The amounts shows pull in are also determined by the broadcast hour, but there is an interesting pattern. Chris Whent is another non-scammer who does well, but were the drive geared to raising funds for a concept of good, honest radio rather than tabloid fare on DVD and snake oil, there would not be enough support from this dumbed down, dwindled audience to pay for a battered "Mister Microphone" and six rolls of house-brand toilet paper.
DeleteWhen scams and other lies are the only thing that works, they turn it into an excuse for their unconscionable tactics, conveniently leaving out the fact that they have replaced the BAI listenership with a clueless downgraded version.
Churches do better with their outrageous scams, because they promise 99¢-store salvation and unearned riches. When these carrots stay out of reach, it is Satan's fault. WBAI calls its very own satan "Sandy," :)
I had a weird format change thought. You know what the number one target market is for oddball cures, whacky water, etc. is?
Delete"This is 99.5 FM WBAI... New Age Radio..."
Yup! The New Age crowd.
So, looking at the ratios for the crackpot cure stuff, I can only see a success in a switch to such a format. Drop the bing bang music, the I hate whitey professional victims, etc. Replace it all with some liteweight electronica, Wiccans, spiritual readings and cleansings, tarot cards, lots of "alternative" cures and health crappola, blessed crystals commonly found in the desert, etc.
All this can be sold at $100+ premiums like wildfire. You know why? New Age people are mainly upper middle class fools waiting to be seperated from their money. I know because I have had run-ins with them in my life. Hell, witches have put failed hexes on me. That's besides the point. They'll buy anything like this crap until they go broke.
Just a thought.
SDL
This has become a humdrum show, even when technically acceptable. Bob's ego is regularly boosted by a handful of callers and people who want to sit where great talent sat many moons ago. When you are hailed as a legend, the worst thing you can do is believe it to be so. Sarah Vaughan reacted memorably when Sammy Davis Jr. introduced her as "the legendary."
ReplyDelete"Yes, yes, it's wonderful," she exclaimed. "Every morning, I look in the mirror and tell myself that I'm a legend, a LEGEND!"
Decades ago, Bob did a terrific job as a host, but extraordinary guests and a myopic broadcast media made that show work as well as it did.
Jeez... I can't believe that a living compendium of the gay rights movement like Charles Pitts was reduced to such small talk. Fass should have just stopped flapping his lips and handed the show over to him.
DeleteAbsolutely no content and a sad waste.
SDL
You are right about it being a wasted opportunity. At times, I got the feeling that Bob was uncomfortable with what Charles said, especially his closing remark about sexual habits. Bob handled the interview like a mainstream media guy, asking careful questions and not pursuing in any meaningful way the answers Charles' statements seemed to beg for. Charles was not among my favorite WBAI hosts, but he was a no-nonsense guy who went straight to the core rather than dance around it.
DeleteWe had individual programs on homosexuality before Charles came aboard (Live and Let Live, for example), but Charles Pitts was the first person to produce and host a regular show on the subject—certainly in New York and probably in the country.
Bob was awkward when he tried to explain and excuse his playing of that video on last week's disaster of a show. Yes, there are certain hours when the rules regarding controversial use of language are relaxed, but this was a steady stream of expletives, recorded a few years back and thrown into the mix by Bob without reason. He knew full well that his impulsive act put WBAI's license in jeopardy, but he did it, anyway. It was irresponsible and he should have said so and apologized±there was no need for his long dissertation. I wonder who came into the studio to stop this? I suspect it may have been Tony "the Sledgehammer" Ryan, who would be there preparing for his shift.
That said, the technical quality was better this morning and Bob spoke with some clarity, but there were moments when audio from Staten Island and Manhattan overlapped to create an unintended muddle. The second interview (with an author) was as shallow as the first.
A better show than last weeks (could hardly have been worse), but even when unnameable isn't unlistenable, it is way past its expiry date.
Pitts wasn't probably just the first gay man to have his own show. He was the first totally UNAPOLOGETIC gay man on radio, probably in the world. I know that there was much controversy over positions he took, both in the straight and gay world (as he said last night), but I know a lot of gay men were very affected and helped by his broadcasts in the day. He isn't spoken about often, but he deserves more respect and remembrence.
DeleteFass did seem to be trying to keep it light with Pitts, unfortunately. It was like the straight person all happy to have a gay friend but ashamed to be seen in public with the gay friend.
Anyway, Pitts showed he still had the gift of gab, his wits were still sharp, and sharper than Fass' wits. I bet if he were put on at night, he would get a nice sized listenership in no time, young and old. Ife Dancy's slot would be ideal...
My only exposure to Pitts live was when David Wynyard (among others), after years of clamoring for WBAI to return Pitts to the air to no avail, decided unilaterally to do it himself, by alternating his time slot every other week with him. This only lasted a few times because, it turned out, Wynyard didn't tell management he was going to do this. Pitts was booted out again.
The second guest would have been better served in a 10 or 15 minute magazine show style interview. It just became a ramble with Fass.
As for the explanation of playing the cursing bit last week. Well, it just sounded like another ramble, like when a kid gets caught doing something wrong and starts going, "But... but... but..."
SDL
I know that Bob is fully aware of the criticism he has received, and he knows that the listenership is way down, but he has not been well and he is in a rut. I think he is trying to get his act together, but he is smart enough to know that it's Game Over—there will be no more Dylans, Wavy Gravies, Ronks, et al. It's hard, but it could and should have been avoided.
DeleteDon’t know how I missed this earlier – I came across it at this point in time when, having read the latest infinitely belated apologia from the Roman Catholic Church with respect to its child abuse, I googled Charles Pitts a bit.
DeletePitts played an important role, at first, as an unapologetic gay male – indeed, that role was, at first, invaluable, pioneering, and invaluable for many.
That said, as he evolved to advocate for the ‘man/boy love’ positions of NAMBLA – to advocate, not merely present, there was indeed, ‘much controversy over positions he took’, and he was forced off air.
This was and is hardly the first time that a person worthy of respect and acknowledgement for their contributions is, most would argue, rightly subject to contempt, disgust, obloquy, and condemnation for other positions or acts.
For my part, I fail to see how, in total, PItts may be said to be worthy of ‘more respect and remembrance’.
No more than, for example, I find it possible to have ‘respect and remembrance’ for priests or others so inclined.
Perhaps that’s only me,
~ ‘indigopirate’