Posted on 05/27/2013 4:16:24 PM PDT by a fool in paradise
I listened to AFN, Heidelberg, Germany.
As a teenager I have seen, Armstrong, Mulligan Sextet, Baker Quartet, Modern Jazz Quartet, Stan Kenton and Lionel Hampton in concert and others (not altogether of course).
I was never an Armstrong or Hampton fan but I got free tickets (too outmoded for me) but Hampton impressed me because I heard and saw, perhaps the greatest trumpet player ever — Clifford Brown.
Yes I am hardcore bebop-based. I was a pre-teenage kid when I heard Parker/Dizzy and it was like smoking crack cocaine for me, although I have never taken any illegal drugs.
That makes sense. AFN featured a variety of programming.
In 1965-1966, I listened to aFN Frankfurt. It featured an eclectic mix of programs, including Hawaiian music and "Polka Party," hosted by Dick Sinclair, who later stopped spinning polka discs and became a conservative talk show host in Southern California. And they played a lot of pop standards--Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Jack Jones, etc. In fact, their number one song for this week in 1966 was Dominique's Discotheque by Mel Tormé. Although it topped AFN Frankfurt's chart, that disc turned out to be a rarity Stateside, and even though I'm an avid record collector, I never ran across it in the hundreds of record stores and swap meets that I visited, and I would not hear that song again until Youtube came along.
They didn't play any contemporary Top 40 hits, but they did feature an "oldies" show on Saturday afternoon, hosted by Jim Pewter, which got me hooked on that genre.
When I returned to Germany in 1971, I listened to AFN Kaiserslautern, where Top 40 now ruled the music scene, although Jim Pewter still had his show. I believe he now hosts an Internet radio show.
I am talking about AFN in the early 50’s where the 7AM news started with “The world is waiting for the sunrise” by Les Paul and they had musical programs like “Cool Castle” and big band music was being played throughout the day.
AFN was a very classy radio station in those days.
Indeed, “Cool Castle” featured a number of up-and-coming jazz men like Stan Getz. It was a late-night program.
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