"New" Phil North Airchecks!

I am ever on the lookout and search for audio and memorabilia we haven't posted here yet (or on A.J.'s blog) and I was fortunate enough to find numerous more airchecks!  We'll begin with three airchecks I got of Phil North; I'd sent these to Phil/Eric Chase for his listening pleasure and he sent back some great comments:

"Eric Chase (formerly Phil North in another life at KAAY) wrote:

I was recently sent 3 old airchecks of me from 1970 & ’71….while I know it’s me I have a surreal felling that it’s really someone else…I certainly don’t remember the day of the shows or actually uttering the words… but I remember what was going on in my life at the time…

..the first tape was I think from Feb of 1970…I was still in high school with 4 months to go before graduation….I had been chosen to attend the VFW Boy’s State program (where I was elected Governor of Boy’s State by quoting and reworking old commentaries from my favorite news influence, Edward R Murrow in my speeches…(it was that moment that I decided that I would never go into politics…too easy to say the right thing and NOT know what you were really talking about-come to think of it perhaps I should have run)….so I was a giddy high schooler on the largest station in Arkansas with one of the largest signals in the country…how cool is that…….I was really searching for my sound as a radio personality and was copying everybody…Mike McCormick was my mentor and he was always coaching me to be myself and natural (something that has taken 40 years to finally get) …he shared airchecks from our sister station KILT in Houston so I was on a Steve Lundy kick at the time….I remember the great old ABC Contemporary News LOGO in that show with Mary Donald who was a very nice woman but very quite doing her news across the glass…

..I was responsible for the on air imaging however and for some reason I remember all of those elements very well…all produced using 2 full track Ampex tape machines and old RCA ribbon mic and lots of imagination…very crude by today’s standards…it was all the more gratifying when art flowed from the production room because everyone know it wasn’t the equipment but the artist that made it happen.. ….I did a lot of editing of old jingles and getting VO tracks from Steve Lundy from KILT and generally playing in the old studio all thru my time at KAAY...."

Phil North KAAY, Feb. 1970:   stream   |   download


The next post will have another aircheck and more commentary!