I'm a huge fan of old audio ephemera, from the hundreds of Jean Shepherd shows I have to recordings of chatter on shortwave, the famous numbers recordings of codes for spies, the famous Buddy Rich rant tapes, and the "shut up and play" compilation of rock and rollers freaking out on stage and ripping into their audiences (Courtney Love, Mike Love, Elvis, Jim Morrison, Lou Reed, etc.). A great source all of this exists on the WFMU radio site that often releases free weird recordings that have slipped into the public domain. When I lived in NYC (1977-1982), I often listened to WFMU. . .it often went far afield, and was always wonderful.
WFMU's beware of the blog is a great web site with lot of goodies for downloading. You should visit once in a while... in the meantime, here are three gems that you can download.
1) How Do I learn. A collection of 6 MP3s from a collection of old educational film strips. Check out the cut "Who's afraid?" . . .it is genuinely spooky.
2) Flying Saucers Unlimited. This record is probably the score for Frank Stranges UFO documentary Phenomena 7.7. Pretty cool. The Reverend Strange is unquestionably way way out there.
3) Sound off Saxons! This is amazing. "Created as a keepsake for the 1965 graduating class of North High School in Torrance, CA, this album takes you through the school and introduces you to the multiple characters and events there — all with the corniest, dated humor you can imagine."
This is a slice of a world that has long since disappeared. It was already gone by the time I graduated from high school.
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