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Writer's pictureCraig Norris

Hooking Listeners with Classic Radio Shows (Plus, Taylor Swift’s Vinyl Album Ghosts and More)

Updated: Aug 5, 2023

Episode 41

First Broadcast @ Edge Radio, Friday 14 July 2023


Do you want to discover how old radio show’s captivated listeners from the first second? Then tune in to today’s episode of Media Mothership, where we continue our exploration of the secrets of crafting irresistible intros from some of the classic radio shows of the past. We’ll analyse how shows like Gangbusters, Escape, Duffy’s Tavern, and The Fat Man hooked their audiences with suspense, humour, mystery, and intrigue. Plus, we’ll catch up on the latest news in the music and radio industry, including the spooky story behind Taylor Swift’s latest vinyl album release, the alarming decline of Australian artists in the charts, the rising popularity of radio listening and streaming. Don’t miss this episode of Media Mothership, where we take you on a journey through the history and future of audio entertainment.

Ghost emerging from vinyl record.
The Strange Case of The Songs Haunting Taylor Swift's Latest Album

Sources

Transcript


This transcript was generated by audio-to-text AI and may not be 100% accurate. If you have questions about any of the information found here, please reach out to us at: mediamothership993fm at gmail.com


Speaker 1

There is nothing wrong with your radio.

Speaker

Do not attempt to adjust the volume. We are controlling the broadcast. For the next hour, we will control all that you hear.

Speaker 2

You are about to experience the knowledge and insights of the media mothership.

DR CRAIG

Rights. You're listening here to Edge radio. 99.3. This is now media mothership.

Speaker 1

Are you defined by the binary oppositions? Ever doubt a life of stable meaning? Want to trace it all? Edge Radio doesn't just offer you media. We offer you media mothership. Media mothership designed to reveal the aporias of today for one hour of difference. What are you waiting for? Hop on the media mothership.

DR CRAIG

Right, so as always, this is the exciting world of media mothership here, hosted as always by Doctor Craig and we explore everything in and around the world of unusual media phenomena such as AI influence to Lucina nations. Of the machine kind as well as bizarre record. Mashups. As always, you can. Get on to us via our streaming at edgeradio.org dot AU or via YouTube or Twitch. Just search for media mothership and you can reach out and message us on the chat at YouTube and Twitch or via SMS in the studio at. 88811707. So on today's show, we're going to explore a number of interesting recent news phenomena in the world of media culture, as well as take a little bit of a review around the old time radio show introductions we've been exploring in terms of. How they hook listeners in and what we can learn from them in our own efforts to hook. An audience into what we are creating. It could be a dinner conversation. It could be anything. So all that and more on today's show media, Mothership Edge, Radio, 99.3 FM. Yeah, so who knows? Who knows? What is about to happen, really? It's a fascinating space to explore the areas of. Media and popular culture and unusual phenomena such as that. So the first article I want to have a look at is the piece. News on Taylor Swift and what I want to do is play a tweet which was circulating, so this is recorded from. The latest album of Taylor Swift. And Rachel tweeted this image of what she heard as she played. What she thought was. The first track of the. Reverse side of the vinyl album for Taylor Swift. Let's have a listen to what she heard.

Speaker 4

The 70 billion people of Earth. The 70 billion people of Earth, the 70 billion people of.

Speaker 5

Earth really. Hardly. Really. Hardly.

DR CRAIG

The 70 billion people of Earth, where are they hiding? Was what she heard. Would you believe that was the bizarre message that was on the Versailles of what's? This Taylor Swift fan thought was the latest album. Of Taylor Swift's speak now. Record. Of course, it's not the Taylor Swift track this turned out to be the sounds of the industrial Electro pioneers Cabaret Voltaire, who was sampling the classic 1963 sci-fi TV show The Outer Limits. And that was the 1992 track Soul Vine. Let's let's listen. Listen to that again. It's, it's quite a again. Imagine a Taylor Swift fan and you're putting the album on. And this is what you hear.

Speaker 4

The 70 billion people of. The 70 billion people of Earth. The 70 billion people of Earth.

Speaker 5

Really. Hardy? Really Hardy.

Speaker 4

The 70 billion people of Earth.

DR CRAIG

Yes, 70 million people of Earth, where are they hiding? It turned out that there was a pressing. Mix up when they were pressing the vinyl record, which resulted in them printing a copy instead of Taylor Swift's latest album. They ended up accidentally printing a compilation album called Happy Land, a compedium of electronic music from the British Isles 1992. In 1996, volume one. Yes, this Bizarro weird British rural rave kind of Electro music. Side was accidentally pressed onto the vinyl the the Taylor Swift record, causing many fans to completely be confused as to what was going on. The one Taylor Swift fan was quoted as saying. I thought maybe the vinyl record had some sort of special message. Because Taylor does that sort of thing. This voice was the strangest thing about flesh and anxiety. I was like, this is. I did. I thought maybe the other side would be less strange, but I flipped it over to Cabaret Voltaire and no, it only got weirder. So the whole album, it turns out, had the the whole vinyl record had the wrong album printed on to it. The fans have posted up with words such as scary, terrifying, haunted and. Absolutely bizarre, tracks the co-founder of Cabaret Voltaire has been told of this and they said that my kids in Australia told me about it. They said, dad, you're on a Taylor Swift record and this girl looks really distraught about listening to it. On the tweets she posts. So various people have kind of speculated as to what could have happened. And it does turn out, indeed, that it wasn't quite a conspiracy theory of Taylor Swift wanting to provide people with a bit of musical education from early 90s British Electro, but instead it was a pressing era in the factory, which resulted in only a small number of. Incorrect pressings to be made. As you could imagine, now those records have gone on to become collectors items. Many people trying to buy up as many as they can to secure this moment of bizarre Bermuda Triangle weirdness as the latest Taylor Swift Album E small number of copies accidentally featured instead. The industrial Electro pioneer. Collection from electronic music from the British Isles 1992 to 96. Ohh bizarre, I do love that story of accidentally getting electric. Let's listen to it once more. How close is this to Taylor Swift?

Speaker 4

The 70 billion people of Earth. The 70 billion people of Earth. The 70 billion people of.

Speaker 5

Earth really. Hardy? Really Hardy.

Speaker 4

The 70 billion people of Earth.

DR CRAIG

Yeah, bright. Absolutely fantastic. So that again, the unusual phenomena of. Your wrong music being pressed on it. It's it's. It's fascinating. You know, I wonder if anyone out there has ever experienced a vinyl record pressing mix up like this, like the one that happened with Taylor Swift. And at least for first track Cabaret Voltaire I. Wonder how you'd react. If you flipped on a record and it had not at all the music you were expecting, a kind of message from something else truly, truly bizarre, truly unusual, quite quite an interesting phenomena. Quite a very interesting phenomena. Alright, so moving on now to the next bit of news that we've got. That's sweeping the interesting media highlights around us. There was an interesting piece of ABC News talking about the number of Australian musicians that are featured in the local Aria charts have have absolutely plummeted and it's just exploring the impact that incorporating streaming has had on the charts in terms of, you know, what's ranking #1. And chart sales and single sale. And they've pointed out that the enormous downturn in Australian albums from around 20/16/17 coincided with them incorporating. Stringing sales into the charts, they attempted to balance it. I think the the the rough figure was around 170. Streaming listens equals the equivalent sale. But nevertheless, it resulted in a huge number of non Australian music now charting as people are engaging through various streaming services like Spotify and others, using music trends that are not Australian. And it's interesting some of the statistics. Mentioned in this article talk about how 70%. Of Discovery listening is back catalogue. Work so old albums, old singles rather than new pieces of work, again making it difficult for new bands to trend in terms of the area. Does it? Does it matter though? Is is the Aria? A significant way to engage with music I. Mean. Have you ever discovered? New Australian artists through streaming services or a playlist is that one you think the algorithm is directing Australian listeners to? If you're not getting them through discovery metrics on streaming services, you know, how are you finding Australian music? It is. It is quite an interesting dilemma how you decide what music to listen to or buy. If you're listening to it. In terms of that album, charting a stream, listen will be worth what is it? One 170th of a purchased. Version of that same song. So yeah, I guess if you want to stream artist. To chart better, you've got to go and buy that physical copy of the CD or vinyl, or buy a digital copy of it for it really to to matter, it seems, or to help spike that. Yeah. You know, it's interesting. The impact that digital music has made and in again that piece they were talking about some promoters when. There will be a gig. The cost of a ticket. For, I think they're mentioning something like. Yeah, maybe a dollar extra will include a digital song from the album. The idea being that that extra dollar, well, it's not much and it might not even matter if the. Perp Hunter listens to it. Nevertheless, that will count for a lot, you know, equivalent to 170. Streaming listens, so again fascinating in terms of the impact of Aria charts or not. Not that they're they're having at the moment. Hmm. All right next. Bit of radio news is literally radio news, a survey of commercial radio listening habits showed that. Radio listening is and streaming is still growing. Last week, we reported specifically on streaming with the streaming of being the English language world leader in terms of the number of podcast listening hours people consume. This one was a local survey by GfK survey that was exploring commercial radio and audio radio and showing how. Radio listening habits are are are on the increase it seems, and they were attempting to or they're attempting now to calibrate the system survey data to incorporate also wearable. Watch might be able to engage and listen to on demand streamed music, so trying to capture data from the digital devices people have, they go on to quote, talk about the impact of radio still sort of quite directly from the reports. People are still predominantly listening to radio. To broadcast. Just streaming is growing at the moment. They're looking about 27% of the population are using streaming services to listen to radio, which the server goes on to say it's about 3.8 million people across the major metro markets. 14 million people across the country are listening to radio on average per week and 12.2 million of them are listening to commercial radio. And for the ABC, it's just shy of 5,000,000 per week. So yeah, again, there's people are different listening to Radio Edge, radio included. And again those those those seem to be really strong figures in terms of radio engagement being really key through. You know, old-fashioned FM systems with streaming engagement and radio only 27%. So again, it doesn't at all form the bulk of listening engagement for radio. Streaming services to engage with radio is only 27 per cent, which surprised me. I thought it would be slightly higher. I wonder how people here listen to the radio in their daily life. Do you prefer? Broadcasting your your FM broadcast while you're in the car or streaming it. Getting onto your mobile phone or laptop, I wonder what the benefits are of either of those. It's interesting. Again, we reported we mentioned a report a few weeks back where in the States some of the new 4. Electric vehicles were being sold without AM systems because listenership is down. They didn't see it as important, but then the government issued A mandate requiring. US car manufacturers to include AM systems still in their cars for emergency broadcast. Systems. So yeah, really interesting that am would be interesting to see how am features within the current. Radio listening statistics. This one was specifically on commercial radio, so little on am it seemed. Yeah. So again. Or under how radio can adapt to these changing listening habits. What 27% listening to broadcast radio rather than streaming would be interesting to see how that increases over time if it increases, maybe. All right, last bit of news nearly. Ah, the Barbie barbena heimer phrase barbend heimer. This is a nice little article here in Mashable talking about how barbend Heimer isn't just a meme, it's a call to action. This is the combination of the words Barbie and Oppenheimer, 2 films that are just around the corner. And meme, which is taken up combining both films together because they're releasing in similar dates. To be barbend heimer. And setting up date night for both films so that there's this meme going around or challenge going around for coordinating your data. Watch Barbie and Oppenheimer, together, of course. Radically different films Barbie, exploring the light, headed drama and comedy of the popular. Doll Barbie Anne Oppenheimer telling the story during World War Two and after. Of the development of the world's first atomic bomb. So quite different. Quite different films. Yes, there's a meme circulating and you know, there's various tweets popping such as this tweet saying people seeing Barbie first are wild. The schedule needs to be black coffee and cigarettes for Oppenheimer around 11:00 AM goes for three hours, then mimosas and brunch for Barbie. At around 6:00 or 7:00 PM for dinner, drinks and then the club. So again, this idea of combining. Bob and Heimer together. And fitting it into your schedule with appropriate eating habits and clothing choices. Indexing to both Barbie and then Oppenheimer, depending upon what. Your choice is. So it's an interesting. Yeah. Barb Anheiser call to action. Anyone here going to Barb and Heinert? Watch Barbie first or Oppenheimer first? Oppenheimer's long movie. 3 hours. So again, you might take the tip on that. Sweets and start with your classic 1940s diet of a black coffee and cigarettes. Maybe not cigarettes, black coffee and I don't know, let's say tea. No, let's say toast around 11:00 and then push through to then get into body with some appropriate beverages and mimosa. If your branch, then finish up after Barbie with dinner drinks in a club. Wow, what a call to action indeed for that exciting choice. Bob and Hymer around the corner. It'll be interesting to see how the Bahamas phenomena takes off or. Not if it really. Is a good back to back. Alright, we're back here on media mothership. On Edge Radio, 99.3 FM exploring. Everything in and around the world of media. Let's see where we can expect or next, I wonder. What we will do is. I think you know, take a. Take a journey back in time to look at how some of the key media we've been looking at. Around radio dramas can be incorporated in today's world. As you know, we've been looking at the top 10 old radio shows, so to kick it off, let's listen to how Jeff Jorgensen sets it up.

Speaker 6

Old radio shows are very dear to my heart. They can delight you with comedy, thrill you with drama and action. Or horrify you with terror. All without a single picture on a screen. Radio was theatre of the mind and inspired the listeners own imagination to provide the images for the programmes being broadcast over the airwaves. One of the ways that old radio shows captured their audiences was through imaginative intros. I have developed a list of my 10 favourite old radio show intros and will splice them into this narrative so you can hear them for yourself. My main criteria was to choose intros that best set the stage for the tone and style of the programme and put you in the right frame of mind to willingly be led wherever the show would then take you. Each intro averages about a minute, so be prepared to immerse yourself in the audio and try to feel the emotion that is being established. Here, then, are numbers 10 through 6 on my list. #10 gangbusters. Ever heard the expression coming on like gangbusters to describe someone or something that is practically exploding with energy? It comes from this intro and you'll understand why when.

Speaker 7

You hear it.

Speaker 6

Breaking glass and alarm bell sirens and Tommy guns blasting lets you know this was not a show for the timid, but rather a cops and robbers thrill ride.

Speaker 8

And now? Gangbusters. Gangbusters presented in cooperation with police and federal law enforcement departments throughout the United States. The only national programme that brings you authentic police case histories.

DR CRAIG

So that was gangbusters. And yeah, what I think is interesting about the gangbuster intro is how it sets up five key things on creating effective audio strategies and techniques. To to engage an audience, you know it uses all that loud, dramatic sound montage work of police sirens, gunshots, screeching tyres, a sense of urgency and excitement that you can hear there. So certainly that effectively creates this idea of the high stress, I guess moment that they're in in gun buses, if we have a quick listen to it.

Speaker 8

Police and federal law enforcement departments throughout the United States, the only national programme that brings you authentic police case histories.

DR CRAIG

So it's interesting like. 5 or 6 sound effects. They have glass smashing, machine guns, cars revving that they just throw together again to create that loud, dramatic sound montage police sirens, gunshots screeching tyres. For this urgency, the second key thing. About gun Busters, that's interesting. Is the use of that authoritative and informative voice of the announcer. You know, the way that gun Busters is introduced. Around the title of the episode, they give the name of the criminal, the law enforcement agency involved. So all of that kind of adds to this idea that you're suddenly jumping into a really interesting kind of phenomena. Really interesting. Episode that you're about to hear on the radio with this authoritative voice saying right now we've got this happening. So if we have a quick listen here to how they set this up. For gun Busters, and again listening to how they introduce the particular drama of the episode.

Speaker 8

And now? Gangbusters. Gangbusters presented in cooperation with police and federal law enforcement departments throughout the United States. The only national programme that brings you authentic police case histories.

Speaker 9

Tonight, the case of the three safecrackers, who were pulled in their trade by a master criminal and how alert detectives practically read their minds from what they knew of a man who had been dead.

Speaker 2

10 years.

Speaker 10

And now the gangbusters and facts that show the operation of our law enforcement officials in their war against the Underworld Gang Busters has asked John Jay Sullivan, former deputy Police commissioner and chief of Detectives, New York City, to narrate by proxy tonight's case. The inside facts in the case of the three safecrackers. Chief Sullivan. I know the case. You are going to tell our gang Busters listeners about tonight will furnish unusual proof of the work of one of the country's most colourful teams of detectives, New York City safe and Loft squad. It will Don Gardner if you and your listeners will bear 2 facts in mind.

Speaker 11

First in burglary cases, it's extremely difficult for the police to get evidence for conviction, and 2nd, the surest way is to know what's going to happen before it does.

Speaker 10

Happen before it happens.

Speaker 11

Yes, Don, I'll show you one way it was. Done this case began on a bleak, overcast day last January at the huge Calvary Cemetery. On Long Island, a lone man kneeled at one of the graves, unmindful of the young priest a few feet away.

DR CRAIG

So fade it down again. What we can hear there is one of the impacts of the 1st 5:00 or so minutes of gangbusters is this use of the authoritative, informed voice of the announcer who introduces and sets it up, but then doubling down to that kind of authority. Is the use of realistic and authentic stories that the story that we're about to listen to for any half hour for gangbusters is an actual police case? And it features some notorious crime figures or acts that are done so the the episode there that we were listening to was the three safe crackers and the police Commissioner or the detective at the start providing some real world information about the challenges of. Investigating these type of cases later on in episodes that gangbusters does, it uses these direct appeals to listeners to help catch. Wanted criminals that are still on the loose. They'll provide phone numbers and addresses of the local police or even the gangbusters station to be able to have listeners call in as they're listening to the show. If their memory is jogged. And as we also heard in that intro. It uses testimonials from prominent law enforcement officials. There are later episodes when it's said that. Was the notorious J Edgar Hoover speaking, and they endorsed the show as well as give it that kind of authenticity, inevitably, slightly altered, for also having a bit of radio dramatic appeal. But all of these techniques, all those five techniques being able to use loud, dramatic sounds using an. Announcer with an authoritative and informed voice. Then having realistic and authentic stories making direct appeals to the listeners to help and catch these criminals, and then testimonials from prominent law enforcement officers mere gangbusters into one of the most popular and influential radio shows back in the 50s, attracting millions of listeners and winning praise. From a a lot of the community. So in tribute to that we at Media mothership did do our own little homage to it. Which was a little little unusual, but I'll. I'll play it quickly for you now this was.

Speaker 12

The media mothership.

DR CRAIG

How much?

Speaker 12

The show that blasts through the media landscape with Doctor Craig and Lord Taylor, their show that exposes the secrets and lies of the media industry, the show that explores how media can shape our understanding of the world around us and what we can. Do about it. Every Friday at 4:00. Join Doctor Craig and Lord Taylor as they explore the impact of movies, TV shows, video games and more. With critical and informative conversations. With creators, critics and fans. We're streaming live on edge or audio. Your chance, as well as our 99.3. Message us on the chat and YouTube, Twitch or sends us on 488,811,707. Don't miss the media mothership. Most exciting show on radio.

DR CRAIG

Yes. So that was our effort to make an exciting, captivating, catchy little gangbusters tribute intro to media mothership. And we did use AI voices, which read the script literally. I do like how they turned the SMS into a whole number. But I I think we kind of nailed the loud and dramatic sound montage, possibly a little too heavily, but from gangbusters going into #9.

Speaker 6

#9 the fat man. I can't resist the description of a mysterious man walking into a drug store to check his weight on a penny scale and getting a fortune card that reads danger. The Fat Man was private detective Brad Runyon, and the audience knew right away from the intro that he was big and was going to be dealing with trouble.

Speaker 2

There he goes into that drug store. He's stepping on the scales.

Speaker 14

Weight 239 pounds.

Speaker 2

Who is it?

Speaker 13

The fat man.

DR CRAIG

Fat Man's interesting because there's also an Australian version of it. We'll have a quick listen to the. Australian intro now.

Speaker 7

There he goes into that drugstore.

Speaker 2

He's stepping on the scales.

Speaker 14

Weight 239 pounds, fortune danger.

Speaker

Who is it?

Speaker 14

The fat man.

Speaker 13

And now here's the fat man in murder calls The Undertaker.

Speaker 2

I was sitting in my office hoping nothing had happened. It was a warm, lazy morning and I didn't feel like working. The soft breeze blew through the window out of the cigarette, leaned back in the chair and began to look over the mail. Indian summer, the kind of a day meant for picnics, a ball game and a tall glass of something cool.

DR CRAIG

Sulphate down there. That's the Australian 1954 episode of The Fat Man Murder. Calls the undertaker. Broadcast on ABC. Yeah. So again. Original American product very, very popular. And then later on localised in Australia quite well, better than the. Gunsmoke. Australian adaptation, which was way too cheesy for me. So the Batman intro really does nail some really key aspects of getting a good intro down with strategies and techniques. So firstly it's got this kind of catchy song I guess. It's there. We've certainly again got a good narrator, the deep and confident voice of the character Brad Runyon played in the American version by J Scott Smarts, and he narrates this opening. Speech, right? So. In these old corner stores, you'd go in, you'd be able to weigh yourself and the weighing machine would also spit out a fortune. Done, which is what the whole setup there is that, you know, he gets on the scale and you hear the sound effects of him getting on the scale and the fortunes generated and the fortune is is about murder. So yeah, very dramatic. Very, very dramatic. So we'll see how that. All pans out, we do have a medium mothership episode of it, but before I just realised that with the gangbuster one we did actually create a song for that, so I'll quickly play the media mothership song in tribute to the gang Buster episode created by Taylor.

Speaker 15

Captain, the ship was.

Speaker 7

Under attack, what do we do?

Speaker 15

Said coordinates 299.3 and the medium of share.

Speaker

OK.

DR CRAIG

That's right. All right, so that was. Musical tribute to. Gangbusters going in a completely different direction as Taylor was want to do so really creating quite a a bizarre interpretive Electro dance theme to the gangbusters experience. But to return to the fat man, what we set up there was the idea that, yeah, it had that deep, confident voice. It's set up an intriguing, suspenseful story, right, so that the Batman is all about an upcoming murder that's going to be solved. There's a lot of humour and irony there, contrasting the fat man's physical appearance skills as a detective, and so forth. And as opposed to some of the others, these ones featured some quite. High profile sponsors. So the fat man, if we go back, listen again just. To set it up. The again, to remind us what the intro of the fat men's like, here's how it starts off, and then I'll play a media mothership version of it.

Speaker 7

There he goes into that drugstore.

Speaker 11

He's stepping on the scales.

Speaker 14

Weight 239 pounds.

Speaker 13

Who is it? The fat man? And now here's the Fed man in murder calls The Undertaker.

Speaker 2

I was sitting in my office hoping nothing had happened. It was a warm, lazy.

DR CRAIG

Emo. Alright, so that was the Fat man intro. And of course here at media mothership we did experiment with trying to see how we could create our own tribute to that which. We'll have a quickness.

Speaker 2

Over the mail.

DR CRAIG

Interview have a quick listen to.

Speaker 2

Indians, the kind of a day meant for picnics. A ball game.

DR CRAIG

Now hold on. As they pause the original version and this is our tribute version to the 1950s Batman series via Media Mothership.

Speaker

Don't let your stomach ruin your day.

Speaker 16

Listen to. Refreshing media mothership and feel the difference. There he goes. Into that radio station he's about to host the show. Showtime media mothership.

Speaker 17

Who is it? Doctor Craig. To most people, a radio show is a collection of sounds and words. But there's one programme I know of where the hosts explore the power and influence of media on our perception of reality. Every week they chat with creators, critics and fans of movies, TV shows, video games and more. In the first episode, for instance, you'll find the K Pop and cultural intermediaries. Interview and in another audio adventure you can inspect the Harry Potter or Sherlock Holmes radio dramas that are a unique creation of artificial intelligence. Don't miss these chat bot generated radio dramas gone wrong.

Speaker 16

The show media mothership. A fast moving media analysis who tips the scales at 239 pounds, brought to you by the Tasmanian youth broadcasters, incorporated, makers of Edge Radio and other fine media empires. When you overeat or eat too. Fast. You're looking for trouble with your digestion. That's no time to let your stomach ruin your day. Instead, try a better way, a gentle way. Listen to refreshing media mothership. Yes, when you're bothered by heartburn, nervous indigestion, or other common digestive disturbances, media mothership promptly helps to calm and quietly upset. It settles and sweetens it. You feel the difference? Next time you eat too much or too fast, you can do something for that uneasy, uncomfortable feeling. Try refreshing media mothership. That's right when your stomach's upset. Don't add to the upset. Take soothing media mothership and feel good again. And now. From Hobart TAS Media Mothership hosted by Doctor Craig and joined by Lord Taylor.

DR CRAIG

All right. So that was the media membership tribute to the Fat Man turning to the next episode.

Speaker 6

#8 duffys Tavern. The only comedy on my list, the Duffys Tavern intro, immediately brought the listener into the action with a phone call from owner Duffy to the Taverns manager Archie, played by Ed Gardner. Duffy himself never appeared in the programme, but the one way banter from Archie was different every week and set the table for the antics of the episode. Despite being billed as where the elite meat to eat, Duffy's Tavern was not a high class establishment. Here's just one hilarious intro example.

Speaker 18

Hello, Duffy's timing. Where do you leave meat? Deed. Don't you demand you speaking? Duffy ain't here. Ohh Duffy. Oh, nothing. Nothing. Letter carrier was just then delivered a stack of poisoned pen lettuce. Yeah, bills. Well, so much for the book and the mail. Now for the complaints. There's a letter here from the Department of Sanitation. Yeah, they say we'll have to do something about the garbage, Duffy. At a claimant ate a hole through the bottom of that truck.

Speaker 11

Right.

DR CRAIG

And yeah, so stuff is having a comedy and what it does that's quite interesting in terms of. Its intro is yeah. I guess 5 slightly different elements than what we've seen previously. We've got the catchy and familiar song when Irish. He's smiling at the start, so theme music I guess. Yeah. And it is interesting because, yeah, it does contrast with the, I guess, rather seedy and humorous setting. Of the Tavern. So it does use a lot of humour and distinctive voices with the live studio audience that's laughing as Ed Gardner as the character Archie, the Taverns manager, is speaking with this. Wonderfully thick New York accents full of, you know very well chosen mispronounced words throughout. So again, having this character with a really distinct voice, not needing to have a radio voice but instead a kind of thick New York accents as the Tavern. The manager, using repeated memorable phrases, so again we heard it there. Hello. Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meat to eat. Actually the manager is speaking so again that classic catch cry catch phrase really set up the engagement for the intro getting people. Into watching what's listening to what's going to happen next with the and sarcastic dialogue between arts and the other characters. What's interesting if you listen to any of the duffys. Having radio show episodes from the 50s is that it's full of celebrity guests plugging their latest album, but in the setting of a Tavern drinking and they'll be a bit that they do. So a lot of situational comedy with Archie schemes often going array blunders, some romantic troubles. Tavern's fiance will show up. There will be regular customers and staff, so again, quite an interesting ensemble cast, but driven by a celebrity guest every week that pops in of that time. So again, Duffy's Tavern quite an unusual. An interesting one. And again, yeah, if you if you're wanting to get a full experience of radio drama, it's worth. It's worth trying, so let's listen here to our effort to create. Duffy's Tavern, Duffy's.

Speaker 20

Tavern, where the elite meat to eat Duffy ain't here, but Archie is and he's got a special treat for you tonight. He's hosting media mothership. The show that brings you the latest news and views from the world of entertainment. And now here he is. Nanna knows everything about showbiz, Archie.

Speaker 19

Welcome to Duffy's Tavern, where the beer. Is cold and the talk is hot. I'm your host. Archie, the man with the plan and the brain with the strain. We've got a show for you tonight that'll knock your socks off and make your head spin like a. Top. So sit tight and loosen your belt because we're about to serve up some verbal vittles that will leave you licking your lips and scratching your head. We've got a mixed bag of guests tonight from the high and mighty to the low and flighty. So grab a cold one and settle in because it's going to be a wild ride here at Duffy's Tavern.

DR CRAIG

Great. So that was Duffy's Tavern. Our tribute to it. Promoting media mothership mercilessly. I think the candy laughter really saved it. I don't think the joke was at all all interesting 2 favourite ones next that we explored were the escape series and. The escape series in particular interesting change in terms of being an ensemble piece. If we listen to how Jeff Jorgensen sets it up.

Speaker 6

#7 escape. Escape was a dramatic show that billed itself as 1/2 hour of high adventure, and it was. Every show was unique, be it a western or science fiction or murder mystery. But the audience could always count on lots of thrills. The intro, narrated by the Great William Conrad, followed by music from Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, certainly set the stage for that expectation.

Speaker 21

Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you escape.

Speaker 10

Escape designed to free you from. The four walls of. The day for 1/2 hour of high adventure.

DR CRAIG

So that was escape. And yeah, I mean the five key things that does so strongly is that dramatic and ominous Music Choice with night on Bull Mountain really setting up that sense of tension and danger. Again, a great use of narrator William Conrad, who we heard last week from Gunsmoke, providing the powerful and urgent voice inviting the listeners to escape from their everyday lives into a. Held of the High Adventure episode, we're here listening through escape. Well worth doing. Each episode contains some really intriguing, varied stories spanned a huge number of genres. Usually there will be science fiction horror, historical stories, fantasy skips all around the place. As well as adapting famous works, there will be a number of HG Wells stories, rugged Kipling stories, rape, bribery that you get to enjoy these half hour radio adaptations of. They're quite effective and quite clever. Use of sound effects. And dialogue throughout, which really enhanced the realism atmosphere. There of the stories creating, as they say, that necessary theatre of the mind. So who was my short tribute to escape via membership?

Speaker 1

Troubled by the multiple narratives ever question the possibility of a stable meaning, wanna deconstruct it all? Edge Radio doesn't just offer you media. We offer you media mothership. Media mothership designed to expose you to the simulacra of today for one hour of playful irony. What are you waiting for? Hop on the media mothership.

DR CRAIG

Right. Well, that's pretty much us for the this week at 455. Thanks for listening. This been doctor Craig as always and I hope you've enjoyed some of the walk down the radio dramas that we explored and some of the unusual news that's circulating. At the top of the show, show notes, as always, will be available on the episode description at YouTube or Twitch, as well as the podcast episode via your podcast supplier of Choice. Next week we'll be having a short break for a week and I'll play a classic interview and decide. Which one? So please listening to that, but we'll be back the week after that. And of course, as always, you can listen to previous episodes of media mothership via edgeradio.org dot AU or via podcast or YouTube, and you can reach out to us on Facebook or Discord. So I hope you've enjoyed listening to this. If you enjoy some of the pop culture discussion, do check out edge radios millennial. Think with Hannah Miranda. Every Wednesday at 10:00 AM always interesting to see one aspect of pop culture they're going to explore next. I'm sure they'll have some opinions on the Barbie movie that's around the corner. Keep listening now at TH radio as coming up next is KPOP and limited. With someone that will sound like me, but we'll be DJ CJ joined by a mystery guest. Who will be learning the ropes through the wonderful exposure of KPOP? Well, actually, as happened to fortnight. Ago this will be. Kpop Unlimited the unlimited side, so maybe less KPOP but more unlimited, so keep listening to that coming up next on Edge Radio 99.3 FM.

Speaker 1

Around Hobart City and in the territory out West, there's just one way to handle the media and the spoilers, and that's with the radio host and the sound of media mothership.

Speaker 7

Media mothership the story of media power that spread globally with Young Australia the story of a DJ theorist who moved with it. Craig Norris, pH. D.






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