(Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy - a word or two about live albums in 1978)

Tonight we're going to start what I hope will be another regular weekend feature: Newstalgia Pop Chronicles. The idea came about largely as the result of discovering a huge stash of recorded interviews and interview programs in the vault, pretty much untouched the last twenty years. They comprise primarily of figures from the Pop music world (including Rock, Jazz, Folk and just about everything in between) talking about their lives and their work. The sources run the gamut but the main emphasis is on our popular culture. Some people will be very familiar and others will probably need reminding as to who they are and what their contributions were. Some have long since left the scene while others are caught at the very beginnings of their careers. But all of it represents a slice of cultural history and hopefully some enjoyable weekend listening and a break from Weekend talk shows (even for a few minutes).

So tonight we're starting off with a weekly series produced by the BBC called Rock Capsule. This one is for the week of July 3-9, 1978 and features interviews with David Gilmour, Phil Lynott, Fee Waybill and Steve Hackett.

As always, if you like it we'll keep it going. It should be interesting.

Even though Radio Drama is alive and well and still flourishing throughout Europe it is pretty much a dead form here in the U.S. and has been for many years. One of its last gasps came by way of National Public Radio in the 1970's in the form of an experimental series called Earplay. It combined an adventuresome spirit with what was cutting edge technology at the time to achieve what could have been a resurgence of the form. It lasted from the early 1970's into the early 1990's in various fits and starts, eventually morphing into NPR Playhouse.

But while it was going, NPR managed to commission plays from a number of notable authors, including Arthur Kopit, whose play Wings is being posted this weekend. Wings, which was later revised and extended for a successful Broadway run, came about as the result of his father's stroke shortly after receiving the commission.

The result was an experimental tour de force. Kopit's intricate portrayal of the inner workings of a mind going through crisis, combined with an intense electronic score made it a landmark presentation and one of the high points in creative Radio broadcasting.

Sadly, this version seems to have disappeared. If the original recordings exist at all they may be collecting dust somewhere in the National Archives, which is where most all of NPR's archival recordings are (or supposed to be) or in private collections. Like the landmark Jazz Alive concert series, Earplay sought to bring about some of the best of new writing and performance to a public still curious about the world around them.

Here is the original radio presentation of Arthur Kopit's Wings as broadcast on January 1, 1978, with Mildred Dunnock in the title role of Emily Stilson and Cara Duff-MacCormick in the role of Amy. The sound score is by Tom Voegeli.

Enjoy.

Ten years ago this past week we lost Joey Ramone (May 15, 2001) and it doesn't seem nearly that long ago they turbo-charged their way into the collective eardrums and psyches of America.

Nobody like them before or since - they were one-of-a-kind.

And as tribute to some very high-octane times, here are The Ramones live from a KSAN broadcast, recorded at The Old Waldorf on January 31, 1978. Complete and non-stop (and maybe a little distorted in places, but nobody could hear anything at the time) and here is a rundown of what's in store for you when you hit the Play button:

THE RAMONES
OLD WALDORF,
SAN FRANCISCO,CALIFORNIA,USA
JANUARY 31,1978
EARLY SHOW

1-Rockaway Beach >
2-Teenage Lobotomy
3-Blitzkrieg Bop
4-I Wanna Be Well
5-Glad To See You Go
6-Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
7-You're Gonna Kill That Girl
8-I Don't Care
9-Sheena Is A Punk Rocker >
10-Havana Affair >
11-Commando
12-Here Today Gone Tomorrow
13-Surfin' Bird >
14-Cretin Hop
15-Listen To My Heart >
16-California Sun >
17-I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You >
18-Pinhead
19-Crowd/Radio Announcers
20-Do You Wanna Dance? >
21-Oh Oh I Love Her So >
22-Today Your Love Tomorrow The World
23-Crowd/Radio Announcers
24-We're A Happy Family >
25-Suzy Is A Headbanger >
26-Let's Dance
KSAN-FM LIVE BROADCAST

Enjoy and send Joey good thoughts.

(In 1978 radio was changing)

KROQ was one of those radio stations that, in the 1970s, had numerous brushes with disaster before coming up with a formula that worked. Resurrected from the ashes of free-form KPPC, KROQ sought to become a serious top-40 FM station and quickly went bankrupt in the process. By the time it hit on its mixture of Punk, New Wave and Hard Rock, disc jockies were forced to bring in their own records and dig up their own ads (a bit like the free-form days of the mid-1960s). Because the station was too broke to make demands, the DJ's had pretty much free reign and an audience was born. Typical of the on-air talent at KROQ during the period of the late 1970s was Frazer Smith, whose gleeful insanity captured a huge radio audience and helped established KROQ as an off-the-wall cutting edge station with an adventuresome playlist.

Here is a one-hour excerpt of his show from December 1, 1978.

Yes, radio was different - even in the 70's.

And further evidence the 70's were just as haywire as every other decade. The news from June 14, 1978 was proof.

In the continuing series of accusations and denials, President Jimmy Carter alleged he had irrefutable proof that Cuban advisers were heavily involved in the rebel uprising in Zaire, from intelligence gathered that Cuban troops were training rebels in bases from neighboring Angola. Castro flatly denied it. The saga dragged on.

Meanwhile, Carter pressed to put negotiations with China on the fast track in an effort to get full normalization of relations as soon as possible.

On Capitol Hill - Questions were being posed to Israel regarding their future status of the Gaza Strip and the Occupied West Bank. The inquiry set off a rift in the Knesset, causing a three-way split in the Israeli cabinet.

The United Nations was wrestling with the Lebanon situation. Southern Lebanon was going relatively smoothly, but it was Northern Lebanon that was the cause of concern. Tensions were high in that region over the killing of the son, daughter-in-law and grand-daughter of former President Sulieman Franjileh by Phalangist gunmen, and fears of an outbreak of violence during the funeral put everyone on the alert.

Japan was weighing their Oil Storage policy as the result of serious damage done to several Oil tanks and the resultant spill of millions of gallons of crude at facilities in Sendai, which had been hit hard by a recent earthquake.

And Jimmy Carter was meeting on this day with Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai for talks regarding U.S.-India relations. The two got on famously, even though there were areas of disagreement.

And the news ended with a roundup of recent Primary election results around the country.

And that's how life rolled, this June 14, 1978 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup.

May 14, 1978 saw the world in a state of threatened discontent. There were grumblings of a war developing between Ethiopia and Somalia. Border clashes between China and Russia brought a call from Beijing for intense training of its armed forces, citing a war between the two Communist powers was inevitable. Three Cambodian soldiers were killed in a clash with Thai Border police. And Yassar Arafat let everyone know Cuba offered to send troops to Lebanon if the PLO asked.

Meanwhile, a group of military experts was slated to accompany National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski on his upcoming trip to China. It was viewed as a slap in the face to Taiwan and further evidence the Taipei government was losing favor with the White House.

Speaking of Capitol Hill; the big push was on to win over votes in the Senate for Jimmy Carter's F-15 Fighter jet sales package to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The bill was in threat of being vetoed and Carter pledged to override the veto if push came to shove.

A Russian language newspaper published in Manhattan was bombed by a Pro-Israeli group calling themselves The Jewish Resistance. No injuries, but a lot of damage, and phone calls claiming credit also demanded Russian Jews be allowed to emigrate to Israel.

In Zimbabwe Rhodesia. Abel Muzorewa threatened to pull out of the bi-racial transitional government of Ian Smith over the recent dismissal of a Black judge.

And American companies operating in Iran were told to restrict the movements of their employees because of intensified anti-government violence against the Shah.

Supposedly a quiet news day, since May 14th in 1978 was a Sunday.

All that, as reported by Neil Strawser on the 7:00 am (PDT) CBS Hourly News.

News on this May 9th in 1978 was all about the kidnapping and death, after a 55 day hostage situation, of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro at the hands of members of the terrorist group Red Brigade.

When word got out that the body, found in the trunk of a car parked near the center of Rome, was that of Moro's, a wave of shock spread throughout Italy, quickly replaced by outrage that the government was unwilling, or unable, to deal with a hostage crisis that allowed Moro to be assassinated. The government's response was an attempt at justification, that it would no longer give in to demands of terrorist organizations. That Italy was no longer willing to be considered "soft" when it came to acts such as these. But that didn't stop the anger from being echoed throughout the world.

And the Moro tragedy was being considered on Capitol Hill as the FBI was calling for stepped up measures in dealing with Terrorism, particularly the threat of terrorism within the U.S. Clearly, the kidnapping and death of Aldo Moro was having a marked effect on terrorist policies in many countries.

The other big news story of this day happened off the coast of Florida, where news of a dramatic rescue of passengers of National Airlines Flight 193 by a fishing boat was credited for saving the lives of all but 3 passengers.

So there was bad news and there was good news for this May 9, 1978 as reported by Douglas Edwards and The World Tonight from CBS Radio.

Just like every day on Planet Earth.

The last few years of the 70's signaled a huge explosion in music genres. One of them was the introduction of Techno, or Synthpop. Mostly relegated to Disco and soft-Jazz in the early 70's, Techno branched out and crossed paths with Experimental and turned what was formerly a dance genre into something new.

Human League were at the forefront of the movement. Along with bands like OMD and Ultravox!, Human League embraced a cool and detached approach - stripped down and basic. Initially their was more akin to the German techno of Kraftwerk, rather than Tangerine Dream and it eventually paved the way for the New Wave and New Romantic genres.

Tonight it's a session Human League did for the BBC, recorded on August 8, 1978 when they were relatively new and finding their musical voice.

Here's what they perform:

1. Being Boiled
2. No Time
3. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling (yes, THAT one).
4. Blind Youth

It's interesting, the inclusion of a song made famous by The Righteous Brothers and iconic in its production by Phil Spector. Done by Human League the warmth is stripped away and the message seems sinister in comparison, becoming almost an anti-love song. Which, considering the times, was probably the intention.

Further evidence the playing field was up for grabs and it was open season for everything.

The world got another dose of reality on this March 16th when Italy learned it's five time Prime Minister Aldo Moro had been kidnapped by members of the Red Brigade. This brought the number to 13 who had been kidnapped since the beginning of 1978, and especially potent since a trial had already begun for 15 suspected Red Brigade members and this high-profile kidnapping was a not-so-subtle message of retaliation by the terrorist group.

While Italy was mobilizing and preparing for what would eventually become the worst, a little further east the sound of tanks and aerial sorties echoed around Southern Lebanon and Beirut as the Israeli Army entered its second day of invasion in the region. The move was a diplomatic headache for the U.S. who was knee-deep in trying to iron out a Middle East Peace accord and this juggling act was threatening to be too much for the already tenuous atmosphere.

Meanwhile, in this Hemisphere - The Panama Canal Treaty was inching ever-closer to becoming reality, even though ruffled Panamanian feathers needed to be smoothed over from various amendments being discussed in the treaty.

After 101 days (and counting), a new contract offer had been given to the striking Coal Miners with optimistic hopes, not necessarily universal among the rank-and-file, but optimistic hopes nonetheless, that the contact would finally be approved.

And after 96 days in Space, Soviet Cosmonauts were finally returning to Earth.

Something it was hoped the rest of the world would also wind up doing.

And so it went, this March 16th in 1978 as reported by Dallas Townsend and a team of reporters on The CBS World News Roundup.

And how is this March 7th different from other March 7th's?

Well . . .

On March 7th 1978, news from Tel-Aviv reported a sharp divide, bordering on revolt among Israeli Cabinet Ministers over the matter of Israeli settlements being built on disputed Arab territories. Moderates, headed up by Ezer Weizmann wanted the settlement building to stop. Hawks, headed up by Ariel Sharon wanted it to continue and Prime Minister Begin was stuck in the middle. Meanwhile, in Cairo - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was looking to the U.S. for some leadership in the area of Peace talks with Israel. As always, the Middle-East was a hotbed of activity.

Back in the States, a settlement of another kind was being sought after. This one having to do with the Coal Miner's Strike, which was having a devastating impact on the Mid-West. President Carter was invoking Taft-Hartley legislation and the Coal Miners were hearing none of it. Meanwhile, the loss of coal production meant severe cutbacks throughout Indiana, Ohio and several other states with electrical cutbacks as much as 50%.

On Capitol Hill, debate was continuing regarding the Panama Canal Treaty with no eye on an actual vote until "maybe May 1st". Jesse Helms introduced an amendment to keep a U.S. Radio facility up and running in the Canal Zone to be used in tracking ships, particularly those of Soviet lineage.

Elsewhere - Continuing border clashes between Rhodesia and Zambia were getting the attention of other African nations who wanted to reach some settlement in the dispute, preferably without Ian Smith involved. Kind of tough since, even though Smith headed up the minority government of Rhodesia, he was still heading up the government.

And Kuwait's Oil Minister was calling for a substantial boost in oil prices, since the U.S. dollar was sinking slowly in markets around the world, and Kuwait was claiming losses of $1million a day as the result. Gee.

And publisher Larry Flynt was recovering from surgery the day following a shooting of him and his attorney by "unknown" assailant(s).

And that's what this particular slice of reality sounded like for March 7, 1978 as reported by Dallas Townsend on The CBS World News Roundup.