Video Update (2008 Final) - 18/12/2008

Format: MP4, 320x240, 300kbps vision, 64kbps mono audio
Optimised for Quicktime and the iPod Video


Channel 10 Eyewitness News Update
Dur: 37 sec, 2.0 MB


Channel 10 Eyewitness News Update
Dur: 1 min 14 sec, 3.9 MB


Channel 10 "That's Entertainment" Station ID - Short version
Dur: 12 sec, 716 KB


Soccer with Channel 10 Eyewitness News Update
Dur: 28 sec, 1.4 MB
I have no idea how this happened. A section of this betamax tape had the soccer on it, and just as the player is about to score a goal, Eyewitness News comes crashing in! Bloody classic!


Channel 10 Promo: Hinch
Dur: 16 sec, 958 KB


Channel 10 Promo: Neighbours (starts monday version)
Dur: 32 sec, 1.7 MB


Channel 10 Promo: Star Search with Greg Evans
Dur: 31 sec, 1.7 MB


ABC Melbourne VFL grand final bits and pieces 1987
Dur: 1 min 02 sec, 3.3 MB


Channel 7 ID 1991
Dur: 8 sec, 513 KB


7 National News - Newsbreak
Dur: 43 sec, 2.4 MB

..and that's about it from us for 2008! We'll be taking a few weeks off from this point on and the AV updates will return on Monday, January 19th, 2009. We are just about to inherit another 200+ betamax tapes and the decks are being serviced shortly
so we can bring you the contents.

Frankster's Archive wishes all of you a happy and safe Christmas, and all the very best for a happy, prosperous and seriously kick-arse 2009! Thanks heaps for your support.

Philip Clark leaves the drive shift on 2GB

A report on SMH online appearing a couple of hours ago tells us that Philip Clark, host of 2GB's drive program, is leaving that shift! According to SMH, he will be replaced by Jason Morrison.

That means Suzy Yates will now be given the heave-ho from 7 to 9pm as Phil will be moving into that slot.

Is the radio landscape moving too fast for us to keep up with all these changes? You bet! ;) hehe - still, Phil replacing Suzy has GOT to be a good thing.

Suss package at Strathfield Station

Don't know anymore than that at the moment folks but a suss package has been found at Strathfield Railway Station. Police are investigating but no one's told the news outlets what the parcel was as yet.

Video Update - 9th December 2008

Format: MP4, 320x240, 300kbps vision, 64kbps mono audio


Channel 0/10: Butch cassidy movie promo
Dur: 45 sec, 2.4 MB
**I could swear I can hear a timecode track leaking onto the audio track in the first few seconds of this cut**


TVC: McDonalds - We've got it all for you
Dur: 29 sec, 1.6 MB


TVC: Sussan - This goes with that
Dur: 29 sec, 1.6 MB


Channel 0/10: Tooth Cup promo
Dur: 21 sec, 1.2 MB


TVC: McDonalds - We've got it all for you: Sundaes
Dur: 29 sec, 1.6 MB


TVC: Kelvinator Appliances
Dur: 60 sec, 3.2 MB


TVC: Bic Shavers (french audio with subtitles)
Dur: 28 sec, 1.6 MB


Channel 0/10: The Bionic Woman promo
Dur: 32 sec, 1.8 MB


TVC: Tooheys Lite - The time is right
Dur: 60 sec, 3.2 MB


TVC: McDonalds - We've got it all for you: Generic
Dur: 59 sec, 3.2 MB

Chicks I Dig and random image

Shoutout to Big Dan of Danny J Palmer.com for the inspiration first off. Dan's got a semi-regular "Chicks I Dig" segment that appears on his blog showcasing who's on his radar in terms of the female persuasion, so I thought I'd do the same - my second go at this too!

Samantha Armytage - Weekend Sunrise, Seven Network Australia






Kylie Gillies - The Morning Show, Seven Network Australia






Frankster's Archive thanks Dahl E, tknc, dodgie and others at both Media Spy and AussieCelebs.com for the use of the above images. Very much appreesh folks! Get along to either of them, say g'day and send a thanks or two to 'em for their marvellous capping efforts.

Alright...I know, I know, the following woman is like 59 years old and may have had a facelift or two, I don't know. But c'mon, 59 or not, you can't argue with boobs like this! Here's Kerri-Anne Kennerley, showing us just what she's capable of. Thanks to someone of Aussiecelebs I can't think of the name of for the superb caps!

Richard Marsland dies at 32

Well, I bring this to you with a great deal of sadness.

Overnight we lost one of the most talented producers, panel ops and overall nice guys in the radio industry. His name will be known to many of you.

Richard Marsland.

Richard was panel op and producer for Tony Martin's "Get This" program on the Triple M Network, and when that was axed, he moved to being breakfast producer for the Pete 'n' Myf show on Triple M Melbourne.

Words just can't describe how I used to listen to this guy in awe. He truly amazed me with the skill and the knowledge he had. He would have everything cued up, ready to go, and one cut after the other, just like that, it all went to air smoothly and sounded as tight as a radio show should sound. Folks, there was no automation here, nor was the stuff on live-assist. It was full on LIVE...and for Richard to just cue in stuff with absolute precision was just absolutely stunning to listen to. Fantastic.

I know that Matt from Wireless Folder won't mind me reproducing his tribute to Richard here. At least I hope he won't. We hope to get some Get This audio up later in the day but I have a feeling I lost the lot when I had a hard drive crash last year. Will look around. In the meantime, here's Matt's tribute to one of the nice guys in the industry. We'll miss you Richard.

Tribute to Richard Marsland by Matt of Wireless Folder
5 September 1976 - 6 December 2008. RIP.

"
Richard Marsland
Written by Me on Dec 6th, 2008 | Filed under: Life, Radio

There are moments in life that make me wonder why I do certain things and people who I turn to as a form of respect / mentoring and other things.

In terms of on air respectability, radio sketch quality, humour, personality, and being human in an industry that is extremely strong, this guy fully held the realms in such a way that he could prove that if you have an idea and stick to it, you can follow through and achieve your goal successfully.

At the same time, you can keep a level and focused head.

When “Get This” started on air in 2006, the voice in the background spoke while Tony Martin and Ed Kavalee had their chat. Tony encouraged Richard to speak out more, but Richard tried not to so he wouldn’t take the spotlight from the pair.

I was fortunate enough to be an unofficial contributor to Get This over the 2 years - with some small ideas, and in October 2007 I finally sat in with the show for the entire day from start to end. This allowed me to get to know the team in person instead of work e-mail. As soon as I stepped into the studio, the first person to greet themselves and help show me around was none other than Richard.

After the ‘Ye Olde Grande Tour”, we chatted about his and my work, how he came up with sketches and his inspirations. I was even lucky enough to contribute to a sketch about “A Day In The Life Of John Howard” in which Richard removed the ACA’s real interviewer and would put his parts in it. I even made him laugh with the Nik Kershaw and Nickelback mashup.

The next night, I caught up with him at the 2007 Australian Commercial Radio Awards dinner. We swapped more radio antidotes and jokes.

After “Get This” was axed late 2007, he moved to anchoring the 3MMM breakfast show with Peter Helliar and Myf Warhurst.

We kept in regular contact via e-mail, swapping stories and sharing a few laughs.

Sadly, the breakfast was to become his last show, which finished for the year on Friday 5th December 2008.

He was truly someone who I looked up to - someone who loved to put in 110% effort into his work, but shied away from the spotlight. If he was commended for anything, he’d say it would be a team effort, and continue working.

My deeps thoughts and feelings are with his family and friends.

VALE Ricky M / Armitage Shanks / Richard.

“He’s name is Richard Mars-a-lan..an..and..”

Frankster's Archive would like to thank Wireless Fodder for reproduction of the tribute, and to the Unofficial Get This Wiki for the use of the birthdate information.

2GB suspends Murray Wilton

NOTE: It's been brought to my attention that parts of this posting has appeared on the Jocks Journal website, verbatim, and that it was attributed to The Daily Telegraph! Heartfelt thanks to a guy by the name of Max of aus.radio.broadcast for pointing this out - I would've never have known otherwise.

An interesting story has appeared in today's Confidential column of the Sydney Daily Telegraph about 2GB's Murray Wilton.

I knew something was up when I tuned in on Monday night and heard Suzy Yates instead. I thought oh, I missed Murray's last show for the year on friday night and didn't think anything of it. Well it turns out that Murray has been suspended following a falling out with 2GB management!

The line being thrown around at the moment is that Murray got blamed for a recent email circulating 2GB from Ray Hadley about the overnight presenters leaving a hell of a mess in the kitchen and to clean things up, but the "official" (and I use that term loosely) word is that Murray was suspended for recording a program which was being broadcast to rural towns.

Murray on the off season is a 7 day a week man - he not only does his 7pm to 9pm slot on weeknights, but also takes on midday to 4pm on weekends when the Continuous Call team aren't broadcasting. Wonder who will fill that spot this weekend? It's 8 hours worth combined.

So there's strike three with my radio listening habits. Strike one was the axing of Get This. Strike two, the axing of Spoonman, and now Strike three with Murray Wilton. Am I carrying around a kiss of death or something?

Video Update - 4th December 2008

Well it's probably about time we did an update of some kind, eh? So here's a video update! From this update I've included stills with every video so you can actually check out just which ad it is instead of having to download it first to find out.

Format: MP4, 320x240, 300kbps vision, 64kbps mono audio


7 Tonight Live promo 1991
Dur: 11 sec, 686 KB


TVC: Econovan with Con The Fruiterer
Dur: 33 sec, 1.8 MB


TVC: Sorbent - featuring the kid out of Hey Dad!
Dur: 32 sec, 1.7 MB


TVC: Alcan - we are the boys from Alcan
Dur: 29 sec, 1.6 MB


TVC: Katies - Final sale
Dur: 15 sec, 965 KB


9 Station ID
Dur: 12 sec, 691 KB


TVC: Victoria Bitter beer
Dur: 32 sec, 1.8 MB


7 Promo: Freedomfest Concert (Nelson Mandela)
Dur: 31 sec, 1.7 MB


7 "Let's Celebrate '88" ID and partial of Newsworld with Susie Elelman
Dur: 4 min 22 sec, 13.5 MB


TVC: National VHS Video Cameras with Peter Allen
Dur: 32 sec, 1.7 MB

Goodbye Spoonman

G'day bloggers,

Well, as I type, Triple M's Spoonman is doing his last ever show tonight (yes, and here at the archive, we are rolling tape for posterity). Yep, Spoonman got axed, it actually happened a week ago but he only made the announcement on-air last night.

The official line from management is that they wanna redirect their resources to the breakfast and drive shows. If you think you've heard that line before, you're right - this excuse was used last year when Tony Martin's Get This was being axed. OK, so what happened? Right, The Shebang (Fifi Box and Marty Sheargold) moved to brekky, and Wil & Lehmo came in on drive. Fine. Well, so much for Triple M's "redirect"ing, because guess what happened? Yes that's right ladies and gentl'mun, BOTH these shows got canned. Not one, but BOTH - but now we have a third victim, and that's Spoonman - they're not only "tripling your music", they're also tripling the sackings...the question remains, who are these neanderthals making these stupid decisions??

So what's happening next year? Well, new shows, and wa-hey, they're in brekky and drive. Classic. Will these two fall over at the end of 2009? Only time will tell, but if they do, it really will seem like Triple M (the Sydney version at least) are stuck permanently on A-B repeat.

On a good note though, I wish the hottest and sexiest radio babe in Australia all the very best for "The Cage", Triple M Brisbane's brekky show - who else, but Bianca Dye. Hope ya get the gig Bianca!! Bummer it's radio though, we can't see you! ;)

Youtube page gone

Well, due to someone whinging, I had to take down four of my youtube videos. Grrr..so I removed the lot.

Don't despair folks, now that this has happened I'll be now doing video as well as audio clips on this site, just like before. Stay tuned.

A gem of a sweeper from the Sydney Triple M

"Steal the rhythm while you can
Are you together with his plan?
The spoonman on triple M"

Um....eh? What the bloody hell does THAT mean?? Manfred Mann is writing Triple M promos now? "Blinded by the light, wrapped up like a deuce, another runner in the night" indeed...

For Petrina

How do I get through one night without you
If I had to live without you
What kind of life would that be
Oh and I, I need you in my arms
Need you to hold
You're my world, my heart, my soul
If you ever leave
Baby, you would take away everything good in my life

Without you there'd be no sun in my sky
There would be no love in my life
There'd be no world left for me
And I, baby I don't know what I would do
I'd be lost if I lost you
If you ever leave
Baby, you would take away everything real in my life
And tell me now

How do I live without you
I want to know
How do I breathe without you
If you ever go
How do I ever, ever survive
How do I, how do I
Oh, how do I live

If you ever leave
Baby, you would take away everything
Need you with me
Baby, 'cause you know that you're everything good in my life
And tell me now

How do I live without you
I want to know
How do I breathe without you
If you ever go
How do I ever, ever survive
How do I, how do I
Oh, how do I live
How do I live
Without you baby

2WS turns 30!

G'day bloggers,

Sunday November 23rd 2008 brings about a date which is quite important in radio circles - on that day, 2WS will celebrate 30 years of broadcasting.

Broadcasting from a transmitter in Prospect and studios at 2 Leabons Lane in Seven Hills, these guys got on air at precisely 12.24am on November 23rd, 1978, and stayed that way for almost 15 years, when at 8.10am on June 1st, 1993, these guys converted to FM. Quite funny how it's worked out - 15 years on the AM band, and so far, 15 years on the FM band.

As a special tribute to these guys, here's a compile I put together in 1993, after recording both AM and FM feeds using seperate tuners and two tape decks, editing the results into one clip. In this you'll hear promos that were played the day before, the FM test announcement played in a loop a couple of hours before 8.10am, and some of the people on air at that time such as Pete Graham, Kayley Harris, Hans Torv, Steve Raymond and others.

Please Note: The links below will be active from the exact same time 2WS first went to air 30 years ago - 12:24am, the time reflecting the station's old AM frequency. Happy birthday 2WS!

Frankster's Archive would like to acknowledge Wesgo Communications and the Australian Radio Network for the use of the audio featured in this compile and the jingles.


2WS AM to FM Changeover: June 1st, 1993
Dur: 22'09'', MP3 64kbps 22kHz, 10.3 MB, Mono

2WS Jingles Medley
Dur: 1'29'', MP3 64kbps 22kHz, 700 KB, Mono

This jingle medley contains 3x 1970's jingles for 2WS and 1x Jukebox Saturday Night theme from 1987.

Austereo

G'day bloggers,

A piece on the Business Day section of The Age this morning reports Austereo, owner of sydney stations 2DAY and Triple M, says they are certain of the strength of radio in challenging times.

Someone needs to tap these bozo's on the shoulder and say listen, dump the unfunny "comedians", stop changing music formats every few months, have less repetition on your stations...and bring back something that will be an instant ratings hit. Tony Martin's "Get This". You CANNOT go wrong if you bring these guys back - they do comedy and they do it well, and they are GENUINELY funny, not try-hard funny. "Oh a kid got knocked over on his bike and grazed his knee, haw haw haw, laugh? I nearly shat!". Please. What is it, the radio version of the funniest home videos show?

For the once great powerhouse of Sydney FM radio, Triple M, it will get interesting next year.

* The Shebang - no longer there, shift vacant.
* Wil & Lehmo - final week at time of writing, then shift vacant.
* Ugly Phil - rumours suggest he's moving to brekky and moving Sami Lukis down from the Brisbane Triple M to co-host. Now THAT will be a good brekky show! Then his old shift will be vacant if that's the case, and it will put him not only alongside his ex, Jackie O from 2DAY on the band, but they're only one floor above each other in the same building going to air at the same time as each other. Fate?

So..who will be doing drive, and if Ugly Phil goes to brekky, then who will do the 6/7 to 10pm before Spoonman? That's two shifts back to back they have to fill, and I bloody hope they don't axe spoony, or move him into that 6pm to 10pm slot - for his style of program it just won't work at the earlier timeslot. It's been done before.

Then there's the weekend programs - last saturday night brought about a live show at last! I just wonder what's about to happen up there.

Stay tuned folks, it could get interesting.

Random thoughts to end the week

* Gonna be a much cooler weekend coming up. Phew. After today's 35 degree effort, I say bring it on!
* Got a mate dropping over tonight for a catch-up, should be cool!
* Yes alright, I reckon Kylie Gillies is hot with a capital H!
* Just tried a mock trip to Brisbane using my Nokia 6110 Navigator - from here it's 929km away!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Feet up on the desk must be 2GB's station policy!

Must be company policy at 2GB to have your feet up near a very expensive mixing desk!

Audio Update - November 9th 2008

2RDJ Dominic Vozzo's Thursday Night Hit Mix - Promo bed 1999
Dur: 0'32'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 768 KB, Stereo
Right, well let's start off this update with some more 2RDJ audio I've produced. This cut is from 1999, and as was the case with most station produced material before DAT recorders arrived at the complex, it was done on 15 IPS quarter-inch.

2RDJ Dominic Vozzo's Thursday Night Hit Mix - Full promo 1999
Dur: 0'32'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 768 KB, Stereo
...and now the full mix of that promo.

2RDJ Earlwood Music Centre sponsor ad 1995 - Al Edwards
Dur: 0'31'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 731 KB, Stereo
One here from a guy I met in 1995 at 2RDJ by the name of Al Edwards (creator of Hallaow! The Allain Edwards Experience) and found during salvaging of some quarter-inch tapes in the early to mid 2000's. Al mentioned to me once that this cut sounds like him saying "earlwood music SENNAR". Judge for yourself!

2RDJ Overdrive Theme 1990
Dur: 0'38'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 909 KB, Stereo
This one was produced by Andrew Lambkin, and not a bad cut either. He'll still screw up his face when he hears the edit but I didn't think it was that bad!

Tramps radio ad 1995 - Version 2
Dur: 0'30'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 713 KB, Stereo
One here received by us in production for Tramps - pretty good mix!

Anything Tape by Frankster - 6th and 10th May, 1997
Dur: 2'56'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 4.0 MB, Stereo
One here from me, and long before podcasting, I owned a portable microcassette recorder that I quite often would pick up and record me just talking about crap and more crap over the years. Here's a combined edit of two sessions!

Anything Tape by Frankster - 6th and 14th May, 1997
Dur: 3'27'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 4.7 MB, Stereo
Another one! This time it's a combined edit from May 6th and May 14th, 1997.

Anything Tape by Frankster - 24th April, 1997
Dur: 2'56'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 4.0 MB, Stereo
Another one in the series, and not even a flu bug could stop me. Here I am battling my way through it, talking about stupid stuff yet again, but years later I listen to it back and I thought it might be entertaining for you folks. Enjoy!

Bananas radio ad: Bananas are good enough for me
Dur: 0'32'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 759 KB, Stereo
I remember the visuals for this ad in the 80's, it had Ben Elias in it dancing around with a banana and miming this jingle. The audio track is here! I don't have the video of it though unfortunately but it's probably in some TV archive rotting away with a lot of other good stuff.

2RDJ Bible Believers program: Opener - 1995
Dur: 1'03'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 1.4 MB, Stereo
An opener here for 2RDJ's Bible Believers program from 1995.

2RDJ Bible Believers program: Closer - 1995
Dur: 1'36'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 2.2 MB, Stereo
...and the closer.

2RDJ Boxseat with Trudy Theile: Opener - 1997
Dur: 2'12'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 3.0 MB, Stereo
This one is for Trudy Theile's program "Boxseat" that went to air in 1997 on 2RDJ and lasted for a few months before it was canned. This is the opener, and so that Trudy wouldn't have to touch the fader running this opener, the music falls to voice-over level, but I still think it's just a little too low.

2RDJ Boxseat with Trudy Theile: Closer - 1997
Dur: 0'30'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 720 KB, Stereo
...and this cut is the closer.

Coolabah Wines radio ad 1980's
Dur: 0'29'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 702 KB, Stereo
Here's a cut for Coolabah Wines from the 1980's, once again recorded on Ampex 406 and creating all sorts of hassles when it was remastered.

Fantasy radio ad - Cut A
Dur: 0'30'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 723 KB, Stereo
One here for a dance event called Fantasy - here's the first cut of three that were available on the tape.

Galaxy Pay-TV 1997: Nightmoves Adult Channel opening bed
Dur: 1'56'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 2.6 MB, Stereo
At our place in 1994 we were lucky enough to be connected up to Galaxy Pay-TV. When we got it, it had 8 channels and it was considered the height of technology. One extra channel you could get was Nightmoves, which was an adults only channel showing R-rated porno films. I got this off an old VHS tape and is the first cut of two - this cut was played when the channel started transmission each night (11pm to 4am) as a 2 minute lead-up, with the next cut being the actual opening theme of the channel.

Galaxy Pay-TV 1997: Nightmoves Adult Channel theme
Dur: 0'44'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 1.0 MB, Stereo
...and as mentioned, the opening theme of Nightmoves.

MBF radio commercial 80s 'keep smiling reach higher' campaign - 1980's
Dur: 0'29'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 693 KB, Mono
Here's one from a bunch of broadcast carts the abovementioned Al Edwards brought in one night - this one for MBF, and they may have been stereo carts but at 2RDJ we had mono playback decks so unfortunately this cut is in mono. Still good though!


More next time!

Chicks I Dig!

G'day bloggers,

Well, I must say thanks to Dan of Danny J Palmer.com for the inspiration. He's recently been doing a "chicks I dig" segment on his blog, and I thought I would do the same with some stuff I scanned recently. Enjoy these tasty dishes!

Dannii Minogue in a black bikini
Catriona Rowntree showing us what colour her toenails are ;)
Fifi Box looking gorgeous as always!

Box of 10 VHS Videocassettes (Lot 2)

G'day bloggers,

Congrats to the person who emailed me and wanted Lot 1 of VHS videotapes to give away! They will be in transit on thursday.

Folks, there's still plenty more - as usual, they're FREE, so let's get on with the details of Lot 2.

LOT 2:
------

This lot contains the following tapes:

3x E-240
5x E-180
1x E-150
1x E-120

This giveaway is open until Sunday, November 16th at 12:01am. Go for it, folks!

My visit to Triple M Sydney

G'day bloggers,

Well, between last night and tonight I've finally found some time to sit down and write about the events of the last week.

Tuesday night I ventured into the city to visit Spoonman (Brian Carlton) and Co. at Triple M. Met up with his panel operator (Garfield) who's a really cool down to earth bloke, and one person I had no idea of was Odie, Spoonman's phone op - he was a guy I went to the same AFTRS course with in 2005! Bit of a spin to see him up there.

I was ushered into the office where I waited for Brian to get ready, and was then invited in to meet the guy and do the ol' shake hands thing. I found Brian to be a pretty cool guy. I probably caught them all on a bad night - we did chat briefly but in the end it wasn't the roaring success I had hoped for. Garfield was really apologetic for the mood in the place that night and took the time to show me around the building, the rooftop and the studio Brian does his show out of. I sat behind the desk near him watching everything being fired off at the right time. I was told that they may kick me out after an hour, but I left half an hour into visiting - I don't know what it was but despite how hospitable they all were, the place just seemed to have a bad vibe and I didn't feel comfortable, so I left. I had my heart set on entering Triple M in some capacity because I really feel I have the skills and the knowledge to do panelling and/or production up there, indeed at any commercial station. But I got home, and for a few minutes I felt like tearing up my aftrs certificate and tafe certificate and ditching the radio world entirely. That's completely. Thankfully I didn't go through with it but I was a bit pissed off. Highlight of the night was when Brian received a CD of P!nk's new album, which he tossed straight in the bin. A glimmer of hope was present when Brian said he'd keep an eye out for anything I could do up there. But I really don't think anyone's gonna get back to me.

So now we're at Monday, almost a week on - and I find out not only has Triple M now got a new music director by the name of Matt White (not Alex Abela as previously mentioned), The Shebang without warning had it's last show last friday (got the axe), and Wil & Lehmo in drive have also got the axe - their last show happens on November 21st. Moral? Bring back Get This!

Since the visit I hardly listen to Triple M anymore - at least not live. I just download the various triple m podcasts and listen to those now. It used to be my favourite commercial radio station - but since Tuesday, well, it's not anymore. Maybe I'd like it better if I was offered a role there..but I'm sick of trying. Think I'll go back to data entry jobs in 2009 and just stay there, even though I've probably got buckleys of securing one of those too because my resume is 3 pages long full of radio and audio studio experience. What to do?

2RDJ Tuesday Night Rage master tapes

**All files available for download from 10.00pm AEDST Sunday November 2nd 2008**

G'day bloggers,

In the early to mid 90's, there was a dance music show on radio 2RDJ that I was involved with called Tuesday Night Rage, hosted by Tony G. I was lucky enough to fall into the role of Tony's producer, who would help him out with the show's production, promos and all the other bits and pieces he needed to record.

I thought this update I'd let you into the studio and have a listen to what was left behind on some of the tapes and work parts for the eventual on-air promos and the like. The tapes have recently been remastered and are sounding better than they ever did. I guess the advantages we had were (a) we were using mastering tape for our stuff, and (b) almost all of our recordings were done at 15 IPS on quarter-inch tape, giving more headroom and a better dynamic range. The tapes did suffer the Ampex curse as they were all on 406 but a quick bake on each, and all was well.

Cut 1: TNR Backing Track 1 - 1991
Dur: 2'55'', MP3 192Kbps 44kHz, 4.1 MB, Stereo
This cut was one of a few recorded as backing tracks for Tony to use behind his on-air talk breaks.

Cut 2: TNR demo tape outtake - April 1992
Dur: 0'23'', MP3 192Kbps 44kHz, 557 KB, Stereo
This is Tony's first attempt at making a demo tape for submission to commercial radio stations in the hope of securing work at one. It never made it to the end, and Tony would come back and try again at a later date.

Cut 3: TNR demo tape outtakes - 1993
Dur: 1'48'', MP3 192Kbps 44kHz, 2.5 MB, Stereo
Well, it wasn't until a whole year had passed that Tony decided to try again with his demo. Yet again, it never made it to the end, and here's some edited highlights of that tape.

Cut 4: TNR tape ident for promo master 005 - 1992
Dur: 0'14'', MP3 192Kbps 44kHz, 342 KB, Stereo
A short one here which was the tape identification for the 5th promo master reel for this show. The voice in this is me with a guy in the background trying to distract me as we were recording. This one's a bit worn because the tape didn't have a leader and the first few feet got crunched over the years.

Cut 5: TNR happy birthday burp session - 1991
Dur: 2'06'', MP3 192Kbps 44kHz, 2.9 MB, Stereo
This is a raw session for the purpose of attaching a very loud burp to the very end of the traditional happy birthday song. Tony didn't quite like the one supplied on a record released by EMI, so we ran the record at 45 RPM instead of 33 RPM, and I cut the fader at the "you" point of the song so the burped version could go in. This was done live, no editing involved, and after 4 takes, we finally got a good version - at the very end is me shouting because I was happy we got the right take at last. Check it!

Cut 6: TNR hotline promo outtakes with Albi - 1992
Dur: 0'36'', MP3 192Kbps 44kHz, 855 KB, Stereo
Vocals by Alberta in this cut (Albi), for a tuesday night rage hotline promo for playing within the show. A couple of takes here going astray, before we settled on the final version which is the cut below.

Cut 7: TNR hotline promo (master take) with Albi - 1992
Dur: 0'19'', MP3 192Kbps 44kHz, 466 KB, Stereo
Master take of the above cut.

Cut 8: TNR promo - April 20th, 1991: 2 track mix
Dur: 0'57'', MP3 192Kbps 44kHz, 1.3 MB, Stereo
This is one of many promos recorded for the show, this particular one from April 20th, 1991. This is a 2 track mix which was done purely to make the mix easier at the end of the session. It follows the music-left, vocals-right configuration.

Cut 9: TNR promo - April 20th, 1991: 2007 remix
Dur: 0'57'', MP3 192Kbps 44kHz, 1.3 MB, Stereo
I made a new mono mix of this promo in 2007 using the original 2 track tape. Here's how it sounds digitally.

Cut 10: TNR promo - April 20th, 1991: Bed only - left channel
Dur: 0'56'', MP3 192Kbps 44kHz, 1.3 MB, Left channel only
Here's the bed only version of this promo.

Cut 11: TNR promo - April 20th, 1991: Vocal track - right channel
Dur: 0'18'', MP3 192Kbps 44kHz, 434 KB, Right channel only
...and finally, the vocal track.

More next time!

The Angels at Revesby Workers Club - it rocked!!

G'day bloggers,

Well, what can I say - last night's gig at Revesby Workers absolutely
rocked! Doc and crew were just fantastic! What I noticed was that the sound
was louder for the support act than it was for The Angels which I thought
was a bit odd, usually the levels are jacked up for the main act, but it was
the other way around last night.

All the old faves came pouring out of the speakers. It started off with
After the rain, then moved into Straightjacket, a welcome from Doc shouting
"Hi Revesby!!" which got the crowd roaring. One I wasn't expecting was Dogs
Are Talking, it was awesome to hear this live! From there it was No Secrets,
Comin' Down, Outcast, Devil's Gate, City Out Of Control, Be With You, Am I
Ever Gonna See Your Face Again (with the chanting of course), with Doc
running the mike across the front of the crowd to get a few "no way get f'd
f off" chants from the punters - absolute classic! When the song ended he
innocently said "where did that come from?!" before launching into Face The
Day, I Ain't The One, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, Marseilles, then the
encore that included Love Takes Care, before ending the show with Take A
Long Line.

There was a break after the show ended for about half an hour, then Doc and
the boys came out to do signings, with the whole thing finishing up roughly
around 12.40am, and the long wait for cabs outside the club..all done in a
"take a number and wait" style..the only thing that seemed to overshadow the
whole event was a group of about 6 or 8 people who left the club and started
brawling just near the train station. It was only on for 30 seconds when
about 20 or 30 security guys starting running out of the club towards them.
They soon dispersed and that was that, but on the way home I saw two police
cars, sirens blaring, heading in the direction of the club! Maybe another
fight started when I left, who knows.

Those of you going to Selinas tonight won't be disappointed I'm sure,
they're fantastic. Also a very big thankyou (in case they're on this group) to a lovely couple named Kevin and Suzanne who had a taxi number before us and swapped tickets with me so I would get the next cab. Thanks a lot both!

Heinz Spaghetti: A dark black sludge

Folks,

Livenews seems to be on fire today! There are reports from AAP that suggest a can of Heinz tinned spaghetti has been affected by a dark black sludge.

I just have to say it...

"Who put...the sludge in spaghetti?"
"HEINZ DID!"

Oh stop it, you're killing me...

The popular pub has had its reputation smeared after a family accused it of serving up ice cream laced with human faeces.

Folks, this is regarding the coogee bay hotel poo in ice cream story. Some bright spark at news.com.au has put this in the latest article. Reputation smeared eh? Haw haw haw, oh stop it, you're killing me, no really...

Teacher strips in front of students

G'day bloggers,

This story had me chuckling this morning. (Story courtesy of livenews.com.au)

Angry parents in Hungary are calling for a teacher to be sacked, after she was caught on camera stripping for her 15-year-old students.

The young German chalkie, who was supposed to be supervising a start of term party, was filmed stripping down to her bra as the excited teenagers cheer her on.

Nothing like that ever happened when I was in school! Classic! Click the title on the top of this post (with the coloured circles) to see the video.

VHS video cassettes to give away!

G'day bloggers,

First in best dressed! I have 11 VHS video cassettes of varying brands to give away. These are surplus to requirements due to upgrades to digital recording equipment. If you want 'em, drop us a line with your details to frankster33 at hotmail dot com

This bunch consists of:

1x E-240
6x E-180
1x E-120
1x E-100
2x E-60

Go for it folks! This is the first lot of many to be given away.

Audio Update - 22nd October 2008

**All files available for download from 9.00pm AEDST 22nd October 2008**

2GO Test Transmission sweeper - February 1992
Dur: 0'06'', 192kbps 44kHz, Stereo, 142 KB
This is one of a few cuts that were on air when 2GO were switching from AM to FM. They ended up on 107.7 MHz, and I rolled tape over some of the testing. This is a generic sweeper.

2GO Test Transmission sweeper (Cut B) - February 1992
Dur: 0'35'', 192kbps 44kHz, Stereo, 844 KB
...and another, this time the first of two longer sweepers. This version is with a female voiceover.

2GO Test Transmission sweeper (Cut C) - February 1992
Dur: 0'32'', 192kbps 44kHz, Stereo, 767 KB
...last one, this time with a male voiceover, following the identical script as the female version.

2RDJ 88.1 Club promo session reel - August 1992
Dur: 4'44'', 192kbps 44kHz, Stereo, 6.6 MB
This, and the tracks to follow, are from my personal collection of master reels and the like from my early production days at 2RDJ. This cut is edited highlights from a master reel for a promo session which was promoting 2RDJ's "88.1 Club" and features Andrew Lambkin and Wayne Cottle, with lots of fooling around in-between takes.

2RDJ Community Roundup promo session reel - February 1991
Dur: 3'56'', 192kbps 44kHz, Stereo, 5.5 MB
This one is from a session reel which was to be edited up and used for 2RDJ's Community Roundup segment, usually appearing after the 3pm news. I'm in the background somewhere, Alan is on the controls, and Pam and Colin are on the vocals. Recorded during a particularly hot summer's day.

2RDJ Country Music show ending sweeper - 1990
Dur: 0'16'', 192kbps 44kHz, Stereo, 381 KB
One here from 2RDJ's station manager at the time, Bryan Bateman, having a go at a closing for a country music program, when he stuffs it up. Contains swearing which has not been edited out for this site as it stuffs up the continuity.

2RDJ Disco promo outtakes - 1990
Dur: 0'37'', 192kbps 44khz, Stereo, 878 KB
Here's one from Val and Mary-Jane doing a promo for a 2RDJ Disco event in 1990, and stuffing up constantly..take after take, some of it funny!

2UE Stan Zemanek promo with John Laws at end - 1995
Dur: 0'39'', 192kbps 44kHz, Stereo, 932 KB
This is an interesting one! RDJ at the time had a show by the name of Kover-2-Kover hosted by Trevor and Debbie, which was an album review show and happened weekly. Trevor at the time also worked for 2UE and brought in a tape cartridge (remember those??) which hadn't been bulk-erased, and I found this cut and promptly copied it off before erasing the cart!

Channel 10 NSW Rugby League promo - bed only
Dur: 1'12'', 192kbps 44kHz, Stereo, 1.8 MB
2RDJ in the early 1990's had somehow inherited a lot of 1/4" audio tape from Channel 10 Sydney, presumably when they moving out of their North Ryde complex and into Ultimo (I don't know for sure). It took me days to go through them all, but I found a 5-inch sized reel which had several bed and full tracks for some promos they were doing in the 80's, and this and the next cut are just a couple of tracks from that reel. Unfortunately this and the next cut were recorded on a bad batch of Ampex 406 mastering tape and it has suffered over time, as you'll hear.

Channel 10 NSW Rugby League promo - full mix
Dur: 1'06'', 192kbps 44kHz, Stereo, 1.5 MB
Here's the next cut. This one doesn't sound too bad but you can still tell I had numerous troubles with this reel.

More next time!

Random fun pic

Needless to say! With thanks to Engrish.Com

Ever heard of this before?

Folks,

Have you ever heard of this before? I've just lost both my digital tv box AND dvd recorder within 10 seconds of each other. My digital tv box won't turn on anymore (checked and replaced the batteries in the remote and still no go), while the DVD recorder seems to have given up its input stages. AV3 position which gets its sound and vision from the first set of rca inputs has gone in the right channel - no vision on this set of inputs either. AV4 position which gets input signals from the second set of rca's results in -10dB overloaded sound and again no vision.

The output stages seem fine - I can play a DVD and recordings made on the hard drive and get sound and vision as normal from the one pair of rca outputs it has, but the inputs are buggered up. I thought there was a master reset for this recorder but I can't find one, and I have no idea what the hell happened to make both the tv box and the dvd recorder give up but only in the input stages. Nuts.

The digital tv box is the $60 dick smith electronics model and the dvd recorder is a panasonic dmr-eh60 with the 200gb hard disk. I'm at a loss to explain what happened. Now I'm waiting for a panasonic service centre to get back to me with a quote on how much this fault is gonna cost to get fixed. I hope it isn't a huge repair bill because if it is I may as well go get a Sony RDR-HXD760 which does a whole lot more than the panasonic. The panny's 3 years old.

What formats I can transfer from

I often get asked as to what formats I can transfer either to or from. So without any further adon't, here's the list:

U-matic (Sony VO-5850p deck low band with high band modification)
Betamax (Sony SLC-40AS stereo version)
VHS (2x Stereo units - 1x Sony SLV-EZ735, 1x LG FC930W. EP, LP and SP speeds.)
DVD-R/DVD+R/DVD-RW/DVD+RW/DVD-RAM/DVD-R DL (1x Sony DVP-NS530 playback unit, 1x Panasonic DMR-EH60 DVD Recorder, 200GB HDD)
Minidisc (audio, non-data format - Sony MDS-JE510)
MP3 on CD or DVD
1/4" open reel tape (1 7/8, 3.75, 7.5 and 15 IPS speeds, quarter-track, half-track, full-track [4.75, 9.5, 19 and 38 cm/sec]) (1x Tascam 22-4, 1x Akai 1721W)
Cassette (standard 4.75cm/sec audio cassettes, NOT those recorded in cassette multitrackers running at 9.5cm/sec) (1x Denon DN-720R)
Records (33 and 45 RPM) (2x Stanton T.60 Turntables)
Data files: Wav, MP3, Realmedia, AIFF, VOC and others

There :)

The ARIA Awards

The ARIA Awards are on tonight!!!!!

(yawn)....

All things radio

G'day bloggers,

Well, a couple of interesting radio stories for you here in case you haven't had the chance to catch up with things yet.

Triple M Network

This is quite interesting as to what's going on at the moment with these guys (suffice to say they still haven't replied to my job application, not even an acknowledgment or rejection letter!). The ol' "Triple M Rocks" positioner seems to have dropped off, as has the format of one old track and one new track - we've got awesome 80's. I have no idea if this is temporary or permanent, but the change to it was sudden as anything. No warning, no promotion, nothing. One format one day, 80's the next - and I gotta say it was really strange hearing Ugly Phil's show on friday night with this component added. It really made it sound stilted. Whatever they're planning, I really hope this isn't the equivalent of radio suicide - it may just be Triple M's death knell, I don't know at this point.

Edit 1.54pm: Triple M's music director, Kim Blair, aka "Bangers" is gone, to be replaced with Alex Abela. Will it only be the 1990's and 2000's from here? Time will tell...

2UE Sydney

Rumours abound that 2UE's general manager, Simon Rufus (Sp?) has been given the arse, and more people to follow it would seem. Unconfirmed.

2GB Sydney

I can't believe what I've just heard. Their sunday morning host, Luke Bona, was giving away a double pass to the Kenny Rogers concert this coming friday night at the state theatre, and a woman rings up who's as nervous as anything who had absolutely no idea what the competition was, nor did she have any idea who was involved in it! Long pauses to air from the caller, and it was found out in the end she had no desire to go to the concert but would give the tickets to someone else. How bloody stupid can you get?? Luke promptly cut her off then had to go to the trouble of asking another quiz question for the competition as a result.

Random audio clip

G'day bloggers,

Well, let's finish the week with a random audio clip. Some of you may remember Mike 'n' Jill's Big Weird Podcast, which is unfortunately now non-existent (a bloody pity because it was a great podcast!). A trip through the archives has revealed the show opener from April 2006, and here it is now for you!

The Big Weird Podcast - Show Opener, April 2006
Dur: 0'41'', MP3 192kbps 44kHz, 1.0 MB, Stereo
Download or Play

Have a great weekend everyone :)

A plug for a band called Nurture

G'day bloggers,

Wanna put in a plug here for a band who call themselves Nurture. They're a grunge based outfit, and have been demoing songs in the studio recently, and with the permission from one of the guys in the band, they have allowed me to put up the following track. It's called "Maybe? Crazy?", with Chris Miller on vocals and guitars.

Nurture - Maybe? Crazy?
Dur: 2'33'', WMA 128kbps, 2.3 MB, Stereo (Windows Media format)

Also I should mention that when you see the coloured dots before a post title on this blog, that means there's a link you can click on to go to a site related to the post - in this case, it's Nurture's myspace page. Tell 'em Frankster sent you!

Frankster's Archive thanks Chris Miller of Nurture for the use of the audio track

AC/DC and iTunes

G'day bloggers,

Well, an interesting move by AC/DC regarding the release of their new album, Black Ice. They will NOT be releasing it on iTunes!

I've been reading over the comments at news.com.au attached to the article in question, and as usual, some people are for it, others are against this move. One post caught my eye from a CB of Brisbane who writes something like they should release the album on 8-track and 12 inch. I'd also say while you're at it, put the thing out on audio cassette and 4-track 1/4" open reel tape at 3.75 inches per second, just like the old days ;) Yeah, good ol' 8-track carts, if you didn't time it correctly you'd have to fade down a song halfway through, wait for the splice, then fade it back up again on another tape track!

I don't mind if AC/DC do or they don't, I heard most of it last night on Triple M during their special they had with Myf Warhurst, and despite their claims of that we could hear it for the first time, a few people have claimed to have heard it before Triple M broadcast it. Maybe the house of m's meant first time on radio. But if they didn't, quite a claim to make! Considering some years ago, 2DAY-FM Sydney proudly proclaimed to be the first one to play Deborah Cox's track, "Who do you love", when it was out 12 months earlier and played by various FM'ers, both commercial and community...

But I digress. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out. iTunes stuff is primarly AAC, in fact most if not all music online is compressed to some extent, and OK, sure, CD is 44.1 kHz PCM audio. But what was the source material like? A-ha...

NSW Lotteries

G'day bloggers,

Well, one of the news stories doing the rounds today is the fact that NSW Lotteries will be sold off for $1 billion. I wonder if they've shut down the equipment already - their site is either down or very slow and there's no lotto results available for tonight as yet (10.15pm monday).

2UE say their news room have no information yet either - no numbers available. Quite strange.

EDIT 10.21pm: They've just been announced on 2UE - thanks Stuart!