Here's a neat perspective, I just heard from Andoni, the blogger at http://www.escountry.com/ He's a Spaniard that misses the AFRTS stations in Spain and the country music in particular.
Here's what he had to say: AFRS Spain the blog is Spanish, so I ran it through google translate.
When the radio in Madrid sounded with an American accent
I don't know if because today is a cloudy and rainy day or because reading Edwin Winkels' article in El Periódico de Catalunya "The old sailors' jukebox" has awakened my nostalgia, today I remembered the radio of the American air forces of Torrejón de Ardoz.
Winkels' article recalls how from 1951 to 1987 American warships docked in the port of Barcelona and American sailors toured the city and had fun, for example in a bar created for this purpose, such as the Kentucky. A book full of anecdotes and memories on the subject has recently been published.
Something similar happened with the American base of Torrejón de Ardoz whose station, for being a small station created to entertain and inform a few thousand American military personnel, had quality programming, largely supplied by generic spaces of the European network that They form all the stations of the American bases in Europe, especially in Germany, where I also had the opportunity to listen to it.
The radio at the American base in Torrejón did not have local country programs, such as the Rota base (Cádiz), but it did broadcast generic ones such as Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40, which has been doing the same program since 1978, no less. A syndicated program that is broadcast throughout the United States and around the world thanks to North American bases. Of course, when I was listening to this program it was the time of Alabama, Dwight Yoakam, Randy Travis, Garth Brooks, of the country pop of the 70s and 80s... and we already know that times have changed. The formula was simple 4 hours in which an ascending count was made through the Billboard list. Some went down and others went up. The excitement was high to find out who was number one. Today everything is much more predictable and boring.
Another show that dazzled us at that time was the Gene Price Show. Gene had an exceptional career in American radio: KDAY, 1966-67; KLAC, 1970-71; KFOX, 1972; KIQQ, 1973-74; KIIS, 1974; KLAC, 1975-84; KIKF, 1985-90; KLAC, 1990-93.
His secret lay in his great sense of humor, and in the characters and characterizations he created. Even today his shows are super fun and worth listening to. They tell us on the afrtsarchive blog that Gene himself is surprised that they still like his old programs. And good radio is always popular.
I remember that my good friend Alfredo García Escanciano loved Gene Price and even imitated him divinely because Alfredo had learned to speak English listening to the radio at the American base in Torrejón de Ardoz.
Unfortunately, politics got in the way and the Americans were evicted in the early 90s, when curiously they were our allies in NATO. The Air Force radio station was closed and the base was relocated to Italy where it was welcomed with open arms. Because what the newspapers did not tell at the time were the Spanish jobs that were lost due to said termination and how the local economy of Torrejón suffered, where many Americans bought and lived. However, our national pride seems to remain unscathed when we drink a Coca Cola, wear Nikes, wear Levi's or drive a Ford. Life things.
At that time there were no mp3s, no ftp's, no email and the programs were sent recorded on open tape or on vinyl like the one we see in Gene Price's photo, "Country Express".
Show Harry Newman was the serious side of the coin, but elegant and impeccable in style. A great professional who also developed a great radio career in various stations in the Los Angeles area: KBLA, 1965-66; KBBQ, 1967-68; KLAC, 1970-84.
Harry Newman was the serious side of the coin, but with an elegant and impeccable style. A great professional who also developed a great radio career in various stations in the Los Angeles area: KBLA, 1965-66; KBBQ, 1967-68; KLAC, 1970-84.
Harry Newman retired in 1995 and today lives in central California. However, we are left with the memory of one early morning listening to his country music program.
We are talking about a time when the Internet did not exist and when listening to a country music program in English was like finding water in the middle of the desert. And more so when it comes to the quality of the programs I'm talking about.
His secret lay in his great sense of humor, and in the characters and characterizations he created. Even today his shows are super fun and worth listening to. They tell us on the afrtsarchive blog that Gene himself is surprised that they still like his old programs. And good radio is always popular.
I remember that my good friend Alfredo García Escanciano loved Gene Price and even imitated him divinely because Alfredo had learned to speak English listening to the radio at the American base in Torrejón de Ardoz.
Unfortunately, politics got in the way and the Americans were evicted in the early 90s, when curiously they were our allies in NATO. The Air Force radio station was closed and the base was relocated to Italy where it was welcomed with open arms. Because what the newspapers did not tell at the time were the Spanish jobs that were lost due to said termination and how the local economy of Torrejón suffered, where many Americans bought and lived. However, our national pride seems to remain unscathed when we drink a Coca Cola, wear Nikes, wear Levi's or drive a Ford. Life things.
At that time there were no mp3s, no ftp's, no email and the programs were sent recorded on open tape or on vinyl like the one we see in Gene Price's photo, "Country Express".
Show Harry Newman was the serious side of the coin, but elegant and impeccable in style. A great professional who also developed a great radio career in various stations in the Los Angeles area: KBLA, 1965-66; KBBQ, 1967-68; KLAC, 1970-84.
Harry Newman was the serious side of the coin, but with an elegant and impeccable style. A great professional who also developed a great radio career in various stations in the Los Angeles area: KBLA, 1965-66; KBBQ, 1967-68; KLAC, 1970-84.
Harry Newman retired in 1995 and today lives in central California. However, we are left with the memory of one early morning listening to his country music program.
We are talking about a time when the Internet did not exist and when listening to a country music program in English was like finding water in the middle of the desert. And more so when it comes to the quality of the programs I'm talking about.
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