Albert's Place

During my Tape and Record Show Enterprises digitization project this evening by hitting the 50th episode mark of the flagship series "The Tape and Record Show", but still have 400 or so more episodes of that series to go.

"The Tape & Record Show: Episode 49. Broadcast Saturday, August 25,1979 at 2:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Mork and Mindy: Mork's Mixed Emotions" - Mork's attempt to lock up his emotions backfires and each of his emotions boil to the surface. / "The Dick Cavett Show: Guest: Robin Williams (Part Two of two)".

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 50. Broadcast Sunday, August 26,1979 at 2:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Gilligan's Island: Will the Real Mr. Howell Please Stand Up?" - An impostor posing as Mr. Howell claims to having been rescued and begins selling off Mr. Howell's stocks. The real Mr. Howell offers his fellow castaways a hefty reward to get him off the island and save his fortune. / "Mork and Mindy: Mork's Seduction" - Mindy's snobby friend Susan tries to steal Mork away. / "Looney Tunes: Putty Tat Trouble" - Sylvester Cat and a one-eyed orange tabby have a feud over catching Tweety Bird, who seems to merely be enjoying himself."

As I've predicted in previous posts about my ongoing project, there will definitely be a few episodes of "The Tape and Record Show" which I'll have to skip, because some of the original tapes will be missing, or too damaged to play due to age and can't be repaired, especially these earliest episodes which date back to 1979. Only had one cassette recorder at the time, so when I listened to the "episodes", it involved playing each segment of the show by changing out tapes for each segment. A few episodes I finally "remastered" onto new cassettes in the late 1980's, so those were still in decent shape.

I've already been unable to locate some of the proper cassettes which had the correct "Looney Tunes" shorts (recorded from the Saturday morning CBS "Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show") as listed on the original "broadcast" index cards in my files. For the two one hour weekend editions of "The Tape and Record Show" I digitized tonight, I was unable to locate the original tapes I recorded back then of the "Mork & Mindy: Mork's Seduction" episode and the "Looney Tunes: Putty Tat Trouble" short in episode 50. Luckily, I was still able to compile the episode as listed on the card, by finding "alternate sources" for the audio of the missing parts, namely my season one DVD set of "Mork and Mindy", and HBO Max for the audio from the animated short, so the audio quality will be significantly better than other parts of the episode for those segments. Also luckily, I DID locate the proper cassette for the Dick Cavett episode, because I'm not sure I could locate an alternate source for that, since it was from his PBS show, and those haven't seemed to have popped up anywhere lately.

Yes, I'm a nerd. :-P

Out of boredom, since I'm always getting emails meant for other people in Gmail, went into someone's "Classmates" account and changed a bunch of their public facing information.

Pro-Tip: NEVER use Gmail as your primary email service. It's buggy as fuck!

Also: I'm a mischievous stinker!

Digitized more episodes of the Tape and Record Show Enterprises flagship series "The Tape and Record Show" this evening...

"The Tape & Record Show: Episode 44. Broadcast Monday, August 20,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Consumer Survival Kit: Auto Repair, Solar Systems, Typewriters, Fast Food Restaurants".

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 45. Broadcast Tuesday, August 21,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Skylab: The Final Hours" - A rebroadcast of the ABC special report on the Skylab space station before it fell. Host: Max Robinson.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 46. Broadcast Wednesday, August 22,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Gilligan's Island: The Big Gold Strike" - While Mary Ann, Ginger and the Skipper find the S.S. Minnow's inflatable life raft in the lagoon, Gilligan and Mr. Howell discover gold in an underground mine on the island.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 47. Broadcast Thursday, August 23,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Looney Tunes: Rabbit Romeo" - Elmer Fudd's Uncle Judd gives him a huge, lovesick Slobovian rabbit who falls for Bugs Bunny. / The Little Rascals: School's Out" - The kids mistake Miss Crabtree's brother for a potential boyfriend, and plot to discourage him. / "Looney Tunes: Fish and Slips" - Sylvester Cat decides to take his son, Junior, on a fishing trip- inside a closed-to-business aquarium with all kinds of exotic fish, some not very friendly to Sylvester.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 48. Broadcast Friday, August 24,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Looney Tunes: Dr. Jerkyl's Hide" - Two cockney canines chase Sylvester Cat into the lab of Dr. Jerkyl, where the cat drinks Hyde formula and changes into a wildcat that claws bulldog Alfie into little pieces and reverts back to Sylvester just in time for the other, smaller dog to come in and see Alfie cowering in fear. / The Little Rascals: Wild Poses" - Spanky's parents take their reluctant boy to get his portrait taken by a prissy photographer. / "Looney Tunes: Barbary-Coast Bunny" - When Nasty Canasta cheats Bugs out of his gold, the rabbit retaliates by playing a naive hayseed whose effortless and unrelenting winning bankrupts Canasta's new casino."

Episodes 44 and 45 were news oriented. The series "Consumer Survival Kit" ran on PBS from 1975-82. The show had celebrity guests to help out with some of the segments. This episode was either from 1978 or 1979, so the advice in the episode will be HIGHLY outdated by now. The advice given for car tune-ups may still be applicable for the most part, but since they suggest taking your vehicle to Sears, Wards, or Penny's for auto work, that is DEFINITELY no longer applicable! Also, who still uses typewriters? What other show would you hear Vincent Price talking about fast food restaurants?

Episode 45 was a special report on the re-entry of the Skylab space station, which occurred July 11, 1979, so the TRS broadcast was a little over a month after the fact.

Digitization of the ancient Tape and Record Show Enterprises audio archives continues with two more "weekend editions" of the flagship series, "The Tape and Record Show"...

"The Tape & Record Show: Episode 42. Broadcast Saturday, August 11,1979 at 2:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). Two hour special. "Sanford and Son: Committee Man / Aunt Esther Has a Baby / Aunt Esther Meets Her Son / Carol" / "The Dick Cavett Show: Guest Bob Hope (Part Two)" / Steve Martin comedy routine.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 43. Broadcast Sunday, August 12,1979 at 2:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "The Dukes of Hazzard: Deputy Dukes" - With their probations on the line, Boss has Bo and Luke deputized to help transport Rocky Marlowe (Public Enemy No. 1) to Hazzard County to stand trial. / "Looney Tunes: Lighter Than Hare" - Outer space invader Yosemite Sam wants to capture typical earth creature Bugs."

Episode 42 was the second two-hour edition, featuring another "90 Minute Sanford and Son Movie" which included four slightly edited episodes from the series, and like the previous one, apparently recorded a couple years before the actual start of Tape and Record Show Enterprises, judging from my high pitched voice during the announcement during the "Sanford and Son" theme music... or either I was sitting in a squeaky chair that day. A couple of years before the premiere "The Tape and Record Show", I would have been around 11/12 years old.

Experienced yet another cassette "pressure pad" failure, this time from the original ACTUAL Warner Brothers cassette release of Steve Martin's "A Wild and Crazy Guy" album. Again, no screws in the cassette housing, so I had to pry the tape apart and move the inner reels to a newer housing. Surprisingly, the ancient blanks I originally recorded the TV audio on held up well after all these years. The brands of cheap cassettes were "InterMagnetics"(Sanford and Son), "Alcon"(Dick Cavett Show), and "Sears"(Dukes of Hazzard). Sound quality will never be "great" however because of the WAY they were recorded. External microphone on a portable monophonic cassette recorder, held up to the TV speaker.

Sometimes I have a feeling I'm going to an awful lot of effort to "preserve" stuff only I'LL ever be interested in hearing again. But, hey, it's a hobby!

This evening, continued my digitization of The Tape and Record Show Enterprises archives with episodes 37-41 of the flagship series of the organization, "The Tape and Record Show". Another weekday "marathon", this time featuring "Gilligan's Island"...

"The Tape & Record Show: Episode 37. Broadcast Monday, August 6,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Rescue From Gilligan's Island: Part One" - The castaways are finally rescued after 15 years on the island.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 38. Broadcast Tuesday, August 7,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Rescue From Gilligan's Island: Part Two" - The castaways are swept off the island by a large tidal wave and are picked up in the shipping lanes of Hawaii.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 39. Broadcast Wednesday, August 8,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Rescue From Gilligan's Island: Part Three" - The castaways go their separate ways and attempt to re-adjust to civilization .

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 40. Broadcast Thursday, August 9,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Rescue From Gilligan's Island: Part Four" - The castaways reunite for a Christmas cruise, with disastrous results.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 41. Broadcast Friday, August 10,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Gilligan's Island: Feed the Kitty" - A crate containing a lion bound for a zoo washes up on the island. But while the other castaways are scared for their lives, the lion immediately makes a bond with Gilligan."

The "Rescue From Gilligan's Island" was recorded off TV by me when it first aired on NBC as a two-part special on October 14 and October 21, 1978. As you can see, since I "broadcast" it on "The Tape and Record Show" as half-hours, it doubled the parts to four. The original cassettes were "Sears" brand.

Once again, to complete episode 41 as close as possible to the original TRSE "broadcast" version, I had to do some cassette repair. The "Concertape" brand cassette the audio for the "Gilligan's Island" episode I needed was missing the felt pressure pad, so I pried the tape housing apart (second day in a row I've had to do that) and transferred the tape spools to a new housing. This makes the second old Radio Shack branded cassette from the era (late 1970's) in which the pressure pad has fallen off, the first being the "TRS On Location at Skatetown" broadcast version. At least the Radio Shack tapes are significantly easier to pry apart than whatever brand I had to pry apart yesterday.

This evening's Tape & Record Show Enterprises digitization project started off poorly. The main cassette I needed for the first episode I transferred had a broken leader in the tape housing. The cassette was one of those where the two sides of the housing were glued, instead of having screws holding it together, and when I say "glued", I mean GLUED! Thought I'd never get the thing pried apart to get to the tape reels. Needless to say, I had to totally destroy the housing to extract the tape inside so I could splice it back to the leader. After splicing, I transferred it to another housing. In order to transfer the episode, I HAD to fix the "master tape", since this wasn't one which was "remastered" to a new cassette later in the 1980's. Not sure the "brand" of cassette since the original label was LONG gone.

"The Tape & Record Show: Episode 35. Broadcast Saturday, August 4,1979 at 2:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). Two hour special. "Sanford and Son: Lamont Goes African / Bank on This / The Hawaiian Connection, Parts 1-3" / "The Dick Cavett Show: Guest Bob Hope (Part One)".

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 36. Broadcast Sunday, August 5,1979 at 2:00pm central. Theme Music: Who Put The Line In Gasoline?(Jerry Reed). "Gunsmoke: A Quiet Day In Dodge" - Matt Dillon rides wearily into Dodge City after thirty-six hours in the saddle. At the office he can't get to sleep because Festus is so exuberant about everything. In the course of the day Matt fights with a prisoner and is stabbed with a fork. Kitty will not talk to him because duty caused him to miss a picnic. There is a brawl in the Longbranch Saloon. A young boy locks a crotchety old woman in a safe that has no available combination. Finally, Matt takes things into his own hands. / "Looney Tunes: What's Opera, Doc?" - Elmer Fudd is again hunting rabbits - only this time it's an opera. Wagner's Siegfried with Elmer as the titular hero and Bugs as Brunnhilde."

This was the first "two hour special" edition of the flagship "The Tape and Record Show". Can't remember much from 42 years ago, but I'm fairly certain I MUST have compiled the "90 Minute Sanford and Son Movie" in the episode at least a couple years BEFORE I actually started "The Tape and Record Show", mainly because I made a short announcement during the "Sanford and Son" theme, and either I was a bit younger when I recorded that in comparison to the time I recorded the "Tape and Record Show" theme music, or I was exposed to some helium before I made the announcement. Voice was definitely "higher pitched".

Even before TRSE, I was apparently attempting "creative editing", to fit five episodes of "Sanford and Son" into a 90 minute time slot, and that was from recording the material from the TV "live", since I had no way of duplicating tapes back in those days. Then again, I had been watching the "Sanford and Son" reruns in syndication on the local KTVE-10 for quite some time, so I was familiar with the episodes, having seen them more than once by then.

The "Dick Cavett Show" episode was from his PBS show years. Yes, I've ALWAYS "skewed" older, even in my younger years.

As for episode 36 of "The Tape and Record Show", the "Gunsmoke" audio was recorded on the ever high quality "Murphy's Mart" brand cassette (sarcasm). At least, even though fidelity wasn't great, the tape needed no "repairs" after all these years! There was some strange faint "bleed-over" in reverse however at the end and beginning of each side of the cassette. I got lazy and didn't dig through the "archives" to find my "original audio" of the cartoon short used to pad the episode out to sixty minutes for this transfer, I just ripped the audio from the copy on HBO Max. Same short from the original "broadcast" though, so it's still accurate.

This evening, ran across the first two half hour episodes of the "flagship" series "The Tape & Record Show" in which I didn't have an earlier cassette "remaster" available, episodes 30 and 31, so had to assemble them from scratch. I MUST have done a remaster in the 80's, since a few episodes after those two were remastered. I just couldn't locate the remastered versions. Luckily, I found the original 42 year old audio cassettes I recorded from the TV in 1979, deep in the closet. I'm still positive there will be a few episodes down the line where the materials won't be found.

"The Tape & Record Show: Episode 30. Broadcast Monday, July 30,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). "Sanford and Son: Sanford and Gong" - Fred, Lamont, Donna and Bubba attend a taping of "The Gong Show" and are inspired to audition as contestants, bringing their musical act onto the show. / Instrumental Interlude featuring music from the Harold Lloyd silent movie TV showings.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 31. Broadcast Tuesday, July 31,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). "Sanford and Son: The Barracuda" - Fred's in love and engaged to be married, but not if Lamont can help it.. (Part One) / Instrumental Interlude featuring music from the Harold Lloyd silent movie TV showings.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 32. Broadcast Wednesday, August 1,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). "Sanford and Son: TV or Not TV" - In need of a new color television, Fred is upset when Lamont decides to spend the money instead on a new car. Lamont has a change of heart, however, when Fred wanders away from home and is taken to the hospital - with an apparent case of amnesia. / Will Rogers Commentary.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 33. Broadcast Thursday, August 2,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). "Sanford and Son: The Suitcase Case" - Lamont's daily haul of junk includes a tattered briefcase stuffed with stolen cash. Will Fred and Lamont decide whether to keep it or turn it over to the police before the crook it belongs to comes looking for it? / Will Rogers Commentary.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 34. Broadcast Friday, August 3,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). Steve Martin stand-up excerpt / "Sanford and Son: The Return of the Barracuda" - Fred and Donna kiss and make up, sparking Lamont to hatch new plans for putting the kibosh on Cupid. (Part Two)."

Seems I occasionally went on a "marathon week" binge every so often at the time. The week from July 16-20th, 1979 was full of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" episodes. The week from July 30th-August 4th, 1979 was full of "Sanford and Son" episodes. The episodes definitely weren't in original broadcast order on "The Tape and Record Show" "broadcasts", since Donna was an established character in the first TRS episode that week, but the next day's episode, Fred and Donna went on their first date. I really had no sense of "organization" with the "archives" in the TRSE organization when I was 13 years old. It's a wonder I even located one of the original tapes needed, since the episode names weren't on the C-120 cassette. Four episodes on the tape, and it was only labeled as "Sanford and Son".

Also, "18-32" must be common for combination locks. It was the first two numbers in Fred's safe combination in episode 33, and as I remember, it was the first two numbers for the "Master" lock I had on my locker in high school.

Didn't digitize much of the Tape & Record Show Enterprises "archives" this evening. Between the live "Stu's Show" running long, then afterwards spending time digging through the piles of mostly unorganized cassettes to attempt to locate the tapes needed for projects coming up soon, I didn't start on tonight's project until around 11:30pm...

"The Tape & Record Show: Episode 28. Broadcast Saturday, July 28,1979 at 2:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). Elvis Presley "Aloha From Hawaii, Part One". Actress Ann-Margret hosts a retrospective of Elvis' 1973 TV special. Songs: See See Rider, Burning Love, Something, You Gave Me A Mountain, Steamroller Blues, Early Morning Rain. / Instrumental Interlude featuring music from the Harold Lloyd silent movie TV showings / Elvis special continued: My Way, Love Me, Johnny B. Goode, Blue Suede Shoes, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, I Can't Stop Loving You, Hound Dog, What Now My Love? / Will Rogers Commentary.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 29. Broadcast Sunday, July 29,1979 at 2:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). Elvis Presley "Aloha From Hawaii, Part Two". Actress Ann-Margret hosts a retrospective of Elvis' 1973 TV special. Songs: Fever, Welcome To My World, Suspicious Minds, I'll Remember You, Long Tall Sally, Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On, Hawaiian Wedding Song, Ku-u-i-po. / Instrumental Interlude featuring music from the Harold Lloyd silent movie TV showings / Elvis special continued: American Trilogy, Big Hunk of Love, I Can't Help Falling In Love With You. / Will Rogers Commentary / "Looney Tunes: Rabbit Romeo" - Elmer Fudd's Uncle Judd gives him a huge, lovesick Slobovian rabbit who falls for Bugs Bunny."

Since the "Tape and Record Show" Elvis NBC TV special episodes were "remastered" onto new cassettes back in 1988/89, I used audio from the VHS releases of the specials, so the main content of those remasters sound considerably better than the cassettes I originally recorded with a monophonic cassette recorder microphone held up to a 70's era TV speaker. The Ann-Margret segments have "authentic" sound quality however, since I had to use the tapes I recorded off the TV when NBC re-aired the specials after Elvis' death for her bumper segments. Those segments weren't on the VHS releases of the specials.

The "NRA" referred to by Will Rogers in his commentary in episode 28 was the "National Recovery Administration", NOT the current domestic terrorist organization.

Granted, the extended "Instrumental Interludes" to pad the episodes out to an hour could have been replaced with something more "exciting" in the remasters, but since that was what was used in the original "broadcast", I left it "as is" to recreate as close as possible the way I heard the shows when I originally pieced them together. I had a VERY limited budget at the time in 1979. Still almost a month before I'd turn 14.

Worked on transferring more episodes of the flagship Tape & Record Show Enterprises series "The Tape & Record Show" to digital this evening...

"The Tape & Record Show: Episode 24. Broadcast Sunday, July 22,1979 at 2:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). Elvis Presley 1968 Television Special Part Two. Actress Ann-Margret hosts a retrospective of Elvis' NBC Singer TV special. Songs: Trying To Get To You, What Do You Want Me To Do, One Night(With You), Blue Christmas, Nothingville, Guitar Man / Instrumental Interlude featuring music from the Harold Lloyd silent movie TV showings / Elvis special continued: Let Yourself Go, Guitar Man, Big Boss Man, It Hurts Me, Guitar Man, Little Egypt, Trouble, Guitar Man, If I Can Dream / Will Rogers Commentary.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 25. Broadcast Monday, July 23,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). "Monty Python's Flying Circus: Mr. and Mrs. Brian Norris' Ford Popular" / Will Rogers Commentary.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 26. Broadcast Thursday, July 26,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). "The Little Rascals: Bored Of Education" - It's the first day of school, and Spanky and Alfalfa have cooked up a scheme to be sent home. Spanky fixes up Alfalfa with a phony toothache by blowing up a balloon in his mouth to create the illusion of swelling. But the new teacher has overheard their scheme. She sends them home, but only after letting them know about the ice cream that's on its way to the classroom. / Will Rogers Commentary / "The Little Rascals: Hearts Are Thumps" - The gang promises to keep away from girls on St. Valentine's Day, but Alfalfa can't resist Darla.

The Tape & Record Show: Episode 27. Broadcast Friday, July 27,1979 at 5:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). "The Little Rascals: Hide and Shriek" - Detective Alfalfa and his assistants Buckwheat and Porky try to solve a missing-candy case but find themselves in an amusement park haunted house. / Will Rogers Commentary / "The Little Rascals: Hi'-Neighbor!" - The gang decides to build their own fire engine."

Since no "broadcast info" cards are in the files for July 24th or 25th, I'm assuming I either didn't have time, or didn't bother with any episodes on those days, since there are no gaps in the episode numbers on the cards.

The versions of these earliest episodes I'm currently using for the transfers are cassette tape based "remasters" I made of the episodes in 1987/88. The first couple of seasons, I was working with only a portable monophonic cassette recorder, so had no duplication capability. When listening to a "broadcast" back then, I'd put in the theme music cassette, play it, put in the "content" or "main feature" of the episode cassette, play that, then put the tape in at the end with the closing theme. These late 80's transfers have really "sped up" the transfers of the earliest episodes of "The Tape & Record Show", since I don't have to go "digging" for things.

Things will start to get "interesting" with the transfers of the "flagship" show after episode 33 however. Thirty-three was the most I "remastered" back then, so after that, I'll basically have to resort to transferring the episodes the way I originally played them. I'll have to dig deep in the closet, try to locate the ORIGINAL cheap cassettes I used to record audio from TV and records onto, and piece them together from scratch. I didn't really start actively duplicating the tapes into "episode format" onto other cassettes until season four. I'm fairly certain after all these years, there will be some "gaps/missing episodes" of the flagship series, either due to missing source material or cassettes which can't be salvaged in playable condition. I'll just have to do as much as I can.

Of course, starting that first series in 1979, and just being ME in the organization until Randy Haney made his first recording for TRSE in 1981, I had no idea it would later have Jerry Sanders, James Stricklin, Paul Morrison contribute. Our recording equipment slowly improved during those years, and I also started buying higher quality cassettes, not those three in a pack for $2.00 cheapies from "T.G. & Y".

Granted, I haven't even scratched the surface of the later series featuring the above names (except Randy, he had a short output), but since I'm wanting to preserve as MUCH of the ENTIRE Tape & Record Show Enterprises content as possible from beginning to end, figured I'd better get started on the "flagship" series, since there are over 450 of those total. Hopefully the desktop and cassette deck will hold up.

Descriptions of episodes I'm posting for "The Tape & Record Show" are, for the most part, new descriptions, not copied verbatim from the original handwritten index cards. "Broadcast Dates", "Episode Numbers", and "Theme Music" descriptions are from the cards however. The reason I've changed descriptions a bit for the digital conversion files is for accuracy. After audio taping material from television back then, I had no inkling of the ACTUAL episode titles, so on the original cards, my episode titles were a "best guess" due to subject matter. For these remasters, I'm using the internet and finding the CORRECT episode titles for the TV soundtracks. No internet available in the late 1970's/early 1980's.

Perhaps I'm "overthinking" this entire digitization/preservation project, since I'm probably the only person interested in hearing them again. But then again, by keeping a written record of "broadcast" dates and episode contents from the beginning, even before I turned 14 years old, maybe I was "overthinking" even THEN! But being an only child, with few friends at the time, I had to find ways to keep myself "entertained". Surprisingly, over 40 years later, I'm actually being "entertained" by this project, even though parts of the project will be an enormous PITA at times!

Ongoing Tape & Record Show Enterprises archive digitization is ongoing. This evening's projects from the 1980's cassette tape "broadcast" recordings, in order of transfer...

"Orbit's Independent Sampler: Episode 17. Broadcast Wednesday, November 19, 1986 at 8:00pm central. Theme Music: The Peter Gunn Theme(The Blues Brothers Band). Songs include: Pick Up The Deck(The Tail Gators), Hep Cats In Big Town(Sam Myers/Anson Funderburg), I Just Kept Lovin' Her(Little Walter), Kansas City Blues(Big Joe Turner), Kitty's Back(Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band), I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know(Blood, Sweat, and Tears).

Orbit's Independent Sampler: Episode 18. Broadcast Wednesday, November 26, 1986 at 8:00pm central. Theme Music: The Peter Gunn Theme(The Blues Brothers Band). Songs include: Pick Up The Deck(The Tail Gators), Back Door(Leroy Brothers), Get Rhythm(NRBQ), Ring of Fire(Dwight Yokam), Silk Roads(Kitaro), Chocolate Fudge(Manheim Steamroller), Flexibility(Bella Fleck)."

"The TRS Scrap Pile: Episode 17. Broadcast Monday, July 9, 1984 at 9:30pm central. Theme Music: Burt Reynold's House/If You Love Me Tell Me Loud(John Morris/Mel Brooks). In this week's scrap pile: "King Tut"(Steve Martin), "Say Say Say"(Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson), Richard Pryor talks about the Mafia, excerpts from the classic Warner Brothers films "Back From The Chain Gang" and "42nd Street", "Shoppin' From A to Z(Toni Basil), and a comedy skit by Bill Dana as "Jose Jimenez".

The TRS Scrap Pile: Episode 18. Broadcast Monday, July 16, 1984 at 9:30pm central. Theme Music: Burt Reynold's House/If You Love Me Tell Me Loud(John Morris/Mel Brooks). In this week's scrap pile: W.C. Fields discusses Father's Day, "Once In A Lifetime(Talking Heads), excerpt from the classic film "Captain Blood", "Lovelite"(O'Bryan), and Benny Hill appears as a tour guide."

"The Tape & Record Show: Episode 23. Broadcast Saturday, July 21,1979 at 2:00pm central. Theme Music: King Tut(Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons). Elvis Presley 1968 Television Special Part One. Actress Ann-Margret hosts a retrospective of Elvis' NBC Singer TV special. Songs: Trouble, What Do You Want Me To Do, Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, All Shook Up, I Can't Help Falling In Love With You, Jailhouse Rock, Don't Be Cruel, Love Me Tender / Instrumental Interlude featuring music from the Harold Lloyd silent movie TV showings / Elvis special continued: Are You Lonesome Tonight?, Where Could I Go But To The Lord, Up Above My Head, Saved, That's All Right / Will Rogers Commentary"

The "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" song Dennis Goodwin spun in episode 17 of "Orbit's Independent Sampler" had a tiny skip at one point. Reminded me of some of the TRSE "in studio" recordings made by the organization back then.

Episode 17 of "The TRS Scrap Pile" is basically episode 14 of the series, but minus the "War of the Worlds" 1938 radio program "news break" interruptions.

More "cheating" involved with episode 23 of the flagship show of the organization, "The Tape & Record Show". I used a "remaster" I made in 1988 for the digitization, also on audio cassette, but with better equipment at the time. By then, I had the Elvis TV special on an official VHS release, so used the audio from that instead of the audio from the mono mic held up to a TV speaker from the original NBC rebroadcast after Elvis' death for the first "remaster". The VHS release didn't have Ann-Margret's NBC rebroadcast segments, so those were taken from the original recording I made in the late 70's from the TV speaker, thus the sound quality variance. Since there were no advertisements, I had to "pad" episodes out, thus the silent movie music and old radio segments added to episodes.