by segueking2 » Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:02 pm
If you never used carts and you have the blessing of Burli - you are lucky.
Carts were a pain in the butt.
Bulking carts. Remember the buzz of the flat black surface, and then you'd pull them away so they remained clean, as you cut the power...?
The noisy machine with the lever that engaged the puck would go THUNK> and it sounded crappy if you tried to cheat and load a cart while you had the channel open, while on mike.
CKDA had the worst - they were old bulky RCA's.
I liked the six stacker, and we all thought that was really the edge of technology. I used to have to use a telex machine to order music from the record companies......and yes, we had yellow paper spewing teletype machines, usually buried in their own sound proofing containers.
I was on the air when man landed on the moon, and when there was something earth shattering, the news bells on the teletype would go haywire. When Armstrong was about to step from the LEM - all the teletypes stopped...and we waited....and when he hit the surface....the newsroom erupted with all 4 machines from all four agencies letting fly.
Hugh Curtis was the Mayor of Victoria, and he also read the six o'clock major at CFAX. I had been an op for about three months, when I had the fearsome job of opping for 'his worship'.
He would have a stack of drop in and voicer carts from here to the ceiling, and one night I got them moments before "CFAX Acutron time is 6 o'clock......."......and I dropped all the paper cue sheets on the floor.
I had no idea what was coming and when. All those carts had lead sheets and nothing but scrawled labels in pencil, I couldn't read.
I had the sweats and the whole cast went horribly wrong. Curtis comes flying into the control room and kicks the chair and calls me a " F******G DONKEY..."
Carts......I loved them.
I would try and freak out the stoners, when I worked all night in Prince Geoge and I confess, while I worked at CFUN, too.
I would record a song on a 3 minute clean audipak cart.
I would FIRE the cart and at the same time start the 45, on cue.....as I dragged or sped up the 45...it would start to 'phase'. (*Arbors - The Letter, and Toni Fisher - The Big Hurt had hits with the effect....)....when it would start to get really interesting, I would fade up the 45 and the effect was subtle but on the air nonetheless.
I did that with a song called "Silver Moon" by Mike Nesmith and I had some guy call me,on the request line, swearing that he heard God singing in the chorus....
One more.
It was always swell to switch carts on a fellow jock.
I took "Walking in the Rain with the One I love" and included a very slick edit....
I should explain....towards the end of the crappy love song and some rainy sound effects.....the tune switches....and then the song has a phone ringing, and then a sultry voiced woman singer from the trio answers, and it is Barry White on the other end....(* he's the producer).....
...and they have some pillow talk.
Since all 'the hits' are on cart....or most of them.....you can switch a 3 minutes for a 5-6 minute cart with only slightly more heft...and the jock won't notice the switch...unless you are ready for it.....so....
Well - I switched it so the song had the phone ringing and no one answers...and it just rings and rings......and it goes on for about 5-6 minutes...
Jim Hault finally realizes he has been had and he comes on as "Big Alice" and starts arguing with Jim....about not payin' the phone bill.....
I loved carts.
Can't imagine anyone doing that and getting away with it now!