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Rating: 
Summary: Put Your Hands on the Radio (and this book)
Review: Most books about US radio history are written like a doctoral thesis or ex-dj's gossip gabfests. The non-fiction book tells true tales of tall characters, with enough information sprinkled through to make radio geeks interested. If this were fiction, you'd swear the characters were invented by Kinky Friedman. After reading several books on radio history in recent years, this stands as one of the most informative and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Put Your Hands on the Radio (and this book)
Review: Most books about US radio history are written like a doctoral thesis or ex-dj's gossip gabfests. The non-fiction book tells true tales of tall characters, with enough information sprinkled through to make radio geeks interested. If this were fiction, you'd swear the characters were invented by Kinky Friedman. After reading several books on radio history in recent years, this stands as one of the most informative and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: I Heard it on the ' X '
Review: This book introduces us to the colorful world of a bygone era, that of border radio. Brilliant technicians constructed gargantuan transmitters along the border towns of Texas/Mexico and beamed their signal into all of North America - one angry resident complained that was ALL he could get on his radio. These stations were distinguished by their call signs that began with an 'X'. This spawned an industry of singers, politicians, preachers and pitchman the type we now see on "infomercials". Mail was the barometer of the day - the more mail you "pulled" in from listeners the more clout you carried with stations - "keep those cards and letters coming!" New Federal regulations put an end to this wild world but not until the airwaves crackled with everyone from Wolfman Jack to the Rev. Ike - "get out of the ghetto and get into the get-mo!" This is a marvelously written treasure trove that will be welcomed by anyone interested in radio, salesmanship, and American sub-cultures and the bizarre.
Rating:
Summary: I Heard it on the ' X '
Review: This book introduces us to the colorful world of a bygone era, that of border radio. Brilliant technicians constructed gargantuan transmitters along the border towns of Texas/Mexico and beamed their signal into all of North America - one angry resident complained that was ALL he could get on his radio. These stations were distinguished by their call signs that began with an 'X'. This spawned an industry of singers, politicians, preachers and pitchman the type we now see on "infomercials". Mail was the barometer of the day - the more mail you "pulled" in from listeners the more clout you carried with stations - "keep those cards and letters coming!" New Federal regulations put an end to this wild world but not until the airwaves crackled with everyone from Wolfman Jack to the Rev. Ike - "get out of the ghetto and get into the get-mo!" This is a marvelously written treasure trove that will be welcomed by anyone interested in radio, salesmanship, and American sub-cultures and the bizarre.
Rating:
Summary: Radio History At Its Best
Review: We're all familiar with infomercials promising miracle diets, TV preachers promising salvation, and e-mail spam promising riches. Although their transmission means are modern, the scams themselves aren't new. They were a born out of the radio age, through stations sometimes called "border blasters." These were high-power AM broadcasters set up just over the Mexican border to beam music, medical miracles and merchandise to the U.S. in a way never heard before on domestic radio. BORDER RADIO is a wonderful history of the border blaster stations. Fowler and Crawford have compiled an exhaustive history of the stations and personalities in a way that captures the flavor of the times. Some of the radio personalities, like the Goat Gland Doctor, were outright frauds, others, like Wolfman Jack, were the purveyors of the exciting, underground culture of rock-and-roll. All hawked their wares on the border stations, making an impression on American broadcasting, popular music, advertising and merchandising that is still felt today. Superbly detailed, BORDER RADIO covers the evolution of the medium from the early days of the 1930s when hillbilly music and medical quacks ruled the airwaves, to its demise in the 1960s when television and broadcasting treaties silenced the border stations for good. If you love radio and Americana, you won't be able to put this book down. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Radio History At Its Best
Review: We're all familiar with infomercials promising miracle diets, TV preachers promising salvation, and e-mail spam promising riches. Although their transmission means are modern, the scams themselves aren't new. They were a born out of the radio age, through stations sometimes called "border blasters." These were high-power AM broadcasters set up just over the Mexican border to beam music, medical miracles and merchandise to the U.S. in a way never heard before on domestic radio. BORDER RADIO is a wonderful history of the border blaster stations. Fowler and Crawford have compiled an exhaustive history of the stations and personalities in a way that captures the flavor of the times. Some of the radio personalities, like the Goat Gland Doctor, were outright frauds, others, like Wolfman Jack, were the purveyors of the exciting, underground culture of rock-and-roll. All hawked their wares on the border stations, making an impression on American broadcasting, popular music, advertising and merchandising that is still felt today. Superbly detailed, BORDER RADIO covers the evolution of the medium from the early days of the 1930s when hillbilly music and medical quacks ruled the airwaves, to its demise in the 1960s when television and broadcasting treaties silenced the border stations for good. If you love radio and Americana, you won't be able to put this book down. Highly recommended.
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