Back in the mid-1980s I was the Jazz
Music Director at an NPR affiliate (KCHO-FM)
in Chico, CA. While delivering the goods
for great jazz radio was my primary mission,
I also took over a Sunday evening time slot
that had been a "Golden Age of Radio"
program, focused mostly on the 1930s and
1940s old time radio and music. The replacement
show was a modern spin on a similar idea.
The show, KCHO Sunday Nite, featured jazz,
comedy, radio satire, science fiction, spoken
word, and even live jazz concerts from the
confines of our basement studio deep in
the bowels of the Merriam Library at California
State University, Chico. Something must
have worked since it made #4 in the ratings
for that time slot in the market.
This hour revisits some of the feeling
of Sunday Nite, excepting of course for
all of the great science fiction shorts,
radio drama, Bob and Ray, Ken Nordine, Ruby
the Intergalactic Gumshoe, and so much more.
But then again, we do revisit some of the
music and comedic threads that made the
show so much fun to do. Even for those who
did not like the spoken word aspects, it
was arguably still a showcase for top of
the mark jazz, whether recorded, or locally
produced. It was creativity, at the cross
roads of jazz and comedy.
So sit back, or stand up, and take a
listen. If this hour tickled your fancy,
you can find more authentic episodes of
KCHO Sunday
Nite on this web site. I apologize for
the less than stellar fidelity of those
recordings, but the creativity of that time
still shines through.
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