The Spirit of Christmas

Oh wow, the year is coming to a close and I haven't posted much of anything all summer, and summers gone. Don't know why, actually have quite a bit to say. Well, I'll get back to it, got some research to reveal here! But for now for a heads up on some seasonal programming..

Another day til December comes. It's the month to schedule the holiday spots each day. There's 30 of them, each is less than 120 seconds. Decembers episode-a-day:



The Spirit of Christmas with Lorne Greene (Yeah, the guy from Bonanza). I knew of these at least 15 years ago but forgot all about them until someone mentioned it over at HB recently. My favorite is "Newscast" (#11), it's reminiscent of a 'War of the Worlds' style, but made for the holiday season, as they all are.

There doesn't seem to be much information about this series on the internet. Scott Snailham, who owns the only original tapes known to exist, explains it was produced at a studio in Canada and intended for a one-time syndicated run through December of 1979. After it's run Scott saved the studio distributed reels from being erased (for re-use) at the station he worked at. Sometime later he began sharing copies on the web. Then two years ago remastered them, and continues to share them freely to whoever is interested.

"..All the files here are sourced from the original radio station reel dub masters, not off air broadcasts. Each show includes the intro plus the body of the program which can run between :90 secs and 2 minutes and are now remastered as of december 2017 to improve audio quality and are 320kbps mp3 files..."

He explains he does not own the copyright, but considers them public domain and has been openly sharing them for 20 years without issue. I notice from the picture there's one track is he hasn't shared, track 31, the "Promo Cut". I might just contact him and ask that he include it too, I'd like to have it as well!



On a side note Scott Snailham is the creator/producer of "Cheeze Pleeze", a long running program originally airing on college stations (it's in our list of free programming choices). He's produced over 800 shows so far, which are very unique and enjoyable. You can try the Radio4all site, or if you prefer it as a podcast then subscribe to them HERE. I think it's also available at the internet archive.
And make note: "..next week, we start a "Cheeze Pleeze Christmas… ", So there's another holiday programming option. If you intend to air them then you should contact him, one, so you can directly download, and if for no other reason, then simply as an appreciation gesture. His take on the manner:

http://www.cheezepleeze.com/

"..US Part 15's are welcome. we have a number of canadian LPFM's and college stations and have been on KWSS for years on sunday mornings.  Our show is basically "the wacky warped and weird" every week with two hosts riding around in a van playing cheesy music that has a Dr Demento feel. 30 mins show weekly via mp3 download off our site. Please email us direct for download details for stations as we like to know who is running us, but that's the only thing we really require.   the FAQ also has a quite a bit of info also....part in character and the facts of the content.



Scott also provides a selection of 1940's commercials sourced from his private collection of acetate disc which are worthy of downloading. 1940s Commercials They sound to be excellent quality.
Includes: Weston Soda Biscuits (catchy tune!) Aunt Jemina Pancake Flour (cool!), Wings Cigarettes, Bromo Seltzer, Lifebuoy (several of them, they're hilarious!), Airwick, Luxur Paint, Canadian Red Cross Society (I particularly liked that one), Canada during Wartime (also interesting), and several others.