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Art Bell

Started by sillydog, April 07, 2008, 11:21:45 PM

sillydog

He doesn't care about Hollywood, he wants to know about physics and the big questions.  What made the show great is to contemplate some very weird stuff that was a tangent from something that you needed a few brain cells to rub together to get.  I mean, he has all kinds of scientists on and it's not boring.  Only Art could do that.

With some actual opinions of his own and some very sensible rules for good radio conduct, he presided over an orderly nut house.  Like a really good party that hovers right on the edge of chaos, but no one ever has to call the cops.

He travelled, he lived and he loved.  Only interesting people can do interesting radio.  Hence, the Noory problem.

ArtBellFan

Great post sillydog.....my attraction is the science and physics, not only my attraction but passion, UFO's and the paranormal interest me also, but theoretical physics gets me every time, Art not only comes prepared but his genuine interest and knowledge shines through.

DougBoy

As a Senior Insomniac, I liked Art Bell for another reason. 
For 20 years, I could not sleep through the night and before I got on to Art Bell I spent a lot of time
just tossing and turning in bed.  Then I got on to Art's show and it changed my life around quite a bit.
I actually looked forward to going to bed and I had the radio with earphones on all the time.
It was a real treat and I thoroughly enjoyed the shows.  For the past 10 years or so, I leave my radio on all the time and when I wake up in the middle of the night, I just grab my earphones and spend some time listening to the show.
I think that there might be a lot of Seniors that do the same thing.

Lately, I've had to switch over to other radio stations like KGO in San Fran or the Phil Hendrie show but its not the same.  Sure miss Art.

I guess it was Art's ability to let his listeners know that he really cared about them.

DougBoy

Doug same here, Art made insomnia fun, haha. If you were tired the next day at least you felt like you really got something out of it. I still have insomnia but I have spent a lot of time find some really amazing podcasts. Unsubbing, and giving up on George was one of my better decisions.
I miss the "live" aspect of Arts show though...but I see even a few of my favourite podcasts are going live now too.

Yeah SillyDog, I agree. Art has a really good balance as a human being. The kind of person I would invite to dinner. The nuthouse was often not that orderly... and maybe the new maybe made him feel as if it wasn't worth it. He had so much trouble in the past. I just remember being so happy go lucky when I lived on Venice Beach... but when I found out I was pregnant with my first child, I seriously lost my sense of humour about the unpredictible diversity. This must have been multiplied in the thousands for Art.
If anyone wants to PM me I have a list of podcasts that are really pretty good. Or if anyone has any they think I'd like send them.


Queen

ok ok ok

I just listend to c2c  1998 11-11  with guest David Icke (ike not icky lol)

On that show Art states he has been doing the show for 14 years and to me it sounds like he's refering to doing the show from his home.  Now if that is the case go back 14 years from 1998 is 1984.  So I think it can be safe to say Coast to Coast Am with Art Bell (aliens) at least in 1984. Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell (political) who knows when LOL.  According to the Art of Talk Alan Corbuth sp? Suggested the studio should be in Art's house. Now if Art is refering to doing the show from his house then I think we can say before 1984 for the birth of Coast To Coast AM with Art Bell (Aliens). The Art of Talk says management flipped when Art changed the format (politics/Aliens) untill they saw the rattings. Anywho, thats about where I think the show started 1984.
Now all we need are some GNS MIB's to track down people who taped and listend back then and get there tapes lol.

I think the show started yesterday. (Like Michio Kaku, I don't believe in the linear nature of time. This has made it difficult for me to hold a steady job or keep dentist appointments.)

Queen

just jump back thru the worm hole to when u didnt need a dentist :P

Inayity

Quote from: NIN on April 24, 2009, 06:19:26 PM
Now all we need are some GNS MIB's to track down people who taped and listend back then and get there tapes lol.

Indeed.  I have a feeling there are lots of folks out there with private collections which could be pretty impressive.  I think the earliest show of his I ever caught was sometime in 89/90/91 at the latest.  While the show wasn't all that different it definitely had a different feel to it.  But I digress.

Anyway, if a single individual is responsible for the hoard of episodes of "Open Mind with Bill Jenkins", I can only imagine what a motivated individual could do to track down audiotapes in their community, digitize them and upload them to the communal funk-o-sphere.

I'm still optimistic.

I recall that, like back in the late '90's Art used to give over-the-air instructions on how to use your VCR to tape the C2C audio since audio cassette tapes wouldn't hold the whole program.

Queen

yep he use to, his shows use to be free  to  listen to online till i think early 2000, then all of a sudden you had to pay for it by subscribing to the website and streamlink was formed.

and streamlink was formed

I think that was about the time SkyNet went online, too.

MV/Liberace!

Quote from: RecoveringNoorholic on May 22, 2009, 01:14:33 AM
and streamlink was formed

I think that was about the time SkyNet went online, too.
hahaha

slipstream

Quote from: RecoveringNoorholic on May 18, 2009, 09:07:02 PM
I recall that, like back in the late '90's Art used to give over-the-air instructions on how to use your VCR to tape the C2C audio since audio cassette tapes wouldn't hold the whole program.


   Thanks to Art that is the way I recoreded lots of radio programs.


    In 1995 (and later) I recall there being a sizable archive of Art Bell shows hosted on Audionet (later broadcast.com).  A year doesn't go by without me wishing I had downloaded all those shows.
:'(   When Art came back in 2001 he referenced these audio files by saying he believed they were gone.  If they are still around somewhere my best guess is that Yahoo now owns them.

Loui Zoot

I remember when I was about 10 (over 20 years ago) I tried hooking the yellow and white outs on my VCR to the red and white ins on my tape deck. Hoping I could record video onto an audio cassette. I didn't work, as you can well guess. One of my childhood experiments that didn't get me into trouble.

High kudos for the great forum! It's good to know I'm not the only one who misses hearing that voice coming out of the high desert in the dead of night. Coast to Coast Am is a dull and uninteresting place without Art Bell.

For the record, I am an insufferable skeptic. I don't believe in Bigfoot, ghosts, or alien abductions. I am willing to consider such possibilities, however I have yet to see any convincing empirical evidence of their existence. Nevertheless, Coast to Coast with Art Bell was the only radio show I always made it a point not to miss. Not because I wanted to deride the sometimes preposterous guests or topics, but because Art always made the whole thing so damned interesting. It was fun, like telling ghost stories around the campfire.

When that bumper music started, and that inimitable voice came out of the darkness, talking about Mel's Hole, or Atlantis, or cattle mutilations, we could forget, at least for a few hours, what a crummy day we'd had. It wasn't the subject matter so much as the way Art did the show. He was a master of the art of radiocraft, who, like the greatest actors of our age, could read the proverbial phone book and have us hanging on every word. He is Anthony Hopkins to George Noory's Chuck Norris. (No offense, George.) Coast to Coast AM became a cultural phenomenon because of Art Bell. Because of that voice, that delivery, that ominously rueful Vincent Price chuckle. It was like live suspense theater. Every night felt like War of the Worlds.

When Art stopped doing the show on a regular basis a few years back, I tried to stay on as a listener, but could never make it through an entire episode. George Noory seemed like a nice enough fellow, but amiability doesn't necessarily make for riveting radio. Ian Punnett was inoffensive enough at first, but these days when I hear his voice, I can't get to the knob fast enough. Intentional or not, there is an insinuating know-it-all smugness about Ian that makes me crazier than Nicole Kidman. Whenever I listen to Ian, I always have the feeling that (1) he's smirking behind the microphone, and (2) that he genuinely believes he's much cleverer than anybody else--which he clearly is not. I don't know whether this persona is cultivated or unwitting, but it is enormously disagreeable.

So I rarely listen to Coast to Coast anymore. I've tried, but I always lose interest. It just reminds me of how great the show used to be when Art was at the helm, and of how mediocre it has become. 

Grand days, those. I wish Art would come back.

Wow...I too am not a big believer in much of what is discussed on CTC, but I do believe there is something strange in the air:  I was planning on posting a topic much like yours.  I sat down, went to the website, and there was your post.  I could have wrote it myself.  I agree with your comments 100%.  (I bear with Ian only because I believe he means well, despite the fact that he can not deliver).

Time can make us forget much.  I listened to Bell religiously when he was on.  I stuck around for awhile with Noory, but after a few months of him being full time, I slowly gravitated away.  I have only recently come back on board, and only for Ian and Knapp shows.  I NEVER listen to Noory, it only makes me depressed.  I have caught most of Art's recent shows, but overall I forgot how great he was. Untill last night.  I found the link on this site to the 24/7 streaming Art Bell and I caught some shows that included string theory, einstein and open lines.  It kept me glued to my computer (while I played Tetris) for 3 hours.

My main point that I want to focus on is his abilities to command open lines.   Not just his ability to handle them, but the type of callers that called in:  People mostly sane who had legitimate knowledge of science.  PEOPLE THAT ARE COMPLETELY GONE NOW AS LISTENERS.  Judging by the calls that make it on to Noory shows, serious people don't waste their time calling in to talk to a dumbass like Noory.

I feer that was has been lost can never come back.

My advice, try not to  lost sleep (you have no motivation to as long as Norry is manning the phones).  Try downloading old time radio shows like Suspense, lights out, and Dragnet.  They will give you theatre of the mind much like Art did.  There is a radio station out of PA called WNAR AM  it plays old time radio 24 hours a day and is available for streaming.  Mix that with old streaming Art, and you will enjoy your life. 


1) we know Art is rich because of his sale to Premiere
2) we know that Art loves his new life, and enjoys travelling

but....
1) do we have any clue if Art still cares for his show?  by this I mean really care, as in more than a guest host cares.
2) do we have any clue if Art maintains ANY level of creative control over the program?
3) do we know why Art never met Noory in person untill just recently?
4) do we know if Art monitors any of the coast forums that criticize Noory?

I know the man was a salesman, and thus any of his actions must be taken with a grain of salt...but....ive heard shows of his from as recently as 2002 where he seems to passionately talk about the show, the guests, and the listeners...talking as if he was very proud of the show and the topics it brought forward.

most importantly,
1) is there any chance he would come  back to at least full weekend duty?

2) is there any chance he would force Noory out or create a competing program now that his non-compete clause with Premiere has expired?

All good questions -- I suspect most of us don't have firsthand evidence as to the answers.  However, I recall hearing Art claim that the preparatory work for each show ran him down over time and largely contributed to his exit (the proceeds from the sale didn't hurt either!).  Insofar as he older now and is enjoying a more leasurely lifestyle, I doubt he would return or form a competing show.  Nonetheless, enough time has passed since the sale that any non-competes have probably expired.

You want to get rid of Noory?  I suspect the most effective way is to organize a letter (or e-mail) writing campaign en masse to Premier.  I doubt Art Bell would meddle with the current state of affairs of the show, despite how much he may or may not disagree with the course it has taken.

MV/Liberace!

hey marc...
the two videos you posted weren't displaying properly, and while trying to fix it i screwed up your whole post.  could you post them again?  sorry.


Marc.Knight

Quote from: MV on March 04, 2010, 06:46:59 AM
hey marc...
the two videos you posted weren't displaying properly, and while trying to fix it i screwed up your whole post.  could you post them again?  sorry.


Midnight in the Desert

My Tribute to Art Bell. Set to The Highwaymen.


Nebraska888



Well said, "Traveling E."........is there anything we can do to get GN to retire???!!!!

Nebraska888

I agree with Tom.   I suspect Art is quite content in his new life with his new wife and little girl.  I don't see him ever committing to any firm "contractual" agreement.  His sporadic appearances just keep us feverishly wanting him to return as host!

EvB

I dunno if this is Art or a lookalike.  Either way it's funny as hell.


art bell compares aluminum foil

starrmtn001

Quote from: Marc Knight on March 04, 2010, 06:39:21 PM

Midnight in the Desert

My Tribute to Art Bell. Set to The Highwaymen.


Excellent post Marc.  Had tears by the time "Highwaymen" finished.

I would post my thoughts on how I also miss Art at the helm but I would just be echoing Traveling Executioner and C2C Weekends, however I do like Ian.  That being said, no one will ever "fill Art's shoes."

Marc.Knight

Quote from: starrmtn001 on April 01, 2010, 05:36:18 PM

Excellent post Marc.  Had tears by the time "Highwaymen" finished.

I would post my thoughts on how I also miss Art at the helm but I would just be echoing Traveling Executioner and C2C Weekends, however I do like Ian.  That being said, no one will ever "fill Art's shoes."




I cannot explain it, but my "soul" is somehow inextricably tied to the Great Art Bell show.  It was a chapter in my life that was immensely improved by listening to Art every night.  Art's contribution to exciting and riveting radio can be described as providing something that was somehow "greater than the whole". 


By contrast, we now endure "less than the whole" with the current seat warmer at C2C.

valdez

     I'm not one to start threads frivolously, but there was no thread to cover any and all comments on Art.  There are a bunch that are very specific to one show, or his cats, or his wife and kid, or streaming something or other, or his taste in shoes, but no place where a guy can go and just comment on the Master, whenever he surfaces, from where ever he may be...

valdez

     Astrologist David Grinspoon said that aleins are probably not going to travel across the universe just to eat us, but he couldn't rule out a good ass-kicking.  A lot of open line callers sounded drunker than usual, and what happened to Cat Stevens?
     

imperial252

I only caught about 45 minutes of the show on my way to work very early this morning. I thought David Grinspoon was interesting. It was great to hear Art's voice again, almost like an old friend you haven't heard from for a long time.

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