Hello, Goodbye. Or, "The Farewell Files."

[The General]

How many shows has Art done where he was either saying goodbye or doing a welcome back show?  It seems like there's probably been at least a dozen.  Maybe even a dozen of each.  It would be an amazing playlist to have all of the "farewell" shows and all of the "welcome back" shows in one playlist and listen to them all in sequential order.  Or at least it would be fun to see the dates of each show, and maybe a description of what is causing Art's retirement/return.  Is anybody here a big enough fan with an organized enough database of past shows to put together that list? 

I doubt it.   
But it would be fun to see.
Discuss.

[creepygreenlight]

"Art Bell Presents: Emotional Rollercoaster Through Time, brought to you by Premier Radio..."

[littlechris]

How many shows has Art done where he was either saying goodbye or doing a welcome back show?  It seems like there's probably been at least a dozen.  Maybe even a dozen of each.  It would be an amazing playlist to have all of the "farewell" shows and all of the "welcome back" shows in one playlist and listen to them all in sequential order.  Or at least it would be fun to see the dates of each show, and maybe a description of what is causing Art's retirement/return.  Is anybody here a big enough fan with an organized enough database of past shows to put together that list? 

I doubt it.   
But it would be fun to see.
Discuss.

Well, he's quit a total of 8 times that I know of.

[analog kid]

Retired: October 13, 1998 (reason: threats against family), returned two weeks later

Retired: April 2000 (reason: "resolve a family crisis"), returned February 2001 citing loss of affiliates

Retired: 2002 (reason: back pain), returned September 2003 for Saturday and Sunday broadcasts, moved to last two Sundays of each month in 2005

?

Retired: 2013

Retired: 2015

I don't think I've heard most of these shows.

Source

[The General]

Retired: October 13, 1998 (reason: threats against family), returned two weeks later

Retired: April 2000 (reason: "resolve a family crisis"), returned February 2001 citing loss of affiliates

Retired: 2002 (reason: back pain), returned September 2003 for Saturday and Sunday broadcasts, moved to last two Sundays of each month in 2005

?

Retired: 2013

Retired: 2015

I don't think I've heard most of these shows.

Source

Add to this the following...

-Early 2006 Art announced a move to the Philippines and was gone from the air for several months during the transition.

-On July 1, 2007, Bell announced his retirement stating that he wished to spend more time with his new wife and daughter.

-His final hosting of C2C was Halloween 2010, at the end of the show he cryptically stated... ""When they next call my name we'll come back and we'll do this one more time."

-Bell officially announced a return to the airwaves with a launch date of September 16, 2013 on Sirius.  The show was cancelled 6 weeks later citing a dispute over streaming problems.

-MITD launched July 20 2015

-On December 11, 2015, Bell announced that he had permanently stepped down as host of Midnight in the Desert due to concerns about his family's safety

source
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Bell

[Mind Flayer Monk]

Could he just say "Aloha" ?
It means hello and goodbye at the same time.

[The General]

Could he just say "Aloha" ?
It means hello and goodbye at the same time.

[analog kid]

Add to this the following...

I wouldn't mind listening to such a playlist, but the torrents are sketchy these days, and that's enough shows that it would be a pretty good chore to track them down.

I'm already listening to pretty much nothing but classic coast lately. Still as good an escape as it ever was.

[VENUS FIREBALL XL5]

How many shows has Art done where he was either saying goodbye or doing a welcome back show?  It seems like there's probably been at least a dozen.  Maybe even a dozen of each.  It would be an amazing playlist to have all of the "farewell" shows and all of the "welcome back" shows in one playlist and listen to them all in sequential order.  Or at least it would be fun to see the dates of each show, and maybe a description of what is causing Art's retirement/return.  Is anybody here a big enough fan with an organized enough database of past shows to put together that list? 

I doubt it.   
But it would be fun to see.
Discuss.

That would be so cool.

[Dyna-X]

The last three quits there was no announcement at all on the air (Oct 31, 2010, Oct 31, 2013, Dec 8, 2015) and in 2006 he simply retired from regular weekend hosting so it wasn't as dramatic.

[creepygreenlight]

I wouldn't mind listening to such a playlist, but the torrents are sketchy these days, and that's enough shows that it would be a pretty good chore to track them down.

I'm already listening to pretty much nothing but classic coast lately. Still as good an escape as it ever was.

I hate when the torrents edit out the bumper music, it really kills the vibe of Art's show.

[Dyna-X]

How many shows has Art done where he was either saying goodbye or doing a welcome back show?  It seems like there's probably been at least a dozen.  Maybe even a dozen of each.  It would be an amazing playlist to have all of the "farewell" shows and all of the "welcome back" shows in one playlist and listen to them all in sequential order.  Or at least it would be fun to see the dates of each show, and maybe a description of what is causing Art's retirement/return.  Is anybody here a big enough fan with an organized enough database of past shows to put together that list? 

I doubt it.   
But it would be fun to see.
Discuss.

Funny you should mention a database. Here, I am actually putting together a master list of all the dates, guests (or open lines) shows as I go along. I should probably transfer it into an Excel spreadsheet, where additional notes can be made in fields about sourcing and the quality of copy, duration, etc.  Someone had suggested detailed notes on each one and I don't think enough time in a lifetime exists to do that unless its a crowd sourced effort. (Though there is software that can make rough transcripts to search stuff out)  The data and history on the early shows in the very early 90s as well as the actual shows seem to be hazy and incomplete at best.

Another great use of such a database would be for folks making topical compilations - All the clips of Art talking about cats, JC Calls, Area 51 Bob Lazar related shows, etc.

[albrecht]

Could he just say "Aloha" ?
It means hello and goodbye at the same time.

[cweb]

It had to be done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblYSKz_VnI

[Auslandia]

Retired: October 13, 1998 (reason: threats against family), returned two weeks later

Retired: April 2000 (reason: "resolve a family crisis"), returned February 2001 citing loss of affiliates

Retired: 2002 (reason: back pain), returned September 2003 for Saturday and Sunday broadcasts, moved to last two Sundays of each month in 2005

?

Retired: 2013

Retired: 2015

I don't think I've heard most of these shows.

Source

I was listening during the  2000 one.  He said something to the effect of needing to go off the air for something he could not talk about.

[MV/Liberace!]

How many shows has Art done where he was either saying goodbye or doing a welcome back show?  It seems like there's probably been at least a dozen.  Maybe even a dozen of each.  It would be an amazing playlist to have all of the "farewell" shows and all of the "welcome back" shows in one playlist and listen to them all in sequential order.  Or at least it would be fun to see the dates of each show, and maybe a description of what is causing Art's retirement/return.  Is anybody here a big enough fan with an organized enough database of past shows to put together that list? 

I doubt it.   
But it would be fun to see.
Discuss.

Great idea.

[Hog]

I remember catching the show when Art had come back to the States after his Phillipine living stint. If he had stayed on the island one week longer he wouldnt have been unable to do anymore weekend shows as there was an earthquake that had cut the ocean cables (ISDN line?) that carried his show to the States.  That was a while ago now.

peace
Hog

[jazmunda]

Those Philippines shows were personally hard to listen to. It was bad enough that I had to pretend it was night while listening but to have to pretend that the host was out in the middle of nowhere in the desert in the dead of night whilst also trying to pretend that I was listening at night was just too much suspension of disbelief for my wee imagination.

The collection of these quit and return shows is an interesting idea kind of like how I have a collection of Doctor Who regeneration shows but somehow less fun considering the final outcome. With the last two quittings there is also an online component with the facebook messages that could be sadistically fun easter egg.

[PB the Deplorable]

Those Philippines shows were personally hard to listen to. It was bad enough that I had to pretend it was night while listening but to have to pretend that the host was out in the middle of nowhere in the desert in the dead of night whilst also trying to pretend that I was listening at night was just too much suspension of disbelief for my wee imagination.

The collection of these quit and return shows is an interesting idea kind of like how I have a collection of Doctor Who regeneration shows but somehow less fun considering the final outcome. With the last two quittings there is also an online component with the facebook messages that could be sadistically fun easter egg.

What, you didn't like all those shows on the afterlife, consciousness, and new age junk?  Ongoing speculation about something no one is going to have any actual knowledge of until we die, if then, and endlessly parsing the minutia of what 'consciousness' consists of.  Jeez.  I gave up on Art about a third the way through the Starfire Tor show.  He was done.

[jazmunda]

What, you didn't like all those shows on the afterlife, and consciousness?  I gave up on Art about halfway through the Starfire Tor show.

It seemed that every second week was a climate change show too. I'm not sure how involved Art was in the lining up of guests during that period but I assume that due to his remoteness the guests were probably organized stateside by Premiere.

[PB the Deplorable]

It seemed that every second week was a climate change show too. I'm not sure how involved Art was in the lining up of guests during that period but I assume that due to his remoteness the guests were probably organized stateside by Premiere.

Remember a couple times he talked about a very young Asia saying she talked to a presence in her bedroom?  It sure seemed like Art thought it was Ramona.  I think the types of shows he was doing that I mentioned was about her passing as well.  I didn't even bother with the global warming shows.

[jazmunda]

I honestly don't think I've ever re-listened to a show from 2006 - 2010. As a matter of fact I don't think I've ever re-listened to a full show from 2013 or 2015 except to hear my effeminate sounding voice.

[Sarcastic Plastic]

It's possible financial security made working less attractive. His current net worth is listed at $10 million and some analysts think that's conservative. Do you want to be working at 70 years old?