Why has there never been an alternative to Art?

[chefist]

Yeah.  If I had to take a stab at it, I'd say it had something to do with the genesis of Art's career.  He's basically always been into ham radios and it's like his shows grew out of that inherent desire to reach out and talk to the world and listen back to what the world had to say.  It was a natural growth as opposed to just another guy who went to journalism school then sought out a job at a radio station.

Good points...and he was a trusted purveyor of truth...a Mulder on the radio...powerful

[trostol]

You mean this chode dont ya lol

yes

[trostol]

another issue is...really..the guests do the circuit..all the same shows so in the end there is very little new ..news to report

[chefist]

another issue is...really..the guests do the circuit..all the same shows so in the end there is very little new ..news to report

Exactly ..goes back to the small market explanation. .

[SredniVashtar]

Good points...and he was a trusted purveyor of truth...a Mulder on the radio...powerful

I don't think you listened to Art expecting to hear the truth. I assumed that he expected you to realise that a lot of the guests were full of it and that you were along for the ride. It had more in common with fireside ghost stories than anything else. There was nothing journalistic about it, he was trying to help them tell their stories and you made up your mind if you believed it or not. The fact that - in my opinion - the last show he did failed to catch fire was because a lot of paranormal topics only have so far to go before they get stale. We know that the UFO subject has stalled along with practically everything else because, at a certain point, you want to see something concrete, not just shadows on the wall.

Art was great at what he did, but he was also lucky to be there when the internet really got going. That allowed subjects that were previously only for the initiated to get some traction in the wider public consciousness. Unfortunately, the internet became the undoing for all of these subjects: people had too much information after a while, and what Art was bringing to us seemed like yesterday's news rather than the interesting stuff it was in the 'nineties.

There is always a tendency to look back romantically and assume that it was all great back then and he never had a rough show, but I am sure he had lots of them, we just filter out the duds. I think it helped that he was smart enough to help guide people through these subjects, while not being so smart that he was looking down on it all the time. That helped to engage the average listener. I think, in the end, when he returned he had been too long out of it and had lost a little bit here and there.  That happens to us all, unfortunately.

[Gassy Man]

For me it's entirely style and delivery.  Both Art and Knapp are throwbacks in their style and have so thoroughly become the characters they play over the years that they seem wholly unaffected, unlike Wells, for example.  Their voices are right out of film noir, giving the ridiculous subjects they cover a gravitas that makes it easier to believe, or suspend disbelief, for a while.  Hosts of a younger generation just sound whiny, embarrassed or self-regarding.  They just don't make them like that any more.

I agree, though Art is also one of the most skillful interviewers out there -- perhaps even the best -- and he is able to both carry on a conversation while also winking at the audience when he thinks the guest is full of beans.  The rest are just deejays looking for another gig.

[nooryisawesome]

Why has there never been an alternative to Art?

Rush has dozens of alternatives that have been on the air for years...

Why can't there be one for Art? Yea, Dave sucks...George Knapp is loved, but why hasn't he been offered full time pay?

Why is it Art or nothing?

Kanpp probably could have got a job doing it full time. However, he doesn't want to do it full time. He really doesn't even want to do it part time as he has missed time writing a book, and concentrating on his reporter gig. Knapp already has a full time job as a reporter, and has stated numerous times he is not leaving that job to do radio full time.

[nooryisawesome]

ART has ZERO phony "radio voice" affect,

[trostol]

Kanpp probably could have got a job doing it full time. However, he doesn't want to do it full time. He really doesn't even want to do it part time as he has missed time writing a book, and concentrating on his reporter gig. Knapp already has a full time job as a reporter, and has stated numerous times he is not leaving that job to do radio full time.

Knapp was good..but it seemed he got/gets the short end of the stick when it comes to guests...he is good with UFO's..but thats done to death...he is really good with mob stuff

[chefist]

Kanpp probably could have got a job doing it full time. However, he doesn't want to do it full time. He really doesn't even want to do it part time as he has missed time writing a book, and concentrating on his reporter gig. Knapp already has a full time job as a reporter, and has stated numerous times he is not leaving that job to do radio full time.

Why does he continue then?

[Unbuhliebahble!!!]

Knapp was good..but it seemed he got/gets the short end of the stick when it comes to guests...he is good with UFO's..but thats done to death...he is really good with mob stuff

I love everything about Knapp, except he somehow thinks abovetopsecret.com is a legit site and has the idiotic owner on regularly. That is the most censored forum I've seen on the internet.

[JamesMcDonald]

I love everything about Knapp, except he somehow thinks abovetopsecret.com is a legit site and has the idiotic owner on regularly. That is the most censored forum I've seen on the internet.

+1 on the suckiness that is ATS.  It was cool in the beginning but it's turned into a cesspool of controlled opposition.  I've had many a run-in with the sellout Admins.

[chefist]

+1 on the suckiness that is ATS.  It was cool in the beginning but it's turned into a cesspool of controlled opposition.  I've had many a run-in with the sellout Admins.

Seems Knapp is not really an alternative to Art either...ughhh

[HumanBeing]

I've only ever managed to find one other radio host that I personally found competent as Art at interviewing guests, Kevin Smith (not the actor/filmmaker).
Kevin always said Art was the King.

Unfortunately he died on his 60th birthday, back in 2013, from complications due to a recent surgical procedure.
He would do a live stream of his show along with an internet stream and a couple dozen affiliates.
You can find full shows on youtube. I believe he started back in 2000. Absolutely great show and host in my opinion.

[Royal_Tenenbaum]

Wells had the voice, Ian was okay, Schrader is pretty good, Vera has the great kooky guests, and Knapp is serviceable. Plenty of people doing this and many have good shows.

[Royal_Tenenbaum]

Knapp was good..but it seemed he got/gets the short end of the stick when it comes to guests...he is good with UFO's..but thats done to death...he is really good with mob stuff

Well according to JC, Knapp ought to interview Jorch then!

[Coz]

Not really an alternative because he does not do paranormal. But Dr Milton Rosenberg is a great interviewer and strong intellect.

He's a PhD sociologist that was a staple of Chicago radio for decades. Now podcasting in his 80s.

[pate]

Chef, if I may:

If one looks too closely at their navel they may find a Satsuma, or mandarin.

Why this is so?

Not Sure.

Art surely has a part to play in the drama.

It has been said that at one time a great imporer(sp) got sick at sea. 

Modern medicine has a cure, but he has not Hurd of it yet.

'Tis called dramameme.

Think on this, tadpole?  (MeThinks!)

[Robert]

Not really an alternative because he does not do paranormal. But Dr Milton Rosenberg is a great interviewer and strong intellect.

He's a PhD sociologist that was a staple of Chicago radio for decades.

I listened a lot to his "Extension 720" 35-40 yrs. ago.  I thought he went too easy on a lot of interviewees, but still pretty good.

[DanTSX]

Art was also in the right place at the right time.......

The Nevada Desert was a nexus of interest in the wake of the Area 51 / S4/ Bob Lazar revelations, as well as the (distant in miles, but not imagination) Roswell stories that were cranking up.   Hoagland was getting attention from serious media and had not yet devolved into mental patient status, Whitley Wieber was only a few years out of his extremely highly publicized encounters and books.  The X-Files was one of the most watched shows.  At the time the Nevada desert seemed a lot larger.  The Area 51 seemed like it was separated from mankind by hundreds and hundreds of miles, when the truth is that it is located right in the middle of a VERY busy multi-use complex under the National Teat Site and Nellis.  The Internet had not yet given people a forum to quickly share thoughts and data like we used to.  It was a mysterious time for all things paranormal and art was literally living in the middle of it.

You just couldn't pull this off today.  The skepticism and transparancy is too high.  Back then, there was a collective "what if?" At a higher level because you couldn't reliably check out a guest's bonafides at your finger tips.   It was simply a much more engaging world.

[henge0stone]

I wouldn't say its art or nothing but when its a show that Art created (Coast to Coast, Dreamland, MITD) then yes it is art or nothing. There are perfectly good paranormal podcasts with some pretty good talent but no one can fill Art's shoes and when people step in after Art, it just leaves you thinking about Art's talent, charm, good interview skills and report with the guests and callers.

Its really a matter of those who come after Art not measuring up to his talent. When people do independent shows with similar subject matter they can be their own person.

[Uncle Duke]

That's like asking why has there never been an alternative to the Beatles.  In every generation there is someone who is so innovative and/or talented, the individual's name becomes almost synonymous with their occupation.  This is especially true for those who grow up with that individual, as many of us have with Art.  To us, people like this are the standard by which others are gauged.  To our children and grandchildren's generations, they will just be names in a book or a video/sound byte.  It's like me trying to explain to the jr high kids I helped coach football what was so special about Fred Biletnikoff or Dick Butkus.

Thankfully many of those people know when to call it quits, leave on their own terms.  This allows us to remember them in their heyday while at the top of their game.  Sadly some don't.

[Ciardelo]

Hell yes there is an alternative to the Beatles. They were a little bit later but they had a great songwriter too. I bet you never herd of a band called Wings have you? You're probably too old.

[akwilly]

Art was also in the right place at the right time.......

The Nevada Desert was a nexus of interest in the wake of the Area 51 / S4/ Bob Lazar revelations, as well as the (distant in miles, but not imagination) Roswell stories that were cranking up.   Hoagland was getting attention from serious media and had not yet devolved into mental patient status, Whitley Wieber was only a few years out of his extremely highly publicized encounters and books.  The X-Files was one of the most watched shows.  At the time the Nevada desert seemed a lot larger.  The Area 51 seemed like it was separated from mankind by hundreds and hundreds of miles, when the truth is that it is located right in the middle of a VERY busy multi-use complex under the National Teat Site and Nellis.  The Internet had not yet given people a forum to quickly share thoughts and data like we used to.  It was a mysterious time for all things paranormal and art was literally living in the middle of it.

You just couldn't pull this off today.  The skepticism and transparancy is too high.  Back then, there was a collective "what if?" At a higher level because you couldn't reliably check out a guest's bonafides at your finger tips.   It was simply a much more engaging world.

Damn, well said.

[Uncle Duke]

Hell yes there is an alternative to the Beatles. They were a little bit later but they had a great songwriter too. I bet you never herd of a band called Wings have you? You're probably too old.

*laughs*  In the mid/late 70s, there was a cartoon in "Playboy" that showed two teenage girls looking at a Beatles album in a used record store.  The caption was, "Hey look, Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings." 

[Ciardelo]

*laughs*  In the mid/late 70s, there was a cartoon in "Playboy" that showed two teenage girls looking at a Beatles album in a used record store.  The caption was, "Hey look, Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings."

heh. I think I remember that. I think DanTSX and you have pretty much summed it up. Too bad we can't put lightening in a bottle.

[chefist]

Back then it seemed there were Beatles fans and Stone fans...Art doesn't have an equivalent to the Stones as a competitor...

[Uncle Duke]

Back then it seemed there were Beatles fans and Stone fans...Art doesn't have an equivalent to the Stones as a competitor...

At the risk of Ciardelo calling me old again, the original competitor to the Beatles was the Dave Clark Five. 

[chefist]

At the risk of Ciardelo calling me old again, the original competitor to the Beatles was the Dave Clark Five.

You might be right on that...the Beatles were clean cut to start...the Stones were the uppity bad boys...

[Uncle Duke]

You might be right on that...the Beatles were clean cut to start...the Stones were the uppity bad boys...

Exactly.  The Beatles and the Dave Clark guys wanted to hold hands, maybe steal a kiss from a sweet young thing.  Mick and the boys had something decidedly more earthy in mind.