BellGab.com Archive

Personally, I find it a little discouraging that we've had Art back for one night and there's already talk about his age and how he won't be able to keep up with the pace and that he should change the format of his show.

He *just* came back. This is what we wanted. Art Bell, broadcasting live, into the night, with diverse topics and open lines and his own brand of revolutionary radio. Let's rejoice about that. I'm going to try to savor that and put my focus and energy on getting people back for that, rather than selling the man short or championing that he change his format. It's *his* format. The fact that others have misappropriated it doesn't mean that he should be doing something different. Which isn't to say he shouldn't experiment. But let's let the man settle in and get comfortable before we start championing change.

I'm a long time listener, and I'll chime in to say that it was wonderful to hear Art back on the air, live with open lines and his awesome, classic bumper music. Wonderful, and I stayed up way too late listening to it. I hope the technical glitches get ironed out (and I think they will, that's the whole reason for a test show).

Now, for an unpopular opinion around these parts...

I don't like the co-host idea.

Please understand: It's nothing personal against Redacted. She seemed great, and it seemed like this was a nice way for Art to repay a lot of her effort by letting her be involved in the test show, and that's great, and I'm happy for her, and I'm grateful for her efforts.

I'm talking generally about the suggestion that Art and a co-host (ANY co-host) should be tried out. I don't like it. It could be someone with the bona fides of a George Knapp or John Wells, and I still wouldn't like it. I'd still grumble. Because the magic of Art Bell, at least of the Art Bell show that we all love and remember, is the joy of Art as ringmaster for the absurd, for the unconventional, for the off-the-beaten-path, just-around-the-bend, deep in the woods style of broadcasting. Art as interviewer of guests, Art as ringmaster for open lines crazies, Art as a voice in the night. People know Art. People trust Art. The crazies know and trust Art. There's a measure of security in the format that draws the kooks out, and the kooks are often the best parts of the show. But if you bring other people into the conversation, someone that people don't know - I just think it upsets the balance.

Again, I'm speaking generically, not specifically about Redacted. I just think Art needs to do what he's always done. He can always tweak, and I'm not opposed the occasional involvement of some Bellgab regulars (in fact, I'd champion it), much in the same way that Art had a regular stable of frequently involved listeners back in the '90s (Fritz, Charlie Liberal, etc). I'm just not sold on the suggestion of the Art Bell 'n Co-Host Show.

It changed.

Best way I can describe it is this way: It sounds a lot more like a produced radio show than it did in the '90s (or even the early '00s).

Here is the crucial difference: For much of his time at the helm, Art basically ran the show by himself out of his house. It was a guy in his house sitting at a microphone with a cigarette burning in the ashtray fielding unscreened calls from late night truck drivers, kooks, and weirdos. He had people actually running his website and I believe handling the broadcast details, but he ran his own board, operated his own phone system, and punched up his own calls, all while cats were running underfoot and his wife was in the next room. It felt like guerrilla radio.

Coast today? Coast under George Noory et al? Have you heard the long list of people George thanks at the end of the show? These people produce the show. It's broadcast from a studio, the calls are screened, someone else is punching them up, someone else is helping make decisions about what to do next, it's all very produced. It feels very produced. And you could tell, toward the end of his guesting stint, that Art was growing very frustrated by that feeling of being controlled, produced, micromanaged.

A show like Coast needs to have some spontaneity. I mean, even things that are not spontaneous (like guest interviews) need that element of spontaneity. That's what Friday night open lines was all about. Throwing open the lines, not knowing what you'll get, dealing with whatever new topics are raised, and following those threads through. Spontaneous abandoning of one topic of conversation to pursue another.

But there's a clear attempt to minimize spontaneous live overnight talk radio at Coast today. Which is why I'm not listening.

I believe that Premiere Radio owns the old Art Bell content. If so, they don't have to stop broadcasting them simply because Art requests it, and frankly, I'd be surprised if they did (absent a court order, which I don't see as likely because they own the content).

If Premiere wanted to be nice, they would stop. It's not like it'd be the most difficult thing to do. They could revamp those broadcasts as "Somewhere in Time" (no reference to Art Bell) and just air archived Noory/Punnett shows from 2003-2007.

Speaking selfishly, I'd be disappointed if they stopped broadcasting classic Art Bell. The availability of "new" content (i.e. content not already out there) would dry up, which would be a shame.

My guess as to what is going on? I doubt it's because Art has something new in the works. It may be because Premiere have chosen to broadcast classic episodes with kooky, bizarre, weird guests, and looking at them in the rearview mirror, Art doesn't like being associated with them. At the time, he had a different perspective. But some shows don't look good in retrospect. See: Every Ed Dames show with Art ever. See also: Gordon Michael Scallion and his predictions of "doom!" See also: David John Oates's reverse speech bologna. Etc.

I continue to be surprised that they keep pulling out the reverse speech / David John Oates episodes from the archives for Art Bell: Somewhere in Time, especially given the ugliness that developed between Oates and Art. Last night's broadcast was the third or fourth time they've dusted off one of those episodes in as many years. I don't know the full story, but from what I've heard, it was ugly stuff that lead to actual litigation.

It's ancient history, but still...the fact that the current management at Premiere/C2C keep trotting out that material is...I dunno...I'd almost say disrespectful, but that seems too strong. "Lacking class" is the phrase I've landed on.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is scheduled as a guest tonight. An actual astrophysicist scheduled on the show. With George?

There's a part of me that's morbidly curious to hear the ensuing, inevitable trainwreck that almost always happens when legitimate science and George Noory inhabit the same space. I'll be curious to hear what happens (but I won't be listening).

Nice work! I was looking at the webcam slideshow. It just reminded me why I'm such a fan of Art Bell. This was a guy who broadcast a nationally syndicated all night talk show from his house, staying up with long haul truckers and night owls and people with an interest in weird things.

Makes me nostalgic. Good times, man. Good times.

Quote from: Scully on November 17, 2011, 08:39:25 PM
When Bell retired, Noory took over the show permanently. In the years since, its audience has grown.

I have nothing to back it up, but I find this statement dubious. C2CAM grew rapidly between 1994 and 1999...I know that it was carried by more than 500 affiliates at one point, if not more. Maybe it continued growing for a time as Art was handing off, but this makes it sound like the audience is bigger than ever. Again, I have nothing to back it up, but I doubt that.

Quote from: Paper*Boy on November 04, 2011, 12:06:33 PMAll this mostly without having an actual conversation - little back and forth, no follow up questions, just one random disjointed question after another.

This hits the nail on the head. This describes perfectly and succinctly why I stopped listening to Coast to Coast AM as long as George Noory is driving the bus.

I don't hate Noory. I don't. But I don't think he's equipped to do the kind of engaging talk radio that Coast to Coast AM needs to be. Because Noory interviews. He asks basic, broad, general questions. There's no semblance of thought or conversation. There's no back and forth. There's no "interesting point, let's run with that a second, so here's my question on that front..."

Given the shift in format that Coast has seen in the last five years, it's clear that me that Noory is terrified of live unscripted talk radio. Art used to proudly announce that he hosted live unscripted open lines talk radio. He'd have guests, but even that seemed conversational and off the cuff. But it seems like Noory is terrified of the spontaneous, terrified of live, unscripted conversation. He needs to keep things moving, let the guests ramble, quell any conversational spark, and limit participation by the audience, all so that he can minimize the chances that something unpredictable will occur.

Thing is? What we all love about classic Coast to Coast AM, at its best? It's sheer unpredictability, intellectual or otherwise. So you can see the problem...

Noory has no business hosting Ghost to Ghost AM.

I don't hate Noory (I don't listen to him, but I don't hate him). But Ghost to Ghost AM needs someone capable of bringing their A-game. I've never seen Noory's A-game. Or any other kind of game, for that matter. Tiddlywinks, maybe.

They have to mark Halloween given the subject area that Coast plays around in. But get Knapp to do it. Or get Punnett to do it. Or, hell, get that Wells guy to do it. Get someone who can be a little edgy.

Noory isn't edgy. Noory is Mustache Grandpa. Good for a Werther's original and an incoherent mumbling remark every now and again, but not exactly one to inspire fear or horror on Halloween.

Quote from: Michael Vandeven on September 10, 2011, 12:55:34 AM
Have you tried demonoid.me? That's where I'd start. I'd be happy to give u an invitation code if u need one. That goes for anyone else, too.

Sent from my DROIDX

Yep. I had some luck with Demonoid.

I never came back to say thanks for the help, so I'll say it now: Thanks for the help, guys! I found most of what I was looking for. Really appreciate it.

Is there a good place to find recent "Somewhere in Time" episodes available for download? For example, I'd love to have last night's EVP / GIS show and there are a couple of recent ones I'm interested in, but I'm reluctant to give Premiere any more of my money.

You don't even have to post publicly if you're nervous about that sort of thing. You can PM me and point me in the right direction. I'm reluctant to download a big torrent, discarding all the Noory episodes for the sake of one or two Art Bell files. I thought some of you guys might be wise to archives or sources that I haven't found yet.

Thanks in advance!

Dr. Michio Kaku is scheduled to be a guest on this Thursday.

Unfortunately, he's a guest of George. This disappoints me greatly. Dr. Kaku has usually been paired with Art to great effect. I simply do not think George has what it takes to interview an actual scientist of Dr. Kaku's statute with any degree of poise or intellect.

Art + Dr. Kaku = Very Informative, Engaging Intellectual Discussion
George + Dr. Kaku = 100 Monkeys at 100 Typewriters Randomly Pecking Toward Shakespeare

I can't bring myself to listen, and I love all of Art's shows with Dr. Kaku. I find Dr. Kaku's work fascinating, but I have absolutely no confidence that George can articulate, frame, or elicit intriguing discussion from this sort of guest.

I don't see Art ever launching another radio program. He retired in 2003. He retired for a reason. He doesn't want to host a radio show full-time anymore. He doesn't want to be tied to a regular schedule, chasing affiliates and ratings and ad revenue. Since 2003, he's only served as occasional fill-in host, in part because radio (ham or otherwise) is a hobby for him. It's in his blood.

So, I'd speculate that our only hope for more Art Bell radio rests on two possibilities:

(1) If he starts missing the microphone too much, he might mend fences with the C2C producers and come back every now and again. If the producers are to be believed, the door is open to Art. It's Art himself that's holding back. His reasons...well, there are 30 pages of speculation about those reasons. But for now, this doesn't seem likely.

OR

(2) Because radio is in his blood and because he might like to continue it as a hobby, I hold out hope that we might get something like occasional podcasts...something that he can record from home, interviewing guests or talking about news, and make the MP3 files available for download. It's cheap, it's completely disconnected from radio syndicators or network executives, he'd have complete and total control over guests and content, and it wouldn't be all that difficult for Art to set up by himself. I've got a friend who hosts a weekly podcast. It's not that difficult. I could see Art setting his own schedule and doing something like that for himself, if only as leisure (not work).

Quote from: Michael V. on January 21, 2011, 10:45:48 AMyou mention great nights in the 90s, and i couldn't agree more.  i was 17 in 1997.  i had fun friends, fun times, everyone had money, the worst thing we had to worry about was bill clinton's oral sex escapades, and i was starting a career in radio.  my friends and i enjoyed pot on a daily basis, art bell was at the top of his game on a nightly basis, it was easy to get a job nearly anywhere, and the future was wide open.  the 90s just rocked.  unfortunately, i didn't realize at the time how awesome things really were.  things just were what they were, it seemed.  in retrospect, i was having the time of my life.

I was also 17 in 1997, so we're the same age. I didn't do the pot thing, but otherwise? Yeah. The 90s were fun. It's funny...I spent the 90s desperate to get to the 21st century, and then when I got there, I spent 2001-2010 wishing I could get back to the 80s and now I'm entering 2011 nostalgic for the 90s. It seems that I'm incapable of enjoying the moment. I'm either too busy looking forward or I'm looking backward wishing for the old days. I'd imagine that in 2021, I'll be waxing nostalgic about how cool things were in 2011.

But yeah...good times. Fun times. Glad to be here!

I offer this without any comment whatsoever:

If you go to the Coast to Coast AM show archives, they've restored the ability to sort shows by Art Bell as host. Art's bio is still absent, and he's not listed as a host, but you can once again sort through the archives for episodes using the "Art Bell" category.

Speculate away!

I've made a few posts here and there on the forum in the last few weeks, but I thought I'd pop in here and formally introduce myself.

Howdy.

I've never joined any other C2C forums because I've found some of the C2C-oriented boards to be a little...intense for me. Thus far, this forum seems to be populated with reasonable, rational, like-minded C2C fans like myself. I found this forum through the Wikipedia entry on Art Bell (which I was looking at around the first of the year when I found out Art wasn't hosting the predictions show and investigating his absence). So far, I dig it.

I'm also a huge fan of Art Bell stream and this board has actually resulted in me actively seeking out a lot of classic C2C episodes hosted by Art. I'm really pleased with what I've found. Whether Art's gone for good or not, it's nice to have a place oriented toward the good old days.

So, anyway, just wanted to introduce myself, say hey, offer thanks for the stream and for the resources that have enabled me to re-live some great nights in the '90s.

Quote from: guildnavigator on January 17, 2011, 01:14:25 PM
a copy should be attached to this post.

Awesome!

Thank you so much! I know what I'll be listening to this evening.

Does anyone have an MP3 of the show featuring George Carlin?

Art Bell 11-10-99 George Carlin & Government Agents

I'm a big fan of George Carlin and I've never had the chance to hear this interview. I'd love to add that show to my archives. I've tried searching online, and the only places I could find it would require downloading a huge torrent (which I'm reluctant to do since I'm only after a single show). I've found audio of the interview itself, but I'd prefer to have the whole show if possible.

(I don't know if this is an acceptable request, but it's a thread about guests we like, so I thought I'd ask. )

Most of the guests I really like have already been named (and most of them are Art-regulars instead of Noory-regulars):

Dr. Michio Kaku - I find this guy fascinating. He's a nerd like me, but he's also very intelligent and capable of talking about a dry subject like theoretical physics in a way that is both entertaining and compelling.

GIS (Cook/McBeath) - I don't completely buy into the EVP phenomenon, but I do believe that these guys have caught some interesting unexplained noises. When Art has these guys on, the show moves quickly and it's fascinating.

Terence McKenna - When it comes to somewhat bizarre theories, some prefer Hoagland. But me? I'm a McKenna fan. Art's interviews with him were great.

Father Malachi Martin - Not only did Father Martin discuss topics that genuinely interest me (exorcisms, religion), but there was an obvious affection between Art and Father Malachi Martin that made those episodes really pop.

Peter Davenport (UFO Reporting Center) - I found this guy very easy to listen to, and UFOs are my favorite C2C topic.

Col. Philip Corso - I don't buy anything Corso says, but damned if it wasn't compelling radio.

Congressman Steven Schiff - I don't think he did more than one show, but this one was a great one.

Phoenix Councilwoman Frances Barwood - I don't know if she did more than one show, but she did at least one and she was caught up in the Phoenix lights (a big event for C2C and one that was consistently handled by C2C in an entertaining manner)

Nick Pope (U.K.'s "Project Bluebook") - This guy has been on with Art, Noory, Knapp, and Ian. While I prefer his early shows with Art, I think he's usually very engaging and easy to listen to. Maybe it's the British accent.

Linda Moulton Howe - She's continued to appear with Noory, but the stuff she did with Art between 1996-2000 is my favorite. Art's Parts, Roswell anniversaries, UFO investigations...she comes across and intelligent and thoughtful and personable. Most of all, she comes across as reasonable instead of woo-woo-wacky, which is great.

Quote from: Michael V. on December 26, 2010, 04:01:38 AM
i've attached the george green show where the arse log gets kicked off early.  it happens at about one hour and 25 minutes into the file. take special note of the bumper tune art uses to go out... and then AGAIN to come back in.  CLASSIC!!

Thank you SO much for posting this!

This was amazing. It made my night. If you have any more especially great shows with ludicrous guests (like the Dallas Thompson one referenced above), I'd love to hear 'em.

Art has retired before and come back. Radio is in his blood. If he wants to do a show, he'll find a way. If he doesn't want to do it anymore, then he doesn't. I'll respect his decision.

But at this point, I'm not going to speculate any further about the whys and wherefores. I'll just keep listening to classic episodes wherever I can find them and hope for the best for all involved. I'll be disappointed if it's the end of Art Bell radio, but whatever will be will be. Nothing lasts forever. I'm grateful for all the hours of engaging, thoughtful, and compelling radio Art has already given me. If it's a voluntary rest by Art, then it's well earned. If it's not voluntary, then I'd be surprised if we've truly heard the last of Art Bell. Fingers crossed, folks.

I have nothing personal against George. I don't hate George. He's just not a host that I want to listen to.

There's no one thing or moment that I can point to. It's a lot of things.

First, George's style. The best way I can describe it is like this: Coast to Coast AM hosted by George Noory sounds overly produced. It's a radio show taking place in a studio somewhere with producers and call screeners and all the stuff that comes with being a radio show these days. Whereas Coast to Coast AM hosted by Art Bell...it felt like a rational guy doing something really different and edgy in the overnight hours in a show broadcast from his home with his wife in the next room, his cats at the door, a cigarette in his hand. Listen to George when he signs off the show. He thanks about ten people involved in making the show. But Coast to Coast AM hosted by Art Bell? It was mostly run by one person: Art. He ran the board, he ran his webcam, he punched up the callers, he maintained his equipment. Art's fingerprints were all over the show when he was hosting. Whereas I get the sense that George just shows up an hour before air time, is handed cards for show prep, does the show from a studio, gets in his car, goes home. It's a different style.

I sent Art an e-mail last month thanking him for his work. One of the things I told him was that, as I listened to the classic shows and compared them to current shows by Noory, those Art Bell classics had something truly fun: unpredictability. They were unpredictable. No call screeners. Off-the-cuff conversations. A freedom to abandon a guest and move on to something topical. It was guerrilla radio and that's what made it so exciting. But radio syndicators? Talk radio stations? These days, they don't seem to want unpredictability. They want predictability. They want the same show, every day, no real variations, day in, day out, all variables controlled, no opportunity for something truly spontaneous. That makes it...boring.

That's George Noory to me: Nice guy hosting a boring show.

Beyond that? I felt a general shift in topic tone that I wasn't comfortable with. What I liked about Art was that he had opinions but he was also willing to engage in reason. He'd challenge the callers he didn't agree with, he'd lay out his opinions, but nothing was really off-limits. Whereas I slowly began to detect a subtle repetitive theme in George's shows: his belief in these mysterious "people" controlling us, a distrust of the government that seemed to be supported by nothing substantive, end times, paranoia, they don't want us to know the truth, etc. If George feels paranoia about those things? I respect that. But George never talks about them or backs them up. It's just hot air in an environment where no guest is challenged, positions are taken but not supported, suspicions are aired without substantive discussion...it's all flash but no substance. Say what you will about Art...he had substance. If he believed something, he'd tell you about it, and if he told you about it, he'd tell you why he believed what he believed.

I feel like I know Art Bell on some level because Art would let his guard down. I don't think I know Noory at all because the only Noory I know is the Noory on Coast to Coast, and that Noory is elusive because he's afraid to pin down his beliefs with anything substantive. He's all talk and everybody gets a trophy.

I don't know if that makes sense, but that's my take.

I just discovered this site yesterday.

Like most of you, I was looking forward to Art's New Year Predictions shows, only to find Ian hosting. Nothing against Ian (who I like), but I miss Art. When I found out Art wasn't hosting the New Year's shows, I did some digging and found that they'd deleted his bio and references to him as host on the Coast to Coast site. That lead me to investigate further, and that investigation led me here.

I don't know what to believe as far as the rumors are concerned. I only know this: Art Bell *is* Coast to Coast AM, he's a master showman and an icon for paranormal fans. I wish him well. I hope everything is okay. I'd love to hear Art back behind a microphone, if only as some sort of internet radio / podcast / small scale project. The thought of Art Bell being essentially driven off the radio airwaves (whatever the reason for that may be) leaves me disheartened.

I'm a "Coast Insider" (formerly Streamlink) only for the streaming Art Bell content. If they stop posting classic Art episodes or if Somewhere in Time goes away, I'll be canceling my subscription. Hopefully, I'll be able to find streaming classic Coast featuring Art Bell elsewhere.

This whole thing makes me sad, though. Now, if Art chimes in and says, "I'm retiring to spend time with my family," I'll be right there wishing him well. Hate to see him go, but I respect his decision. But if this wasn't Art's decision...I don't know. It's the not knowing that kicks up speculation. I'd like to see Art himself address the issue. Because listening to Art's signoff on G2G 2010, Art clearly says, "We next they call my name, I'll be right here." That doesn't sound like someone who is "winding down" and about whom one can say that they "don't anticipate him doing any more shows." Could that have changed in 2 months? I suppose. I don't know.

All I can do is keep hoping that this isn't the beginning of the end of Art Bell radio.