These pages contain some of the earier submissions we've received for inclusion in the Monitor Guestbook.

To see the latest entries, return to the regular guestbook.

Congratulations! It really is a wonder.

It's a shame there isn't something as bright, informative and entertaining on radio these days. Obviously, radio's towers are leaning so far to the right that it might be tough to get the signal out. While hosting AM New York in the winter of '74 I was talking with the folks at NBC to become one of the "Communicators." But, ABC offered me an Anchoring position at KABC-TV and I headed West.

I loved Monitor.

By the way I have built a web site looking back at the NBC Page Staff. You can find it at: http://michaelsd.tripod.com/nbcpages.htm

Thanks so much!

Dave Michaels, former CNN/KABC-TV Anchorman

June 29, 2004

Between 1963 and 1967, I was located news manager for NBC News in Washington (at WRC and WRC-TV). Many a weekend I did "Monitor News on the Hour" broadcasts from Washington.  Somewhere I have at least one tape of one of those broadcasts.

Thanks for the memories.

David Dary

Norman, OK

June 24, 2004

Thanks for a great web site.

Bill Harris

Colorado Springs, CO

June 9, 2004

 Comments: I just discovered Monitor's web site last week and have had a ball listening to all the old programs. Was so glad you added more yesterday.

Every time I hear the "Monitor Beacon" I get goose bumps. I have been a radio junkie probably 53 of my 63 years. I recall getting in on the end of a lot of classic radio and drama programs in the late 1940s to mid 1950s.

You have added so much enjoyment! Thanks a lot!

Michael B. Wright

Seattle, Washington

June 2, 2004

I just visited the site for the first time in several months. What a great surprise to find a half-hour Monitor segment up. Thank you! Bill Cullen and Gene Rayburn were my favorite hosts during that period, which was around the end of my high school days. I remember listening to the program on a local NBC station during the daytime (they simulcast AM and FM; I always had too listen to that phone-line quality program on FM for some reason), and then listening to the morning replays at night over KFAB in Omaha.

The program was a magnet for me. I remember that I was working for KTWO television in Casper WY (my first broadcasting job) when the program went off the air--the AM side ran the programs via tape delay due to the time zone. I really hated to see it go.

Thank you for posting that long program segment. Hope I didn't miss too many, and I also hope there will be more in the future. I have your first book (from Amazon.com); I'll be picking up the second shortly. Thanks again for the site and sounds of Monitor!

Best regards,

Bob Roeder

May 7, 2004

Bill was a great personality-- someone we need today.

terry morgan

GEC)

May 6, 2004

Whenever I get disgusted with what's currently on the radio, which is quite often, I remember that great sites like this one exist.

I am in my '50s.  I grew up listening to all kinds of radio.  It was programs like Monitor that influenced me to get into the business.

Monitor was something so many of us took for granted.  We never thought it would end.

Imagine with the technology available today what Monitor would sound like if it existed on the air right now.

Thank you for a great tribute site for a program and a time in radio that deserves recognition.

Larry Stoler

May 6, 2004

I'm really enjoying the monthly half-hours you're posting, especially Ted Brown in April and Bill Cullen this month. I hope you can find a half-hour of Monitor '73 with Imus, Wolfman, or Robert W. to share with us in the future.

Pat McRoyne

May 1, 2004

Bob Massell

April 22, 2004

I love your website and especially the stuff by Ted Brown. That striptease number is a classic.

It's nice to be in touch with someone from Old Tyme Radio like yourself.

Stan Reid

April 18, 2004

We always had the car radio on whatever station in Jackson, Mississippi, broadcast Monitor, and I recall some Saturday and Sunday afternoon broadcasts, especially the excellent radio voices of Bill Cullen and Arlene Francis. We didn't know what a treasure this program was until it went off the air.

I am curious to know if anyone has any sound bites from any of the broadcasts when Cindy Adams was on in the early 1970s.

Stanley Hastings

April 13, 2004

After the article about your Monitor website appeared in RadioWorld, I bought your book. Tonight, while announcing WCLV's live broadcast of the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra from Severance Hall, I was reading " Monitor (take 2)" during the music. And there (in middle of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6) on page 72 was a story about Monitor's "Most Beautiful Voice in America" contest in 1956 and the winner who arrived unannounced in Las Vegas.

That winner was me. I had won the trip to Las Vegas after winning the Hawaiian section on KGU in Honolulu. KGU gave me the airline tickets to San Fransciso and told me that I should go to the Greyhound station in Frisco where I would get bus tickets to Las Vegas and reservations for the Desert Inn. I showed up at the Greyhound station where they had no idea what I was talking about. Greyhound sent me to KNBC Radio (now KNBR), where the general manager also didn't know anything about such a prize trip.

Anyway, he arranged for airline tickets and several day's stay at the Desert Inn. It turned out that I also won second place nationally, giving me a trip to Europe and a grand piano, which I sold and turned into a Volkswagon.

Robert Conrad

President, WCLV (FM)/WRMR (AM)

Cleveland, Ohio

April 4, 2004

One of the great events in my life was getting acquainted with Jack Bogut who starred on KGHL from 1961-65. He had just returned from covering the great river race from Livingston to Billings on the Yellowstone River. It was Sunday afternoon and I stopped in at KGHL to visit with Jack. I found him feverishly cutting audio tape of an interview he'd done with the oldest woman on the river race. He was preparing a piece for Monitor which he had to get in the mail so it would air during the next weekend's Monitor.

Jack normally was on the air weekday afternoon drive and I asked why he was working on Sunday. He said, "Ron, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make it in this business." After 1965, Jack went to KALL, Salt Lake, then went to KDKA, Pittsburgh where he owned morning drive with outstanding ratings for nearly 20 years.

I absolutely loved listening to Monitor! It was the best of the best, and I was depressed when it went dark. I worked on the air starting September, 1963, KRBN, Red Lodge, Montana. During the entire 33 years, and some 16 stations, I never enjoyed anything more than Monitor.

Bring back the Beacon!

Ron Bradshaw

Billings, Montana

April 2, 2004

I was born in 1957 and remember as a boy listening with my dad on our 1950 Zenith tube clock radio back in the early 60's. I always found the beacon very haunting and eerie, perhaps even more so because I was so young. My early memory of Monitor is of when Henry Morgan was hosting, but I probably heard it even before those days.

Today I collect and restore tube radios. It would be wonderful if somebody in the Kansas City market would play old tapes of the Monitor so I could pick up something good to listen to. Talk radio is generally pretty good, but not as good as the Monitor and the days before TV came along.

Thanks again.

Allen Roth

March 31, 2004

During the 1960s I sent in several MONITOR interviews which were accepted and aired: Old-Time Fiddlers' Contest in Mississippi........Man Who sent the Famous FALSE Armistice Report in 1918..........Interview with Bandleader Clyde McCoy.........Interview with Movie Star Dorothy Lamour. I am still on-the-air worldwide via internet & shortwave and claim to be "The World's Oldest-Living Disc Jockey."

Again, MANY THANKS for keeping radio's best program ( MONITOR) on the air!!!

Ken Berryhill

March 31, 2004

Thanks to Kim Kamando's newsletter that I found this link. I put it in my favorites and I will be back.

Lazer Ditman

March 31, 2004

I had just gotten into TV in' 55 and loved anything to do with original, live net radio and luckily KOA Denver carried quite a bit of it. Those were great days. Thanx for this site!

Bruce

March 30, 2004

I just turned 61 and was raised on the East Coast. Thanks to Kim, I will be back for more.

What a great tribute you have presented.

Nick in Boise, Idaho

March 29, 2004

I was delighted to hear that the " Monitor" tribute website was included in Kim Komando's list of the coolest websites.

Given that Ms. Komando also has a weekend radio show and a daily radio feature, she was able to plug it on those programs, and that should get you even more visitors.

Hopefully, it will also convince NBC/MSNBC to bring " Monitor 2004" back to radio.

Best Wishes,

Joseph Gallant

March 29, 2004

I lived and listened in the Chicago-land area then, but for the life of me I'm not sure what [AM] station...BUT...if I had to guess, since it was an NBC baby, it was probably WMAQ. How close was I? I haven't heard the "BEACON" in many many many years till I heard it AGAIN on your web-site. He might not have been a Walter Cronkite then, but I "loved" Dave Garroway the most even when he made the move to TV, with J.Fred Muggs. Remember him? Garroways "relaxed" style was great. Even to a kid then. He is no longer with us, but his memory will always be.

You have done a GREAT JOB on your web-site, of audios and pictures. "THANKS" a lot. Your pictures of the ole Monitor broadcasting complex are great.

"Another" person that remembers,

Vic DeWindt

Atlanta, Georgia

March 29, 2004

Comments: Dennis:

Congratulations from an old hand....hope to see you soon.

Don Russell

Bring Back Monitor!

March 29, 2004

Editor's note: Don Russell is a legendary broadcast pioneer who was among the very first voices ever heard on Monitor, and who co-hosted Saturday morning's segment for years with Frank Blair.

How great was that??!! Now so many more people will get to know what we already know..."here, there and everywhere, you're on the Monitor Beacon!!"

Best Regards,

Randy Krakower

March 29, 2004

Editor's note: Randy is referring to Kim Komando's listing of this website as a "Cool Site of the Day. It was, indeed, cool.

Don Kennedy

March 29, 2004

Editor's note: Don Kennedy hosts the syndicated "Big Band Jump" and "Don Kennedy" shows.

Thanks for the April download, with Ted Brown, he was always sort of "crazy", kinda like "Big" Wilson , but that added to the broad spectrum that was Monitor.... looking forward to the May download with Bill Cullen.

Regards,

Dave Ditzel

Livingston, Montana

March 28, 2004

I'm a former radio/TV newsman and worked out of Dallas in the early and mid 50's. I owned an Ampex suitcase-sized, reel-to-reel and must have done 20 or 30 Monitor pieces. I was news director of WFAA-TV and also free-lanced with the NBC Dallas bureau cameraman, Moe Levy, covering all sorts of southwest area stories for the TV side.

Thanks for a great Monitor revival! By the way, are recordings of any of those fifties pieces still around?

Regards,

Tom Journeay

March 28, 2004

March 28, 2004

Thanks for the wonderful memories.The web site takes me back to my teen years in the 50's.WSB in Atlanta was my Monitor station.

Sure do miss GOOD radio,I guess it's gone for ever. However I would like to say thanks to Don Kennedy for Big Band Jump. Maybe there's hope.

Once again thanks.

Ted Cook

March 28, 2004

I just congratulated you for over 40,000 hits on March 6th and now less than a month later, you are over 55,000 hits. Way to go!!!!!

Don Spuhler

Fontana, CA

March 27, 2004

Editor's note: Our thanks go to Kim Komando, the talk-show host, who listed the Monitor site as a "Cool Site of the Day." Nearly 15,000 people visited this site today -- because of Kim.

Coralie Benton

March 27, 2004

Mike Graham

March 27, 2004

Comments: I hate to admit it, but I can recall hearing Monitor as a tyke as far back as 1955! What a show! What a treat to hear the Monitor Beacon again!!

Wasn't Steve Allen a semi-regular on Monitor in the 50's? I can remember his parodies of then current Top 40 songs and how damn funny they were. He and Stan Freberg have always been favorites of mine. I was lucky to meet Freberg at WMAL in DC when I worked at their FM back in the late 70's.

What a great tribute site!!

Phil Beckman

March 27, 2004

Roger Hendler

March 27, 2004

I was researching on the US Patent & Trademark search engine and was startled to see a registration for " Monitor" by NBC that was filed on March 25, 1983 and cancelled on October 31, 1990. It was for the TV news magazine program with Lloyd Dobyns! :-)

Terry

(GEC)

March 27, 2004

Editor's note: Yes, NBC briefly had a TV magazine show called Monitor in the '80s. It couldn't hold a candle to the radio program, of course.

Comments: My father was Bill Hinds of KDKA radio back in the 30's thru the 50's. He was also on WDTV, TV, later to become KDKA-TV, with the Buzz and Bill show.

I suggest those of us interested in this topic go to 440.COM which looks backwards..sort of a "where are they now" website. Bill Hinds Jr.

March 27, 2004

Marvin Tyacke

March 27, 2004

Comments: Kim Komando carried your site http://www.monitorbeacon.com/index.htm as her "Cool Site of the Day" and I am so glad.

I remember Monitor well, especially the early years when my girlfriend of the week and I would listen to Jazzbeau Collins sitting out on some country road. Monitor was on WKY radio, a station so old it was one of the very few "W"s west of the Mississippi. Being from Oklahoma, we didn't get many chances to listen to New York jazz and Jazzbeau was just great.

Years later while working for Canon Inc. I became good friends with an eccentric photographer from NYC, Simon Nathan. He was a good friend of Jazzbeau's, often sitting in the purple grotto with Al when Al was on WNEW in the 80s? He would send me tapes here in Tokyo where I have lived since '69.

Then Simon and Jazzbeau came over here for Jazzbeau to MC a jazz festival (Fuji #1, I think but am not positive). I had the dubious honor of trying to translate Jazzbeau's remarks at the player's cocktail party, and bumped into Miles Davis (literally - coming out of an elevator), Wayne Shorter and other greats I had only heard before.

I will be back to your site often!

Harley Ferguson

Okie o' in Tokio

March 27, 2004

Comments: I Remember Monitor.

During the summer of 1955, having just graduated from college, and purchased my first car, a Raymond Loewy-designed Studebaker Starlight Coupe, I traveled all over the northeast, visiting friends and relatives. Monitor was my constant radio companion. With the hearing of those distinctive signature sounds, no matter where I was, I was "home." The familiar communicators, special broadcasts, the "live remotes on the wire," and the constant stream of news, kept me in touch with my world.

By January of 1956, I was called to active in the United States Air Force. As a young lieutenant, I was in that Studebaker from Rhode Island to Texas, to Florida, then across the country to the San Francisco Bay area, fulfilling my military duty assignments. Monitor was with me, and the familiarity of it all, again reminded me that all of the USA was "home" because of that recognizable format.

I found myself being assigned for temporary duty (TDY) in various parts of the country, Guam and Okinawa. If I'm not mistaken, Monitor was always in reach, and I was always at "home."

When I finally was finished with my active duty assignment, and was completing my academic studies in D.C. and the Greater Boston area, I could rely on Monitor to keep me plugged in to its special service.....I did believe that Monitor was designed for me, the itinerant traveler.

One last Monitor note....while I was in the Air Force, I was assigned to Strategic Air Command, hence all the Temporary Duty assignments.....I was traveling from town to the air base to report for duty -- SAC had been red-alerted because of the Suez Canal being blocked by Egypt.....did not know the extent of the trouble....however, I heard commentators talking about it on Monitor....by the time I got to the base, I was as well=briefed as anyone.

I was a faithful listener until Monitor went off the air.....I felt that I had lost a good friend. I trust that through the medium of this Monitor site, I will relive some of those days on the road with Monitor.

All the best, stay well and in touch,

Tony

Anthony J. (Tony) Agostinelli

62 Valley Lane

Portsmouth, Rhode Island 02871-2731

Phone: 401-682-3063 FAX: 401-683-5497

March 27, 2004

Comments: I have thouroughly enjoyed your book and your website. At age 14 (in Dec 1974) I finally moved to a town with a station that carried Monitor. But, alas, the show was almost over (in Jan '75). I listened the entire weekend to the last program. It was interesting that the station (KSTR-Grand Jct. Colorado) even carried the program- it was a country station! Have you ever given thought of compiling a list of the stations that carried Monitor over the years...especially the stations that carried the show for the entire 20 years? I understand it might be quite the feat. As stations have changed call letters and especially ownership (especially the last 8 years).

Bill Walter

KVNU Radio, Logan, Utah

March 26, 2004

Comments: Hello,

In the next few days, your Web site will be featured as a Kim Komando Cool Site of the Day.

Kim's daily Cool Site opt-in-only free e-mail is sent to over 200,000 subscribers, so as a courtesy we're giving you advanced notice that you'll likely see a spike in your site's traffic.

Regards,

Ted Rybka

March 25, 2004

Comments: I just discovered your website and it is quite interesting.

Walter Kiernan was my grandfather and I knew that he did radio in the NYC area, but was not aware of the Monitor stuff. It's kind of nice to see his picture on your page also.

He was a great grandfather and I am so proud of him

Clare Kiernan Lafferty

Williamstown, NJ

March 24, 2004

Editor's note: Walter Kiernan was on the very first Monitor broadcast on June 12, 1955, and remained a host on the program throughout the '50s.

Comments: I ran Monitor on WRKT-AM-FM in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on the weekends. It was my first radio job in 1966 and loved every bit of it.

David Rollins

President, Rollins Broadcast Group

March 22, 2004

Comments: I just wanted to say how great it was to read about your website in Radio World (the March 10 issue). I was "on" the Montior Beacon as a kid and would listen for Bob and Ray.

Ah, that's when broadcasting was great...and fun!

Thanks!

Bob

March 16, 2004

Comments: I visit the Monitor page often and have downloaded some of the audio files.

I traveled all over the Intermountain West during Monitor's heyday and listened to Monitor by preference. I will never forget the sound of the "Beacon" and just to hear it through your audio files brings back plesant memories of driving along a forgotten highway late at night, or in the mountains during a snowstorm.

Thanks for your work to keep the Monitor story alive.

David Ditzel

Livingston, Montana

March 14, 2004

Comments: Holy SMOKE, what a treat!

Having been in the broadcast business(news and sports) for thirty years, what a tremendous memory jog.

As a youngster raised south of Dallas, my folks were huge radio fans. Monitor was their choice.

I had a chance to travel the world covering news for CNN, and now broadcast professional baseball, but Monitor piqued my curiosity about the business; its wide variety of voices, programs, and ideas.

It opened my world. Monitor--a legend.

Thanks again for this great site.

Mike Capps

Austin, TX

March 14, 2004

Comments: Dennis,

Have enjoyed my copy of " Monitor--Take 2" It's sitting on my reference shelf with many other great volumes of radio history.

Lou Dumont

March 14, 2004

Richard W. Ringenback, Operations Manager, NewstalkWLOB AM-FM

Portland, ME (and lovin' it!)

March 13, 2004

Editor's Note: Richard is referring to the March 10, 2004, issue of Radio World magazine, which has a great article written by CBS Radio correspondent Peter King about Monitor and the book Monitor (Take 2). Thank you, Richard -- and thank you, Peter!

Comments: Dennis,

Love the Monitor website!

I used to work at KNBR San Francisco (NBC O&O) during the sixties and have probably the clearest sounding Monitor Beacon sounder recorded off the master West Coast feed tape done in 1955. This runs :50 seconds. Feel free to use this to replace the one that is up there (on the website).

Steve Rood

March 11, 2004

Editor's note: Thanks, Steve. It's now up there -- on the Sounds of Monitor page.)

Comments: Hi,

What wonderful memories I have of Monitor on NBC...... Growing up in Hazen, North Dakota, I listened to KFYR in Bismarck. I still remember The Shadow and Ma Perkins... Anyway, the weekends were Monitor... Later, in Billings, Mt... as an announcer on KGHL radio in 1970-71 ..The memories I have of Monitor will last forever and I appreciate the web site to remember.... I saw the article in Radio World and had to check it out. It's more than my imagination could have imagined... My favorites were Gene Rayburn and Henry Morgan... What a hoot...

Thank you for filling in the dots. I had no way to know that the vision behind the Today Show was behind Monitor but it makes sense to me now.... What wonderful insights into the minds of the audience not yet listening.... Maybe the same instinct exists today but I don't really think so... After being in radio myself since April 7th, 1967, at KFYR in Bismarck, North Dakota, starting my career I've seen too much to believe we can go back.

This site is bookmarked and anyone I can find who can appreciate it will be immediately sent to it... Thank you once again and believe it when I say Monitor was a part of the golden age of radio...and I was there...

Brian B. Buchfink

March 9, 2004

Comments: Dennis,

Congrats on hitting the 40K affiliates mark!

Terry Morgan

(GEC)

March 9, 2004

Comments: Hey Dennis,

Congratulations on 40,000 hits. Nice to see that the Monitor Website is as popular as ever!

Don Spuhler

Fontana, California

March 6, 2004

Editor's note: Don was the very first person to write to the Guestbook when this website debuted on Oct. 22, 2000.

Comments: Dennis,

Another five months and another 5000 hits (since October 23, 2003 and 10,000 since June 2). Congratulations on 40,000 hits. Not only that but it seems from the entries in the guestbookthat new people are discovering the site all the time. And not all of them are as old as we are.

Louis Castaing

Metairie, Louisiana

March 6, 2004

Comments: Thanks for the cool site.

I remember the Beacon. Used to hear it everywhere for years when I was a kid, never paid much attention to it then , but it has stuck in my mind all these years !! Thanks for the opportunity to hear it again. Have another sound bite that has stayed in my mind for decades: Vincent Price's voice saying " Monitor...ten years old....congratulations". I can still hear it. Thanks to your info, that must have been Summer 1965.

Keep up the good work.

Jim Reitz

March 6, 2004

Comments: Just stumbled across the DCNYRadio site with the wonderful " Monitor" pages. It may be mythic but those of us who worked for WSB in Atlanta during "Monitor's" heyday on NBC were told during our "indoctrina....", oops, "orientation" period that the idea for " Monitor" actually orginated with Elmo Ellis, the illustrious program director of WSB, and that the success of the old "Nightbeat" show on WSB (on which I was privileged to have worked) led to NBC's "borrowing" of the format and changing it into the weekend-long " Monitor" presentation.

Regardless, both shows...."Nightbeat" and " Monitor"....were magnificent productions, the likes of which we shall never hear again.

I'll continue to enjoy the site.

Drayton Cooper

March 2, 2004

Comments: I just saw the Monitor website.

I started working at NBC as a summer relief radio engineer in the late 60's and then as a summer relief radio AD and since the new guy always works weekends, I spent most of my time at NBC as an engineer and AD doing Monitor on weekends and editing their material on Thursday and Friday. As it happens I returned to NBC a few years ago (in another job) but the Monitor website and especially the audio clips were terrific. You all have done a great job and I will look forward to new postings.

Alan Wurtzel

March 1, 2004

Comments: I remember listening to Monitor while picnicking in a park near my grandmother's. We listened to the program while reclining in my Uncle's Rambler, you know, the one with reclining front seats.

It was a great program. Thanks for putting up this site.

Kernan Cross

Boothbay Harbor, Maine

February 23, 2004

Comments: I really enjoyed the Monitor web site and audio clips. I'm only 41, so I was rather young when Monitor was in its heyday-- but I'll never forget being in the car with my mother on a Saturday afternoon and hearing that unique Monitor beacon sound. I also recall listening to Monitor on Saturday nights toward the end of its run when I was a Don Imus fan and couldn't get enough of him. WNBC in New York didn't carry the program any more (I'll never understand how a network-owned station could drop a network program), so I could listen only on WBAL in Baltimore after WHLI in Hempstead signed off for the night. That probably wasn't the best of Monitor, though.

As I looked through, here, I started thinking about the viability of a current version of the program. At first blush, it seems really plausible, given the full circle back to network feeds over local programming. (I love the saying, "What goes around, comes around.") The problem is that a successful Monitor-style program needs more than just clearance. Monitor was backed by a major news organization. As an example of what passes for radio news today, look on Westwood One's site and note that current NBC Radio News is limited to one minute an hour! Many stations don't carry news at all any more. I don't know where today's Monitor would even get its news. It would probably have to hire its own correspondents-- meaning big expenses rather than piggybacking on something else that already exists.

Another problem is that it seems that Monitor played contemporary music-- which in the '60s meant Bert Kaempfert and Percy Faith. It was, like Rambling with Gambling, a genteel program for ladies and gentlemen. Lots of suitable music was produced in the '60s, but after the mid-'70s that type of music just disappeared altogether. Today's Monitor would either have to create decent new music (again, big expenses instead of utilizing existing material) or it would wind up sounding like a nostalgia trip-- and I can't imagine rap on a decent Monitor. Thus, given all that, I can't imagine an updated Monitor to be something we'll see any time soon. Nevertheless, I'm thrilled to be able to hear samples of radio at its best. (I don't even listen to radio any more except for five hours of Italian music on Sunday afternoon on WRTN in New Rochelle, NY).

Thanks.

Andrew A. Saucci, Jr.

February 22, 2004

Comments: Dear Dennis,

Just bought your Take 2 book off Amazon. I am devouring it. It's great. Almost missed an appointment while reading it.

Several radio buffs have contacted me since you posted my email. It's great to hear from like-minded people.

Thanks,

Jim Poore

Riverview, Michigan

February 19, 2004

Comments: Great website. It would be great if you could issue CD's of special
broadcasts.

Arlene and Sheldon Kenin

February 14, 2004

Comments: Hey, I've just discovered your Monitor website. I thought I was the only person in the world that remembered Monitor.

However, I have a unique question. My first radio job was at the old WCAR AM-1130 in Detroit. We were the local NBC News and Information station. I was wondering if anybody has a collection of those NBC sounders and music bridges from NIS.

Again, it's great to see old NBC radio buffs are still around.

Thanks,

Jim Poore

Riverview, Michigan

February 13, 2004

Comments: Hello,

I can remember with wonderful memories of the 1970s listening to Monitor and to Gene Rayburn and John Bartholow Tucker when other kids my age listened to rock music I listened to Monitor on the weekends and it was great! I thank a very good new friend of mine who told me of this website. This is so awesome!

Patricia

February 5, 2004

Comments: Hi again, Dennis. Its been awhile since I last e-mailed, but in the interim I read "Take 2" and tonight listened to Morgan and Rayburn on 1/3/70, and then the last half hour in ''75.

I want to thank you again for everything you do keep the spirit of Monitor alive and well. It seems I never get enough of listening to the Sounds of Monitor. Every piece brings back such good memories of growing up in North Jersey, just outside New York City, and all the possibilities life seemed to hold back then. I don't know if you have anything more planned for all of us "Monitorians" (is that an acceptable term?), but in the meantime I'll be coming back again and again.

And if anyone out there has more Brad Crandall on Monitor, please send it to Dennis!

Thanks again.

Randy A. Krakower

Lumberton, NJ

January 24, 2004

Comments: I listened to the sounds of Monitor this morning on your web site. What a wonderful roster of people hosted Monitor during its 20 year run on NBC radio.

We took Monitor for granted every weekend but now thanks to your tribute site, I realize even more how great it was to be able to hear it all over America. It was ahead of its time for radio.

Unfortunately today it would be expensive to do even though with the technological advances that have occurred, it could be done.

Continue the great tribute site.

Larry Stoler

January 16, 2004

Comments: I was born in 1950. It seems that on most weekends my parents had the radio regularly tuned to NBC.

I wasn't old enough to understand a lot of what was being said in my younger days, but Monitor was like "background music," and I guess it left in imprint on my subconscious. I remember it on the car radio en route to family outings or errands. As I got older, I began listening to more of the features. But my earliest impression was, of course, the Monitor Beacon. I also remember the weather reports (this was after Miss Monitor), and it was fascinating to hear about weather from all over the U.S. (Now we have Weather Channel). What about "Ring Around the World?" Anyway, I enjoy your website.

Gary Bonte

Redwood City, CA

January 15, 2004

Comments: Dennis,

I've been frequenting your Monitor site for about three years now. It seems that everything good that could be said of a program has been said there by people who know. I'm honored to read and listen.

Monitor went off the air while I was working for AFRTS on a little bit of coral called Johnston Atoll, so I didn't know it had gone until I got back home late in '76. It was a bitter pill to swallow.

Thanks for all of your work. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

David J. Harrington

January 11, 2004

Comments: Greetings from another " Monitor" fan.

I was days away from my 10th birthday when the show met its demise, so of course I have no real 'firsthand' recollection of " Monitor."

However, I have a big interest in old-time radio, and in '60s-'70s pop music stations. After many years of hearing "the beacon" on several airchecks I have (all of NBC "NOTH" broadcasts) and at the intro of 1959-era tapes of "You Bet Your Life," I finally got hold of some airchecks of " Monitor" itself ... the Gene Rayburn broadcast from Washington's Birthday in 1969. Even though by then the "going places and doing things" aspect had faded, it was still at the top of its league.

I'm pushing 39 years old, which made the timing perfect; I've only recently begun to appreciate the "old-school" popular music. What's more, I DO see the spirit of " Monitor" in the present day through my work in Public Radio.

I ordered the new edition of your book in August, and devoured it -- thanks for the effort you put into the book that has led to a greater understanding and further appreciation of all that program was.

Thank you again, and three chimes for you for your site and book!

Best regards,

Russell Wells

Savannah, Ga.

January 9, 2004

Comments: First of all, Thank you, Dennis, for a great site. I learned about it recently from Terry Morgan and I'm glad he told me about it.

I am in my 50s. I began my interest in radio when I was about 5 years old. I grew up listening as so many did to all kinds of radio from all over the country. I personally could name many people that influenced me by listening to them to work in broadcasting. My biggest was Big Dan Ingram on music radio 77 WABC in New York. Many weekends were spent listening to Monitor on the old WNBC. It was well produced, very professional and fun to hear.

Monitor was something that was ahead of its time. You don't realize how much it was ahead till you look at this website. Monitor, like many other kinds of radio was something that you never thought would go away. I guess it was on for so many years that it became a part of America. I didn't realize how many people were involved in that program on a pretty consistent basis. That's one of the reasons it lasted so long.

It's too bad that today for a variety of reasons radio is looked at as a second-class medium. Obviously that wasn't the case with Monitor, which helped to save radio during quite a time in its history.

Thank you for giving Monitor the recognition it deserves and for introducing people all over the world to it.

Larry Stoler

December 23, 2003

Editor's note: It's my pleasure, Larry. Happy Holidays to you and the many, many other Monitor fans who have contacted us over the years. It's great to hear from each and every one of you!

Comments: I grew up on Monitor from its beginning in the mid-fifties. I've thought of it with fond memories over the years. I loved everything about it.

One of its lasting influences on me was my introduction to jazz as a 12 or 13 year old, with the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Brubeck and many others. This week I bought a photo on eBay of jazz singer Dinah Washington singing in front of an NBC microphone. When it came in the mail I noticed something I didn't catch on the computer screen. On top of the microphone, above the larger vertical NBC letters is a smaller horizontal plaque at a slight angle that says " MONITOR". I assume she's singing live on the show. The photo was advertised as from the 1940's, but it must be after 1955.

What a great keepsake reminder of those wonderful years of Monitor from my youth where I learned so much and enjoyed so much!

I came to this web site through Google to check the dates of Monitor's on air years to try to date my photo better. Now I'll bookmark it and relive those years again.

Jim in Michigan

December 19, 2003

Comments: I received your book " Monitor Take Two" for my birthday, and I look forward to reading it.

I first heard Monitor when I was five years old. The first thing that intrigued me was the sound of the Beacon in late 1957 or 1958. By 1961, I was hooked on Monitor.

Jim Taylor

December 18, 2003

Comments: Hi Dennis,

Just a quick note to let you know how much I've enjoyed both your Monitor books and also your web site. I was honored to be an NBC Monitor news anchorman in the early 70s. I also was assigned to WNBC as well (Charles McCord and I were Imus's first news anchors).

You've certainly put a lot of old friends and colleagues back in touch, and I for one am grateful...more than you can imagine.

Keep up the good work.

John Bohannon

December 18, 2003

Comments: Very good site - brought back memories.

I remember listening to Monitor when it first hit the air - I was a high school student in Northern NJ and heard it on WNBC. (Then it was WRCA, I believe!)

In 1963 I went to work as an engineer for WTIC in Hartford, CT, and heard Monitor every weekend in their master control. I remember listening for the beacon in order to insert local commercials.

I left Hartford in 1978 and came to Washington, to the Voice of America, where I'm writing this note.

Bob Scherago

December 16, 2003

Comments: Hello.

My Name is Mark Holmes. My father, Charley Holmes, was involved with NBC Monitor.

I know that he was at the 1964 Democratic National convention for NBC, (I have a promo bakelite ashtray), and I know that he was involved in a AFTRA strike sometime thereafter. I was born late to my family in 1958, and my Dad passed away when I was 17. Of course in the self-absorbed time of youth, some important questions weren't asked, and then when he got sick I was more concerned with the time we had left than the past. So now when my daughter asks "So, what was your father like? What did he do?", I can answer the first part.

But as to what he did, well there's the rub. Somewhere I have some old reel to reel (or my brothers have them). I remember the words "Assignment: People",and I went with him to interview Sterling North the author of "Rascal and Raccoons Are The Smartest People." Somewhere I have a tape of an interview with A.J. Foyt, and that's about all I know.

Any info you might have or possibly info on some of my Dad's contemporaries who might still be around, or even an idea of where else to look. I imagine that my dad was a fairly minor cog in the NBC machine, but he was my whole engine. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Mark Holmes

December 6, 2003

Comments: Ed McMahon is known for giving checks to people around the country, of course, but I'm probably one of the few to give Ed McMahon a check!

It happened during a time when I did various reports for Monitor from WSM Radio in Nashville. Apparently the NBC payroll department got our names confused. I received Ed's check! After returning it, I hoped he might send a "thank you" note, but nothing was ever received. Actually, I forgot about that incident until stumbling on your website tonight.

Dick McMahon

November 27, 2003

Comments: This is a terrific web site. Brings back many memories of my days in NBC's radio recording dept. as one of several tape editors who worked on the show's taped segments. I worked in that dept. from 1953-1964 when I transferred to TV-Video tape retiring in 1/1/88. My career at NBC started in 1945.

Keep up the good work. It is appreciated

Bob Rudick

November 17, 2003

Editor's note: Craig Simon's comments below are from a series of e-mails to this site on Nov. 3 and 4, 2003. They provide the clearest evidence ever reported that NBC Radio was, indeed, planning to return Monitor to air in the late-'80s when time ran out on the network.

Comments: "In 1987, we started hearing rumors that NBC Radio was considering reviving Monitor in a new format. Indeed, copies of old Monitor air checks were unearthed and dubbed off. We were all excited, as we had just moved into state-of-the-art studios, which would have been perfect for Monitor. But, alas, in August 1987, General Electric sold off the radio division to Westwood One, who had other ideas for NBC Radio, and Monitor was not one of them"

--Gene Garnes

Gene Garnes (Jr.) was right. I had every intention of bringing back Monitor on the NBC Radio Network. Following the success of TalkNet with BruceWilliams and Sally Jessy Raphael, where we correctly identified that AM radio stations needed help in the nighttime hours, I thought that a new Monitor would be just the ticket for weekends. The difficulty was devising a format that would fit a variety of stations and the economics in network radio at that time where there were too many commercial availabilities chasing too few advertising dollars.

We were quite serious about it. First, we convened a series of focus groups in New York with a variety of affiliates. We wanted to ascertain what they thought of the current mix of NBC Radio Network programming and what else they might be interested in carrying. We specifically asked if a new Monitor would find acceptance in the marketplace. The response was enthusiastic. With that information and a real sense of excitement on out part, we made at least one demo that I remember. I believe Andy Fisher alluded to that earlier in the guestbook. I brought it to the President of NBC Radio, Randy Bongarten, who gave us the go ahead to study it further. But as we looked at it, it became clear that the economics made it very difficult. And while stations were willing to break format to run TalkNet at night (the vast wasteland of AM radio) it was a whole different matter getting them to give up weekends.

Shortly thereafter, the Radio Networks were sold to Westwood One. As the last VP/GM of the NBC Radio Networks it was a great disappointment to me personally and professionally that I was not able to pull it off. And, of course, if GE had not been so eager to sell off radio (Something which Bob Wright has been quoted as saying that perhaps they made a mistake) then who knows what would have happened.

As for my Monitor project, remember, what a bunch of program directors say in a focus group and what they really will commit to when the chips are down are two different things. Anyway you slice it, Monitor was going to be expensive to do. By that time, only morning drive counted on AM radio stations. Making money anytime else (short of Paul Harvey) was tough. To give you an example of the economics of the business then, radio was 5% of the total radio/television ad revenues and network radio was 5% of radio. Shocking, no? And I think we ran out time. GE decided to exit the business and there was no way Westwood One was going to do it. Believe me, we proposed it and were almost laughed out of the room. Westwood One overpaid for NBC, got into trouble and then gutted it.

Much of today's weekend programming is weekday re-runs. Another word for no-cost. Would stations run Monitor today? Probably. Could a Network make any money producing it? Don't know, but I doubt it. And we are in a world of 200 cable channels with lots a niche programming. Then you have the upstarts XM and Sirius offering programming that you can't find on traditional radio. I think it's a tough proposition.

But having said that, my happiest days were at NBC. I would have worked there forever had the network not been sold to Westwood One. And boy, I'd give anything to take a shot at recreating Monitor.

It would have been great fun.

Regards,

Craig Simon

Former VP and General Manager, NBC Radio Network and TalkNet

November 3 & 4, 2003

Editor's note: Well, Monitor fans, how's THAT for some stunning information?

Comments: Dennis:

I have had the chance to listen to the unedited half-hour Ted Steele segment that is being featured for November, 2003. It's fantastic!

Hopefully in the future, you'll be able to feature other unedited half-hour segments of " Monitor" over the years on your website. Listening an unedited half-hour gave me the chance to hear " Monitor" the way it was meant to be heard, and to experience how good the show truly was.

Best Wishes,

Joseph Gallant

November 1, 2003

Editor's note: Yes, from now on, we plan to feature a different unedited half-hour segment of Monitor on the site each month. It's really the only way to properly appreciate the likes of Gene Rayburn, Henry Morgan, Bill Cullen and the other great hosts of this magnificent program. Enjoy, Monitor fans!

Comments: Dennis,

Congratulations on 35,000 hits in just over three years. That's about 1,000 hits a month since June 2nd of this year. Amazing for a radio program that's been off the air for more than 28 years. Thanks for keeping the memory of Monitor alive.

Louis Castaing

Metairie, Louisiana

October 24, 2003

Comments: In 1954 I was a radio operator on a freighter going around the world. (I had a leave of absence from my job as an announcer for NBC in San Francisco.)

I thought it would be interesting to tape the strange sounds of the ports I had visited, so I brought a tape recorder for my next voyage. In those days portable taping meant more than just holding a small tape recorder in your hand. There weren't any. I needed an automobile battery and a converter to reduce the voltage for the tape recorder. The carpenter on the ship built me a carrier to hold it all, but it was heavy! I recorded three-minute segments in Hong Kong, backstage at a Chinese opera; in Karachi, Pakistan, with a snake charmer playing his flute, and others I don't remember. But the sounds had never been heard before on radio.

When the ship got to Los Angeles I took my tape and went to NBC at Hollywood and Vine to look up an old friend, announcer Eddy King. He got production people to listen to my tapes and the word came back the following week.... NBC was not interested in the tapes. I was very disappointed at the news, so got back on my ship and went around the world once more. It was 1955.

When I stopped again in Los Angeles I called Eddy for lunch and he was very excited. He said "Where are those tapes? Bring them to NBC right away!" Something called Monitor had been born in the meantime and my tapes were now what they wanted. They bought all of them and I recorded new intros at the studios. All were aired in 1955.

Bill Roddy

Mission Viejo CA

September 29, 2003

Comments: Hello,

As I was checking out this wonderful site, I recalled that a friend of my youth, the late Basil Rathbone, read poetry on Monitor... do you have any idea if any recordings of these programs survived???

Greg Oese

September 25, 2003

Editor's note: Do any of you Monitor fans out there have any recordings of Mr. Rathbone on Monitor?

Comments: While on the announcing staff of WIOD,the NBC affiliate in Miami, Florida, I had the pleasure of doing many interview segments for Monitor. These were interviews with interesting people who lived in Miami at the time.

I recall an interview with a beautician who went to school with Anne Frank in Holland. Another was with Damon Runyon Jr., a feature writer for The Miami News. who talked about his famous father. There was a visit to the Mami home of a singer who was heard and praised by Walter Winchell.. A delightful lady who then went on to stardom.. She was Roberta Sherwood. What a pleasure to recall my days with Monitor.

Dave Connor

September 20, 2003

Comments: Hi, Dennis,

Your book, Monitor (Take 2), is a triumph of research and a desire to tell the whole story about Monitor.

I don't know if I told you before, but Monitor was on the air when I was based in Washington: I began on the network news desk as assignment editor, but also worked on the weekend for a half-shift, doing Washington inserts for Monitor. So I got to know the producers in NY on the phone back and forth (a full-time, open line -- hit that button and it ring at the other end). I began to assemble set pieces during the week to be done by our reporters at their "beats," such as Frank Bourgholtzer at the White House and Herb Kaplow on Capital Hill.

I was transferred to 30 Rock in the summer of 1961, when Monitor was still doing well. My title was Manager of Radio Network News Operations, which included Monitor, making sure "it all worked for the producers," including lining up the US and foreign offices to offer stories to Monitor during the week for weekend use.

During that time, I'd sometimes come into Manhattan to spend a couple of hours on the Fifth Floor control room and broadcast booths, to see how it worked. That's when I met all those producers and a lot of the on-air people. Sometimes, during the week, famous folks would get off the elevator on the Fifth Floor, where my office was located, and I'd brush past some very well-known actors, writers, politicians, newspaper reporters (Walter Winchell, et al), characters (Woody Allen, the team of Nichols and May, Bob and Ray, and on and on).

Your research of fine points and detail and connecting the dots is most impressive. Monitor deserved much more support in the later years than it got from top side of RCA (let alone the various presidents of NBC over time).

Keep up your interests in "behind the scenes of what really happened there" and you may come up with another book or two. The audiences need them.

Russ Tornabene

September 16, 2003

Editor's note: Mr. Tornabene was vice president and general manager of the NBC Radio Network at the time of Monitor's unfortunate demise. He was a major source of information for the book, Monitor (Take 2).

Comments: Add my name to the ranks of those who've ordered, and read " Monitor-Take 2". You've topped yourself--if there's anything more to add to the " Monitor" story after that, I don't know what there is. But I naturally hope there's more somewhere that I have yet to read or hear.

And, yes, I admit that one of the first things I did when I got my copy was to look for my contribution. I knew some part of my " Monitor" memories was going to be in there, given your earlier request for permission to include them. I didn't know just what, but thanks for including me.

I noticed, also, one "early " Monitor" stringer was someone I'd heard on WGIR Manchester. Donn Tibbetts had been on New Hampshire radio, most of it with 'GIR, for years, and had the kind of voice you don't hear on radio anymore. He switched to the print media in 1972 and was the state capitol correspondent for the Manchester Union Leader until he retired in the late 90s, and died a couple of years later.

It may just be wishful thinking on my part, but I think " Monitor" could be successfully revived. As I suspect you've done, I've thought about how I'd do it in the unlikely event I got the chance to. There'd have to be some changes, of course, but I think it could be done, especially considering more stations than ever get most of their weekend programming from somewhere else. A properly done revival of " Monitor" would be the class of the field, and not just a fringe-time timekiller.

Thanks again for your devotion to this topic. I continue to be thankful there are so many others who remember " Monitor". For a long time, I thought I was the only one.

Will Burpee

Springfield IL

September 8, 2003

Comments: I ordered Monitor [Take 2] through our local Barnes & Noble, and spent a couple of hours on Saturday just thumbing through the pages, in no pre-ordained order, and just reading passages. I always do that with a book that I am soon to read cover to cover. Guess that's my journalism background coming through.

Anyway, what I read was fascinating! It seemed that you put a great deal of time into researching the subject, over and above what you already knew. I can't wait to start reading, in earnest.

John F. Geis

Philadelphia, PA

September 7, 2003

Comments: I have some very fond memories of Monitor. I was on the board at a local affiliate in Easton, Pennsylvania, during the first Monitor broadcast. As I recall, the first hour was a technical nightmare.

In subsequent years, I contributed numerous taped features to Monitor from Pennsylvania, Delaware and Ohio. After I joined NBC in Cleveland in the late '60s and was doing some News on the Hour broadcasts, I also did some Monitor newscasts, both from Cleveland and a few times from Radio Central in New York. It was great fun working with people like Gene Rayburn, Fred Facey, Don Pardo and all the others.

When I listen to most radio today, I sometimes think real radio died when Monitor went off the air. The only thing close today is NPR.

Joe Mosbrook

August 23, 2003

Comments: By a fortuitous coincidence, a friend has loaned me a copy of your book, " Monitor - The Last Great Radio Show." I am totally fascinated with your account of the show's early days in 1955 containing the names of staffers that I had almost forgotten.

As you will note on Page 23 of your book, I was one of the first writers to come aboard when the staff was being assembled. In fact, I may have been THE first---even though I was just a rube from the Midwest who happened to drop by Jim Fleming's office at the right time. I was hired as a news writer based upon my experience at CBS Radio in Chicago. But, like so many other things on Monitor, I was never called upon to write news. I wound up writing for Dave Garroway's Monitor segment. It's all a long story.

Having left the weekly Monitor maelstrom in October, 1955, and moved west where I continued writing Monitor spots for Bob and Ray, Fibber and Molly and George Gobel for as long as they ran, I naturally lost contact with my co-workers who helped get the thing on the air. Arnold Peyser was my last contact with the original gang, and when he passed away a few months ago, I was left to wonder whether I might be the last survivor of the founding group. Arnold and I used to laugh about the chaos of those early days and the "refugees" from other shows in various media who were suddenly thrown together to get 40 hours a week on the air.

Tom Koch

August 23, 2003

Comments: Hey, Dennis,

First of all, the new book is great! Thank you so much for putting all those wonderful memories into words. And it was interesting to read about the Monitor era that came before me.

Melanie Turner (who was also my apartment mate), Angela Ladas Vierville, Beryl, Joan Bender and I are meeting next week in NYC (unfortunately Joyce will be in California).

Once again, many thanks for helping to bring so many of us back together.

Best Wishes,

Suzanne Lavelle Bothamley

August 6, 2003

Editor's Note: Suzanne, Melanie, Angela, Beryl and Joan were all production staff members on Monitor and remain very good friends.

Comments: Dennis,

Thanks so much for that reminder about the new book. I no sooner discovered this site, then ordered the first book, and now a second one just as I have finished reading the first one!

Monitor is a very dim memory for me, having been a child of the 60's. The only recollection I have is the Beacon sound coming from my Dad's car radio during road trips. After reading your book, I sure wish I had paid more attention. I lent the first book to my sister in law, who WAS a hardcore Monitor fan, and has really assisted me with filling in some of the blanks.

I guess what I am trying to say is what a wonderful testimony and tribute that is, to your writing efforts. I can't even say I actually heard a Monitor broadcast, and yet I find your accounts absorbing and highly entertaining and informative!

Sincere thanks for providing one of my all-time favorite websites and very pleasurable reading experiences as-well!

John W. Farnum

Arlington, MA

July 5, 2003

.comComments: I came upon the Monitor site quite by accident but have had a wonderful time listening to the old jingles and other audio clips from the programs.

As a high school student in the mid-1970's I ran the Sunday afternoon board at WMVA in Martinsville, VA. Of course, my memories of Monitor go back even further but I was there on the day of the last broadcast in 1975. Monitor was part of my brief radio career but the memories of the program are vivid. I guess the hosts I recall the best are Big Wilson and John Bartholomew Tucker.

There has never been another show quite like Monitor, nor is it likely there will ever be one like it again. This has been a real pleasure and I will pick up your book the first chance I get.

Best regards,

David A. Judkins

Marion, Arkansas

July 5, 2003

Comments: Hi Dennis,

Just ordered your new book. Can hardly wait to get my hands on it.

Don Spuhler

Fontana, CA

July 4, 2003

Comments: Dennis:

Thanks for copying me in on your new book about " Monitor." I look forward to reading it, and marvel at your hard work on this reminder of a late lamented example of what radio could be like when somebody cared.

Jack Shelley

Ames, Iowa

July 2, 2003

Editor's note: Jack Shelley is a legendary news presence in Iowa. For 30 years, he anchored newscasts on WHO Radio and TV -- then became an outstanding teacher of broadcast journalism at Iowa State University in Ames.

Comments: Hi Dennis,

Just wanted to let you know, I got your E-Mail about the new book, and within about 2 minutes, I had it ordered.

Ken Smith

July 2, 2003

Comments: Dennis:

Thanks for the heads up on the new edition. I've already ordered a copy for the library and will let my colleagues around the University System of Georgia know in the hope that they'll order copies as well.

Tom Frieling

July 2, 2003

.govComments: Hi, Dennis,

I'm delighted to know that the new edition of your book is out.

Karen Humphrey

Sacramento, California

July 2, 2003

Comments: Hi, Dennis!

It's been a while, but since I like good news, thanks for alerting me to the fact that you're a publishing person AGAIN!

Congratulations on the release of the second Monitor volume and I'd say I'll rush right out to buy it, but it's obvious I need go no further than my computer. Hope I can get it autographed at some point. Yes, I have your address in my valuable black book.

If you were worried about getting the word out, I discovered this morning after reading your nice email that Terry Morgan has already made note of your new publication on the NY Radio Message Board. That naturally does not guarantee a spot on the NY Times best seller's list but it at least lets professional broadcasters and viewers and listeners know of your latest work.

I hope all is well and I'm not going to ask, what if anything, you said about me, assuming you said anything at all. I like surprises, I enjoyed chatting with you last August and the truth is if this second book is anything like the first, it will certainly be a best seller on my list.

Again, heartiest congratulations, and please stay in touch.

Regards,

Bob Gibson

July 2, 2003

Comments: Great site.

I'm too young to remember anything of the program, but the Beacon is somehow a familiar sound. I grew up in Baltimore, and I believe that the NBC radio affiliate there, WBAL, carried the program to its end.

Marc J. Balcer

June 30, 2003

Comments: Just visited your site... impressive!

It re-kindled many memories when NBC stood for something other than No Body Cares.

Thank you.

Fred Kennedy

June 28, 2003

Comments: I ordered your Monitor book from AMAZON along with the Don McNeil Breakfast Club book. Both came yesterday.

It's been a long time since I've had a Network Radio fix of this magnitude. I'm certainly glad I found your site.. I'm 56 , as I stated in my previous email I listened to Monitor throughout the sixties but like you I listened to Top 40 music during the week as a teenager (I was in a rock band in High School) but it was Sinatra and all of the other music greats on the weekends with Monitor. We had TV in the early 50's at my house but I remember listening to Amos and Andy's Music Hall with my mother and the radio version of Gunsmoke with William Conrad in the 50's with my dad. ( I am a collector of all things Gunsmoke both radio and TV versions).

Monitor allowed me to understand a great deal about Network Radio that would have been lost to me otherwise. NPR is the only thing out there that comes close. I'm an avid listener. After I complete the book I'm sure I will email you again. I just don't know anyone else who has an understanding or passion for the subject. Best regards,

CJ(Jay) West

June 6, 2003

Comments: Hi, Dennis,

I see that your great website now has 30,000+ hits. Keep up the great work. 30,000 of us really enjoy logging on to Monitor just to see what you have in store for us. I will continue to look forward to reliving being on the Monitor Beacon!

Don Spuhler

Fontana, CA

June 2, 2003

Editor's note: Don has been a consistent writer to this site since its inception. For years, he listened to Monitor on a variety of Southern California radio stations. Thanks, Don, for your support.

Comments: Dennis,

The hits just keep on coming on the MONITOR Web site. 30,000 on June 2, 2003, at 8:39 PM CT. It was just a little over four months ago that you reached 25,000. And, of course, this milestone came about during June, the birthday month for MONITOR 48 years ago.

Congratulations. Not bad for a Web site that's less than three years old. And for a radio show that went off the air 28 years ago.

Louis Castaing

Metairie, Louisiana

June 2, 2003

Editor's note: Thank you, Louis, for your continuing interest in keeping the memory of a great, great radio program alive!

Comments: I listened to the stream of the inaugural broadcast of Monitor.

TERRIFIC!

Take care!

Terry Morgan

May 31, 2003

Comments: It was very nostalgic to read through the Monitor Radio web site.

As a teenager in New York City in the 1950's, and enthralled with the profession of journalism [which I subsequently entered during college], the creation of Monitor was a significant advancement in the coverage of news, special events, and entertainment. Before there was all-news radio, and before there was public radio, there was Monitor! From the very beginning, I was hooked . . . and stayed hooked every weekend until its unfortunate demise.

Especially enjoyed the big band and jazz remotes, from various venues, on Saturday nights.

The cadre of news broadcasters, and hosts, who brought Monitor to listeners are pages out of the history of broadcast journalism -- Blair, McGee, Garroway, etc.

John F. Geis

Philadelphia, PA

May 26, 2003

Comments: I was surfing the Old Time Radio website and saw the link for Monitor Memories. It was great to hear the Monitor beacon and the NBC chimes again.

WSB radio in Atlanta was my Monitor home. I can remember a bit of the '50s late-night broadcasts, but I really became a fan as a teenager in the '60s. Gene Rayburn was my favorite on Sat mornings, and WSB tape-delayed the first hour and ran it at midnite Sat night. I also enjoyed the Sun night Monitor that I feel is the model for most of the newsmagazines on TV today.

I worked as an announcer in the metro Atlanta area from the time I got out of the Army in '68 until '84 when I went to work for the Army as a civilian. I owe much of my desire to work radio from the many, many hours that I was entertained by the great talents that worked as Monitor hosts. This site has brought back some great memories.

CJ (Jay) West

Morrow, Georgia

May 19, 2003

Comments: Got the book last week and devoured it!

Thanks for all of your hard work on compiling this fantastic web-site and book.

George Bower

May 8, 2003

Comments: Dennis,

I enjoyed a fresh visit to the great Monitor website. It gets better and better. I recall enjoying Saturday overnight host Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins as communicator with Leon Pearson (columnist Drew Pearson's brother) handling the newscasts. There were frequent remotes from jazz spots in NYC featuring, among others, Marian McPartland from The Hickory House, Dorothy Donegan from who knows where, and many others. It was great stuff. Does anybody in the whole world remember what I'm writing about?

Don Forsling

WOI Radio, Ames, Iowa

April 18, 2003

Comments: I love your website and Dennis Hart's wonderful book.

Years ago Monitor was on WSAV, 630 AM in Savannah, Georgia. My favorite communicator was the late Gene Rayburn. Mr. Rayburn was funny, hip, and witty. That show had it all, good music, news, and intelligent commentary from NBC's fine journalists. Those were the days!

Thanks again for Mr. Hart's research and all who have made this website possible.

Bert Carter

March 16, 2003

Comments: Dennis,

This website is a joy to read, and an inspiration to broadcast journalists. You've done a wonderful job bringing back an era that has long since disappeared on the air waves.

Much success!

Frank Volpicella

Executive News Director

KVUE Television, Austin, Texas

March 9, 2003

Comments: Dear Dennis,

Thanks for a fabulous web site and the book. Like so many others I found this by luck. I enjoyed listening to Monitor in the late 60's and early 70's in Rochester, New York. I think in a way Monitor contributed to my love of travel which ultimately led to 21 year career in the travel industry.

Also on Saturdays I would go with my Dad to work at Sears in downtown Rochester and can remember Monitor and the beacon being played over the PA system in the store! Unfortunately like Monitor that Sears store is gone but what great memories.

Keep up the great work - also enjoy the radio show on Friday nights.

What do you think sometime of a Monitor fan convention at Rockefeller Center?

Best wishes and thanks again,

Frank W. Stoy

Toledo, Ohio

March 4, 2003

Comments: Dennis,

Certainly enjoying the Monitor site. Keep up the good work.

Steve Gulotta

March 1, 2003

Comments: I found this site quite by accident, and I think it was done by Divine Intervention.

I remember as a teen who was "destined" to work in radio, listening to Monitor every weekend, whenever I could. I knew the schedule, I knew the hosts, I knew it all....and loved every second of it. I would even tape record every program, only to listen to it later, should I miss a part. What I wouldn't give to have those tapes. I will definitely be listening to the Pennsylvania station that airs the program on Fridays.

The book is great, the website even better, and I hope it continues to add great memories of the classiest radio program ever.

Bill Johnson

February 25, 2003

Comments: Like others, I came across the Monitor web site by accident.

I listened for years on WIOD in Miami and even "told off" the station manager (on the air) when they dropped Monitor (like many other big city stations) early in the '70s. It was great to hear the beacon again....and it was played (I don't know by whom) today on the PA at Chicago Union Station.

I will buy that book tonite!

Thanks!

Frank Lapp

February 21, 2003

Comments: Dennis, What a thrill!

I just discovered your website yesterday, have been devouring it since and ordered the book this morning. I literally cried when I tuned in to the "Sounds of Monitor" and heard again the Monitor "chirp" (Beacon) after so many years in the dark.

I discovered Monitor during its first year on the air and was instantly captivated. A radio "wonk" all my life, I worked in several smaller stations in TX, CO & NM during my high school & college years and into my 30's but, unfortunately, never at any NBC affiliate so I often had to sneak a portable in to our control room so that I could listen in while pouring out competing sounds on our station(s) -- believe me, we were no competition. So very many memories -- all good -- of Dave Garroway, Al Capp, Bob & Ray, Nicholls & May, Fibber McGee & Molly and all those great stories & features.

Monitor was a signal event in my life and ranks at the top of my most cherished memories.

No question about it, Monitor was the best thing that ever happened to radio since Marconi. It was, still is, the zenith of radio broadcasting.

jabe wills

February 11, 2003

Comments: Dennis,

Congratulations in hitting the 25K mark on the Monitor website.

BTW, I think you'll get a kick out of this: There is a station outside of Phoenix, AZ that is branding itself as "NBC 1190 Phoenix"!! Nice website: http://www.talk1190.com

Take care!

Terry Morgan

(G-E-C)

February 6, 2003.

Comments: Hi, Dennis!

Thanks for the newest addition to your section of soundbites from " Monitor".

The 1965 promos with Ken Nordine were quite unique as you said, and were years ahead of their time. I didn't recognize the name Ken Nordine, but hearing his voice, I realized that he's done lots of commercials. As these promos were from 1965, Nordine must have been quite young and these promos may have even been the first time his voice was ever heard on nationwide radio.

One other interesting tidbit of " Monitor '65": How could Frank Blair do the Sunday-night " Monitor" shift from 1964 to 1966 and then bright and early next morning (on-air at 7 A.M. Eastern; he must have arrived at 30 Rock at least two hours prior to that to write/edit/prepare his news updates) do the every-half-hour news updates on "Today"?

Were there such a thing as " Monitor 2003 on NBC Radio" and were I (instead of Ann Curry) the current newsreader on "Today" AND a " Monitor" "communicator", there's no way I could handle Sunday-night " Monitor" and then come back next morning to do "Today". I might be able to handle Sunday afternoons or any Saturday shifts, but I simply couldn't get enough sleep on Sunday-night in between the shows!

Best Wishes,

Joseph Gallant

February 3, 2003

Comments: Dennis,

Does 25,000 count? Recorded Saturday, January 25, 2003, 3:52 PM CST. Sadly on the 28th anniversary of the Last Weekend. You'll notice the dates in January are the same this year as they were in 1975. But congratulations on another milestone.

Louis Castaing

January 25, 2003

.comComments: I discovered your Monitor website today while doing a search for "Fred A.Niles Communications." In your guestbook is a post (exactly one year ago today) by Patricia Janousky who used to work at Fred Niles and, specifically, for Helen Hall during the years 1970-71.

I worked at Fred Niles from about 1973-76 and also knew Helen. I also knew her technician, David Faulkner, mentioned by Patricia. On occasion, when David was not available, I would fill in for him and go on location with Helen and do the recording.

Helen and I were both originally from Kansas City, so we would frequently talk about "things back home." I stayed in touch for some years with another person who had worked for Helen as well, and this person in turn stayed in touch with Helen. Helen died about 1986, as best I can recall although it may have been a year or so earlier.

I enjoyed looking at your site. I'm 55 and can remember some of those Monitor programs, but I never knew that Helen was a part of them.

Richard Bradley

January 23, 2003

Comments: I have distant memories of Monitor but remember how impressed my parents were with it. Like a great old TV series or film, it's nice to be able to read and hear about such a much loved program. Thanks for the web site.

Boyce Tate

Lake Worth, FL

January 20, 2003

Comments: Your pages on the Web about the history book published about the great radio show Monitor helped me to confirm the answer to a question that had been nagging at me for years--- what was the name of the hilarious guy who did an uproarious double-talking routine?

He had appeared many times on the old Milton Berle radio show, then on Berle's TV show, as a guest on Ed Sullivan's TV show and others.

I was trying to recall his name, but I can remember how he sounded mixing up a few words of legitimate English together with lots and lots of side-splittingly funny gibberish.

By way of e-mail I had been asking lots of old-time radio buffs, people who were experts on comedians, etc., if they knew his name, but up till now, no one had the answer. However, just tonight, I happened on two people who identified him (you being one of them) -- your site on the history of Monitor confirmed it for me – because he's one of the many people posing in the photo of Monitor contributors.

I loved his routine, so much so that one time, as Ed Sullivan announced his name and Al Kelly walked out on stage, I burst into laughter even before the guy opened his mouth to speak.

Thanks for your Web page. I was a Monitor fan and I'll look for the book at amazon.com

Mel Vogel

January 16, 2003

Comments: Guess you can add me to the list of people who stumbled across your website and was amazed to see all the material you have on the show.

I discovered Monitor a bit late, probably around 1970 or so, but loved the format immediately and became a big fan for the next few years. My wife got me your book for Christmas and it answered a lot of the questions I had always wondered about, plus told me a lot about what I missed in the show's heyday.

Do you know if any tapes exist of the final weekend of Monitor shows? By 1975 I had moved away to college in an area where Monitor was not heard, so I had no idea how the show had ended. Your description of the final weekend sounds fascinating. If they exist, any chance they'd play on this cable radio station on Friday nights? (Yep, I've begun listening to that, too. Loved the Frank Sinatra, Jr. shows.) I'd sure love to hear them.

Regardless, thanks so much for all your work in putting up the website and the book. It brought back a lot of nice memories for me!

Jim Lawson

San Diego, CA

January 16, 2003

Comments: Well, I was a host on Monitor for a while. I did shows by myself and some with Joe Garagiola and Bill Cullen.

When I was let go by the local, WNBC, Monitor also decided I had become stupid, I guess. They stopped inviting me to be a host.

It was a long time ago, the memories are dim, but the money was outrageous, the shows were fun and I loved it, short as the career was.

I will never forget having Bobby Goldsboro as a guest. "He's hysterically funny," they told me. "He's a riot. You don't need any show prep. He'll carry the show." Well, the funniest thing he said was, "Hello." And I had nothing else going.

After stints at WIP and WWDB, Philly, and 25 years at WCTC, NJ, I retired. Then I un-retired. Am back with WCTC in NJ doing Talk, have no ambition for NY or Philly. I love it here.

Jack Ellery

January 11, 2003