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110 Comments
- Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -7/+20That's usually how it works.
- groucho, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12["Also, I don't know about you guys, but I know when I try to change the dial on the radio manually, it never ends up right on the station like it did in this clip."]
FWIW: The old tuners from the 70s had much more elegant tuning dials. And they also had their own tuning gauge so you could quickly "zero in" on a station. Most tuners also had a feature that would cancel out the static while tuning. - systemghost, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11wow that was good. you win many internets for this.
- SergeantPepper, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was a McCartney song. Lennon actually didn't like the idea of a concept album and he saw Pepper as "Paul's Record". And Hey Jude is an awesome song. John Lennon was great, but so was McCartney, and Harrison. That's why the Beatles were the best.
- dawgma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9its not unbelieveable that this would be a real radio scan. not hard to believe at all. everyone playing beatles songs would not be a suprise at all.. in fact i would think every radio station would liek to be a part of the tribute. i just wonder if it was slightly edited, because of what you said about the coversations.
- yomakaze, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Amazing sadness captured.
- thewise1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8you guys forget that 25 years ago, you didn't hear 3 songs then 6 commercials then 3 songs then 6 commercials ;)
- jeffelms, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9and there just happen to be no commercials.
- Drull, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7This is almost creepy, hearing the random pass. Nice find.
- noelsusman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6It is in real time. He just went down the dial from start to finish and recorded it.
- craptacuIar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"1. The interviews start and stop at just the right times"
They seem to come in mid-sentence, but the person tuning (or hoaxing) obviously waited until the end of a sentence to begin the next movement on the dial.
"2. The Beatles songs always show up at a point in the song when John is singing"
It seems that DJs were focusing on playing songs featuring John that night, making that far from impossible.
"3. One of the first radio bits says he died "Last monday night", later on, a clip says "They say Yoko is back at Dakota, and a puddle of blood remains where he was shot" (roughly paraphrased)."
The phrase used was not "died last Monday night", but "died, Monday night". The Commentator may have stated it that way to give the report a feel of historical importance. This was back when news reports had people signing off rather than throwing in a plug for a local taco special.
I'm not saying the clip is authentic or not. Radio was entirely different in those days though. We may be quick to judge it a hoax due to our exposure to what radio has become- a long commercial broken up by the occasional automated glut of the droning collection of cookie-cutter factory assembly line music.
If Lennon had died today, I doubt any of the Clearchannel/Infinity/Megaglobalmediacorp stations that own the airwaves would even change the automation. It would simply be another quick mention between the weather forecast and the mention of "any coin any drink night" at some club. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Mirrors:
Streaming via Flash (SWF)
http://westoncampbell.googlepages.com/New_York_NY_Radio_-_The_Night_John_Lennon_Died.html
Direct MP3 Download
http://westoncampbell.googlepages.com/New_York_NY_Radio_-_The_Night_John_Lennon_Died.mp3 - ki4gmb, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Indeed.... John Lennon is a huge part of the way I live my life, and an extremely great influence on my musical tastes.
- Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6A couple of things make this stand out as a hoax (at least in regards to how they describe it as a "radio scan")
1. The interviews start and stop at just the right times
2. The Beatles songs always show up at a point in the song when John is singing
3. One of the first radio bits says he died "Last monday night", later on, a clip says "They say Yoko is back at Dakota, and a puddle of blood remains where he was shot" (roughly paraphrased).
Nice montage, but clearly not what they say it is. - halfgenius, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I remember it like it was yesterday....I was only 12 at the time but very sad....Time flies
- Habemus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That'a exactly the way it was. I tuned in the radio that night just before bed and the first thought in my mind as I scanned the dial and heard all these Beatles songs all over the dial everwhere was "I know Lennon has a new album out, but damn, his publicist is incredible!" Then I landed on a station that had an announcer saying as I tuned it in: "and he is the first Beatle to die." At that point I though "Who? Which one?" I kept tuning around to hear more and they said it was Lennon. It sounded JUST LIKE this scan. You have to remember that radio carried far less commercials then than now, usually only at the quarter-hour marks. If you were tuning around at any other time, you could easily not hear any commercials at all.
- welvis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Hey guys, just a little bit more info for the 'real/fake/edited/unedited' conversation. I emailed Ken, who posted the story at WFMU and this is what he had to say:
"Yes, I posted that, but it came to me via The Professor, also from WFMU. He got it off of Usenet. Listening to it myself and being familiar with the NYC radio dial at that time, it DOES seem to have at least one edit in it. But the stations in New York are very closely packed together. Nobody ever claimed that it was a real-time dial scan - I wouldn't be surprised if it had more than one edit. Someone else once speculated that it was a hoax because a DJ mentions the Playboy interview from the January 1981 issue. But the January 1981 issue of Playboy was indeed published just before Lennon's murder."
-ken - dignon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Awesome. A sorry time for all of us and an appropriate, if not utterly depressing, statement on humanity.
- Battlecry, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Also, I don't know about you guys, but I know when I try to change the dial on the radio manually, it never ends up right on the station like it did in this clip. I find the station, then go back and forth until it comes in right. It didn't happen at all like that in the clip.
I'd say the interviews and stuff are real, but I think it's been edited together. - Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4You've never used a tuner with the little gauge that tells you when to stop? It was pretty normal on higher end stuff.
- t3hX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4http://blogfiles.wfmu.org.nyud.net:8080/KF/0512/New_York_NY_Radio_-_The_Night_John_Lennon_Died.mp3
Use the coral cache. - swampthingy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I was actually listening to the radio in New York that night (I'm old) and this sounds real to me. I only wish the person had captured Vin Scelsa on WNEW-FM who was one of the first to announce that a wire story had a person identified as John Lennon being shot outside the Dakota. He said he hoped it was not true. Then he played Bruce Springsteen's "Jungleland" all the way through. And when it was over he said, unfortunately, it was true and Lennon was dead. I will never forget that night.
- JudgeDredd, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8Stylesp, you have an uncanny knack for pointing out the obvious.
- Nikon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The fact that he is doing a radio dial scans somewhat implies he is dialing from one station to another in succession. However, as you point out, it could be edited audio scans from the night he died, but then the static transitions from station to station wouldn't be necessary, and only serve to deceive us.
I find it interesting that the recorder seems to scan past certain stations. I first thought it was the noise of the radio dialing into the signal, but he clearly seems to know to skip over some stations. These stations might just have came in less clear, but if it this in fact genuine you could argue that it was recorded artfully. That is, he sought out the stations playing Lennon, and focused on them, and filled the gaps with contrasting music.
It does seem to good to be true though, that the caller on CBS radio tells the talk host that we "should not release the name of the killer". I don't know if this is where the phrase/notion originated, but the likelihood of capturing the entirety of that call, as such a perfect moment, is very slim.
My guess is a dial scan was taken of most of the night, and someone now with the digital technology focused on the important parts. - Zaffel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Thank you John for everything you have done for us. You will never be forgotten!
- wbreim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2(T_T) as if this monday wasn't bad enough...
I totally agree with the guy who said "never publish the killer's name".... now they are even making a movie about him... this world sucks. - hitbyatrain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Just because there were no commercials caught on the dial scan doesn't mean it is a fake.
1. On a night with a *huge* news story, stations are going to cut into their regular schedules/programming/commercials. Pretty standard procedure to drop commercials and other programming for big news.
2. Lots of the stations are playing Beatles songs, and all are at "the point where John is singing"? Of course they are--John Lennon was just shot. Wouldn't make much sense for a station to put on a song sung by George/Ringo/Paul if John was the one to whom they were paying tribute.
Yes, it's almost too cool to be true. But that doesn't mean it's fake. - MrManFitz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"2. The Beatles songs always show up at a point in the song when John is singing"
I heard "Blackbird" in there and that's Paul's song. - crimes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2if you weren't alive at the time, i don't think it's fair you should be making comments.
in 1980, and 2006, one of the biggest bands to ever live were the beatles. you can make the argument that maybe it's pink floyd or the rolling stones, but that's your opinion. anyway, after the incident, every radio station was having tributes. they weren't just playing john's songs either. some weren't suitable at the time, but instead, they wanted to play songs that would celebrate and help with the situation. many stations were playing 'golden slumbers-you never give me your money.' which are both wonderful songs by paul mccartney. anyway, most of america was in shock as the voice of a generation was assassinated.
i do believe this was edited a bit. just to make it easier to listen to. who wants to listen to 15 seconds of static, with a crunchy voice going on about something you can't quite make out. +digg for welvis - torindkflt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Where is everyone getting the idea that this was real-time? It doesn't mention it being a real-time dial scan ANYWHERE on WMFU or in the original Digg entry. It doesn't say it was a real-time scan, therefore the fact that it has been edited doesn't matter.
- jrapp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Personally, I don't think the "Broadcast Flag," will do anything to keep us from recording history via the radio, as it is already impossible. Clear Channel et. al. have absolutely killed traditional radio with annoying DJs that voice-track for 25 different stations five days in advanced. Do a dial scan today, do you hear anything besides the same, tired old crap? Didn't think so. Granted the Broadcast Flag, whether for radio or TV is an infringement upon our rights of fair use, but I think we need content worthy of use first.
- petiejoe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I suppose you probably also noticed that most of the music that was playing were Beatle's tunes?
- tnsimonson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well done, just a little too well done. I'm sure a lot of people here would like to believe that this is a single-take live recording, but it is just a bit too perfect. The lack of any commercials whatsoever, the perfect tuning from station to station, and the convenient timing of the comments all indicate to me that it is likely a fake. Seems a bit manipulative to me.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No, I also think that McCartney's songs were weak compared to Lennon's and Harrison's. He further exposed his sappy songwriting skills later in Wings and his solo work. He simply doesn't have as much to say.
- WyllyWylly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Anyone familiar with editing audio - not trimming your MP3 files, but pro-level editing?
Seems more likely to me that someone collected several different pieces and welded them together via clever editing. I don't doubt that any of these bits are less than the genuine article, but the effective presentation sounds intentional. Neither do I think that it is intentionally misleading, if I was to cut together several different bits for mass consumption I would do something similar.
Taken that way, it's a good piece. Gets my digg. - Justinpirate, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Interesting, I have it on to download now. Thanks for this. Didn't even know it existed and that website looks like it has some other things worth a look as well.
- welvis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Found it among del.icio.us user jdelezen2's links:
http://del.icio.us/jdelezen2 - MastaBaba, on 10/12/2007, -8/+9Nice, but to me sounds like a fake. It's just too clean, conversations are picked up at the beginning, all channels carry Beatles songs. Nice, but probably fake.
- ironbear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I do lots of audio editing, including some for broadcast, and what I hear sounds generally authentic. This was an enormous event in NYC at the time, and many radio stations abandoned their regular programming. However, I doubt if it was all recorded realtime exactly as you hear it. Most likely it's been edited a bit. WFMU, the source of the clip, doesn't give any significant history, and doesn't represent it to be a realtime recording, anyway.
- dawgma, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2so was this radio scan in real time? one channel after another all the way down the frequency band?
or was it a bunch of recordings.. edited together with some static put in between the clips? i dont doubt they were all the same night.. but was it all the same moment? - Vergeh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I found it sad that when the guy was saying 'never publish the killer's name,' somebody in the radio studio was sniffling as the host was speaking.
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1btw folks , John Lennon was born on October the NINTH
he was murdered on December the 8TH AT 10.59pm - but if you change that to Liverpool Time, its December the NINTH.
No.9 Dream seems a bit more spooky now doesnt it?
i dunno - i'm atheist - but for somebody to make so much incredibly good quality music in such a short life - well, Lennon is up there with Mozart - he's a gift to humanity. And if you are religious, well, I'd look on Lennon as a gift from God - despite his "we're more famous than jesus" thing. His music is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it - and thats saying something. - blakespot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Going from static to a channel to static to channel - he seems to zone right in to the station without needing to do a back and forth adjustment. ...it seems contrived. Or at least a rather edited version of this scan - cleaned up. And the commentary stations start up at just the right moment - not mid word or anything...
- elmerfudd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I was in SF not NYC but I remember radio scanning after hearing the news. Most stations were either talking about it or playing beatles songs with John singing. It sounded close to as I remember it.
- Arkitan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If its real its cool as hell, if it isn't, it made us think about someone that was cool as hell. Either way, I'm glad it was posted. Nice find welvis
- oldcyborg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I was 32 then, and still am right where I was at that time. I don't much care about how edited the piece may be, since it captures the mood, and what really happened, from a listeners point of view.. Well done, regardless. I miss George the most tho'. I was never a big lennon fan. I couldn't handle Oko Yono..... Too much for this country boy... George, Roy, blonde ugly, and who else was it? traveling Willburys. hehehe
yes
Cyborg - ManInTheBunker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1that's... kind of the point...
- chuckcunningham, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1how do i get -8 (and falling) diggs on that? im gonna assume you're all just jealous bastards 'less somebody says something
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1amazing audio clip
i remember exactly where i was and what i was doing when i first heard of it.
i was a little kid, being driven to school by my mom - and she just turned on the radio - and i can replay the memory in my mind as if it was yesterday - in full color as well. i remember every word that was said, everyone movement, the reaction of my mom - everything - jmullman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Hah, just wait... the cable morons were saying the same thing. Commercials are on their way, don't worry. And you'll still pay for it.
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