A teenage girl named Teresa (or perhaps Theresa) had to leave her friends when her family moved to Georgetown, Kentucky. She not only exchanged letters with the friends back home, but audio tapes, too. 40 or more years later, one of those tapes ended up in a batch I bought somewhere.
It sounds like maybe this was the second of at least two tapes, based on the way that side one seems to be picking up in the middle of a story. But as side one of this three inch reel of tape begins, Teresa talks about her recent college visit to Kentucky Wesleyan college, where she and her friends were housed with a population she was clearly not comfortable with. She shares a bit about a boring dance she went to, while there, and the walk back to the dorm when she and friends decided to leave early. Then she speaks about a more recent dance, near her home, where she danced with the lead singer of the locally popular band "The Exiles" - by the way, this is the same group that evolved into "Exile" of "Kiss You All Over" and 1980's country music fame. Both the slipping sound of the tape at the start and the dropping out of the sound at about the five minute point are on the original tape.
1.) Teresa - Audio Letter to a Friend Back Home, Part One (MP3)
A month later, still not having finished or sent the tape, Teresa returns to it, and recaps some of the same stories, especially the one about dancing with the leader of The Exiles, while going on to discuss other aspects of life in Kentucky, including how much she hates it (which, to me, was not evident in her tone up to that point). She's starting to tell of another party when someone tells her that she's just received a letter from the very friend she's talking to. After reading the letter, it's clear something interesting has been shared, but we'll never find out what it was, as she offers a quick "Bye" as she sees the tape running out.
2.) Teresa - Audio Letter to a Friend Back Home, Part Two (MP3)
And now, here are a few very unusual odds and ends that I've compiled, none of which would be significant enough to offer up in a post, in and of themselves. First, I found this interesting bit of scat singing in the middle of what was otherwise about 20 minutes of trombone practice, which the scat singer erased with this performance. It's sort of low key at first, but becomes more excitable as it goes on. I've left the tromboning for about ten seconds at either end of this tape:
3.) Unknown - Scat Singing (MP3)
Next, a parody someone threw together circa 1979, when NBC was promoting its new fall shows with the "NBC - Proud as a Peacock" theme. In 59 seconds, the song manages to take a lot of meanspirited shots at Fred Silverman and his navagation of NBC into last place among the three networks. This was the only thing on an 1800 foot reel of tape, one which was simply labeled "Loud as a Peacock" on the side of the box. I guess this is well known in certain circles, but I was unfamiliar with it, and I'm guessing that's true of many others, too, so here it is.
4.) Unknown - NBC - Loud as a Peacock (MP3)
Finally, here's something momentary, silly and weird. I guess I was mostly taken by this because it was nearly the only thing on this reel of tape, and was about half way through the second side (nowhere near anything else on the tape). So whoever this is had to run the tape halfway through the reel in order to record for 13 seconds.
"Kiss You All Over" was used in the 1996 Adam Sandler movie Happy Gilmore, I love this song. Thanks for the post.
Posted by: Brad Fallon | February 21, 2011 at 08:27 AM
fascinating stuff. Thanks.
Posted by: Stu | February 22, 2011 at 11:35 PM
The scat singing is a Dizzy Gillespie piece, but I can't remember the name.
Posted by: SMY | February 23, 2011 at 10:25 AM
Also, the "Loud As A Peacock" was recorded by the same production company that did the real campaign. It was a favorite among NBC employees who didn't like Silverman.
Eventually, Don Imus (then on NBC's flagship AM station) broadcast the clip, causing Silverman to go on a search-and-destroy mission at 30 Rock to destroy all copies.
Well, *almost* all copies.
Posted by: SMY | February 23, 2011 at 10:31 AM