Today's tape contains a few minutes of fascinating narration, from some time in the 1950's. The initial material on the tape was recorded in 1953, but some time after that, someone recorded over it, capturing a brief monologue for the ages, one which I suspect people who like to manipulate sound - particularly those who play with things said in sound clips - will have a field day with.
On the box, it's identified as "A Boy and a Clock", and as you'll hear, it is an entreaty for the listener to be aware of the boys in his life - his children, those in his extended family, in his neighborhood, and for God's sake, get them into Boy Scouts just as fast as you can.
I suspect that if someone where selling this message today, he wouldn't choose some of the turns of phrase chosen here, but I don't think I'll say anything more about that - I'll let the gems on this tape speak for themselves.
I will mention that it takes about 30 seconds to get going, while whoever did the recording messed with different ticking sounds, before getting one that was just right. Oh, one more thing - moments before the narration begins, is it my imagination, or does someone say "damn it!"?
Unknown - A Boy and a Clock | Tape Box Front Cover | Tape Box Back Cover
Following this monologue, the rest of the tape contains the rest of what was originally recorded on it: what I believe are performances from a high school or other amateur band, playing a variety of band pieces at a moderate level of competence. They aren't nearly interesting enough to share here...
Mr. Bob Purse, your Reel-to-Reel posts are my favorite things on the internet. So much amazing, weird audio. Thanks for posting these!
Posted by: Joey Headset | November 11, 2013 at 03:11 AM