AM Radio: Solid Gold | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Uh, everybody, we have a big. announcement, but Josh, I think you need. to do your traditional tour. announcement. >> There we go. That means it's tour time, everybody. We took off 2025. >> cuz it just felt like the right thing to. do. But we are hitting the road again. next year. Yeah. >> And we are super excited. >> Yes. Get this. So, we're going to start. hitting the road in January. Starting. January 27th at the Paramount Theater in. Denver. The next day, we'll be at the. Paramount Theater in Seattle. And on. January 29th, we'll be back to our.

beloved Sketchfest at the Sydney. Goldstein Theater in San Francisco, CA. >> That's right. That's our January run. And then in April, we're going to hit. the Midwest and we're going to some. cities we haven't been to yet. And I'm. super excited because on April [music]. 16th, we'll be in Madison, Wisconsin at. the Oreium Theater. On the 17th, we'll. be back in Chicago at the Chicago. Auditorium, a city we love. and then to. my wife's hometown finally April 18th in. Akran, Ohio at the Goodyear Theater. >> That's right. And get this, for the.

January leg, tickets are on sale now. And we're actually running a pre-sale. today, November 18th. You can use our. code syskive to get tickets early. Go to. stuffyounow.com. It'll have all the. tickets and info that you need. And you. can buy Sketchfest tickets right now as. well. >> That's right. Sketchfest uh on sale the. 16th of November. There's no pre-sale on. that one. General on sale is happening. as we speak. [music]. >> That's right. So, we'll see you guys in.

2026. We're really excited to get back. out there. We hope you're excited, too. If you're not, just fake it when you see. us. >> That's right. And pay attention the. great white north because there is more. to come this summer. >> That's right. So, we'll see you soon. Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart Radio. [music]. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. [music]. I'm Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's.

here, too. And we're just kicking it old. school, real mellow style, which is what. I understand all the kids say today. >> That's right. And hey, uh, before we get. going, [music] this is probably the. perfect episode to mention that our, uh, episode on how vinyl works that was. released on vinyl. >> is being reprinted because that thing. sold out. And I think people would love. to have one of these things for. Christmas. >> Yeah, we're releasing it just in time. for the holidays. As a matter of fact,

it's coming out on Black Friday, November 28th this year, which uh, also. happens to be Record Store Day from what. I understand. And our friends at Born. Losers Records um put this out again. They did the first one. Did a. magnificent job, of course. Um and they. printed 300 red and black marble um. records that are just beautiful. Uh. those are available online at um. syskvvinyl.com. >> Yeah. >> And then for the actual record store.

where you have to leave your home, probably put on a cap because it's late. November, maybe a coat, go down to your. local indie record store. Yeah, they um. they there might be a chance that they. have one of the 300 gold royalty. records. Those are exclusives for record. stores. >> Well, you can bet your Bippy I'll be. going to my local record store and. supporting ourselves by buying one. >> That's awesome. You should draw more. people by just spending like a full day. there and telling everyone.

>> Yeah, maybe I could work something out. with W Street here in town. I can go. >> There you go. >> sit up there and those guys can not talk. to me. We'll see if we can get a cutout. of you too um to for to stand behind you. while you sit there. >> That's great. I'm really excited this is. back out though because people really. seem to enjoy it and um what is it. again? Syskinyl.com. >> That's right. >> Awesome. And thanks again to our friends. at Born Losers. You guys are great. >> Yeah, they're the best. >> Yeah, they are. >> Okay, Chuck. So, yeah, this is a really. good episode to shout out Records.

because we're talking about AM radio and. um we talked a little bit about it in. our beautiful music short stuff aka BM. >> which I'll never get over. Um, >> but there's a lot more to AM um radio. And in fact, I didn't realize this. Julia helped us with this one and um I. didn't realize before that AM. broadcasting basically set the standards. Yeah. >> for all sorts of different things like.

um how news is presented. >> um soap operas all sorts of different. stuff. >> that lasted for decades and decades and. decades that all started with AM radio. because ultimately it was the very first. form of mass communication that was not. printed. >> Yeah. I mean, top 40 radio started on AM. uh which is I mean I think these days uh. the kids if they hear of AM radio. probably either don't know what it is or. uh may not if they have as we'll see a. new a newer model car especially EV may.

not even have AM radio. >> uh or a radio in their house like a. transistor radio or something or. receiver but they may think AM radio is. uh as like you know news talk, sports. talk, maybe some foreign language. stations maybe some if they're driving. through a rural community, some like. weird farm report or something that. they've never heard. >> I remember this. >> And that's that's kind of what AM radio. became. But it it launched top 40. It. was the up until like 1978. It beat FM.

And FM had been around since what, like. the 30s? >> Yeah, it had. And everybody said, "Nope, we're really happy with AM." And stuck. with it even after FM came around for. quite a while. >> Um, but let's talk about this. um. because you like you hit on some really. good points and we're going to touch on. all of those but let's start at the very. very beginning um when AM radio really. started to come around because people. had been messing with um AM broadcasting.

since the very early 1900s. Um, there. were some inventions that all kind of. came together around the same time. >> And I I do not understand how this could. possibly happen. But putting these. disperate inventions together and. figuring out how to broadcast radio. waves that in have encoded sound in them. is just I mean hats off. That's like mad. genius stuff. But that's what happened. in the very early 1900s. >> Yeah. Yeah, there were there were people. broadcasting AM signals uh at the time.

and you know the only people that had. these AM receivers that could listen. were uh like soldiers at sea or. something like that. >> Uh this before they made it into the. homes of Americans. >> Um that paused during World War I. because they said, "Hey, we can't have. you broadcasting your your daughter. playing violin, even though our soldiers. love it that are out out at sea, right? >> Uh we need to kind of lock this down for. now." But starting in about 1920, in. fact, exactly 1920. >> was when commercial broadcast AM radio.

started with KDKA Pittsburgh. >> Yeah, that was the very first one. I. think that they read the results of the. Warren Harding election. I can't. remember the other guy's name. Somebody. Cox Warren Harding obviously won. But. right after that, I mean, like this was. so clearly a groundbreaking medium. Um, it was basically for the people in the. 1920s, it was what the what people in. the early 90s experienced with internet. >> It was almost like.

>> like, holy cow, I can't like you can't. even begin to imagine all the different. ways that this thing is going to change. the world. You just know it's going to. change the world. That's kind of what. happened. And so, right after that first. broadcast, um, it just exploded all over. the world. And one reason why it. exploded all over the world is because. the person who's considered the father. of radio, uh, Gilmo Maronei, he set up. companies everywhere. So very quickly, radio stations started to develop and. just a year or two after um, KDKA went.

on the air. >> I'm, by the way, a little mad at you. because ever since you sent me the. Maronei tidbit this morning, I cannot. get we built the city on rock and roll. out of my head. How? Why? That's That's odd. >> Marone played the mamba. >> Oh, I never knew that. >> Radio. I got you. >> Yeah. And I I mean, I hate that song so. much. >> and I can't get it out of my head all.

because I just saw the word maronei. typed in an email. >> I always thought seriously there it was. some gibberish I had in my head. I knew. it wasn't right, but it was like and. says Leamba, something like that. [laughter]. >> I had no idea Maronei was name checked, but that's appropriate. Yeah, I'm not. really mad at you, but uh it boy, that. thing really gets rooted in your head. pretty well. >> Um but uh like you said, by uh the early. 1920s, everybody was on board. In 1922, in fact, um AT&T had the first radio. network built when they linked 38 radio.

stations by phone lines and could. broadcast, you know, WAF out of New York. all around the country. So like people. it was it was literally like you said. like the internet was it was American. life before and life after as far as AM. radio goes. >> Well put well put and not just American. life too like this like I said it spread. around the world very quickly. The BBC. started broadcasting in 1922. Um Australia's first um radio station. 2SB which is now ABC Sydney. That's they.

started in 1923. Canada got its first one in 1932. XWA. out of Montreal. Um it it was just just. like the internet. It's not like it was. just one country. It was everybody who. got in involved because it was a. humanity altering invention. >> Yeah, for sure. Uh by the late 1920s um. the major networks had launched uh and. you know these were radio networks NBC. and CBS. Um these were international. broadcasts from the United States all.

over the world. >> And you know they worked by you know you. had to have a receiver. So early on uh. you know vacuum tubes um worked with. radio receivers connected to. loudspeakers and that's how you could. hear things. Later on transistor radios. came along and that's what really. changed the game because that's when it. was like TVs for the olds uh the young. people were had these little radios in. their pocket and then they started you. know uh putting radios in cars. But it's. funny to think about a time when like,

yeah, TV's out outdated, right? >> And we want AM radio in our pocket. >> and then it came roaring back eventually. thanks to LA law. Um the you mentioned. something that I think is worth calling. out too. You mentioned that there's a. speaker that converts that um that sound. signal back into actual acoustic sound. They weren't headphones, they were. speakers. So that meant that early radio. was a thing that the family gathered. around. It was a social activity. listening to all the stuff that was on. the radio which is really important.

because um. >> I mean that's definitely become. fragmented and fractured today as it you. know personal. >> media has become like more and more. available but that was like whatever was. on the radio right then probably. whatever your parents wanted to listen. to that's what the family was listening. to. >> Yeah. For better or worse. Uh I think by. 1930 there were 40% of US homes had AM. receivers. Uh hopefully most of them had. speakers otherwise they just sit there. and look at it. Uh there were more than.

600 radio stations in 1930. Uh obviously. all of them AM but um like we mentioned. FM came along pretty quickly in the. 1930s and had a better sound but um you. know it just didn't um take over until. 1978. I think um by 1940 even 83% of the. households in America I mean that's. really massive coverage. >> uh had AM radio signals like you know. being broadcast through their homes. >> Yeah. And you said I mean like FM was.

around but people said no we're we're. sticking with the AM. One of the big. reasons is because the FM receiver needs. more power because of the way FM radio. is pumped out. That was a big thing for. a long time. And that was one reason. people stuck around with AM. But um. there's definitely an affection that. developed for AM radio over the years. >> Yeah. Uh there's also something called. FM drift. Um like you know if you're. driving around listening to an FM. station. Uh it can kind of go in and.

out. >> Um uh you know to the left or to the. right. I guess you could kind of turn. your dial a little bit and try try and. dial it back in. But that was an issue. And we'll talk about some of the AM. radio issues, but uh if you're looking. at the dial, uh AM according to the FCC, AM waves have to be broadcast on. frequencies between 535 megahertz and. 1.7. And FM is from 88 to 108. >> Yeah, sounds legit.

>> Those check out based on the radio call. signs I'm familiar with. [laughter]. >> Do you ever listen to AM radio anymore? Yeah, I listened to the Bulldogs game on. the way home from Yumi's parents house. on Saturday. >> Wasn't that nice? >> The ball game or listening to the radio? >> Listening to a sports broadcast on the. radio? >> Yes. I used to do that in college. Um I. can't remember the sports cer's name. The legendary one for Georgia with the. hobnail boot.

>> Yeah. Yeah. Uh Larry Mson. >> Larry Mson. Um yeah. Back in college, I. would listen to him and watch the game. Um. >> yeah, >> like on mute and hopefully they would. sync up. >> Yeah, that was the preferred method. But. um I still love and it doesn't happen a. lot because you know I watch the game on. TV generally, but if I'm traveling like. you were just talking about or I. remember when I built uh we couldn't. afford to build like uh to get a fence. company to build our fence 20 years ago. >> So I built our privacy fence like pick.

it by picket over the course of two. months. >> Oh wow. And a lot of that was spent with. me listening to Georgia Bulldogs on the. radio. >> Uh I mean it was pre-podcast even and. it's just it's still to me a great way. to to catch a game. >> for sure. >> Not even nostalgia wise. Like it really. is a great way to listen to catch a. game. >> Oh yeah. The play calling is like you. have to be really good. There's no. assist there. You're telling everybody. what's going on, you know? >> Yeah. >> Um I say we take a break because we're. getting nostalgic already. What do you.

think? >> Yeah. I'm going to park that and we'll. stick to the facts. >> Okay, baby. We're taking a break, everybody. We'll be right back. [music]. [music].

>> [music]. [music]. >> So if we're talking uh the golden age of. radio as a whole, that was a about a. three to four and four decade period. from the 20s through the mid-50s or so. That was when AM radio starred. Uh we'll. also talk a little bit later about sort. of the 70s period when AM radio music. was like you know the mellow gold stuff.

was a big deal but that um you know that. first decade of radio ushered in you. know it was blowing people's minds like. they had never heard sometimes any of. this stuff. >> or certainly had not heard any of this. stuff live like a live broadcast. And. speaking of sports, in in 1921, uh, over about 125,000 square miles from. where it broadcast out of Jersey City, New Jersey, people listen to the. heavyweight boxing championship. And I.

can't imagine what that was like to hear. a sports broadcast like that for the. first time as it happened. >> Well, hopefully the commentator knew. what he was doing, too. And there. weren't like like long pauses like the. boom goes the dynamite guy. One of. them's punching another one repeatedly. [laughter]. >> Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Carpente. just went down. >> That's right. >> Uh, one of the other things that we'll. see about AM radio too, Chuck, is that. uh it's it was long considered a public. good. Um, so that the government had.

like a little more willingness to be. like, "No, you can say this and you. can't say that and you have to do this.". One of the reasons why is because it was. very quickly used to kind of spread. public information. Like presidents took. to it very quickly. Remember I said that. KDKA announced the um results of the. Harding election. Within just a couple. years, Warren Harding was using it to to. talk to America and FDR was probably the. most famous president who used the radio. to talk to America. He had a series of. um like just informal speeches basically.

called fireside chats. Yeah. that really. made a lot of the country just fall in. love with them. Um, but it was very it. was it was very clear early on just how. much influence it could have on people's. political opinions. >> Well, and it was a lot of people the. first time they ever heard the. president's voice speak, you know. >> Is that what he sounds like? [laughter]. >> Yeah. It wasn't around during Lincoln. because everyone would have been like, really? [laughter]. Uh, but yeah, you know, there was.

definitely public good and we'll dive. into that a little bit. um along with. tons of entertainment. Uh you know it. was basically like 15inute chunks for a. long long time of all over the map. variety style stuff kind of uh. reminiscent of vaudeville. >> Um like there were hosts of shows but. the DJ thing didn't come along till much. later. So you had you like advice shows. and news shows and obviously comedy. stuff, game shows, uh you know radio. dramas were a big big deal. >> Yeah, that's where soap opers came from.

too. Um they were broadcast almost. exclusively with women as their target. audience. Um and at the time this is. just post World War I uh where women had. helped the war effort in the factories. Uh the men came back and they were like. get back in the house and women were. stuck in the house all day. So these. radio dramas were broadcast to them and. they were almost exclusively um. sponsored by cleaning product companies. >> That's right. >> So they became known as um soap operas. And one of the longerlasting soap operas.

of all time actually made the jump. successfully from radio to TV. That was. Guiding Light. >> No way. >> Yeah. It started in 1937 on the radio. and was finally cancelled in 2009 on TV. It was 72 years of Guiding Light. Every. weekday, too. >> I had a very very brief foray into soap. operas. I I guess it was in college or. something. I don't know why, but I got. hooked for. >> I mean, not too long, but I was I was.

hooked. I was like, "These things are. stupid." I was like, "Yeah, but what. happens?". >> Yeah. The same thing happened to me. again in college, too. Um, >> and I cannot remember the name of it, but it was just off the chain. I know. there was a main character named Marina. and she was possessed by the devil at. one point. >> Someone will remember and let. >> Yeah, certainly. That's like a very. famous plotline. Um, that was going on. when I was hooked on them. And then I. got hooked on them enough that I would. switch channels during ads and what see. what was on other soap operas. And on.

General Hospital once there was a scene. where this couple was in bed. >> and they did such a poor job of editing. that they left in the director saying. cut and the two actors roll out of bed. [laughter] I'll never forget it. It was. one of the greatest things I've ever. seen on television. They're like the the. sheets are pulled up, you know, to their. their bare skin and then they roll out. of bed and they have on like blue jeans. >> Yeah. I don't remember what they were. wearing or anything, but yeah, I'm sure. it was just like that.

>> That's really funny. Uh oh god, to have. that time again where you could just. like maybe sort of get hooked on a soap. for no reason. >> Yeah, [laughter]. >> for sure. >> Uh religion was also a big deal early on. AM radio. Um all of a sudden evangelists. could broadcast far and wide from what. they called the electric pull pit. uh. and they became like you know big-time. personalities and stars during the. depression era. >> Yeah. One of the first people that um. the question of freedom of speech um was. raised around was Father Charles. Coughlin who was a bigoted hate speech.

um Catholic priest who uh really kind of. pushed the envelope you could say. I. think he said the Nazis didn't go far. enough during Crystal Knocked. Like he. was that kind of guy. >> Wow. >> So he definitely rose to prominence. during this time. Uh, on the lighter. side, one of the most popular. longrunning um, shows was the Edgar. Bergen and Charlie McCarthy show. >> Yeah. >> Which was a ventriloquist act on the.

radio. >> Yeah. I mean, the jokes still worked, but it's definitely a visual medium. >> for sure. But he managed to to make it. like super radio friendly and it was. super popular. Um, you said that the. golden age of radio ended around the. 1962 and we should say this was um it. this depends on your perspective because. a lot of people say no golden age of. radio went all the way to the 70s. >> This would be like the first wave of. golden age radio where it wasn't music,

it was like dramas, scripted um. comedies, uh like sports, all this stuff. like what TV is today, >> right? This was the first iteration of. radio and it was all AM radio. But there. was a year 1962 when two shows were. cancelled. Two longunning shows and. people point to their cancellation as. essentially the end of that era. >> What were those? >> Uh yours truly Johnny Dollar. >> Okay. >> It was about an insurance fraud. investigator.

>> Sounds like true crime. >> It is. It sounds interesting. Each. episode was a flashback of him going. over the line items for his expense. report for that particular case and then. each line item would kind of bring up. like a new scene. Pretty interesting. >> The radio network guys like can he kill. his lover. [laughter]. >> Um and then suspense was another one. It. sounds like it was a little bit of a. predecessor to like Alfred Hitchcock. Presents and maybe The Twilight Zone. here or there.

>> And both of those were really well. produced shows and they got cancelled. the same year and everybody said that's. it. That's the end of the golden age and. they spat on the floor. >> Well, you mentioned the public good. Um, starting in the 1920s to jump back a. little bit. um you know like you. mentioned presidents speaking inaugural. addresses were being broadcast and the. government really realized hey like we. have a um sort of a public service we. need to enact when we're sharing. information uh because we got to get the.

word out about stuff sometimes and this. is the way to do it. So the USDA radio. service began talking to farmers in. 1926. Uh the US Bureau of Home Economics. um had a chat program they launched I. believe in the same year. >> uh where they could talk about like you. know any emergencies happening uh in. regards to kids like uh health and. safety stuff like a new disease going. around that your kid maybe should get. vaccinated against stuff like that. >> New fangled polio.

Um but by the end of the 1920s they were. like hey there's a limited bandwidth and. people are getting political messages. out and we need to make sure that. everyone in America is getting sort of. uh equal access to these messages so you. know no particular message gets out more. than any other and that's where the. fairness doctrine came about right. >> yeah we talked about that in the. presidential debates episode but I think. it deserves its own episode it's so. controversial But basically the fairness.

doctrine is what I was talking about. earlier when I said the government. wasn't shy about getting involved in. regulating radio because of what you. just said like you can't just use radio. at the time you couldn't to just put out. one say specific political viewpoint. So. the fairness doctrine said you have to. have equal time when you're talking. about political matters you have to give. equal time to both opposing viewpoints. It also said some other stuff too that I. thought was pretty cool. It um made sure. that commercial concerns did not eclipse.

social ones, so you couldn't screw over. the public for your own bottom line, which is just refreshing these days. >> Um the radio serve the public good. Um, and that you have like a kind of public. programming that's um, essentially like. in addition to all of the, you know, ventriloquist acts and soap operas and. all that, you have like stuff that makes. people helps people be more informed.

citizens. Like that was what the. government was getting involved in radio. for. >> Yeah. Maybe perhaps if we would have. been around at the time it might have. been stuff you should know. Oh, I could see that. >> I I could see that. Yeah, we would have. been great for AM radio. I think as a. matter of fact, we should probably just. stop podcasting and start broadcasting. on AM radio. >> Yeah, we got to get the message of. jackhammers out far and wide. [laughter]. >> That's right. >> Uh, you know, the fairness doctrine went.

away. Um, and you know, like you said, we should do a whole episode on that. But one of the things that happened was, you know, the FM becoming a dominant. force and just way more choices and way. more bandwidth for radio, so they didn't. need it anymore, right? >> Um, so then, you know, that's where. that's really literally where the echo. chamber of politics started, where you. could turn into just your person who. only talked about things that you agreed. with. >> Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. Not. coincidentally, 1980s is when talk radio.

like really started to become a thing. with like people like Rush Limbbo. um. that did not exist before that kind of. thing. >> Yeah. Um and you know FM when that came. around uh it it did create that echo. chamber but uh it was mostly like a. wealthy educated crowd that could afford. FM receivers. They were more expensive. like you were talking about. >> Um I think there were more than 2,000 AM. stations on the air in the 1950s. Some. of them would broadcast on both. I. definitely remember you know both AM FM.

stations. Mhm. >> Um but FM did have some uh and and still. do have some sort of things that um. weren't in their favor like uh if if you. were inside a building sometime the AM. signal could get blocked and get a. little more difficult to get. >> Yeah. >> Uh a lot of AM stations I think most of. them in fact have to either reduce their. power or just go off the air at night. So, you know, back in the day and maybe. still you hear those signoffs at the end. of the night, which is kind of fun where. they play like the Star Spangle Banner.

or something and it just goes dead. >> Yeah, like in Poltergeist. >> That's right. Uh, but another cool thing. about AM is if you've ever been like. driving around out west or something and. you know, probably not these days, but. uh, back when I was taking my big out. west trips when all I had was like a a. cassette player and the radio. Um, once. the sun went down, sometimes you could. get an AM station on your radio that's. like four states away. >> because of those air waves bouncing off. the ionosphere and saying, "We'll take.

it from here.". >> Yeah. During the day, the ionosphere is. super ionized. That's where it gets its. name. Uh, at night, it's less ionized, so there's um it, for some reason, AM. radio signals can bounce off of it. easier and like you said, end up down in. Mexico for goodness sake. >> Yeah. >> Which is pretty cool. Um, for that. reason though, the that's why they stop. transmitting at night. A lot of them, like I'm with you. I don't know if they. still do or not. seems like the kind of. thing that maybe was licked, but it also.

seems so fundamental that maybe it's. still a problem. But there were some. some stations that were designated clear. channels. Um they were uh allowed to. broadcast 24 hours a day and they were. spread out both physically around the. country and in Canada and Mexico and. also um spread out on the dial so that. their their signals wouldn't interfere. with one another when they traveled. really far distances. And one of the. reasons why um they they had AM stations. designated to operate 24 hours a day is.

again part of that public good um which. was a service that AM radio offers that. is kind of overlooked a lot here in the. United States which is it is like a. national security alert system. essentially. We'll talk a little more. about that later, but that's why um the. Clear Channel thing is a thing, >> right? And to be clear, I didn't even. mean that. Not to be confused with uh. former iHeart Media um company Clear.

Channel. >> No, but I bet that's where they get. their name, >> man. That'd be a real coincidence, huh? >> Wasn't that the name of the city that. was built on rock and roll? >> Clear Channel. >> Yeah, Clear Channel City. I'm not. falling for anything you ever say. anymore, so don't even try. >> Should we take another break? >> Yes. >> All right, we'll take another break. Talk about the rise of TV and um you. know, music on AM radio right after. this.

[music]. [music]. >> [music]. [music].

>> Okay, Chuck, we're back and we're we. talked about how the golden age of radio. ended, but that was what the oldsters. considered the golden age. If you were. young and hip, the golden age was still. yet to come. >> That's right. Uh I mentioned Top 40 was. invented on AM and it was specifically. developed by a a station owner named. Todd Stores in Nebraska. >> uh at the beginning of the 1950s, I. guess. And he said, "Hey, you know, radio has all these great shows. I love. those puppets. that ventriloquism is.

great, >> but we've got rock and roll now and R&B. and uh soon, you know, pop music coming. our way. >> Pop and pop music. [laughter]. >> Who was that? Is that Falco? >> No, I shouldn't have opened my big mouth. because I don't remember. I even have. that on my phone, so maybe I'll look. sometime soon. >> Uh, but he said, "Hey, let's let's start. playing this music. let's create a um. what Julia calls a jukebox driven media.

and you know play people stuff. It you. know DJs became a thing. That's when. they became personalities. Uh each. station started having you know these. sort of wacky that's where those first. you know like the Wolfman and all those. sort of wacky early DJs came from that. were like real personalities people. would tune into just to listen to their. specific show. >> Yeah. Um like each station had to have. their own personality. like the big. bopper, one of the most famous of all. time. >> Yeah. >> He he was um DJing for a station in.

Bumont, Texas. Like it had like if you. had a station, you had to have a. personality. And some of them just. happened to be so popular that they. became international icons essentially. >> Yeah. It's amazing. >> Yeah. Like the Wolfman went on to own a. um furniture store in North Georgia. called Gallery Furniture. [laughter]. >> If you wanted a water bed, you would go. ask for the Wolf Man. Boy, that's a. niche joke. Uh, should we even explain. it or not? >> Nah. >> Okay, good. >> I think if you go on to YouTube and you.

look up Gallery Furniture and The Wolf. Man, there'll be something on there. >> Oh, sure. But that wasn't Wolf Man, Jack. >> Are you sure? >> You didn't really think it was the same. guy, did you? >> Uh, no. >> Okay. See, I I don't know what to. believe anymore. >> I'm not trying. I You know, I just. wanted to come clean about this. >> Okay. >> I've never tried to fool you. That was a. thing that just kind of evolved. I've. just been making dry random jokes all. this time, but it's never been to fool.

you. You took that and ran with it. I've. never done it directly to fool you. >> This is not what you said during our. therapy session last week. [laughter]. >> Well, Dr. Crant said that um. >> Dr. Cats, that's who we should have. gotten. >> Yeah, Dr. Cat said that I needed to make. more stuff up. So, >> we're not in therapy together, by the. way, everybody. That was a joke. But if we did, we'd get the guy who. therapied Metallica, right? >> Oh, I forgot that they were in therapy. together. >> Yeah, >> I guess it worked.

>> That's a That's not I'm not knocking it. at all. I mean, we haven't had to do it, but I think that's a great idea for any. kind of partnership, you know. >> Agreed. Um Okay, good. >> Was that the uh therapist that talked. Metallica out of their emo phase? >> Right. >> Because hats off to that that therapist, >> maybe. >> Um Oh, we were talking Oh, yeah. We're. talking about what was going on with. this transition to uh music. >> Yeah. >> Uh one of the reasons why AM radio. transitioned to music and away from. things like ro soap operas and all that.

stuff was because those things ended up. on TV. >> Yeah. >> The older people followed those. Remember they're like radios the pits. now because the golden era is over. And. then they turn on their TVs and they're. like, "Oh, the golden era is over here. now. Let's just keep going and and. watching now instead of just listening.". And that left the kids um to fill this. vacuum which was AM radio. And like you. said, the top 40 format started there. The like big internationally known DJs. started there. And um it just kind of.

took off little by little. Uh but really. picked up steam when a few things kind. of came together and one of them you. already mentioned which was transistor. radios. So now you didn't just have to. sit at home with the oldsters to listen. to your favorite hits. And then also AM. radio started to show up in cars. essentially as um not even an option. after a while. Like you got the AM radio. whether you wanted it or not. >> Yeah. I think uh more than half of. American cars had AM radio receivers.

factory installed uh by the 1950s and. that was a huge huge deal obviously. Um. and you know it was it was the the. dominant paradigm for music until 78. And there was that period from. uh kind of the the early 70s to the. early 80s uh little under 10 years where. that you know sort of uh yacht rocky am. mellow gold stuff really really took. over. >> Yeah. um you had to kind of watch what.

you put on the radio because FM was. playing um you know they were playing. the the AO album oriented rock stuff. that had a little more mechismo and um. testosterone fueled like you know rock. bands. >> big hair. >> yeah exactly big hair long hair. >> um not a mustache in sight unless it was. part of a beard probably but. >> sure. >> wasn't the case on AM uh with yacht rock. they were mustachioed dudes generally um. sensitive guys. Uh, the songs weren't. about usually like conquering women. Um,

most of them were about getting dumped. by women. A lot of sad sack music coming. out. >> Yeah. >> Um, on AM radio in the 1970s. I I I. still listen to a lot of that stuff. >> Yeah. And a lot of the the constraints I. found this to be true throughout my life. that when you put constraints on. something, it automatically fuels. creativity because it doesn't mean you. don't still want to get across um, you. know, subversive ideas. is you just have. to cloak them within the confines of. these constraints and it makes you more. creative than just saying the idea out.

loud. Right. Which is why um album. rockers are um typically dumb compared. to yacht rockers as far as the artists. go. >> Yeah. So like if you're a songwriter and. you're like I'm a yacht rocker. I'm not. going to sing about uh you know teenage. girls. I'm gonna sing about things I. like like pia coladas and getting caught. in the rain. Man, that guy. I think he's. one of the most reprehensible. songwriters of all time. Not just I hate.

that song. >> Not just that song, the Pina Colada. song. Have you ever heard the song him? His song him? >> I don't know. I don't know it by name. Would I recognize it, you think? >> I don't know. It's a It's considered. yacht rock, but it's it's a really. despicable song about this this guy. whose girlfriend is sleeping around on. him. So, he's got to teach her a lesson. to basically bring her back to heal and. how he's not heartbroken or hurt. He's. just mad that this guy, he says like. nobody should get it for free.

>> Yeah, >> that's what he's upset about. It's a. nutso song. Go listen to it. But yeah, uh Rupert Holmes, I don't think he like. embodies the the seven like the worst. part of men in the 70s, I think. >> Yeah. I mean, I I really don't like that. song at all, but I do love most yacht. rock. And I know we've probably talked. about it briefly at some point as a. recommendation, but the yacht rock. documentary that came out last year is. really really good. >> Yeah. >> Uh and we do definitely want to say that.

uh that term was not coined until the. 2000s uh when a comedy web series. spoofing the genre uh made up the name. yacht rock. Before that, I think like. >> you know, Time Life put out those the AM. Gold series of CDs. I think AM Gold or. mellow or easy listening. >> That that sort of uh is what we called. it, right? Isn't that what you called. it? >> Easy listening. Yeah, that's what I was. first introduced to it as. >> My our mutual friend uh Allison, who we. used to work with, um my friend Eddie's. wife uh calls it uh car sick music.

because it just brings back days of like. riding backwards in a station wagon and. being car sick and that stuff just. droning on and on. >> That's a perfect name for it. >> Yeah, it's good. But when you know when. you're familiar with the idea that they. had to kind of cloak subversive ideas in. like a nonobvious terms. and you go back and listen to some of. this Melo Gold stuff, it's like whoa, they were really. >> It's a little crazier than you thought. Like for example, um, Love Grows Where. My Rosemary Goes is code for um, Let's.

Smoke Some DMT. [gasps]. >> Yeah, >> that was the only one I turned up. [laughter]. I mean, what do you think Ride Like the. Wind is about? Come on. >> Right. That's about DMT as well. >> Oh, wow. All right. >> But he's talking about what it's like to. be on DMT, not just inviting you to. smoke DMT. >> Well, well, you know what's funny? I. think Christopher Cross wrote Ride Like. the Wind when he was on LSD. >> I believe that. >> I think he said that in that yacht rock,

doc. >> Did he really? >> Yeah. >> It's a great song. It's a great song and. has one of the like most uh one of the. greatest guitar solos because he's a. killer guitar player, but it's so buried. in the mix. >> And there's all kinds of YouTube videos. now where they're like, "Yeah, let's. bring it up in the mix and talk about. this solo and like how amazing it is.". >> That's kind of like those um videos of. Van Halen with nothing but David Lee. Ross vocals. Have you heard those? >> Yeah, those are those are very funny. Uh.

and and to be clear, it's a ripin solo. um for yacht rock. It's no. So, it's not. like the solo for My Shirona or. anything, but it's still good. >> I don't Yeah, neither of those solos. stand out to me. I can't bring either. one to mind. >> Oh, man. The My Shirona solo is a top. five guitar solo of all time for me. >> Huh. >> And you got to listen to the the radio. version cut out a full minute. It's like. 90 plus seconds, the full version. Wow. >> And they cut out twothirds of it for the. radio version. So, you got to listen to. the real full version. It's like it's.

way better than it should be for that. song. That would be the album edit, right? >> Uh, yeah, I guess so. It's killer. >> Or the 12-in version. >> I don't know about the 12 inch. >> Okay. Well, regardless, go listen to. some mellow gold. It'll make you happy, >> for sure. Uh, but where are we these. days with AM radio? >> Well, um, there's this battle over it. Just like absolutely every single other. thing that people more than one person. talks about in America, AM radios.

actually managed to become politicized. Um, a bunch of car makers from what I. can tell led by Tesla. I think they were. the first ones to announce this back in. 2020 that they were going to discontinue. AM radios in their cars. >> Boo. >> Yeah. Um, and now I think now you can. kind of imagine why it's a politicized. idea. Um but the the the ostensible. reason is that the AM stereo is.

interfered with by the EV. Um long story. short, uh AM waves are much more. susceptible to noise because of. electrical interference. Well, an. electrical vehicle is lousy with. electrical interference. And so the. whole car industry is like, we're going. to have to spend a bunch of money just. to keep this AM radio in there. And the. US government is pretty adamant that AM. radio needs to stick around again, not. just for the public good thing, the.

nostalgia factor, but also because if. you are going to get an alert that you. know the Cubans have invaded, >> you're going to probably get that alert. over an AM radio station because that's. what the whole system is set up to do. Not because it's antiquated, but because. AM radio does all sorts of things. those. um they could the waves can travel very. far so it reaches a lot of people rural. um people listen to AM radio still today. like it's just part of rural life um so.

it's everybody is reached by AM one way. or another and I didn't know this but. you can make a type of radio a crystal. receiver radio that um can play uh AM. radio broadcasts without any battery or. power source the it the crystal manages. to take the energy in the radio carrier. wave and and use that alone to basically. reproduce the sound. So for all those. reasons, AM like radio really makes a.

lot of sense to put all of your eggs in. that basket as far as getting like. emergency broadcasts out. So the. government said, long story short, um. you need to keep AM radios in cars and. they're trying to figure out how to get. that mandated. >> Yeah. I mean, the it's called the. emergency alert system now. It used to. be the EBS, the emergency broadcast. system. And if you're thinking like, man, I get my Amber Alerts, like all. that stuff comes through my phone now. Um, and and this isn't like Gen Xer.

saying like, "Oh, you're too relying on. your phones, but like if if you expect. that phone to always work in all cases. for the rest of time, >> um, you're sorely mistaken because if. that system is taken out, then you're. going to rely on something like AM radio. to to get important information out.". You know, I mean, that's why it's still. there. Uh that's why they're, you know, going to the the car makers and saying. like, "Hey, like you may not listen to. it. You may think it's oldfashioned, but. there are still 4,000 AM stations and 80.

million listeners a month that some of. them rely on this stuff to get. information." And you can't just say. like, "Well, it seems old timey, so we. don't interferes with our stuff, so we. don't want it anymore.". >> Yeah. I do kind of have the feeling that. there is like a certain um scorn toward. the nostalgic factor of AM radio. >> Um and that that's part of maybe what's. driving it, which really ticks me off. because who are car makers to decide. whether AM radio sticks around or not? Uh Congress says um no, we're we.

actually have come up with a a law. called the AM radio for every vehicle. act that basically says if you sell a. car in the United States, it has to have. AM radio as a feature. not even an. option. Um, and a lot of car makers are. like, "Sure, fine. We're we're on board. with that." Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Salantis, Subaru, Toyota, all said, "We're keeping AM. radio." Ford had said they weren't. And. they said, "Okay, we didn't realize AM.

radio was so popular. We're going to. keep it, too." So, I guess if you want. to show your support for AM radio, everybody should just go out and buy a. Jaguar. Well, Tesla, Rivian, Polestar, BMW, Volkswagen, and Volvo uh dispensed with. AM radio and some of their new car. models. I don't think completely across. the board for each of those. manufacturers. Uh but that that every uh. AM for every vehicle act failed in 2024, unfortunately. Uh it was um reintroduced. uh this year in 2025, just I think.

recently in September, and has a lot of. support like on, you know, both sides of. the aisle. Um, so but you know, if the. 119th Congress ever decides to do. anything at all, perhaps that will be. reconsidered. >> Yeah, it's got legs like a intern. carrying coffee back to the office is. how they put it in Washington. >> That's good. That was the original ZZ. top line, but it was a little baggy. >> It [laughter] was Don't forget the ZZ. top uh eliminator video trilogy were.

feminist. >> That's right. Uh, you got anything else, man? >> No, I think that was that was good. Support support AM radio. It's not a. relic. It's still [music] important. >> Yeah, well put, dude. Uh, if you want to. uh know more about AM radio, start. listening to AM radio. And since I. started to sign off this episode like it. was one of the OG episodes, that means. it's time for listener mail. >> Uh, this is from Cara. Just kind of a.

thank you. Um, [music] Cara started. listening in 2008, uh, when she was sick. at home from high school with pneumonia. Uh, yours was the very f first podcast I. ever listened to back when hardly anyone. knew what a podcast was. Uh, I've been. an avid listener to a lot of shows. since, but you have been a constant in. my life uh, through the end of high. school, college, grad school, and. beyond. Your voices have always been a. sense of comfort and familiarity when. things in life got really difficult. Uh, I went to see you live in Boston three. times. >> Nice. uh always on my own and each show. felt like a small celebration for myself.

of something that had carried me through. so many [music] years. >> I wonder if that's the the person who. had the laugh that we called out in. Boston every time. >> Oh, I don't know. Maybe I think Carol. would have mentioned that probably. >> Probably. >> Uh one rule with stuff [music]. you should know for me though is I could. not listen to a new episode until I. could really pay attention. Um like. other shows were background. >> [music]. >> um podcasts for me but not yours. Uh the. only downside was that I fell further. and further behind. uh unless I had the focus to listen. Um.

this year I've had to do a lot of. driving though and things have settled. down some. So I made it a goal to catch. up in time to listen to the 2025. Halloween special on Halloween. >> Oh me. >> Uh also told myself if I did it could. finally write in and tell you how much I. appreciate the information, banter, humor, and uh movie wrecks and stuff. like that. So, uh, this is a a h day. before Halloween, uh, email coming from. Cara or Cara, K A R A. >> That's awesome. Thanks, Cara. Cara. Um,

you're obviously very goal motivated and. I appreciate that. Um, and [music] thank. you for listening to all of our shows. for so long. That means a lot that we. have uh friends who are travelers like. you, you know. >> Yeah. I mean, we've said it before, if. there weren't the Kakaras, then we would. not exist as [music] a show anymore. >> Absolutely. That's That sounds like a. t-shirt if you ask me. >> Yeah. And Kakara sounds like I don't. know, like a a food. >> Uh yeah, like Pata. >> Okay.

>> Uh if you want to get in touch with us. like Kakara did and let us know what we. meant to you, we love those emails. Uh. you can wrap it up, spank it on the. bottom, and send it off to. stuffodcast.com. >> [music]. >> Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts of. iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. listen to your favorite shows. [music].