[BC] Shulke's Black Box

[Rich Wood]

------ At 10:50 PM 7/3/2006, Barry Mishkind wrote: -------

>         Funny .. I met Irv Joel a few times
>         and found him to be pleasant.
>         We even discussed the custom console I had
>         built here, before we installed his box.

Irv could be extremely pleasant until you violated one of the laws of 
the format. It was one of the most rigidly controlled formats I've 
ever seen in radio. Until the FCC issued a warning that you couldn't 
turn control of your programming to an outside source SRP contracts 
could be broken if you didn't follow the rules. The warning was 
specifically aimed at SRP. Those were the days before the FCC became 
a collection agency for the national debt.

While it often got overbearing I miss people like Jim who cared about 
the minute details that make format a success. Some of it was for 
show but simple things like letting your ears adjust in a quiet room 
after a train ride before you audition a new tape makes sense in the 
recording industry but not broadcasting, for some reason. Nothing was 
left to chance. No one ever knows exactly what makes a format a great 
success, so paying attention to all the details, even the ones that 
might have no bearing on ratings, pays off.

Today I hear so much distortion, excessive processing and horrible 
segues that I'm amazed anyone owns a radio anymore. Unfortunately, 
much of that comes from the original program source - the CD.

I'll bet that, if the SRP format still existed, Jim would use vinyl. 
With plug-ins for de-popping (removing pops, clicks and scratches) 
there's no more need to spend hours on a single cut with a razor 
blade. I doubt he'd tolerate many CDs today. He commissioned studies 
of the effects of distortion and processing on TSL, especially on women.

I'm absolutely certain he would never sign a contract with a station 
that ran IBUZ.

Rich

Rich Wood
Rich Wood Multimedia
Phone: 413-454-3258