How you got into OTR?

[Matt M]

I was curious about how other people in this techno age got started listening to OTR. Mine started with my father when I was a kid. He was a kid from pre-WWII radio generation; while most people my age have parents from the baby boom TV generation. He would get cassettes (remember those) of old radio programs from the library and we would listen to them. I've tried to get my kids listening, but with texting, facebook, and i-pods. They never slow down enough to listen.

[Riklaa]

How I got started in OTR. I grew up in the period from the early 50s to the mid 60s. While everyone else was embracing to marvels of TV I had an old tube shortwave and AM radio. It was so big the radio chassis was mounted on a piece of plywood with no cover. You could see all the tubes light up along with the dial. I hooked up a long wire antenna to it out my bedroom window to a tree about 100 feet away from the house. I would listen to the death pangs of the Radio Generation and also to the BBC World Service among others. I can remember vividly in my adolescence lying on my bedroom rug in the dark with the radio glowing listening to CBS Radio Mystery Theater. These were some of my fondest moments. I also remember listening to the BBC and some of the best Scifi and Horror ever on that old radio. As I got older I bought OTR on 331/3 records and later cassette tapes, in fact I think I had some on 8 tracks. I also recorded my own with a microphone from that old radio to a Reel to Reel tape machine. Needless to say I was hooked for life and was in "Hog Heaven" when I found OTR on mp3s. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. --- Rick ----------------------------------------------- Rick

[James]

I've loved it and listened to it for pretty much my whole life, starting I'd guess around 1962 when I was 7. My older Brother had several records. The first show I remember listening to was Lights Out "Cat Wife". The internet is a God send for us OTR fans.
PS..........Rick is not telling the whole truth.......he used to buy them as brand new 78's.........

[ThingOne]

Amazing coincidence: I just listened to "Cat Wife" a few nights ago, right around the time I discovered this forum.

[Richard Austin]

Hi, I was, in much the same way brought up listening to BBC Medium wave, Long Wave, Short Wave and Radio Luxembourg, on the old valve radio. We were forever re-tuning to the stations.
On Sundays the whole family would gather round and listen to Family Favorites, which was a programe for wives and loved ones to send requests to the armed forces serving abroad.This was followed by different programes, Life with the Lyons, Billy Cotton Band show, and many of the British comedians had there own shows. On the evenings we had Journey into Space, and on Luxembourg we had Dan Dare, but it was mostly pop music, which I would try to record on old reel to reel, but reception was poor. Later it was the Goons, Hancocks Half Hour and I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again. I was an apprentice at this time and all of the apprentices loved these shows, we always talked about the shows and would all try to impersonate the characters. When I came across OTR It was like being in a sweet shop, listening to the programes that I listened to as a boy, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who is involved in making this a truly wonderful Website. Richard

[Rosanna]

I'm the new kid on the block..at least in terms of OTR..I grew up thinking it was a thing of the past..fascinating but long ago .
Nothing more than a memory of my elders.
No one I knew still listened...so I was completely unaware that it still survived.
It wasn't until around 2005 that I happened to catch some some pretty dynamite radio show while driving cross country.. and I started thinking about it. Over the next several years I thought the music on my ipod had it's limitations and started exploring the internet. I began to find a whole new world...and I was amazed at all the new and modern radio content floating around . How could I have missed this?
The internet and MP3's have opened a crack in the world..
But I got hooked. First it was just mysteries and horror..stuff like Wormwood...but as time went on I found myself opening the door more and more.
So unlike many people here: I discovered modern radio and began to work my way back...through the 90s, the 80s and 70s and the 60s..and on and on.
I discovered CBC and ZBS and BBC and everyone else.
I don't know how I survived without it all those years. And I am always trying to introduce others to the wonder that is in audio drama.
But in the end... I have a pretty astonishing collection for just several years old. And it just keeps growing.
I love it all. It's like magic.

[James]

Well said, Rosanna. I'll take over TV anytime.

[Rosanna]

You've got that right, James..Who needs TV?

[Riklaa]

What is TV? ------------------------------------------------------------------- Rick

[Matt M]

Exactly. I listen to my mp3 player at work. In one day I've traveled to Mexico, South american jungles, Metropolis, the Netherlands... on and on. It was more more fun than watching it on the discovery channel.

[Andrew John Godfrey]

I agree the MP3's and internet combined to spark more interest in old time radio shows. The internet made so many shows available free. There is one website a friend sent me last week that has over 40,000 free shows named Radioechoes.com.

For OTR fans that don't like to fool with downloads I have found a few OTR dealers that sell MP3 CD's. I have bought from several dealers and there are some dealers on ebay that are very cheap, but won't name names unless someone asks me, since I have no financial interest in any of them.

I also agree that after awhile, you want to hear something besides music on a MP3 player. One show I really like is the CBS Radio Workshop. Some shows are scripted but some are an early form of reality radio, for example The Voices of New York, which makes you feel like you were there about 57 years ago.

[Rosanna]

Yeah, funny thing..Audio drama has re-awakened my taste for horror and sci fi that film had definitely weakened.

And speaking of.......

Matt, have you tried to get your kids into some of the modern stuff ....like "We're Alive" the zombie podcast..?
.....apocalyptic and zombies are just "so in".
Something like that might get them going....and get them interested.

[Matt M]

No I hadn't. Good idea though. One of my sons is all about zombies. Thanks.