Long Live Short-Wave!
Thirty years ago, listening to shortwave radio wasn’t such a eccentric thing to do. It was still the easiest way to keep up with the rest of the world. And more significantly, it was the primary way countries on each side of the cold war communicated their propaganda to the common folk on the other side of that “iron curtain.” For people out in the arctic, the desert, or in some African village or out on a mountainside, a shortwave was a necessity. And for us in the west it was a geeky guy’s delight– tuning in distant lands from the dark caves of our bedrooms.
Yes, shortwave was still a lot of fun in 1979 when the album I’m offering here was released. It’s called “Long Live Shortwave!,” and it’s a full LP by British pop music producer (and shortwave radio fan) Mitch Murray.
Long Live Shortwave! side A 28:20
Obviously Mitch spent some time on this project, including composing a disco theme (with a morse code intro!) called “Toys For Big Boys,” which opens and closes the album. Side one features the voice of Mr. Murray himself tempting listeners with the power and possibilities of shortwave radio listening– not just tuning in news, music and dramas from around the world, but also eavesdropping on amateur radio enthusiasts and signals from outer space.
There’s actually quite a bit of information on shortwave listening on side one and really not much is out of date. The science remains the same. Antenna information and propagation science are explained briefly, and you may learn something if you like. In fact, side one is really dedicated more toward the shortwave hobbyist rather than the casual listener. But that’s probably why a guy might have this at the time– to learn something. Side one ends with longtime BBC personality, Henry Hatch, who had been DXing since the hobby really began. He offers a charming DX pep talk and some good advice for the hobbyist. I like the way he emphasizes on how weak the signals are after traveling around the world and how they need the utmost care and attention upon arrival. Makes you wanna warm some milk for the poor things.
And as I would, Hatch advises you to record your DX sessions on cassette.
Long Live Shortwave! side B 25:25
Side two is a twenty-five minute time capsule sampling the sound of shortwave radio at the dawn of the 1980’s. A bit of a nostalgia trip for old DXers. It’s a cavalcade of more than thirty ID’s and identifying (or interval) signals from shortwave broadcasters around the world. Thrill to the sound of the Radio Moscow once again and listen to plenty of baritone announcers and hokey period production music.
When I heard the sound of Deutsche Welle’s interval signal on this tape I thought, “Wow, it still sounds just the same”… and then I remembered that only within the last year the German shortwave service cut off their English broadcasts to North America. Probably won’t be hearing that again on the radio anytime soon. And then I just got pissed off all over again about all the western countries turning their backs on North American listeners. And that’s a big difference between shortwave listeners today and the polyester pants crowd who might have picked up a copy of this album a few decades ago. Their shortwave radios had a lot more voices speaking in English. And despite wearing more sensible trousers, we are not quite as happy today.
That’s it for this quick post. I hope you enjoy this DXing artifact from the 1970’s. I just got my hands on this thing, and my first thought was to share it here with you. And please don’t be alarmed by the lo-fi audio issues with the disco intro section of each side. I was only able to find this album as a cassette tape, and it appears to have been slightly munched in another player. The sound quality improves markedly after the first minute or so on each side.
As always, it’s good to hear from you. Thanks for listening.
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April 16th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
That sure is a unique cassette tape! I just picked up a book about shortwave listening published in the 70’s talking about how popular or common shortwave listening is as a hobby. I find it interesting being a newcomer to shortwave now when not so many people really know about it.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
What a very interesting and well put together site!
I shall be a regular visitor here for sure
Best regards
Mike
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:59 pm
What a terrific web site – and thanks for the audio recordings. I still worship the shortwaves in spite of digital radio and the internet. The British DX club is a great source of inspiration through publishing its logs in the monthly magazine Communication. Long live shortwave!
May 12th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
It says we can download. Can the file be realy downloaded in mp3 format for later play? Love the content and brought back memories of an old SX-38B and yes I still have my SWL cards.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:06 am
I started listening to SW when I was 12, back in 1971. Listening to all these old (and some still used) internal signals is quite a treat. Thanks for making this available.
May 14th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
What a great site ! I started dxing in 1966
WPE8KHZ & N8YI
73’s and tnx
May 15th, 2008 at 3:04 am
The “DXkid” image is a picture of me when I was a kid. It was apparently scrapped from my web site. I was a “Novice” licensed amateur radio operator, not just listening to DX but working other DX amateurs around the world. 73. WD5EAE
May 15th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Hey Stephen, hope it’s okay to decorate this page with your handsome boy mug. Glad you guys are enjoying the post. Have any interesting old shortwave recordings to share here? Drop me an email
May 18th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Very nice, brings back many fond memories. Sure do long for those days.
Don Unruh
WPE0FDC/WDX6ICK/N0YO
May 18th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Wish more kids would get interested in shortwave.
kc0ysh
May 19th, 2008 at 4:11 am
how wonderfull………..
May 21st, 2008 at 10:28 pm
What a wonderful batch of memories. Thanks so much.
I was 12, waking in the middle of the night, putting on the headphones and finally understanding he just said “All India Radio” ! Great times.
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:03 am
This site brings back a lot of memories and my love for the shortwave broadcasts.
Randall King
VE1RO
May 25th, 2008 at 2:01 am
Yep those where the days:
Brings back Fond Memories for me, and my Old Eddystone.
As a Dxer from pre 1952 and still going strong, (now 70 years old) it brought back two names the late August Balbey (Migt not be spelt right), also Arthur Chushin.
Dxers we will never see the likes of Again
November 1st, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I fondly remember listening to Shortwave as a teenager and beyond. I feel really cheated that so many of the broadcasters I once listened to are no longer on the air, and that a wonderful old hobby is dying, at least in developed countries. Finding something worthwhile to listen to (in English) is very hard now.
Unless DRM can succeed in revitalising the band, I fear it will never return which is very sad.
February 19th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Just discovered this site and did it bring back memories ! The happy days and nights on my Eddystone EC10; Dallas mentioned Arthur Cushin – who I believed operated from Invercargill New Zealand and I recall his articles in “How To Listen To the World”. There were many of them, an inspiration to youngsters back in the late 60s. It was another world. Its been many years since I did any DXing, so thanks for this great site – can feel the fingers starting to twitch even now ! !
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:48 am
Great site, I still listen to shortwave, the radio an Sony ICF-2001D. Great times, wonderful moments of life. Long live shortwave.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Wow! I actually have this LP but haven’t a clue where it is. Ordered when this first came out. Was Googling and stumbled across this site. It was great to listen to it again! I need to go see if I can find it as I think the booklet Mitch refers to is probably still with it.