Friday, October 17, 2008
WWVA 1170AM
Want a taste of how the other half lives?
Now that the weather's colder, tune your radio to AM 1170 any night and you will catch a bit of WWVA out of Wheeling/Steubenville.
I'm not sure exactly what "other half" this is, but it's like tuning into something from Mars.
You get one fire-and-brimstone tent-revival-style preacher after another. The audio sounds like something off of 30-year-old tape reels. And then there's Brother Stair. I think he's either now in jail or heading there, but his radio ministry lives on. He is one impressively creepy individual. Even more so when you read up on his exploits. "Maranatha", indeed. Still, it's worth tuning in for just to hear his strange over-pronunciation of his hometown of Walterboro, SC.
And in the middle of the mix is the weird self-help guru Roy Masters, who's interaction with callers is so indecipherable you can never EVER quite figure out what his point is. I've been listening to bits of Roy Masters for years and I have absolutely no idea what the hell the guy is rambling about. But he looks and sounds a lot like Jon Pertwee, so that's cool.
WWVA also has a lot of those call-and-response preachers who do their bit with southern spiritual organ music constantly playing in the background, which is sort of awesome.
This is freaky AM Radio culture from the heart of coal mining country. Check it out.
Now that the weather's colder, tune your radio to AM 1170 any night and you will catch a bit of WWVA out of Wheeling/Steubenville.
I'm not sure exactly what "other half" this is, but it's like tuning into something from Mars.
You get one fire-and-brimstone tent-revival-style preacher after another. The audio sounds like something off of 30-year-old tape reels. And then there's Brother Stair. I think he's either now in jail or heading there, but his radio ministry lives on. He is one impressively creepy individual. Even more so when you read up on his exploits. "Maranatha", indeed. Still, it's worth tuning in for just to hear his strange over-pronunciation of his hometown of Walterboro, SC.
And in the middle of the mix is the weird self-help guru Roy Masters, who's interaction with callers is so indecipherable you can never EVER quite figure out what his point is. I've been listening to bits of Roy Masters for years and I have absolutely no idea what the hell the guy is rambling about. But he looks and sounds a lot like Jon Pertwee, so that's cool.
WWVA also has a lot of those call-and-response preachers who do their bit with southern spiritual organ music constantly playing in the background, which is sort of awesome.
This is freaky AM Radio culture from the heart of coal mining country. Check it out.
# posted by Jim O'C @ 7:34 PM 
