WFIU 75th Anniversary

Audio

Staff memories from WFIU's 40th anniversary in 1990

Dick Bishop remembers the lack of air conditioning in the original Quonset hut housing WFIU's cramped studio in the late 1950s.

Dick Bishop feels the heat

Transcript

0:00: [Music]

0:10 [Speaker 1]: As we look back on 40 years of WFIU’s history, it's funny how memory gives a warm glow to things which were not so pleasant at the time. Dick Bishop remembers a time when WFIU had a special warmth.

0:23 [Dick Bishop]: One of my memories goes back to the summers of 1959, 60, and 61 and that old building at, uh, virtually, the corner of Jordan and Seventh, it's now a parking lot. It was built sometime during World War Two. We weren't really sure, but anyway, it had no air conditioning except for the television studio, and I was an announcer working in the summertime at $1 an hour, I'd say, it's probably worth that at least. And we were in a very small, cramped Studio 1. We only had one studio, and there was a production studio, but that studio was like a phone booth, and at 5:30 every night, the door would close.

1:01 [Dick Bishop]: We had no air conditioning, and we would do a news and sports show, and at six o'clock the door would open, and we could put the fan on, and it was like a sauna in there. And it was like we would go into training at five o'clock every day, we'd say, Okay, we have to go into there. Now let's, you know, let's all stay together. And we tried to break each other up just to keep, I think, our sanity.

1:24 [Dick Bishop]: But any rate, that was sort of a memorable situation, particularly when we would start to find something funny, whatever it might be in the news. And pretty soon we get a call from Dick Yocum, who was news director in those days and on our faculty, or Elmer Sulzer just happened to be chair of the radio and television department and director of the service. They didn't think it was particularly funny, but we did.

1:55 [Speaker 1]: Dick Bishop reflecting back on the good old days at WFIU as we celebrate the station's 40th anniversary.

Dick Bishop remembers WFIU's early days playing jazz music.

Dick Bishop remembers 1950's jazz

Transcript

0:00: [Music]

0:10 [Speaker 1]: During the 40 years of WFIU’s life, jazz has become an important part of our service. Step back with us for a moment as Dick Bishop remembers the early days of jazz on the station.

0:21 [Dick Bishop]: One of the aspects of WFIU that I'm particularly proud about is that we've increased our jazz programming over the years, and I can remember in the spring of 1959 being summoned into a couple of offices and given the opportunity to do a jazz program on WFIU, not the first one, there had been a couple of others beforehand, but at least in 1959 we were renewing our commitment to jazz on WFIU.

0:51 [Dick Bishop]: A 15 minute scripted program in the afternoons, scripted program. Now you take 378s, of three, what? Three minutes a piece and a tightly scripted program, and that was a wonderful show.

1:07 [Dick Bishop]: You know, the ad libs came free and fast at that program. It was so tight, but it was jazz and it was on WFIU

1:55 [Speaker 1]: Dick Bishop, harkening back to some of the early jazz programming on WFIU As we celebrate the station's 40th anniversary.

Dick Bishop recounts IU Radio/TV director Elmer Sulzer's love for playing the organ, which would occasionally make its way into newscasts.

Elmer Sulzer's organ

Transcript

0:00: [Music]

0:12 [Speaker 1]: This month, WFIU is celebrating 40 years of broadcasting. Here with a look back to the good old days is Dick Bishop.

0:20 [Dick Bishop]: One of my favorite memories of the late 50s, early 60s on WFIU in the old building was the fact that we had our studio one right next to our television studio, and it was a cracker box building. Anyway, built during World War Two, pretty fragile, but our chairman in those days, and also the director of the radio and television service was Elmer Sulzer, who was a railroad buff, famous for that and also very fond of playing the organ.

0:50 [Dick Bishop]: We had an organ in the television studio right next to the wall past Studio One. And during the lunch hours, why Mr. Sulzer was fond of going in and playing the organ, “A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You”, one of his favorite tunes. And those of us who had to sign on were petrified to go in and tell him that, well, we have about five minutes before we do our 1:25 newscast, sir, and we'd appreciate it greatly if you'd cease playing so that we could do our 1:25, newscast.

1:26 [Dick Bishop]: Well, sometimes we'd really forget, and we would walk in, the microphone, would come on, we'd start reading the news, and we'd hear Mr. Salter playing the organ in the background, and it had the strange sensation of being sort of a cheap soap opera.

1:45 [Speaker 1]: Dick Bishop reminiscing about the good old days as we celebrate WFIU’s 40th anniversary.

Bill Kroll recalls WFIU's original transmission equipment being received accidentally by a PA system during the dedication of the Lilly Library in 1960.

Bill Kroll

Transcript

0:00: [Music]

00:00:11 [Don Glass]: Hello, this is Don Glass. Prior 1977 WFIU's Tower and transmitter was located on the IU campus just off Jordan avenue in Bloomington.

00:00:21 [Don Glass]: This location made for very good reception of our signal in this densely populated area, perhaps too good, for you could pick up FIU on high FI amplifiers, tape recorders and all kinds of other electronic equipment. A local joke was that FIU could be picked up on people's fillings.

00:00:38 [Don Glass]: Bill Kroll recalls an occasion when FIU’s omnipresence created a somewhat awkward situation.

00:00:44 [Bill Kroll]: There were a couple, what I would consider to be at the time, very embarrassing circumstances that occurred because of WFI's interference with electronic equipment. One of them had to do with the dedication of the Lilly Library.

00:01:00 [Bill Kroll]: The physical plant people came over to set up the PA system. Now you have to remember that WFIU signed on the air at 1:30 in the afternoon and signed off at 10:30 at night.

00:01:13 [Bill Kroll]: The physical plant boys very dutifully came over and set up the PA system around 10:00 or 10:30, checked it out the speakers and the amplifier, and the microphones and so forth. “Testing 1234”, everything was fine.

00:01:30 [Bill Kroll]: The dedication of the Lilly Library was going to be held outside in the Fine Arts Plaza. The fountain had not yet been constructed, so they had chairs and everything, where for a large audience, because it was a great occasion for the dedication of the new Lilly Library, the electricians came over at about 2:45.

00:01:51 [Bill Kroll]: And they turned on the PA system. And they turned on the microphone. And here are the most glorious musical tones coming out; thank goodness it was classical music. Couldn't understand where it was coming from. Finally, someone identified the fact that it was WFIU.

00:02:12 [Bill Kroll]: And they couldn't understand what in the world was happening, how it was happening. And so, someone placed a call to WFIU.

00:02:21 [Bill Kroll]: Now at that time, Elmer Sulzer was the chairman of the department and director of the Radio and TV Services, and someone said to him, you must turn WFIU off the air. Well, Elmer Sulzer was a great stickler for adhering to the rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission.

00:02:43 [Bill Kroll]: And he know, knew very good and well that there is no way that you could turn that transmitter off unless there was technical difficulties.

00:02:52 [Bill Kroll]: So, he said absolutely not. We will not turn this radio station off. Well finally, I guess, powers that be got together. And along with Mr. Salzer and with the programming, people found some rather low passages of classical music so that it could be played, and it would not be heard very much over the words that were being uttered at the dedication of the Lilly Library.

00:03:24 [Bill Kroll]: So, WFIU did maintain its FCC regulations and the Lilly Library dedication was handled. But there was background music all the time during the ceremony.

00:03:36 [Don Glass]: WFIU, general manager Bill Kroll, relating an event from the days when you could listen to the station without turning on your radio. As we celebrate WFIU's 40th anniversary.

Don Glass plays back tape of WFIU News reporter John Barnes in England, covering Doc Counsilman's English Channel crossing in 1979.

James Barnes

Transcript

0:00: [Music]

00:00:12 [Don Glass]: Hello, this is Don Glass with a look back into WFIU's history as we celebrate the station's 40th anniversary.

00:00:19 [Don Glass]: In September of 1979, Indiana University's men's swimming coach, Doc Councilman, swam the English Channel, thus becoming the oldest man at the time to do so.

00:00:29 [Don Glass]: This was a fairly significant event for Bloomington, and in the months preceding the swim we here at WFIU were wondering what we could do to cover it. After all, we did not have a London Bureau.

00:00:40 [Don Glass]: Someone suggested that we send somebody to England and then some of us said, “oh, come on, get serious”. Well, so we did get serious. We found some underwriting money and sent John Barnes to England to send back reports.

00:00:53 [Don Glass]: We stayed on the air through the night, which was something we did not do then regularly, giving live hourly reports of Doc’s swim. In all, the coverage lasted over 13 hours.

00:01:03 [Don Glass]: We didn't have very sophisticated equipment with which to do the job, but we were able to get the information back. In fact, we didn't know what type of phone was going to be available for John to use for sending back tape reports. So, he took along every kind of connector and clip we could get our hands on.

00:01:19 [Don Glass]: For getting reports from the boat which accompanied Doc, John had to hold a microphone up to the speaker of the ship-to-shore radio. Not the best quality, but it got the message across.

00:01:29 [Don Glass]: As we look through our limited archives and reflected on some of the milestone events in FIU’s history, we thought it would be fun to hear the announcement which culminated our coverage of Doc Councilman swim of the English Channel.

00:01:40 [Don Glass]: So, here's John Barnes with the scoop as it happened on September 14, 1979.

00:01:47 [John Barnes]: Well now, ladies and gentlemen, in Bloomington, we now have a new elite member of our living community in Bloomington. Doc Councilman has landed on the beach at Cape Grenade, France.

00:01:59 [John Barnes]: In about 13 hours, we got the word just moments ago via another ship captain. And I've got it on tape. Here was the announcement just about 5 minutes ago.

00:02:12 [ship captain]: He made a successful swim and he just landed in about 13 hours. There's a nasty little swim over there. There you go. And he just managed to do it before it got dark. And everything is alright, and I’ll contact you in another hour's time. Over.

00:02:31 [John Barnes]: Well, there it was. A little ship-to-shore communication there, but we did find out it is official that Doc Councilman has swum the English Channel. He is now the oldest person in history to have swum the 21 mile English Channel. He breaks the record set back in 1951 by Dr. Ned Burney of Great Britain and he was 55 at the time. Doc Councilman is 58, so some good news and we now have a new, uh, a history maker, Don Glass.

00:03:00 [Speaker 3]: Thank you very much, John. We're so excited here.

00:03:02 [Don Glass]: That was John Barnes on September 14, 1979, relaying from England the news that IU men's swimming coach, Doc Councilman, has successfully completed his swim of the English Channel.

00:03:12 [Don Glass]: This month, WFIU is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and as we have reminisced about the history of the station, our coverage of Doc’s channel swim. Stood out as one of those things we can't believe we did.

00:03:23: [Music]

00:03:28 [Don Glass]: With this moment from the station's past, I'm Don Glass.

Don Glass plays back an episode of eccentric WFIU producer James Irsay's unusual music program, Music for the Keyboard.

James Irsay

Transcript

0:00 [Music]

00:00:13 [Don Glass]: Hello, this is Don Glass with a look back into WFIU's history as we celebrate the station's 40th anniversary. 00:00:21 [Don Glass]: As we began to think of things to include in a nostalgic look back, we discovered we didn't have much preserved from the past. We did, however, have evidence of one of the zaniest parts of our past. 00:00:32 [Don Glass]: Listeners who have been around here just a few years will remember a fellow named James Irsay and his program Music for the Keyboard. 00:00:40 [Don Glass]: His program was a schizophrenic mix of great, whole recordings of sometimes legendary performers. 00:00:44 [Don Glass]: Accompanied by commentary which showed a wonderful insight into the music and the performers and wild digressions into areas which had nothing whatsoever to do with the music or the performers, such as reading an ad from a Field and Stream magazine or describing the food he had gotten from the vending machine, which he called the mechanical chef. 00:01:06 [Don Glass]: When asked to describe his program, James would often respond with a simple “I play recordings by dead pianists”. 00:01:13 [Don Glass]: For the most part, this was true, but he didn't always wait for a pianist to die before playing the recordings. 00:01:19 [Don Glass]: Here's an excerpt from a show he did in 1980 featuring Van Cliburn. 00:01:24 [Don Glass]: Aside from playing Cliburn's recordings and discussing his performing career, which was on hold at the time, he arranged for an interview with the pianist. Or did he? 00:01:36 [James Irsay]: [Phone Ringing] Yes. 00:01:37 [Phone operator] I have a collect call for James Irsay from Van Cliburn. Will you accept the charges? 00:01:43 [James Irsay]: Collect? I didn’t know he was gonna call collect. OK, I guess so. Sure. I'll accept it. 00:01:48 [Phone operator]: Well, excuse me, Mr. Cliburn, but aren't you that piano player that that Texas boy who went over and beat those Russians? I just wanted you to know how- 00:01:56 [James Irsay]: I don't believe this. 00:01:57 [James Irsay]: Excuse me, operator. Operator, if I may interrupt for a brief moment. We are live on the air. I'm sure it was a thrill for you, but we really must get along with the program we've got. 00:02:08 [Phone operator]: Well, all right. Go ahead, please. 00:02:11 [Van Cliburn]: Hello, Mr. ear-say? 00:02:13 [James Irsay]: That's er-say. 00:02:14 [Van Cliburn] Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Irsay. 00:02:16 [James Irsay]: Yes, Mr. Clyburn, it's good to hear from you. 00:02:19 [Van Cliburn]: Well, it's good to hear from you. Although, I don't think we've ever met. 00:02:22 [James Irsay]: Well, actually, you probably don't remember it, but we did meet. It was quite some time ago at a Juilliard concert. I think it was in the 60s or something. We were introduced, but I remember even now the thing that was so striking about you, you had such a big Adam’s Apple and there were all these little pimples all over it. It was interesting in a way. 00:02:38 [Van Cliburn]: Yes, well... 00:02:39 [James Irsay]: Well, I guess that doesn't really concern us. 00:02:41 [James Irsay]: Now, what does concern us is that we're wondering about your career. Frankly, you had a big start. You won the 11 trip and then you won the first Tchaikovsky in ‘58 and you came home. You were a hero. How did you deal with that fame? 00:02:58 [Van Cliburn]: Oh, I liked it. I liked it! It was all for me. 00:03:02 [Van Cliburn]: And when I came back from winning the Tchaikowski, all these different people interviewed me and I was famous! And I even had a book written about me and oh, Mama was real proud. And she said, well, I guess you showed those big red hairy bears over there in Russia. 00:03:19 [James Irsay]: Well, it sounds like you enjoyed being in the limelight. 00:03:21 [Van Cliburn]: Oh yes, it was a lot of fun. 00:03:24 [James Irsay]: And then something happened to you. You did come out and give some concerts, but it was mostly still concerts with orchestra. People even felt you were kind of hiding behind the orchestra. What was going on here? 00:03:37 [Van Cliburn]: Well, about the concerto performances, I don't know. When I- when I play alone, I kind of get, you know, lost if I'm playing with an orchestra and they go “dum duh dum”, I know that I'm supposed to go “dee dee” or “doo doo”. 00:03:52 [Van Cliburn]: But when I play alone, I don't know. It's like, uh, like I don't know what to do. I'm all alone and I'm the one who has to go “dum duh dum” and “dee dee” or “doo doo” and everything else. 00:04:06 [Van Cliburn]: I don't know it- it- it makes me kind of nauseous. Like I'm going to puke. Oh, can I say that on the radio? Puke. 00:04:15 [James Irsay]: Oh, I've been known to say it myself. 00:04:18 [Van Cliburn] Well, that's how I feel. So, I- 00:04:19 [James Irsay]: Well, how did- how did all this affect your interpretations, your musical interpretations? 00:04:23 [Van Cliburn]: Well, first of all, I was I was constantly being told how good I was at playing the piano, that is, hehe. 00:04:31 [Van Cliburn] One person would say, oh, you play good and another person would say, oh, you play good and so on. And well, I thought say, I'm not doing too badly, but one day I was. I was prepared to record some music. I forget the piece and it goes something like uh- [humming]. 00:04:50 [Van Cliburn] Oh, I think that's the one. Oh, yes, it was Claire de Lune in A minor, I think I forget who wrote it. Doesn't matter. It'd still be the same piece anyway. Anyway, I pushed the keys down, but I couldn't...understand what came out. I felt like my hands weren't connected to my brain. I mean, sounds were coming out, but I wasn't sure what they meant. And I just kind of spaced out. Of course, the records were released anyway. I don't know some people liked them. 00:05:25 [James Irsay]: Well, after all this, I hope you still continue to play. 00:05:27 [Van Cliburn] Oh, sometimes I pick around, but- but the station takes most of my time. 00:05:31 [James Irsay]: Oh, so you're working for a radio station? Maybe a TV station? 00:05:34 [Van Cliburn]: No, no. It's a gas station. 00:05:36 [James Irsay]: A gas station? Van Cliburn working for a gas station. 00:05:39 [Van Cliburn] Oh, it's not as bad as all that. 00:05:41 [Van Cliburn]: And I feel that I feel like I'm doing a service. Why, if Beethoven had a car, he'd need somebody to care for it, I'd be doing him a service by freeing his mind to work on his music instead of caring about his car. What if his universal joint came apart on his way to a concert, or where his valve cover gaskets sprung a leak? Why I'd be the one who could ease his mind and fix the car. 00:06:06 [Van Cliburn]: Of course, I doubt if Beethoven would have made a very good driver. You could honk your horn forever and he wouldn't hear it. 00:06:11 [James Irsay]: Well, that's a real knee slapper. Uh, don't you feel the need, though, to kind of retain some artistic element in your life? 00:06:18 [Van Cliburn]: I do. I do. 00:06:20 [James Irsay]: Are you composing? 00:06:21 [Van Cliburn] Well, no. Mainly I watch television. 00:06:24 [James Irsay]: Well, I suppose I guess these days there are some decent stuff to watch live from the Met, things like that. Public television. 00:06:30 [Van Cliburn]: Oh I don't watch public television. I own one myself and I enjoy, uh, oh let me see, uh, “Play the Percentages”, “The Addams Family” — they remind me of the jewelry in Moscow. And oh, I love “My Three Sons”. 00:06:43 [Van Cliburn]: And oh, yes, I just love to eat. I gained lots and lots of weight. I'm real big and fat now. I love things like Sara Lee Cakes and German chocolate. Umm makes me want to run right to their fridge and get some. And chocolate syrup is quite good. I put it on everything from pork to potatoes. Makes everything taste just like dessert. Hmm. 00:07:05 [James Irsay]: Hmm. Well, Mr. Cliburn, it certainly has been unusual speaking with you this evening. 00:07:11 [Van Cliburn]: Thank you, Jim. 00:07:12 [James Irsay]: That's James. 00:07:14 [Van Cliburn]: Well, you know, I don't see why you should make such a fuss over what I call you. I mean it's- it's just a name and- 00:07:19 [James Irsay]: Oh, just a name? What if I were to call you Ball Joint? What would you think? 00:07:24 [Van Cliburn]: Now, it's not necessary to talk to me like that. After all, I consented to do this interview, and I should be treated with the respect that that's due to a man who- 00:07:31 [James Irsay]: A man who is a fat grease monkey who watches TV and drinks chocolate syrup. Come on. 00:07:37 [Van Cliburn]: Well, I don't have to take this crap. I won the Tchaikowski in ‘58 and and they had a parade and they wrote a book and Mama was so happy. 00:07:45 [Music] 00:08:04 [Don Glass]: James Irsay from one of his music for the keyboard shows in 1980. 00:08:13 [Don Glass]: As part of WFIU's 40th anniversary celebration, we've taken a short trip back to one of the stations zanier moments. I'm Don Glass.