Jan Gabriel, WJOB Hammond Indiana, February 10, 1967 (58:46)

This Exhibit 'SCOPED (32:34)

. . . Well, I was close . . .

[Description by Uncle Ricky]

You haven't heard everything until you hear Jan "Baby" Gabriel in the Gabriel Groove on WJOB/Hammond, Indiana. Gabriel is assisted by newsman Cosmo Courier (what a name!) and two high-school reporters in this Friday night hour. Local radio this truly was, in the booming shadow of Chicago Top-40 giants WCFL and WLS.

In fact, Gabriel undoubtedly was inspired by Barney Pip and Ron Brittain. Maybe he liked Jerry Lewis, too. What he intended as madcap hilarity is a bit tiring by today's short-attention standards. There are some classic technical glitches, including a pizza contest contestant we can't hear, and the accidental de-activation of a turntable.

This is obviously a studio recording, and the high-fidelity is appreciated. As for the content, well, there were once thousands of local radio stations that employed local people to broadcast to the local community. That was when radio stations operated in the public interest, in a market where ownership was regulated. THAT was radio, back when a kid could walk into the local radio station and say, "I want to be a disc jockey!"

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