Open Lines

[sillydog]

Without them, there is little of the raw spontenaity that made C2C truly great.  There'd be no JC were it not for open lines, for instance.  People respect bravery if they realize it or not, and Art is the bravest man in radio.  He knew that on some level or another, the raw emotion made for good and compelling radio -- the sort that kept me tuned in every night since that first night I heard him talking about UFOs and taking unscreened calls while I tested out my new shortwave in a tent perched pecariously close to the Mendenhal Glacier (picking up a doubled freq from KOMO - 2M was the lowest freq on that box and Art asking someone about having sex w/ aliens the very first sound I ever heard out of it - I was in love w/ DX and C2C from the first).

And why'd he do it?  Becuse he loves radio.  Anyone who's ever done is knows how poorly it pays.  He had 500 affiliates and still drove a Geo Metro.  He wanted those calls unscreaned because, like Hunter S. describes in "Fear in Loathing in Las Vegas," he wanted to be right on the vein of the American Dream (or the very weird sub-conscious cousin of it).  He knew that the truth lies between prepared speech and gibberish.  What he got from his callers was raw and real.  Quite simply, he wanted to know and wanted to take us with him.  Together, we'd bust these mysteries open.  We'd call down the UFOs, force disclosure and determine if there's life after death.

AS for his calls being screened now, well, it sure didn't feel like it at the time, but the 90s sure seem like the halcyon days of another era now, don't they?  America isn't the same anymore, and maybe Art just feels a bit broken down by it all.   It was fun to take the ride up with him and Ramona.  Sometimes it just feels like I'm watching a reunion tour that exists only to make the yacht payment.  Maybe he feels the same way, too.

Regardless, that there ever were real open lines was giddy and exciting -- I'm glad I heard it.

[Art is the Best]

I think you're right about open lines with Art. I go back and forth about JC -- he's just so obnoxious, but the calls are hilarious. When I first started listening, George was doing open lines, and I dreaded Fridays. Imagine that!

[MV/Liberace!]

When I first started listening, George was doing open lines, and I dreaded Fridays. Imagine that!

that is soooo true.  in the course of the two year "chance" i gave george to win me over, i came to fear open lines because 1) they weren't really open and 2) george doesn't have the flair to roll with them.

one of the things art said over the years about open lines was that he just simply wanted to see what was out there.  he said he knew the only way to do that was to remove all filters and just open the floodgates.  spontaneity wins every time its tried, IMO.

[Max]

yes and until another radio show host... happens to be come in on the market and do the same thing that art did, with unscreened calls... there will be no other show like it..

[MV/Liberace!]

yes and until another radio show host... happens to be come in on the market and do the same thing that art did, with unscreened calls... there will be no other show like it..

it will happen eventually.  there's clearly a demand for it.

[Spikegirl]

Art was clearly the Master. His voice, that sardonic inflection in his voice, his take no prisoners attitude, all combined with a sincere interest in the supernatural and talent, were an unbeatable combination.

[ArtBellFan]

Art was clearly the Master. His voice, that sardonic inflection in his voice, his take no prisoners attitude, all combined with a sincere interest in the supernatural and talent, were an unbeatable combination.

Art is still clearly the "Master" he isn't gone yet, as Art always says "nothing is ever as it seems' and of course he is "Mysterious and Reassuring". Just when you think you know what Art is going to do next he will surprise you.

[Meegle]

...and I may in the minority but....I can't stand OPEN LINES. It seems like such a cop out to actual production. What do you all think?

[EvB]

I think that REAL open lines - a la Art - were often pretty good entertainment.  i think that SEMI-open lines - where a guest or news item has set the topic and people call on that topic - CAN be interesting - but it's a risk. Open "open" lines that are screened?  BLAH!

[Loui Zoot]

Modern day coast to coast would greatly benefit from pure and only open lines. In fact, throw away the host too. Just use computerized voice prompts, and callers.

I'd venture that 4 hours of a toilet flushing over and over, would be comparable to typical coast to coast.

[slipstream]

I think that REAL open lines - a la Art - were often pretty good entertainment.  i think that SEMI-open lines - where a guest or news item has set the topic and people call on that topic - CAN be interesting - but it's a risk. Open "open" lines that are screened?  BLAH!

   Agreed!   Some of my favorite shows were just Art hosting and caller talking about whatever they wanted.  Art really made a great moderator.  Nooron can't do it worth spit.  Nooron avoids open lines if he can.

[Caruthers612]

        I think you guys are all nuts. Imagine: you've been waiting on hold for over an hour. Then, suddenly, there's a click (first click is always the Echelon tap engaging), then a second click and suddenly you hear...George! His warm, faintly ****ADMIN EDIT**** voice fills you, the resonance coming from deep within his chest cavity. <sweat> Sorry, I'm starting to get turned on. You see fairy lights dancing all around you as the nature spirits cross the fiber optics and connect your soul to...<sigh> George's. It's in that moment that you realize you will never be alone again, never be sad or cold, never have sudden explosive diarrhea when your car is trapped in bumper to bumper traffic, never get caught crossdressing again.
        From that moment, all will be well....


M

****ADMIN NOTE**** i absolutely DID NOT want to edit this, but for legal reasons (some of which are admittedly ambiguous), i had to.  i hope lots of people were able to read it before i came in and killed buzzes.

[Spikegirl]

        I think you guys are all nuts. Imagine: you've been waiting on hold for over an hour. Then, suddenly, there's a click (first click is always the Echelon tap engaging), then a second click and suddenly you hear...George! His warm, faintly ****ADMIN EDIT**** voice fills you, the resonance coming from deep within his chest cavity. <sweat> Sorry, I'm starting to get turned on. You see fairy lights dancing all around you as the nature spirits cross the fiber optics and connect your soul to...<sigh> George's. It's in that moment that you realize you will never be alone again, never be sad or cold, never have sudden explosive diarrhea when your car is trapped in bumper to bumper traffic, never get caught crossdressing again.
        From that moment, all will be well....


M

Well....there's nothing wrong with getting caught cross dressing.

[PhantasticSanShiSan]

George Noory Sucks. Open Lines Blows. It's how the current C2C beast survives.

Well....there's nothing wrong with getting caught cross dressing.

GIRL! You so bad!

[Charles]

One thing I have noticed about Noory ... is his infamous playing of clips at the end of Open Lines ... its almost his way of taking the rest of the night off ... whether it be a clip from a previous interview or a song by UFO Phil ... the no talent bastard likes to weasel his way outta the last part of his shift by playing old crap rather than talking to callers.

God I hate Noory!

[danDNA]

george is out of the studio at least 15 minutes earlier because of this trick. a radio host over here notoriously used to prerecord the last 30 mins of her show and fuck off early.

[Frys Girl]

There is no equivalent for this in any other line of work except leaving early and telling your boss/clients F*ck you. Thanks for bringing this up.

[Charles]

Okay ... another post about how Noory is a no talent ass clown. Sunday night he was supposed to interview Robert Bauval ... but due to phone problems he had to reschedule ... but my problem lies in the fact that George could not just move on and open some lines and be a host of the show ... he had to replay an old show with Mr. Bauval .... Now seriously ... is he really that lame? Well the answer is YES!

Art would have just opened the lines and went with it until he could get the guest back. He would have also done a show of open lines if all went bad instead of grabbing RCH to be a guest.

Seriously ... whatever George is being paid on his contract ... I would gladly take a collection and double it to get rid of him ... He really does suck!!!!!

[Spikegirl]

Okay ... another post about how Noory is a no talent ass clown. Sunday night he was supposed to interview Robert Bauval ... but due to phone problems he had to reschedule ... but my problem lies in the fact that George could not just move on and open some lines and be a host of the show ... he had to replay an old show with Mr. Bauval .... Now seriously ... is he really that lame? Well the answer is YES!

Art would have just opened the lines and went with it until he could get the guest back. He would have also done a show of open lines if all went bad instead of grabbing RCH to be a guest.

Seriously ... whatever George is being paid on his contract ... I would gladly take a collection and double it to get rid of him ... He really does suck!!!!!

I heard about that on another site as well. It's all over the net. Snoory is such a piss poor host that when the lines were not working and the scheduled guest could not go on, Snoory had to pop in a tape until they could get Hoaxland to come on and pinch hit. For all the money that Snoron makes, he is not even able to host a fucking show already.

Art, or Knapp or Ian just would have talked and or gone to open lines. Not Noory. He needs to have everything spoon fed to him. All joking aside, I really don't know what Noory is doing as the host of Coast to Coast. He has no talent whatsoever and is not even able to HOST a show. Isn't that his JOB?

If Premrad had any business sense, the would fire Noory and hire a college intern from some radio station. He could not do a worse job than Noory and might actually be an improvement.

[VictoriaPandora]

Yeah just last week that announcer dude died, (sorry forget his name) but I copuld just see George rubbing his hands together. YAY, someone I interviewed died that means I can call the numbers lady early tonight.

After he whittered on with Hoagy and went to open lines, the very last call was interesting. He was mispronouncing the name Eliza... Eeleesa. This rather annoyed the woman and she firmly corrected him. I have never heard him laugh that much about anything. I bet he likes to be tied up and slapped around a little bit.

[danDNA]

I bet he likes to be tied up and slapped around a little bit.

id gladly do that.

[Charles]

announcer dude

yeah I think that his name was Mr. Announcer Dude ... I would have rather they prop his corpse up in front of the mic to host CTC instead of Noory. Noory is like a corpse that talks and utters something other than just the word "brains". Which is ironic to me ... cuz it is the one thing he lacks.

[danDNA]

LAUGH OUT LOUD

[Spikegirl]

id gladly do that.

I'm sure George would be in your debt. 

He usually has to pay extra for that kind of treatment.

[VictoriaPandora]

yeah I think that his name was Mr. Announcer Dude ... I would have rather they prop his corpse up in front of the mic to host CTC instead of Noory. Noory is like a corpse that talks and utters something other than just the word "brains". Which is ironic to me ... cuz it is the one thing he lacks.

Hahaha!

[Camazotz Automat]

Okay ... another post about how Noory is a no talent ass clown. Sunday night he was supposed to interview Robert Bauval ... but due to phone problems he had to reschedule ... but my problem lies in the fact that George could not just move on and open some lines and be a host of the show ... he had to replay an old show with Mr. Bauval .... Now seriously ... is he really that lame? Well the answer is YES!

Art would have just opened the lines and went with it until he could get the guest back. He would have also done a show of open lines if all went bad instead of grabbing RCH to be a guest.

And to make it more pathetic, it wasn't even a replay of Mr. Bauval as Noory claimed.  Noory couldn't even correctly identify what was being rebroadcast.   What ~I~ heard was none other than Deepak Chopra being interviewed - then they got Bauval back briefly in real time, lost him again and ultimately brought in the Monuments of Mars expert whose voice makes me cringe.

I haven't seen anyone else mention that it was Deepak, but I know it was him. They were talking about medicine and what single most important event convinced Deepak that the mind could factor into healing.

Am I hallucinating?  I usually know when I am and I don't see any mushroom stems on my keyboard.

Perhaps someone with Streampunk Link can verify.

They should have let the Deepak interview play out instead of putting Hoagland's damned voice on the air.

Hoagland and Noory's self congratulatory circle jerk fest is enough to push anyone toward the aforementioned mushrooms.

[EvB]

I haven't seen anyone else mention that it was Deepak, but I know it was him. They were talking about medicine and what single most important event convinced Deepak that the mind could factor into healing.

It absolutely was him (Deepak Chopra) .  His name got mentioned somewhere along the line.

A story that, to me, is funny - but maybe you had to be there.  I was helping with a project at school where we had to call alums. It had been a loooooong day, and I was punchy as all hell. I got the name Deepak Chopra as my next call.  For whatever reason, I got the giggles, and couldn't stop. A young student form India - who was also helping with the call-bank - kept  saying to me "I do not see why that's funny, WHY is that funny!?" (you have to imagine the accent and a bit of indignation)  Which only made me laugh more. When I finally caught my breath and dried my tears - the student explained to me that Deepak Chopra is a very common name in India - kinda like John Smith here.  And, he'd never heard of the author.

Poor guy thought I was laughing at his whole culture!

[Camazotz Automat]

It absolutely was him (Deepak Chopra) .  His name got mentioned somewhere along the line.

Yes, I seem to remember Chopra's name being said within the interview, but I can't swear to the fact.

I turned it off when Hoagland came on, so don't know if George mentioned Deepak later or not.  When Noory said it was an old Bauval interview I almost lost my MIND.  Even if someone queued it incorrectly, George should have mentioned the mistake immediately when Bauval came back.  I doubt George bothered to monitor the broadcast in those few seconds.

The Coast website states that the last Bauval interview was in 2002.

I think they all just freaked out and started hitting buttons because Noory was crying.

If the show is so goddamn successful, perhaps they should regularly pay to have their guests flown in and interviewed in the studio instead of resorting to cheap cell phone technology and cracking land lines.

Man UP, George.  If you lose a guest due to technical difficulties, do your job.

Host.

[EvB]

I turned it off when Hoagland came on.

I went to bed and let it be the "white noise" that lulled me to sleep.

[Charles]

Thanks for clearing up the replay info from the other night. I had no idea it was Deepak Chopra. They had me thinking the replay was Bauval and that perhaps he had some sort of cold or ailment ... its a pity that George has a studio full of retards that give him bad info. It all just accentuates George's inept on-air radio personality. Premrad might as well hire monkeys to swing from the ceiling and throw their doodie around the studio for all it matters.

They have taken a once great show and practically made most of their audience loath it. If it wasn't for some of the great guests, I would probably never listen to the show again.