1979 Harris AM Stereo demo LP (Side A)

[moccalou]

OMG... the little bit of soap song is EPICCCCCC!!!!

[ForstaSvenskenIRymdn]

whats the song at 5:00 ?

[vwestlife]

@ForstaSvenskenIRymdn Songs on this side of the record:

Nigel Olsson - A Little Bit Of Soap (1979)

unknown big band instrumental

Peaches & Herb - Reunited (1979)

unknown easy listening instrumental

Anne Murray - Shadows In The Moonlight (1979)

Billy Joel - Rosalinda's Eyes (1978)

[paulj0557]

@4:00 AM dies and goes to Heaven...an affordable and farther reaching Heaven.

[MillBelater]

Gubmint dropped the ball on AM stereo by not picking a standard. Government is always wanting to do what it can't do instead of what it can. "All the rock stars want to act, and all the actors want to sing".

[vwestlife]

@MillBelater Actually, the FCC tried to pick a single standard for AM Stereo twice (first Magnavox, then Harris), but both times the proponents of the other systems complained loudly, especially Mr. Kahn. Even when the FCC finally chose C-Quam as the standard in 1993, Kahn was still fighting tooth and nail for his system, even though it had failed in the marketplace -- his system may have been superior in some aspects, but Motorola had the big money to make their system win.

[harleykman]

@MillBelater And yet now government has PICKED a digital standard, to try to avoid the mess that was AM stereo, and people are still complaining. The FCC can't win no matter what they do

.

[SlimeTron5000]

@harleykman But guess what? In times where digital technology is implied, there is a war against you, the consumer. The corporations will destroy your liberties with copy protection, encryption, and controlling your method of consumption. Remember the forced ads on some DVDs?

[century3horizons]

I also remember in 1979 when one of my local stations, WOWO-1190, was doing some experimental broadcasts in Harris. That's when I was thoroughly bitten by the AM stereo bug and couldn't wait till the FCC would allow atations to begin regular, stereo broadcasts. Later I acquired a Sony SRF-A100 portable radio that was switchable multi-mode AM stereo plus the radio had a bandwidth switch that helped even mono stations sound much better by opening up the receiver's IF bandwidth to 10Kc.

[bratina501]

@century3horizons and yet WOWO today is a talk station running I think IBOC DAB. I can't tell exactly due to being on the fringe of their daytime coverage (Avon Indiana) and my HD Radio receiver being stingy. They actually did convert to Motorola C-QUAM later on and ran it for a good number of years.

[RVDMISSISSAUGAKID]

In a way, that actually sounds better than broadcast FM!

[jconifer7]

In case anyone is interested, the song at the beginning is A Little Bit Of Soap by Nigel Olsson, I never thought of Elton John's drummer as a solo artist.

[manyvideoinerests]

Interesting! What kinds of receivers could do AM stereo? I don't remember many as I said, but my aunt and uncle had a stereo where the green light would activatewhen an AM station was detected, so that might have been stereo. It was a Sears AM/FM stereo with double cassette.

[vwestlife]

@manyvideoinerests Look up my web site AMStereo(.)s5(.)com (remove the parentheses) for a full list of AM Stereo receivers.

[manyvideoinerests]

So, how many stations use or did use AM stereo? There sadly isn't much in regard to music on AM. I never got to use any radio using AM stereo. I also remember CKLW when they played music, but it was the music of your life. It is now talk.

[vwestlife]

@manyvideoinerests In the early '90s, there were over 700 AM Stereo stations in the USA alone. Today, there is not nearly that many anymore, but still quite a few, and many stations still have the equipment installed and could reactivate their AM Stereo at the flick of a switch. AM Stereo is good even for talk formats because many receivers open up their audio bandwidth when a stereo signal is received, so you get better treble response.

[SlimeTron5000]

That public domain library music at 7:05 is great.

[vwestlife]

@SlimeTron5000 That is not public domain. That is a clip from "Rosalinda's Eyes" by Billy Joel.

[SlimeTron5000]

@vwestlife This is one of the Billy Joel compositions I did not hear yet.

[retrochad]

That really sounds good! I can remember listening to CKLW when I lived in Ohio but at that time it was a "Music Of Your Life" format.

[ClactonRadio]

Radio is much better in the US.

Never had AM stereo in UK.

You now have HD and satellite radio were all we have is crapy DAB.

But Internet radio is very popular here.

[BadEditPro]

I have a book somewhere that explains in great detail the differences between all of the systems. As I recall, Harris' is very close in concept to C-QUAM. It sure does sound good coming off of this record... What an interesting artifact you have there. :) JC

[vwestlife]

Would that book be "AM Stereo & TV Stereo: New Sound Dimensions"? I just got that off eBay as well. It's a lot more detailed than I expected.

[BadEditPro]

@vwestlife Yes, I think that's the one... Not only is it very in depth, the author's writing style makes it harder to follow, as well. Still, the hard info and charts are worth their weight in gold if you're trying to wrap your mind around the concepts. I found my copy in a basement at a cluster of stations I was programming. It was just sitting there on a shelf and it looked like it had been there a long time. Just one of those lucky finds. :) JC

[pdmillar]

That record itself sounds really good! I only notice a slight decrease in separation on the big-band music along with some phase nonlinearity when they go to the demodulated MPX on the big band music. I love 12-inch 45s. Is it cut much louder than a normal LP?

[vwestlife]

No, it is actually cut quieter, probably so the mastering process would not colorize the sound.

[daewooparts]

harris made alot of sound stuff that the phone companies use too !

[jconifer7]

Poor AM stereo, sounded great but had little chance.

Sounds like this record was intended to be played with a slide show since I hear beeps, much like the slide shows I had to watch in elementary school.

[vwestlife]

The beeps just tell you when they're changing back and forth between the transmitted AM Stereo audio and the audio direct from the music source.

[jconifer7]

Okay, I misunderstood, it just reminded me of that since my elementary school was using filmstrips as old as that record when I was attending in the late 80's early 90's.

[CrazyCanuckDude]

OMG I remember filmstrips from school!! There were these plastic devices where you could either watch on the built in screen, or project it on the wall. And it would have a built in cassette deck for sound too. Man, I feel old lol

[bbishoppcm]

Was Harris the maker of the broadcasting system, or the AM Stereo receiver?

[vwestlife]

The broadcasting system. Apart from prototypes, there were no AM Stereo receivers yet in 1979. The first production model radios with AM Stereo capability hit the marketplace in late 1983.

[AccordionManiac]

very interesting