The Place: The General Norristown Pa. area
The Time: June 1977
Channel: 20, "The Lord's Channel"
Recorded With: A cassette recorder from a Roberts 23 channel mobile rig.
The Most Noteworthy Characters:
"Father John": Who's real name isn't John (Go Figure), leads this ragtag group of born again CB'ers, "With guidance and strength and spiritualism". He runs a Realistic TRC-48 with a D-104.
"Father" Chris: Father John's partner in crime....errr..... ministry. Chris just got promoted from "Brother" status on this night. Chris runs a SBE Sidebander 2 with a D-104.
"Naughty" Nancy: Gets her kicks by making a mockery of the helpers at Father John's workshop. Nancy runs a SBE Console 2 with a Turner +3.
"Sister" Terry: Not the brightest bulb in the pack, and more than a little naive.. Terry seemed to forget that this was all a play act, and seemed to take it way too seriously at times. She had a distinctive (in those days) add-on ping when she keyed up, and she didn't have a Browning, rather a simple Midland 13-861. She was a member of a rival channel (8), and was responsible for attracting several other Ch. 8'ers up to 20 that night.
"Monk" Dave: (Not me). Friend of Terry's, who also had a terrible habit of "sinning". He runs a Realistic TRC-30A with a stock mike.
"Brother" Nicky: First observed commenting that: "You people copy too much", as it was originally his idea to play this religious role playing game, and he wasn't too happy about this latest rendition. What was that old saying about imitation being the highest form of flattery? I guess Nicky didn't see it that way. Nicky also runs a TRC-30A, but with a D-104.
"Monk" Al: Albert, soon to be of Channel 13 fame, records the fun here but managed to fall asleep during the last half hour or so. First heard telling Nicky: "You drink too much, Sinner." and he offers up comments at other points as well. Albert is running a Roberts 23 channel mobile with a stock mike and connected to an indoor antenna, which made his active participation a bit difficult with the crowded conditions that night.
"St. Peter": Jim, another soon-to-be Channel 13'er, goes along with the fun and makes his own unique contributions at different times throughout the night. Jim runs a Midland 13-895 with a Turner +3.
....Plus a large contingent of "followers", some friendly, some not so.
Classic One-liners:
"And you'd better believe that us Fathers have a lot of love for them Sisters" - Father Chris to Sister Terry.
"I see Sister Terry, lots of things you don't understand. Like why is there a God." - Father John to Sister Terry.
"You're lying, you indulge in sexual activity, and you don't love Jesus." - Father John to Sister Terry.
"Sir, Beavers are the root of all evil. And don't tell me money is, 'cause I got lots of that" - Father John
"I say convert him. Slap him 3 times upside his head. Give him the old testament and send him home in a cab" - Father Chris.
Background:
What can I say? During the course of our local CB radio history, the different groups of people on the often geographically and culturally diverse channels tried a variety of methods to deal with conflict and to control or marginalize the proliferation of the more "seedy" elements of radio society. Some tried to settle their differences through direct confrontation, others tried ignoring them, some moved to SSB or illegal channels, and some opted to run large amounts of power to drown them out. During the summer of 1977, the group on Channel 20 tried a novel approach to the problem by deciding to bore the "hell" out of the malcontents (Literally) by pretending to be "bible thumpers". This action would hopefully result in the "sinners" leaving the channel. At least, that was the plan. Unfortunately, it sort of backfired, as this unique and comical play act attracted more people out of the woodwork, than it drove away. This "epic" length recording (Almost 2 hrs.) captures just one night's snapshot out of about a week's worth of "preaching". There are many good spontaneous comedic one-liners delivered, as well as a little confrontation throughout the clip. I was not on the radio during this recording, but I did manage to take part on another night a day or so later. I only wish someone had recorded that....
This is a LONG recording, which would probably best off listened to by downloading the files and then playing them locally, when you have the time. I've split it into 4 files, approx 30 min each, in mp3 format:
Father John 1 The audio is a bit weak for the first few minutes of this clip.