My Transistor Radio

Series produced by Chuck Ayers

Caption: PRX default Series image
PRX default Series image 

A sociological look at the culture of Rock and Roll in the 1950s and 60s and who was listening and why.

My Transistor Radio was a hard plastic ivory colored box with an on/off/volume knob on the side just below the larger knob for tuning A.M. radio station. Also, it had a collapsible plastic handle and this “take anywhere” radio was about the size of a small cigar box. This very portable transistor radio had played only Rock music from the fifties and sixties and blasted from a two-inch screeching paper speaker.

This was teen music that was set loose from the big clunky Jukebox and finally played on teen rock and roll radio. Music that was most portable. Music carried to the lake, to the beach, and wherever teens wanted their beloved Rock and Roll music. High volume and ever-present. In your face Rock and Roll from the 1950s and 60s. Shrill, monaural, and low fidelity. But most of all loud from my portable transistor radio.

Hi, my name is Chuck Ayers, host of My Transistor Radio. A program looking backs at the life and times of rock and roll in its early evolution. A casual study of the sociology and teen culture that grouted the music mosaic together which we former teenagers called Rock and Roll. Rock, pop, Doo Wap, Rockabilly, Girl groups, guy groups, surfing, hotrod, and the music styles were almost endless. It’s all about the people, places, and events that nurtured early Rock and Roll. Including Radio stations and their newly invented “Disk Jockeys” positions that promoted this new brand of music like carnival pitchmen. All starting up on the radio in the mid-1950s.

To help you understand this program, this is not just a historical anthology or biographical look at bands, artists, and composers. But what this is meant to be is an understanding of the places, people, and current events that framed the music. Music listened to by boys and girls caught up in their own whimsical adolescent chemistry and carried atop rolling waves of Oldies rock music.

So, why did teen go for lyrics like Duke Duke DukeDuke of Earl, and Duke-Duke… Or, Chances are when you wear a silly grin… Teen kids seldom listening to the lyrics but the beat instead. But mostly listening to Music that was rhythmic, loud, and most of all danceable.

Now, for those of you who are public or community radio operators, each program is 30-minutes (29:30) in duration and can either be aired one at a time each week or two at a time. There is not a discernable sign off at each programs end. And since it is about music from that era, each programs consists of about 85 to 90-percent music and the rest, host’s narration. Most of all, MTR wants the listener to have fun while presenting this broad classification of music in to some kind of perspective. Hide full description

My Transistor Radio was a hard plastic ivory colored box with an on/off/volume knob on the side just below the larger knob for tuning A.M. radio station. Also, it had a collapsible plastic handle and this “take anywhere” radio was about the size of a small cigar box. This very portable transistor radio had played only Rock music from the fifties and sixties and blasted from a two-inch screeching paper speaker. This was teen music that was set loose from the big clunky Jukebox and finally played on teen rock and roll radio. Music that was most portable. Music carried to the lake, to the beach, and wherever teens wanted their beloved Rock and Roll music. High volume and ever-present. In your face Rock and Roll from the 1950s and 60s. Shrill, monaural, and low fidelity. But... Show full description


3 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: My Transistor Radio, Credit: Web file photo
My Transistor Radio is a retrospective spotlighting “Dance and Romance” teen music from 1950s and 60s A-M Radio. MTR is attempting to examine why ...

Bought by Marfa Public Radio


  • Added: Dec 11, 2011
  • Length: 29:40
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: My Transistor Radio, Credit: Web file photo
My Transistor Radio is a retrospective spotlighting “Dance and Romance” teen music from 1950s and 60s A-M Radio. MTR is attempting to examine why ...

  • Added: Dec 11, 2011
  • Length: 29:36
Caption: My Transistor Radio, Credit: Web file photo
My Transistor Radio is a retrospective spotlighting “Dance and Romance” teen music from 1950s and 60s A-M Radio. MTR is attempting to examine why ...

  • Added: Dec 11, 2011
  • Length: 29:37