Topic: Art Bell Quits Coast

[Northcoaster]

The true question is this: How long can this thread last. If we do go into 2012 without a 'big announcement' from Art besides the sale of his old sweaty gym equipment, are we going to abandon the thought he will come back? ... and on the flip side, if we do have him come back, are we going to be disappointed.. ? will he be the same old Art? Would he ever change? .. so many questions. I wonder if he has a blender for sale. I'll keep watching.

I don't think Art was the same ever since he stopped doing his weekly shows. He just didn't seem to have the same passion for what he was doing. I think he could get back to being the same old Art if he got back into his weekly shows, but then again that would mean he still has some passion for doing a radio show. At this point, I just don't think it's there. Here's to hoping he's rediscovered some during his break. Cheers! Gulp, gulp

[HorrorReporter]

Here is my point.. when I listen to the classis Bell shows, there is a fire in his voice.. a meaning. And when I listen to the shows 2007-2010, it's dull, lifeless.. bored. I wonder .. 1) is he bored being a spoke on the wheel of Noory's empire? 2) he is angry being a spoke on the wheel since he built the empire himself! 3) Is he just ... bored!? Maybe that's it. Maybe at some point in his life, with a child he grew tired. The very fact he isn't active right now on HAM tells me he is somewhat tired during his spare moments. Maybe the new TV he just got will energize him.

I also wonder how many at Premiere are looking at this, and other threads out there, that want his return and want a demise to what George Noory has done to the show.

There are times I wish Knapp would host. Ian .. even Wells at some points, regardless of some of the negative equity he brings, it's still a better voice. But it's not Art Bell. And if it's not Art Bell it is NOT at all Coast to Coast. And for that reason it doesn't feel the same. Even with the same entrance music and the Inca dance playing out the show, it's all just pretend. Like a fantasy of what really used to be.

I long for the nights with Art would have a call say goodnight. Or the early mornings when he would play the show up (even when he knew full well it wouldn't be great)
.. that is the passion that lacks now. And the passion, to be honest, that lacked in the later Bell hostings.

....Maybe on the flip side of this whole thing WE, out there in listening land, are longing for something ourselves: Our youth. When we heard Art Bell, we were younger.. Maybe happier. Maybe he was the 'good old days' of radio for us.

Forgive me for random thoughts that seem to go on too long. But we are coming up on October. The time when EVPs would be played until the wee hours of the morning. The time when ghosts would somehow be present. And this year? ....Oh this year.....

[Tara]

I would LOVE for Art to return to C2C or a similar radio show.   Like many of you on this site, I have so many good memories of a show that originated from a trailer in the high desert.   However, if Art returns in any format it won't be quite the same.  It'll be great, but different.  Every show is partially a product of it's time, and Art essentially had a pre-9/11 show.  Even in the late 1990's, the country was not as polarized as it is now between left and right.  Wonder if Art  would keep that out of the show.  Would he get too preachy on climate change?  Don't mind if he expressed his opinion, but hope he wouldn't become a broken record like Noory on tumeric.
     When I think of Art returning to radio I think of an imaginary reunion of the Beatles, say in 1979, just before Lennon was shot.  Would they have produced a great album, of course, but it would be different.  It was no longer 1967 and music reflecting the psychedelic era would have been passe.
     I think it would be somewhat the same with an Art Bell return.  Great, because of his innate talent, but different.   

[Northcoaster]

Here is my point.. when I listen to the classis Bell shows, there is a fire in his voice.. a meaning. And when I listen to the shows 2007-2010, it's dull, lifeless.. bored. I wonder .. 1) is he bored being a spoke on the wheel of Noory's empire? 2) he is angry being a spoke on the wheel since he built the empire himself! 3) Is he just ... bored!? Maybe that's it. Maybe at some point in his life, with a child he grew tired. The very fact he isn't active right now on HAM tells me he is somewhat tired during his spare moments. Maybe the new TV he just got will energize him.

I also wonder how many at Premiere are looking at this, and other threads out there, that want his return and want a demise to what George Noory has done to the show.

There are times I wish Knapp would host. Ian .. even Wells at some points, regardless of some of the negative equity he brings, it's still a better voice. But it's not Art Bell. And if it's not Art Bell it is NOT at all Coast to Coast. And for that reason it doesn't feel the same. Even with the same entrance music and the Inca dance playing out the show, it's all just pretend. Like a fantasy of what really used to be.

I long for the nights with Art would have a call say goodnight. Or the early mornings when he would play the show up (even when he knew full well it wouldn't be great)
.. that is the passion that lacks now. And the passion, to be honest, that lacked in the later Bell hostings.

....Maybe on the flip side of this whole thing WE, out there in listening land, are longing for something ourselves: Our youth. When we heard Art Bell, we were younger.. Maybe happier. Maybe he was the 'good old days' of radio for us.

Forgive me for random thoughts that seem to go on too long. But we are coming up on October. The time when EVPs would be played until the wee hours of the morning. The time when ghosts would somehow be present. And this year? ....Oh this year.....

I've always thought that the sudden and unexpected death of his wife, Ramona, affected him so deeply that it took a lot of his passion for radio. Her death occurred in January 2006. He announced his retirement from weekend Coast in July 2007. This would coincide with your opinion of him sounding "dull, lifeless or bored" from 2007-2010 and I would agree with that assessment as well.

His shows, before that time, always sounded fresh, exciting and thought-provoking. I can't say that personally this was a happier time in my life, but I can say that listening to Art late at night gave me some company and made me happy. His shows scared the crap out of me and kept me up on occasion, but even those times I was happy to be listening. The times when I'm awake and by myself late at night I really do long for the golden age of Coast.

[ourobouros2k2]

Here is my point.. when I listen to the classis Bell shows, there is a fire in his voice.. a meaning. And when I listen to the shows 2007-2010, it's dull, lifeless.. bored. 

Very true, and while lacking the passion of the weekly broadcasts, he still made is a very good, listenable show. Until his last show. The '10 ghost to ghost show was so riddled with apathy, I often wondered if he was falling asleep at times. Art has always been professional enough to still attempt to engage his audience, but that show he was making a clear statement. He was done. I even think the "till they call my name again" statement was a setup for doing his own thing on down the road.

My take was that his performance during that show was a clear invitation for noory/premier to "suck it, and don't bother calling"..

[FightTheFuture]

Here is my point.. when I listen to the classis Bell shows, there is a fire in his voice.. a meaning. And when I listen to the shows 2007-2010, it's dull, lifeless.. bored. I wonder ..


....Maybe on the flip side of this whole thing WE, out there in listening land, are longing for something ourselves: Our youth. When we heard Art Bell, we were younger.. Maybe happier. Maybe he was the 'good old days' of radio for us.

Great points. I also have very fond recollections of the early days of Art, back when I stood freezing my 6 off in a guard shack near San Diego, while I constantly adjusted the AM radio to pick up his show drifting over the mountains. I was positively mesmerized, and forever hooked. 

And while I long for those nights, what does that say about me? To be sure, It was a crazy and exciting time in my life. Perhaps you`re right. Perhaps it`s not as much about Art and the glory days of C2C, but more about Springsteen`s version of Glory Days.

[HorrorReporter]

Maybe this should have gone in the
art bell quits coast thread, but I think it's a big deal and merits attention.. In response to a fan on Art's Facebook asking him to come back, Bell's old friend Streiber chimed in. Seems to me that Art Bell is done. 30 indeed meant what it meant.

[M Knight]

...until he is abducted by aliens and corn-holed.

[HorrorReporter]

M knight, you're right. I can only imagine how Whitley told Art that story without FCC rules. Graphic horrid detail

[stevesh]

M knight, you're right. I can only imagine how Whitley told Art that story without FCC rules. Graphic horrid detail

Because it's all fiction ?

[YNOT]

Because it's all fiction ?

Or maybe fantasy? On Striebers part?

[morphiaflow]

I don't think anyone would disagree that Art was far better pre-Ramona's passing (and pre-Noory even), and that in the later years he was--quite literally!--phoning it in. But you know what? Art phoning it in is still better than most hosts at the top of their game, including, I'm not sorry to say, all the current Coast roster (yes, even Knapp, whom I love, but who is just a bit too detached and clinical for me to completely embrace). So given the choice between Art at whatever level, and in whatever form, he can offer now, and no Art at all, I'll take the former, should any such thing come our way in the future near or far.

And on the "phoning it in" score, btw, I think there are any number of factors that could have contributed to that, and relations with Noory/Premiere were probably part of it. If he did launch a new venture that had none of those concerns, we might hear a bit more fiery and passionate Art again. We might!

As an addendum to the whole "when is he going to stop baiting us" thing...it only seems to use like he is taking an inordinate amount of time because he has given us the "stay tuned" signal, and we are checking his page and this forum daily. Think how wonderfully surprised all the Art Bell fans who have NO such connection will be, when they hear about his comeback, should it occur--because they will have already long ago put him out of their minds.

A watched pot and all that.

[fysisist]

...until he is abducted by aliens and corn-holed.

I don't know about anybody else, but(t) I find it hard to imagine any scenario where aliens find it necessary to probe Whitley Strieber's anal... areas.  I mean, what kind of universe are we living in here, anyway?? 

[YNOT]

I don't know about anybody else, but(t) I find it hard to imagine any scenario where aliens find it necessary to probe Whitley Strieber's anal... areas.  I mean, what kind of universe are we living in here, anyway??

Maybe they were looking for signs of intelligence.  Apparently its not in mankind's brains...wars, crapping on our environment and all....

[kf5iwe]

Perhaps 6 months ago the Greys contacted Art. They said they wanted to land in Pahrump and go on the air with the message. Maybe that is why he is back.
 I first started listening in guard shacks too.

[morphiaflow]

(Off topic, but Art-related)

I'm going to post this as its own thread as well, but I'm also putting it on a couple Art threads too, for those who are interested and/or able to help. Michael V, sorry if this seems spammy, I'm only trying to increase exposure for something that should be near and dear to all Art fans.

I've posted about this before but here is some new info....There is a gentleman who goes online by the name Malacoid who is doing (a) God's work--he has undertaken the Herculean task of not only collecting and archiving every Coast episode he can get his hands on, but giving them consistent tags and releasing them on torrent sites in year-by-year collections, mainly Demonoid, but others as well.

He has been working backwards--2005 through 2010 are done, and he's currently working on 2004. This means, of course, that he's only now reaching the REALLY good stuff--since the further back you go with Coast, the more Art and less Noory there is, and what Noory IS there, is (in my opinion) from a time when he didn't suck QUITE so much. In other words, somewhat listenable.

In any case, he's about 2/3 done with 2004, but he's missing a BUNCH of shows.

Here's the bait for Art fans. He's released an unfinished, in-progress torrent of every 2004 show he has so far--which includes EVERY episode Art hosted in 2004. You can find it--and links to his other yearly collections, AND a list of what he's missing--here.

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/6690478

And he's looking to network with other Coast collectors to complete his 2004 torrent and continue going backwards as far and as thoroughly as he can.

I believe the entire Coast collector community should get behind him, because it will benefit us all in the end. ESPECIALLY if in fact Art does not return to the radio, or not soon--we can at least have the most thorough, comprehensive, consistently organized and high-quality archive of Art shows available ANYWHERE (outside of the premiere vaults).

So, thanks for letting me hijack this forum for what I consider to be a public service announcement for Art fans. Hopefully, it won't be deleted as spam.

[morphiaflow]

There's also a google group for other Art/Coast collectors at http://groups.google.com/group/artaudio?hl=en

[YNOT]

Morphiaflow.  if I had any I'd contribute.  I start listening around 96 and used to religiously save every episode.  I remember recording from realplayer using musicmatch (when it was decent.) It used to record from the the system mixer directly to mp3. That was before You could download mp3's....

Sadly I had a hard drive crash and lost all that hard work somewhere around 2005.

[b_dubb]

it's really just amazing how much aliens seem to be able to learn about people by inserting a probe in their anus

[YNOT]

it's really just amazing how much aliens seem to be able to learn about people by inserting a probe in their anus

Maybe it's just Alien Porn...

[MV]

Morphiaflow.  if I had any I'd contribute.  I start listening around 96 and used to religiously save every episode.  I remember recording from realplayer using musicmatch (when it was decent.) It used to record from the the system mixer directly to mp3. That was before You could download mp3's....

Sadly I had a hard drive crash and lost all that hard work somewhere around 2005.

Do you still have the drive?

Sent from my DROIDX

[M Knight]

it's really just amazing how much aliens seem to be able to learn about people by inserting a probe in their anus

Maybe after traveling 10 trillion miles they've just gone crazy and are literally saying "fuck it".  Throw in an occasional cow mutilation and it might make the trip worthwhile.

[11angeleyes11]

Maybe after traveling 10 trillion miles they've just gone crazy and are literally saying "fuck it".  Throw in an occasional cow mutilation and it might make the trip worthwhile.

Secretly, doesn't it make you wonder what their agenda is?

Now, here is a question, if you were an alien traveling through time and space, through the wormholes and finally arrive on the planet, what host on Coast would you listen to and  why?   Whitley could be included because he is an occassional guest host.

My alien host sources reveal Whitley, he has been tried and tested, and is also multi-faceted. 

Now, what about Art coming back?

[M Knight]

1.  Secretly, doesn't it make you wonder what their agenda is?

2.  Now, here is a question, if you were an alien traveling through time and space, through the wormholes and finally arrive on the planet, what host on Coast would you listen to and  why?   Whitley could be included because he is an occassional guest host.

My alien host sources reveal Whitley, he has been tried and tested, and is also multi-faceted. 

3.  Now, what about Art coming back?

1.  Now, if you believe in the hyper-intelligent alien theory, we would not understand the agenda even if they told it to us.  We wouldn't even know when they told it to us.

2.  Knapp.  His awareness and knowledge of extraterrestrial issues would possibly peak their interest.  Noory would sound more like a blow fish exhaling.

3.  I cannot imagine Art choosing to do something small if he did come back to radio.  Why waste his time?  Anything less than a national show would not hold his interest for long.

[YNOT]

Do you still have the drive?

Sent from my DROIDX

Sorry. No.  It's long since discarded.  Back then it didn't seem as big of a deal as it is now.  I especially wish I had all the older shows..sigh.

[fysisist]

it's really just amazing how much aliens seem to be able to learn about people by inserting a probe in their anus

Maybe they all belong to the intergalactic chapter of NAMBLA.

[MV]

Maybe they all belong to the intergalactic chapter of NAMBLA.

or the ABCRS.

[BobGrau]

hmm
out of all the Coast hosts/guests, who's ass would yield the most information and why?

[fabucat]

...until he is abducted by aliens and corn-holed.

OK, you made me spit out my beverage all over the screen again!

Whit is amusing, but he doesn't have a first class connection inside Art's mind!

[b_dubb]

is there an alien porn publication that featured a center fold of strieber?  get that image out of your mind

more likely that strieber wasn't adequately praised as a child.  and that's why aliens like to stuff probes in his bum