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Midnight in the Desert


I didn't even know he would come back again until I read the Open Minds article, tweeted by an enthusiastic Bryce Zabel. I do like the trailer, though it's unlikely Bell will take a more critical approach in his new show than he ever did. It will probably remain sensationalist entertainment.

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Mel's hole. What a classic story that was. It actually was really interesting. Totally untrue but really interesting - like a lot of C2C back then. (I wasn't listening to Coast in the 90's but I've listened to many of those older Coast shows on youtube etc. It really was a classic show in bringing so many interesting topics to the table. So much b.s admittedly but great radio.

I suppose Art just doesn't understand why something that worked so well in the past isn't working as well in the present.

That sounds like a fair summary.
 
Art Bell was at his best, he hit his stride from the early to a bit past mid 1990's. Weekly he had millions of listeners ... and then the drama hit.

For everyone that was there .. and I was ... it seemed as if it hit fast and furious. The trauma with his son being abducted and raped by an HIV positive teacher. The Hale Bopp fiasco and all the drama that surrounded it. (For example .. Ed Dames with claims a spaceship behind the comet released a cannister of planet killing spores.) Dr. Courtney Brown and claims a world class astronomer would make the announcement of the aliens, Chuck Shramek and how he ended up getting boned by calling Bell and sending him a photo he took of the comet ... and the bull shit that entailed. Chuck Shramek, the guy who just asked a question.

(I should mention that I knew Chuck Shramek from his frequent call ins on my first radio show, UFOs Tonite! that ran on the CRN network. When the Hale Bopp fiasco began I was in contact with Chuck and did what I could to set his record straight. Like I mentioned, he was really boned by this. Chuck died from cancer in 2000 and I still miss him. This is a memorial I wrote about him. Chuck Shramek 12/27/1950 - 05/23/2000 )

And of course Art leaving the show and quitting radio ... then doing a come-back tour. I was invited on a couple of times which kind of surprised me because I had, now and again, been critical of Art and his style of radio. Like for example having had proven frauds on and treating them legit. ie: Ed Dames, Courtney Brown, Jonathan Reed, and of course a whole lot of others I could name but why bother? His wife passed on unexpectedly and then he moved to the PI. He remarried and I got to say I wished him well.

In Feb. of 2001 I did a show with Bell on his broadcast concerning lunar phenomena and of course I did my homework. I sent him some NASA photos I had that showed some very strange artifacts. (And it was obvious to me he never looked at them until the show.) It irked me the way he acted at the start of the show, he knew me and knew I did not suffer bull shit well but he tried act all skeptical like he never did with the frauds I named earlier. However before it was all said and done he was going like ... "Wow! Yea, I really do see that!" But hey .. Bell is a showman. And Bell was Tops at what he did then.

I suppose I could be pissed at Art, after all he did rip off my show name but no ... what for? He only lasted a few weeks, quit again and now wants to come back in some fashion. Like was mentioned earlier Art is pushing about 70 years of age. I say let him go for it. He has always maintained he LOVES Radio and I say "go for it Art!" I honestly wish him well and I hope in whatever format he ends up doing his gig .. I hope he has fun and succeed's.

Decker
 
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Art Bell was at his best, he hit his stride from the early to a bit past mid 1990's. Weekly he had millions of listeners ... and then the drama hit.

For everyone that was there .. and I was ... it seemed as if it hit fast and furious. The trauma with his son being abducted and raped by an HIV positive teacher. The Hale Bopp fiasco and all the drama that surrounded it. (For example .. Ed Dames with claims a spaceship behind the comet released a cannister of planet killing spores.) Dr. Courtney Brown and claims a world class astronomer would make the announcement of the aliens, Chuck Shramek and how he ended up getting boned by calling Bell and sending him a photo he took of the comet ... and the bull shit that entailed. Chuck Shramek, the guy who just asked a question.

(I should mention that I knew Chuck Shramek from his frequent call ins on my first radio show, UFOs Tonite! that ran on the CRN network. When the Hale Bopp fiasco began I was in contact with Chuck and did what I could to set his record straight. Like I mentioned, he was really boned by this. Chuck died from cancer in 2000 and I still miss him. This is a memorial I wrote about him. Chuck Shramek 12/27/1950 - 05/23/2000 )

And of course Art leaving the show and quitting radio ... then doing a come-back tour. I was invited on a couple of times which kind of surprised me because I had, now and again, been critical of Art and his style of radio. Like for example having had proven frauds on and treating them legit. ie: Ed Dames, Courtney Brown, Jonathan Reed, and of course a whole lot of others I could name but why bother? His wife passed on unexpectedly and then he moved to the PI. He remarried and I got to say I wished him well.

In Feb. of 2001 I did a show with Bell on his broadcast concerning lunar phenomena and of course I did my homework. I sent him some NASA photos I had that showed some very strange artifacts. (And it was obvious to me he never looked at them until the show.) It irked me the way he acted at the start of the show, he knew me and knew I did not suffer bull shit well but he tried act all skeptical like he never did with the frauds I named earlier. However before it was all said and done he was going like ... "Wow! Yea, I really do see that!" But hey .. Bell is a showman. And Bell was Tops at what he did then.

I suppose I could be pissed at Art, after all he did rip off my show name but no ... what for? He only lasted a few weeks, quit again and now wants to come back in some fashion. Like was mentioned earlier Art is pushing about 70 years of age. I say let him go for it. He has always maintained he LOVES Radio and I say "go for it Art!" I honestly wish him well and I hope in whatever format he ends up doing his gig .. I hope he has fun and succeed's.

Decker

Interesting backstory. I came to coast in 2008. All I can say for Bell is that he has the same uncritical approach to at least most his guests as Noory, but (to me) is only half as sympathetic a person. Respect for being the first successful paranormal show/host out there is granted, but an honest, intelligent approach is needed.

My favourite hosts today are obviously Gene & Chris, Knapp, Schrader and Hanks.
 
Interesting backstory. I came to coast in 2008. All I can say for Bell is that he has the same uncritical approach to at least most his guests as Noory, but (to me) is only half as sympathetic a person. Respect for being the first successful paranormal show/host out there is granted, but an honest, intelligent approach is needed.

Actually you are Dead Wrong. If we are talking about after Long John, 1980's and onward ... Billy Goodman was 1st and then I was 2nd (and it goes without saying my network was much smaller) and then Art. When I started doing paranormal radio Art was still doing Political talk radio on satellite. FYI ....

Decker
 
Actually you are Dead Wrong. If we are talking about after Long John, 1980's and onward ... Billy Goodman was 1st and then I was 2nd (and it goes without saying my network was much smaller) and then Art. When I started doing paranormal radio Art was still doing Political talk radio on satellite. FYI ....

Decker

Guess that had to be corrected ;)
 
Art Bell's C2C was classic late night radio seven days a week! A good part of it may have been fantasy but Bell knew how to work it. Great entertainment. I don't understand the negative energy in this forum around him. Let Art be Art. You don't have to listen to him. "Midnight in the Desert" - Yes! Named after the song Crystal Gale wrote for him. Apropos, yes?
My negative is from listening to him since 1995 and hearing one KNOWN FRAUD after another, e.g., Ed Dames, Jonathan Reed, actively promoted on the show AFTER Art Bell had been briefed on their lies. He didn't care. He just wanted to provide entertainment. Now that is fine, but during the 90's and through the 0000 years he actively also promoted the idea that he and his audience were getting to THE TRUTH about aliens, UFOs and other issues. Meanwhile, he was giving air time to known frauds. Also, he reached a pinnacle of success only to sabotage himself by leaving the show, then returning, then leaving again. We know his son went through an ordeal and Art was focused on justice in that case (the kid was supposedly raped, but later rumors claim his son is actually gay). Then Art said he could not work because of a back injury. Yet reports came out that while he would end a program abruptly, causing the network to run a rerun, people would hear him later that same night on his Ham Radio. The guy has a real sleazy carny show edge to him. He also has a DIVA type attitude about himself. He expected SIRIUS XM to get rid of their only profit center (providing channels for pay, just like cable) and instead just give his show away for free (so he could get a larger audience). If Art Bell did not want to be on a pay-to-listen network, then he shouldn't have signed a contract with SIRIUS XM. When they would not change their business plan, he simply walked out after only 2 weeks like a prima dona. The man is a piece-of-work. Do we really want to go back 20 years to listen to the same old guests again? Well, at least Evelyn Paglini is dead.
 
For everyone that was there .. and I was ... it seemed as if it hit fast and furious. ..Dr. Courtney Brown and claims a world class astronomer would make the announcement of the aliens...I was invited on a couple of times which kind of surprised me because I had, now and again, been critical of Art and his style of radio. Like for example having had proven frauds on and treating them legit. ie: Courtney Brown...Decker
You're definition of a fraud has a much lower threshold than mine.

I know Brown personally.
 
Bell was first and foremost a showman, not a serious investigator. He was a talented raconteur, with a rare knack for subliminally persuading the listener, with much quiet and lonely time on his or her hands, to switch off critical thinking and dream along. IMO, this was his real strength as a broadcaster. Opinions will vary.

For early C2C, the medium was the message. And the medium was Bell himself. It was a gathering around the old campfire in the spooky desert. The theater of the mind. I can't help but think the majority of Bell's fans were well aware that a large percentage of his guests would look to be obviously full of guano in the light of day. But that wasn't really the point.

The most genuine part of the whole thing was that Bell was himself an eccentric, "walking the walk" in that respect. And as so often happens with such, I think he walked onto shaky ground and took a fall.

Having said all that, I maintain my opinion of Art as a uniquely talented broadcaster.
 
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Bell was first and foremost a showman, not a serious investigator. He was a talented raconteur, with a rare knack for subliminally persuading the listener, with much quiet and lonely time on his or her hands, to switch off critical thinking and dream along. IMO, this was his real strength as a broadcaster. Opinions will vary.

For early C2C, the medium was the message. And the medium was Bell himself. It was a gathering around the old campfire in the spooky desert. The theater of the mind. I can't help but think the majority of Bell's fans were well aware that a large percentage of his guests would look to be obviously full of guano in the light of day. But that wasn't really the point.

The most genuine part of the whole thing was that Bell was himself an eccentric, "walking the walk" in that respect. And as so often happens with such, I think he walked onto shaky ground and took a fall.

Having said all that, I maintain my opinion of Art as a uniquely talented broadcaster.

Well said. I nonetheless wished that he would turn a little more critical towards his guests and that he actually adds something of worth to Forteana. It's either entertainment or a serious pursuit for truth. I hope he doesn't wonder in his own footsteps for the fear of losing guests.

Edit: Is there anything more annoying (or hilarious) when you hear a GN saing: "Oh, theres no doubt!" (?)
 
After listening to Art Bell for a week on his new internet show, I can compliment him on his talent. The man can take any guest and turn what could just be a boring interview (George Noory going down a list of questions his staff prepares for him to read on the air) and instead turns it into a CONVERSATION. This is a skill that George Noory has not learned in his 10 years as host of C2C. I realize that doing a show every night is something I could not do. Nonetheless, I am pointing out that Art Bell does have a great talent for turning every show into an intimate conversation. He is also using the same music as he did in the 90's, which adds a nostalgic sense that you have time traveled into the past. After listening to Art Bell for a week, I do not seriously think I could ever tolerate listening to George Noory again, as he ignores what the guest just said and instead just reads the next pre-prepared question on the list.
 
After listening to Art Bell for a week on his new internet show, I can compliment him on his talent. The man can take any guest and turn what could just be a boring interview (George Noory going down a list of questions his staff prepares for him to read on the air) and instead turns it into a CONVERSATION. This is a skill that George Noory has not learned in his 10 years as host of C2C. I realize that doing a show every night is something I could not do. Nonetheless, I am pointing out that Art Bell does have a great talent for turning every show into an intimate conversation. He is also using the same music as he did in the 90's, which adds a nostalgic sense that you have time traveled into the past. After listening to Art Bell for a week, I do not seriously think I could ever tolerate listening to George Noory again, as he ignores what the guest just said and instead just reads the next pre-prepared question on the list.
I also think of Art Bell as a great story teller around a campfire. I remember a night maybe 15 to 20 years ago driving to Buffalo from Chicago. Just left around midnight. Flipping the radio dial and caught this charismatic voice talking about "rods." Not hot rods but rods in the air possibly UFO's or maybe tiny creatures in the air around us. Anyway I was fascinated. It was like a great science fixture writer taking something very common (like seeing rod shaped things after squinting your eyes) into something dangerous, unknown, and possibly apocalyptic! I can listen to him all night long.

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I am thrilled at this news! I'm one of the old schoolers who still think of C2C as "The Art Bell Show". I've been having a hard time listening to Noory on C2C because of the same reasons stated by beyondthestargate, above. (IMO G Noory is a very kind person, and I do not mean to insult him.) I prefer the other hosts, G Knapp is a favorite, John B Wells was intriguing and lately there have been more guest hosts and less boredom.

If you listen closely you will hear the whooshing sound of me cancelling my C2C subscription and signing up with Midnight in the Desert!
 
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