The Hobbit (KWVA Years)

In preparation for the impending new film version, join us for a special retrocast of this rare Audio Essay from 1998, where we present the story of the 1977 animated classic, The Hobbit, contrasted against Mike Patton’s Adult Themes For Voice, Mel Brooks & Marlo Thomas, and a host of other College Radio classics. This episode has not been heard since it was originally broadcast on KWVA, and offers listeners another glimpse into the development of our Audio Essay format that has come to dominate much of what we do now. A nearly complete show – only missing 13 minutes of content – this program has been reconstructed using the surviving recordings and documented playlist, offering a close approximation of the kind of show we began doing all those years ago.

Originally scheduled to be a Holden Craft collaboration, circumstances prevented him from showing up until the very end of the show. I had originally planned on just playing “The Greatest Adventure,” among other things, but with time on my hands, Orson Bean and friends got a little more air time than anticipated. It was very much like an Unexpected Party. In the end, I think the results weren’t bad, and it set the tone for a future format that has since become a big part of the show. Heavily influenced by Over The Edge and the usual musical format of KWVA, I had always wanted to bring more sampling and oddness to the program. This, along with the previously presented Flight F-I-N-A-L episode, were probably as close to that vision for the show as I ever got. Fortunately, I’m easily distractable, and had many other visions for the program, too.

A note about the recording: the source tape is a little distorted, and the overall sound clips a little throughout the program. The record of The Hobbit itself, that I used to make the recording, was salvaged from my then-girlfriend’s garage, where it had languished in a filthy box (along with the Marlo Thomas record) for some time. I cleaned it up the best I could, but there is a fair amount of surface noise, or at least, more than normal. Additionally: at some point after the initial recording of the show, for some reason, I excised all the commercials and two or three songs (the names and artist of which completely escape me now). Originally, I also cut out a number of other (yet left them on the playlist), and furthermore removed The Hobbit segments to put them on another tape. So, this show has been reconstructed as best as could be, using my own memory and the surviving record to produce this show. Keep in mind that all of these things happened years ago, before podcasts or digital archiving (on the scale that its available now) was not possible. I never imagined that anyone else would ever hear this, or that there would be some value (or some way) to present this show in a “complete” form. So, all of this is a cicuitous way of saying: this is as good as this one gets. At least it makes me happy.

As with the Flight F-I-N-A-L show, the musical selections used in this one are somewhat curious and confusing at times. Unlike the vast archive I’ve accumulated over the years since this show, my collection was quite small in the late ’90’s, and much of my radio show was dependent on what the station had to offer. This meant that planning a show was sort of a crapshoot, and I often just played something I wanted to hear, over something that made sense, storywise. Some of the song choices are quite inspired: “Where The Hell Is Bill?,” “Ride of the Valykries,” etc. Some song choices are just confusing. At this time in the show’s history, a running “gag” was to play a handful of Mike Patton songs every show, and while that seems to make sense to me at the time (when you listen to the shows over time), they seem like odd selections now. I debated redoing this show entirely at one point, but I like the naive charm and rough, learning-curve qualities this one illustrates. If I only ever did rad shows, right from the beginning, then where’s the fun in that?

Special Thanks to my amazing girlfriend, who is on vacation and who I miss dearly; Lyra Cyst, houseguest and tolerant friend who did not mind that I spent a lot of time while she was visiting recording and editing this episode, Holden Craft, for giving me a ride home after I originally broadcast this program in 1998, and kiisu d’salyss, for, well… you know.

I know that I’ve been, essentially, in re-runs lately, as I re-present all of these old episodes. While most of the material I’m posting now has never been publicly available (at least, not since the original broadcast), there is a certain amount of, “Yes, but…” when it comes to repackaging old-as-new, etc. I have tried to balance this a bit, with new shows mixed with the old shows. My hope is that I can soon wrap up the trip down memory lane shows – of which I believe there will be three or four more – so that a good cross section of the best segments from those early shows are available again. It’s a project with a definite end, and I’m exited about wrapping it up and moving on to something new. I’ve really enjoyed the work I’ve done this year on this program, and I think that with this in the can, the other ideas I have yet to get to will be next.

As you may have noticed, various life obligations have completely destroyed our production schedule as of late. For this I apologize, but as the “we” here at Blasphuphmus Radio is actually a “me,” little can be done to avoid this. However, if all goes well today, we should be able to get back on track with Episode 169. I make no promises, except that someday, we’ll either get back on track, or I will officially take a week off and pretend that we’re back on track. You know how it goes.

In the meantime: In a hole in a ground lived A Hobbit…

The Hobbit Playlist

Introduction: “The Bravest Little Hobbit Of Them All”

Part I: “The Greatest Adventure”

Part II: “Burglar, Do Your Burgling!”

Part III: “My Precious”

Part IV: “Oh Smog The Magnificent”