Danny Stiles

[MattStat]

I searched for, but could not find, any previous discussions of Danny Stiles, so I thought I'd post this.

Stiles plays big band and standards. You can find him at http://dannystiles.com/ and click on the live stream button. These programs are constructed as informercials of a kind. He touts Seppi's restaurant and John's Pizza and then spins a 78 of Frank Sinatra singing with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra.

Every now and then, he'll slip into, God hep us, the 1960s, but it's only every now and then.

Those of us who live in New York City are lucky because we can, every Saturday night from 8 - 10 pm, listen to him on WNYC 820AM (they have a streaming feed here). His Saturday night programs are better than the others he hosts on his site, mainly because they are live.

His knowledge of old music is encyclopedic. Stiles is in his 80s and has been on the air 61 years, so there is little he doesn't know. He also boasts of owning the largest 78 collection.

If you love old music, I recommend giving a listen.

 

[dhermann1]

Ah yes! Danny Stiles! He was on WIVD, wasn't he? Great stuff. He managed to slip in two commercials for every song he played, but it was worth it. He also sold terrific compendiums of things like all Jimmy Durante songs, etc.

 

[skyvue]

I prefer Rich Conaty to Stiles -- I'm more into music of the 1920s and '30s these days, for one thing, so I go for Conaty's The Big Broadcast on Sunday nights -- but Stiles certainly has his appeal. I give him a listen now and again.

 

[MattStat]

The Big Broadcast

...I go for Conaty's The Big Broadcast on Sunday nights

Conaty looks intriguing. I see the site, but can't find a feed link. Do you know if they have one?

 

[skyvue]

I was thinking they used to archive The Big Broadcast, but if they no longer do that, you can still listen live via the web site.

He's on every Sunday from 8pm-midnight

Edit: Ah, here's the link to the TBB archive page, where you can hear the last two weeks' programs:

http://foxyurl.com/1oO

 

[MattStat]

Edit: Ah, here's the link to the TBB archive page, where you can hear the last two weeks' programs:
http://foxyurl.com/1oO

Fantastic. Thanks much.

 

[dhermann1]

The Big Broadcast is at WWW.WFUV.ORG . Not really fair to compare the two. Danny Stiles is a real throwback to the era, while Rich, while no kid any more, is still "younger generation". I think Rich casts a wider net, musically. I've been a member of the Big Broadcast Radio Family of the Air for over 30 years now. Great show.
Here's the link for the archived shows:
http://www.wfuv.org/audio/archive/index.html
I can't mention the Big Broadcast without also mentioning that I always listen to it on my 1941 10 tube Zenith console radio, using my SSTran AM-3000 low power AM transmitter. I hook it up to the PC, send the signal to the olde timey radio, and hear the show as it was meant to be heard.

 

[MattStat]

I can't mention the Big Broadcast without also mentioning that I always listen to it on my 1941 10 tube Zenith console radio, using my SSTran AM-3000 low power AM transmitter.

Nice toy. And you know what they say, you can never have too many radios.

 

[skyvue]

I just discovered this streaming weekly program (I think it's web-only and not broadcast), devoted to British dance bands of the 1920s, '30s and '40s:

http://www.r2ok.co.uk/dancebandshow.htm

 

[Fletch]

Conaty v Stiles

dhermann is right, they're too different. I personally feel Rich's show to be like dinner at a music-crazy friend's home - Danny's, more like a meal in a cheesy, threadbare tourist destination.

Besides, Danny (Stiles, not Hermann), if you have that big of a 78 collection, how is it you play so few of them on the air?

 

[dhermann1]

The thing that I appreciate about Danny Stiles is that he's one of the last throw backs to the old New York of the 50's and earlier. I put him with people like Joe Franklin and Joey Adams. Not exactly Runyonesque, but people who grew up in a New York with 3 baseball teams, a lot of radio programs coming out of 30 Rock, before Times Square went on the downward spiral that has been "remedied" by the new Times Square. The New York that had ferry boats across the Hudson, trolleys on Broadway, big Chrysler taxicabs and double decker buses.
What bugs me about him is that he's SUCH a shill.

 

[Bassman]

I used to listed to Danny Stiles Nostalgia Show on (I think) WEVD in the '70s. Didn't think he was still around.
I now listen to Conaty's Big Broadcast whenever I can.