Kids America aired from 1984-1987, stationed out of New York but syndicated on a couple dozen public radio stations. I have some very fond memories of this program, and was even put on the air a couple of times. Here’s my first ever appearance on radio…
This is probably the thing that got me into radio in the first place. The show didn’t last long, but I loved it. Kathy O’Connell, one of the hosts, is now with “Kids Corner” on WXPN-FM in Pennsylvania, which can also be heard online. I’ve never listened to the program before, but I probably will now that I have discovered it.
Information on the cancellation of Kids America in 1987 can be found in this New York Times article.
On Dec. 15, Mr. Orfaly and Ms. O’Connell told their listeners they were going off the air for what they described as complicated reasons that had to do with money. Since then, WNYC has received hundreds of letters, expressing more indignation than sadness, according to the general manager of WNYC radio, Wally Smith. Many children have sent in money to try to keep the show on the air.
I’m kinda depressed after reading that.
Does anyone else remember the program?
EDIT: I just found another article by Googling Larry Orfaly’s name (he was one of the hosts). It links to the Ocala Star-Banner on Google News Archive Search, and it’s a newspaper from 1986. This is the first time I’ve seen this Google/Microfiche thing. Check it out!
EDIT #2: Another search result, this time with audio! This comes from the original program, called “Small Things Considered,” in 1984. (you have to go to the page that says “Small Things Considered” in the left hand column)
EDIT #3 (and the last one): I really should have Googled before posting this entry. If you Google Larry Ofraly, there are tons of sites that mention Kids America. I’d like to find a site that is actually a tribute to the show and nothing else, but I’ll be happy with whatever I find. Here’s a page from New York Magazine back in the day.
3 Comments
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
First of all, I very much remember “Kids America”. I also remember that “Evening Music” started in those days at 7:00PM.
Ah, those were the days. John S had New Sounds on not only every night at 11:00PM, but two hours on Saturday and two hours on Sunday. I still have – now digitized to .mp3 – the broadcast premier of Steve Reich’s “The Desert Music”, complete with John’s priceless interview of Maestro Reich. We had Steve Post, Sara Fishko, probably David Garland. We had Stan David and someone whose name slips by me on “Music Through the Night”
I see the name of Wally Smith. I did not know that he was once at WNYC. I know that most recently he has been at WLIU. I first heard about him by someone bemoaning his departure from KUSC, Los Angeles.
I searched high and low for whose weblog this is. I finally used the Twitter thing.
Jason Carter? You have a long and good memory.
Best,
Richard S. Mitnick
Highland Park, NJ
Please check out my weblog, “Whither Public Radio and serious music” at
http://richardmitnick.wordpress.com
Andre Bernard, that was the other person on “Music Through the Night”. He also taught a class in something called ideokinesis to Dance students when my daughter was a dance major in the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.
Boy, are you making me feel old.
But, hey, those were great days.
>>RSM
Hi Richard,
Thanks for the comments. The post was a walk down memory lane for me, brought on by finding an old cassette tape in my closet (converted to digital and uploaded to Youtube, above). After posting this, I continued my stroll down memory lane by looking up information about television shows that I faintly remembered from my childhood, such as Nickelodeon’s “The Third Eye.” It was fun. I’m glad you enjoyed the post, and was interested in your recollections about the program and other things going on with public radio at the time.