Art Bell passes away at 72

[Elvis]

So many hours I enjoyed listening to his programs. Farewell Art!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/peo ... 517656002/


Nevada sheriff: Radio show host Art Bell dead at 72
The Associated Press Published 4:06 p.m. ET April 14, 2018 | Updated 5:06 p.m. ET April 14, 2018

PAHRUMP, Nev. (AP) — Art Bell, a radio host best known for a paranormal-themed nightly show syndicated on hundreds of stations in the 1990s, died at his home in southern Nevada, authorities said Saturday.

Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly announced in a Facebook video that Bell died Friday in Pahrump. He was 72. An autopsy will be conducted to determine cause of death, she said.

Bell hosted the popular radio talk show Coast to Coast AM before he left the airwaves in 2002. He broadcast the show from his radio station, KNYE, in Pahrump.

The program focused on Bell's conspiracy theories and his fascination with the paranormal and unexplained phenomenon such as UFOs and crop circles. He served as his own producer, engineer and host, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Fans, including celebrities like William Shatner and singer Josh Groban, took to Twitter to praise Bell. Groban recalled staying up late to listen to the host's "one of a kind" voice and how "his shows were so weird & spooky but somehow managed to hold off your skepticism."

Former business partner Alan Corbeth said during Bell's 2008 induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame that nobody was better than Bell at understanding "how to create theater of the mind..."

At his peak, Bell was heard on some 500 radio stations nationwide. He retired more than once and had a brief un on SiriusXM satellite radio in 2013.

Bell, who grew up in a military family, became an FCC-licensed radio technician by the age of 13, according to the Coast to Coast AM website. He later enlisted in the U.S. Air Force while also starting his own pirate radio station.

[Iamwhomiam]

I was tuned-in last night when Noory broke the news. Strange it was, to be turned on to the show by an elderly solid state physicist who alluded to have back-engineered technology to create the transistor. I had asked him what ever gave him the idea, and he slipped me a note with only, "Corso the day after Roswell" written on it as his unspoken response. I forgot about it for a few years and only remembered his note when I came across it while trashing 'old stuff'. I had a computer by then and went searching for more on Corso. And he talked about Art Bell, C2C and Dreamland. These days, I tune in at bedtime. I never last long, listening. It does seem to work better than a sleeping pill!

On Saturday evenings, they've been broadcasting Art's show, from 10 to midnight. I sure hope they don't discontinue broadcasting those old shows. I'm not a fan of Clyde's show, though, which airs from 11pm to 1am weeknights.

Peace be with you, Art Bell.

[mentalgongfu2]

Sad news.It has been a while since I listened to Coast to Coast, but it was once a mainstay of my late-night activities. One of the old post-Bell hosts, Ian Punnet, started his radio career in my hometown. I liked him, too, and was sad when he disappeared. Wikipedia says it was due to Tinnitus.

John B. Wells was good until he succumbed to a bout of Obama fever and joined his ideology/idiocy with the likes of Alex Jones. Noory has always come off as a tool, as far as I'm concerned.

Art, on the other hand, always seemed like a real seeker, and is the reason the show has whatever audience it still maintains. Bell was never afraid to let on potential wackos, nor was he afraid to agree with them or question them, as the particular case may have called for. I never quite got into the "shadow people" thing, but I at least appreciated his approach. I don't think the "money lady" was ever a regular guest during his tenure, unlike others (cough, Noory, cough cough).

Rest in peace, Mr. Bell.
Or come back and haunt those who would stain your legacy.
As you wish.

[SonicG]

I was tuned-in last night when Noory broke the news. Strange it was, to be turned on to the show by an elderly solid state physicist who alluded to have back-engineered technology to create the transistor. I had asked him what ever gave him the idea, and he slipped me a note with only, "Corso the day after Roswell" written on it as his unspoken response. I forgot about it for a few years and only remembered his note when I came across it while trashing 'old stuff'. I had a computer by then and went searching for more on Corso. And he talked about Art Bell, C2C and Dreamland. These days, I tune in at bedtime. I never last long, listening. It does seem to work better than a sleeping pill!

On Saturday evenings, they've been broadcasting Art's show, from 10 to midnight. I sure hope they don't discontinue broadcasting those old shows. I'm not a fan of Clyde's show, though, which airs from 11pm to 1am weeknights.

Peace be with you, Art Bell.

I think I first heard of this tantalizing back-engineering of the transistor from Christopher Knowles recently. Check out his Lucifer's Technology series...

[82_28]

I was kind of a dick when it came to Art Bell. I would have totally listened to him but Denver had Rick Barber on KOA overnights and I would always listen to him instead.

While not Art Bell, him and Barber basically "competed" for the overnight -- at least with me and my brother. KOA's signal can be heard loud and clear for 500 miles at night. I have a few times been able to eke out KOA from across the Rockies and the Cascades and hear it here in Seattle. Anyway, Bell and Barber were awesome overnighters and had a lot in common, including they have now passed. Here's a little something I found about Barber from 2000:

http://www.westword.com/news/the-message-5062391

However, I just love the mystique and image of a single solitary soul in the night doing invisibly doing their thing.



Anyway, I have always thought about both those guys when I hear anything off this album.



RIP Art and Rick.

[SonicG]

However, I just love the mystique and image of a single solitary soul in the night doing invisibly doing their thing.

Yeah, I can dig it. I only lived in the US for about two years in the mid-90s but did a lot of driving late night...or just up then due to unhealthy over-30 slackerdom...so greatly appreciated Art Bell then...

Earlier than that though, there was a guy on KABC in the '70s who did a show once or twice a month...not super-late but to a kid nursing his radio in bed under the covers, it had its impact. Lots of talk about Billy Meier...

WOW~ Was just trying to google the show and host...I ran across this...

PAHRUMP, Nev. — Talk-radio host Art Bell is talking about how he realized when his big break came: At the end of 1994, Los Angeles' late-night fixture Ray Briem left KABC-AM (790), and a vacuum had to be filled. Briem loved eccentric nocturnal callers; so does Bell. Briem adored ham and amateur radio; so does Bell. Briem was firmly on the political right; Bell, on many issues, leans to the right.

"It seemed that I would be the perfect replacement for him," Bell says in the living room of his tidy, prefabricated home on the far outskirts of this Nevada desert town, 50 miles northwest of Las Vegas. A leading station in the country's No. 2 market would mark a huge leap for Bell's accumulation of affiliates.

Instead, Ira Fistell was chosen to replace Briem. When Bell finally was picked up in L.A. months later, it was by KABC's lower-rated sister station, KMPC-AM (710). Then last September, KABC decided to oust Fistell and bring over Bell's show to fill the 11 p.m.-4 a.m. weeknight slot.

http://articles.latimes.com/1996-01-13/ ... talk-radio

Ray Briem is the host I am talking about above...The show was called "The Open Mind" I think...I also remember him covering a lot about soviet particle beam weaponry... the good ole days....

[Laodicean]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee3bld4lTG0

His show contributed to a great Tool album. RIP Art!

[Elvis]

I was listening the night the "frantic caller" phoned in. On a subsequent call, he turned out to be phony.

[Laodicean]

But was the message?

[Elvis]

Hmm!