West 57th - Story about DAT cassettes and music industry 1987 @mjanovec

mjanovec Here is a December 1987 story from the CBS program West 57th about DAT cassettes and the worries from the music industry that DATs will lead to increased piracy.

While DATs never really took off in the USA, except for professional uses and the live taping community, it's interesting to see the fear that these tapes prompted in the industry. And there's a funny little twist at the end of the story about another recordable format just around the corner...

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

updated 10 years ago

West 57th - Story about DAT cassettes and music industry 1987

mjanovec 2014-10-07 | Here is a December 1987 story from the CBS program West 57th about DAT cassettes and the worries from the music industry that DATs will lead to increased piracy.

While DATs never really took off in the USA, except for professional uses and the live taping community, it's interesting to see the fear that these tapes prompted in the industry. And there's a funny little twist at the end of the story about another recordable format just around the corner...

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Hudson Wisconsin - 2023 Fireworks

mjanovec 2023-07-03 | Here is a rather low quality cell phone video of the highlights of the Hudson, Wisconsin fireworks recorded on July 2, 2023 from Laurel Avenue. While the footage is of marginal quality, the sound is still enjoyable as no other people were nearby (except a couple who remained mostly quiet), so one can enjoy the explosions without a lot of chatter.

The footage is only about 25% of the entire show and starts about halfway through when the pace picked up a bit. The finale is presented in its entirety and starts at 2:55 in the footage.

Red Wing Pottery Museum - Stoneware and Art Pottery

mjanovec 2019-07-18 | Here is an overview of the excellent Pottery Museum in Red Wing, Minnesota that features a comprehensive range of wares produced by the Red Wing pottery companies from the 1870s to the 1960s. I only captured a part of the museum with this video, so be sure to check it out if you're ever in the Red Wing area. In particular, barely scratched the surface of the art pottery that is on display. Also, the displays are regularly changing, so there is often something new to see, even if you visited a year or two ago.

The museum is free to the public, though they do accept donations at the door. Hours vary, so look them up on Google and check their website. (Note: I am not affiliated with the museum, but am just here to promote what I think is a great community resource.)

Music from filmmusic.io
"Fig Leaf Times Two" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

Music from filmmusic.io
"Five Card Shuffle" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

Music from filmmusic.io
"Mister Exposition" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

Music from filmmusic.io
"Amazing Plan" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

Music from filmmusic.io
"Old Timey" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

Gordon Lightfoot - The Best Live Clips - 1960s and 1970s

mjanovec 2018-04-09 | This video compiles over 80 minutes of clips of Gordon Lightfoot's TV appearances between 1968 and 1979. While the emphasis here is on many of his hits, a few more obscure recordings are thrown in for good measure. I also tried to choose clips with good sound quality, even if the video quality isn't always perfect.

If you are wondering why one of your favorite songs wasn't included, it's probably because a good live TV clip of that song simply wasn't available for the era chosen. Also, while it didn't make sense to include every song, I tried to include every major hit if it was available in good quality. Seek out the full recordings from the BBC In Concert program and the Soundstage program if you want to see more songs recorded in this era.

Songs presented are:
Summer Side of Life 0:00
Sundown 4:13
Face of a Thousand People 7:37
Endless Wire 11:55
Saturday Clothes 15:55
If You Could Read My Mind 19:12
10 Degrees and Getting Colder 22:55
Summertime Dream 25:38
Song For A Winter's Night 28:06
Steel Rail Blues 31:08
Hangdog Hotel Room 34:22
Early Morning Rain 36:52
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald 39:48
Talking In Your Sleep 46:14
For Lovin' Me 49:29
Ghosts of Cape Horn 51:50
Minstrel of the Dawn 56:29
Mountains and Marian 59:54
Farewell Nova Scotia 1:04:05
Beautiful 1:07:28
Did She Mention My Name 1:10:42
Canadian Railroad Trilogy 1:13:25
Old Dan's Records 1:20:07

Paul McCartney - May 4, 2016 - Target Center, Minneapolis - Full Concert

mjanovec 2016-05-07 | Paul McCartney
May 4, 2016
Target Center, Minneapolis

This is nearly the complete show, with a few incomplete songs here and there... but otherwise most songs are intact or are at least represented with some footage. My apologies for a little shakiness or out-of-focus moments at a couple of points, but I was making do with a simple point-and-shoot camera.

Set List:
0:00 A Hard Day's Night
3:35 Save Me
6:55 Can't Buy Me Love (incomplete)
8:45 Letting Go
13:25 Temporary Secretary
16:50 Let Me Roll It (with Foxy Lady)
24:25 I've Got A Feeling
28:52 My Valentine (incomplete)
29:25 Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five
33:34 Here, There, and Everywhere
36:44 Maybe I'm Amazed
43:35 We Can Work It Out
47:50 In Spite Of All The Danger
50:58 You Won't See Me
54:40 Love Me Do
59:12 And I Love Her (incomplete)
1:01:20 Blackbird
1:06:18 Here Today
1:09:38 Queenie Eye (incomplete)
1:10:19 New (incomplete)
1:12:30 The Fool On The Hill
1:15:52 Lady Madonna
1:19:48 FourFiveSeconds (incomplete)
1:20:30 Eleanor Rigby
1:24:25 Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite
1:28:35 Something
1:33:21 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
1:37:05 Band On The Run
1:42:30 Back In The USSR
1:45:40 Let It Be
1:49:42 Live And Let Die
1:54:00 Hey Jude (incomplete)

Encore:
2:02:30 Yesterday
2:05:35 Hi Hi Hi
2:10:16 Birthday
2:15:41 Golden Slumbers
2:19:01 Carry That Weight
2:21:18 The End

Please do not re-post this video (or any parts of it) without permission. Thank you.

House Fire - Hudson, Wisconsin

mjanovec 2016-04-12 | On April 11, 2016, the Hudson, Wisconsin Fire Department completed a controlled burn of the residence at 202 Coulee Road. For those familiar with Hudson, this is the home that sat between the Dairy Queen and the Cassanova Liquor Store.

This video shows the majority of the fire between the point of ignition and the collapse of the structure. I could have edited it down further, but I figured some viewers would enjoy seeing how the fire grew and consumed the structure. Two weeks before the controlled burn, the Fire Department used the home for a some smaller fire exercises. That accounts for why the upper windows are already blackened a little before the controlled burn starts.

For those who don't wish the view the entire video, here are a few of the key points...

1:00 First sight of flames in lower right front window.
2:35 Flames begin to shoot out of front window
12:18 Both floors fully engulfed
15:20 Fire was so hot, I had to move away and relocate camera
16:10 Significant collapse of structure
22:05 Remaining structure collapses

I missed the partial collapse of the roof when I was in the process of re-locating my camera to escape the intense heat. Otherwise, the majority of the fire is captured here. I significantly edited down the video after the collapse took place, just showing you a few highlights of the remaining activities.

CBS News - Space Shuttle Challenger Pre-Launch Report, January 1986

mjanovec 2016-02-29 | Here is a brief news report, most likely aired on January 26, 1986, two days before the ill-fated launch of Challenger. The weather on January 27th turned out to be ideal for launch, but a problem with closing the hatch on Challenger led to a further delay until the 28th. As most now know, the weather turned very cold on the morning of the 28th, leading to a failure of the O-rings to seal on the right solid rocket booster joint.

My apologies if the sound and the image aren't in perfect sync. The file plays fine before I uploaded to YouTube, but appears to lose sync in the conversion process.

Doctor Who - 1980s KTCA Pledge Break Gifts - Holographic LP and TARDIS Mug

mjanovec 2015-04-29 | Here are two examples of the kind of gifts you could receive back in the 1980s if you donated to PBS stations while they were airing pledge breaks during Doctor Who. These two examples are from KTCA in Minneapolis-St. Paul circa 1987 (for the LP) and circa 1988 (for the mug). I wonder how many people were swayed into pledging their dollars after seeing these premium gifts.

Admittedly, as a teenager in the 80s, I thought the LP and the mug were pretty damn cool and if I had a credit card in my pocket at the time, I probably would have pledged. I later scored one of the LPs at a Doctor Who convention for much less than $60. I was feeling pretty smug about my purchase until I actually played it and realized just how awful those remixed theme tunes really were. At least the holograph was kind of neat to look at...for about two minutes

I swear I also got a mug at a convention too, but if I did I must have misplaced it along the way. It probably dematerialized after one too many hot drinks, of course.

Slobberbone - Live at The Cabooze in Minneapolis Minnesota, 1998

mjanovec 2015-03-20 | This is a Slobberbone show we recorded with a two camera setup back on August 21, 1998 for the local cable access TV show Video Hotdish. They were opening for Jason and the Scorchers, but we only had an agreement to tape the Slobberbone set. Looking back, it seems like a pretty primitive recording, but it's decent enough that you can still enjoy it (I think). Plus the music is excellent, as you would expect.

Thanks to the guys in Slobberbone for letting us record this one!

KSTP TV Channel 5 - Tornado warning from 1987 - Minneapolis/St.Paul

mjanovec 2015-03-19 | Here is a 1987 tornado warning pulled from a VHS recording in my collection. If nothing else, it's a glimpse at how these warnings were broadcast in the 1980s. The reception has a fair amount of static because I was living in the immediate vicinity of the storm (between Prescott and River Falls) so we were about to get hit by the storm. But no, I didn't see any tornadoes!

Son Volt - Drown from Conan OBrien - April 4, 1996

mjanovec 2015-03-14 | From my VHS archives comes this recording of Son Volt playing live on Late Night With Conan O'Brien in April 1996. I believe this might be Son Volt's first national TV appear, promoting the Trace album which had been released in Autumn 1995. I haven't found this particular performance elsewhere on YouTube, so this may be something of a rarity.

Sadly, I didn't always get a great signal for my local NBC station and I was using a lesser quality VCR by this point (one which recorded only in mono). So we're stuck here with an image with plenty of ghosting and a mono soundtrack. But the sound is still decent and the image is still watchable, so I figured it was worth sharing regardless. Enjoy!

KTMA Channel 23 - 1987 New Years Melon Drop, St. Paul, Minnesota

mjanovec 2015-01-01 | Dug up from the depths of my VHS collection is this little gem containing the first ever melon drop that KTMA Channel 23 (now the CW Twin Cities station) did in 1987.

This is the first melon drop of them all...though the camera turned away at the wrong moment, so we'll just have to assume the melon did actually drop and hit the bulls eye.

This nearly semi-legendary obscure tradition has been revived for the 2015 New Years celebration, with much fanfare and hoopla from at least four or five different people.

Oh yeah, sorry about the poor video quality. Channel 23 didn't come in so great in western Wisconsin in those days.

Here is an hour of the broadcast from earlier in the evening:
youtube.com/watch?v=FFVr3pYmTyw

Here is the melon drop from 1988:
youtube.com/watch?v=v5oDf9rq5ZY

Here is the melon drop from 1989:
youtube.com/watch?v=dyqZRUJ9LMw

And here is the 2015 melon drop:
youtube.com/watch?v=5ZgWNZt2Sp4

Uncle Tupelo - The Long Cut from Feb 21, 1994 on Conan

mjanovec 2014-12-22 | Here is Uncle Tupelo's only network TV appearance, from the February 21, 1994 airing of Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

While there is already another version of this performance on You Tube, I believe this copy from my VHS tape is higher in quality. I have uploaded the performance in 720p HD in order to preserve as much of the resolution as possible...even if this is technically only a 480p resolution recording.

The Jayhawks - 1993 Video Press Kit for Hollywood Town Hall

mjanovec 2014-12-21 | Here is a video press kit created for The Jayhawks in 1993 to help promote their Hollywood Town Hall album that had been released on Def American records in late 1992. The press kit contains two songs performed live, including "Settled Down Like Rain" and "Take Me With You (When You Go)."

Be sure to also check out the "Showcase" appearance from the Jayhawks I uploaded at an earlier date.

Nova Mob (Grant Hart, Hüsker Dü) - 1994 video press kit

mjanovec 2014-11-24 | Here is a video press kit for Nova Mob's 1994 self-titled album, featuring an interview with Grant Hart...followed by the full-length music video for the "Old Empire."

While Grant talks about 1990's Last Days of Pompeii being hard to find, because of Rough Trade's bankruptcy, it now turns out that the self-titled album on Restless is not the more difficult recording to find. Pompeii is now available on iTunes (and highly recommended, by the way), whereas the self-titled album has been out-of-print for nearly 20 years...though used copies are too difficult to find.

Personally speaking, while Bob Mould's Sugar was getting much more attention at the time, I find the Nova Mob records to be just as good...often with better melodies and song structures.

The Magnolias - When Im Not 1992 music video from Off The Hook

mjanovec 2014-11-23 | This is the official music video produced for the song "When I'm Not" from The Magnolias 1992 album Off The Hook, released on Alias Records. While another copy of this video is available on YouTube, the audio quality of this copy is better. Filmed by the great team at Horse Latitudes (aka Harder Fuller). I'm pretty sure the outdoors scenes were filmed at Taylors Falls, MN...or the park across the river in St. Croix Falls. (At least that's what it appears to be.)

If you enjoy this song, I highly encourage you to track down a copy of the full album. (Amazon has it.) You can also find the track on the Hung Up On EP. Heck, you can also find an earlier recording of the song on Twin\Tone's Big Hits of Middle America Vol. 4, if you're so inclined.

For sheer fun, very little could beat a Magnolias performance at the 7th Street Entry. Some of my best memories are from countless shows I saw there...including a particularly fun Halloween gig in the mid 1990s.

Be sure to check out John Freeman's channel for more Magnolias videos:youtube.com/channel/UCyZZ54BTXBK6n3cQGwkDblg

KTCA Channel 2 (PBS) - Early 1990 sign-off and credit roll following Blakes 7

mjanovec 2014-10-25 | Here's one more sign-off from KTCA, this time in the early months of 1990, before they changed to the "water" design. This is essentially the same sign-off that I posted early for the New Years 1989/1990 sign-off, but this copy is a bit cleaner.

KTCA Channel 2 PBS - June 1990 Sign-Off and Credit Roll

mjanovec 2014-10-16 | Here is another KTCA sign-off, this time from June 1990 following a presentation of Blake's 7. This sign-off incorporated KTCA's new "water" graphics. The traditional color bars were not incorporated into this new sign-off.

KTCA Channel 2 PBS - Early 1989 Sign-Off and Credit Roll After Blakes 7

mjanovec 2014-10-16 | Here is another KTCA sign-off, this time from early 1989 after a Saturday night airing of Blake's 7. Overall, the sign-off hadn't changed much from the 1988 version I posted earlier, with the exception of a font change and different names in the credit roll.

By summer 1989, KTCA had made the move from the Como Avenue studios to the Minnesota Telecenter in downtown St. Paul, so this is likely the last version of the sign-off that used the Como Avenue address. The New Years 1989-1990 sign off (also available on my channel) shows what they adopted once they moved to the Telecenter.

Doctor Who - KTCA Channel 2 PBS Vacation Announcement, June 1989

mjanovec 2014-10-13 | When KTCA was running through another cycle of the Doctor Who "Trial of A Time Lord" season during June 1989 (on Saturday nights), they aired this announcement before and after each story, informing viewers that Doctor Who was taking a "vacation" from our TV screens, starting on June 17. (Note: The McCoy episodes from Seasons 24 and 25 had already aired in late 1988)

This was the first "break" in airing Doctor Who on Saturday nights since October 1984. Doctor Who did make a return on Saturdays nights later and they ended up airing the final season of Doctor Who (Season 26) in 1990.

The series then took another hiatus on KTCA until it returned Sundays at noon in September 1990, running all of the Tom Baker stories in episode format until January 1992. The Tom Baker stories were repeated again in episode format from May 1999 to September 2002, airing on Saturday nights at 11:30pm. Those final Saturday airings were the last appearance of Doctor Who on KTCA.

KTCA Channel 2 PBS - 1988 Sign-Off and Credit Roll After Austin City Limits

mjanovec 2014-10-11 | Here's yet another KTCA station sign-off, this time from the summer of 1988 following a Saturday night broadcast of Austin City Limits. At this point, they abandoned the rather elaborate sign-off they had in late 1987 and went to a more simple credit roll and color bars.

Check out my other videos to see other KTCA sign-offs from the 1980s and early 1990s.

Doctor Who - KTCA Channel 2 (PBS) Time Change Announcement, March 1988

mjanovec 2014-10-11 | After having regularly aired Doctor Who on Friday nights since May 1983, KTCA made the announcement in March 1988 that they were ending the Friday night broadcasts in favor of Saturday morning broadcasts instead. (This was not welcome news at the time, since the last thing I wanted to do was to wake up at 8am for Doctor Who.) After completing another run of Tom Baker episodes with his concluding episode, Logopolis, the Friday night broadcasts were ended...but the regular Saturday night broadcasts (thankfully) continued up until June 1989. They returned again later in 1989 and stopped in March 1990.

I didn't regularly watch or record the Saturday morning broadcasts...and I think the program was pretty short-lived as a Saturday morning show, if my memory is correct. But if any other KTCA viewers recall how long it lasted (or what episodes were run), please share that info.

KTCA Channel 2 PBS - October 1987 Sign-Off and Credit Roll After Austin City Limits

mjanovec 2014-10-06 | Here's another sign-off from KTCA Channel 2 (St. Paul-Minneapolis) recorded on Saturday, October 17, 1987 following an airing of Austin City Limits. This must be one of the longer sign-offs they did, with the "TV Worth Watching" theme music playing as they show a several title cards for programs they broadcast, which is then followed by a full roll-call...yet they wasted no time pulling the plug as soon as the color bars are displayed.

I'm not sure how long KTCA used this particular sign-off...probably no more than a year or so. My guess is that they stopped using it when they moved from their Como Avenue address (near the fairgrounds) to the Minnesota Telecenter in downtown St. Paul.

KTCA Channel 2 PBS - Announcement of Doctor Who airing mistake

mjanovec 2014-10-04 | On October 3, 1986, KTCA Channel 2 was supposed to show Part 1 of the Mind of Evil, but accidentally showed Part 2 instead. On October 10, they aired this announcement regarding that mistake and then proceeded to show both parts.

Instead of giving us a bland announcement of their mistake, they gave us a Doctor Who themed explanation for the mistake. Obviously someone at KTCA was a fan and decided to have some fun with this announcement.

Doctor Who Festival Announcement - Minneapolis Armory, October 1986 KTCA (PBS)

mjanovec 2014-10-04 | This is an announcement for the Doctor Who Festival held on October 4, 1986 at the Minneapolis Armory, featuring the "Two Doctors" Patrick Troughton and Colin Baker. This announcement aired several times prior to the festival, but this particular instance was recorded on September 19, 1986 prior to the airing of the second half of the Jon Pertwee story "Inferno."

The festival marked the one and only chance that Twin Cities fans had to meet Patrick Troughton before his untimely passing about six months later. And unfortunately for Colin Baker, this was right around the time he learned that he was fired from Doctor Who...though it wasn't something that Festival attendees knew anything about.

Still, it was a great time for all in attendance and I still have my autographs from Troughton and Baker as proof that I was there.

The Beatles on Compact Disc - 1987 News Reports (KTSP and WCCO)

mjanovec 2014-10-03 | Here are two news reports from Minneapolis-St. Paul news stations KSTP and WCCO regarding the releases of Beatles albums on CD, back in 1987. The first news report covers the initial four albums that were released in early 1987. The second news report covers the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was released in June 1987.

Different times, indeed...but it is interesting that the price of CDs has remained essentially unchanged after nearly 30 years.

Doctor Who Celebration Advertisement, July 1987 KTCA Channel 2, St. Paul, Minnesota

mjanovec 2014-10-02 | This is an advertisement for the Doctor Who Celebration which came to the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota on July 12, 1987. This ad was captured on video before a July 1987 airing of a Doctor Who episode on KTCA Channel 2.

The Doctor Who Celebration that came to St. Paul had the distinction of being Sylvester McCoy's very first convention appearance. He had just completed the filming for Delta and the Bannermen, during his first season on the program.

I remember that during this appearance, McCoy didn't even have any photos yet of his Doctor in costume. (Perhaps his costume was a still a "secret" at this point.) He had to autograph generic publicity photos showing him in his regular street clothes.

KTCA Channel 2 - Announcement of Patrick Troughtons Passing (Doctor Who)

mjanovec 2014-10-02 | On April 2, 1987, right before KTCA Channel 2 started another run of William Hartnell Doctor Who episodes, they played this tribute to Patrick Troughton who had passed away a week earlier on March 28.

In the pre-internet days, when the news of Troughton's passing hadn't yet reached me, this was the way that I (and no doubt others) first learned of his passing. A truly sad moment in the program's history.

Doctor Who Actors Pitch For KTCA Channel 2 PBS Pledge Drive, March 1987

mjanovec 2014-10-02 | During the March 21, 1987 "Festival" pledge drive at KTCA Channel 2 (St. Paul-Minneapolis) for Doctor Who, four clips were shown of former (and then-current) actors who played the title role, making pitches for the pledge drive. I have edited together all four appearances, including (in the order of appearance): Colin Baker (6th Doctor), Peter Davison (5th Doctor), Patrick Troughton (2nd Doctor), and Sylvester McCoy (7th Doctor). The first three clips were shot exclusively for KTCA, while the fourth clip was a more general clip used by several public TV stations.

As a side note, Patrick Troughton sadly passed away only one week after this clip was aired (on March 28, 1987), while visiting a convention in Georgia.

Joel Hodgson standup routine - Land O Loons 3, 1989 KTCA Channel 2 PBS

mjanovec 2014-10-02 | This standup routine is taken from KTCA's Land O Loons #3 comedy special, aired in 1989. At the time this was taped, Joel had already started doing the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes. This was around the time when MST3K was transitioning from a local program on KTMA to a national program on Comedy Central. Since Jeff Cesario didn't mention MST3K in the introduction, one might assume the Comedy Central episodes hadn't started to air yet.

KTCA Channel 2 PBS - Doctor Who Pledge Break, February 1986

mjanovec 2014-09-30 | Here is a KTCA Channel 2 pledge break from February 28, 1986, recorded during the broadcast of the first half of the Doctor Who story "The Sensorites." This particular evening had members of the local Doctor Who fan club, the "Whovian Elite" operating the phones.

Once the bane of any American Doctor Who fan, PBS pledge breaks did offer the convenient opportunity to visit the toilet and grab a snack from the kitchen...especially if you weren't recording the program with your VCR. Now it's kind of fun to look back at one of these pledge breaks and see the fans operating the phones and to take a look at the "thank you" gifts that were offered.

KTCA Channel 2 PBS - Sign-off from March 1986 following Doctor Who

mjanovec 2014-09-30 | Here's another KTCA Channel 2 sign-off, taped at the end of the March 29, 1986 broadcast day (technically this taped around 1am on March 30), following the broadcast of the Doctor Who story "The Talons of Weng-Chiang."

While KTCA had upgraded their graphics for regular programming, they still retained this older neon-style graphics for their sign-off...along with the disco-style music.

Doctor Who wasn't normally the last program on the Saturday evening schedule, but this particular episode was a 6-parter that lasted roughly two and a half hours...bringing the end of the program up to the 1am sign-off time. (Note: This wasn't allowed on the Friday-night broadcasts, since they needed to leave the midnight hour open for the McNeil-Lehrer News Hour. Hence they broke up the longer Doctor Who stories on Friday nights into two sections, broadcast one week apart from each other.)

These station sign-offs are a thing of the past since KTCA (and most other stations, for that matter) now run 24 hours a day.

WCCO and KSTP St. Paul Winter Carnival Ice Palace Demolition Coverage - February 1986

mjanovec 2014-09-28 | Some off-air recordings I made back in February 1986 showing the demolition of the St. Paul Winter Carnival Ice Palace. The first clip is from the WCCO (Channel 4) 6pm news with Dave Moore at the helm. The second clip is from KSTP (Channel 5).

I let the Dave Moore bit run a little longer into the next story, just because...well, it's Dave Moore.

KTCA Doctor Who - May 1986 - William Hartnell Episodes Disclaimer and Festival Advertisement

mjanovec 2014-09-28 | This footage was taped prior to the airing of the first half of First Doctor story, The Chase, on Friday, May 9, 1986. For the first run of Hartnell episodes that were shown in 1986, a special disclaimer was aired to warn viewers that these older episodes represented a different technology and time. They didn't run the disclaimers when the Hartnell episodes were repeated again in 1987.

Of special interest, however, is an advertisement for the Doctor Who Festival tour, which came to the Prom Center in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 23, 1986. This was a big event for many Doctor Who fans in the Twin Cities, as it was the first convention that came to town with a star of the program. Several more conventions followed over the next five years, but this one holds a special place in the hearts of many fans. The 14-year old version of myself was thrilled to have a chance to meet Peter Davison, since he was my favorite Doctor at the time. I still have the Peter Davison autograph and the TARDIS model I obtained that evening.

I hope this brings back a few good memories for other Twin Cities fans of Doctor Who!

Fridley Minnesota Tornado 1986 - KARE 11 Helicopter Live Footage (Full Broadcast)

mjanovec 2014-09-26 | On July 18, 1986 an F2 tornado in the Fridley, Minnesota area became the first tornado to be extensively covered by a TV news helicopter and aired LIVE on television as it unfolded. The video was captured by Sky 11 helicopter pilot Max Messmer and photographer Tom Empey. The Sky 11 team first spotted the tornado right before the 5pm newscast started and began feeding the footage back live to the studio. As the news team prepared to go on air, they decided to drop all of the planned news stories and air this footage live. This footage has since become infamous and became a valuable tool for tornado scientists to study.

I was watching this live as it unfolded and decided to grab a VHS tape and capture it. I missed the first several minutes, so I have spliced on those missing minutes from another video sourced elsewhere. Around six minutes into the broadcast, the video switches over to my personal home recording. (Note: The volume increases somewhat when the changeover occurs.) After the tornado dissipated, I switched over to WCCO TV and captured some of their coverage which showed video of the tornado from a different angle, allowing you to see the upper portion of the funnel cloud. I briefly switched back to KARE 11 before I stopped taping.

This videotape lay unwatched for nearly 28 years until I recently re-discovered it in a box in my garage. I believe this may the first time that the entire live broadcast (save for a small interruption) had been made available on YouTube. Most footage of this tornado that circulates today came from later broadcasts, where the footage was heavily edited. This is the event as it unfolded live on TV on the afternoon of July 18, 1986. Enjoy!

(Disclaimer: This footage is being posted for historical purposes. No copywrite infringement is intended and I do not profit in any way from sharing this footage. If the copywrite holders wish to have this footage removed, please contact me and I will remove it.)

KTCA Channel 2 PBS - Last Sign-Off of the 1980s (or the first of the 1990s)

mjanovec 2014-09-22 | As somewhat of a public TV junkie in the 80s and 90s, I have lots of VHS tapes filled with programming from that era. While combing through the tapes, I found what turned out to be the last sign-off for the 1980s, aired on New Year's Eve, after a re-broadcast of 1988's Land Of Loons 2 comedy special. I suppose technically this is the first sign-off of the 1990s, since this occurred after midnight...probably around 1am, when KTCA usually signed off for the night. (Note the date at the end of the signoff.) Anyway, this is a glimpse of an era when public TV stations didn't run for 24 hours.

(Disclaimer: This program is uploaded for historical reference. I am not profiting in any way from making this footage available. If the copyright holders of this program want it removed, please contact me and I will immediately remove it.)