I have to thank my Funny Car drivin’ pal Jon Wall for the tip on these two awesome videos. The first is more than 12 minutes of vintage drag racing radio ads spanning from 1966-1969 featuring strips from all over the country. THESE ARE NOT TAKEN FROM THE LATE STEVE EVANS “BE THERE” CD. From New England Dragway in NH all the way to Beeline Dragway in Arizona, it is old school radio heaven. Screaming announcers belting out copy that they barely understand. Mispronounced names and cars. Neat little flashes of 1960s era slang. I listened to it multiple times and will probably listen ten times more just because it is so cool.
Perhaps my favorite part is a couple of guys trying to record an ad for New England Dragway and cannot help themselves from breaking up at the sheer absurdity of what they are trying to do. They could have been high as the day is long while attempting to record it as well, who really knows. Listening to the guys launch into the ad and then break up is good stuff, as well as the recorded banter between the two as they try to regroup for another go.
Some of the tracks you’ll hear about are still up and running. Others, like Connecticut Dragway are long gone. This is the type of killer history I love and I hope you do to!
Thanks to Jon Wall for the tip!
