Friday, July 26, 2013

Mike Bara's unsuccessful pitch to the Great Art Bell

        You know how good the internet is for spreading rumors. Yeah, really good. Well, the hot one of the week is that Art Bell, original creator of Coast to Coast AM, is making yet another comeback into talk radio. The Coastgab forum is agog with it. Follow that link to read a message from Art -- and it doesn't take much reading between the lines to get the point that Art thinks Premiere Radio have let his show turn to shit.

        Personally, I hate George Noory but I'm not a Bell fan either. I guess if Art set up shop in direct opposition to C2C I'd follow him.

Oh please! Take me! MEEEEEEEEE!!!
        All this is a preface to a cute little exchange on Twitter (where the internet twits can be found) over the last few days.Our Mike saw a chance....


Art Bell @ArtBell51        21 July
Closer and closer. I may announce here or on Facebook. I am bound right now to not say more.

Expand

Mike Bara @mikebara33        24 July
@ArtBell51 @Art_Bell Gonna have me as a guest? I've got a new book coming out.


Art Bell @ArtBell51        13h
@mikebara33 Sorry but the last thing I need is another 4 hour book commercial. Call Noory. #GeorgeNoorySucks

Mike Bara @mikebara33        13h
@Art_Bell It'll be interesting to see what the content of the show is. Good luck

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13 comments:

astroguy said...

Anyone have an "in" with Art? I'd love to go on and explain how Hoagie and Bara are wrong since George still won't have me on despite his promises.

Perhaps some other folks should point Art in my direction ...

Anonymous said...

He he..How much Bara must have spat his coffee before he answered that message from Art Bell! I bet there were several variations on a theme that wer eless than flattering, before he reasoned that he (Art Bell) might have him on at a future date; so he couldn't say too much..But it must have stung.

SB

Anonymous said...

That "4 hour commercial" reply to Mike Bara was from an Art Bell Twitter 'tribute' account and not Art Bell: https://twitter.com/Art__Bell

Regardless, it was funny.

expat said...

Ahhh... guess I was fooled by the icon. Twitter is SO fucked...

Unknown said...

Art Bell is a true artist; the last of the old school broadcasters, who learned how to use his voice effectively, if not, overly affected a bit at times, but that was the style.

Yes, he had a lot of phonies on his show, and he let them have their say for the better part of four to five hours, but he would skilfully coax them along, by interrupting his guests with poignant questions which would help craft their monologues into an entertaining story.

Art would ask mostly softball questions, but sometimes he would simply have to challenge the guest a bit. If the guest failed to answer satisfactorily, Art would repeat the same question. He might do this a few times in a row. If the guest was remained evasive, Art would simply move on to another question without further ado. By Art's repeatedly asking the same question, it became quite apparent to the audience the veracity of the guest.

near the end of the show, Art would ask his guest a real zinger, then open up the phone lines to sic the audience on the hucksters.

Sometimes Art would try to create a phenomenon where there was none, just for the sake of having something new to discuss, such as the Shadow People or street lights that would go out when certain people would pass under them. Nobody ever did call in to say that some street lights are regulated with a thermostat which turns out the lights when they get too hot, in order to let them cool, before turning back on. There are always plenty of other street lights and they don't all go out at the same time, so it pretty much works okay.

The point is that Art had to know better, but he probably was amazed at how slow people can be, so he let it go on, just waiting for somebody who could finally say what was happening. In the mean time, he could fill otherwise dead air.

Doing a four to five hour show, six nights per week, requires quite a bit of material that will hold an audiences attention. Controversy is good for provoking an audience to participate by calling into the show and sharing the burdensome work load.

It will be wonderful to have Art back.

Anonymous said...

I think Art knows that some of his prior guests were less than credible.

Unknown said...

Art Bell is a blithering idiot if he doesn't appreciate a great mind like Mikey.

A Great Scientist and a Great Film Director in one. Bet Einstein never directed a porn film.

Either he's afraid of Mikey's master-debating tactics or he's jealous of the strippers and starlets he gets.

Chris said...

There can only be room for one intellectual bad ass, and Mike found the icon first.

Chris Lopes said...

I'm not sure Mikey is ready for Art in any case. Bell was always the star of the show, with the guests simply there to serve up material for him to work with. So Mike trying to be the biggest deal in the room wouldn't fly to far with him.

Unknown said...


Radio's Art Bell returning with Sirius XM show

By DAVID BAUDER
— Jul. 30 12:07 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Art Bell, radio's master of the paranormal and outward edges of science, will return to the microphone on Sept. 16 with a new nighttime show on Sirius XM Radio.

Bell was one of radio's top syndicated voices in the 1990s before walking away from his nightly show in 2002 due to family issues. He worked occasionally after that but hasn't been on the air since Halloween 2010.

"I missed it terribly," said Bell, 68, whose weeknight show will air live from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET. Sirius is building a studio at Bell's rural Nevada home where he will work.

A Sirius representative contacted Bell through social media a few months ago, leading to the formation of his show, "Art Bell's Dark Matter." He'll talk about things like UFOs, ghosts, near-death experiences and weird aspects of science. He'll do interviews and take calls from viewers.

Scott Greenstein, Sirius XM president and chief content officer, said the show will be "uncensored, unrestricted, uncluttered and utterly unique."

"There's probably more interest in the genre now than when I did it," Bell said. "When I did it, I was damned near alone."

Bell was on some 500 radio stations nationwide and "quit when he was at the top of his game," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers, a magazine that covers the radio industry.

Harrison said Bell's subject matter has roots in old-time radio, and he predicted it will become popular once again in the coming years.

"He'll be looked at as one of the veteran, old masters," Harrison said. "He's the real deal when it comes to marching to the beat of a different drummer."

There's also a potential rivalry with George Noory, who replaced Bell on the syndicated show. Bell isn't a fan, saying he considers Noory "not edgy enough." Noory's program is on later at night, so the two will not compete directly live.

No contract terms were divulged.

Bell said he's intrigued to learn the differences between satellite and terrestrial radio.

"It seems to me they are the next step in technology," he said. "I've always been a technological junkie. The mix of what they're giving me, the freedom that they're giving me, is priceless."



http://bigstory.ap.org/article/radios-art-bell-returning-sirius-xm-show

FlightSuit said...

So if Mike Bara wasn't actually rejected by the real Art Bell, does that mean there's still a possibility Mike Bara could be the new Art Bell show's...

SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT?


:-)

Unknown said...

Art Bell never used to screen calls until he did the show from Manillla and had to route through Noory's rig. If he runs his own board like he used to do back in the day, then it's just 7 seconds of delay for Art to cut Mike off.

Anonymous said...

I think it is odd that Art would mount a comeback by practically cloning the name of another UFO/paranormal talk show, Don Ecker's Dark Matters that has been on cyberstation for a number of years. Art has even interviewed Don Ecker, who was the original publisher of UFO magazine so it seems unlikely that he could plead ignorance.