Classic Telephone Exchanges

Back in the day, before mandatory 10 digit dialing, local phone numbers were easier to remember. They had something called "exchange names", which the first two digits of a seven digit local number were corresponded to a word, like those listed below. This is why phones today still have 3 (now 4 letters for 7 and 9) below each number. 

For example, if your number was (and this was one of my OLD phone numbers) 633-3703, with your exchange would be "Melrose" or some variation for 63 as listed below, then 3-3703 or "MElrose -3-3703". In fact, my business card back then actually listed my number as ME3-3703 (with the conventional 633-3703 in parentheses underneath.) Surprised a lot of the old timers!

This system was used widely from the '40s to the early '70s when it was phased over to 7 digit listings. It was immortalized in the Glenn Miller classic "Pennsylvania 6-5000" (which was the phone number to The Hotel Pennsylvania, which Miller frequented before his death in 1944.) Amazingly - it STILL IS.    

I still think it's a pretty classy way (if confusing way for those not in the know) to list a phone number......

(From The Bell System's "Notes on Nationwide Dialing, 1955")

22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29
ACademy BAldwin CApital CAstle	ADams BElmont BEverly CEdar CEnter CEntral	CHapel CHerry CHestnut CHurchill CIrcle	ALpine BLackburn CLearbrook CLearwater CLifford CLinton	AMherst ANdrew COlfax COlony COngress	BRidge BRoad(way) BRown(ing) CRestview CRestwood	ATlantic ATlas ATwater ATwood AVenue BUtler	AXminster AXtel CYpress
32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39
DAvenport DAvis EAst(gate) FAculty FAirfax FAirview	DEerfield DEwey EDgewater EDgewood EDison FEderal	DIamond DIckens FIeldbrook FIeldstone FIllmore FIrestone	ELgin ELliot ELmwood FLanders FLeetwood	EMerson EMpire ENdicott FOrest FOxcroft	DRake DRexel ESsex FRanklin FRontier	DUdley DUnkirk DUpont EVergreen FUlton	EXbrook EXeter EXport EXpress
42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49
GArden GArfield HAmilton HArrison HAzel	GEneral GEneva HEmlock HEmpstead IDlewood	GIbson GIlbert HIckman HIckory HIllcrest HIlltop	GLadstone GLencourt GLendale GLenview GLobe	HObart HOmestead HOpkins HOward INgersoll	GRanite GReenwood GReenfield GReenleaf GRover GRidley	HUbbard HUdson HUnter HUntley HUxley IVanhoe	GYpsy HYacinth HYatt
52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59
JAckson LAfayette LAkeside LAkeview LAmbert LAwrence	JEfferson KEllogg KEystone LEhigh LEnox	KImball KIngsdale KIngswood LIberty LIncoln LInden	(In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers)	JOhn JOrdan LOcust LOgan LOwell	(In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers)	JUniper JUno JUstice LUdlow LUther	LYceum LYndhurst LYnwood LYric
62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69
MAdison MAin MArket MAyfair NAtional	MEdford MElrose MErcury NEptune NEwton NEwtown	MIdway MIlton MIssion MItchell NIagara	OLdfield OLive OLiver OLympia OLympic	MOhawk MOntrose MOrris NOrmandy NOrth(field)	ORange ORchard ORiole ORleans OSborne	MUrdock MUrray MUseum MUtual OVerbrook OVerland	MYrtle OWen OXbow OXford
72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79
PAlace PArk(view) PArk(way) RAndolph RAymond SAratoga	PErshing REd(field) REd(wood) REgent REpublic	PIlgrim PIoneer RIver(side) RIver(view) SHadyside SHerwood	PLateau PLaza PLeasant PLymouth SKyline	POplar POrter ROckwell ROger(s) SOuth(field)	PRescott PResident PRospect SPring SPruce	STate STerling STillwell STory SUnset	PYramid SWathmore SWift SWinburne SYcamore
82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89
TAlbot TAlmadge TAylor VAlley VAndyke	TEmple TEnnyson TErminal TErrace VErnon	THornwell TIlden VIctor(ia) VIking VInewood	ULrick ULster ULysses	TOwnsend UNderhill UNion UNiversity VOlunteer	TRemont TRiangle TRinity TRojan UPtown	TUcker TUlip TUrner TUxedo	TWilight TWinbrook TWinoaks TWining
92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
WAbash WAlker WAlnut WArwick WAverly	WEbster WElls WEllington WEst(more) YEllowstone	WHitehall WHitney WIlliam(s) WIlson WIndsor	(In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers)	WOodland WOodlawn WOodward WOrth YOrktown	(In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers)	YUkon	WYandotte WYndown WYman

Micronations

Ever wanted to just declare your independence and form your own banana republic?

Well, actually a LOT of people want to do that....

  
Much easier to do in the virtual world than in the real one. Not to say some haven't tried. History is filled with failed attempts at nation building:

Try this game out:

http://nationstates.net/

But that hasn't kept people from trying the real thing.

They're called "micronations". A micronation is basically a one-person government, dictatorship and subjects are usually members of one's own family (like in some areas of Utah or the South) or just themselves. A King/Queen in their own minds I guess. And the land mass is no bigger than one's own residence. 

It also pays to be absolutely insane (or have balls the size of watermelons.)

Sealand:

The most famous of these is Sealand. Sealand was created out of an abandoned man-made World War II Royal Navy base in the English Channel called Rough's Tower. 

When the Royal Navy abandoned it in 1956, a pirate radio operator named Paddy Roy Bates took it over. Since Rough's Tower was abandoned and in international waters, he declared Rough's Tower a sovereign nation and called it Sealand. Bates and his family moved there and the hobby grew, minting their own coins and stamps and issuing passports. All worthless of course, but one can dream, can't they?

http://www.sealandgov.org/

Molossia:

Located in Nevada, this guy is your basic Micronation hobbyist. This video explains everything. 

And he's STILL at war with East Germany.....

http://www.molossia.org/countryeng.html

More on micronations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronation

Van Morrison's Last Album For Bang Records

You know Van Morrison by some classic albums he made in the late '60s/early '70s, Tupelo Honey, Moondance, Into The Mystic, Astral Weeks. It was these four albums that had some of his biggest hits and no self respecting Adult Album Alternative format radio station would take to the airwaves without them.

But prior to these classic albums, he was under contract to a tiny US indie label called Bang Records, originally a kind of stepchild label of Atlantic Records that had no direct tie to Atlantic. He still owed Bang another album and Van, to say the least, was tired of Bang Records, whom he felt was stifling him creatively. Like Bang's other big artist back then, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison also left Bang because of the label's interference in his career direction, Bang wanted more cash-cow, pop radio friendly hits from Van Morrison like "Brown Eyed Girl", Van wanted something more.

In one of the best examples of How To Do A Contractual Obligation Album To A Crappy Record Label 101, Van got the last laugh by recording some 30 tracks with titles like "Blow In Your Nose", "Nose In Your Blow", "Ring Worm", "Freaky If You Got This Far" "You Say France And I'll Whistle" and "I Want A Danish". It was clearly intended to be a middle finger to Bang Records.

It worked. Bang let him out of his contract. Warner Brothers snapped him up and the rest is history.....

http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DP/2003/03/365-Days-Project-03-05-morrison-van-ring-worm-you-say-france-and-ill-whistle-1968.mp3

Things I Learned From Steely Dan Records

If you ever wanted to drink Kirschwasser from a shell ("Babylon Sisters") or wondered what a big black cow was ("Black Cow"). Or what was Donald Fagan doing "chasing the dragon" in "Time Out Of Mind"......

Here are the answers:

http://www.steelydandictionary.com

I love Steely Dan and have since I was a '70s kid. You gotta LOVE how SLICK these guys were with the various drug references. Unlike today's rap stars, they were ahead of their time by the sublimeness of their lyrics. They didn't put it in your face. They were so cool about it, even the most conservative adult contemporary stations let them slide.

Cheers!

The J&H Productions Tape

The entertainment industry is a rough business. But it's not what you know that matters, but who you know. That little fact is pretty intimidating to upstarts in all areas of the entertainment business.

That being said, let's say you're not trying to be a star, but taking the presumably easier route of concert promotions. Again, it's not what you know, but WHO you know.

This guy....well, I don't know what he was thinking. All I know is he doesn't seem to have ANY experience in concert promotion - certainly not on the stratospheric levels of the stars he's courting. Yet somehow, he's ready to do the job for people like Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and The Oak Ridge Boys.

OK then......

In fact. I don't even know what he is even talking about two minutes into this recording he made for some record labels somewhere in 1981 or early '82 (I'm guessing because that's when all the stars he mentions were at the peak of their careers.) He talks about his "company", J&H Productions...at length....a full 13:30. But offers no specifics of his company. Any credentials? Well, he got a brochure from the Cavalcade of Stars. And apparently, he doesn't understand receiving that brochure was likely the record company's sublime way of letting him know they already HAVE a concert promoter.

And a rejection letter from Quincy Jones. But you have to appreciate his tenacity.

This tape somehow got salvaged from the trash can of some label giant and had been dubbed and sent to other people in the entertainment industry over the years. I first heard it in the early 1990s and it was like the aural equivalent of an out of body experience...WHO was this guy? And WHAT was he thinking? Could he not make a simple cover letter, info packet and business card, instead of a meandering cassette tape of his proposals? This recording had been saved by WFMU and you can hear it at the link below

Well anyway, have a listen to this tape. TRY to keep up with him...and every tangent he goes off of.......

http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DP/2003/09/365-Days-Project-09-15-j-and-h-productions-tape.mp3

And just COUNT how many times he says "Pertaining to...." (MAN! Get a Thesaurus!)

Here's an archived fansite, pertaining to...J&H Productions

http://web.archive.org/web/20051212063752/www.timharrod.com/jhhome.html

Yes, it's even on MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/jnhprod

Created by a fan....even a mini movie on the site!........

It's "The Greatest Show Ever Being Gave". In ALL.........the stadiums.............and............the coliseums. From city to city......