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 May 1, 1992.
This is Tom Snyder’s Radio Show from the day after the worst of the riots. A semblance of order has been restored in Los Angeles and wild-eyed fears of country-wide “race warfare” seem to be diminishing.
 At right: A cross section of wood with veneer finish. Caption: “Many man-made boards are ugly to look at and veneers (very thin layers of real wood) can be stuck to them to make them look solid…” The country is left to reflect upon the durability and thickness of the veneer that makes civil society look solid… and how deep and how ugly it might be just below that surface.
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April 30, 1992. I’ve been looking for this edition of The Radio Show for quite some time – and here it is.
Tom Snyder broadcasts live from Los Angeles as the city suffers through the violence and rioting that follows the acquittal of the policemen who beat Rodney King. If you don’t have a sense of what that day was like, you will after you hear this recording.
It is an historic Tom Snyder program, incredible in so many ways, not the least of which is Tom’s insight, compassion and ability to convey the horror of what’s taking place while remaining, as ever, the consummate host and reporter. Forget Tom’s Charles Manson interview, essentially just a freak show with a person who’s insane – this may be Tom Snyder’s most impressive achievement, as he works to make sense of a city gone insane.
This is history – a sad day in the history of the country – and it happened less than twenty years ago. It is well worth your time.
As the program begins, the rioting is spreading throughout the city, phone lines are down, and Tom announces that he may have to end his broadcast prematurely and “send it back to New York.” What follows… seems unreal.
At the very end of Tom’s interview with one of the jurors is a bizarre moment of unbelievable, unintentional gallows humor which escapes both “Madam Juror” and Tom, though a caller later points it out. Listen carefully to the last sentence spoken by “Madam Juror.”
This is a partial program which contains the full first hour and the majority of the second hour, with most commercials and local segments deleted. I’ve left portions of newscasts in, as well as a few commercials which seem to provide unintentional oblique or ironic commentary.
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Abortion. That’s the topic that begins this program, which offers much insight into Tom’s personal opinions upon religion and the notion of a secular state. Michelle McKeegan is the guest for the first hour, then phones, then tennis star Tracy Austin.
This is the program where I decided I had had enought of Mr. Bullock, so his commercial as heard here is not exactly as aired. This episode was broadcast at the time of the Republican convention in Houston. The guest for hour two is Rand LeBon, reporting for KLIF in Dallas, who’s in Houston covering the Republican National Convention.
Tom has a memorable problem pronouncing “Scud Stud” Arthur Kent’s name.
Tom announces that “The Radio Show” will end in November.
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 This is mostly a “Nightside” hour of listener calls, but it does contain the end of an interview with Sarah Purcell. The reason so many segments are joined in progress is the haphazard nature in which cassette tapes were either saved or discarded. (I used to tape The Radio Show and listen to it in the car on the following day). Sarah Purcell co-hosted “A.M. Los Angeles” with Regis Phibin from ‘75 to ‘83.
In this clip, we learn about Tom’s primary source material vis-à-vis the facts of life; we hear Tom’s warning about how not to visit Disneyland; and some comments about the impending last episode of Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show
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June 16, 1992. Guest Ed Meese, President Reagan’s ex-Attorney General. The interview is joined in progress. Then we have the Nightside Hour for phones.
Don’t think Tom was terribly fond of Mr. Meese. If you remember the Hanna-Barbera character “Mr. Jinx,” his signature phrase springs to mind…
Commercial breaks are included from the Meese interview – some seem germane, some were just funny or interesting. Once again, the topics still seem current, although many of Meese’s positions have not stood the test of time… deregulation, for example. I love the caller who was “disenchatized” with Meese’s handling of Oliver North.
There’s quite a bit of the Snyder philosophy available in the Nightside Hour.
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 August 25, 1992: Tom takes a live feed from a newsman awaiting Hurricane Andrew (“Will New Orleans come away clean from this?”), interviews political pundit Eleanor Clift and actress Dana Delaney.
We’re in the beginning of the Bush/Clinton campaign, post conventions, which Tom covers with Eleanor. (The more things change…)
Dana Delaney is, in a word, delightful.
(Photo: 1968)
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Tom is ready for his interview with Martin Gross. You can hear it – he calls Gross’s book terrific; he’s laughing as the interview starts; he likes the idea that someone has documented waste in Washington.
But – very quickly – Martin Gross says things that strain Tom’s credulity. Tom’s smile disappears; he asks Gross to repeat a statement. For Tom, the answer is totally overboard. Tom realizes that he’s got nearly an hour to go with this wacko. The tone of the interview changes; Tom starts taking shots at the guy… well, listen. You’ll hear it happen.
Also – a partial (sorry) interview with comedian Rita Rudner.
From June 22, 1992.
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 This time out, an interview with Al Gore, who’s promoting his book Earth In The Balance and the Nightside hour, featuring calls from listeners.
During Nightside, Tom can’t seem to figure out how the then-new VCR Plus automatic VCR programmer works. Listeners try to explain it, but Tom still doesn’t quite get it.
A notable hour because Tom – completely befuddled as to how the VCR Plus works – leaves the microphone for a minute or so while he searches the studio for the day’s newspaper, which he believes will solve the problem once and for all. (It doesn’t). While he’s gone on this fool’s errand, the control room plays an old TV theme (Holiday for Strings).
From December 20, 1990
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Tom Snyder in Philadelphia circa 1965.
According to a radio hall of fame, Tom Snyder was a bit of a wiseguy back when he was doing the local news at noon in Philadelphia. One day, the sports reporter at the station couldn’t make it back to the studio in time, and Tom said he’d cover. Tom’s sports report, in total:. “A partial score just in: Philadelphia 5. Now, turning to the local news…”
Tom often repeated two curse words over and over right up to his on-the-air cue. This required the audio man to keep Tom’s microphone closed, which complicated the job of simultaneously managing the opening music, the opening announcement, and Tom’s mike. If the audio man had ever opened Tom’s mike too early, both he and Snyder would have lost their jobs.
A different Sunday With Snyder – in this half-hour interview of Tom early in his career. Recorded February 1967 at the student-run station at Temple University.
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The television business I know is over. Gone. Kaput. Finiti.
- Tom Snyder March 27 2003
June 26, 1992.
John Gotti’s in jail. Roe versus Wade has been challenged. Murphy Brown has been challenged, too, by Dan Quayle, who doesn’t like the single character deciding to have a baby. Meantime, there’s a real newswoman in Boston who’s doing the very same thing.
A bunch of guys are riding around in the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile documenting Roadside America – including places like Carhenge - Stonehenge recreated with half-buried used cars.
And Tom decides to write his very own version of The Vermont Teddy Bear commercial.
A complete 3-hour Radio Show which runs just under two hours in this version without most ads and newsbreaks. A good one.
Listen or download.
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Isn’t Life Terrible? "Isn't Life Terrible" is a Charley Chase short from 1925. The title was derived from a 1924 D.W. Griffith film, "Isn't Life Wonderful?" Other Charley Chase film titles that ask questions are "What Price Goofy?" (1925), "Are Brunettes Safe?" (1927), and "Is Everybody Happy?" (1928). Chase abandoned his titles with question marks for titles with exclamation points during the sound era.
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May 1, 1992. 
At right: A cross section of wood with veneer finish. Caption: “Many man-made boards are ugly to look at and veneers (very thin layers of real wood) can be stuck to them to make them look solid…”
