I love this. It used to give me a creepy little thrill when I heard it as a kid, especially coupled with the dramatic way the radio announcers would read the news then. I have it for my text ringtone now. I'm sure no one under about 40 appreciates it or even knows what it is.
I'm 26, and I don't remember this _exact_ version of the CBS Radio News sounder, but my dad used to listen to WBBM 780 all the time; for years, they used a more contemporary version of this. So yes, I appreciate it and know what it is.
I’m 42 now (probably about 35 when you originally made this comment) and you described it perfectly. Often when I was younger, I would fall asleep listening to Phillies games on the radio-WCAU Philadelphia, later WOGL. CBS News would come on at midnight and many times I was startled awake by the sounder. It usually took a little while to get back to sleep after that
I miss hearing the original CBS News Sounder I had become accustomed to hearing countless times growing up in the 1970s & through the 1990s. I despise the new digital version, which doesn't have the same effect on me. R.I.P., CBS News Sounder.
There's almost no good network news music or sounders of any kind now. I pretty much hate it all except for the John Williams "The Mission" themes for NBC, which I think are still in use, and maybe some of the election year themes.
I know. Not only do I still expect to hear this whenever the radio news comes on -- for all these years, I'm still hearing in my head this news intro followed by somebody saying "CBS News: The Flight Of Apollo 11".
Again if you notice the originally sounder you love was retired in the early 1980's and after an update that moved away from the 1969 sounder which was not received well they went with a sounder that was similar to the 69 sounder but updated for the 1980's. The 2001 sounder was a better update that moved away from the 69 sounder...it stuck and sounds like the 21st Century.
Have always loved this old news sounder. Reminds me of being a kid in the '70's and me and my family driving through the desert from visiting grandparents in Blythe, CA on our way back to L.A. and KNX(the L.A. CBS affiliate) being one of the few radio stations we could get a strong signal from out in the boonies and driving late at night & hearing this news sounder. Had kind of a creepy yet dramatic effect hearing it out in the middle of nowhere late at night. Loved it!
I remember this as a kid! It was early 1981 when I first heard this sound and I was almost 6 yrs old! To tell you the truth, this sound gave me the creeps and it scares me for some reason! To this day, it still scares the crap out of me! However, I miss the good old days, especially the '80s!
I’ve been listening to CBS Mystery Theatre the past few years and keep hearing news sounder at conclusion of episodes. Like most have commented, In the 70s I grew up hearing this too only difference I was hearing on Montreal radio. Don’t recall if it was CFCF or CJAD that also used it as lead in to their newscast. Hearing it 50 years later also invokes all kinds of sentiments of the 1970s. Like somebody posted, I’m relieved to know I’m not only geek who remembers this 😂
You wouldn't think a "noise" for a news broadcast could be so glued to my brain. But this particular one is. I heard it a billion times growing up especially on 850 KOA in Denver. To this day it really grabs me when I hear it. Just as powerful as when I was a kid. I guess I'm old and lame. But the new sounder CBS uses on the radio doesn't have the same effect on me. I guess I am old. No, I am old and lame! Or, is it I miss "those insignificant BUT SIGNIFICANT" times from the past. I guess it's a little of all that.
i feel you Brett. that took me WAY back to a Mississippi Delta porch, drinking hot black percolator coffee and pulling up my tube socks before eating grits and eggs. :)
There were three that really grabbed me, namely, the NBC sounder from 75-85, or thereabout; American Contemporary; and the last three notes of the American Information theme. Information's went baa-baa-BAAA! Put me in mind of a marching band.
Takes me back to the '70s, sitting in our towns only barbershop waiting for a haircut. He always had the radio tuned to the local elevator music station, which carried CBS news every hour. you
Once upon a time, every hour there was this sounder that you just heard, followed by: "CBS News, I'm Christopher Glenn. These are the stories this hour......" A very familiar sound growing up from the late 60's to the mid 80's on the radio back then. In 2001, some wise guy at CBS production studio got a hairbrained idea to "update and modernize" this classic sounder, and as a result ruined it. Now, the sounder is more like a kid beating on an electric keyboard. Thanks for posting this classic.
Haha. It used to scare me to death when I was kid in growing up in Chicago. My dad always listened to WBBM Newsradio 78 and when CBS would break in with a net alert bulletin, it would always freak me out.
This one didn't frighten me, but it certainly gave me a start. I was scared of the WGBH BOSTON logo and teaser on PBS during Mystery! or Masterpiece Theatre. As if Vincent Price and Allistair Cooke weren't daunting enough. Let's just say the 70's weren't always child friendly. 😊
I lived in Illinois in the late '70s/early '80s and they would have this tune when they were announcing pleasant things like tornado warnings. The WGBH logo is also disturbing, but at least it never gave me the thought of impending doom. Oh -- and I just made this tune my new ring tone.
Oh man that SOUND! They say smells bring back the past most powerfully, but this really brings back some kind of childhood feeling. It definitely was a freaky sound but ridiculous at the same time - like some bug-eyed space virus using your speaker as a medium. I was born in 1968, so his must have continued a little while past '69. So cool.
I recall as a kid circa 1969 my family taking a road trip around Baltimore & my dad had the car radio tuned to CBS news & I'd hear this every once in a while. From then on whenever I heard that tune I'd think of Baltimore.
In 1969, I recall the CBS radio news sounder being a little lower and slower, which they partly retained for their sports capsules. Our affiliate at the time was WBIE (Marietta GA) and that's where I heard it.
As a child born in '72, and growing up in the '70s and '80s in the South Puget Sound region of the PNW, I lost track how many times I heard this sounder on KIRO 71 (710) AM broadcasting from up north in Seattle, which was what my mother had our NuTone intercom system tuned to (if not the MOR/"Beautiful Music" stations like KSEA-FM and KBRD-FM), as she tended to various housekeeping tasks or just read through the newspapers. Nearly 50 years later, that sounder still projects a unique combination of creepiness and awe. It commanded your attention, for sure - and still gets mine.
I think this sounder/jingle was produced by Hugh Heller. I read in an interview that he thought it was probably the most recognized thing he ever did because it was used for so many years.
I had come from UW-Madison in the early 90s to NYC for a semester as an intern for a large company. I remember hearing this at the local bodega where the radio was on, and thought, _What a weird sound!_ I've only heard it a few other times since then, but it's very memorable. How sad that it's gone away. The CBS sound I really remember from childhood is the one-note chime at the start of prime time every evening, and somehow I sussed out that it meant the signal had switched from our local CBS TV affiliate station to the national network feed.
Count me as one of the people who miss this old sounder. I grew up in the 70's on Long Island and my parents always had WCBS 880 on so it was a common sound. It was also jarring because it was also used for "Radio Net Alert" reports. I have an MP3 that I found on the internet years ago that was made of a net alert about the New York City blackout in July 1977. CBS Radio Mystery Theater is playing and you can hear five network alert chirps in the audio, silence and then this sounder announcing a "Radio Net Alert". A version of that alert without the Mystery Theater audio or chirps is at radiotapes.com/CBS/CBS_News_7-13-1977.mp3. I also recall a variant of this sounder that was used for the intro to a CBS Radio Sports that sounded like a marching band at the end with drums.
Growing up we would hear this all day long, while traveling from our home in Michigan to my parents home in West Virginia. I hear this tone and all the memories come back. I guess the only way for this to be more memorable is to follow the toner up with a Karen Carpenter song...on the radio
I remember hearing this from the late 60's through the 70's every time we would visit my grandparents. They always had the same radio station on during the day which was a CBS affiliate, (1290 AM, WICE Providence). And Saturdays included the sounder for CBS Radio Sports Central USA, with Win Elliot.
+James Bunch Jr Go to radio.com and listen to the CBS News top-of-the-hour broadcasts... it's the same music, but now it's played by an orchestra instead of a synthesizer.
Can an electronic "news time" tune manage to both reassure and frighten a person? It's doing it on me... I think one of Calgary's old AM stations used it, perhaps CFAC.
Sean Wilkinson The "bleep" supposedly announcing the top of the hour is never accurate. When I was driving late at night I would put the presets on all news stations so if one faded , I'd switch to another. KNX, KCBS, KFMB, KRLD, WBBM, WCBS, - I would always be within listening distance of 2, 3 maybe 4 at a time. I'd be pushing buttons trying to get the clearer station & that "bleep" was never synchronized on any 2 stations! Usually within 1 and a half minutes of each other.
I love the news sounder since I was a kid, and I hope that CBS and WW1 needs to bring this classic sounder back. I missed the sounder since it was last used back in 2001, but I hate the updated version with a modern sound. Please bring it back!
I haven't heard this sounder since the 1970's-early 80s! You were really listening to CBS Radio News back then when most young people were tuning into great top-40 radio on AM before the shift to FM. I miss that sound. I wish they made it for download as a ringtone. The 80s-90s version had the classic element and was good but when they started using it (2001?), I hated it! I have two versions of the CBS Radio News sounder on my phone. The 1980s-90s sounder is what I use, but I'd rather have the one from 1969. It was the greatest! Wished it was made for download. CBS Radio played this sounder during Net-Alert Bulletins or Special Reports when news broke. Beautiful sound! Thanks so much for posting!
Sometimes they would play this sounder very loud and it would scare the heck out of you. I guess that was the best way they could've gotten your attention to listen, LOL
Wbbm am. At the top of the hour thru today CBS chime. I remember laying down on the couch listening to WSB Atlanta at like 3am and what woke me up was that CBS Chime kinda scared me lol. It was the middle of the night too you know
For those of you that want to hear a more recent version of this classic CBS News Sounder, there is one in a RUclips video incorrectly entitled, "1983 CBS Radio News Sounder In Its Final Days", which was recorded in 2000.
Reminds me of late night road trips in the back seat of our Mercedes 240-D, when I was a kid--late 70's thru 80's Charlotte, NC. WGIV and WBT, & 1310 WGSP radio.
I definitely remember this one. I was litttle back then as i remember being in the back seat of our old car we were going through.town in 68or 69 and this would come on the radio
That recording of the CBS News Sounder seems to be running at the wrong speed. It seems about 50 cents "sharp" (too fast). I always assumed that the tone at the beginning was the audio marker for the top of the hour. In the UK, they have the BBC "pips" from the Greenwich Observatory. I have been something of a CBS fanboy since I was a kid. I made my first radio in grade-school when we lived in San Diego only a couple miles from the KFMB-AM transmitter back when they were on 540KHz (now a channel assigned to Mexico) KFMB was the CBS affiliate in San Diego (AM/FM/TV). KFMB radio (AM & FM?) seem to have disappeared. Then we moved to the Los Angeles market where I listened to KNX (CBS Owned & Operated) when the news station was on AM 1070KHz (now moved to FM 97.1MHz). And now I live in the Portland Oregon market where I listen to KXL (another CBS affiliate) where the news operation on 750KHz moved to their FM channel at 101.1MHz.
This was the sound during Watergate on WTOP 1500 AM. A great former Post Newsweek station and all news since March 17th 1969. The twang before the sounder was always 1/2 second after the time on the phone. The news cast was 6 minutes long compared to the 3 to 4 minutes now. You would also here a very quick two tone click to and from commercials.
Funny, I keep playing this and it's driving my dog crazy! Maybe I should us it as a ringtone to let my Dogs know Daddy's Home!🐕🐕🐕 When WSM-AM, Nashville, went to CBS News in the late 90s, "I think" CBS was still using this retro sounder.
Memories and sonic artifacts of days gone by. WBEN-AM in Buffalo NY was an affiliate of the CBS Radio network. The A-440 tone signified the top of the hour. How'd they realize this? Did they borrow Columbia University's electronic music studio?
"This is Doug Poling reporting on the CBS Radio Network." Colin Cowherd also plays this sounder when introducing his "Cowherd Global Network" guest on Fox Sports Radio's "The Herd".
Bing! Da-na-na, _nunna-na._ Diddy-diddy-dink-diddy-dink-diddy-diddy-dink... Yep. That's the sound. alright. This just in: FM radio hasn't been the same since the advent of "Clear Channel." Good Rock-N-Roll doesn't get played on the radio anymore, now it's mostly boring, one-sided talk, or annoying bubblegum pop. Film at eleven.
Originally from Des Moines Iowa, KCCI the CBS affiliate used this tone to announce severe weather bulletins. On youtube its listed as KCCI severe weather alert. Used to scare the shit out of me as a kid......
I miss that sound with CBS radio news. Now it's similar except they add a symphony orchestra sound. They also do not use that little chirp sound before the CBS News sounder comes on. I know I hear it on WBEN radio in Buffalo, NY area
I grew up with the jingle used in the 1980's and 1990's. CBS has made it (as well as the bad jingle currently in use) available for use as a ringtone: www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-radio-news-ringtones/ . The 1969 version does not yet appear to be downloadable. It and the 1980's version definitely have a greater mood of urgency.
I love this. It used to give me a creepy little thrill when I heard it as a kid, especially coupled with the dramatic way the radio announcers would read the news then. I have it for my text ringtone now. I'm sure no one under about 40 appreciates it or even knows what it is.
I'm not bring sarcastic, but unless you're a old radio buff like me, seems like nobody cares. Sad, Very Sad😥📻!
I'm 26, and I don't remember this _exact_ version of the CBS Radio News sounder, but my dad used to listen to WBBM 780 all the time; for years, they used a more contemporary version of this. So yes, I appreciate it and know what it is.
It did for me too
I first heard it about 54 years ago! Going fishing with my grandfather and my dad, early in the morning ! It's stuck in my head ever since!
I’m 42 now (probably about 35 when you originally made this comment) and you described it perfectly. Often when I was younger, I would fall asleep listening to Phillies games on the radio-WCAU Philadelphia, later WOGL. CBS News would come on at midnight and many times I was startled awake by the sounder. It usually took a little while to get back to sleep after that
"...CBS News I'm Christopher Glenn."
Shewww.. I'm glad I ain't the only retro radio news sounder geek out here who remembers these dulcet tones of their youth! :)
Closet fan. Next cbcnews
I miss hearing the original CBS News Sounder I had become accustomed to hearing countless times growing up in the 1970s & through the 1990s. I despise the new digital version, which doesn't have the same effect on me.
R.I.P., CBS News Sounder.
There's almost no good network news music or sounders of any kind now. I pretty much hate it all except for the John Williams "The Mission" themes for NBC, which I think are still in use, and maybe some of the election year themes.
I know. Not only do I still expect to hear this whenever the radio news comes on -- for all these years, I'm still hearing in my head this news intro followed by somebody saying "CBS News: The Flight Of Apollo 11".
Again if you notice the originally sounder you love was retired in the early 1980's and after an update that moved away from the 1969 sounder which was not received well they went with a sounder that was similar to the 69 sounder but updated for the 1980's. The 2001 sounder was a better update that moved away from the 69 sounder...it stuck and sounds like the 21st Century.
January 1st, 2001, is when they went to the goofy sounding one they use now. Doesn't get my attention the way the older version did.
@@YooTuba for a while, they had the ABC News Sounder on the radio as late as 2017, but I'm thinking that changed now, too.
Growing up as a teen in 70s I still have affinity for the old AM 📻 news sounder. Brings back memories of WCBS NY
I absolutely love this sounder!
I remember this as a kid in the 70s. Such a sweet sound
Have always loved this old news sounder. Reminds me of being a kid in the '70's and me and my family driving through the desert from visiting grandparents in Blythe, CA on our way back to L.A. and KNX(the L.A. CBS affiliate) being one of the few radio stations we could get a strong signal from out in the boonies and driving late at night & hearing this news sounder. Had kind of a creepy yet dramatic effect hearing it out in the middle of nowhere late at night. Loved it!
I left a similar comment in the comments section
I remember this as a kid! It was early 1981 when I first heard this sound and I was almost 6 yrs old! To tell you the truth, this sound gave me the creeps and it scares me for some reason! To this day, it still scares the crap out of me! However, I miss the good old days, especially the '80s!
yup, you could get that station as clear as arizona and Nevada borders. even got it a bit clear in Vegas once.
Etched in most of our memories! Riding in the car as a kid on the AM radio, as only ONE memory. :)
I’ve been listening to CBS Mystery Theatre the past few years and keep hearing news sounder at conclusion of episodes. Like most have commented, In the 70s I grew up hearing this too only difference I was hearing on Montreal radio. Don’t recall if it was CFCF or CJAD that also used it as lead in to their newscast. Hearing it 50 years later also invokes all kinds of sentiments of the 1970s. Like somebody posted, I’m relieved to know I’m not only geek who remembers this 😂
You wouldn't think a "noise" for a news broadcast could be so glued to my brain. But this particular one is. I heard it a billion times growing up especially on 850 KOA in Denver. To this day it really grabs me when I hear it. Just as powerful as when I was a kid. I guess I'm old and lame. But the new sounder CBS uses on the radio doesn't have the same effect on me. I guess I am old. No, I am old and lame! Or, is it I miss "those insignificant BUT SIGNIFICANT" times from the past. I guess it's a little of all that.
i feel you Brett. that took me WAY back to a Mississippi Delta porch, drinking hot black percolator coffee and pulling up my tube socks before eating grits and eggs. :)
Chris Gray Amen pal....
Bret Bailey I must be old and lame too, lol, because I feel exactly the way you do! :)
There were three that really grabbed me, namely, the NBC sounder from 75-85, or thereabout; American Contemporary; and the last three notes of the American Information theme. Information's went baa-baa-BAAA! Put me in mind of a marching band.
Takes me back to the '70s, sitting in our towns only barbershop waiting for a haircut. He always had the radio tuned to the local elevator music station, which carried CBS news every hour. you
Once upon a time, every hour there was this sounder that you just heard, followed by: "CBS News, I'm Christopher Glenn. These are the stories this hour......" A very familiar sound growing up from the late 60's to the mid 80's on the radio back then. In 2001, some wise guy at CBS production studio got a hairbrained idea to "update and modernize" this classic sounder, and as a result ruined it. Now, the sounder is more like a kid beating on an electric keyboard. Thanks for posting this classic.
AtsfMike559 yeah- some things should be left alone.
That old sounder evoked a feeling of imminent urgency.
It had soul. Nothing anymore has soul.
That music scared the holy crap out of me when I was a kid. Our CBS tv station used that for their weather bulletins.
Haha. It used to scare me to death when I was kid in growing up in Chicago. My dad always listened to WBBM Newsradio 78 and when CBS would break in with a net alert bulletin, it would always freak me out.
Whenever my cousins and I heard that music, we'd run for the hills.
This one didn't frighten me, but it certainly gave me a start. I was scared of the WGBH BOSTON logo and teaser on PBS during Mystery! or Masterpiece Theatre. As if Vincent Price and Allistair Cooke weren't daunting enough. Let's just say the 70's weren't always child friendly. 😊
I lived in Illinois in the late '70s/early '80s and they would have this tune when they were announcing pleasant things like tornado warnings. The WGBH logo is also disturbing, but at least it never gave me the thought of impending doom. Oh -- and I just made this tune my new ring tone.
@@user-mj8nf2vp7q the WGBH shingle and the opening to Mystery used to scare the HELL out of me as a small child lol
Oh man that SOUND! They say smells bring back the past most powerfully, but this really brings back some kind of childhood feeling. It definitely was a freaky sound but ridiculous at the same time - like some bug-eyed space virus using your speaker as a medium. I was born in 1968, so his must have continued a little while past '69. So cool.
@directorhferreira44560s baby here and am nostalgic about old time radio
I recall as a kid circa 1969 my family taking a road trip around Baltimore & my dad had the car radio tuned to CBS news & I'd hear this every once in a while. From then on whenever I heard that tune I'd think of Baltimore.
In 1969, I recall the CBS radio news sounder being a little lower and slower, which they partly retained for their sports capsules. Our affiliate at the time was WBIE (Marietta GA) and that's where I heard it.
I can remember that sound when I woke up for school and my Mom was getting ready for work. Simpler times.
As a child born in '72, and growing up in the '70s and '80s in the South Puget Sound region of the PNW, I lost track how many times I heard this sounder on KIRO 71 (710) AM broadcasting from up north in Seattle, which was what my mother had our NuTone intercom system tuned to (if not the MOR/"Beautiful Music" stations like KSEA-FM and KBRD-FM), as she tended to various housekeeping tasks or just read through the newspapers. Nearly 50 years later, that sounder still projects a unique combination of creepiness and awe. It commanded your attention, for sure - and still gets mine.
I think this sounder/jingle was produced by Hugh Heller. I read in an interview that he thought it was probably the most recognized thing he ever did because it was used for so many years.
this thing used to give me nightmares esp at an eerie hour of night and particularly when followed by a death announcement or something
That was jarring to me, especially after listening to the music that the news came on, in the middle of the night.
This reminds me of when I was really little and my dad listened to KRLD 1080 in DFW. They do a modern version now and it took me back.
I had come from UW-Madison in the early 90s to NYC for a semester as an intern for a large company. I remember hearing this at the local bodega where the radio was on, and thought, _What a weird sound!_ I've only heard it a few other times since then, but it's very memorable. How sad that it's gone away.
The CBS sound I really remember from childhood is the one-note chime at the start of prime time every evening, and somehow I sussed out that it meant the signal had switched from our local CBS TV affiliate station to the national network feed.
It’s an “A above middle C,” 440 vibrations per sec. Hence, “A 440.”😅
Count me as one of the people who miss this old sounder. I grew up in the 70's on Long Island and my parents always had WCBS 880 on so it was a common sound. It was also jarring because it was also used for "Radio Net Alert" reports. I have an MP3 that I found on the internet years ago that was made of a net alert about the New York City blackout in July 1977. CBS Radio Mystery Theater is playing and you can hear five network alert chirps in the audio, silence and then this sounder announcing a "Radio Net Alert". A version of that alert without the Mystery Theater audio or chirps is at radiotapes.com/CBS/CBS_News_7-13-1977.mp3.
I also recall a variant of this sounder that was used for the intro to a CBS Radio Sports that sounded like a marching band at the end with drums.
It's on youtube!
Search "Win Elliott CBS Sports."
As a kid in the 70s and 80s, I loved this sound. Its was funny & powerful, Plus a rush of youthful good feelings...
Growing up we would hear this all day long, while traveling from our home in Michigan to my parents home in West Virginia. I hear this tone and all the memories come back. I guess the only way for this to be more memorable is to follow the toner up with a Karen Carpenter song...on the radio
Outstanding. On the other hand, I cannot stand the digitized orchestra version they use now.
Wow, those were the days 🎉
Wish they still had these, I loved them.
I remember hearing this from the late 60's through the 70's every time we would visit my grandparents. They always had the same radio station on during the day which was a CBS affiliate, (1290 AM, WICE Providence). And Saturdays included the sounder for CBS Radio Sports Central USA, with Win Elliot.
The same one from 1969 to approx December 2001. I remember hearing that sounder for many years on KCBS 740 AM.
I also saw comments on youtube saying that this variant dates to (I believe) 1967, the year my mom was born.
You are off by at least a year. I began working at a CBS radio affiliate in January, 2001 and this had already been replaced by then.
Yes! That's the one I hadn't heard for so long... Thanks for posting!
God, I know, what a haunting sound, it's great, brings back memories riding with my mom and dad listening to AM radio.
I well remember this tone before and after listening to the cbs radio mystery theater at night.....
Me too. Great memories!
I miss the CBS "sports" sounder which was a lower pitch of this version.
I remember the CBS sports sounder, too, and it was definitely lower pitched.
When CBS Radio mattered. Thanks for posting!
That would be a good message ringtone...
ANGELA JONES
actually it is my ring tone for my phone. Every couple years or so I rotate between that and the news sounder for CKLW :)
+James Bunch Jr Go to radio.com and listen to the CBS News top-of-the-hour broadcasts... it's the same music, but now it's played by an orchestra instead of a synthesizer.
Available as a ringtone, too! Directly from CBS! www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-radio-news-ringtones/
I have the 1983 version as my ringtone and the bong as my alert sound.
Hell yeah...thousands would down load it!!!
Best. News Sounder. Ever.
Can an electronic "news time" tune manage to both reassure and frighten a person? It's doing it on me...
I think one of Calgary's old AM stations used it, perhaps CFAC.
Sean Wilkinson
The "bleep" supposedly announcing the
top of the hour is never accurate. When
I was driving late at night I would put the presets on all news stations so if one faded , I'd switch to another. KNX, KCBS, KFMB, KRLD, WBBM, WCBS, - I would always be within listening distance of 2, 3 maybe 4 at a time. I'd be pushing buttons trying to get the clearer station & that "bleep" was never synchronized on any 2 stations! Usually within 1 and a half minutes of each other.
I love the news sounder since I was a kid, and I hope that CBS and WW1 needs to bring this classic sounder back. I missed the sounder since it was last used back in 2001, but I hate the updated version with a modern sound. Please bring it back!
I haven't heard this sounder since the 1970's-early 80s! You were really listening to CBS Radio News back then when most young people were tuning into great top-40 radio on AM before the shift to FM. I miss that sound. I wish they made it for download as a ringtone. The 80s-90s version had the classic element and was good but when they started using it (2001?), I hated it! I have two versions of the CBS Radio News sounder on my phone. The 1980s-90s sounder is what I use, but I'd rather have the one from 1969. It was the greatest! Wished it was made for download. CBS Radio played this sounder during Net-Alert Bulletins or Special Reports when news broke. Beautiful sound! Thanks so much for posting!
So many news sounders back then used atonal/whole-tone scales for their dramatic top-of-the-hour radio newscasts.
I was trying to remember which radio network had that theme.
By Raymond Scott. He also did the CBS "In Color" electronic bumper music.
The only thing scarier than the sounder itself was hearing it with "This is a CBS NetAlert Bulletin." 😳
That's when you knew it was serious business happening!
You knew something was seriously wrong when you heard this alert.
The "four tones" announcer in the '70'1 was CBS staff announcer Bill Martin, then in the '80's it was another CBS announcer, Alan Berns.
Sometimes they would play this sounder very loud and it would scare the heck out of you. I guess that was the best way they could've gotten your attention to listen, LOL
especially blasting out of a 70's AM clock radio...
Things like this can be pretty loud!
That beat was sampled by Newcleus' Jam On It!
Now THIS is what I miss. Don't like the new one too much. This catapults me to my childhood. Great memories.
I think the CBS radio news sounder is recorded on a Moog synthesizer!!
Nick Alkire it likely was. Moon was “it” clear back to , I believe the late 1950s.
Moog- sorry.
It was produced by a company called Identitones. Yes, probably with a Moog, which was the big thing back then.
WBT AM Radio news sounder from those days. WBT radio has turned into a world class radio station.
As the decades come and go, the CBS News sounder grows increasingly martial-sounding.
Great!!! I LOVE IT!!! I also love the CBS Sports sounder that was based on THIS one. It sounded like a marching band. :) :)
Wbbm am. At the top of the hour thru today CBS chime. I remember laying down on the couch listening to WSB Atlanta at like 3am and what woke me up was that CBS Chime kinda scared me lol. It was the middle of the night too you know
I think they used this on SCN Radio in Panama’s Canal Zone, early 1970s!
Thanks for uploading this, it brings back pleasant childhood memories
"CBS News, this is Doug Poling."
It seems that many of the commenters here remember hearing this sounder during long trips through the middle of the night. Me, too! :0)
For those of you that want to hear a more recent version of this classic CBS News Sounder, there is one in a RUclips video incorrectly entitled, "1983 CBS Radio News Sounder In Its Final Days", which was recorded in 2000.
Reminds me of late night road trips in the back seat of our Mercedes 240-D, when I was a kid--late 70's thru 80's Charlotte, NC. WGIV and WBT, & 1310 WGSP radio.
WBT is now with Fox News Radio, but I remember well when they were CBS.
Heard this on WTOP for years, I think as recently as the 2000s.
CBS News, this is Dallas Townsend....
I love this sounder. I was three in 1969. When I heard this, I knew shit just got real!
Classic CBS Radio News theme used from the late-1960s to about the late-1980s or early-1990s. I love it!
I definitely remember this one. I was litttle back then as i remember being in the back seat of our old car we were going through.town in 68or 69 and this would come on the radio
That recording of the CBS News Sounder seems to be running at the wrong speed. It seems about 50 cents "sharp" (too fast).
I always assumed that the tone at the beginning was the audio marker for the top of the hour. In the UK, they have the BBC "pips" from the Greenwich Observatory.
I have been something of a CBS fanboy since I was a kid.
I made my first radio in grade-school when we lived in San Diego only a couple miles from the KFMB-AM transmitter back when they were on 540KHz (now a channel assigned to Mexico) KFMB was the CBS affiliate in San Diego (AM/FM/TV). KFMB radio (AM & FM?) seem to have disappeared.
Then we moved to the Los Angeles market where I listened to KNX (CBS Owned & Operated) when the news station was on AM 1070KHz (now moved to FM 97.1MHz).
And now I live in the Portland Oregon market where I listen to KXL (another CBS affiliate) where the news operation on 750KHz moved to their FM channel at 101.1MHz.
I think for now on when i see or hear major breaking newstory. I'll play this audio clip whenever i tell someone.
Back in the late 80s, KCCI used 0:07 as their severe weather sound.
Yes! As a kid in Des Moines in the '70s I always called it "Tornado Warning Music".
This was the sound during Watergate on WTOP 1500 AM. A great former Post Newsweek station and all news since March 17th 1969. The twang before the sounder was always 1/2 second after the time on the phone. The news cast was 6 minutes long compared to the 3 to 4 minutes now. You would also here a very quick two tone click to and from commercials.
Funny, I keep playing this and it's driving my dog crazy! Maybe I should us it as a ringtone to let my Dogs know Daddy's Home!🐕🐕🐕 When WSM-AM, Nashville, went to CBS News in the late 90s, "I think" CBS was still using this retro sounder.
"CBS RADIO NEWS, I'M FRANK SETTAPANNI....."
WBBM-AM in Chicago still uses a sounder with this tune. And the same tone at the beginning, for that matter.
Cloudy at 35° at 11:59 a.m. This is Alan Sheppard, WROW News.
Memories and sonic artifacts of days gone by. WBEN-AM in Buffalo NY was an affiliate of the CBS Radio network. The A-440 tone signified the top of the hour. How'd they realize this? Did they borrow Columbia University's electronic music studio?
Colin Cowherd has been using this to introduce his on-screen guests.
"This is Doug Poling reporting on the CBS Radio Network." Colin Cowherd also plays this sounder when introducing his "Cowherd Global Network" guest on Fox Sports Radio's "The Herd".
NBC radio had a news chime about the same time in the 1970’s that used the 3 note trade mark chime with a fast echo .
many a morning in the 70s waking up to hearing this coming out of the kitchen...
I think my favorite sounder was the one the ABC Information network used from the late '60s (its inception) till some time in the late '70s.
Gary Kerns is that the one in a minor key that went -
"Da-da-da-da....Daa - daa-
DAAAAA!!!!!!" ?
@@randyrudd5485 All I can say is it reminded me of a marching band, and the last three notes on the close went da, da, DAAH!
It almost sounds like a flip phone
0:05
My Gr.GrandMother on this station & 1010 WINS ALL DAY
WWJ News Radio 95 in Detroit...Love It!
The CBS World News Roundup!
“Set your time with WCBS. Four tones will follow. The final loudest one marks the exact time.”
CBS Radio News, I'm Aaron Ladner
Bing! Da-na-na, _nunna-na._ Diddy-diddy-dink-diddy-dink-diddy-diddy-dink... Yep. That's the sound. alright. This just in: FM radio hasn't been the same since the advent of "Clear Channel." Good Rock-N-Roll doesn't get played on the radio anymore, now it's mostly boring, one-sided talk, or annoying bubblegum pop. Film at eleven.
Indeed! Bingo!
Too bad you don't have the CBS Radio Sports sounder, I would really love to hear that one again!!
Originally from Des Moines Iowa, KCCI the CBS affiliate used this tone to announce severe weather bulletins. On youtube its listed as KCCI severe weather alert. Used to scare the shit out of me as a kid......
I always loved this sounder until I heard "CBS News. Elvis Presley, the king of popular music, has ...
I miss that sound with CBS radio news. Now it's similar except they add a symphony orchestra sound. They also do not use that little chirp sound before the CBS News sounder comes on. I know I hear it on WBEN radio in Buffalo, NY area
i could dance
A partial of that is inside another video on RUclips. Search for "Classic CBS Radio Stagers and Sounders."
When I heard this penta tune, I knew something was wrong somewhere…..
Cool bass line! 0:07
This is the sound of my parents sleeping in their room with white noise.
KDKA, Pittsburgh...
Wish they would go back to this sound. Really hate the orchestra sound they have now.
I wish I could find the old CBS Radio Sports intro, which was a variation on this news sounder.
I grew up with the jingle used in the 1980's and 1990's. CBS has made it (as well as the bad jingle currently in use) available for use as a ringtone: www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-radio-news-ringtones/ . The 1969 version does not yet appear to be downloadable. It and the 1980's version definitely have a greater mood of urgency.