WVBR - live audio recordings collection

Collection

Identifier: 35-9-3768

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Collection Description

The WVBR - live audio recordings collection includes 35 CDs of radio programs, recorded from live broadcasts over WVBR AM and FM, “The Voice of the Big Red,” Cornell’s radio station, compiled by Bob Mayers, along with a "Sampler Disc" with excerpts from the CDs and the "WVBR - Live Audio," dating from April 12, 1956, to November 8, 1960. The collection also includes a digital booklet and other digital files with information and relevant photographs about Mayers’ gradual initiation to the world of radio from his young age up to his arrival at Cornell radio, the program, and the tapes of the WVBR recordings written by Bob Mayers '59, B. Arch. '61, along with photographs of the collector’s memories of Cornell’s radio station “Voice of the Big Red” and the WVBR “Collaborata” Team. Recordings contain music, comedy skits, information about Cornell and the Ithaca area, local advertisements, a lecture by artist and prankster Hugh Troy, election night coverage of the 1960 Kennedy and Nixon Presidential elections, and more. All programs were restored and gifted to the Cornell University Archives in October 2009 by Bob Mayers '59, B. Arch. '61. Mayers is also the writer of the notes for each broadcast too. All radio programs were transcribed from the original reel-to-reel tapes by John Ward, Audio Engineer. Finally, unless noted otherwise, all programs were broadcast live.

The collection includes the following programs: Out of It (OI) Collaborata (CL) Mayers on the Rocks (MR) Straight to the Country (SC) Let there be Cool (LC) These Foolish Things (TT) Election Night 1960, Live coverage from the Memorial Room (EN) The World around Cornell (WC)

Dates

1956-1960.

Creator

Mayers, Robert A. (Person)
WVBR (Radio Station : Cornell University) (Organization)

Language of Materials

Collection material in English

Biographical Note

Bob Mayers was born in the 1930s and raised in Manhattan, NYC. He graduated from Cornell in 1961 with a B. Arch. Degree and continued his graduate studies at MIT. After graduating, he married Florence Cassen, BFA ’61, and embarked on architectural assignments in Africa, East Pakistan, and Latin America. He returned to New York City in 1967 and started an architectural practice with his old Cornell roommate John Schiff ‘60, B. Arch ‘61. His daughter Lela Mayers ‘90, MD ’98, met her husband Phil Davies ‘90 at Cornell. He has three grandchildren: Ruby Mayers Davies and Hazel Mayers Davies (twins, b. 2007) and William Isaac Nowes (b. 2009).

Mayers’ journey in the radio world started at an early age. At ten, he got his first Webcor wire and started recording his first interviews with friends and family. In his senior year of high school, he upgraded to a Wollensak tape recorder and formed a radio network with friends. Arrived at Cornell University in 1955, he soon got involved with Cornell’s radio station as a student volunteer and was an announcer for WVBR. Along with two classmates, Dick Hamlet ‘59, MS ‘64, an Engineering Physics major, and Steve Segal ’59, started a new program named Out of It, with satirical skits, music, interviews, and comments on campus events. Collaborata program, a “soap-opera” serial, was a new program launched with Lou Costanza and Steve Segal from 1957 to 1959. After Steve Segal’s and Lou Costanza’s graduation in 1959, Mayers, who had transferred to Architecture Department, created his solo program Mayers on the Rocks, a mix of monologues, interviews, music, and skits.

Extent

.5 cubic feet. (.5 cubic feet.)

Additional Description

Abstract

35 CDs of radio programs recorded from live broadcasts over WVBR AM and FM, “The Voice of the Bib Red,” Cornell’s radio station, along with a sampler CD and a digital booklet and other digital files with photographs and information about the program, the tapes, and the background of the WVBR recordings, compiled by Cornell alumnus Bob Mayers '59, B. Arch. '61, dating from April 12, 1956, to November 8, 1960.

Physical Description

Audio Recordings, Computer Media

General

Contact Information:: Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524 rareref@cornell.edu http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:: Bob Mayers
Date completed:: October 2009
EAD encoding:: Evan Fay Earle, March 2010

General

See also collection #37-7-m.1055 for audio and transcript of the 1952 student raid of WVBR; Ted Osborn, WVBR Records, #35-9-3512.; and WVBR Records, #35-9-1739.