The Murray the K Archives Are Now Digital

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - July 26, 2022 - PRLog -- After years on shelves in storage, The Murray the K Archives' audio collection has been given new life. The hours and hours of analog audio have been transferred to digital, bringing historical recordings into the online era.

Murray's groundbreaking television special It's What's Happening, Baby (which introduced music video 15 years before MTV) and its follow-up Murray the K in New York have already been digitized and enhanced. It's What's Happening, Baby aired in 2021, its first broadcast since it originally aired - only once - as a primetime special on CBS in 1965.

As the top-rated DJ in the world's most important music market in the '60s, Murray Kaufman had the ability to attract Top 10 talent to the week-long rock 'n' roll shows that he staged three times a year. That talent, in turn, wanted the benefit of his far-reaching popularity. Whether on AM or as the pioneer who helped create the first commercial FM rock station at WOR-FM, Murray the K attracted the performers who became the superstars of rock.

In the Archives' audio collection are Interviews with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, which haven't been heard since they were originally broadcast in the 1970s, along with backstage recordings at the Brooklyn Fox Theater (including the stars of the show singing Christmas carols), themed programs from WNBC radio, interviews with recording artists for The Story of a Song series, interviews of Murray by others, Q&A sessions with fans, and discussions with the Beatles during their early days in America.

Audition reels Murray did for programs that never made it on the air are also in the Archives plus shows he recorded for Radio Free America, parody routines he created and produced, and the jingles, theme songs, and audio effects that punctuated his on-air programs.

All's (mostly) well that ends (mostly) well

There were some casualties. After so long, some of the tapes had deteriorated too badly to be saved. Fortunately, none of them contained information or performances that aren't available through other sources.

Yet Murray's analog archive is full of unique recordings that offer a glimpse back in time before podcasts started doing what radio had already done many decades ago.

For information or a list of the recordings, contact The Murray the K Archives.