Any Ideas for a Mad Max Radio Program?

[Karol]

Thanks Gasoline,
I appreciate your input. I hope I didn't sound like I was dismissing everyone here - sometimes I am in a bit of a rush and don't have time to respond to every idea.
Humvee's song suggestions were great.
Now that I've had a chance to listen to a bunch of GTA adverts, I have to say they are a bit too silly and wacky for the direction I want to take. But I love how they just nail that professional radio ad feel and sound - even making fun of all of those cheesy and obnoxious ads that drive us crazy.
I know some of you would prefer a serious "in-character" program full of period music and old government PSA's, but I am still not convinced. That kind of program would be fantastic if I was out in the desert by myself, but if I am out at a crowded event and I am laughing and drinking with my friends, I think I would prefer to just have some good music and fun, tongue-in-cheek ads to listen to instead. But that's not to say that we can't have some ads or PSA's that are more realistic. We could even throw in some fake old 70's PSA's by introducing them as a flashback bit "This day in 1977."

When I came up with this idea, I was inspired partially by Dragon*Con TV, which is a TV program at the Dragon*Con convention. Look it up on YouTube. It features a heap of parody adverts and random stuff to add another dimension of fun to the convention.

I've put together a looped program before for a party of mine. I was planning to make this program about 3 hours long. Of course, most of it will be songs. Maybe 50 songs total. A few of them will be soundtrack songs. It would be nice to have as many as 20 adverts/PSA/etc to break up the songs. I had thought about asking people for submissions, but I would hate to have to reject submissions over style or quality. I want to maintain some control over the process so they are consistent and good. If you have voice over experience, then we can definitely work together.

I would love to hear some suggestions for propaganda pieces. And also songs.

[HUMVEE Driver]

I think you've got a solid handle on things, Karol. I'm looking forward to hearing the finished product. And just FYI, I never got the impression you were dissing or dismissing anyone's ideas.

One more idea, from the time of Mad Max 1, is the possibility of invasion by Japan. Kind of like back in WWII, I think Japan had thier eye on Australia's resources, etc. (But then, I'm no history major) Anyways, I always thought they were the ones who nuked Oz's cities. Mabye a PSA about being on the lookout for signs of invasion or something.

HUMVEE Driver

[Gasoline]

Karol,
Im trying to think of a way to tie in all the ideas you have at your disposal and still make it seem plausible or feasible that a radio station is still playing music and ads after the apocalypse....Lol.

This following is just proposed exposition and would not be put on the airwaves as a story or part of your radio program. Its just a suggestion of how this radio program was created.
An idea I have is the thought of a refugee sneaking through the ruins of a small urban municipality. They break into a regional radio transmission studio. At first it is to find shelter from rioters and also to find water and food. Even though the electricity grid is dead, the station is still running on generator power which came on automatically when the grid went down. This guy knows he is not going to survive long if he ventures into the wasteland on his own so he decides to stay for a while. This unknown person is not there to fulfill any real purpose and they dont honestly think that they are really going to help anybody by transmitting. Just some random person who has managed to evade marauders over the past few weeks and stumbled across a recently abandoned rural radio station. The reason its abandoned is, people have abandoned their jobs and fled when the riots and the looting started.
The station still has backup generators for emergency which he is using so he figures he only has a limited amount of time with which to transmit.
When searching the studio he discovers the shelving full of vinyl records. He has everything at his fingertips (up until 1979).
He also has at his fingertips all of the sponsored commercial reels.

This person knows its the end of the world and being a pacifist knows that his days are numbered. He decides to sit down and play all of his favourite songs one last time before his inevitable demise and it just so happens he has the ability to transmit them on the airwaves at the same time. He is quite flippant knowing he has nothing left to lose and he really couldn't give a shit. He entertains himself further by playing the role of a DJ as he flips the next vinyl into the turntable in this generator powered studio. His voice on the radio as he introduces songs is fairly impartial. He may even give a short two sentence story about particular songs and what they mean to him. He may even make an occasional remark hinting that, he realises all of those events no longer matter as civilisation crumbles into "lord of the flies".

Note: You speak about the genius radio segments which make up the sound track of the GTA series of games. I am also a fan of those as they add so much more flavour and culture to a virtual world. It would be highly benefitial to the event if you went through with this. As for the style of delivery this anonymous amateur DJ would have; It would be fair to compare this character with Axl Rose when he does the DJ voice for "the DUST" on GTA: San andreas

In the studio aside from the vinyls and the microphone, he has the preloaded advertisements in the sound deck. He can occasionaly play sound bytes made by corporations that in essence no longer exist. They are advertising products (for example cars) that you imagine are now either burnt wrecks or have been turned into all sorts of monstrocities. He also puts on the government messages and then comments about their hidden propoganda messages. You could experiment with this any way you want as you wont be locked into a style or a theme with what this guy puts on or speaks about. You have free reign. You cant make any mistakes. It will also be a faster project for you to complete if you are not burdoned with the fear of stuffing it up.

Because it is going to be a looped program, you dont need an introduction or a sign off. You are just dealing with a 3 hour body of content. Anybody listening to it will not know where the start or finish is as there will be none. As for the spirit of the 3 hours and for people to make sense of the transmission, you just need to interlace the talkback with hints of where this guy has come from and what his thoughts are. He could mention places he has passed through and how they are now nothing but ash. I suggest he doesnt ask for help or for other survivors to come to him as that would be revealing his location. Most people driving around now in cars are the savages and most cars have radios so it stands to reason he remains tight lipped about his location. He also knows that they are all beyond help.
-He could talk about elements of the world that would only be present in a post apocolyptic world.
-He may mention how silent it is when there are no pedestrians or vehicles in the street.
-He may mention that he is seeing more and more wildlife due to the absence of human activity. Maybe a kangaroo staring at him through the smashed window of the lobby.
-He could mention the diminishing power of the generators and how he doesnt know how much longer he can transmit.
-He observes how dark the nights are now there are no street lights, but how many stars he can see as a result.
-He may even reflect on the past week or so that he roamed from town to town on foot. He observed changes in himself and how his senses were heightened as a result of our natural survival instincts. His hearing was far more sensitive especially at night when he ccouldn't see. Not in a predatorial sense, but as a frightened prey.
-He could mention that a Dark Green Mack truck blew through the last town he was in and he didn't know where that "Cat" was running to but he hopes he does well.
-He could even make jokes about his situation and you know its his way of dealing with his approaching demise. for example:
"and now for the forecast........Its hot.......it's dry.......and we're all gonna die.......(long pause)......lets play another track shall we."

As for songs, you can play rock, disco, anything that adds ambience to this virtual world and would be pre 1980.
I dare say that more ideas will be surfacing for days to come and you may end up taking this in a whole new direction.
I do want to add that this is your idea Karol and I dont want to impose in any way. I dont want any credit either. Im just motivated to help you out as I know whats involved and overall its a fantastic idea.
Im onboard if you need help.

Here are some examples of advertisements you could throw in between songs.
Even though these are youtube videos, you can rip the sound and treat them as radio ads

"and now ladies and gentleman....a word from a....former sponsor"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4Ic3RqPIJo - Holden ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOJbWMeLUWk - Yamaha motorbike ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWsez482rgQ - a true australian ad from the 80's (still sounds 70's)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSuSGlAaZZk - coke ad from the 80's (the music style is still seventies though)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcCuFTgw_Zo - harmonica ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwHI3UDxE5c - old ford falcon xt ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0L0-UH_B4s - star wars toy ad

Bear in mind that a lot of the ads we got in the seventies were also american made, so dont limit yourself to aussie sounding only.
This is just my 2 cents worth. Can we continue to add to this?

[Max Replica]

Ripping some audio from real Aussie ads is a great idea.

Two quick comments - 1979 doesn't need to be the cutoff. After all, the 1979 movie Mad Max starts with "a few years from now" so that could really be anytime in the 80s. And Mad Max takes place BEFORE everything went to shit.
Also, whatever we can get done for length would be great, and a solid 3 hours would be a lot of work, but if we can do more, I suggest more. My house parties usually last about 6 hours and the 2-3 hour loop of music I make starts to become noticeable. I would think for a whole weekend that 3 hours might start to be really repetitive, even though people won't be listening all the time.

I think among those of use that are going to work on this we'll have plenty of music to pad it out. And the use of some audio from real Aussie ads like those above will help to compliment whatever original stuff we're able to put in.

[HUMVEE Driver]

One more idea: (Do they ever end?) The Lone Wolf vehicle was only named in the script, but it would be cool for some kind of advertising to allude to it. I remember a while back someone mentioned that the Lone Wolf may have been made as some kind of sprint racecar. So as society is crumbling, events like illegal, winner (survivor) take all, full contact races begin popping up. They even get a few radio stations to play commercials for them. So: "Head on over to Ramblin' Ramey's racetrack tonight and tonight only for the lastest and greatest sprint race this side of Lake Disappointment! Watch the carnage and wreckage unfold as returning champion Guy Norris pits his custom two-engined Lone Wolf against eight hopeful competitors, including Big Bad Bart in his Extreme XA! It's unlimited, no holds barred, full contact racing at its finest, so ride, bike, or walk on over to Rambin' Ramey's TONIGHT!!! Admission is five guzzoline credit slips, or just two gallons of juice! Be there, and HEAR THE ENGINES ROAR!!! (And then quickly) Sprintracingandbettingonsaidracingisillegalinmostpartsofthecountryandthiseventisforentertainmentpurposesonly.

HUMVEE Driver

[Gasoline]

(And then quickly) Sprintracingandbettingonsaidracingisillegalinmostpartsofthecountryandthiseventisforentertainmentpurposesonly.

HUMVEE Driver

I love the fast talking disclaimer on radio ads like that. Great idea.

[Gasoline]

Two quick comments - 1979 doesn't need to be the cutoff. After all, the 1979 movie Mad Max starts with "a few years from now" so that could really be anytime in the 80s. And Mad Max takes place BEFORE everything went to shit.

Yes, you are spot on J. I had forgotten that. It would be good to include 80's songs as well.
I do think it would be better if we stayed away from some of the elctronic 80's songs that started to surface around that time as they may not suit the post apocalyptic highway lifestyle.....Lol.

Is there a way we can start adding to a wish list of songs without polluting this forum with single line entries which will blow this topic out?
Maybe Karol could make a sub topic in roadwar which we can submit song ideas to. So that topic doesnt become 50 pages long, he could cut and paste all suggestions back to the first entry of the topic so we end up with a single entry post that contains all of the suggestions. It also saves people from flicking through pages and pages of posts to see if their suggestion has already been made by somebody else and prevents doubling up.

At the end, Karol will have a nice list of songs to choose from which will make his job far easier.

Edit: just created a song posting topic in roadwar, so go for your lives.

[Road kill]

The PS2 game Roadkill, is a Mad Max inspired game. It has diferent choices of stataions like GTA. One is dedicated to original music that is post apocalyptic themed. I also like Licorice Road also.

[Karol]

Can anyone help me find some of these video game songs on MP3 or WAV? Nuclear Blast from Fallout? Roadkill songs?

[HUMVEE Driver]

Ok, I have both games and I went to the manuals to see who did which songs. The Fallout song "Nuclear Blast" doesn't have a name; they just refer to it as Main Title. All the manual says is that it was composed by Craig Stewart Garfinkle. Limewire has nothing from him, nor does Wiki. Google only says that he is some kind of composer. My next step is to try and contact him.

As for Roadkill, there are 50 songs listed in the credits; all with "written by ______". Before I can try to find any of them, which ones were you interested in?

Also, I tried just putting the games in a CD player to see if the tracks were playable that way. (A lot of games have hidden songs you can find like that.) But nope, nothing there.

I do have the Twisted Metal title song on CD and on my computer. Let me know if you're interested in that one and we'll work out how to get it to you.

HUMVEE Driver