Last Updated on August 21, 2021 by Raider1
Art Bell at home in his studio.This page contains a collection of background articles on Art Bell
Who is Art Bell? Art Bell is a radio talk show host who broadcasts from a studio in his home in Pahrump Nevada. He enjoys the seclusion, beauty and idiosyncrasies of the high desert. Art Bell has two syndicated shows, Coast To Coast AM and Dreamland. Show topics range from the prosaic to the eccentric. Being something different to everyone, the show, if not informative, is entertaining. Although mostly conservative Art has more moderate views on some issues and is not unwilling to share them with his audience. Art has been doing his Coast To Coast show for over ten years now, and is still growing in popularity, as evident by the now 320 plus stations that carry his nightly show.
Some of the appeal of the show are callers to the show. Unlike most radio talk shows there are no call screeners on Art’s programs, allowing any and all to participate. Some callers are regulars to the show like the notorious Doctor Democrat and Charlie Liberal. Others are not even from earth. Art will occasionally invite extraterrestrials to call and have a chat with earthlings. Art usually limits calls to three minute or less and can handle many calls during the night. This volume allows anyone with the persistence to redial to get on the show and air their views, or ask questions on most all topics. The strange, weird and outright outrageous and unbelievable are the usual fare for discussion including UFOs, aliens, pararnormal and such, but Art is also known for his interest in politics and current events.
Art frequently has guests on the show, who can be intriguing and controversial. Art’s knack for interviewing, keeps his audience informed and entertained.
Art Bell Bio
Art Bell is no ordinary talk show host, not just because “Coast to Coast AM” is the dominant live all-night show in America today, but because Art’s a true radio fanatic, the ultimate “new media” personality. How many hosts get off the air after a five hour show, turn on another microphone, and talk to fellow Ham operators around the country? How many talk hosts have the engineering know-how to produce their own show, run their own technical board, and generally control the ebb and flow of the show from the first on- air minute to the last? Art Bell’s grasp of the electronic revolution–and how to make it personal–is unique; he’s a talk show host primed to influence 21st century America in more ways than one.
Although there’s something distinctly “new century” about the Art Bell mystique, Art’s upbringing was unusually traditiional. The son of a Marine Colonel father and a Drill Sergeant mother, Art developed a taste for news and analysis at an early age; he knew that current events could have a significant–and immediate–impact on his life; the family could be re-stationed for the slightest geopolitical reason. Art made a point of staying tuned into world events–in other words, he became a news junkie.
By the age of 13, Art was an FCC licensed radio technician. A few years later, as a young airman, Bell and an equally foolhardy buddy built their own pirate radio station right on Amarillo Air Force base, secretly broadcasing Rock ‘n’ Roll to appreciative locals. These kind of antics were not limited to bootleg military radio. As a civilian DJ. Art Bell landed in the Guinness Book of Records for a 116 hour (and 15 minutes) solo broadcast marathon “playing the hits” on KENI in Anchorage Alaska. The money raised there allowed Art to charter a DC 8, fly to Vietnam and rescue 130 Vietnamese Orphans stranded in Saigon at the war’s end. They were eventually all brought to America and adopted by American families. Art’s no-nonsense demeanor doesn’t fool his listerners who sense he’s more complex underneath.
Art Bell’s political views are complex as well. He spent years on the island of Okinawa, living a Japanese lifestyle and working for KSBK, the only English speaking station in Asia;it gave him a Pacific Rim perspective and a grasp of international affairs that few talk show hosts really have. That plus his military background and his love of the news, made Art Bell a natural talk show host, a man who understood how politics, human nature, and cultural dynamics can affect national and international stablilty for better of for worse.
Art’s University of Maryland Engineering studies got him work at various stations in America as a “combo man” able to be a board operator and chief engineer. This led to many opportunities to do on-air work, including his first job as a talk host on KENI in Anchorage, and even to doing a stint in Tijuanna, Mexico, driving over the border everyday to “talk back” to U.S. from the giant XTRA. Art’s love of travel has kept him crossing borders ever since, from the Philippines to Panama to points East.
Meanwhile, Art became immersed in the high tech world of television, eventually leaving radio to be part of building what became known as “Prime Cable.” As Chief Engineer for Times Mirror in Las Vegas, Art was on the fast track. His radio life had faded but not his radio love; before long Art was back of a microphone. When the 50 thousand watt giant in Las Vegas, KDWN offered him the chance to broadcast all night to 13 Western states, he grabbed the opportunity and never looked back.
Later, a chance to go network opened up and Chancellor Broadcasting Company was created. But that presented a new challenge when it came to the radio world. Nobody thought all-night live radio had a future after Larry King abandoned his throne. Advertisers thought no one would listen anymore. “Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell” proved them wrong.
Art’s connects to his audience not just by the full force of modern technology from satellite to Internet to fax, but also by his unique view of the world, and a daring to search all questions, no matter what the answer. When Art flips that switch and says “From the high desert and the great American Southwest, “he’s talking to millions of Americans who want to be part of a unique experience.
If you’ve ever sat in a darkened cockpit, in front of a twinkling control panel, and prepared for a night flight, you know the feel of what all-night radio can be like–the excitement of knowing that you’ll be flying high and covering great distances while others are asleep. On “Coast to Coast AM” Art Bell is at the controls, guiding his millions of national listeners through the night’s news, and bringing them in for a safe landing by dawn. That’s Art Bell, and that’s the Art Bell show. His fans know the feeling very well.
Personal Communications
Art has direct access to the Internet, but he prefers AOL for E-mail. Art has been known to visit the AOL “Grassy Knoll” chat room in the Parascope area.
He also is sometimes on the Ham Radio after the show on a frequency of 3820 lower sideband. You may contact
him via his call sign of W6OBB. This is a picture of his station. If you are a SWLer, you must have SSB capability on your shortwave receiver to copy him.
Almost every morning on the 75 meter amateur radio frequency of 3847 khz starting about 7:00AM to almost 8:45+ a group of hams talk about what some of the gentlemen have heard on the Art Bell’s show.
Art talks about “The Quickening” on his program from time to time. Here is our attempt at defining The Quickening.
By the way, Art’s birthday is June 17th, 1945.