WNBC-TV early 80's Test Card Music

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In about 1981-82 during summer vacation I used to stay up all night watching TV. WNBC-TV in New York used to play the same 10-12 instrumental pieces with a test card every morning around 4:45 AM before signing on.

Any suggestions for how I could track these songs down? I remember one or two of them very well. There were woodwinds and strings involved.

I've seen CD's of British test card music, but US test card music is rarely discussed.

― Maltodextrin (Maltodextrin), Thursday, 22 June 2006 07:27 (nineteen years ago)

check youtube. they have clips of old station IDs.

― aimee semple mcmansion (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:49 (nineteen years ago)

i seem to remember some good WPIX cards on your blog Jody

― jinx hijinks (sanskrit), Thursday, 22 June 2006 13:39 (nineteen years ago)

I've looked on YouTube, they mostly have short logos. What I'm looking for is about 30-45 minutes worth of music.

― Maltodextrin (Maltodextrin), Friday, 23 June 2006 17:11 (nineteen years ago)

From what you're describing, I'd imagine that they're either standard-repertoire classical pieces, or commercial/"canned" library music (the musical equivalent of stock footage). If the former, it should be easy to find them; if the latter, rather more difficult...

― lurker #2421, inc. (lurker-2421), Saturday, 24 June 2006 01:42 (nineteen years ago)

Thanks, yeah, I'm pretty sure they weren't standard classical pieces - too jazzy. It would probably have been either library pieces or an album.

I found a web page which says there was a rule in the US that stations couldn't show music with a test pattern for more than 15 minutes. So these WNBC segments were probably not more than 15 minutes long. But they made a big impression on me.

― Maltodextrin (Maltodextrin), Saturday, 24 June 2006 04:43 (nineteen years ago)

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