Turn Back the Clock
Volume 4


 

Originally a regional program on Mutual Don Lee in 1952, Turn Back the Clock moved over to the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services in 1955, where it became a staple of programming into 1962. Essentially creating the format that would come to be known as an ‘oldies show’, Andy and Virginia Mansfield entertained listeners each morning with songs both old and new, allegedly picked from their own personal collection.

 

The fact that Turn Back the Clock had two hosts also added a bit of originality to the already very innovative program. Andy and Virginia Mansfield were in no way the first pair to co-host a program, nor were they even the first married couple to do so. As a matter of fact, they shared hosting duties on another program on NBC, Andy and Virginia, prior to their turn as keepers of classic music. They were, however, most likely the first co-hosts of an oldies show and the division of duties that listeners typically hear in a program like this was quite evident.

 

Andy and Virginia each had very specific roles. Virginia was in charge of newer music, both new recordings of old songs and also any other new music that got on the air. Less historian and more supporter of new artists, Virginia shared fun facts about the artists, but left the actual history to her husband. Andy Mansfield definitely established himself on the show as the program’s expert on the classic songs, delving a bit into the story behind the original recordings, knowing such details as the various artists who had recorded songs over the years or where listeners might have heard the songs he played. There was no real rivalry between the two noticed in the various programs in this collection, but it is pretty clear that each of them had their own favorites and their passion for the songs definitely shows through in the interplay between them.

 

Turn Back the Clock Volume 4 from Radio Archives spotlights twenty episodes of the first oldies show restored to excellent audio quality. 

Here is the complete content of this ten-hour collection: