Any Ideas for a Mad Max Radio Program?

[Karol]

I had an idea recently: why not have an official radio station based at the Road Warrior Weekend Event?

We could play a nice variety of songs fans like, as well as have fun announcements, commercials and station identification.

We could have adverts for the Atomic Cafe, various Merchants at the event, etc.

Any ideas? Any suggestions for a playlist?

[MFP 2020]

Vintage AC/DC, of course ("Rocker" is a must). I'm sure you remember they were playing AC/DC at the Aero.

Songs that include MM quotes? (There's one by Barbie Bones I can provide if needed.) I suppose the "mechanical" music from MMBTD would work, too.

[ziggy]

That would be a local station run by the homesteaders with updates on bandit sightings, nuclear winter weather conditions, and the like (boring).
It could be a propaganda tool for the new warrior ruling class, officially endorsed and supported by The Great Lord Humongous of course (fun).

[Karol]

Do you think all of the music should be hard rock? ACDC, Metallica, Rob Zombie? What about playing some classic Aussie bands like Midnight Oil or INXS? What about a little Hip-Hop? Or a little Prodigy or Depeche Mode? Old Tina Turner? Phil Collins? Wouldn't it be nice to also bring fans back into the early 80's timeframe?
Should we can try to appeal to a wide range of participants, or just stick with nothing but harder rock and soundtrack snippets? Anyone have an opinion?

[Max Replica]

I think what you do with this radio broadcast really depends on what you want. Is it a fun addition to the weekend or a way to add to the immersive post apocalyptic atmosphere? Of course, it can be both, but whichever aspect is more important to you could tend to diminish the other.

For example, if it's a bunch of recent music and some funny ads for vendors that happen to be there for the weekend, it may diminish the sense of being "in the movies".

If you make it more like something that could have been heard within the movies Mad Max 2 or 3, it might be harder to slip in some of the fun things and shoutouts to vendors and attendees. Harder, but not impossible if you get creative.

If I were to think of the perfect version for ME, it might be something like this:
It's some hermit in the desert broadcasting the last remaining radio station. It's not a real station of course, just a shack somewhere with an antenna, and the cracked and scratched recordings he can find, and occasional announcements about whatever he feels people should know. Or it could be a message from Papagallo's tribe, letting everyone out in the wasteland know there's still hope (broadcasting from their place in the sun), or maybe it's the survivors at the end of MM3, sending out a message each night as they light the city. (not unlike messages to any survivors still out in the wasteland like in a zombie movie such as 28 days later). Any of the above would mean that all of the music would be "oldies" from before the apocalypse, so nothing after the late 80s (both for that feeling of nostalgia and because it fits in with the fan-theorized timelines - MM1 in the early 80s, MM2 a few years after that, and then MM3 18 years after MM2.) And in the world of the films it's not likely that anybody was putting out records and CDs by the time of the events in MM2.

That's if you want it to be more 'canon' of course. I mean, we all obsess about our costumes being movie accurate or at least "movie plausible", why not make the radio transmissions the same way?

One other idea I had was that the broadcast could actually be an old loop that's still running even though the people who originally recorded it are long gone. It's the last government radio broadcast (complete with music that gets interrupted a la War Of The Worlds) that has been running on a loop since the eve of society's collapse ("this entire broadcast will repeat until the solar powered batteries no longer function If there are any survivors left, remember you are still human beings, with dignity". The cool part about this one is that it could include old MFP broadcasts and government PSAs (like "water is precious, and so is your geiger counter, don't drink water without it".)

As for the style of music, I'm not sure it should be all of one type. But I do think it should include a lot of Aussie bands. Yeah, ACDC would certainly be in there, but also INXS, Midnight Oil etc..

Then again, if you just want to have a fun hard rockin post apocalyptic soundtrack, you can ignore all of the above and throw in some soundtrack snippets. My versions are a lot of work anyway.
Now who would you possibly find that would want to put in that much effort... ; )

[HUMVEE Driver]

I think everyone's hit on all the good suggestions, but I'll throw out a few. I don't think anyone mentioned the having MPF 'safety tips'. Like your typical stupid useless government announcements. (Remember 'duck and cover'?) Also, what about the song that Baby was singing in Mad Max? One last suggestion, find some songs from post apocalyptic games. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel for PS2 has a pretty good song, a happy '50's type jingle called "Nuclear Blast". Oh, one more. Sheryl Crow has a new song called "Gasoline". It's about oil wars and shortages, I think. Part of the refrain goes "and the gasoline; it will be free, will be free yeah." A cool song.

HUMVEE Driver

[rebelgtp]

I think it could be a cool idea. I like the idea of it being some old guy out in the waste land that found the station and is using it as kinda of a way to communicate with others even though he never sees them. I kinda picture the old guy that was a Viet Nam vet in the movie "The Postman", in part of the movie he was working on an old radio set trying to see if anyone could communicate back. I also think that it would not be so much "metal" that would be playing, there maybe some harder stuff but I think most of it would be more to remember the good times in the past. The kind of music that would make people sit back in the waste and smile if they ran across it on a radio.

If it was say a government run station, I would say it would have some of the cheese ball government approved messages and the music from their "approved list". If you don't know what I mean on this watch the movie "Good Morning Viet Nam" and how they try and control the music and news being broadcast to the troops. Actually that could give you some very good ideas of programing ideas and the "tone" of the station. Loads of propaganda to be played.

Now if you wanted a "metal" station I would say it would have to be broadcast from some place like Barter Town or something like that. Again lots of propaganda to put out against the government and to convince those in "towns" they should just allow their group to take what they want.

I think no matter what the station should have a "scratchy" not quite in tune sound to it. You know like you are using old beat up equipment and don't quite have enough power to keep it running. Maybe even have black out periods where the station stops broadcasting and comes back up in a few minutes because of some problem with the gear. Things like that.

[Karol]

I am leaning towards making the radio broadcast something that is both entertaining as well as something that enhances the atmosphere of the event and creates a feeling of being in a Mad Max world, or at least conjures up associations with Australia, the 80's, etc.
I like all of the ideas here, but I don't think we should get too strict with the music selection (i.e. nothing but cassette tapes before '87). Timelines are just theories anyway. And the hermit idea is a good one, but I'm not sure if I would want to sit through a program like that for very long. Blackout periods are a definite no-no: silence is deadly. Two minutes of dead space will mean everyone will turn off their radios and do something else. But if another transmission interrupts the current one (i.e. Sydney survivors are transmitting a message) that could be fun. Someone also suggested having a song suddenly stop half-way through because of skipping/missing data.
What I want to go for is a playlist that is appropriate for such a big, fun, special event, and with really creative adverts, PSA's and station ID's. I'd like it to be sort of a parody of big-name radio stations. I am thinking of something more like a Grand Theft Auto radio for Mad Max fans. Lots of rock, Aussie music, soundtrack music mixed up with adverts and PSA's all in thick Aussie accents.

[rebelgtp]

alright I just had kind of a weird idea, instead of it going dead for a minute or two have it cut out in the middle of a song and be like the DJs mike got turned on and you hear this crashing and stuff breaking. Maybe some yelling and stuff and a few gunshots the DJ comes back apologizes for the interruption but some bikers were just trying to break into the station

I like the idea of the interruption by the survivors group as well. Maybe a message kinda like the one the guy was broadcasting in "I am Legend" we are survivors this is where we will be at this time come find us kinda thing.

[Gasoline]

Karol,
If you need voice actors let me know.
I have experience in this area as I did recorded segments for a media agency when I was living in Japan.
I can pre-record PSA's and email them to you in an exageratted aussie accent.
It could be something you pre-write or something I come up with. (or both)
I can record them in .wav or .mp3 format and you could slot them into your recording.
Either way, this is going to be a huge project for you and it wouldn't hurt for you to have various inputs and help from people.

Have a think about what tone the radio show will take.
Grand theft auto style which is tongue in cheek, or a serious submersive post-apocolyptic theme.

I love the ideas everybody has been putting forward. I would suggest you dont discount anything thats been put forward as it all has relevance to the worlds of what we picture as a post apocolyptic world. Everybody has a romantic notion of this kind of world and the people going to the event will have the same variation as all the people on this forum, all would have a different idea of what that world would be like.

With this in mind, I suggest you absorb all the ideas and combine them to create a radio format that has all the life and ideas that everybody see as relevant to this world you want to breathe life into. My suggestion would be a pre-recorded late 70's govt radio program with all the community messages and blatant propoganda that you want plus the songs that remind you of that era. This transmission occasionaly gets jammed and interupted by survival transmissions or cries for help...etc.
This way you get the best of all worlds that every has outlined in their ideas.
- Propoganda and advertisements lend humour to the radio program.
- Songs submerge the listener into that era.
- Survival transmissions bring a reality to the fact that society has decayed and all are vulnerable.

You will only need to create a 2 hour recording and then loop it. That is long enough to entertain everybody for the weekend but not short enough to be too repetative. People will most likely have favourite parts and look forward to hearing them again. People wont be just sitting there listening to every second so in reality they may only hear each part of it once or twice over the whole event.

I dont mean to sound like im steering you, just offering up ideas along with everybody else. Im also so impressed you came up with this idea for the benefit of others. It is going to make that event truly amazing. I wish I had the funds to go. Judging by the work on your website, you are a highly creative man and I would like to lend a hand if you want me to. Good work.