About OIDAR:

As I would lie in bed on a weekend night steeling myself for further helpings of hell mandated by professional educators, I used to catch the broadcasts of OIDAR via a 150,000-watt Juarez megastation called XEROK (X-ROCK 80), which had no trouble reaching Arizona with its across-the-border megawattery.

Like Oobi, OIDAR is one of those things I wasn't sure I hadn't imagined, until I could confirm its existence independently.

Below is what little material I could find on the web regarding OIDAR Wavelength:

From Music for Nimrods:
Blend a 1970's Top 40 radio show with Philip K. Dick and The Firesign Theater and you just might end up with one of my favorite radio programs from the early seventies...The OIDAR Wavelength! A typical song would be playing on your typical 1970's radio station, when all of a sudden, it would sound like your radio was tuning up and down the dial, and then up and down the shortwave dial! Then, the soothing voice of Programmer #9 would appear and explain that you were listening to a radio station from the future that happened to play "oldies" from the 20th century! Between songs, there were news stories from the future, usually with an ironic twist ending. For a young radio geek like me, this was mind blowing! I even joined the OIDAR Wavelength fanclub, and they sent me a computer card from the future, with holes punched into it and everything. It kinda looked like the image above, not exactly.

(Music for Nimrods has made available to future audio archaologists the complete OIDAR broadcast from 1974 in mp3 format. A transcription appears on the right side of your computer screen.)

From Jerry Liebowitz:
In 1968, while at Santa Monica College he [Jerry Liebowitz] discovered there was a place after all for his twisted drawings and began selling cartoons to Berkeley's infamous underground "Yellow Dog Comics" which launched him into his first commercial assignment - an album painting for Jefferson Airplane spin-offs, Hot Tuna. Writing kept pace with visual development as he became head writer for the weekly tongue-in-cheek futuristic radio show "The Oidar Wavelength" which was syndicated to over 100 rock stations nationally.

Cynthia Bage has a brief article on OIDAR Wavelength at Gather.

Further OIDAR chat from Usenet:

The program was called The Oidar Wavelength (oidar is radio spelled backwards). You remember the premise correctly, although it really wasn't an "oldies" show, per se; not just a "Monster Mash"/"Rock Around the Clock" program, its concept was:
In the future, in another culture, what would rock music's interesting artifacts be?
That sexy voice was Cy Holiday (may not be spelled correctly) of KRLA and the other prominent voice was Tom Beck.
(I don't care what the premise was; Cy Holiday could make *anything* worth listening to!)
I don't remember for sure if KRLA carried it (somehow I don't remember it being on there), but another powerhouse that did was XEROK in Juarez--X-Rock.

While I don't have tapes of the shows, somewhere, in unopened Moving Box No. 396 is the demo single for the show that was sent out to radio stations.
This show would be worth bringing back!

I don't know if there was a production company behind the show, besides its creators. (If I ever find that 45 ''')

It was on the air for less than a year I'd say, staring in the spring or summer of 1974. A friend reminded me of something regarding this show, which, remember, was supposedly based on pop culture archaeology being conducted in a future far from our own.
A song would occasionally be presented as an artifact from "the vinyl era". That future (where the "vinyl era" was part of the past is here!)

Here's Dan O'Day (Chickenman himself, which we used to hear on KOY) on Usenet writing about OIDAR:

It was a program which paported to come from sometime in the future, when the music of the 1970's was called the vynal era. This let them play what was then current music as if they were oldies. They also had some great Si-Fi bits between tracks.
Does anyone know what happened to Cy Holiday who did the Verbal input to the program, or anyone who was part of the program?
I thought I was only one who ever heard of OIDAR. (By the way, that is the correct spelling; it is "RADIO" in reverse.)
I ran it as a PD in 1973, and I have all the episodes in a box somewhere. (Maybe there only were 12? Can't recall.)
It was a good idea, wonderfully executed.
I'll call around to see whatever happened to Cy Holiday (I'm in Los Angeles, where OIDAR was produced). As I recall, the producer of OIDAR also worked on a syndicated program for Charlie Tuna. I met him once, but it was SO long ago....Jeff something?

Some info re: XEROK (X-ROK 80), Juarez, Mexico

From Utah Radio News:
Used to hear soul and oldies on XEPRS 1090, religion on XEG 1050, and of course the legendary Juarez top-40 station 'X-ROK 80' (XEROK 800) and its futuristic hour-long 'Oidar Wavelength' sci-fi meets 70s oldies program. ran in the summer of 1974. I was made aware of how the station promoted itself while actually visiting El Paso once. They had studios on this side and were one of those super-power stations.

From Reel Radio:
XEROK 80 was One Hundred Fifty Thousand Non-Directional watts. HELLO NORTH AMERICA! I have always been lucky, timing is everything. I was in a little adobe studio on the outskirts of Juarez Mexico talking to over 22 million Americans on North America's most powerful AM Rock Radio Station of the day (LIVE and in living color...) XeROK 80 was a blast, a once in a lifetime opportunity and I rode that wave through early 1980.

More from Reel Radio:
Several of us from KNUS/Dallas moved to El Paso to launch X-ROK 80. When we arrived, we found an old, run-down facility with one working studio. It would be a two-month wait before we actually went on the air with our new format. The local radio community was abuzz with rumors about what we'd do, and we decided to fan the flames a bit by broadcasting random hours of "sneak preview" programming.
A Mexican radio station, XEROK was required to broadcast at least 50% Spanish-language programming unless it was pre-recorded. We got around this regulation by pre-recording all our programming one day before it aired. That's right - we'd go in on Monday to do our Tuesday shows, and so forth. No news, no weather, no PSAs. No FCC, either, so no problem. We also had another advantage - signal. At the same time we were waiting to flip the format, we were also waiting for our new 150-thousand-watt transmitter, which, according to Continental Electronics, would provide a local-grade signal at night from downtown San Francisco to downtown New Orleans. Yikes!! I'll never forget the afternoon when we got a call from Rich Brother Robbin at KGB/San Diego, who said we were booming in to Southern California like a local station, and that was with our "baby" 50kw transmitter!

And still more from Reel Radio:
XEROK was 150,000 watts and licensed to Juarez, Mexico, and leased by investors in El Paso, Texas. (I guess this was the forerunner to LMA's.) The only live programming was when El Presidente de Mexico wanted to speak to the people. (That was whenever the mood hit him.) All other programming was taped 24 hours before airing. No news, obviously - no time checks, either. Nothing but The Hits.
We had postcards and letters from as far away as San Francisco and New Orleans. Somewhere in the midwest, the signals of XEROK and CKLW cancelled one another out.

Aircheck: XEROK X-Rock 80 | 1973 (4:37) Scoped (RealAudio, unfortunately)

I would love to hear an aircheck of the female voice intoning the seductive syllables "XEROK Juarez, Mexico" en Español, if anyone has that, por favor.

Ah! Never mind—it's at the very end of the aircheck linked above:

Right-click to download (mp3, 170k)

OIDAR Wavelength #28: A Transcript

Originally broadcast: 1974

Transcribed in 2007 by Deuce of Clubs

[BTO, "Let It Ride"]

JZN-9000: Energize! JZN-9000! Check! Transmit OIDAR Wavelength! Check!

Announcer: Transcribed?

JZN-9000: Check!

Programmer Number Nine: This is Programmer Number Nine on the OIDAR Wavelength.

[Right-click to download (mp3, 700k)]

Now, this unusual news story:
Under ruthless interrogation by police machines, jewel thief Kirk Stafford finally has revealed the whereabouts of the five million dollars' worth of diamonds he stole from a local jewelry store. Stafford, who has been unemployed for the past year, admitted he had committed the crime because he could not support his family on the salary his wife earned as an Astronaut Tour Guide on Worldwide Space Tours. He said he hoped to sell the diamonds to the insurance company which had insured them. But today he revealed he had hidden them in his wife's space suit. She is currently orbiting the earth on a two-week moon cruise.

[Elton John, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"]

Programmer Number Nine: Elton John. The OIDAR Wavelength is a multimedia production originating from the Planet Earth and transmitted throughout the universe via three-dimensional color holographic time machine JZN-9000. Due to time/space relativity, Earth's civilization may no longer be in existence when you receive this program. However, all aliens are requested to contact the OIDAR Wavelength through either audio, visual, or electromagnetic communication. This is Programmer Number Nine on OIDAR Channel One, broadcasting twenty-four hours daily. The program you are monitoring contains some music recorded prior to the invention of holographic 3-D sound, and is therefore transmitted in Radio360 Vibrations. Now more music from the Vinyl Era, with Ike and Tina Turner.

[Right-click to download (mp3, 1,145k)]

[Ike & Tina Turner, "Proud Mary" (Electronically altered by JZN-9000)]

Programmer Number Nine: The OIDAR Wavelength resumes with more Rock Recyclables, following Verbal Transmission "L".

[Commercial:] 8-Track and cassette owners should pay special attention to this: The Tape Works, a company that fixes broken tapes to work better than new, is offering a very special Special—to fix your tape for just two dollars. When you mail your broken tape cartridge or cassette to us, we'll mail it back to you within a week completely fixed and with a lifetime guarantee to continue working. If it runs too fast or too slow, if it's smashed, or if the tape is totally unraveled, we'll put it back in perfect working order—even add new parts as necessary—for only two dollars. Which is less than half of what you'd pay to replace that tape. Send your tape, along with two dollars to:

The Tape Works
Box 900
Los Angeles, California 90038

I'm going to repeat that address, because it's worth writing down.

Box 900
Los Angeles, California 90038

You have nothing to lose. If for some reason it can't be fixed, we'll return it to you with your money and a note of explanation. The Tape Works: Where Something Old Is Better Than Something New, Because It's A Lot Less Expensive!

Programmer Number Nine: Gloria Gaynor.

[Gloria Gaynor, "Never Can Say Goodbye"]

Programmer Number Nine: For years, parents have been paying a special Birth Tax whenever they had a child. Now, the Legislature of the Earth Governing Body has passed the controversial Death Tax Law. This means that before a person can be legally declared dead, he or his survivors must have paid another special tax. If the tax is not paid, the dead person is still considered legally alive, and cannot be buried or cremated. The amount of the Death Tax is determined by his or her age—the younger the person, the higher the tax he or she must pay in order to die. Now, even when you're dead, the government can tax you.

[The Beatles, "Taxman"]

Programmer Number Nine: The Beatles. Eagles soar after Tonal Check Reverberations.

[Commercial:] If everyone is mad, who should be committed? [Music excerpt] Crime of the Century: A startling vision of sanity in an insane world. [Music excerpt] Crime of the Century. By Supertramp. On A&M.

Programmer Number Nine: The Eagles.

[The Eagles, "Best of My Love"]

Programmer Number Nine: OIDAR listeners are reminded that OIDAR Contest Week will be held in February. In order to qualify for any of the prizes, including the Bonus Grand Prize, you must have an Official OIDAR Membership Card. Only those persons with cards numbered below 500 will be eligible for the Bonus Grand Prize, which is a 14-year Solar Sweep for Two of all the planets in the Milky Way. Food and beverages not included. To receive your individual, computerized, and numbered card, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to this local station as soon as possible.

[Steely Dan, "Reelin' in the Years"]

Programmer Number Nine: Steely Dan. The new Holographic Postal Service goes into effect tomorrow. Developed jointly by Bell Communications and the Xerox Corporation, the new service makes use of all standard holographic phones. The sender inserts correspondence into the regular copying slot of the phone, then pushes the receiver's address on the phone buttons. The mail is then electronically duplicated on the holographic phone at that address. The receiver need not be home for his mail to be duplicated, because it is all recorded automatically. The small blue light, which indicates when a phone message has been left on a person's automatic answering service, now will also light if any mail is delivered while the person is out. And so the mail will continue to be delivered, come rain or snow or dark of night—but not an electrical failure. Now, a Special OIDAR Musical Collage.

["Please Mr. Postman" as performed by The Marvelettes, The Beatles, and The Carpenters]

Programmer Number Nine: Medicine music, after Audio Registration: Four.

Announcer: Now, a special offer from the OIDAR Wavelength. Back in the last half of the Twentieth Century, when people still covered the upper half of their bodies, T-shirts were by far the most comfortable—and therefore the most popular—item of human apparel, and now, OIDAR Product Control makes it possible for you to own an exact replica of a Twentieth Century T-shirt, emblazoned with the brilliant blue OIDAR insignia. This nostalgic T-shirt is now being offered at a special, pre-inflation, Twentieth Century price of only two dollars. And included with every order is an official OIDAR Wavelength Membership Card, computerized with your name, address, and individual membership number, which all members need during OIDAR Contest Week. To order this incredible OIDAR package, simply send a check or money order for just two dollars to:

OIDAR
Box 1282
Hollywood, California 90028

That's two dollars, to:

OIDAR
Box 1282
Hollywood, California 90028

Be sure to include your shirt size.

[Kevin Johnson, "Rock and Roll I Gave You the Best Years of My Life"]

Programmer Number Nine: Last week in Moscow, African revolutionist Orvid Mdisi mysteriously died while addressing the Earth Governing Body. Doctors could not determine the exact cause of death, and reported that Mdisi's brain seemed to instantaneously cease functioning. Although A.S.A.P., the right-wing Afro-Earth organization, had vowed to murder Mdisi because of his determination to form a separate African nation, A.S.A.P. leaders have denied any knowledge of how Mdisi died. The mystery heightened when Police Authorities discovered a voodoo doll resembling Mdisi, with a pin piercing its head. Now the police report they have discovered the body of a young woman, along with a suicide note explaining just how and why Mdisi was murdered. That note will be broadcast over this OIDAR channel, as soon as Official Programming Clearance is obtained.

[Dave Edmunds, "I Hear You Knockin'" (obnoxious knocking and door buzzer F/X helpfully dubbed in by JZN-9000)]

Programmer Number Nine: Dave Edmunds. The OIDAR Wavelength continues, following Color Registration S.

[Commercial:] From out of the Ozarks in October of '73 came Buddy Brayfield, Steve Cash, Randle Chowning, John Dillon, Supe Granda, and Larry Lee, known as The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Now they're back with their second album of Ozark Mountain Daredevil music. [Music excerpt] It'll Shine When It Shines. Sparkling new music from The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. On A&M. [Music excerpt]

Programmer Number Nine: Linda Ronstadt.

[Linda Ronstadt, "You're No Good"]

Programmer Number Nine: Now here is that suicide note found near the body of twenty-six-year-old Naomi Roburn. A HoloCopy of this letter is now being simulcast on OIDAR Channel N-1. "My name is Naomi Roburn. I grew up with Orvid Mdisi in Johannesburg, when Africa was still a growing nation, and long before the Earth Governing Body began its rule over all nations. Orvid and I were happy idealists, planning to grow with Africa and make it a world leader. But when the EGB came into existence, Orvid changed. He became more and more radical, and his interest was only in Africa. He had no room for me. I left Orvid and Africa but I resolved to seek revenge against him for no longer loving me. I went to China and studied acupuncture, planning to become a doctor. One day, in the laboratory, something in my mind clicked, and I knew how to get even. I returned to Africa and studied voodoo from an ancient Master. I combined my knowledge of acupuncture and voodoo and discovered that I could cure sickness in people by making a doll in their image and then using acupuncture on the doll! I need never even be near the actual person! If I could cure, I could kill. At last I had found a way to penetrate the tight security that always surrounded Orvid. And so, when he went to Moscow to speak, I was there, in the Peoples' Gallery, with my voodoo doll and acupuncture pins. My revenge is now complete. My life is over. There is nothing more to love for.

[Santana, "Black Magic Woman"]
[Fleetwood Mac, "Black Magic Woman"]
[Santana, "Black Magic Woman"]

Programmer Number Nine: Fleetwood Mac and Santana. Now, this SyncoFlash Readout. . . .

Announcer: Now, a world exclusive. If you have heard the OIDAR Wavelength—
JZN-9000: OIDAR!
Announcer: —the radio program from the Twenty-First Century, you have been exposed to the word hologram—
JZN-9000: HO-LO-GRAM!
Announcer: —a three-dimensional image photographed by a "Laser" onto a one-dimensional surface. Now, OIDAR has made it possible for you to own the first commercially embossed OIDAR hologram.
JZN-9000: OIDAR!
Announcer: This 5x7-inch holographic image, entitled "Inner Space," was photographed by a "Laser"—
JZN-9000: HO-LO-GRAM!
Announcer: —and printed on a translucent surface that will give you and your friends a visual "trip" unlike anything you have ever seen.
JZN-9000: OIDAR!
Announcer: This year's most unusual and unique gift. There's nothing like it on the market today.
JZN-9000: HO-LO-GRAM!
Announcer: This limited collector's edition is now available for only $6.95. To enter the Final Frontier of Visual Communication, simply send a check or money order for only $6.95 to:

OIDAR
Box 1282
Hollywood, California

That's $6.95 to O-I-D-A-R—
JZN-9000: OIDAR!
Announcer: —Box 1282, Hollywood

[Right-click to download (mp3, 1,391k)]

Programmer Number Nine: Dion.

[Dion, "Runaround Sue"]

Programmer Number Nine: This is Programmer Number Nine. Members of the OIDAR Wavelength are reminded that the OIDAR Memory Bank is programmed by DSA-727, with verbal input by Charles Ross, and is operated under the conceptual control of Doug Andrews. Verbal output is by Cy Holiday, with holographic sonic effects by Rich Dandry.

[Barry Manilow, "Mandy"]

Programmer Number Nine: Barry Manilow. The OIDAR Wavelength is syndicated by OIDAR Unlimited and is intended solely for the private enjoyment of consenting adults. Some portions of this program are real, and should be entertained as such. In Section Forty-Two, technical difficulties were encountered, and a new answer was substituted for the question that was never asked, but later received at a later date for earlier broadcast.

[BTO, "Let It Ride"]

[Commercial:] We conducted a survey and asked a few people how they were enjoying their 8-tracks and cassettes.
Male 1: It's jammed, but—not sure why. It doesn't work.
Female 1: I got a buncha tapes laying around that are just broken, you know, & like, they sound really warbly, kind of.
Male 2: Sometimes I keep 'em if I think they can be fixed, or else I just throw 'em away.
Male 3: Tried it fix it mah-self, 'n' ah think ah jest messed it up more than it was.
Male 4: I've got lots of broken tapes and cassettes that can't be used now.

Announcer: We realized help would come in handy, so we created a company called The Tape Works to fix broken cassettes and 8-track cartridges. Then we guaranteed those tapes to continue working. If you don't have a broken tape now, someday you will. And when it happens, mail your tape, along with two dollars, to:

The Tape Works
Box 900
Los Angeles, California 90038

Box 900
Los Angeles, California 90038.

We'll return that tape to you within a week, completely fixed. And if we can't fix it, we'll return it to you with your money and a note of explanation. The Tape Works: Where Something Old Is Better Than Something New, Because It's A Lot Less Expensive!