OSI - Samples in songs

[James Mypetgiress]

I was just wondering, as I can't find what it is, at the start of OSI's song, Cold Call (and then throughout the song) there is some samples of a radio broadcast, does anybody know what these actually are?

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

After a few cursory searches, I found this:

BD: Can you tell me a bit about the samples on ‘Cold Call’? Why the announcer first stating that there is a serious situation, then telling people NOT to call the studio, and finally it all ending up as a miscommunication?
JM [Jim Matheos]: Well, that’s an actual thing that happened on that radio station in the 70’s. That was really Kevin’s idea. He’s always looking for interesting samples. Again, we’re not really trying to say anything extremely serious about the music or make any sort of grand statement. It’s just something that’s kind of clever, interesting, fits in with the music, the rhythm flows with the music. We thought it made a cool opening track to.

So who knows where Kevin found it.

EDIT: this post on the Mooreatorium has a link to the YouTube video, but unfortunately it has been removed.

[James Mypetgiress]

After a few cursory searches, I found this:

BD: Can you tell me a bit about the samples on ‘Cold Call’? Why the announcer first stating that there is a serious situation, then telling people NOT to call the studio, and finally it all ending up as a miscommunication?
JM [Jim Matheos]: Well, that’s an actual thing that happened on that radio station in the 70’s. That was really Kevin’s idea. He’s always looking for interesting samples. Again, we’re not really trying to say anything extremely serious about the music or make any sort of grand statement. It’s just something that’s kind of clever, interesting, fits in with the music, the rhythm flows with the music. We thought it made a cool opening track to.

So who knows where Kevin found it.

Hmmm, shame, I was hoping to listen to it without the audio

[YtseJamittaja]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu4r79l8P8I

[Big Hath]

yes, it was a false alarm triggered through the Emergency Broadcast System.  From wikipedia:


False alarm of 1971
Despite these safeguards, the system was accidentally activated at 9:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 20, 1971. Teletype operator W. S. Eberhardt "played the wrong tape" during a test, which sent an activation message authenticated with the codeword "hatefulness" through the entire system, ordering stations to cease regular programming and broadcast the alert of a national emergency. A cancellation message was sent at 9:59 a.m. EST, but it used an incorrect codeword. A cancellation message with the correct word, "impish", was not sent until 10:13 a.m. EST After 40 minutes and six incorrect cancellation messages, the accidental activation was terminated.

This false alarm demonstrated major flaws in the EBS. Many stations had not received the alert but more importantly, the vast majority of those that did either ignored it (because it came at the time of a scheduled test), or did not know what to do in an emergency. Some stations followed the procedures for an activation, but cancelled them prematurely. It is estimated that only 20% of the stations that received the activation followed the procedures completely. While several stations went off the air, the one best remembered was WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which broadcast the 1971 events as they happened, a recording of which has become available. Another recording of how the error sounded on WCCO-AM in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota can be heard on RadioTapes.com.

Numerous investigations were launched, and several changes were made to the EBS. Among them, the on-air alert announcement was streamlined, eliminating one version of the script that warned the audience of an imminent attack against the country (the WOWO broadcast above does not contain the reference to an attack).