Memories of A Late-Night Radio Icon

I’m not exactly sure when I first heard Art Bell’s overnight talk radio show.

It was sometime in the 1990s when I stumbled upon Bell’s program which aired from 1-5 a.m. here on the East Coast. Since the show centered all kinds of mysterious and spooky subjects, I was immediately hooked.

This was a radio talk show unlike any I had ever listened to. The subjects ranged from UFOs to bigfoot to ghosts to strange happenings and unsolved mysteries. Conspiracy theories were also an often-visited topic.

Of course, the only down part of the show was the time it aired. I often tried to wake up during the night to at least hear what that morning’s show subject was. Many times, they were so intriguing I would lay awake in my bed and listen for an hour, two hours or longer.

“I know I am going to pay for this tomorrow,” I kept telling myself as a new work day crept closer.

Somehow, I just couldn’t turn the radio off in order to go to sleep. Bell’s “Coast to Coast AM” show had gained another fan already known among the insomniacs, overnight truck drivers, those working the graveyard hours and those who were simply awake at that hour for whatever reason.

It was on Bell’s show that I enjoyed frequent guest John Lear of the well-known aviation family. Lear was the one who introduced UFO buffs to Bob Lazar and his fascinating stories of working at Area 51 and how our government for years back-engineered technology from various vehicles from other worlds.

A few years later it was Lear, who lent credibility because of his storied career as an airline pilot, who was one of the first to cast doubts on the official 9-11 story as told by the government. Lear said it was impossible for someone to receive that small amount of training to fly a major airliner into the twin towers.

Lear said even with his thousands upon thousands of hours of flight time he doubted he could have flown the planes into the buildings at the rate of speed they were traveling. Lear broke it down in more technical terms I don’t understand since I have no aviation training but it was certainly eye-opening to hear his thoughts and theories on 9-11.

One of my favorite shows was Bell’s annual “Ghost to Ghost AM” which he did each Halloween. People would call in with ghost stories, often personal things they had experienced. While some of the stories were a little silly some were downright spooky, no doubt made more so by the late hour of the show.

Eventually Bell stepped away from the show for reasons which were as mysterious as one of his broadcasts. Reports indicated that Bell was receiving death threats although he never actually said what happened.

Later Bell would return to the show as a weekend host but the itch was there for him to return full time. He would later launch his own overnight show (in two versions) and became a competitor of the show he created.

Bell, in typical conspiracy fashion, stepped away from those shows as well after someone allegedly came onto his private property and threatened his family. At one point he had even moved to the Philippines where he conducted the show from his home studio.

The death of this unique radio talk show host a few years ago has not caused his fans to forget him. There are numerous apps one can download and hear nothing but his old shows. In fact, it’s common for me to listen to them at night as I drift away.

And while the original “Coast to Coast AM” show continues to this day, it simply hasn’t been the same without Bell. He was truly the first, an original and someone who made it worth it to try and stay up well past my bedtime. In fact, one of the show’s promotional taglines was “radio worth losing sleep over.” Indeed, it was and still is.

Monticello native Chris Bridges has contributed to the Monticello News since 1988. You can email comments about this column to pchrisbridges@gmail.com.