![]() ![]() German radio stations started their own country music DJ shows. In one tune, they sang about wanting to listen to Dave Dudley, Charlie Pride and Hank Snow but AFN was too far away. Germans started forming bands such as Truck Stop, with country songs in German. ![]() In Germany, clubs featuring line dancing, Western garb and country music popped up in the '70s and '80s, such as the huge club "Nashville" near Nuremberg. He was a British soldier stationed in Germany listening to AFN Munich at night.Īccording to the German audio magazine "Schau ins Land," Wyman said he was so fascinated with what he was hearing that he went out and bought a guitar to play, and that without AFN Munich he would not have become a musician and certainly would not have been with the Rolling Stones.ĪFN played a major role in introducing American country music to the Europe. The impact of AFN on Bill Wyman, the bass player for the Rolling Stones for 31 years, was even stronger. The singer of rock classics "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Moon Dance" even wrote a song about trying to listen to AFN back then called "In the Days Before Rock and Roll." "To hear current releases, you tuned in AFN and hoped that you could catch the title of something after they played it," Page said in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine.Īt the same time another future musician, Van Morrison, was struggling to tune in AFN as a boy growing up in Northern Ireland. They got that exposure by listening to the American military's radio network in the 1950s. Plant and Zeppelin's lead guitarist, Jimmy Page, both say American blues and jazz heavily influenced their music. If you were lucky, you could hear Muddy Waters or Little Richard coming through the waves." (In the UK) now and then, if you were lucky, there was this American Forces Network radio coming out of Germany. "We couldn't turn our dial and get an absolutely amazing kaleidoscope of music. "We didn't have the same cultural exchange you had. He talked to David Letterman about why he chose the crackly distant AFN signal over local radio stations in the United Kingdom. One of the lads listening in was Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant. Ironically, a generation of English-speaking kids was among those trying hardest to pick up the faint American radio signal because in the 1950s, Brits weren't hearing jazz, blues and rock on their local radio stations. AFN first broadcast from BBC studios in London on July 4, 1943, but American broadcasts in the island nation ended after the war. While many transmitters were low-powered, some were "sound monsters," with the Munich and Weisskirchen, Germany, AM transmitters reaching much of Europe.Īt night, the Weisskirchen signal skipped across the English Channel into the United Kingdom. John Provan said a survey in AFN's early years indicated the military network was reaching a potential listening audience of 50 million Europeans.ĪFN began broadcasting from locations in France, Austria, Italy, Germany and Belgium, and was heard, despite restrictions, in Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich and other major population centers. As a matter of fact, the network took extraordinary measures to not reach them.ĪFN's linked radio transmitters used special broadcast patterns targeted where the Americans were stationed, the music and the talk was all in English and most transmitters were low-powered, so planners didn't think many people living in Germany, Italy, France, Austria or Belgium would bother tuning in. Many Europeans wanted to hear the rich diversity of jazz, blues, country and rock music that wasn't airing on their country's radio stations.ĪFN never intended or tried to broadcast to host nationals. Regulations prohibited it and few spoke the local language.īut some curious Europeans chose to invite the GIs' radio station into their home, car or restaurant: the American Forces Network Europe, known throughout the world as AFN. ![]() When rebuilding began after World War II, American Soldiers seldom mixed with locals. Prior to AFN's arrival, Nazi Germany had banned most American music, as "decadent," and even after the Americans first arrived, state-run German radio didn't play English language music. military's biggest accomplishments in post-war Europe was unintentional: the music the GIs listened to on the radio made a deep, positive impact on Europeans that continues today. ![]() RAMSTEIN, Germany (July 10, 2013) - One of the U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL 2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. 1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. ![]()
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