The Billboard Boys

September 20, 2018 6:41 PM

Three Contestants + A Billboard + Radio Station [slpodcast]
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a (6 comments total)

Oh it's 99 Percent Invisible! Yay!

The actual story is about 20 minutes, then a secondary story rounds out the ~half hour.

The linked page has a very good summary of the entire story if you'd rather read than listen, although listening has greater depth and texture.

Thanks for posting this! I'd never heard of this even though I lived through this era.

The format the radio was shifting to seems like the Then equivalent of the Now radio station we listen to sometimes in the warehouse, which is music from late pop jazz 50s stuff like Sinatra well into the late 80s/early 90s. Pretty heavy on disco, and The Beatles Every Hour!!! But they play a lot of oddball stuff that unexpectedly makes me go "oh, man, I haven't thought about that song in 20 years!" which is fun.

Anyway, that was fun, thanks again!
posted by hippybear at 11:09 PM on September 20, 2018

As they say over here "only in America!"
Mostly because over here entrapment is illegal.
posted by fullerine at 1:14 AM on September 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

that cop. that criminal system. jesus.
posted by zippy at 8:56 AM on September 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

I was definitely curious about the documentary they used to make this episode.
posted by stevil at 10:01 AM on September 21, 2018

Growing up in Central PA, during that time I remember the economy. Had never heard of the billboard boys til this show. I feel like the documentary has to put out there who entrapped the weed dude. I mean how would you know he had two doobies on him????
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 8:36 PM on September 21, 2018

I mean how would you know he had two doobies on him????

Dude was literally on a billboard. It wouldn't have been difficult for someone to notice that he was smoking something handmade and put two and two together.
posted by Etrigan at 9:04 PM on September 21, 2018