Border Radio: Quacks, Yodelers, Pitchmen, Psychics, and Other Amazing Broadcasters of the American Airwaves, Revised Edition

Border radio stations were high-powered broadcasters located just across the Mexican border to operate outside U.S. regulations. These "border blaster" stations transmitted programming across the United States and to distant regions including South America, Japan, and Western Europe. This book documents border radio's history beginning in the 1930s with "goat-gland doctor" J. R. Brinkley through the 1960s era of Wolfman Jack. It describes how border broadcasters developed direct sales advertising methods, demonstrated the political influence of electronic media, contributed to the spread of country music, rhythm and blues, and rock music, and established practices that became foundational to electronic church broadcasting. This revised edition includes expanded first-hand accounts and additional photographs.