Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #223
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 6/18/2002 1:39 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

    ------------------------------

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 223
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Facing the radio                      [ "Tony Palermo" <TPalermo_lists@spry ]
      Re: Johnny Got His Gun                [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      RE: Programs featuring the physicall  [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      Crosby grandkid                       [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      Suspense on NPR                       [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
      RSI tapes                             [ Tony Baechler <tony@[removed]; ]
      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      "Will it go 'round in circles?"       [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
      Loonie Toonies live on (?)            [ wich2@[removed] ]
      Re: New Halls Of Ivy mp3 CDs          [ "David Kindred" <david@[removed] ]
      Elvis is on your side                 [ "Richard Carpenter" <sinatra@raging ]
      Arthur Q. Bryan                       [ bruceglazer@[removed] ]
      re Arthur Q. Bryan                    [ John Henley <jhenley@[removed] ]
      re Old opera broadcasts from Texas    [ John Henley <jhenley@[removed] ]
      Captain Marvel & Superman             [ leemunsick@[removed] ]
      Re: CD query                          [ Bill Young <byoung@[removed]; ]
      re Johnny Got His Gun                 [ John Henley <jhenley@[removed] ]
      Bob Bailey                            [ widnerj@[removed] ]
      apology                               [ "Scott Eberbach" <seberbach@earthli ]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 01:41:37 -0400
    From: "Tony Palermo" <TPalermo_lists@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Facing the radio
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    There was a question about facing the radio while listening. I have some
    ideas about it and the nature of radio listening.

    We've all seen those photographs of 1930s listeners-often
    families--sitting in a living room STARING at the radio. When I show an
    image like this at the Museum of Television & Radio, modern audiences
    snicker, "What are they looking at?"-until I tell them that those
    listeners are "focusing" on the story." Staring at the radio tunes INTO
    the drama and tunes OUT the distractions that might break the spell the
    dramatists are casting.

    Radio is an intimate medium-it's the little voice (and music cue and
    sound effect) in your head that's painting pictures and conjuring a
    world "before your very ears." It's directly descended from cavemen
    telling stories around the fire. The radio drama spell works very well
    in small areas-like in a kitchen or den, but it's difficult to stay
    focused in a theater or similar large space-can anyone understand what
    baseball [removed] announcers or airport pagers say? No focus.  In order to
    not miss the conjuring instructions for the imagination, the radio
    listener must pay close attention. Facing the radio-in a small space--is
    paying full attention. A lot of those old pictures seem corny and posed
    to tout the manufacturer of the radio set, but there are too many photos
    of listeners staring at radios for this not to be a natural response to
    the theater of the mind. If something is important on an NPR newscast, I
    step right up to our kitchen radio and stare at it while listening. I
    give it my undivided attention-for a minute.

    A few years ago at the MT&R in Los Angeles, we premiered a recording of
    Norman Corwin's "Memo to the Millennium" for a live audience in our
    150-seat theater and found we had to dim the lights to help the
    listeners stay focused-and this was when listening to Walter Cronkite as
    narrator! The very first BBC radio dramas actually INSTRUCTED listeners
    to turn off all the lights and sit down.

    I believe that if the eye starts to wander, the mind soon follows.
    Giving the listener something to look at, the Atwater-Kent or the
    dark-but not something they have to examine-is very helpful to
    communicating the story properly.

    Over the years, plenty of radio drama fans peeled potatoes or washed
    dishes while listening, but these were tasks that barely required the
    eye or the mind's attention. OTR soaps knew housewives would be running
    the sweeper or taking out the trash while listening and so employed
    music cues, stings, and rip-chords to signal "Hey! Housewives! Listen!
    Here's a dramatic turn or the summary of the scene." These musical
    devices re-established the intimacy necessary to make the drama work.
    It's all about keeping the audience in a trance.

    Today, a great deal of radio (and audio book) listening takes place in
    cars and here again we have a small space and the eye is occupied, but
    not overly so-unless you're trying to drive and talk on the celephone at
    the same time-then you're 3 times as likely to have an accident. So even
    today attention is everything. We're staring at the road while listening
    to the radio that's just two feet away.

    You might think listening to OTR while at the computer would work, but I
    believe browsing the web or writing an e-mail requires too much
    attention to fully follow a good story at the same time. That prompts
    the question, "Can the Internet serve as a suitable distribution system
    for radio drama, now that broadcasting is too 'big business' to bother?"
    That's another topic, but it would still run into the problem of facing
    the computer and paying attention.

    And then there's the question of how a "radio" show like "Who Wants to
    Be A Millionaire?" can be a hit on TV, but can't get airplay on the
    radio. But of course, this is TV so dull that our eyes AREN'T
    distracted, so we can stare at the TV and still pay attention to the
    sound-for a minute.

    - ----------------------------------------------------------------
    Tony Palermo  - Los Angeles, USA

      *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
      ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:01:27 -0400
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Johnny Got His Gun

    "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed]; remarked:
     > The greatest physically challenged of them all has to be Arch
     > Oboler's "Johnny Got His Gun."

    It took guts to bring such a story to the radio during a period of
    strong patriotism - it was made into a movie around 1980, during a brief
    period of widespread anti-war sentiment - but we have to give the
    original author Dalton Trumbo most of the credit; it was published in,
    significantly, 1939. You know, I have a copy of the movie, but I've
    never quite been able to get up the nerve to watch it. Guess I'd have
    liked actually being in the trenches even less.

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:02:16 -0400
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE:  Programs featuring the physically
     challenged

    B. J. Watkins said:

>     The greatest physically challenged of them all has to be Arch
>     Oboler's "Johnny Got His Gun."

    'Johnny Got His Gun'  was written by Dalton Trumbo.   Perhaps it was
    presented by Arch Oboler??

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:01:50 -0400
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Crosby grandkid

    There's one more Crosby -- Bing's grandaughter Denise Crosby, who was an
    original cast member of 'Star Trek, the Next Generation'.   She played the
    security officer Tasha Yar and decided to leave the program after the first
    season and was killed off.   However, she was very popular with fans and
    when she had a change of heart they found a number of ways to bring her
    back.

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:26:00 -0400
    From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Suspense on NPR

    Folks;

       Anyone else hear the short piece All Things Considered did on Suspense
    last evening?

             Charlie

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:12:31 -0400
    From: Tony Baechler <tony@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  RSI tapes

    Hello.  Finally!  Someone else with the same problem as I.  I bought
    several albums from RSI long before last 09-11.  Each and every tape
    (except one album) had this same problem.  The first side had enough bass
    but a muffle, the other side had more volume but was very tinny.  One tape
    would not play at all.  I did not call them because it was long past the 30
    days before I knew, so I figured it was not worth bothering since they
    would probably tell me I was stuck.  This is unique to them as I just got
    300 tapes from someone else without this problem.  They were just packed in
    a box with no cases or anything else but arrived with no damage done.

    I think the "Gunsmoke," mystery is easy.  That was probably the beginning
    of the third season.

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:13:18 -0400
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in radio history

      From Those Were The Days --

    1939 - CBS aired Ellery Queen for the first time. An interesting twist
    came near the end of the program when the show was stopped to allow a
    panel of experts to guess the solution of the night's mystery.

    1961 - Gunsmoke was broadcast for the last time on CBS radio. The show
    had been on for nine years. It was called the first adult Western,
    starring William Conrad.

    Born this day --

    1897 - Kay (James King Kern) Kyser
          bandleader: Kay Kyser and His Kollege of Musical Knowledge:  d.
    July 23, 1985

    1908 - Bud (Clayton Johnson Heermance, Jr.) Collyer radio: Superman, d.
    Sep 8 1969

    1910 - [removed] (Edda/Everett Gunnar) Marshall d. Aug 24, 1998

      Joe

    --
    Visit my home page:
    [removed]~[removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:25:53 -0400
    From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  "Will it go 'round in circles?"

    Hi Gang!

       One more addition to the ever-growing list of celebrity offspring of OTR
    [removed] air personality Patricia McCann is the daughter of
    radio couple The McCanns (first-names  escape me).
       I would like to thank Ms. McLeod for clarifying the Ernestine "Sapphire"
    Wade/Billy Preston legend. Liz is right about how this info made in into
    rock-'n'-roll  reference books. I first read this misinformation about 20
    years ago w/ the publication of the first "The Book of Rock Lists" by
    rock-critic David Marsh, and, I believe, a co-author named Kevin Stein.
    Thanks, Liz.
        It's interesting that 2 of the actors in the Woody Allen "stock cpmpany,"
    viz. Dianne Weist & Tony Roberts, have OTR [removed]
        ...Which reminds me: is W. Allen's "Radio Days" considered to be the best
    or the greatest post-OTR-era film about OTR? If not, then what is?  I can't
    think of any other films of say, the last 40 years, that concern OTR [was
    there anything about "Baby Snooks" in the film musical "Funny Girl"?--I never
    saw it.].  As much as I liked "Radio Days," I'd hate to think that it's the
    best "modern-day" film about OTR, simply by default.
         I imagine the greatest "OTR-era" film about OTR would arguably be one of
    the "Big Broadcast" [removed] that's another whole can o' worms.

    Yours in the ether,

    Derek  Tague

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: Dianne WIEST was born in Kansas City, MO in 1948. She appears
    to be no relation to Dwight WEIST, "The Man of a Thousand Voices," who in
    1948 was hosting the television show, "We the People." Please see:

    [removed],+Dianne

    [removed],+Dwight

    ...for further informaiton. I have NO idea how this rumor got started, but
    they ain't related in any way _I_ can discover. Of course, more definitive
    information would be [removed] in New York who can break into the
    Law and Order set and just ask the lady?  --cfs3]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:23:04 -0400
    From: wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Loonie Toonies live on (?)

>     This is getting off topic, but no, Mel Blanc's son is rarely doing
>     Looney Tunes voices now.  Billy West has done many of them lately (not
>     very well), and a group of other actors, including Joe Alasky, have done
>     them other times.  None done nearly as well as the man of a thousand voices.

    I would second this- with a caveat: the rumor is that WB decided after Mel's
    death not to put all their eggs in on basket, and give that much power to one
    actor. From what I've been able to sort out by ear, the one man who has done
    FAR AND AWAY the most authentic recreation of the original voices is Jeff
    Bergman (I've had the pleasure of meeting him, as we shared an editing
    suite). The others mentioned are talented voice performers; but Jeff is hands
    down the best Mel inheritor- a fact about which the bove mentioned corporate
    entity cares not one whit.

>     As Warner Brothers Animation begins work on a new series of Looney Tunes
>     and Merrie Melodies to run before WB movies in theaters (not just kiddie
>     films either) one can't help but wonder who will be doing the voice work,
>     and how bad will it [removed] rodney.

    Well, my wife says that these beloved characters died with Blanc; but believe
    me, the best thing we could all do for them would be to lobby WB forcefully
    for Bergman!
    (Of course, having SEEN the recent toons, some real writers, of Mike Maltese,
    et al wouldn't hurt, [removed]).
    -Craig Wichman
    Quicksilver Radio Theater

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:23:17 -0400
    From: "David Kindred" <david@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: New Halls Of Ivy mp3 CDs

    Hi, folks.

    Would anyone on the distribution list be willing to run an extra copy for
    me? (I'm willing to pay.) I was too slow on the draw to respond to Ryan's
    note before Monday at noon. You can contact me at david@[removed].

    Thanks for your generosity!

    --David

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:23:31 -0400
    From: "Richard  Carpenter" <sinatra@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Elvis is on your side

      Those people who have recently posted their preference for Captain Marvel
    over Superman may be interested to learn that Elvis Presley was a major
    Captain Marvel fan. A ring that he gave to his cronies showed the "Shazam"
    lightning bolt and was accompanied by the letters TCB, which stood for
    "Taking Care of Business."

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:23:38 -0400
    From: bruceglazer@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Arthur Q. Bryan

    Regarding Arthur's playing "Clarence" in "It's a
    Wonderful Life", I believe he did so in the (Lux?) radio
    adaptation!

    Bruce R. Glazer
    Mansfield, MA

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:31:42 -0400
    From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  re Arthur Q. Bryan

    Rick Keating asked

>      Can anyone listen to Arthur Q. Bryan as either
>     Doc Gamble on Fibber McGee and Molly or as Lt. Walt
>     Levinson on Richard Diamond, and not think of Elmer
>     Fudd? I wonder if people listening to OTR in the 40s
>     had that same reaction, and if it helped or hurt him
>     in terms of people accepting the non Fudd characters?

    I have a notion that two points pertain to this:
    1)  Radio listeners in those original days were more attuned
    to characters than to the actors playing them, and only a minority
    of people were concerned with who played what.  I imagine that
    for every fan of Amos'n'Andy who knew the names Correll and
    Gosden, there were fifty A'n'A fans if not more who would simply
    ask "Who??"  At least this is the impression I have about what
    audiences expected to know in those days.
    2)  Bryan is not necessarily recognizable when not doing Elmer
    Fudd.  By which I mean, I'd heard quite a few Fibber McGee episodes
    before I began to think that the guy playing Gamble sounded kind
    of [removed] it was a while after that before I got the voice
    placed, and it took some imagining.   (And I am of course sooooooo
    typical of us [removed];-) )
    So I'd guess that no, most radio listeners didn't have trouble with
    accepting Bryan as Gamble or Levinson (or Floyd the Barber) at
    the same time he was Elmer, because most of them did not know it
    was the same person.
    We present-day listeners are in a different situation - we have all
    this research information at our fingertips as to who was who.

    Except for Cinnamon Bear.
    John Henley

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:40:55 -0400
    From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  re Old opera broadcasts from Texas

    As William Wandel was explaining,

>     The name of the program was "Opera, Once Over Lightly"
>     and was written and hosted by Reuben  A. [removed] The
>     book contains 28 scripts and are truly hilarious, such as the scene in Faust
>     where the Devil drinks wine at the tavern and sings, "Taint fit for
>     pigs".  The
>     chorus sings back, "Tis fit for pigs"....

    I had never heard of this program before the discussion, and my
    thanks to everyone who brought it up.  It sounds hilarious.  And we
    have a copy of that book in the Texas history archive here at U of
    Texas (where, regrettably, it's a little hard to get to for 9-to-5'ers).

    But I wonder:    Do you think it possible that Homer & Jethro were
    familiar with "Opera, Once Over Lightly" when they concocted their
    version of "Pagliacci"?

    "When we hear 'Pagliacci,' we get itchy and scratchy
    This shore is top corn, so we go find some [removed]"
    John Henley

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:55:06 -0400
    From: leemunsick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Captain Marvel & Superman

    When I was a kid, I loved comic books.  Even the ones which were not
    "Classics Illustrated"!

    I remember leaving a substantial pile of them at the barbershop at our
    regular visits there.  Oh, how I wish I had them back!  I could probably
    retire (again) on the proceeds!

    A particular favorite was Captain Marvel, complete with Billy and Mary.  I
    couldn't understand why they suddenly disappeared.

    I never was especially enamored of "Superman" although I did read them
    occasionally, too.  Somehow I just found the Marvel Comics more fun.  It
    was not until I made the acquaintance of Anthony Tollin, that I learned
    what became of my colorful friends.  As insiders in the comics publishing
    field for many years, the Tollins were a helpful source about a lot of things.

    I believe it was Tony who told me that Captain Marvel disappeared as the
    result of a lawsuit brought against Marvel by the Superman interests.  They
    claimed it was a rip-off, and won their suit.  As I understand it, included
    in the settlement was transfer of the rights to the Marvel characters to
    the Superman owners.  Now to me, that IS a rip-off!  So recently Captain
    Marvel is "back on the stands", but it is published by Superman!  Able to
    reap artistic creation in a single suit!  Man of steel turns man of nerve.

    One more reason why now I have absolutely NO interest in Superman except to
    stay a planet's orbit away from him (well, whatever fraction of that I can
    manage).

    Nevertheless, I dedicate these memories to our good friend Jackson Beck, of
    whom I have nothing but fond memories, and whom I am certain had absolutely
    nothing to do with all of this!

    Lee Munsick

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 12:45:07 -0400
    From: Bill Young <byoung@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: CD query

    In my experience, the primary difference between "regular" CDs and music CDs
    is the cost.  That has been confirmed by some reviews I've read on the web.
    I typically buy brand names, though I've had equally good luck with bulk
    packaged CDs from office and computer stores.  Regardless of the brand, there
    are always a few duds.  To ensure the best chance of a good recording, I
    always choose a recording speed lower than the max for the disk or the
    software.  For example, with Verbatim 12x disks and my HP recorder which will
    record at 12x, I frequently get a max of 8x identified by the software.  I
    step that down to 4x, and have a high success rate.

    If you have the disk space, you can also create an image file, then do the
    burn.  This improves reliability somewhat as it removes much of the buffering
    issue that can arise going from CD to CD.

    I've noticed some (what appear to be) software problems, and wonder if anyone
    has seen this with Roxio's software.  I can burn a few CDs without shutting
    down the program, but once I get beyond three or four (usually), the next CD
    is corrupted.  If I shut down the program between burns, I do not have the
    same problem.  This happened in W98 and since I upgraded to W2K.  I don't
    know if this is a problem with my configuration, but since I've taken to
    shutting down the program before burns, my reliability is over 90% (1 or 2
    duds in a 50-pack).  Just another suggestion to take variables out of the
    equation when burning CDs.

    HTH
    -- BY

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 13:42:46 -0400
    From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  re Johnny Got His Gun

    Barbara Watkins stated

>      The greatest physically challenged of them all has to be Arch
>     Oboler's "Johnny Got His Gun."

    Which was of course an adaptation of the novel by Dalton
    Trumbo.  I haven't heard Oboler's broadcast and so do not
    know if Trumbo's name was mentioned in context; but I do
    think it was pretty audacious of Oboler to  adapt such a story
    for radio when it was still a new piece of literature, and such
    an unusual one, and at such a time as the forties.

    John Henley

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 13:43:17 -0400
    From: widnerj@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bob Bailey

    In a previous message I referred to Bob Bailey as the "pen-ultimate"
    Johnny Dollar. That was in error. For me he was the "ultimate" not so
    low on the list of my favorite Dollars. Sorry for the confusion.

    Jim Widner
    jwidner@[removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 13:58:13 -0400
    From: "Scott Eberbach" <seberbach@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  apology

    Hi All!
    Just got a mail from John Henley setting me straight on my recent post in
    regard to John Mayer's post on Arther Q. Bryan playing Clarence the angel in
    "Its A Wonderful Life".  I thought he was talking about the movie version;
    however, he was right about Bryan playing Clarence in the Lux Radio Theatre
    [removed] I stand corrected.  My apologies John!

    Scott

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #223
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