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

[removed] Digest				Volume 96 : Issue 372

Table Of Contents: 

	 Error in Web Page List
	 Re: Sustainers vs. Jack Benny/cassettes vs. CDs
	 Re: ONE MORE ON TAPE
	 Freeberg's writing
	 War Of The Worlds
	 The Handicapped
	 Jean Shepherd and Chris Steinbrunner
	 Whiz =?iso-8859-1?Q?=9AKids?=
	 Radio writing opportunities 
	 Another Blind Detective
	 What? Tape squeal - again?!

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

Date: Fri, 4 Oct 1996 15:06:45 -0700
From: "JACK MANN" <jmann@[removed]>
To: <otr@[removed]>
Subject: Error in Web Page List
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Dear Digesters: Please be advised that there is an error in my list of
otr web sites.  Please change the Adventures in Cassettes listing from
[removed]  to [removed]  (dot com instead of dash com).
My thanks to Sue Hamilton for pointing that out.
Also, if you want to see a list of letters written to the Digest, try:
[removed]~wdp/OTR_ONLINE/     This is great for finding lost
Email addresses!

Jack

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

Date: Fri, 4 Oct 1996 19:02:43 -0400
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Sustainers vs. Jack Benny/cassettes vs. CDs
Message-ID: <961004190242_325336931@[removed]>

Andrea Selch mentioned the idea that no sponsor wanted the pay for a show
that was opposite Jack Benny.  Lon Clark has mentioned to me that he thought
NICK CARTER, MASTER DETECTIVE would soon die when it's timespot was switched
to opposite THE JACK BENNY SHOW; instead its ratings went up and Lon got a
nice raise.  Mutual actually specialized in producing low-cost mystery and
horror programs that earned pretty substantial ratings opposite NBC's comedy
big guns.  I guess there wasn't much competition in those time spots other
than the NBC comedies, and a certain large portion of the radio audience may
have been in the mood for something other than comedies.
     I've noticed that almost every order I've received for THE SHADOW
CHRONICLES has been for the cassette version.  This has worked out for the
best for the time being (since the CD sets are on backorder for another week)
but it causes me to wonder why.  I've always gone with CDs when I had a
choice of format because the CDs should last a lot longer than tapes.  (For
that matter, I've got a number of great-sounding 16" transcription disks from
the 1930s and a lot of squeeling reel to reel tapes from the early 1970s.)
 Most of the collectors I know seem to be of like mind, preferring the
slightly more expensive CDs from an archival standpoint.  I also like to put
5 CDs into a player and listen to them for 5 or 6 hours without having to get
up and change the tapes.  I would assume audio collectors would tend to be on
the forefront of the new technologies, so why do so many subscribers to OTRD
seem to prefer cassettes? -- ANTHONY TOLLIN    

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

Date: Fri, 4 Oct 1996 20:04:59 4
From: "edcarr" <edcarr@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: ONE MORE ON TAPE
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

it's not true,i've baked tapes and
used them right away but for the simple
reason i was getting ready for a supplement.
i've baked tapes and left them sit for
a few days and came back and did them,also
i have no idea how long the bakeing will
last,and why throw them out? for my purpose
i trade these type of tapes,why? if you have
20 shows from disc and someone else has the 
same on the same tape wouldn't you want those
other twenty,if your both useing the same
formula,i've been tradeing and gained shows
i never would have gotten if i threw them out.
in fact when i'am finally finished i'll sell
the master tapes and someone else can take
advantage.
as i said before i learned the hard way.
                                     edcarr@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 04 Oct 1996 21:09:56 -0700
From: John Remy <jfremy@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Freeberg's writing
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Hi,

Yes, some of Freeberg's stuff seems a little dated in terms of style, but 
if you put yourself in the mind frame of the time the stuff was written , 
it is great listening.  And there is still much of his stuff that is 
"with it" today, such as "Stan Freeberg Presents the United States of 
America Volumes 1 and 2"

John

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

Date: Sat, 5 Oct 1996 01:11:36 +0000
From: "F. Charles Simar" <FCharlesSimar@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: War Of The Worlds
Message-ID: <[removed]@DEFAULT>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

With the anniversary of the broadcast of "The War Of The Worlds", I was
curious about what the people's
reactions were during or after the broadcast.  I have heard of people
committing suicide or just going
berzerk because of it and of shooting up water towers.  Did this really happen?

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

Date: Fri, 04 Oct 1996 23:38:01 -0400
From: charlie <scharlie@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Handicapped
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

In response to Mark Kinsler, there was a South African series called "Sounds
Of Silence," subtitled Lee Masters, The Blind Detective.  Masters was a
former FBI agent who though blind, functioned as a private eye with the aid
of an assistant.

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

Date: Fri, 4 Oct 1996 23:58:25 -0400
From: Martin Jukovsky <martyj@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jean Shepherd and Chris Steinbrunner
Message-Id: <v03007803ae7b43609cce@[[removed]]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

At 6:44 AM -0500 10/3/96, Bigkids@[removed] wrote:
>------------------------------

<<EXCERPTS FOLLOW>>

>Sunday night I would head back for New York, listening to Jean Shepherd on
>WOR all the way. He was great. Well, and when he went off, he was followed by
>a fine late-night talk show. Damned if I can remember the host, but he used
>to have some wonderful crackpots as studio guests. My favorite was Otis T.
>Carr, who had invented a spaceship (it was the OTC X-1, of course) and was
>getting ready for a trip to the moon.
>
>Far as I know, he didn't get there. But then, maybe he did.
>
>Some time after this I met and became fast friends with Chris Steinbrunner,
>who worked for WOR (and WOR-TV), and who wrote scripts for Shepherd. At
>least, he claimed that he did.
>
>I was shocked, I say, shocked. First, that Shepherd used scripts at all.
>There was such a wonderful free-flowing stream-of-consciousness feel to
>Shepherd's delivery, I couldn't believe that he was reading from a script.
>And second, that he not only used scripts, he didn't even write them himself!
>
>Was nothing sacred?
>
>I've always had a fondness for Shepherd and his work -- I assume that you
>know the story if I, LIBERTINE. And that of "A Christmas Story,"
>
>Alas, Chris Steinbrunner died several years ago. But it would be nice to ask
>Shepherd sometime about Chris's claim. See if Shepherd acknowledges
>Steinbrunner's contribution.
>
>Chris, incidentally, had an OTR connection of his own. Just as OTR was dying,
>he was breaking into the field. He was always proud of the fact that he sold
>a script to "Dr. Christian," and it was produced and broadcast shortly before
>the show ended its run.
>
>Chris also wrote an annual Sherlock Holmes adaptation that was broadcast
>"live" over WFUV (Fordham University). He got up some pretty elaborate
>productions, complete with full cast, sound effects and music. I wonder if
>any of our Sherlock Holmes completists know about these broadcasts, and if
>any of them survive. I doubt it. (en passant: I got to play a bit role in one
>of those shows. I think I had one line. Don't remember my line, my character,
>or even which story. Sorry, folks. It was a long time ago.)
>

>Dick Lupoff
>

The following is a response by Roger Kolb, a long-time friend of Chris and
a staunch fan of Jean Shepherd.  I'm forwarding Roger's message, as he's
not a subscriber to the OTR list.   I also knew Chris, for an even longer
time, from his days at Fordham University and WFUV (I appeared in a couple
of his broadcasts), and I must concur with Roger, at least about Chris's
complete lack of boastfulness.

Martin Jukovsky
Cambridge, Mass.
martyj@[removed]
[removed]

************************************************

Dear OTR News Group,
   Many thanks for your love of OTR and the numerous informative
messages that I have read.  A member has just passed along one that,
I feel, requires correction.  It concerns Jean Shepherd, Chris
Steinbrunner and their relationship at WOR.  The writer says that
Chris wrote scripts for Shep and openly took credit for them.
   I was a close friend of Chris's from 1979 until his death in July
1993.  Before that, we knew each other but had had little contact.
In September, 1979 the friendship really took off, to the point where
Chris in 1986 was the best man at my wedding.  Once or twice in his
basement, surrounded by the motion picture screen, the old paperbacks,
the masks he brought back from Haiti, and the reference books about
old-time radio, we discussed his career at WOR.  Never--not
once--did the name of Jean Shepherd come up.  And with good reason.
     Both Chris Steinbrunner and Jean Shepherd started at WOR in the
fifties, Chris in a not-terribly-creative writing capacity.  He used
to write program promos--including those for Shep's show--
announcer fill-ins, and, possibly, commercials, too.  Inasmuch as Shep
was one of the show hosts at WOR, it's a lead-pipe cinch that Chris wrote
material for him--as well as all of WOR's other hosts and
announcers--if the word 'wrote' is used broadly.  For Shep as for the
others he wrote program promos, such things as "Don't forget--Maggie
McNellis's guest tomorrow will be 'Peyton Place' author Grace
Metalious.  Don't miss the Maggie McNellis Show tomorrow at 2."  I
mentioned commercials.  Many of Shep's, such as those for the Chinese
Restaurant that sponsored him in the sixties(?), he used to
read--some would say 'massacre'--on air.  It's entirely possible that
Chris, before moving on to better things, wrote some of 'em.
   The message to which I am responding also--perhaps
unintentionally--makes Chris sound boastful.  It makes it seem as
though Shep's imagination and wit were things he routinely took
credit for and bragged about.  As all of us who knew him
will testify, Chris was an exceptionally modest man.  His accomplishments
were legion as film acquisitions' officer for RKO General, radio and TV
producer, author of four books, film collector, founder of an active
and intelligent film club, regular contributor to three well-known
magazines, and a patient, uncomplaining, Dante-like guide for many pop
culture enthusiasts who eagerly sought introduction to several of fandom's
worlds. As one of the last named and, eventually, a close friend of
Chris's, I never heard a single word pass his lips that could be
described as boastful.
   In short, Chris Steinbrunner did not write any of Jean Shepherd's
scripts and, in any case, would not have bragged about it.
                              --Roger Kolb
                              rkolb@[removed]
[removed] He did write scripts for Gunther Less's travel show, "Journey To
Adventure," but that was TV and much later than the period in question.

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

Date: Sat, 5 Oct 1996 00:23:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: lev@[removed] (S or A Levene)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Whiz =?iso-8859-1?Q?=9AKids?=
Message-Id: <v01530500ae7b49a21e86@[[removed]]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Off topic though it may be, let this baseball-loving OTR fan explain that
the 1950 (not 1949) Philadelphia Phillies came out of nowhere to win the
National  League pennant that year - the first Phillie pennant since 1915 -
and there haven't been many since.   The youthful team for some reason
captured the country's imagination - they won the pennant on the last day
of the season in a dramatic confrontation with the Brooklyn Dodgers when a
Phillie outfielder named Dick Sisler, whose father was Hall-of-Famer George
Sisler, hit a 10th inning home run to end the game.  The press referred to
the  young team that year as the Whiz Kids, - where they got it from I
don't know -   and it included future Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts,
as well as Richie Ashburn who finally, belatedly, was elected to the Hall
of Fame just last year.  Also on the team was first baseman Eddie Waitkus,
one of the older of the  Whiz Kids, who the previous year had his season
cut short when he was shot in the shoulder by an angry, jealous female fan.
Winning the National League pennant was a great, unexpected triumph, but
the team was then eliminated in the World Series by the New York Yankees  -
Joe DiMaggio in his second last season -  who swept the Whiz Kids in 4
games.
The following year the ex-Whiz Kids finished fifth in the old 8 team league.
Sam Levene

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

Date: Sat, 5 Oct 1996 03:02:53 -0400
From: ErikS74342@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radio writing opportunities 
Message-ID: <961005030250_325667872@[removed]>

Just curious on this one. I've been listening to "Imagination Theater," the
syndicated version of the "KIRO Mystery Playhouse" from Seattle. Has anyone
inquired if the show is in the market for scripts?

Erik Smith
Kennewick, Wash.

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

Date: Sat, 5 Oct 1996 05:37:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: MAX SCHMID <mschmid@[removed]>
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: Another Blind Detective
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Murder Clinic was a Mutual series featuring a different literary 
detective on each episode.  Max Caradoss, the Blind Detective, appeared
on 8/18/42, in "The Hallway Flat Tragedy".
I think the only one I recognized from this series was Hercule Poirot, 
but I suppose the others might be familiar to mystery readers of the day.

BTW, many of the shows I've heard from this series seem to be from CBC 
sources that were simulcast (I believe the shows were done in NY). Does 
anyone know about this arrangement?  I've heard Fred Allen airchecks that 
seem to be Canadian airchecks as well, so it must have been an NBC practice 
as well as Mutual, for the shows to be picked up for Canadian broadcast.

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

Date: 05 Oct 1996 04:50:35 GMT
From: kg@[removed] (KEN GREENWALD)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: What? Tape squeal - again?!
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

Hello, again:
Tape sqeal is a major problem that started in open reel and has now 
entered the cassette marketplace. There are various "methods" 
outlined on how to get rid of it (ed carr made a good suggestion), but 
its a tricky business. ed carr is right in suggesting that you stay away 
from any tape that has a black backing. Ampex was the first to use a 
black backing on open reel tapes. Any tapes manufactured from 
1982 to 1985 have self destructed into tape squeal. There are a 
number of factors that contribute to this problem, such as: 1) worn 
out tape guides and worn down tape heads. By worn, I mean, guides 
and heads that have worn down so there is a groove in them. This 
groove "catches" the edge of the tape as it moves along and increases 
the "gumming" up of the oxide at these points. ALWAYS make sure 
your guides and heads are completely clean of tape residue before 
using any tape, both black backed or regular. It will decrease the 
problem, but won't solve it. Baking a tape is dangerous, but it works. 
You have to stay on top of the proper time. Some hearty souls have 
experimented and found the right time for heating the tape reels. 
NEVER use water to dampen the tape. As the dampened tape passes 
over the tape heads, bits of moisture enter the tape head gaps and 
eventually RUST the heads. Automatic problems with that. You 
simply can't clean out a head gap from moisture. They're too micro-
small. If you are using a gas stove, DO NOT turn the heat on. Let the 
pilot light do the work. Keep the oven door tightly closed. The pilot 
light will warm the oven enough. Keep the tapes in the oven for at 
least 24 hours - 48 hours is better. Then, take the tapes out, spool 
them and hope you can get a copy dubbed to a new reel. If 48 hours 
is not enough, go back and keep the tapes in the oven for longer 
periods. Experiment. Eventually you will be able to save a tape. 
Tapes such as Ampex 631, 641 and other non black backed tapes last 
indefinitely. 
Scotch has gone to black backing tape and they also have tape squeal. 
If you buy repackaged tape, be sure to ask what the brand is and, 
again, do not accept black backed tape. Also, do not use the following 
Scotch formula tapes: Scotch 226 - tape squeal. Scotch 250 - awful 
print through!
Of course, I am referring to open reel tapes. As I rarely use cassette 
tapes, I cannot give you much on these. I will say, however, that TDK 
cassettes generally work fine. Also Fuji. Maxell might give you 
problems after a few years. Enough said.
Good luck!




--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #372
*******************************************

