Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #50
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 2/8/2002 4:20 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 50
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Re: Art Gilmore and TCM               [ "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed]; ]
      RE: Printable MP3 playlists           [ Habegger <amej@[removed]; ]
      Glenn Miller's death                  [ "Donald Skuce" <donskuce@[removed] ]
      Crosby's first radio broadcast        [ "Steven Lewis" <slewis5@[removed]; ]
      Re: Re-Syndication                    [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Re: UK shows on US Radio              [ John Henley <jhenley@[removed] ]
      Parley Baer                           [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
      re: The Joy Boys                      [ "ecrasez" <ecrasez@[removed]; ]
      Re: NPR and radio drama               [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      Joy Boys                              [ "Peter H. Vollmann" <vollmann@hawai ]
      Bob Clayton                           [ "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@hotmail ]
      Re: Joy Boys                          [ "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed]; ]
      re: What Ever Happened to Glenn Mill  [ "Marty" <martyd@[removed]; ]
      RE: The Joy Boys                      [ Jim Mayor <jmayor@[removed]; ]
      New radio drama vs OTR                [ "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; ]
      Glenn Miller & Peter Sellers          [ "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed]; ]
      Have they been edited?                [ "Scott Eberbach" <seberbach@earthli ]
      RE; AROUND THE HORN/PETER SELLERS     [ grayghost@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 10:22:12 -0500
    From: "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: Art Gilmore and TCM

    Jim Cox wrote about a short titled "So You Want to Give Up Smoking," for
    which Art Gilmore did the narration, adding "It's obviously designed as an
    educational piece from about the 1940s."

    Actually, this short was the very first of Warner Brothers' "Joe McDoakes"
    one-reel comedies (also casually referred to as the "Behind the 8 Ball"
    comedies), written and created by Richard L. Bare of "Green Acres" fame, and
    starring George O'Hanlon as McDoakes.  Gilmore's narration carried the
    series during its early years, until O'Hanlon finally got to speak in "So
    You Want to Be a Detective" (in which Gilmore turned out to be the killer!).
      Coincidentally, Turner Classic Movies is showcasing its library of one and
    two-reelers every Tuesday of this month, and McDoakes shorts are scheduled
    at the unruly hour of 3:00am EST on Tuesday February 19.  From the TCM
    website:

    The following Joe McDoakes comedies are being featured on Tuesday, February
    19: So You Want to Give Up Smoking, So You Think You Need Glasses, So You
    Want to Play the Horses, So You Want to Save Your Hair, So You're Going to
    Be a Father (1947), So You Want to Be in Pictures, So You Want to Hold Your
    Wife (1947) and So You Want an Apartment (1948).

    Those of you who get the channel will want to check it out every Tuesday
    night -  you'll find the earliest (in some cases, only) film work of many
    radio favorites ([removed], Red Skelton's first film, the short "Seein' Red," is
    scheduled), not to mention big band and musical shorts.  Those who don't get
    it might do well to find friends and neighbors who do, and supply them with
    blank tapes!  The complete schedule may be viewed here (hopefully this
    lengthy link will work):

    [removed],3598,65|63|9288|,[removed]

    Michael J. Hayde

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 11:22:23 -0500
    From: Habegger <amej@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: RE: Printable MP3 playlists

    Also, go to [removed] and scan their software file list.
    I found one that is listed in the Utilities section:

    MP3 Collector from [removed] look for others in
    the same section. [removed] is a good source for mp3 info.

    Dick
    Anaheim

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 11:43:10 -0500
    From: "Donald Skuce" <donskuce@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Glenn Miller's death

    02/08/02

>     Comment: It was/is customary for safety reasons that aircraft
>     bomb ordnance be dumped before a plane lands.

    I read, a couple of years ago, in a military oriented publication about
    what is the apparent answer to how Glenn Miller died.  First of all,
    when a bomber left England during WWII and had to abort their mission
    for any reason (weather, mechanical problem, etc.) they were not allowed
    to land at their base with bombs on board.  Landing with a load of bombs
    created an obvious safety hazard.  All bomber crews were debriefed after
    each of their missions whether or not the mission was completed.  Sometime
    in the 1990's the record of a debriefing from December of 1944 was
    uncovered that seems to explain the disappearance of Miller's small plane.

    A British bomber returning from an aborted mission had to drop their bomb
    load into the English Channel.  It seems the Bombardier didn't see any
    planes
    in the area when he toggled the bombs free.  A bomber crewman (possibly
    the tail gunner?) saw a small plane fly out of a cloud bank and directly
    under
    the released bomb load.  In the debriefing the crewman described seeing the
    small plane "vaporized" by a direct hit from at least one of the bombs.

    Since no radio transmission or "mayday" was ever received from Miller's
    pilot it's apparent that their demise was sudden and deadly.  The story
    makes sense.  It just doesn't make sense that it took over 50 years for the
    truth to come out.

    Hope that this helps.

    Don Skuce

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 12:02:07 -0500
    From: "Steven Lewis" <slewis5@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Crosby's first radio broadcast

    Rob Spencer asked who conducted the orchestra in Bing Crosby's first solo
    network radio broadcast, Sept. 2, 1931.

    According to Malcolm MacFarlane's new biography, "Bing Crosby: Day by Day,"
    published in December by Scarecrow Press, Victor Young conducted the
    orchestra with Eddie Lang on guitar. The announcer was Harry Von Zell. You
    can hear all that remains of the first broadcast at the Bing Crosby Internet
    Museum:

    [removed]~[removed]

    Steven Lewis

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 12:03:19 -0500
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Re: Re-Syndication

    Harlan Zinck wrote:

>     Syndicators like Charles Michaelson frequently re-released shows that were
>     as much as fifteen years old to smaller stations who couldn't afford higher
>     priced programming.

    And in addition to reissues by the producers who originally distributed
    the programs, some early syndicated programs eventually sold off in
    blocks to different distributors entirely -- who would put out new
    pressings under their own labels. One of the most important examples of
    this was the Radio Transcription Company of America -- "Transco" -- which
    was one of the most successful syndication producers of the 1930s. In the
    1940s, the Transco catalog was taken over by a company called Bruce Eells
    and Associates -- which re-pressed and reissued many of the series under
    their own logo.

    As a result, you have a series like "Origins of Superstition," which was
    recorded by Transco in 1932 and issued by them on shellac discs beginning
    in 1933 -- turning up again a decade late on vinyl pressings with an
    entirely different label. Ditto for "Pinto Pete," "Comedy Capers,"
    "Komedy Kingdom," "Hollywood Casting Office," "Hollywood Spotlight,"
    "Laff Parade," "Police Headquarters," and many other Transco features of
    that era. Much of the material on these programs was mouldy when it was
    first recorded -- so one can only wonder how such embalmed entertainment
    was received by the audiences of ten years later.

    It should also be noted that "The Cinnamon Bear" was part of the Transco
    package taken over by Eells, and probably aged much better than most of
    the other programs they were distributing.

    Some syndicators were a bit more careful about keeping their reruns
    "timely." When Ziv syndicated old "Easy Aces" episodes from 1936-38 in
    the late 1940s, they omitted entire storylines because one or two
    episodes contained topical references that would have revealed that the
    programs were ten years old. For example, an October 1936 storyline in
    which Jane runs for president of the local country club was left out of
    the Ziv rerun package because it contained references to the
    Roosevelt-Landon presidential election. Rather than try to edit out those
    references, Ziv simply dropped the entire storyline, and bridged the gap
    in continuity by having an announcer who was clearly not Ford Bond record
    a new intro to the first episode after the omitted sequence.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 12:16:25 -0500
    From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: UK shows on US Radio

    Eric Cooper said

>     National Public Radio , as a network, I don't think
>     ever actually included the BBC in its schedule, except perhaps
>     HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY or something like that.

    When I heard the BBC series "What Ho, Jeeves!" in the
    1980s, it was presented as part of NPR Playhouse, with
    added commentary by frequent public-radio announcer
    Fred Calland. (sp?)  I presume its actual scheduling was
    left up to individual stations, but it was available to all.
    --
    John Henley

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 12:31:59 -0500
    From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
    To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Parley Baer

    The other night I happened across an old ep of Hogan's Heroes in which
    Parley Baer had a small role as a doctor. I believe I have seen his name
    listed at least one other instance on this show.

    Joe Salerno

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 13:03:06 -0500
    From: "ecrasez" <ecrasez@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: re: The Joy Boys

    I think much of the Joy Boys material is preserved. Check their
    website at [removed] for details. Ed Walker occasionally
    plays some of his old bits on the Big Broadcast on WAMU, which
    also airs live on the net at [removed].

    Bob S.

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 12:58:54 -0500
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: NPR and radio drama

    Henry Howard, <hhoward@[removed];, moderator of  radiodrama@[removed],
        <[removed]; wrote:

>      NPR will cease carrying any radio drama in October of this year.
>      The great Public Radio Guru David Giovannoni, who admitted that he
>      didn't like radio drama before his studies, convinced enough stations
>      to not carry radio drama in their best interest, that NPR Playhouse
>      expenses are no longer justified.

    Which is just one of the reasons I have quit contributing either time
    or money to Public Radio. There was a time when Public Radio was all
    local, a real live DJ, spinning classical platters, willing to fill
    requests, with the occasional transcription of Shakespeare or a radio
    drama from a series such as Earplay thrown in. Some of these were
    excellent, a logical progression from OTR and often quite moving.
    Perhaps some will remember the story they did entitled _Wings_, which
    later became a stage play. If not, I highly recommend seeking it out;
    it will have special resonance for many older members of this group.

    In addition, our local station WUOT, aired a locally produced radio
    drama. I've never had much interest in acting, but I eagerly
    participated in this show, and it was great fun (to those actors like
    Mercedes McCambridge and Tony Randall who say radio drama isn't
    really acting, the performances of a bunch of amateurs, I fear,
    provided a sort of negative proof to the contrary). Also, they aired
    genuine OTR with a Christmas theme during that season.

    When their new program director Regina Dean took the helm, all that
    went away. Apparently in step with NPR, she has also abandoned much
    of the classical music (available nowhere else in this town) in favor
    of such shows as _Car Talk_ (not funny enough to be comedy, and not
    much help in keeping my car running, either), and _The Splendid
    Table_, where people call in to talk about the pleasures of gluttony,
    and _Morning Edition_, which assumes that people would rather wake up
    to World Crisis than to the World's Great Music. To support all this
    they have yearly fund drives, daily pleas to "do our part" by sending
    in donations and to include them in our wills, and increasingly
    lengthy underwriting announcements that are beginning to sound more
    and more like commercials.

    All of these fundraising efforts are succeeding marvelously; I am
    reliably informed that they are rolling in dough, are funded way
    ahead of their needs, but continue to solicit funds "for a rainy
    day." Reportedly, the station management has had to come up with
    creative ways to spend money, including lavish appointments for their
    offices. On the plus side, I no longer feel the slightest need to
    send them any of MY hard-earned money, particularly when I realize
    the money goes to fund all the things that, in my opinion, have
    ruined public radio.

    None of this has anything to do with the perceived leftward slant of
    their broadcasting; I myself am a liberal, but my interest in Terri
    Gross's interviews with gay, Jewish rock stars has its limits. If you
    are unhappy with the direction NPR has taken, stop sending them money
    (it's funny how long it took me to figure that out). Don't volunteer
    to man their phones during fund drives. Maybe threaten to boycott
    their underwriters. Encourage congress to cut whatever federal
    funding may remain. Maybe then NPR will go away and public radio will
    again become the pleasant, unassuming local production it once was.
    If not, satellite radio is on the horizon. Who knows what the future
    may bring? Maybe some of the better parts of the past.

    --

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 13:07:44 -0500
    From: "Peter H. Vollmann" <vollmann@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Joy Boys

    I remember listening to the Joy Boys of Radio on AFRTS (in Germany) in the
    early sixties. So their program was probably syndicated and also made
    available "to our Armed Forces overseas". To my shame I have to admit that I
    confused them (at the time) with Bob and Ray and thought they were one and
    the same.
    Peter from Hawaii

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 13:46:08 -0500
    From: "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Bob Clayton

    HERITAGE4@[removed] writes:

>     One of the most popular post-war radio hosts in the Boston/New England area
>     was
>     BOB CLAYTON, who passed away Monday,  2/4/02,  due to complications of a
>     recent surgery. He was 87 years of age.

    Would this have been the same Bob Clayton who replaced Ed McMahon as master
    of ceremonies on NBC-TV's game show "Concentration" in 1969, remaining with
    the game until NBC-TV cancelled it three-and-a-half years later?

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 13:46:34 -0500
    From: "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: Joy Boys

    Nelson Bryant asks about the Joy Boys of Washington DC radio, "does anyone
    in Radio Land, perhaps the DC area, know if these gems of humor
    have been preserved and/or available?"

    Yes indeed: there is a website devoted to Ed and Willard,
    [removed]
    where you may feast on TONS of sound bites, and purchase aircheck CDs
    (they're up to 87 discs), including 200 COMPLETE half-hour shows from 1960 &
    '61.

    Incidentally, Ed Walker is still affiliated with WAMU-FM at American
    University.  His weekly OTR show, "The Big Broadcast," is a Sunday-night
    perennial, and hopefully always will be.  You can listen via streaming
    RealAudio at: [removed] and clicking
    "Listen Live."  Occasionally he'll play a "Joy Boys" show.

    Michael J. Hayde

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 14:11:10 -0500
    From: "Marty" <martyd@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: re: What Ever Happened to Glenn Miller?

    In addition to George's question, one of my questions came to mind:
    Was there ever a "full" search for Glenn Miller's plane?  Did
    anybody/group ever do any kind of search after the war to find this
    missing plane? Or was this sort of looked at as a "casuality" of the
    war?

    Thanks,
    Marty

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 14:37:49 -0500
    From: Jim Mayor <jmayor@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: RE: The Joy Boys

>     In the late 50's and early 60's, I remember tuning in to WRC Radio in
>     Washington, DC and enjoying the short (3 to 5 minute) skits of The Joy Boys
>     of Radio, Ed Walker and Willard Scott

    <snip>

>     does anyone in Radio Land, perhaps
>     the DC area, know if these gems of humor have been preserved and/or
>     available?

    Unfortunately, I can't help you there, Nelson, but you might be interested
    in some URLs:
    [removed]
    [removed]
    [removed]    Scroll down for their theme and intro
    [removed]

    I remember them well.  What a joy they were.  The Big Broadcast on WAMU,
    locally, sometimes carries them, since Ed Walker is the host (at least the
    last time I was in DC he was).

    Jim Mayor    <jmayor@[removed];

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 15:35:57 -0500
    From: "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: New radio drama vs OTR

    On the subject of liking OTR better than [removed] I was just listening to the
    Journey Into Space series lately. Even though it was recorded around 1960,
    it sounds to me like a more recent production and somehow not as satisfying
    to listen to as other space shows. I was wondering if this has something do
    with the way it was physically performed.

    The dialog in Journey Into Space sounds as if the actors were speaking very
    close to the mike most of the time. Very crisp and clean, but 2-dimensional.
    The effect is really noticeable in headphones. In other OTR shows, even in
    headphones and in mono, the actors seem to be moving around the room, not
    via stereo separation but in some undefinable way that makes it easier, at
    least for me, to visualize them as really being in the fictional setting
    rather than just behind the speakers (or in my ears).

    I gather that modern recording engineers like to shoot for technically pure,
    pristine sound and then manipulate it as needed. Aside from the evolution of
    studio equipment, was there someting about the way OTR was produced that
    would account for a degree of realism? For example, did the actors tend to
    move around more? Or am I just nutz?

    Doug

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 15:58:13 -0500
    From: "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Glenn Miller & Peter Sellers

    George Archer mentioned a Spanish report that Miller was killed when RAF
    bombers emptied their bomb bays while returning from a trip to Germany. On
    New Year's Eve the UK Channel 4 TV screened an hour-long documentary
    entitled "Glenn Miller's Last Flight", which interviewed the wartime RAF
    pilots involved. Although Miller's tiny plane should have been miles to the
    west of the bomber squadron's flight path home, sea defence staff reported a
    small plane crossing the coast on a path that would meet the returning
    bombers. One bomber's crew spotted a small plane approaching just as the
    following squadron was ordered to jettison undropped bombs. Sadly it was
    concluded that the plane was hit by one of the bombs dropped.

    And David Rogers is quite correct - Peter Sellers was never in "Round The
    Horne". BBC Radio 4 recently ran a four-part tribute to Sellers
    concentrating on his early radio work, playing many recordings from Sellers'
    own archives of acetates he'd had recorded of his own radio appearances,
    including his first appearance in 1946. Never broadcast since the 40's, they
    had long since disappeared from the BBC's own archives. I believe ORCA have
    several cassettes taken from Sellera' archives (I don't mean that literally)
    but their catalogue has no details of the contents.

    As always, a fascinating digest, I look forward to it every day.

    Regards to all from England
    Phil

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 18:08:36 -0500
    From: "Scott Eberbach" <seberbach@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Have they been edited?

    Hi All!
    Got a question [removed] have been listening to the Superman serial "Superman
    Vs. The Atom Man"...the version that came out a couple of years ago via
    Radio [removed] playing the CDs the time that shows up is
    approx. 12 [removed] the Goldindex I found out that the time should
    be approx 14:30 [removed] my question is have these episodes been edited?
    Have some of the commecial spots been excised?  I noticed under sponsor
    information that the show is not only sponsored by Kellog's Pep but also by
    Kellog's 40% bran flakes!  Any information on this would be appreciated.

    Scott

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 18:08:54 -0500
    From: grayghost@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: RE; AROUND THE HORN/PETER SELLERS

    In answere  to David Rogers inquiry about Peter Sellers being in the cast of
    ATH, although not a regular member, he did appear a number of times as guest
    artist on that show as well as HHGTTG, and RD.

    Gray Ghost

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #50
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