Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #384
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 10/1/2002 5:09 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 384
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      WOTW "Panic"                          [ leemunsick@[removed] ]
      78 rpm record players                 [ EdHowell@[removed] ]
      Recording audio-only on VHS           [ Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
      Hi-Fi, Mp3's                          [ SeptSev@[removed] ]
      All Things Considered otr story       [ Neal Ellis <bstenor@[removed]; ]
      Christian dramas like Ranger Bill     [ "Frank Phillips" <frankphi@hotmail. ]
      That Brewster Boy                     [ "rcg" <revrcg@[removed]; ]
      "common" actors                       [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
      "Gunsmoke" music                      [ Roo61@[removed] (Randy Watts) ]
      Titled actors                         [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
      Last Dramas Remembered (NPR's All Th  [ "Art Chimes" <ACHIMES@[removed]; ]
      Re: WOTW -- The Other Listeners       [ Henry Howard <hhoward@[removed] ]
      Re: Resource for OTR                  [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      re Fred Berneys post VHS recorders f  [ Tom Kleinschmidt <otr1962@[removed] ]
      Followup to Harry James Betty Grable  [ DOCPOWJR@[removed] ]
      CD/MP3 players                        [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      MP3 PLAYERS                           [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
      Everett Sloane                        [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
      Dahlia/ Spillsbury                    [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 11:05:17 -0400
    From: leemunsick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  WOTW "Panic"

    I have a copy of Hadley Cantril's book on the WOTW fiasco, but have not
    read it for several years.  I do know that he down-rated the over-rated
    idea that millions of people panicked and went nuts.  Despite "The Night
    That Panicked America", the so-called factual TV documentary starring the
    late Vic Morrow.

    But I wonder if others caught the wonderful implication in the following quote:

    "Nelson Eddy's first song appeared at 2:17 into the program. Preceding
    this, Charlie had a few quick introductory lines with Judy Canova -- Bergen
    is not heard --"

    Dig those last four words, folk!  Even Prof. Cantril was pulled into the
    idea that he and we would be listening NOT to Edgar Bergen, but to Charlie
    McCarthy.  I love it!   The power of radio!

    In line with this, I thought I'd add the following, copied many years ago
    from a treatise in my field of marketing:

    Watch Your Mouth!
    Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
    Watch your words, they become your actions.
    Watch your actions, they become your habits.
    Watch your habits, they become your character.
    Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

    Good health to all!  Lee Munsick

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 11:05:48 -0400
    From: EdHowell@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  78 rpm record players

    There is what is called an Emerson 3-speed record player for $[removed]
    available from [removed] but to me the picture looks like a
    refinished Califone which has been available from public school and State
    auctions for about $1 each. My son bought 15 just before he passed away and
    all but three worked perfectly. To see what RestorationHardware has, go to
    their site and search <record players> and see it. Check with your local
    schools and your State government auction people and get on their For Sale
    lists. Also, the Record Finder magazine has them for sale but the price is
    [removed] Califone has very good quality audio and some of them will even play
    the 16 speed for books for the blind and such. Schools also frequently have
    cassette audio tape duplicators cheap. The Califone record players can also
    be found at flea markets now and then. A few weeks ago I saw one for $25 and
    should have bought it because it looked spanking new.

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 12:28:11 -0400
    From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Recording audio-only on VHS

    My experience:  I hooked my radio output to my VCR input and got good
    sound but widely-swinging speed variances.  I then plugged my TV video
    output into the VCR video input (leaving the audio cables as they were),
    and the speed stabilized.  I seem to remember hearing somewhere that
    there is something in the video signal that the VCR needs to run at a
    stable speed.  (By doing this you end up with an unrelated "silent movie"
    on your TV screen.  Just ignore it).

    Don't know if this is unique to my VCR or if it is universal--help,
    someone??

    ---Dan

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 12:28:46 -0400
    From: SeptSev@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Hi-Fi, Mp3's

    Hi Friends:

    I have to agree with Ellsworth about Hi Fi video tapes. Several years ago
    now, I met a fellow on this list who wanted his RTR transfered over to
    something else.  I had a working RTR, so we hit on HI FI video.  The sound
    quality is great, you can transfer L&R channels at the same time, and the
    tapes are holding up fine.  My guess is the audio signal will stay good for
    years if stored with some care (I believe video signal degrades faster, but
    I'm not sure.) Hi Fi video has proven to be an economic solution to massive
    RTR transfers.  From the HiFi tape, you can transfer to cassette, cd's or
    mp3's at will, although finding the program you want somewhere in the middle
    of the tape can be a challenge.

    The one thing I'd say is to try and choose a model that has the sound channel
    inputs on the remote control, so that you can switch to the L or R channel
    without going to a screen menu.  This makes it easier to control if you
    aren't hooking up to a TV, but finding a unit that hs this can be problematic.

    Finally, I just bought an AIWA DVD player at Costco for $99.  So far it plays
    the high grade mp3's fine.  I haven't tried the 32's that some mp3's are
    recorded at yet (I prefer the higher rate) but I'll run a test and see.

    Regards

    Thom
    # ####################
    Thomas Bray

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 12:28:56 -0400
    From: Neal Ellis <bstenor@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  All Things Considered otr story

    The story about otr on All Things Considered was called "Last Radio
    Drama" it was a commentary by Art Chimes.  It was the last piece of the
    show and ran 3:15.

    Neal Ellis
    Audio Engineer
    National Public Radio

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 12:29:12 -0400
    From: "Frank Phillips" <frankphi@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Christian dramas like Ranger Bill

    I find it odd that Moody Bible Institute could shed no light on the dramas,
    because I listened to them on a WMBI affiliate or satellite station in 1974.
    I was living near the Quad Cities in Illinois at the time and the station
    was on AM and local -- not from Chicago or any other big city.

    That summer I listened to dramatized biographies -- I think the show was
    called "Heroes of the Faith," perhaps.

    The dramas played all day long and I listened in my car as well as in the
    office, so I'm sure it was an AM station.

    Frank

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 12:29:44 -0400
    From: "rcg" <revrcg@[removed];
    To: "Otr Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  That Brewster Boy

    I was recently reading an interview with the late Dick York (the 1st Darrin
    on "Bewitched") in which he tells of his days as a radio actor. For a time,
    he played the title role on "That Brewster Boy" I recall listening to the
    show in my younger years. I always wondered why the show changed it's cast
    members and was retitled "Those Websters". Mr York explains just what
    happened. It had to do with the anti communist mania that was starting to
    spread at the time.

    If you're interested, you can read the entire interview at the following
    URL.
    [removed]

    The page also contains four video clips of interviews with Mr. York shortly
    before his death. The two still pictures on the page show a very frail,
    dying man and I did not have the heart to look at the videos. But, the
    written interview is very interesting and, in it, Mr. York relates some fond
    memories of his radio career.

    Gunner

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 12:30:10 -0400
    From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  "common" actors

    While Mr. Bullis may have been misunderstood, his  use of the word "common"
    as it applies to radio actors could easily be construed as pejorative. It
    takes quite a stretch of the imagination to conclude that he was referring
    to someone not "titled".  Howard Culver (I'm sure Lois Culver personalized
    it) and his fellow radio professionals deserve a better adjective than
    "common".

    And while we are on the subject of words, Paul Harvey discussed a contest
    conducted by a Wisconsin teacher about the only word in the English
    language without a vowel.  She had a standing prize of $50 for someone who
    came up with it.

    After ten years, the prize was finally claimed.

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 13:02:46 -0400
    From: Roo61@[removed] (Randy Watts)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "Gunsmoke" music

>     I remember hearing on a Gunsmoke radio
>     episode that the music for the program had
>     been released as a single. Just wondering if
>     these are extremely rare, and for how long
>     does the music play on the record? It's
>     basically the same notes, so I wonder how
>     long they had it on the record. Was it the
>     same on both sides?

    The announcement may have been in reference to a 45 rpm single released
    by Capitol Records in 1955 that featured Rex Koury himself conducting
    the orchestra on a vocal version of the GUNSMOKE theme sung by Tex
    Ritter.  Koury shares songwriting credit on the record with Glenn
    Spencer.

    I don't have this.  Just found reference to it on the internet.  The
    GUNSMOKE theme was also recorded by Lawrence Welk, among others.

    Randy

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 13:26:11 -0400
    From: otrbuff@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Titled actors

    I see someone is looking for OTR's titled actors.  Begging your pardon,
    is there one more famous than the gent who was captivated by an orphan
    girl named Sunday from the little mining town of Silver Creek, Colorado,
    who in young womanhood married England's richest, most handsome lord,
    Lord Henry Brinthrope?  He certainly appeared more frequently than anyone
    else we can name:  about 261 performances annually times nearly 22 years
    and always at 12:45 ET over CBS.  You do the math.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 13:25:44 -0400
    From: "Art Chimes" <ACHIMES@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Last Dramas Remembered (NPR's All Things
     Considered)

    I am the NPR commentator whose piece Monday night
    on "All Things Considered" has been mentioned here by
    a couple of contributors.

    For those who missed it, you can go to the NPR web
    site, select "All Things Considered" from the pull-
    down box at the top of the page, choose "Experience"
    under the show for Sept. 30, then look for the segment
    near the bottom of the page. This method will probably
    no longer work after Tuesday's show.

    The entire segment-by-segment show *may* be
    permanently archived at
    [removed];PrgID=2

    Alternatively, the following should be a direct link
    to the audio for this segment:
    [removed]

    Incidentally, another segment of the show looked at
    the desegregation of the University of Mississippi,
    also 40 years ago. The admission of black student
    James Meredith sparked race riots on the campus, and
    an email from a broadcast history professor in the
    Midwest informs me that the last episodes of "Yours
    Truly, Johnny Dollar" and "Suspense" were frequently
    interrupted by news bulletins. He wrote:

    "...as the riots were erupting on the campus of Ole
    Miss that night, CBS' Radio News was becoming trigger
    happy with their news bulletins about the escalating
    violence.  As a result, the network's final night of
    fictional radio drama was repeatedly interrupted by
    multiple and lengthy updates on the southern campus
    confrontation -- making the originally scheduled, make-
    believe stories impossible to follow.  (Except for
    Pacific Coast listeners, who heard the time-delayed
    rebroadcast, three hours later.")

    I have copies of those last two shows, uninterrupted
    by any news bulletins. I wonder if there exist any
    recordings of the shows *with* the news flashes.

    It must have been tremendously frustrating for fans of
    those shows to have been deprived of the experience of
    hearing those two surviving radio dramas breathe their
    last.

    Regards,
    Art Chimes
    _ ________
    Art Chimes
    1117-B North Stuart St.
    Arlington, VA 22201

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 13:46:34 -0400
    From: Henry Howard <hhoward@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: WOTW -- The Other Listeners

    Some years ago there was a disaster film made about Charleston, SC.
    During most of the broadcast there was a crawl at the bottom of the
    screen stating that this was a movie and not actual fact.

    Many local police/fire departments received calls on how to evacuate
    or out of state relatives trying to check on their loved ones.

              Henry Howard
    radiodrama digest moderator
         [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 14:13:24 -0400
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re:  Resource for OTR

    Thanks for that link, Kenneth Clarke.

    I notice that the  radio programs there are on VINYL.   I think some people
    on this list have been looking for vinyl??

    There are also a lot of other spoken word LPS in addition to old time radio
    which are interesting.

    Irene

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 15:29:30 -0400
    From: Tom Kleinschmidt <otr1962@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  re Fred Berneys post VHS recorders for

    Ellsworth Johnson wrote:

>     Folks hi-fi VHS machines have separate heads for
>     audio. The audio is overlayed over the video but you
>     aren't going to record any video if you are using the
>     machine for audio only-- so there is no tracking
>     problem. No way.

    	I'll have to disagree here, the Hi-Fi VCR's do have a
    linear audio track that is recorded along with the
    Hi-Fi audio tracks, but they are monoaural. Fred
    Berney was right, there will be MAJOR tracking
    problems down the road with slow speed tapes recorded
    with OTR or video for that matter. Compatibility
    between brands of VCR's is a serious problem.
    	This shouldn't be an issue though, after all the
    blank tapes can be bought in quantity for less than
    $[removed] at a place like Sam's Club. Don't use the 6 hour
    mode, use the SP speed and you'll still get 2 hours of
    good quality audio on a tape. You'll also be able to
    play it 10 years from now, even if VCR's might be
    harder to find then. To me this is as common sense as
    encoding an MP3 file at a rate of 128 or 160 instead
    of 32, but some people just have to cram everything
    they can on a tape and reduce quality. I remember a
    year or two ago someone on the digest took this a step
    further and planned to use a Hi-Fi VCR to record 12
    hours on one T-120 tape with 6 hours on the left
    channel and 6 hours on the right channel, I don't
    think he ever reported the results.
    	I should say that I think the slower speeds are fine
    for timeshifting purposes, but if you still want to
    hear these tapes sounding good in a few years, do not
    use the slowest recording speed. It's just my 2 cents,
    but I have some experience with a collection of more
    than 11,000 VHS tapes I've gathered over the past 25
    years and I've worked with more styles and brands of
    VCR's than I can count in that time!

    Tom

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 15:29:34 -0400
    From: DOCPOWJR@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Followup to Harry James Betty Grable Audition
     Disc
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I have a tape of that audition tape which dates from 1953 and features Betty
    and Harry providing the banter while spinning records.  I assume that is the
    same one tho my copy does include the music.  Does that help any?  wpwers

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

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 15:30:44 -0400
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  CD/MP3 players

    I'm very happy with my audible otis mp3 player.   It was all I wanted it to
    be on my vacation in early August, (if one could call being in Prague until
    2 hours after the flood crested, a vacation.)

    However, I'm a hopeless gadget freak and I recently received a flyer from
    Magellans travel, an online site where I've bought some travel stuff for
    what they call 'the world's only CD/MP3 player with removable
    [removed] it anywhere!" which they describe as 'perfect for the
    traveler'  Of course it has an AC/DC adapter as well.

    It's described as an "ego 4000 CD/MP3/FM Alarm Clock Radio ... 20% smaller
    then the smallest CD player in its class"

    The price is $149.

    Anyway if anyone is interested in checking it out go to

    [removed]

    Irene

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 16:22:57 -0400
    From: PURKASZ@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  MP3 PLAYERS

        I know I'm asking the right people when I come here so let me begin.
        I am traveling very soon to a remote tropical island that shall be
    nameless and isn't even on the map. I will have electricity and I do want to
    bring all my OTR mp3 files as well as some music.
        I would appreciate any and all suggestions as to what mp3 player I should
    buy.
        You my write me off list if you wish, though I can imagine this info
    being of use to many who like myself, are eager to be able to play OTR
    anywhere.
        One thing the player must do is play external speakers.
        After many years on the radio during the 60s, I have grown to hate
    wearing earphones.
        Many thanks.
                         <A HREF="[removed],+Michael+C.">
    Michael C. Gwynne</A>

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 17:31:23 -0400
    From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Everett Sloane

    Joe notes the death of Everett Sloane in his radio milestones column.

    Sloane has always been one of my favorite character actors.  Mercedes
    McCambridge in her autobiography writes lovingly of him and grieves over
    Sloane's taking his own life because of failing eyesight.

    I am wondering if Harry Bartell, Michael Gwynne, Hal Stone, Sandy Singer,
    or Conrad Binyon have memores of him of him that they could share, ---or
    that  could be shared by  other radio professionals on the list who worked
    with him or knew him. Were he still alive, I am sure that Sloane would be
    revered at our radio conventions.

    Personal anecdotes about radio performers are, in my opinion, the best part
    of this newsgroup.

    Dennis Crow

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: Lately, the OTR Digest has been refered to both as a
    newsgroup and as a site. The Digest is neither; it is a mailing list. There
    may be some practical similarities between a mailing list and a newsgroup
    (there is _nothing_ in common between the list and a "site" short of the
    letters of the alphabet), but they are fastly different things both in terms
    of transport and in terms of operation. To call this a "newsgroup" is akin to
    calling a sound effects artist a mear "foley;" it's not only inaccurate, it's
    rather disparaging.  ;)

    I'm not picking on Dennis, understand - he's only the most recent of many to
    misidentify the list. It's happened so frequently lately, though, that I
    wanted to clarify the correct technical term for this little gathering that
    arrives in your mailbox every day.  --cfs3]

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

    Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 18:55:01 -0400
    From: Derek Tague  <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Dahlia/ Spillsbury

    Hi Gang:

       My Appomatoxic buddy Lee Munsick has been goading me into joining the fray
    by making some "awful  pun" [a true redundancy, I betcha] about the
    Dahlias--Black & Blue.
       Not me, boss.
       But I am reminded of   the satirical piece by humourist Thomas Meehan
    [librettist for Broadway's "Annie" & "Mel Brooks's 'The Producers'"] which
    appeared in a 1962 story in THE NEW YORKER magazine, titled  "The Yma Dream"
    in which the story's narrator dreams he is hosting a cocktail party attended
    by  Yma Sumac, the Aly Khan, Oona O'Neill Chaplin, Uta Hagen, Abba Eban,
    [removed], who then has to make the introductions: "Yma, Abba. Abba, Yma. Yma,
    Oona. Oona, Yma. Etc." [think of how David Letterman beat this one into the
    ground with his "Oprah, Uma. Uma, Oprah." schtick  about Misses Winfrey &
    Thurman when he hosted the Academy Awards.].
        Can you imagine  the same  cocktail party with the Black Dahlia, the Dalai
    Lama,  Dolly [removed]  Never mind.

        It reminds me of a joke once told me by the ultimate punster Ed Clute
    at the 1999 Cincunatti OTR convention:
        Didja hear about the guy who went to sleep & dreamt he was the tail-pipe
    of a 1952 Studebaker?
        Waitaminnit! I think it was actually Nana Clute who told me that one!
        He woke up exhausted!

        As for Klinton Spillsbury, the foe, er, faux "Lone Ranger" in that awful
    1981 film. About 10 years ago, the New York  Post's fabled "Page Six" gossip
    column  mentioned that [removed]'s  name appeared  in the "Andy Warhol Diaries."
    However, the parameters  of good taste while being  here on the Digest in
    mixed company, prohibit me from saying in what context Mr. Spillsbury appears.
    One will need to check out the paperback edition of Warhol's Diaries  (the
    original hardcover edition didn't print an index--a ploy the publisher
    concocted in order to  prompt curiosity seekers into actually buying the
    book--instead of hanging out in a bookstore & reading the more salacious
    parts).  The same Page Six item alleged that [removed] was washing dishes in a
    Denny's somewhere in California. "Hi ho, Silverware!" (how was that, Lee?).

    Yours in the ether,

    Derek

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #384
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