Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #44
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 2/4/2002 1:13 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 44
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Paint?                                [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
      Re: Wide, Wide World                  [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Martin Block's records                [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Fibbers car                           [ "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed] ]
      Re: No "Live Only" Rule at Mutual     [ "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@hotmail ]
      Max Baer Sr.                          [ John Henley <jhenley@[removed] ]
      WNEW New York and WHBI Newark         [ "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@hotmail ]
      Australian FAT MAN                    [ passage@[removed] ]
      Transcribed program announcement      [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      RE: OTR--MP3's and players            [ Habegger <amej@[removed]; ]
      Superman--syndicated and network ver  [ "Bob Watson" <crw912@[removed]; ]
      The Radio Dramatization of Karl Wagn  [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      MP3 Players and directories           [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      100 cassette trays                    [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@delphiau ]

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 00:57:49 -0500
    From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
    To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Paint?

    Sorry, Tonto's horse was Scout, or in the first recorded eps WHITE FELLER.

    Joe Salerno

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 00:58:41 -0500
    From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re:  Wide, Wide World

    From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];

>     I do remember watching the first "Wide, Wide, World" broadcast . . .
>     All live! Isn't it a shame that all those engineers are no longer
>     with us and everything has to be recorded on tape! Maybe some time
>     in the future the "brains" will find out a way to do "live broadcasting"
>     again.

    Is today soon enough?  As I type this, most of the rest of the country
    is watching the elaborate live broadcast of the Super Bowl.  The
    director is probably controlling more cameras for that one event than
    the Wide Wide World director had all across the country.  And later this
    week will begin two weeks of multi-location live broadcasting with some
    taped inserts--the Winter Olympics.  Considering the fact that it
    usually takes over 15 minutes to roll the credits at the end of the
    Olympics, productions like these are far more complicated than even the
    pioneering Wide Wide World--which I remember watching almost every
    week.

    And then, of course, there is election coverage.  Over the course of the
    evening we are taken all over the country to live presentations from
    polling places, campaign headquarters, and hotel ballrooms to hear live
    reactions and speeches from the winners and losers.  The programs that
    ABC and worldwide Public broadcasters did on Dec 31, 1999, and again
    ABC's program on this New Year's Eve presented us with live celebrations
    as each new time zone brought in the new year, of course coupled with
    recorded inserts to show us what was happening elsewhere at the same
    time a few moments earlier.  Nightline often does live pick-ups from all
    over the world with different groups conversing with each other. I can
    cite many other examples, especially considering how many news channels
    are on the air providing live worldwide pickups every day.  So I am not
    so sure that the skill of live multi-point broadcasting is lost.  It
    might be that it is done so often that it is no longer noticed as being
    special as when Wide Wide World was one of the few examples on the air.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 01:01:11 -0500
    From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Martin Block's records

    From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];

>     Someone wondered about the large cabinet of records along with
>     Martin Block.

    That concerned whether the film had been shot in his actual radio studio
    during an actual broadcast or whether the records and the shelving were
    just prop scenery in a mock-up of a fake studio in a movie set.  So what
    was really at question was whether the WNEW studios had record shelving
    like that in the studio or were all of the records kept back in the
    record library.  Can you recall whether that scene could have been shot
    at WNEW?

>     One day Martin approached WNEW manager, Bernice Judas, and
>     informed her that the vast record library at WNEW belonged
>     to him and she would have to pay him a rental fee.  As Bernice
>     was known as "a tough cookie", I can imagine her reaction.
>     However, she paid. Wish I could have witnessed that encounter!

    When Martin Block moved over to WABC and then WOR it appears that the
    records stayed at WNEW.  Or at least enough of them did for WNEW to have
    donated something like 40,000 78-RPM records to the Rodgers and
    Hammerstein Archive of Recorded Sound of the New York Public Library at
    Lincoln Center.  They are still kept as a separate collection.  One day
    down in the stacks I happened across a small pile of papers and things,
    and on top of it was about ten RCA Victor vinyl test pressings of Glenn
    Miller's recording of "It's Make Believe Ballroom Time" Block's second
    theme that he continued to use till his death.  The white labels were
    printed indicating they were special pressings for Block and WNEW.
    Obviously these copies stayed with WNEW.

>     The record companies at that time would send their newest releases
>     directly to the disc jockeys. Consequently they were actually the
>     property of the "jocks".

    Most record companies now contend that promotional copies are only
    "loaned" copies and the ownership of them remains with the record
    company.  Nobody considers this contention enforcable.  But back when
    Martin Block began around 1935, the record companies didn't want their
    records played on the air. Most record labels had printed notices on
    them to that effect.  So, far from sending their records to either
    stations or jocks, they  have to actually BUY the records.  So
    considering the early records in the WNEW collection, their ownership
    might depend on who's money was used to buy them.  In the 20s and 30s
    record companies were occasionally sueing stations who played their
    records.  So it is interesting that the recording that exists of one of
    Block's 1935 programs starts with a 1927 recording that did not have the
    prohibition statement on the label.

    As years went on and Block became friends with the performers
    themselves, they probably personally gave him copies of their records.
    Most of the record companies did not distribute "DJ copies" until after
    the war.  There has been some discussion of which company was first, and
    some collectors believe it might be Capitol.  Some copies of postwar
    recordings have been found with special labels that were "personalized"
    with the name of the recipient DJ typed on the label.  That would
    certainly sew up the ownership claims for those records!  I think that
    many of the people on this digest who have worked for radio stations
    from different eras will all have memories of dealing with record
    promotion men and know that they would quite often slip the DJs records
    to win their favor. (They also did it to secretaries and even
    engineers!)  But they also gave records to the station to maintain a
    station record library, and records would come in the mail every day
    addressed to the station or an executive position such as Program
    Director or Music Director.  Some would go to the station and some would
    go to the jocks . . .  and some that were not needed would be taken to a
    local store to trade for other records that were needed--or for cash!
    Of course, doing anything with these records other than playing them on
    the air could create legal problems, and diverting records meant for the
    station to a personal collection could also cause complications.

    So I agree with Bill that it would have been fun to have been a fly on
    the wall during that meeting between Martin Block and Bernice Judas.  He
    would have had to explain who's money was used between 1935 and around
    1945, and then explain that once the record companies started to hand
    out promotional copies whether the record company expected that if they
    gave Block a record would this copy be played only on Block's program or
    if would it also be used on other programs on the station.  If they gave
    Block a record but did not give copies to the other jocks or to the
    station, he would be hard pressed to explain why he would think that the
    record company would not need to have it played outside of his air
    shift.  Most DJs are careful to keep their private collections separate
    from the station's music library.  If Block was the only one playing
    records on the station he would have a stronger case.  But since there
    were others playing records, if the one and only copy came into his
    hands, how could he prove that it hadn't been really intended by the
    record company for the station's library.  But to make matters worse, if
    this were to happen today, Block would probably also have to delare the
    receipt of these records as income from the record companies if he
    wanted to collect rent on them from the station!

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 10:25:02 -0500
    From: "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Fibbers car

    On the subject of Fibber's car: until August 26, 1936 the McGees didn't have
    a home, they just drove around in their flivver and sold Johnson's Car-Nu.
    On the show of 8-26-36 Fibber bought a raffle ticket on a house for $[removed],
    because with the purchase of the ticket the buyer could have all of the
    sandwiches he could eat.  Of course he won the house with ticket #13-13-13
    and he and Molly settled down in #79 Wistful Vista to sell Johnson's paste
    wax and glo-coat.
    On the subject of finding old brand products, try
    [removed] They have everything from Lux soap flakes
    to sen-sen.

    Roby McHone
    Fairbanks, Alaska

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 10:25:57 -0500
    From: "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: No "Live Only" Rule at Mutual

    Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; responds to my post about the V-E Day broadcast
    of Mutual's "Roy Rogers Show":

>     News interruptions were not done from the studio where the entertainment
>     program originated--maybe not even the same city--and rarely would the
>     production of the show be halted or altered.  So even if the Roy Rogers
>     Show was being done live it would be highly unusual if they did make a
>     reference to the bulletin.  They wouldn't know they had been interrupted
>     until after the broadcast, and only then if someone bothered to tell
>     them.

    [snippage]

>     But since your tape DOES have the live news
>     interruptions, it should also have the transcribed announcements if it
>     was indeed a pre-recorded program.

    Unfortunately, I fear, after searching for the tape for the last week-plus,
    that it may have been one of the dozens maliciously destroyed by an
    ex-landlord when I moved to my current residence a couple of years ago.
    However, it was part of one of the two "Best of Those Were the Days" audio
    transcripts of Chuck Schaden's WNIB/WNIZ Chicago programs dealing with radio
    as it was heard on V-E Day, so anyone who has a copy of that one -- or Chuck
    himself? :-) -- can confirm what I recalled about that program. One thing I
    am definite about is that the announcement was certainly not a news
    bulletin, but a couple of announcements woven into the program by a utility
    announcer; the announcer is heard mainly as a bridge between the main
    entertainment segments of the program and the references to its being V-E
    Day were in an almost off-handed, conversational manner, not in the manner
    that a newscaster would deliver a bulletin. I seem to recall there was also
    a "Tom Mix" program the same day (also included in the Schaden audio
    transcript)that contained comments from the actor playing Mix referring to
    V-E Day, thus I suspect that the "Tom Mix" program was either live or also
    part-transcription/part-live that day too.

    Which, by the way, leads me to another couple of questions unrelated to the
    Mutual live/transcription policy. As I recall, the real-life Tom Mix had
    been dead for several years by the time the V-E Day program was broadcast.
    Had the series been running since late in Mix's lifetime? And how did Mutual
    handle the potential confusion of kids listening to a character that they
    may have known at the time had died in real life some time before?

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 10:27:13 -0500
    From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Max Baer Sr.

     From John Mayer:

>     If memory serves, Max Baer was the father of the lad that played
>     Jethro on _The Beverly Hillbillies_. Am I [removed]

    Yes indeed.

>     and did the younger Max ever do any boxing?

    Can't find any quick reference to such, but I'd guess
    that if he did, it was strictly amateur or college-level,
    since it's said he earned a degree in Business Administration
    (with a minor in Philosophy) from UC Santa Barbara.  That
    sure suggests he had other plans at the time.   But I don't
    have a definite answer here.

>     For that matter, did the elder Max do any acting
>     that might have paved the way for his son?

    Again, yes indeed.  Max Sr. had a sporadic 25-year career in
    films beginning with a starring role in "The Prizefigher and
    the Lady," 1933, with Myrna Loy.  The rest of his acting career
    consisted mainly in comic supporting roles and "playing himself"
    in generally low-budget second features.  In the early 50s he
    and another former champ, Maxie Rosenbloom, teamed for a
    handful of comedy two-reelers for the Columbia short subjects
    unit, done by the same creative team that churned out the Three
    Stooges shorts.  Max Sr's last film credit is in Rowan and Martin's
    1958 film "Once Upon a Horse," only a year before he died at age
    50.
    I don't know whether he did any OTR or TV acting, but I've seen
    one or two of his films and he had a pleasant enough speaking voice.
    Handling written dialogue in a film is of course a different thing
    from handling it before a live microphone and a huge immediate
    audience.
    --
    John Henley

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 10:25:28 -0500
    From: "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: WNEW New York and WHBI Newark

    William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; writes:

>     One day Martin [Block] approached WNEW
>     manager, Bernice Judas, and informed her that the vast record library at
>     WNEW belonged to him and she would have to pay him a rental fee. It was
>     true. The record companies at that time would send their newest releases
>     directly to the disc jockeys. Consequently they were actually the
>     property of the "jocks".

    In the gatefold of the RCA Victor 2-LP set GLENN MILLER: A MEMORIAL
    1944-1969, there is a photo collage, with one of the photos showing Miller
    either filing or taking out a phonograph record from a huge collection on a
    wall of shelving; next to Miller stands a microphone with a WNEW sign across
    the top. Would this be Block's collection in the photograph? Would the photo
    have been taken on an occasion when Miller stood in for Block on one of the
    latter's scheduled programs?

>     WNEW operated 24 hours
>     a day with the exception of Sunday and Monday when they shared time (two
>     hours) with WHBI (Hoyt Brothers, Inc.) in Newark.

    I recently acquired a CD of MP3s of some of Fr. Charles Coughlin's
    broadcasts, airchecked from WHBI. (Interestingly, an announcement on the
    earliest broadcast on the CD states that WINS New York had cancelled its
    contract to carry Coughlin's program the previous week. Does anyone have a
    listing of Coughlin's affiliates and the dates they carried him?) What other
    programs did WHBI broadcast?

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 12:16:10 -0500
    From: passage@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Australian FAT MAN

    Hi All,

    Does anyone out there know who played the lead in the Australian
    version of THE FAT MAN?  Or any other information about the
    series.  Usually, I can find lots of tidbits of information on the
    Internet about various series.  I seem to be drawing a blank on this
    one.  Thanks

    Frank

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 12:16:45 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Transcribed program announcement

>     Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 19:55:12 -0500
>     From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];

>     There also were movie features in the program, but I
>     would assume the network lawyers would be satisfied with Buffalo Bob's
>     elaborate introductions to the movies that included opening the movie
>     projector's box, etc.

    Besides that, the "old-time movies" were silent films, with the studio
    organist playing background music and Buffalo Bob narrating.  Only very
    occasionally did they show a movie with sound, but it was very clear that
    it was a movie.

    There was one exception, though.  When Buffalo Bob went away on vacation,
    they wrote into the story that he was on a trip somewhere for some
    reason, and at some point during the show, they would contact him on the
    Super Talkascope.  Then there would be a filmed segment of him, wherever
    he was supposed to be, filmed before he went on vacation.  There was
    never a special announcement of that being on film.  That, apparently,
    was covered by the on-screen announcement that portions of the program
    were on film and records.

     --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 13:05:12 -0500
    From: Habegger <amej@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: RE: OTR--MP3's and players

>     I think what I'm asking is can a player read a disk with directories

    of shows on it?

    I would like to suggest: as the players become "smarter", they can read
    the sub-folders
    (directories) and titles (files). It would be best to edit the file
    names to conform to
    the mp3 standards, so they will be displayed in the same format. There
    are programs to
    bulk re-structure the file names.

    If your player does not display, or read, the sub-folders, then create a
    temporary folder.
    Copy all of the shows you want to place on one disk to this folder. Burn
    from this folder.
    As you purchase smarter players, you will have the hard work completed.
    Then, you can use
    the sub-folder method to burn your disks. Any sense to this?

    Dick
    Anaheim

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 13:19:07 -0500
    From: "Bob Watson" <crw912@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Superman--syndicated and network versions

    I have been a Superman fan since my childhood in the sixties, when most of
    the radio cast got back together and did the cartoon series on CBS.

    I have the Radio Spirits CD collections and the 20 tape set they released,
    and I have been meaning to ask this question for a while, but just never got
    around to it.

    On the syndicated version, Superman grows up in transit to Earth.  In those
    bygone innocent days, it may have made sense that someone could grow up in
    the void of space and emerge from a rocketship speaking perfect English and
    having excellent social skills, but apparently someone thought better of
    this later on in the series.  I noticed that during the Spider Widow/Atom
    Man storyline, when Clark recounts his origin to Lois and Perry, that the
    script is almost verbatim from the original syndicated show of 1940, except
    that now Superman is raised by a farmer and his wife, as in the comic books.

    My question is:  Did the Mutual series simply pick up where the syndicated
    version left off???  Or did they start over again and re-present the origin
    of Superman anew with their first episode.  Since the cast remained intact
    from the syndicated version, I have long assumed that it just picked up
    where the syndicated version ended.  But now I am not so sure and would like
    to ask the digest posters if they have any knowledge of this.

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 13:42:02 -0500
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: The Radio Dramatization of Karl Wagner's

    Sticks
    Approved: ctrn4eeWlc

    A couple of years ago Gordon Payton mentioned he had for sale two
    versions of Karl Edward Wagner's short story, "Sticks" (possibly part
    of the inspiration for the Blair Witch Project). It was dramatized
    for radio sometime during the 70's, I believe. I neglected to order
    them at the time; then, due to a screw-up on the part, apparently, of
    my terrible ISP Earthlimp, I lost contact with the digest. Gordon,
    are you still lurking? If not, does anyone else have copies of this
    show?
    --

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 14:03:16 -0500
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: MP3 Players and directories

    "bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed]; asked:

>     I think what I'm asking is can a player read a disk with directories
>     of shows on it?

    Well, supposedly. I was recently given an MP3 player to keep me
    company while I convalesce. Simply dragging a folder (as we Mackies
    call directories) of shows from my Mac to the disk didn't work; the
    Rio couldn't see anything until I dumped all the shows "loose" onto
    the disc. I understand, however, that there is a firmware patch at
    the Rio site that you can download, burn to disc and run to correct
    some such problems.

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

    Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 14:03:36 -0500
    From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: 100 cassette trays

    Does anyone know a source for the plastic trays that hold 100 cassettes?
    My local stores have stopped carrying them.  With my small apartment,
    storage space is at a premium, and those trays are perfect for underbed
    storage with easy access.

    -Chris Holm

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #44
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