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The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 438
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
What's a Nice Kid Like You; Those Ma [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
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Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 23:16:36 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: What's a Nice Kid Like You; Those
Magnificent Studios
WHAT'S A NICE KID LIKE [removed]
by Sandy Singer
++++
Those Magnificent Studios
We were the Hollywood of the Midwest. All our major motion picture studios
were North and in the Northwest Chicago suburbs, but all our major radio
studios were well within walking distance of each other, along Chicago's
famous river that flows backwards.
CBS [WBBM] in that magnificent Wrigley Building, built in the image of the
Giralda Tower of the Seville Cathedral in Spain--the beautiful white
building, with the clock, you see photographed in many films with a Chicago
backdrop, and home of Ma Perkins.
Our audience studio [A] was located at the rear of the ground floor. Three
smaller studios were located to the right, just before you reached Studio A.
The second floor housed 5 additional studios, one used mainly for production,
and was a general reception area for actors and staff. Everything painted in
'CBS Blue' and decorated identically to the other CBS O&O's-- clocks, chairs,
etc. The first time I walked into the WCCO studios in Minneapolis it was
deja vous. The Wrigley Building basement housed our gigantic pipe organ--the
organist wore headphones and took cues from the director's booth. Our pages
were Andy Frain ushers--their familiar uniform was seen at just about every
sporting event in Chicago.
Across the street stood the majestic Tribune Tower, home of Mutual [WGN].
Our audience studio was more a theater, in a free standing building just to
the North of the Tower, and home to Mr. First Nighter, The Whistler, etc. In
the Tower there were floors of studios, where Captain Midnight, Little Orphan
Annie and Tom Mix originated.
A few blocks West was the Merchandise Mart, a building, if built like the
structure shape of the Empire State Building, would have been 20 stories
taller. It was a city within a city -- the 19th and 20th floors were the
home of NBC--RED & BLUE. The 20th floor was our air-check center--30+ ET
cutters--many shows were multi-transcribed. The huge archived collection of
air-check material found its way to Northwestern University's School of
Broadcasting when WMAQ left the air.
Studio A was, for a short period of time, the largest broadcast studio in the
world. It was the studio that floated--a structure built within the confines
of a wall just a bit larger than that of the studio. Occasionally a BLUE
show would use a RED studio--The Breakfast Club originated from RED A. We
had a number of audience studios [more than any other Chicago facility], with
smaller studios literally all over the place. As you got off the elevator on
the 19th floor the NBC BLUE studios were in one direction, NBC Red, the
other. Those marvelous NBC Pages always ready to direct you to your studio.
My most 'delicious' memory of the Merchandise Mart was a fabulous doughnut
shop on the first floor.
- ------------------
Sandy Signer's career started at the age of 12, as a child actor in
Chicago, on radio's kid/adventure shows. His disc jockey work took him
back to Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Dallas, etc. He's been in
broadcasting 59 years, and so, in his own words, "never 'worked' a
day of my life."
This article will be archived at:
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End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #438
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