Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #321
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 10/19/2005 7:11 AM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2005 : Issue 321
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      a Shadow ET                           [ Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@yahoo ]
      "Stand By"                            [ "Bill Knowlton" <udmacon1@[removed] ]
      white feller                          [ Dave Parker <dave@[removed] ]
      Foley-derol                           [ David Loftus <dloft59@[removed] ]
      Ed Murrow & Paley                     [ "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed]; ]
      Yep. And [removed]                       [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      LIBERACE                              [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
      Podcasts and OTR                      [ seandd@[removed] ]
      Assistant Directors                   [ "D. FISHER" <dfisher052@[removed] ]
      Joe Pyne                              [ Art Chimes <[removed]@[removed] ]
      Good Night and Good Luck              [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
      Airing Opposite Milton Berle          [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
      FOTR Anniversary Video                [ Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed]; ]
      New York Daily News Article on FOTR   [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:29:53 -0400
    From: Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  a Shadow ET

    Hi,

    I got a surprisingly big response from my Encoding
    Guide.  Hopefully it will improve encodes out there.

    Anyhow, I've always wanted an origanal WOR station
    master reel of Jean Shepard.  I would be willing to
    even trade a Shadow ET to do it.  I prefer the 60s,
    but any date might do.

    THanks,
    Trav

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 17:49:28 -0400
    From: "Bill Knowlton" <udmacon1@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "Stand By"

    "Stand By," a weekly magazine published by WLS, Chicago, was published from
    1935 to 1938. It not only reported on the activities and programs of WLS and
    its staff, it also ran items about the radio world in general. I've been
    assembling a collection of "Stand By" and am enjoying the tidbits. As the
    [removed]

    "Arturo Toscanini, who is coming to this country next December under an
    exclusive NBC contract, will co-conduct a series of 10 weekly broadcasts at
    the rate of $4,000 per concert. His musicians will be members of the NBC
    symphony orchestra."-MAR 20, 1937

    " 'I used to kid myself that I wasn't interested in going on the air,' says
    [removed] Fields, 'but now I know it was nothing more than fear as the whether I
    could succeed in a new medium such as radio-mike fright, in brief.'"  --OCT
    2, 1937

    "Milton J. Cross, NBC announcer, recently bought himself a farm."-OCT 2,
    1937

    NOTE: The WLS National Barn Dance held two shows every Saturday night in
    Chicago's Eighth Street Theater; first: 7:30 to 9:30 pm (CST); second: 10 pm
    to midnight.

    >From 8 to 9 pm the 60 minute NBC portion was aired in the east. It was
    repeated for the West Coast from 10 pm to 11 pm. What's interesting is how
    WLS handled the repeat so that its own listeners didn't have to hear the
    second feed. The station built a radio studio in the balcony of the theatre.
    There, WLS performers did a series of local programs from 9:30 to 11 pm,
    thus covering the 30 minute intermission and the NBC West Coast repeat.

    The "fillers" included "Hometown Memories," the "Tall story Club," and the
    "Coleman Fireside Party." Then WLS rejoined the Barn Dance at 11 [removed]

    BILL KNOWLTON

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 17:50:02 -0400
    From: Dave Parker <dave@[removed];
    To: OLD TIME RADIO <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  white feller

    I'M NOT SURE IF is the definitive answer - but back in 1948 Chuck
    Livingstone told me that the movie people didn't want TWO WHITE
    HORSES in the same shows. And so (Chuck said) they created [removed]
    gallop alongside SILVER.

    Maybe Anthony Tollin [removed]

    				gettum up; Scout

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 17:50:13 -0400
    From: David Loftus <dloft59@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Foley-derol

    On the OTR list, Jack French posted:

>     I hate to come in sounding like a rumpled purist, but what in
>     the heck does "foley" have to do with OTR re-creations?

>     . . . a "foley artist" is only employed in movie or TV
>     show production.

    I also received a private email from someone else who admonished me on this
    point. I referred the issue to the head of the operation in which I will be
    performing a new adaptation of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" here in Portland,
    OTR-style, before live audiences, and this was his response:

    "Yes, the old time sound effects men are quite set in their ways. Very
     insulting to be associated with movies. This is why there are 5 unions
     covering the production of performing arts in each medium! Old time
     SFX guys (there were women, even though the author of one book
     on sound effects in radio insists that there were no women involved)
     never had to deal with the digital medium and the number of ways
     that sound effects can be created today.

    " I use the term Foley because it is the act of physically replacing sound
     cues on film instead of using pre-recorded or synthesized sounds. It
     is also a relatively well-known piece of jargon, known to the populous
     at large, because film is such a dominant part of the current
     entertainment industry. The whole thing reminds me of people who
     argue that we are not producing radio, but audio drama or mind movies,
     etc. The point is what you're doing. If I was actually doing a radio
     broadcast in the 30's-40's I wouldn't use the term Foley. Studio techs to
     this day still refer to using pre-recorded music tracks as "needle drops",
     even though there is neither a needle or a drop involved. Your OTR
     guy is stuck in the past as we are honoring it. One way of 're-imagining
     OTR' (as our mission statement refers to) is to market it in a way that
     will induce people to come and see. I found the term Foley much easier
     and accessible than "live sound effects" when we use live and recorded
     effects as well as synthesized loops etc.

    " I guess I am a bit sensitive to the argument though."

    The Web page for our upcoming show, "The Confessions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
    Hyde" is at:

    [removed]

    The Home page for Willamette Radio Theatre is:

    [removed]

    David Loftus
    Portland, Oregon

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 17:50:54 -0400
    From: "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ed Murrow & Paley

    We just saw the George Clooney film "Good Night and Good Luck" last night. I
    wish it had been longer. It was quite good. The depiction of Bill Paley
    really rang true. Here's a parallel portrayal that emerged when I was
    writing about Paley's role when Bill Robson wanted to do a documentary about
    the race riots in Detroit in 1943. The documentary was done and it won a
    Peabody.  As in the film, we see Paley being very very very cautious (see
    last paragraph below).

    "The project was considered such a delicate one that CBS President William
    Paley took a personal interest in its production, frequently asking Robson
    to make changes in the script. At one point, Paley told Robson, "I have a
    report from our man in Washington that the FBI had definite proof that the
    Negroes started the riot in Detroit. How about that? You don't say it in
    your script." Robson replied that he had no evidence to make such a claim.
    "Are you certain of your facts?" Paley asked. And Robson replied that he
    was." [excerpted from WORDS AT WAR, Scarecrow Press ]

    One can understand a network president wanting to be cautious and not offend
    sponsors. But in this latter case he is satisfied with a claim that proof
    exists without having seen any.  The film deals in part with the case of a
    man dismissed by the Air Force because his father and sister allegedly held
    radical views. There were no complaints against  the man himself --- no
    proof that he represented a potential security threat. Guilt by association
    was sufficient.

    What I loved about the film and about Murrow himself is how Clooney and
    Murrow both understood the significance of the adage "Question Authority!"
    Radio --- television -- and now a film served and serves us well when in
    addition to entertaining us it forces us to deal with sometimes
    uncomfortable truths.

    Finally, I recall someone quoting the author of the bio of Walter Winchell
    (Neal Gabler?) that in using the power of televsion to expose McCarthy, in
    the long run he was setting a dangerous precedent that could backfire some
    day. But CBS gave McCarthy equal air time! -- Something which unfortunately
    does not happen today in the way that it used to.

    Howard Blue

    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 17:51:07 -0400
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Yep. And [removed]

    From: Sandy Singer  sinatradj@[removed]

>     On live radio, you had to do it right--THE FIRST  TIME!<

    Dear Sandy-

    ...and yet - as referenced in Leonard  Lopate's fun interview with Arthur
    Anderson and Fred Foy on WNYC this afternoon  -

    Though they HAD to do it right,  they sometimes DIDN'T! (Being  human and
    [removed])

    (Hey - that reminds me - come to Newark,  everyone!)

    Best,
    -Craig

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 17:54:47 -0400
    From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  LIBERACE

    George was featured on violin, on the Liberace Show.

    [removed]
               Sandy
    [removed]
            [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 18:14:33 -0400
    From: seandd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Podcasts and OTR

    There is an interesting article on Podcasts and old time radio in today's San
    Diego Union Tribune - online here:

    [removed]

    As a coincidence, Fred Foy is doing a podcast interview with a San
    Diego-based podcaster ([removed]) tomorrow.  I'll post the link
    when the interview is online.

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 18:17:32 -0400
    From: "D. FISHER" <dfisher052@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Assistant Directors

    As I've been on vacation and just catching up with my email I'd like to put
    in my 2 cents about Assistant Directors and this timing question.
    At the end of the hay day of radio (late 50's early 60's) I was at CBS in
    New York. Before I became a Director I was an Associate Director & worked on
    a couple of the last of the Soaps. As an AD one of my jobs was to time the
    run through for the Director who would then decide on what was to be cut.
    Because of time restraints (and I'm sure money) we did not sit around a
    table reading scripts. There was 1 run through, at the mics, that was timed.
    Then the Director would give any cuts that might be needed and after a short
    time we were on the air. These were 15 minute shows & total studio time was
    probably around an hour. All the sound effects were on ET's (electral
    transcription's) and most of the commercials (if there were any) and I'm
    sure the networks were trying to cut down on costs as much as possible.
    Another words, it was lean & mean. The entire crew for these soaps was a
    Director, an Associate Director, the organist & the Engineer and sometimes
    one of the CBS staff announcers. During the live broadcast my job as the AD
    was to keep an eye on the clock & make sure we stayed on time. I would have
    a script marked with times (I had the entire show backtimed) so I knew were
    we should be at certain spots and if we were running over or under. I would
    keep the Director informed as we went along. I worked mostly with Art Hannah
    (any of you oldtimers in the business, like me, remember him?)
    I'm sure because these were such small productions with very small budgets
    we didn't have live orchestras and much of a crew by the time the soaps were
    winding down, but it was still fun to be a part of it and I wouldn't have
    missed it for the world.

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 22:19:21 -0400
    From: Art Chimes <[removed]@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Joe Pyne

    Sandy Singer describes Joe Pyne (Digest 320) as "way ahead of his time!"

    Probably true, but an awfully sad commentary on what broadcasting and our
    public discourse has become.

    Pyne was, as I recall, an entertaining broadcaster, but -- at least as far as
    you could tell from his public face -- a despicable, hateful, small-minded
    bigot.

    The New York Times reported (Mar 8, 1966, p. 79) the day after his radio show
    debuted on WNBC -- with a Ku Klux Klan guest at 9:10 in the morning, no less
    -- that program syndicator Hartwest Productions, Inc., insures each of the 176
    stations taking the program for $3 million "against any claims that might be
    made against what is said on the program."

    The Times added that the show is "tape-recorded" in Los Angeles. WNBC said the
    subjects Pyne "'will tackle' include prostitution, Black Muslims, sex, nuclear
    war, Nazism, hate and heroin."

    Left unsaid, however, is whether Pyne would be pro or con on those issues.

    Programs later in the week were scheduled to include Lee Harvey Oswald's
    mother and a gay rights advocate.  The Times quotes WNBC as noting that Mr.
    Pyne would oppose the view of the latter guest.

    A few months later in the Times, TV columnist Jack Gould wrote (Jun 5, 1966,
    p. 137) of Pyne's television show:

       The ranking nuisance of broadcasting is Joe Pyne. He is a
       West Coast interviewer who appears to be hitting a jackpot
       by making a commercial virtue of bad manners and wallowing
       in the cheap sensationalism of an electronic peepshow. His
       forte is a snarling insinuation that oversteps rudimentary
       fair play; he is a master at clever exploitation of unusual
       human behavior that he professes to disdain with a nauseating
       air of calculated self-righteousness.

    No really, Jack, tell us what you actually think of him.

    One last point. I've heard this so long it may be an urban legend, but on one
    show, after ranting at a leftist guest -- a couple of websites say it was Paul
    Krassner, editor of The Realist, but who knows -- the guest calmly retorted, I
    always wondered, do you take your wooden leg off when you make love to your
    wife? (or words, possibly much ruder words, to that effect).

    Joe Pyne, an addicted chain smoker, died of lung cancer in 1970, at age 44.

    -Art-

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 22:20:39 -0400
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Good Night and Good Luck

    I think history when it is personally experienced carries a truth to it that
    can not be dissembled.  I was a teenager in suburban NY during the McCarthy
    hearings.   I realized many years later that my reaction to the adults'
    world of the 50s had a major impact on me.  I ended up with a degree in
    Political Science and am vigilant about due process, fairness and especially
    the Bill of Rights whose great words were not reflected in the McCarthy or
    HUAC hearings.  At the time it was scary, just plain scary.

    Our family watched that Murrow show together and at that point in time, that
    evening, he was a hero.   Regardless of how many critics were attacking  the
    hearings before him,  Murrow had the power and trust of viewers, to confront
    McCarthy directly and to make an important impact on the public's opinion
    and awareness, which other critics didn'[removed] Afterwards we even talked about
    the Murrow broadcast in school, especially as a cautionary tale, in my very
    Republican village, where McCarthy was a hero to only a minority. One of the
    most common statements was something like 'I approve of  his goals, but not
    his methods'  The world felt a little safer again.

    For kids born in 1938 like me, we had a number of scary issues around us.
    In 1947 a comic called "Is this Tomorrow" subtitled "America Under
    Communism"  was distributed by a local Catholic Church where I was attending
    religious education class once a week.  Scary.

    At the same time we also worried a great deal about the atomic bomb and hid
    under desks during drills, although we correctly suspected it wouldn't do
    much good.   Many of us looked at the map in the newspaper illustrating what
    areas around the point of impact in NYC would be susceptible to fallout.
    Living in southern Westchester Co we were definitely close to the outside
    perimeter.  Serious worrying.

    Having personally experienced the Murrow telecast live  I am not willing to
    consider any revisionist historical look at it.   It happened, it was
    momentous.    Murrow was a good journalist, a courageous journalist as he
    demonstrated during WWII, and deserves the praise he gets.  That doesn't
    mean he was a perfect journalist.   No one was a greater critic of Murrow
    than he was,.  It's a real flim-flam stretch to say he is responsible for
    the present-day in your face journalists. Also a surprising suggestion,
    since too many adults today seem to have have a very weak  knowledge of most
    history.  Ed Who??

    Listening to the radio then was a very safe and comforting presence and
    antidote to a worrisome environment, which is why its presence in my life
    today is very important to me.

    No wonder that we kids of the 50s jumped at rock 'n roll as it emerged.

    Everything is cyclical and when Ann Coulter tries to resurrect McCarthy as a
    hero I feel like I'm back in the 50s again.

    Irene

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

    Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 02:12:00 -0400
    From: charlie@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

    A weekly [removed]

    For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
    Network, the channel name is #OldRadio.  We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
    and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
    over nine years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
    of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
    real-time OTR talk!

    Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
    others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
    range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
    it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
    it's always a good time!

    For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
    week and every week!

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

    Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 09:00:18 -0400
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Airing Opposite Milton Berle

>     Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 07:39:34 -0400
>     From: Christopher Snowden <unkvid@[removed];

>        Milton Berle's huge success in the earliest days of television is
>     legendary. I was just [removed] which radio programs aired in the
>     same timeslot as Berle's show? Were those programs able to draw a
>     healthy audience anyway, or did they go under?

    The thing you have to remember is that when Berle had the highest TV audience share,
    many people still didn't have television and continued to listen to radio.  In fact, until 1953
    there were still parts of the country that were out of reach of any television station.  As the
    television audience grew, Berle's share of the audience diminished.

    I suspect that what happened in my family was typical.  When we got the television, my
    parents never listened to radio in the evening any more.  We still listened to radio in the
    daytime, but there was nothing on television in the daytime yet.  I'd be interested in seeing
    any statistics that anyone can find, but my strong suspicion is that the radio audience
    diminished generally as television grew,  and that far overshadowed any effect of Berle
    specifically.

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

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

    Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 09:00:26 -0400
    From: Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  FOTR Anniversary Video

    Those attending FOTR this year will have the opportunity to purchase
    a very special DVD. Since this is the 30 anniversary of FOTR, Jay
    wanted to do something special by taking all of the old audio tapes
    and video tapes and put them into some kind of highlight video. It is
    also a fund raiser for FOTR.

    The end result is a 2 DVD set that runs way over 4 hours and covers
    the conventions from 1976 until the current one last year. I got
    quite an education just watching all the old tapes. Some of the early
    tapes were recorded with very primitive equipment, but by using  some
    special proc amps and a lot of software, I was able to make them look
    just a little better. But, forget about the quality and think of who
    is on these tapes. There are too many names to start naming anyone
    and I'm too tired to think straight.

    I just wanted to give everyone a heads up about this video.

    Jay will be selling them in his room where he sells his logs and
    other books. We will also have them for sale in our dealer's room,
    room 5. Please stop by and take a look at this DVD. Once you see what
    it contains, I'm sure everyone will want to get a copy.

    Fred
    [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 09:00:31 -0400
    From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  New York Daily News Article on FOTR

    Today's New York Daily News has a feature story on the 30th Anniversary of
    The Friends of Old Time Radio Convention, featuring an interview with Arthur
    Anderson, long-time committee member and Let's Pretender.

    The invaluable David Hinckley gives us our best print coverage every year
    (well, except last year when his interview with Dick Van Patten was killed
    at the last minute thanks to the Red Sox comeback in the ALCS which resulted
    in the paper killing all features for extended baseball coverage) both
    around the convention and in finding ways to mention us throughout the year.

    Invariably, his coverage is more extensive than what we get in Newark's
    hometown Star-Ledger.

    You can read the article here:

    [removed]

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #321
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