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	  	         === Last Update 1/17/95  ====





	    [removed]   Volume 96 : Issue 219


Articles in this issue of [removed]:

	 Re:OTR related video tapes
	 Re: The Falcon
	
	 Amos'n'Andy (G&C) films
	 Re: Recording Announcement
	 Mel Allen
	 War of the Worlds
	 otr trivia
	 Re:  Lone Ranger records
	 Re: Hindenberg (OTR ET Discs)

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

Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 14:08:52 -0400 (EDT)
From: elchurch@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:OTR related video tapes
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

In the last digest it was mentioned that:
>
>	A vendor of OTR related video tapes who we all know and love from 
>the Newark convention asked me to find out the [removed]

  I would be interested in knowing the name of the vendor referred to and
how to contact him/her.
  Thanks Much!

 
Cindy 
RN, IBCLC, Lansing, Michigan's Capital 
MSU Grad Student 

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

Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 14:16:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: elchurch@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: The Falcon
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

  In a recent digest there was an enquiry regarding Falcon tapes obtained
from Adventures in Cassettes having no commercials and the possibility that
they were deleted by AIC. Having dealt with AIC many times I personally
doubt that this is the case. I suspect that the program may have been a
"sustained" program, however I have no hard data on this.
  I also note that according to the "Handbookd of Old-Time Radio" by Swartz
and Reinehr, there are approximately 110 episodes in circulation. AVPRO has
approximately 70 episodes. Their number is 909-2445242
Cindy 
RN, IBCLC, Lansing, Michigan's Capital 
MSU Grad Student 

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

Date: 19 Jun 1996 14:25:06 -0500
From: "John Hale" <[removed]@[removed]>
To: "OTR Posting" <[removed]@[removed]>
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

Re: Recent comments on [removed]

>that by no means limits our activities, or concerns, to
>the Los Angeles area. <snip>... however, the majority of our members =
from >the old days of radio, naturally, happen to reside in Los Angeles, =
and >therefore it is more convenient to hold such affairs here, inviting =
the rest of our >membership to participate, and join the stars, as they =
can.

>I hope this clears this up for you -- by the way, have you considered
>becoming a member? You might find SPERDVAC offers you more than you =
>thought!

>Yours,
>Jeffrey Ellis 

Just another factpoint on this topic.  I am a member of SPERDVAC and =
enjoy it greatly.  It is the only club I belong to and find the lending =
library to be a great resource.  However, about 6 months ago there was a =
desperate call for librarians and I responded that I would volunteer.  My =
"references" within the OTR hobby were checked and the matter was voted =
on & PASSED by the Board of Directors.  But, after the vote, one of the =
directors agreed to host the library and thus my services were not =
needed.  The issue?  I happen to live in Texas and the Powers That Be =
didn't feel comfortable letting the tapes reside outside the LA area. No =
one bothered to call me and let me know what had happened.

For a club that has a national presence, there is a California-centric =
element to SPERDVAC.  I don't think anyone can deny that. 

Again, I have nothing against the group and have sent many new members =
their way.  I would just hope that they would recognize the geographic =
diversity of their membership. 

John Hale
[removed]@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 12:35:34 -0500
From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed]>
To: mschmid@[removed], otr@[removed]
Subject: Amos'n'Andy (G&C) films
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

Max asked what films other than Check and Double Check (1930) 
Gosden and Correll appeared in, and where they could be obtained.

According to the book "Who Was Who On Screen," published in 1983, they had
only one other live-action appearance:  The Big Broadcast of 1936, in which
they do a brief "turn" in keeping with the revue nature of the BB films.
Per the new 1997 edition of The Video Source Book, this film is not
available on home video.  Best bet is to watch AMC or one of the Turner
stations - I have seen it within the past couple of years.

According to "The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons" by Jeff Lenburg, 1991
edition, Van Beuren Studios made only two Amos'n'Andy cartoons with G&C's
voices, both released early 1934:  The Rasslin' Match and The Lion Tamer.  
Again from the Video Source Book:  The Rasslin' Match is on a cassette
titled Cartoon Memories Vol. 19, distributed by Horizon Entertainment; The
Lion Tamer is on Cartoon Classics No. 8, available either from Video
Yesteryear or The Whole Toon Catalog.

Check and Double Check is also available from Video Yesteryear.

Addresses:  
Horizon Entertainment
45030 Trevor Ave.
Lancaster CA 93534
fax (805) 940-8511

Video Yesteryear
Box C
Sandy Hook, CT 06482
fax (203) 797-0819

The Whole Toon Catalogue
PO Box 369
Issaquah, WA 98027-0369
fax (206) 391-9064

John Henley
jhenley@[removed]
ph  (512) 495-4112
fax (512) 495-4296

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

Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 20:53:27 GMT
From: Francis Fisher <fisherf@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Recording Announcement
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

bensmanm@[removed] (Marvin R. Bensman) wrote:

>programs and at certain specified intervals. The "mechanical reproduction"
>announcement is now only required if time is of special significance, or an
>impression is affirmatively made that the tape, film or recording is an
>event occurring simultaneously with the broadcast, 14 RR 1541 (1956).

I recall the mechanical reproduction announcements, haven't heard one for
years, so you spured me on to search the current rules. The requirement is
no longer a rule and there is no longer any mention of mechanical
reproductions. Rules references to the word "live" relate to other issues
such as EBS announcements and sports coverage that extends into prime time
hours.

Producers now use the word "live" too loosely to suit me; it no longer
connotes flying by the seat of one's pants the way in which it once did.

Francis
____________________
Francis P. Fisher II
Dir of Engineering
WV Public Radio

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

Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 18:58:43 -0400
From: SartyK@[removed]
To: "To: OldTimeRadio" <otr@[removed]>
Subject: Mel Allen
Message-ID: <960619185842_333383893@[removed]>

I learned of the death of former Yankee announcer, Mel Allen, this week. I
believe that he hosted a quiz show, One for the Money, I think it was called,
in 1947 or 48.  Can someone verify this?   

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

Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 19:10:07 -0400
From: NorthernRd@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: War of the Worlds
Message-ID: <960619191005_417651278@[removed]>

Hi everyone,

I'm fairly new to the list and I've thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the
family. I may have missed a previous thread last Halloween, but I'm wondering
if anyone out there has memories and comments about the War of the Worlds
broadcast of 1938.

In the early '70's I was a film sound engineer for New Jersey Public
Television in Trenton and was on the crew that made a documentary about the
night of the broadcast. We filmed in and around Grover's Mill and interviewed
some of the residents who had lived there that dark and infamous night.

Can anyone recommend where I can get a clean, complete copy of the original
CBS broadcast? How about suggestions for books, magazine articles or other
documentaries?

Thanks!

Alan Bartenhagen
Saratoga Springs, NY

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

Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 19:32:04 -0700
From: PETER GRECO <pgreco@[removed]>
To: radio digest <otr@[removed]>
Subject: otr trivia
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

Hi,
  Heres a few trivia facts about [removed] all know the actors that played
the LONE RANGER,but there was one more and his name is Fred [removed] an
interview at one of the radio conventions,he related that Brace Breemer 
was late,so Fred Played the RANGER for that one show. Its a shame but he 
didn't remember the [removed] the MARTIN BLOCK SHOW he used a record
picker.(a guy that goes and gets the records from storage),the record
picker for many years for MARTIN BLOCK was another radio star JOE
[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 20:12:50 -0500 (CDT)
From: Rhiman Rotz--IU Northwest <rrotz@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:  Lone Ranger records
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

	I know that the Lone Ranger records being mentioned were
78's because I owned them (and played them to death).  Based on
how small I remember myself being at the time, they must have been
released around 1950.  Fred Foy was definitely the announcer.  It
was, if memory serves, a set of two 78s, a different story on each
side:  the origin of the Lone Ranger, how he found Silver, how he
rediscovered Dan Reid, and something else I can't recall.
	Oh, how I wish I had them today!  But I do have a tape of
part of them, which, yes, was sold as the first broadcast and 
*absolutely* is not.  It's the records because I can recite half
the dialogue by memory.

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

Date: 20 Jun 1996 02:55:29 GMT
From: kg@[removed] (KEN GREENWALD)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Hindenberg (OTR ET Discs)
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

Hello: 
I read Francis Fisher's June 18th comments on Electrical Transcriptions and I
would like to comment on what he said. I'm not here to start a heated
argument with an audio engineer about ET's, but I know, from 21 years of
experience in transferring radio shows from ET's, that Mr. Fisher is
incorrect in his assumption that sound preserved on ET's is inferior to
present day sound technology.

The 16" electrical transcription has been around since the late 20s. These
16" discs were originally aluminum and the sound was cut directly into the
aluminum surface. If these disc are played today on 
present equipment that uses a cartridge and a diamond needle, the sound will
be awful; filled with crackling, clicks and pops and noise. However, those
discs were played with a special cartridge that held needles made from
cactus. These cactus needles could be used only once for the best sound. The
fidelity wasn't bad on those discs, but it wasn't hi-fi. Average sound range
was from 150 to 5,000 cycles. Very narrow band. 

In 1935 a Los Angeles recording engineer, by the name of Gottschalk, invented
the aluminum based, acetate covered disc. This opened up a whole new era of
sound recording. By cutting into the softer acetate layer rather than the
hard aluminum surface, the fidelity of the recording shot up into the hi-fi
zone. 
By the time the end of the 30's was reached, the fidelity of those ET's was
full range. During the 1940's radio disc recording reached a state of
perfection. I know some of you will doubt what I have just said, but I took
two recordings to the sound engineering department at NBC in Burbank and had
them analyzed on their audio analyzer. The 16" ET ran at 33 and 1/3 speed,
and the 12" disc ran at 78 rpm speed. The audio analyzer showed that the 16"
ET's fidelity range was from 100 to 15,000 cycles! (just about the entire
range a human being can hear easily) The 78 rpm disc clocked out at 50 to
20,000 cycles! I wouldn't call that frequency range bad at all, would you? It
is true hi fi sound. By 1950 radio disc recording was state of the art. (In
the 1970's Sheffield records made a big to-do about recording their jazz and
classical music direct to disc. Well, radio stations all over the country and
the networks were doing that since the late 20's) I have transferred over
5,000 radio broadcasts from ETs. Most of those shows are in real high
fidelity sound. No, they do not have the stereo dynamics of later recording,
nor do they have the added reverberation that is often found in  present day
recordings through "sweetening" or digital enhancement. But those recordings
are very hi fidelity. Bear in mind they had to be, because the networks, when
they finally allowed transcriptions to be played on the air, demanded the
highest fidelity possible. Sound engineers complied with that order.
The reason so many people (including OTR collectors) believe sound from the
past on ETs are scratchy, noisy and filled with clicks and pops is because
most people have never heard a first generation dub directly off a 16" ET. 
It took me two years to perfect a method of cleaning those ETs so they would
sound just like they sounded when they were originally cut. When I transfer
shows from ET's, I play those discs WET! Yes, wet! This alone cuts the noise
lever 50%. Additional cleaning before playing and wise use of equalization to
match the original eq curves punches up the sound. If you listen to a clean,
first generation recording and close your eyes, you do get the impression the
actors are standing before you performing live! Of course, you have to play
the tape on decent equipment with full fidelity speakers. 
But the hi fi sound is there, no doubt about it. 
Just think a moment about this: Why would a  big money making endeavor called
network radio think of sending out inferior sound to a listening public made
up of millions of people? Why would they also not understand that, in
recording these shows on disc for reference purposes or for the sponsors,
they must have the best sound possible? Professional engineers working in
those great radio days were aware of the need for full fidelity sound, and
that's what they were able to send out over the ether and put down in those 3
mil grooves on thousands of 16" ETs. And they did that for years and years,
every day of the week!
Last, but not least: Francis, if you read this, I will be more than glad to
send you a 2 minute demo of a 1943 Suspense show showing, in 3 steps, how the
sound goes from lousy to full fidelity. I'll also include 2 shows I mastered
to tape directly off the original ETs. If this doesn't convince you that
radio knew what it was about in the world of sound fidelity, nothing will. 
Please send me a message to my e-mail address --- kg@[removed] via the
internet and let me know where to send the package. I will gladly send you
either cassettes or open reel.
Here's to better fidelity and enjoyable listening to OTR.
Sincerely, Ken Greenwald

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

    


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---- 
End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #219

