Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #117
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 4/14/2005 7:17 AM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2005 : Issue 117
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      4-13 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      OTR Recreation Coming to Bay Area     [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
      Radio Drama in the [removed]               [ Henry Howard <hbhoward@[removed] ]
      OTR Statuary                          [ HK Hinkley <parpark280@[removed]; ]
      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
      Grumbles, Media, and Audio Theatre t  [ Richard Fish <fish@lodestone-media. ]
      OTR on the air today?                 [ Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
      Monitor                               [ "Frank Absher" <fabsher@[removed]; ]
      NPR and Radio Theatre                 [ Richard Fish <fish@lodestone-media. ]
      Library Of Congress and OTR           [ [removed]@[removed] ]
      One place to hear current radio prog  [ Mikeandzachary@[removed] ]
      2005 Radio Hall of Fame Inductees     [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
      4-14 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 11:26:47 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  4-13 births/deaths

    April 13th births

    04-13-1887 - Christian Rub - Austria - d. 4-14-1956
    actor: (Voice of Pinnochio) "Lux Radio Theatre"
    04-13-1899 - Larry Keating - [removed], MN - d. 8-26-1963
    actor, emcee: "Murder Will Out"; "Scramby Amby"; "This Is Your FBI"
    04-13-1906 - Bud Freeman - Chicago, IL - d. 3-15-1991
    tenor sax player: "Camel Caravan"; "Fats Waller Jam School"; "Doctor
    Jazz"
    04-13-1906 - Samuel Beckett - Dublin, Ireland - d. 12-22-1989
    writer: "All That Fall"
    04-13-1919 - Howard Keel - Gillespie, IL - d. 11-7-2004
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    04-13-1923 - Don Adams - NYC
    comedian: "Kraft Music Hall"; "A Salute to Humble Howard"

    April 13th deaths

    04-11-1904 - Paul McGrath - Chicago, IL - d. 4-13-1978
    actor, host: Host "Inner Sanctum Mysteries"; Robert Allison "My Son
    Jeep"
    05-24-1909 - Howard Snyder - d. 4-13-1963
    writer: "Jack Benny Program"; "Lum and Abner"; "That's My Pop"
    07-10-1921 - Jeff Donnell - South Windham, ME - d. 4-13-1988
    actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    07-20-1881 - Hugh Sothern - Anderson County, KS - d. 4-13-1947
    actor: John Marshall "Those We Love"
    07-20-1890 - Theda Bara - Cincinnati, OH - d. 4-13-1955
    actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    11-03-1910 - Richard Hurndall - Darlington, Durham, England - d.
    4-13-1984
    actor: Sherlock Holmes "BBC Light Programme"
    12-13-1914 - Larry Parks - Olathe, KS - d. 4-13-1975
    actor: "Kraft Music Hall"; "Faith for Tomorrow"; "Guest Star"
    xx-xx-1934 - Mary Linn Beller - d. 4-13-2000
    actress: Barbara (Babby) "The Brighter Day"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 11:33:35 -0400
    From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR Recreation Coming to Bay Area

    This website is reporting on an OTR recreation coming up in San Francisco.

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

    [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 11:33:42 -0400
    From: Henry Howard <hbhoward@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Radio Drama in the [removed]

      M. Joseph ask: Why doesn't [removed] public radio (NPR) promote and invest in
    and broadcast original radio drama?

    That's easy, David Giovannoni says that people don't listen.

    Mr. Giovannoni's company in suburban Washington, Audience Research Analysis,
    holds contracts with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Public
    Radio, Public Radio International and almost every major NPR member station
    in the country.

    "Let me be very clear on this point," Mr. Giovannoni said in a keynote
    address last July [2001] in Phoenix to a convention of public- radio
    marketing and development specialists. "I am not saying that program
    directors should make programming decisions based on how much money they're
    likely to raise. That would undermine the values at the very heart of our
    service, making it unworthy of support. I am saying, however, that program
    directors should make the difficult decisions that give the public the
    highest level of service. That means replacing lower-performance programming
    with higher-performance programming."

    Quoted from the New York Times Nov 11, 2001 article:
    Public Radio's Private Guru
    By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 11:33:49 -0400
    From: HK Hinkley <parpark280@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR Statuary

    I'm a little late folks, but OTR themed monuments include the Popeye
    statue in Chester IL (home of Popeye's creator) and the Superman statue
    in the great metropolis of Metropolis IL, where the weekly newspaper is
    "The Planet."

    I used to drive through Mt. Carmel IL frequently but haven't for a couple
    of years.  I think I remember signs there that proclaimed the town to be
    the home town of Brace Beemer.

    Stay tuned,  HK

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 11:34:04 -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 six 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, 13 Apr 2005 12:29:49 -0400
    From: Richard Fish <fish@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Grumbles, Media, and Audio Theatre today

    Mark Kinsler's grumble about 'new-time' radio drama got quite a few
    responses!

    Of course, the answer is that there is quite a lot of new work being
    created. A heck of a lot more, in fact, today, than there was just 20
    years ago -- it's a renaissance.

    But it's not "radio theatre" very much any more. That doesn't mean it's
    gone. The medium has changed.

    Radio theatre is just one kind of audio theatre, and today it's a minor
    subset at that (at least here in the US). The primary medium, today, is
    [removed] as it is for OTR, n'cest pas? One of the main reasons
    for this, I think, is that modern listeners don't want to wait until
    Tuesday at 7 pm to hear the next episode; they want to push a button and
    hear it when they're ready to listen. Even the BBC is selling recordings
    of radio shows.

    Ironic, really. The whole art form originated on recordings, way back in
    the 1890s, before sound was first broadcast over the radio. Now it's
    returned, full circle.

    Modern audio theatre producers are very much aware of OTR. Many are
    collectors, many have done re-creations of OTR classics, and most of
    them draw inspiration from the older shows. What the OTR community has
    done -- what goes on in this list -- is a major, central contribution to
    the art form's future, not just its past.

    As Craig Wichman said, modern works tend to run the gamut from
    half-vast, amateurish efforts all the way up to brilliant achievements
    which stand fully on the same level as the very best of OTR.

    Henry Howard kindly posted the URL of one of the main websites with a
    whole lot of links to modern audio theatre:

    [removed]

    Here are a couple of others:

    [removed] has the largest selection of new audio
    theatre anywhere, I think. The only OTR Lodestone carries are Norman
    Corwin's programs (which certainly do put OTR's best foot forward!), but
    everything else they offer are new productions -- even Norman has new
    programs as well, made in the 1990s.

    [removed] is the National Audio Theatre Festivals website. If
    Mark -- or any of you! -- would like to connect with the new audio
    theatre community and have an incredible experience in creating radio
    theatre, the annual NATF Workshop is coming up in June. Details are on
    the website. It's not expensive, but it is intense. It's a week-long
    series of workshops and seminars and classes, capped with a 2-hour-plus
    live broadcast (with an audience, live SFX and music, just like the
    Golden Age) which everybody puts together during the week. Radio, radio,
    radio, not very much sleep, and lots of terrific people!

    This year's workshop, incidentally, features Simon Jones, who starred as
    Arthur Dent in "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy." A lot of people
    think "Hitchhiker's Guide" started as a book. As most people on this
    list probably know, it started as radio shows, on the BBC in the late
    70s, and is arguably the most successful radio theatre program ever,
    having spawned TV shows, a whole series of bestselling books, various
    video games, and -- coming soon to a theatre near you! -- a major motion
    picture. If you hear people talking about the movie, grab the chance to
    tell 'em it started on radio.

    Audio theatre is a living, growing art form. But these days, whether
    it's old or new, broadcasting is NOT the way the product gets delivered
    to an audience, in the US at least. A broadcast, whether on AM, FM, or
    Satellite Radio, is more like an "infomercial" for the actual product --
    usually a collection of ones and zeros on a CD, or an MP3, or whatever.

    Downloading programs on the Web is becoming a major new medium,
    especially with the new IPOD technology catching on so quickly. It looks
    to me like "podcasting" is going to be a fundamental change, and could
    really develop a new audience for old and new shows alike.

    And by the way, the best way I've found, generally speaking, to
    introduce young people to OTR is to hook them with some modern
    productions first, and then treat their ears to something wonderful from
    the Golden Age.

    OK, this is an OTR group. But without OTR, and all of you (us)
    collectors, there wouldn't be the vibrant, active audio theatre
    community that exists today. YOUR opinions of the new works are
    extraordinarily valuable, given your deep love and extensive experience
    with the Golden Age.

    Richard Fish
    --
    "Post proofs that brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those who profit
    by postponing it pretend." -- Norman Corwin, 1945

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 12:59:42 -0400
    From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR on the air today?

    Mark Kinsler asks why we don't hear OTR on the air today.  Here are a few
    thoughts on the topic:

    1.  Most adults listen to radio only in the car or at work.  Odds are
    much against them being in the car from start to finish of a half-hour or
    hour program; they'd most likely have to turn it off before they found
    out who the murderer was, or how Uncle Floyd got out of the well.

    2.  Listening to a drama during work hours is probably frowned upon.
    Music is okay because you don't have to concentrate like you do on a
    drama.  The boss calls and you say, "Hang on - I'll be with in in a
    minute - they're almost at the commercial break."  I don't think so.

    3.  Even if an adult audience could be garnered, sponsors don't want
    them.  Since Geritol and Carter's Little Liver Pills were run out of
    town, very few sponsors want the older listeners OTR would draw.  They
    say we are too set in our ways to be much influenced by advertising.

    4.  Kids, who do listen to radio a lot, want rap / hip-hop, not talk.  (I
    know this to be true because I run a radio station that went to number
    one in kids 12 - 18 by playing this "music").  Besides, they have the
    attention span of a fly.

    When CBS ran the Mystery Theater in the seventies, did they make any
    money?  Much as I love OTR, I'm spoiled by the fact that I can play my
    tapes and CDs at my convenience, and am not locked into a schedule at the
    whim of a broadcaster.  And if I have to stop in the middle of a show I
    can simply turn the tape off and go back to it whenever I like, without
    missing a word.

    ---Dan

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 18:14:30 -0400
    From: "Frank Absher" <fabsher@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Monitor
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    Mark Kinsler wrote:

>     ...Monitor was pretty lame for young people of the
>     day.

    Although I hadn't given this much thought, I now realize how
    fascinating Monitor was to me at the ripe old age of 9.
    Out in a rural town in Southern Illinois, I'd listen to the feed from
    KSD in St. Louis. I became more worldly, hearing many of these people
    (Nichols & May, Bob & Ray) for the first time. Their humor was
    fascinating.
    Laid-back announcers sitting in a far off studio carried a sort of
    romanticism for this youngster. I was impressed by their glibness. They
    were intelligent, witty, fun to listen to.
    Of course, I had no concept of the technical work that went on behind
    the scenes. Nor did I have any conscious aspirations to emulate them or
    aim for a career in the business. I only knew that I liked what I heard
    and learned from it.
    I capped my radio career at KMOX during its ratings heyday in the early
    80s. Now my appreciation for Monitor is made even greater knowing how
    well done it was from a broadcast perspective as well as seeing it in
    the context of radio history.
    Forgive me if I've waxed too romantically, but Monitor may just have
    been the seed that grew into my overwhelming love of radio and its
    history.

    Frank Absher

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 19:59:56 -0400
    From: Richard Fish <fish@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  NPR and Radio Theatre

    Morris Joseph asked why NPR doesn't have radio theatre, and I've got a
    bit of info on this. NPR had radio theatre from its inception, until
    fairly recently. "Earplay" and "NPR Playhouse" were on regularly through
    the 70s and 80s and into the 90s. Then the whole genre got axed.

    An effort to bring it back on NPR would be a lovely thing, but it might
    take some effort. It would maybe need to be done at the individual
    station level first, and then carried on to the national level. But it
    couldn't hurt to try! The background is this:

    Andy Trudeau, who was head of Cultural Programming for NPR and in charge
    of "Playhouse," called me to cry in my beer when the show got cancelled.
    He fought for the show, and programmed some really excellent things; he
    was not a happy man. I felt like a bartender, and it would have been
    real nice to have actually been one just then. He told me, to put it in
    my own words, that budget cuts induced the NPR management to turn a
    bunch of beady-eyed accountants loose in the programming department,
    armed with a dustbuster for dollars. They pounced on the fact that "the
    numbers" were low for radio theatre.

    (Of course "the numbers" can only be fairly characterized by using
    language the FCC doesn't like. Arbitron is a joke. Pardon me, I'll put
    the bee back in my bonnet now.)

    So the tiny amount of money spent on NPR Playhouse was sucked up into
    something else. Andy could have gotten programming without paying for
    it, reducing the budget by a huge percentage, but he didn't want to do
    that -- and wasn't allowed the choice, anyway.

    But there was another reason: station managers didn't know what to do
    with NPR Playhouse. The classic joke among them has been:

    Q: When's the best time to schedule radio drama?

    A: 1945.

    With only one hour of programming, once a week, it was not possible to
    build much of an audience. And most of the SMs did not know, or love,
    the art form the way we do. The number of NPR stations carrying
    Playhouse dropped from about 125 to 75 in a few years.

    And, finally, by the 1990s, most all of the programs broadcast on NPR
    Playhouse were being sold on cassette or CD -- by someone else. NPR was
    not "delivering the product," it was just giving free advertising to
    those who were. In fact, it was paying for the privelege of giving away
    free advertising. (Any accountant who realized this may well have choked
    on a swallow of coffee.)

    So, just at the same time Garrison Keillor was delighting audiences,
    audiobooks were morphing toward theatrical production, audio theatre was
    being produced more often, in more places, in more different forms, by
    more people, and the audience for the whole art form was growing, NPR
    got out of the game.

    Nothing personal against accountants, but all of this goes to show why
    it's such a lousy idea to let accountants make policy decisions, except,
    perhaps, about accounting. (And even then, apparently, somebody needs to
    ride herd on them now and again.)

    Grumble,

    Richard Fish

    --
    "Post proofs that brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those who profit
    by postponing it pretend." -- Norman Corwin, 1945

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 20:00:30 -0400
    From: [removed]@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Library Of Congress and OTR

    Jack French announced,

>     Two of the most dramatic and historic radio events in
>     Washington, DC will re-aired at the Library of Congress (LOC)  in a special
>     presentation on Wednesday evening, April 20th, which is free to the
>     public to be held in the Mary Pickford Theater, Washington DC.

    I am glad the Library of Congress is showing an interest in OTR, but it seems
    like a lot of effort for the few people (relatively speaking) that can attend.
    Now if the LOC had a weekly show on NPR that would actually benefit the public.

    Paul Urbahns
    (out in the sticks of Kentucky)

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 22:53:28 -0400
    From: Mikeandzachary@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  One place to hear current radio programs
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    I've been a subscriber to XM Satellite Radio for some months. They have a
    channel called Sonic Theater that  airs many newer radio productions. They
    air
    IMAGINATION THEATER and many other Jim French productions very often.  Through
    Sonic Theater, I've been able to hear many new programs, including THE
    TWILIGHT ZONE, RADIO TALES, THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, HARRY
    NILE, DRY SMOKE AND WHISPERS, and many productions from modern companies,
    including the Radio Repertory Company of America and the wonderful California
    Artists Radio Theater headed by Peggy Webber.

    So, if you're looking for current audio theater, Sonic Theater  is a great
    place to find it. Typical disclaimers apply.

    Mike Murphy

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

    Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 00:34:52 -0400
    From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  2005 Radio Hall of Fame Inductees
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    I got these in my email today.  They are the inductees into the 2005 Radio
    Hall of Fame.  --Dixon

    NETWORK OR SYNDICATED - ACTIVE

    Bob & Tom, Indianapolis based comedy duo and one of America's most popular
    morning shows

    Ann Compton, ABC News White House correspondent since 1974

    Marian McPartland, host of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz for more than 25
    years on National Public Radio

    Dr. Laura Schlessinger, a no nonsense relationship advisor to millions since
    1974

    NETWORK OR SYNDICATED - PIONEER

    Abbott & Costello, zany comedy team on the ABC Network from 1941-46 and on
    NBC from 1946-49, best known for their signature skit "Who's on First"

    Gang Busters, law enforcement reality series created by Phillips Lord and
    hosted by Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf that aired on NBC, ABC, CBS and Mutual

    The Great Gildersleeve, comedy series on NBC that starred Harold Peary and
    Willard Waterman, along with a strong supporting cast

    Music and the Spoken Word, a program of inspiration and music, featuring The
    Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is the longest running radio broadcast in America

    LOCAL OR REGIONAL - ACTIVE

    Marty Brennaman, "voice of the Cincinnati Reds" on WLW/Cincinnati since
    1974

    Ron Chapman, legendary Texas personality from KLUV/Dallas

    Ronn Owens, versatile talk show host on KGO/San Francisco since 1975

    Scott Shannon, veteran on-air personality and program director of WPLJ/New
    York

    LOCAL OR REGIONAL - PIONEER

    Jess Cain, morning talk show host for over 33 yeas on WHDH/Boston

    Mike Murphy, talk show host for over 24 years on KCMO/Kansas City

    Jean Shepherd, the late radio humorist and master storyteller on WOR/New York

    Preston Westmoreland, former Phoenix, AZ afternoon personality

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

    Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 08:40:41 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  4-14 births/deaths

    April 14th births

    04-14-1904 - Sir John Gielgud - London, England - d. 5-21-2000
    actor: Sherlock Holmes "Sherlock Holmes"; "Theatre Guild On the Air"
    04-14-1913 - John Howard - Cleveland, OH - d. 2-19-1995
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Hollywood Hotel"
    04-14-1914 - John Hubbard - East Chicago, IL - d. 11-6-1988
    actor: Willie Faye "Phil Harris/Alice Faye Show"
    04-14-1917 - Valerie Hobson - Larne, Ireland - d. 11-13-1998
    actress: Guest Contestant "One Minute Please"

    April 14th deaths

    03-22-1924 - Bill Wendell - NYC - d. 4-14-1999
    announcer: "Ten Troubled Years"; "Biography In Sound"
    04-13-1887 - Christian Rub - Austria - d. 4-14-1956
    actor: (Voice of Pinnochio) "Lux Radio Theatre"
    05-12-1907 - Leslie Charteris - Singapore - d. 4-14-1993
    mystery writer: "The Adventures of the Saint"
    06-03-1911 - Ellen Corby - Racine, WI (Raised: Philadelphia, PA) - d.
    4-14-1999
    actress: "Bud's Bandwagon"
    06-14-1909 - Burl Ives - Hunt Township, IL - d. 4-14-1995
    singer: "Columbia County Journal"; "Radio Reader's Digest"
    08-07-1906 - Ernestine Wade - MS - d. 4-14-1983
    actress: Sapphire Stevens "Amos 'n' Andy"
    08-31-1897 - Fredric March - Racine, WI - d. 4-14-1975
    actor: "Suspense"; "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Campbell Playhouse"
    09-24-1931 - Anthony Newley - London, England - d. 4-14-1999
    singer, actor: "Round and Round"
    11-05-1893 - Jean Sothern - d. 4-14-1964
    actress: Edie Gray "Pepper Young's Family"; Connie Rickard "Red Davis"

    xx-xx-xxxx - Harry A. Earnshaw - d. 4-14-1953
    Along with Raymond R. Morgan created "Chandu the Magician
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #117
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