Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #210
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 7/12/2005 7:59 AM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 210
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Re: Curtained Studios                 [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  Stan Freberg Show                     [ "Gary Dixon" <argy@[removed]; ]
  "Rochester" on THE HARLEM GLOBETROTT  [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
  Frances Langford was great            [ benohmart@[removed] ]
  Re: Stan Freberg and the "Video Kill  [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <BrianLBedswort ]
  Re: Frances Langford                  [ scott lord <lord02141@[removed]; ]
  Re radio premiums                     [ Philip Chavin <pchavin@[removed]; ]
  Music Radio is now available!         [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  RIP Frances Langford                  [ art-funk@[removed] ]
  FOTR 30th Anniversary Program         [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
  Automatic records (?)                 [ Alan/Linda Bell <alanlinda43@yahoo. ]
  Re: Diskwasher Woes                   [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  7-12 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 18:52:25 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Curtained Studios

On 7/9/05 6:18 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

Did radio studios actually employ the use of
curtains with their live audiences?

There were a few studios at the old NBC 711 Fifth Avenue building which
had a viewing window which separated the audience from the broadcast, so
as to prevent any audience sounds from getting over the air, and they
were equipped with a curtain which could be drawn closed as needed. This
was a small-scale version of the famous "glass curtain" studio at the New
Amsterdam Theatre, which had the glass window on a roller track allowing
it to be raised or lowered as needed.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 18:52:12 -0400
From: "Gary Dixon" <argy@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Stan Freberg Show
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Just to add a little more to the A Joseph Ross' comment on Stan
[removed] running gag through most of the 15 Summer shows (which ran
from June 14, 1957 through October 20, 1957) was that Stan was always looking
for a sponsor!  This is the reason he sponsored himself on one of the
programs!  [removed] his own commercials for himself!

All 15 [removed] with a special prologue featuring Stan, June Foray and
(the late) Peter [removed] reissued on CD by the Smithsonian Institute a
few years ago.  I think they're still in circulation?

What's interesting is that Stan also came up with the FREBERG UNDERGROUND Lp
in the mid-60s.  The concept was "pay radio" because you would have to go into
the record store and purchase the lp prior to listening to it!

I just hope Stan will issue Vol. 3 of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA sometime
soon?  We had to wait 35 years between Volumns 1 (in 1961) & 2 (in 1996)!

argytunes

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 18:53:32 -0400
From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  "Rochester" on THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS

If this is well known, forgive me, but I was surprised when reading
through something the other day, to see the cast [removed]

Some of us grew up with a Hanna-Barbera cartoon based--loosely!--on the
famed basketball troupe, the Harlem Globetrotters. As was fairly common,
for the 1960s, and 1970s, oddly, the actual people did not supply the
voices for their animated counterparts.

(For 1965's THE BEATLES, for example, Paul Frees and Lance Percival
played the Fab Four.)

On THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS, Scatman Crothers played Meadowlark Lemon,
Stu Gilliam was Curly Neal--

And Eddie "Rochester" Anderson voiced Bobby Joe [removed]

Jim Burns

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 19:34:00 -0400
From: benohmart@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Frances Langford was great

I'm sad today. The Bickersons was the reason I really got into radio. I found it to be the 
cleaverest comedy, even though it was done in small doses. And Frances Langford was 
the best Blanche. I didn't know her personally, but she always helped me a Lot when it 
came to Blanche and making herself available for my books (she even signed almost a 
thousand Bickersons postcards for my 3 Bickersons books). Her memory wasn't great - 
she wasn't too good on specifics - but she was one of the most generous people I've 
Ever interviewed or called upon for help. I wanted to write her story too, but she wasn't 
interested in that, which was a shame. But she was a great person, singer and 
humanitarian. She, Don Ameche and Jerry Colonna must be having some great times 
right now. :)

Ben Ohmart

Old radio. Old movies. New books.
[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 19:38:20 -0400
From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <BrianLBedsworth@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Stan Freberg and the "Video Killed The
 Radio Star" Myth

An awful lot of ink/voice/bytes have been used over the decades to spread
the Word that the Freberg show was done in in some unexplained manner by
"television".

Did "television" stifle Freberg's ratings (any more than it did any other
program of its era)? Did it prevent the show from becoming an enormous
critical success? Available information would say "no" to both.

So what =did= prevent the Freberg show from having a substantially more, um,
substantial run?

Freberg himself has said many times exactly what was responsible: his
inability to find a sponsor that comported with his moral/ethical standards.
To wit, Freberg was unalterably opposed to being sponsored by alcohol and/or
tobacco concerns.

Given that, by the late 1950s, nearly all "adult" ([removed], non-juvenile,
non-soap) entertainment programming that actually maintained sponsorship had
such enterprises bankrolling it, it was extremely unlikely that Freberg
would have found an acceptable company to keep the show going.

I've always had the idea that Freberg really wasn't all that interested in
=finding= a sponsor, anyway. By the end of the show's first week, he was
already at loggerheads with CBS brass over the censorship of concepts deemed
potentially "offensive" (which lead directly to the "Elderly Man River"
sketch, and indirectly to the "Swiss" running gag). His autobiography
suggests that the relationship never got any better, and had grown overly
burdensome long before the end of the summer.

Also around this time, he was beginning to look into the notion of long-form
"concept" comedy commercial recording, with which an ongoing Freberg radio
series would compete for both creative attentions and public interest.

Did he really have a lot of desire to continue in a direction that was
definitely a personal detriment and potentially a serious professional
difficulty as well? Can't imagine so.

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 19:39:59 -0400
From: scott lord <lord02141@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Frances Langford

I've been a little concernred that these will spider
lately, but since I contribute very little to the
group and since France Langford passed away, here is a
realplayer copy of one of her films:

[removed]

Again, you are invited to visit my webpage, but it is
mostly on Swedish and silent film. It may happen to
list the silent films of Basil Rathbone and William
Powell, [removed]

Thanks again,
Please keep my address for any links you may have to
Rathbone sites or William Powell as Philip Marlowe.

Scott Lord

[removed]
[removed]
[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 19:41:36 -0400
From: Philip Chavin <pchavin@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re radio premiums

Stephen posted recently:

Sometimes, the premium was central to the action of
a show.

Yes, and a good example is the Terryscope used on the
1941-42 Libby's version of Terry and the Pirates. In
several episodes in Feb.'42 the Terryscope was used
very often by the good guys -- sometimes saving a life
or two -- and "Terryscope" was mentioned over and over
again by the actors on those radio broadcasts.  After
several episodes, the Terryscope premium was finally
(re-)offered to the listeners (for two juice labels
and a dime).

-- Phil C.

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 21:09:44 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Music Radio is now available!

Just confirmed by McFarland & Co. that at long last "Music Radio:  The Great
Performers and Programs of the 1920s through Early 1960s" is being shipped
right now.  It's a beautiful book chock full of data on every type of
musical production and major (and lesser) entertainers of that vintage era.

Featured series:

The Bell Telephone Hour
The Big Bands (highlighting 15 bands)
The Bing Crosby Show
The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street
The Cities Service Band of America
The New York Philharmonic Orchestra
The Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Auditions of the Air
The NBC Symphony Orchestra
The Longines Symphonette
The Horace Heidt Show
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts
Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour
Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge
Stop the Music!
The Disc Jockeys (about 15 major ones highlighted)
The Fred Waring Show
Grand Ole Opry
Gene Autry's Melody Ranch
The Roy Rogers Show
The Network House Bands (highlighting 18 groups)
The American Album of Familiar Music
Manhattan Merry-Go-Round
Waltz Time
American Melody Hour
The Kate Smith Show
The Railroad Hour
The Renfro Valley Gatherin'
Music and the Spoken Word from the Crossroads of the West
The Vocalists (highlighting 24 major soloists and small ensembles)
The Voice of Firestone
Your Hit Parade

Plus descriptions of numerous others (The Chicago Theater of the Air, The
Fitch Bandwagon, Name That Tune, The National Barn Dance, et al.) as they
relate directly to those already named.

Photos, Chapter Notes and extensive Bibliography included.  The hardback
volume is $55 plus $4 s/h and may be ordered and shipped immediately from
[removed] , fax to 336-246-5018, or telephone M-F daytime
800-253-2187.

Hopefully this comprehensive volume will fill a void that has persisted far
too long in the annals of old time radio.  Thank you all for your patience
in awaiting its arrival!

Jim Cox

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 21:52:51 -0400
From: art-funk@[removed]
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  RIP Frances Langford
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As most of you will know by the time you read this, Frances Langford died
Monday, July 11th.  The obits will all tell of her discovery in her home state
of Florida by Rudy Valle and her rise to fame as a singer, dancer and actress
on stage, screen and radio.  They will tell of her being a part of Bob Hope's
wartime USO troupe.  They will tell of her long marriage to the outboard motor
magnate Ralph Evinrude.

This is all very important but I want to share with you something about Ms
Langford that not many people know.  In her retirement years she became a
philanthropist and gave away much of her fortune to worthy causes.  She was
very generous to the Children's Home Society. She worked with the late Wendy's
Hamburger founder Dave Thomas in building facilities for that agency which
cares for troubled children until they can be placed in adoptive homes.  Many
formerly disadvantaged people in Florida are better off because of her loving
generosity.  Her star shines brightly in heaven tonight.

Regards to all,
Art Funk
Tampa, FL

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 00:29:50 -0400
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  FOTR 30th Anniversary Program

One extra special reason to come to this year's 30th Annual Friends of Old
Time Radio Convention is that we are preparing a special commorative program
that will feature articles by some of the most renown writers on old time
radio, as well as a nostalgic look back on our annual nostalgic look back.

As its editor, I couldn't be happier with the submissions so far from
luminaries like Martin Grams, Jr., Jack French, John Eccles, Jr., Steven M.
Lewis and more -- and photos from Vince Damiano going all the way back to
the earliest years of the convention.

The one area I'm having trouble with is filling out the guest list.  There
are several guests whose credits I'm not familiar with and a few years for
which I don't have final programs and can't confirm exactly who attended.

If you are an OTR genius and pack-rat who saves all the programs from the
FOTR convention and can recieve a Microsoft Word file with some blanks that
need filing in - please let me know.

Let's face it - that person is out there.

I've done my best - and as last year's FOTR Trivia Champion* I do have some
knowledge of this stuff - but there are a bunch of holes to fill.

Any volunteers to help out?  We will provide credit in the program.

Let me know,

Sean Dougherty
201-739-2541
SeanDD@[removed]

* I won a collection of "Adventures of Frank Race" episodes.  Boy that show
stunk, but it has gained stature as it was my prize.

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 00:30:16 -0400
From: Alan/Linda Bell <alanlinda43@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Automatic records (?)

I saw the opening of a 1941 movie on TCM called Playmates starring
Kay Kayser and John Barrymore (how's that for a combination?). I only
saw the beginning because it was truly an awful movie and I bailed.
BUT, the beginning had something very intriguing in it. There were a
few young women in this large room with shelves and shelves of
records. A gal would take a call from someone requesting a record,
then she would find it and start it on one of the turntables. Then
someone else would take another call, and SHE would put another
record on another turntable. On the other end of one of the calls was
a guy in a restaurant or diner. So it wasn't like a big record store
or radio station. Seems like the calls were coming from remote
locations.

I think the name of the business was something like Automatic
Recordings, but I don't remember for sure. Anyway, does anyone have
any idea what was being portrayed here? (And is this even remotely
OTR related?)

AB
--
_______________
Alan/Linda Bell
Grand Rapids, MI

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 08:39:44 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Diskwasher Woes

From: Gord J L <lepsegj@[removed];
Some time ago, I researched recommendations for an
LP cleaning solution and I found that many people use
a mixture of 20% isopropyl alcohol and 80% water
(I use filtered water).

Where did you research this?????  You have been SERIOUSLY misled.  I've
never heard any expert suggest the use of a solution containing more than
1% (that is ONE PERCENT) alcohol.  Indeed, the general opinion is that
alcohol should be avoided.  In the case of shellac 78s it will immediately
ruin the record because alcohol will dissolve shellac.  But in the case of
vinyl records such as LPs, it can start the process that will leach
plasticizers out of the vinyl which will eventually result in a stiffer and
less wear resistant disc.  Let me quote from a paper written by Gerald
Gibson of the Library of Congress which appeared as part of the final
report of the Associated Audio Archives Preservation Study under an NEH
grant:

". . . Except in emergency situations, avoid cleaning fluids containing
alcohol for all recordings.  In any case, it should ___not___ be used on
shellac discs, since various kinds of alcohol dissolve shellac.  Although
it does not dissolve polyvinyl chloride, the primary ingredient in vinyl
discs, some experts caution against the use of alcohol on vinyl because of
the threat of loss of plasticizers or stabilizer.  Also, because of the
wide variety of materials used in their manufacture and the possibility of
breakdown of the bond between their surface and base, alcohol should not be
used to clean laminated recordings.

"Unfortunately in my experience, fluids containing alcohol appear most
effective for cleaning recordings.  As a prudent compromise, I suggest
using an alcohol solution ___only as a last resort___ to clean ___any___
recording and then only for initial cleaning with an immediate and thorough
distilled water rinse.  All future washings should be with a water based
solution.  [He then goes on to mention that the Library of Congress used
Freon TF for really dirty items, but that material is now outlawed.  I am
not sure what they now recommend instead.]  Alcohol is used only in extreme
cases. . . ."

How to clean records is generally one of the most controversial items that
comes up on the 78-L.  In general many of us use a very tiny amount of mild
dishwashing detergent in water.  Many of us use painter pads as brushes.
But this is only the low cost method.  There are specialized cleaning
machines like the Keith Monks machine that are used if the collector can
afford it.  Also highly recommended is the Disc Doctor's Miracle Record
Cleaner which is the most completely scientifically designed cleaning
solution.  Although I am friends with its inventor, Dr. H. Duane Goldman,
lord knows I get nothing out of recommending it.  Indeed, I get nothing but
grief from him every time he finds out I discuss detergent and painters
pads!  Go to [removed] for info and discussions on cleaning.

But keep away from the alcohol.  And from cigarettes, too, because
cigarette smoke is deadly for records.  But as for any other vices, who am
I to judge?

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 08:39:53 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  7-12 births/deaths

July 12th births

07-12-1863 - Herschel Mayall - Bowling Green, KY - d. 6-10-1941
actor: "The Lone Ranger"; "The March of Time"
07-12-1884 - Edgar Stehli - Lyons, France - d. 7-16-1973
actor: Dr. Huer "Buck Rogers"; Rex A. Starr "It's Murder"
07-12-1886 - Jean Hersholt - Copenhagen, Denmark - d. 6-2-1956
actor: Dr. Paul Christian "Dr. Christian"
07-12-1895 - Kirsten Flagstad - Hamar, Norway - d. 12-7-1962
opera singer: "General Motors Concerts"; "Metropolitan Opera"
07-12-1895 - Oscar Hammerstein II - New York City, NY - d. 8-23-1960
lyricist: "Pet Milk Show"
07-12-1898 - Joe Reichman - St. Louis, MO - d. 4-14-1970
bandleader: (the Pagliacci of the Piano) "A Song is Born"
07-12-1908 - Milton Berle - New York City, NY - d. 3-27-2002
comedian: "Milton Berle Show"; "Let Yourself Go"; "Three Ring Time"
07-12-1909 - Joey Faye - New York City, NY - d. 4-26-1997
actor: Recruit "The Rookies"
07-12-1912 - Will Bradley - Newtown, NJ - d. 7-20-1978
bandleader: "Mildred Bailey Show"; "Saturday Night Swing Session"
07-12-1919 - Vera Hruba Ralston - Prague, Czechoslovakia
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-12-1934 - Van Cliburn - Shreveport, LA
pianist: "Van Cliburn Concert"

July 12th deaths

02-10-1906 - Lon Chaney, Jr. - Oklahoma City,  Oklahoma Territory - d.
7-12-1973
actor: "Pursuit of Happiness"
02-12-1904 - Ted Mack - Greeley, CO - d. 7-12-1976
emcee: "Original Amateur Hour"
05-09-1919 - Eddie Manson - d. 7-12-1996
harmonica player: "They Shall Be Heard"
06-02-1902 - Jimmie Lunceford - Fulton, MO - d. 7-12-1947
bandeader: "Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra"
07-14-1927 - John Chancellor - Chicago, IL - d. 7-12-1996
newscaster: WMAQ Chicago, NBC; "Voice of America"
08-08-1907 - Benny Carter - New York City, NY - d. 7-12-2003
saxaphonist, songwriter (Professor) "Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin
Street"
10-05-1908 - Josh Logan - Texarkana, TX - d. 7-12-1988
film/stage director: "Biography In Sound"
10-19-1907 - Roger Wolfe Kahn - Morristown, NJ - d. 7-12-1962
bandleader: "Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra"
10-22-1876 - Cecilia Loftus - Glasgow, Scotland - d. 7-12-1943
actress: Sarah Wright "Roses and Drums"
11-15-1885 - Herbert Rawlinson - Brighton, England - d. 7-12-1953
actor: Edgar, the courthouse guard "The Amazing Mr. Tutt"; "Escape"; "Twelve
Players'
12-18-1864 - S. Parkes Cadman - Wellington, Shropshire, England - d. 7-12-1936
preacher: "National Radio Pulpit"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #210
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