Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #326
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 11/22/2006 11:22 AM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2006 : Issue 326
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  OTR and MP3                           [ "Wayne Johnson" <wayne_johnson@mind ]
  11-22 births/deaths                   [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  Phone Numbers                         [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
  OTR Phone Numbers                     [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
  BBC radio                             [ "thomas" <evander800@[removed]; ]
  "Gunsmoke" Scripts                    [ "randy story" <hopharrigan@centuryt ]
  Telephone numbers                     [ Brian Johnson <chyronop@[removed] ]
  Harv and Dell                         [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  Robert Altman's OTR connections       [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
  The legacy of Lightcrust ("Goodness   [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  Appointment With Fear                 [ Mike Thomas <thomaspilgrims@[removed] ]

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

Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 22:05:04 -0500
From: "Wayne Johnson" <wayne_johnson@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  OTR and MP3

You know, I once offered to trade OTR in MP3 format with someone who refused
to do it once they found out that I did not record in 12mB blocks of data.
Seems he didn't really understand what MP3 was and I have run into that
before.  Since most of you already know MP3 ins and outs, go ahead and skip
this post.  For those of you who don't, if I may explain just a few things
that may help in your future trades and coversions to MP3.  Remember, JUST A
FEW and very simple at that.

Normal human hearing is from 20 cycles per second (aka hertz or hz) and
20,000 hz.  Each cycle, when drawn on paper as a wave will have a peak, a
valley and back to a peak. In order to be able to digitally record a
frequency, one must use a SAMPLING RATE of at least double the frequency so
as to capture both the peak and the valley.  To properly record 20khz, one
must have a sampling rate of 40,000 or greater.  44,100 or [removed] k is one of
the standards.  Trouble is that almost no OTR was recorded in high enough
quality that [removed] is necessary.  If you record using a sampling rate of
[removed] then you are wasting a lot of memory on your CD or flash memory or
whatever storage medium that you are using.  If my own memory (brain) serves
correct, AM radio frequency response tops out at about 7khz so a sampling
rate if 14000 or slightly greater would be all that is necessary to record
anything from an AM transmission.  A piano frequency range is about 50hz to
around 4500hz.  (The note that is used to "tune" a symphony orcheastra is an
A and by defintion is 440 hz).  In other words, a sampling rate in the area
of about 10,000 - 11,000 would be more than enough to take care of a piano's
basic frequencies.  (NOTE:  I haven't gone and won't go into capturing
harmonics, etc.)

Dynamic range (loudest louds versus softest softs) in covered by bit rates.
In OTR I have found that 48 kbps is quite enough.  (96 kbps is what I would
start with if recording a symphony (and yes, I have recorded live symphony
orchestras before and converted the recordings to MP3 and found that even 64
was pretty darned good.)

As for STEREO ... I know of no OTR that was broadcast or recorded in stereo
so don't waste the memory.  It won't help the quality nor will it sound
different.  A mono recording will still come out of both speakers.

My personal experience is that a 30 minute broadcast could easily occupy
about 6mB on disc or in memory and still be of great quality ... depending
upon what you started with.  The old saying "garbage in ... garbage out"
still applies.  But to say that the quality of your MP3 is inferior because
it doesn't exceed 10mB ... that is just plain wrong.  Experiement with your
recordings and see what you like.  Play with variable bit rates.  It can be
fun.  For recordings where there is a studio audience .... applause can
create what I call digititis or sounds that weren't part of the original
recording.  This is because of the suddeness of the sound (the attack) and
the random nature of the clapping.  I can best describe it as "a wind or
rushing noise around the edges of the sound of the clapping".  OK, so that
might not be a good description ... but it is the best that I can do right
now.

As for MP3 ... like tape and vinyl and CD and most anything else, it is only
a storage medium.  We humans still require analog to hear.  Proper attention
to recordings and conversions will yield results that are very good even
when using a compression or lossy format.  Please keep in mind that the ins
and outs of recording and compression and MP3 is far more complicated that I
can cover in a few paragraphs but this should give you a good start.

Comments are welcomed.

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

Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 22:20:12 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  11-22 births/deaths

November 22nd births

11-22-1875 - Elizabeth Patterson - Savannah, TN - d. 1-31-1966
actor: Maid "Halls of Ivy"
11-22-1887 - Charles E. Mack - White Cloud, KS - d. 1-11-1934
comedian, actor: (Two Black Crows) "The Eveready Hour"
11-22-1895 - Alexander Laszlo - Budapest, Hungary - d. 11-17-1970
orchestra leader: "This Is Your Life"
11-22-1899 - Hoagy Carmichael - Bloomington, IN - d. 12-27-1981
singer, composer: "Hoagy Carmichael Show"; "King's Men"
11-22-1904 - Roland Winters - Boston, MA - d. 10-22-1989
actor: Russell Bartlett "My Best Girls"; "Milton Berle Show";
"Highways in Melody"
11-22-1906 - Trezzvant W. Anderson - Charlotte, NC - d. 3-25-1963
newscaster: "Pittsburgh Courier News"
11-22-1907 - Howard Petrie - Beverly, MA - d. 3-24-1968
announcer: "Jimmy Durante Show"; "Judy Canova Show"
11-22-1910 - Ethel Smith - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 5-10-1996
organist: "Your Hit Parade"
11-22-1910 - John Carter - Brooklyn, NY - d. 7-22-1988
singer: "Charlie McCarthy Show"; "Voice of Firestone"
11-22-1911 - Ernie Caceres - Rockport, TX - d. 1-10-1971
clarinet, saxophone: "Eddie Condon's Jazz Concerts"
11-22-1913 - Benjamin Britten - Lowestoft, Suffolk, England - d.
12-4-1976
composer: "Columbia Workshop"; "An American in England"
11-22-1914 - Frank Graham - Detroit MI - d. 9-2-1950
actor: Diogenes Smith "Lum and Abner"; Jeff Regan "The Lion's Eye"
11-22-1919 - Steve Alex - d. 10-22-1998
newscaster: KSIL Silver City, New Mexico
11-22-1921 - Rodney Dangerfield - Babylon, Long Island, NY - d.
10-5-2004
comedian: "Voices of Vista"
11-22-1922 - Lynn(e) Roberts - Il Paso, TX - d. 4-1-1978
vocalist: "Dorsey Brothers Orchestra"; "Benny Goodman Orchestra"
11-22-1924 - Geraldine Page - Kirksville, MO - d. 6-13-1987
actor: "Arch Oboler's Plays"
11-22-1932 - Robert Vaughn - NYC
actor: "Monitor"
11-22-1946 - Roger Baron - Chicago, IL
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"

November 22nd deaths

01-04-1905 - Sterling Holloway - Cedartown, GA - d. 11-22-1992
actor: "Railroad Hour"; "[removed] Steel Hour"; "Suspense"; "Lux Radio
Theatre"
02-28-1911 - Gene O'Donnell - Iowa - d. 11-22-1993
actor: " I Want A Divorce"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-02-1895 - Lorenz Hart - NYC - d. 11-22-1943
lyricist: "Jumbo Fire Chief Program"; "Chase and Sanborn Hour";
"Railroad Hour"
05-13-1842 - Arthur Sullivan - London, England - d. 11-22-1900
composer: (Gilbert and Sullivan) "The Railroad Hour"
05-29-1917 - John F. Kennedy - Brookline, MA - d. 11-22-1963
[removed] president: "Kennedy-Nixon Debates"; "American Forum of the Air"
07-26-1894 - Aldous Huxley - Godalming, Surrey, England - d. 11-22-1963
writer: "Columbia Workshop"
08-01-1898 - Caesar Petrillo - Chicago, IL - d. 11-22-1963
orchestra leader: (Brother of James C. Petrillo) "First Nighter"
08-05-1914 - Parley Baer - Salt Lake City, UT - d. 11-22-2002
actor: Chester Wesley Proudfoot "Gunsmoke"; Doc Clemmens "Rogers of
the Gazette"
08-17-1893 - Mae West - Brooklyn, NY - d. 11-22-1980
actor: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show" (Famous Adam and Eve Skit)
11-26-1917 - Adele Jergens - Brooklyn, NY - d. 11-22-2002
actor: Carol Curtis "Stand By For Crime"
12-31-1897 - Paula Hemminghous - Columbus, OH - d. 11-22-1997
singer: "Philco Hour"; "National Radio Pulpit"; "Highlights of the
Bible"

Ron Sayles

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

Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 23:10:46 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Phone Numbers

On 11/21/06 10:06 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

So what did radio shows do when they had to use a bogus telephone number on
the air?  On TV nowadays they use 555, as in 555-1234, because 555 is an
exchange used only for telephone system work and thus will not connect you
to the bedroom of a litigious person in New Jersey somewhere.  But I don't
recall ever hearing 555 on a radio show, and it would seem that networks
would be concerned over clueless listeners who idly call telephone numbers
they heard in a radio drama.

When "Amos 'n' Andy" shifted its location from Chicago to Harlem in 1929,
Correll and Gosden decided not to use actual phone numbers on the air,
and began using the fictitious "HArlem 7" exchange for all numbers
mentioned on the program. While there was no actual "HArlem" exchange in
New York City, the HA 7 pattern did correspond to part of the "HAmilton"
exchange assigned to Huntington, Long Island -- and when, one evening in
late 1929, they happened to mention Madam Queen's phone number on the
air, the unfortunate Huntington woman who actually had that number was
deluged with calls from pranksters asking to speak to the Madam.

Subsequently, New York Telephone agreed to hold aside a small block of
unused HA 7 numbers for use by Correll and Gosden, and they were
meticulously careful to use these numbers and no others for the rest of
the time they were on the air. It's possible other programs might have
had similar arrangements.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 02:12:01 -0500
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, 22 Nov 2006 10:46:25 -0500
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR Phone Numbers

"Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed]; wrote:
So what did radio shows do when they had to use a bogus telephone number on
the air?  On TV nowadays they use 555, as in [removed]

Well, that sort of number wouldn't have worked on OTR here in
Knoxville, at least until the very last couple of years; our phone
numbers were only five digits long. Strangely, I still remember our
old number: 64460, the one given us when we got off the party line
and got a private one. In the early sixties it became five digits and
two letters; the prefixes were MU and MY in these parts, or MUtual
and MYrtle. I guess Bell South figured nobody could remember seven
digit numbers. ordinary sounding

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

Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:47:20 -0500
From: "thomas" <evander800@[removed];
To: "old_time_radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  BBC radio

     Since this posting is off the topic of OTR, Charlie may decide to
bounce it. However I can't but be amazed by the vigor of BBC radio.
     Almost all British film/TV actors seem to appear in various BBC radio
productions, from dramatizations of the classics to detective mysteries. For
example, recent offerings have featured Daniel Craig (the new movie James
bond), Michael Gambon, Hugh Grant, Imelda Staunton, Anna Massey, Brian Cox,
and Joss Ackland in their casts.
     I suspect the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) and other UK
institutions provide courses in radio acting as part of their required
curriculum. Actors seem to be able to glide seamlessly from stage to screen
to radio.
     Of course the BBC is wholly supported by the British government--no
chance of that kind of system in our country. However it does prove that
radio can retain its suppleness and excellence under the right
circumstances.
     Tom van der Voort

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

Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:47:55 -0500
From: "randy story" <hopharrigan@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  "Gunsmoke" Scripts
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Hi-ho, everyone.
I am still waiting to hear from someone who might have the "Gunsmoke" radio
show script aired originally in December, 1952. The title, according to my
Barbaras text on the series, is simply Christmas Story. Can anyone help me by
emailing a copy of this to me as soon as possible? I think my copy came from
Derek, the right honorable Mayor of Etherville, but I lost it when my PC
crashed last Spring. I need this for an OTR show I am working on with my high
school kids later in December, so getting a copy of the script is important. I
am also looking for scripts of the shows Magnus and Twelfth Night from
"Gunsmoke" since they have the Christmas theme. We have decided not to do the
same sort of shows people normally do for the holidays and I am using a
"Suspense" script called Back for Christmas as one part of the show, however
Raymond Burr appeared in a latter year episode of that series titled Out for
Christmas which would be a great companion piece for the recreation we are
planning.
How about it? Can anyone help me out with this problem? I suppose I could
transcribe the shows, but I lack the time to do so. Alas, time is a major
factor.
By the way, I am currently viewing the most recent set of "Gunsmoke" DVDs and
tried listening to the radio show versions of the TV episodes featured on the
DVD. The picture quality of the episodes and it is obvious that effort went
into preserving the work; the same, sadly, cannot be said for the radio
transfers. They sound muddy, muffled, and scratchy. Bad news for this fan of
both the audio and video versions of this wonderful show.
Anyway, please let me know via this forum or by my email if you can help me
with this script challenge I am facing as soon as you can.
Thanks as always, fellow OTR addicts.
Randy Story
(who is recovering from a nasty cold/ flu virus and is heavily medicated as he
writes this so he hopes it makes sense and clearly communicates his point).
:)

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:48:04 -0500
From: Brian Johnson <chyronop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Telephone numbers

I don't think they worried about bogus telephone numbers since the golden age
of radio was also
the golden age of telephone operators. Operator, get [removed] oh, is that you
Myrt? How's every
little thing, Myrt?

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

Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:48:37 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Harv and Dell

I received this e-mail and I am of no help at all, can someone help
this gentleman?

Ron,

I was doing some research on old time radio characters and came
across your blog.  My mother and grandparents were the major cast
players on the show Harvey and Dell.

My mother passed away last spring and I have been talking to Dad
about my mother's time on radio with her parents in the 1930s.

Can you send me somewhere to gather more information on this old time
radio show Harvey and Dell?

Thanks,

Dave Warren

David Warren, DM, Director
University of Phoenix | Overseas Military Campus
Heidelberg, Germany
CMR 419 Box 814 | APO, AE 09102
Ph: 011-49-6221-7050640
Fax: US (602) 383-6514
email: [removed]@[removed]

He would appreciate any help that you can give him, thanks.

Ron Sayles

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

Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:49:32 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Robert Altman's OTR connections
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X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

News spread fast about the death earlier this week of Hollywood auteur Robert
Altman at the age of 81.  Let's just say that Altman had more cinematic misses
than [removed] at least every one of his films is worth taking a look at.
Naturally, I have lots of fond memories of my favourite latter-day film
director, but instead of dwelling on his craft, I'd rather mention his radio
connections.

Of course, Altman's most recent film was his treatment of Garrison Keillor's
"A Prairie Home Companion" earlier this [removed] then there's the film that
"might have been"... In 1996, Altman released a film called "Kansas City," a
story about political corruption  that culminates on Election Day 1932 in
Altman's hometown of Kansas City. I actually got to meet Altman  two days
before the film's release at the soon-to-be-defunct Tower Records here in
Manhattan where he was doing an "in-store" personal appearance to promote the
film's jazz-laden soundtrack. Before signing autographs, he took some
questions from the audience and was greeted with the inevitable "what's your
next project?"

Altman went on to discuss that he and "Kansas City" featured player Harry
Belafonte had been discussing possibly doing an "Amos 'n' Andy" movie  and
that he wanted to film--not an adaptation like the early 1950s TV show, he was
quick to point out--the story of AnA's creators Freeman Gosden and Charles
Correll and the AnA phenomenon of the early 1930s and how the humble show was
accepted by the African-American community of the time until the political
tide started turning against it years later.

BTW, there are a couple of references to "Amos 'n' Andy" in the film "Kansas
City" in case anybody here wants to access it.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody, and let me be the first to wish the indomitable
impresario Jay Hickerson the happiest of birthdays this upcoming weekend!

Yours in the ether,

Derek Tague

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:50:00 -0500
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The legacy of Lightcrust ("Goodness gracious,
 it's good")

there's no chance of  those delicious-sounding
Burrus flour biscuits for the holiday, even if you live in [removed]
were purchased by a conglomerate in the '90s and "rolled into the Martha
White Flour company"

Anybody recall this ditty?

"You bake right, ah ha
With Martha White (Martha White)
Goodness gracious, good 'n' light
Martha White (Martha White) ...
For the finest cornbread ever baked
Get Martha White self-risin' flour,
The one all-purpose flour,
Martha White self-risin' flour
For goodness' sake!"

Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs opened and closed their half-hour segment of
the Grand Ole Opry with that tuneful jingle every Saturday night from the
mid 1950s until Flatt's death several decades hence.  (They were the same
guys who invited weekly audiences to "Come and listen to my story 'bout a
man named Jed, a poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed" on CBS-TV's
Beverly Hillbillies in the 1960s and early 1970s.)

So you see just because Burrus and their Lightcrust Doughboys went out of
style, it didn't mean the end of a radio renaissance for the ingredients
that proffered their name and reason for being on the air.  Martha White
was -- and still is -- one of the Opry's major underwriters.  In its
earliest tie-up with that venerable theater of pickers, pluckers, warblers
and joggers, the Martha White half-hour immediately preceded the NBC network
portion sponsored by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. for Prince Albert smoking
tobacco, the only half-hour of the Opry that was scripted and rehearsed.

Whereas the Opry could generally be classified as laid-back and mass
confusion as legendary entertainers and obscure instrumentalists wandered to
and fro across the stage behind whoever was currently performing, as 8:25
Central Time approached on Saturday nights, a certain frenzy made its
presence felt to artists and audiences alike.  A quickened pace developed as
Flatt and Scruggs launched their final number, then sang the Martha White
commercial jingle one last time before hastily unplugging their instruments
and disappearing offstage as the big red curtain came down briefly.  A hush
fell over the crowd, then it went up again at precisely 8:30:00 as the music
and announcer Grant Turner launched the P. A. portion for NBC starring Red
Foley, with Minnie Pearl, Rod Brasfield, Moon Mulligan, the Old Hickory
Singers, the Fruit Jar Drinkers and a few more regulars, and usually a guest
star.  It was on those occasions that I personally witnessed sheafs of
scripts in performers' hands, and as each page was used up, a sheet at a
time was quietly dropped to the floor before the audience's eyes (I'm not
intending to open an old wound for debate here).  Stage hands could be seen
sweeping up that litter of paper following the NBC show as the successor
half-hour progressed.

Martha White was -- is -- a big part of the Nashville and Tennessee economy
today.  The Opry made it so.  And the Lightcrust Doughboys, in their own
way, are part of the ancestral tree of that broadcasting and baking
phenomenom.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:52:25 -0500
From: Mike Thomas <thomaspilgrims@[removed];
To: radio digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Appointment With Fear

Hello folks,

  Looking for any information on this show. I have only seen 1 episode. I
know there has to be more somewhere. I am reading a book on John Dickson Carr
who wrote a lot of plays for this show. The bibliography has specifc dates,
so I assume there is a log or someone has these somewhere. Any help would be
much appreciated. Thanks in Advance

  Mike in Medford

Mike and Ernestine Thomas

New Fans Of Old Time Radio
Old Fans Of The Three Investigators Series

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #326
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