Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #3
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 1/4/2006 10:18 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2006 : Issue 3
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      1-4 births/deaths                     [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
      Neil Strawser                         [ "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
      Goldbegs & The Phantom                [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Gildersleeve                          [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      The Chief City Slicker                [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
      Mike Wallace - WHEE                   [ RBB <oldradio@[removed]; ]
      FWD: Soupy Sales                      [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 01:36:14 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  1-4 births/deaths

    January 4th births

    01-04-1881 - Norman Field - Montreal, Quebec, Canada - d. 9-11-1956
    actor: Glen Hunter "One Man's Family"; Uncle George "Meet Corliss
    Archer"
    01-04-1905 - Sterling Holloway - Cedartown, GA - d. 11-22-1992
    actor: "Railroad Hour"; "[removed] Steel Hour"; "Suspense"; "Lux Radio
    Theatre"
    01-04-1907 - Floyd Christy - New York, NY - d. 5-21-1962
    writer: "The Johnson Family"
    01-04-1911 - Fred Killian - d. 4-25-1994
    producer, director: "Those Sensational Years"
    01-04-1914 - Jane Wyman - St. Joseph, MO
    actress: "Dreft Star Playhouse"
    01-04-1916 - Lionel Newman - New Haven, CT - d. 2-3-1989
    conductor, composer: (Brother of Alfred) "Hollywood Star Time"
    01-04-1919 - Al "Jazzbo or Jazzbeaux" Collins - New York, NY - d.
    9-30-1997
    disc jockey: "Collins on a Cloud"; "Happy Al"
    01-04-1925 - Johnny Lujack - Connellsville, PA
    all-american football player, actor: Himself "Johnny Lujack of Notre
    Dame"
    01-04-1930 - Barbara Rush - Denver, CO
    actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"

    January 4th deaths

    03-10-1888 - Barry Fitzgerald - Dublin, Ireland - d. 1-4-1961
    actor: Bernard Fitz "His Honor, the Barber"
    03-14-1912 - Les Brown - Reinerton, PA - d. 1-4-2001
    bandleader: (Les Brown and His Band of Renown) "Bob Hope Show";
    "Fitch Bandwagon"
    04-03-1906 - Iron Eyes Cody - Oklahoma Territory - d. 1-4-1999
    actor: "Straight Arrow Pow-Wow
    04-06-1895 - Dudley Nichols - Wapakoneta, OH - d. 1-4-1960
    screenwiriter: "Cavalcade of America"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    05-26-1909 - Richard Maibaum - New York, NY - d. 1-4-1991
    screen writer: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    07-25-1899 - Ralph Dumke - South Bend, IN - d. 1-4-1964
    actor: Willie Tompkins "We, the Abbotts"; Pat Plenty "Quality Twins"
    08-26-1904 - Chirstopher Isherwood - High Lane, Cheshire, England -
    d. 1-4-1986
    writer: "NBC University Theatre"; "CBS Radio Workshop"
    09-13-1908 - Mae Questel - The Bronx, NY - d. 1-4-1998
    actress: Betty Boop "Betty Boop Fables"; Olive Oyl "Popeye the Sailor"
    09-26-1888 - T. S. Eliot - St. Louis, MO - d. 1-4-1965
    writer: "Columbia Workshop"
    10-16-1912 - Berry Kroeger - San Antonio, TX - d. 1-4-1991
    actor: Michael Waring/The Falcon "The Falcon"; Reed Bannister "Big
    Sister"
    11-29-1932 - John Gary - Watertown, NY - d. 1-4-1998
    singer: "Christmas Music - Spots for the National Guard"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 02:12:00 -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, 4 Jan 2006 08:13:59 -0500
    From: "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Neil Strawser

    Sad to read of the death of radio reporter Neil Strawser. He was
    one of my favorites back in the days when CBS News had integrity
    and the networks actually had qualified people covering and
    delivering stories.

    Strawser's voice and delivery reminded me of the man who narrated
    a lot of those old Encyclopedia Britannica films we were shown in
    grade school. Strawser was a regular on many radio broadcasts
    with his reports from Congress, especially the CBS World News
    Roundup in the morning with Dallas Townsend and on The World
    Tonight with Douglas Edwards; I think he might have anchored the
    Roundup on Saturday mornings and filled in weekdays at other
    times.

    The obit credits Strawser with anchoring CBS Radio coverage of
    President Kennedy's assassaination. I think that is only
    partially correct. Certainly as the scene shifted to Washington,
    he might well have done so on through the funeral, but most of us
    know that Alan Jackson anchored the coverage in the first hours
    from New York. Bill Moyers has been quoted as saying he first
    heard the news, flying in a private plane from Austin to Dallas,
    from Robert Trout on CBS. I don't know if Moyers was simply
    mistaken as to who was on the air or, depending on the time
    frame, Trout had taken over for Jackson by that time.

    Bob Cockrum

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

    Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 11:39:28 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Goldbegs & The Phantom

    Dixon commented:

>     By the way if I'm not mistaken there was a mid-1950s Goldberg revival that
>     was filmed for first-run syndication.  I saw a clip that was apparently
>     filmed with one camera and actually showed Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg getting
>     out of a car.

    The syndicated filmed series was entitled "MOLLY" rather than "The
    Goldbergs" and i am not sure why this was so.  gertrude Berg played the role
    and it was definately the same series.  Every episode of the syndication TV
    series is known to exist (I have four of them) but don't sweat it if you
    have not seen the syndicated series - it's not very entertaining.

    As for THE PHANTOM, there was a TV pilot in the late 1950s so there was at
    one time an attempt to bring the comic strip character to a weekly program
    format - Lon Chaney Jr., Richard Kiel and Paulette Goddard (!) was in the
    cast.  I have that on tape too but it's not very good.
    Martin

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

    Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 11:40:15 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Gildersleeve

    THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE is not one of the best written or funniest radio
    comedies created - but it had a charm of it's own.  Fibber McGee and Molly
    was very popular so a spin-off of a character from that series seemed
    logical.  (Remember Frasier from CHEERS?)

    THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE had very high ratings compared to most radio
    comedies.  The program was also sponsored.  The Networks (NBC, CBS, ABC,
    etc.) was (and still is) in the business of making money so a sponsor meant
    money for the network.  If a program was not sponsored, it was a case by
    case decision whether the program would last a few months on the air.

    The Gildersleeve character appeared in something like nine movies.  Four of
    them geared directly toward the character (THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE,
    GILDERSLEEVE'S BAD DAY, GILDERSLEEVE ON BROADWAY and GILDERSLEEVE'S GHOST)
    not to mention the two Fibber McGee and Molly movies with Gildy in the cast.
      Someone other than the studios made money off the character since he
    appeared on the screen.  Publicity or no publicity, I have no doubt the
    networks made money off the Gildersleeve movies in more ways than just the
    radio program and it's sponsor.

    Lastly, the Gildersleeve series is still popular to this day.  I've been
    around the marketing end of OTR for some time to tell the difference between
    popular and non-popular titles.  I know people who have written and/or sold
    books, logs, DVDs, audio cassettes, MP3s, etc. and Gildersleeve is today one
    of the better selling radio comedies - even better than GEORGE BURNS AND
    GRACIE ALLEN and CHARLIE McCARTHY.

    Martin

    [removed]  There is a book through Bear Manor Media about THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE
    and a log by AUDIO CLASSICS both worth getting.

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

    Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 11:40:49 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Chief City Slicker

    A week or so ago, I acquired a CD of World War II songs.  The third song
    in was "The Fuhrer's Face," performed by Spike Jones and his City
    Slickers.  What a nearly forgotten name!  Spike Jones had some shows in
    the mid to late 1940s, but beyond that, he was an OTR presence.  Many of
    his pieces were played on early music DJ-style shows.

    Musical satire Spike Jones brought to an art form.  When I was growing
    up, Spike Jones numbers would pop up over the air.  Although other
    novelty bands were around at that time, Spike Jones' group perfected the
    art.  Since Spike Jones, that musical expression has all but disappeared.

    It would be interesting to play Spike Jones recordings to teens and young
    adults to see their reactions.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 11:41:20 -0500
    From: RBB <oldradio@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Mike Wallace - WHEE

    <<<Bill Knowlton asked about that Myron-fella who announced the glee
    club program on [removed];>

    There was a WHEE call in Boston for a year in 1951, although
    "Mike" (Myron Leon) Wallace from Boston was just writing to his Father
    with enthusiasm that he was announcing on a network, but this was years
    before the call came on the dial.  WEEI was the CBS station in Boston.

    WHEE (now WILD 1090AM) was returned to the original WBMS in 1952.
    "Symphony Sid" Torin, the former-WJZ jazz music deejay, did an afternoon
    show on WHEE and as he said the station ID, he too emphasized the call
    letters like someone on a roller coaster ride, "W-H-E-E-E-E."

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

    Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 21:02:40 -0500
    From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  FWD: Soupy Sales

    Folks;

       Received this request in my mailbag; please copy the list on any info you
    have, as Mr. Brown is not (yet) a subscriber.

             Charlie

    - -- begin forwarded text

    From: Jeff Brown <jbrown@[removed];
    Subject: Soupy Sales

    I am working on a hour-long tribute to Soupy Sales for national
    distribution on public radio <snip> I'm planning on
    finding a bunch of old audio from his TV and album work, but It'd be
    great to have some of his early radio shows. Are you aware of any audio
    I might be able to use for my program? My idea is to present snippets
    of audio as well as interviews with people saying nice things about
    him. Rather than being a biography-type program, it would be more of a
    fun listen, and a tribute to the man who has inspired so many.

    I'm looking to talk to anyone who might have fun memories/inspirations
    regarding Soupy, so if you have any suggestions, it'd be great.

    In the future, I'm also planning on specials on Allan Sherman and Jerry
    Lewis.

    Jeff Brown
    KTOO-FM
    360 Egan Drive
    Juneau, AK 99801
    907-463-6425

    - -- end forwarded text

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #3
    *******************************************

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