------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 309
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Re: Robert Hall Clothing Jingle [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
Madam Schumann-Heink [ Peter Kinder <pdkinder@[removed]; ]
(Robert) Hall Monitor [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
Re: Yankee Broadcasts/Ben Chapman [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Bob Hope and Lawyers' Delights [ "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@hotmail ]
Today in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
books on tape? [ "e ginsburg" <edginsburg@[removed] ]
Schumann-Heinck [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
Hal Stone / Bob Hope [ "Bill Rockhold" <brockhold@[removed] ]
Re: Controversy [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
Re: Bob Hope [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
'51 broadcast recreation? [ Michael Berger <makiju@[removed]; ]
Re: Bob Hope Issue [ otrdsiegel@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2002 23:34:09 -0400
From: Shenbarger@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Robert Hall Clothing Jingle
In a message dated 8/8/2002 8:38:57 PM Central Daylight Time, Arte and others
write about the:
Robert Hall jingle:
It is in the beginning of [removed]
which is found on [removed]
Don Shenbarger
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2002 23:34:34 -0400
From: Peter Kinder <pdkinder@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Madam Schumann-Heink
At Tower Records in Picadilly Circus in London, I found a British
reissue of excerpts of what I believe -- and my father who heard them the
first time around believes -- are excerpts from the radio shows. I've not
seen the cd in the US.
According to my father, his mother did not consider Christmas Eve
complete until she heard Madam Schuman-Heink sing "Silent Night" on the
radio. A much beloved voice and personality, but by the '30s well beyond
her vocal prime as her recordings from the '00s prove. One can only imagine
what she must have been like in her 20s.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2002 23:35:57 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: (Robert) Hall Monitor
Mark Kinsler, writing of Robert Hall OTR/OTV commercials, remembers a
ditty as starting,
School bells ring
And children sing
It's back to Robert Hall this year
Actually, the last line was,
"It's back to Robert Hall again,"
...making the third line a near rhyme with the first two. Growing up, I
wondered just why a child would ever sing anything so silly.
Coincidentally, my wife and I were discussing that very jingle a few days
ago.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 00:06:47 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Yankee Broadcasts/Ben Chapman
On 8/8/02 9:41 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:
I have the circulating broadcast of the 09-20-34
Yankees/Tigers game broadcast by WWJ in Detroit. This game is purported to
be the oldest complete game transcription extant (I'm sure a digester will
prove that wrong) and the announcer is WWJ's Ty Tyson.
A complete aircheck of the 1934 All Star Game, called by Ted Husing for
CBS, survives in the collection of the Baseball Hall Of Fame Library in
Cooperstown, and this game is about two months older than the WWJ
broadcast. But no authentic recordings of baseball are positively known
to exist before 1934. I've heard rumors that at least part of the 1933
World Series exists, but I've never been able to document these rumors.
Recordings purporting to date from the 1932 World Series are fake, as are
recordings purporting to be of Babe Ruth's 60th home run in 1927.)
Regular season broadcasts of Yankee home games did not begin until 1939.
and after the 1934 season, *all* regular season broadcasts were
prohibited by the team -- even recreations broadcast by the other team's
station. The Yankees even went so far as to crack down on station WINS
for broadcasting a "nightly baseball summary" which recreated highlights
from games played earlier in the day -- the team was extremely hostile to
radio thru the thirties.
One broadcasting
tidbit I gathered from the transcription--Mr. Tyson both announced the
game--and--served as stadium public-address announcer!
This wasn't uncommon during the thirties -- you'll hear Walter Johnson
doing the same thing during the segment of a Washington Senators
broadcast included in the WJSV 9/21/39 set. Baseball owners were
notoriously cheap, and as long as there was someone in the booth, there
was nothing to stop him from doubling on the PA system -- and this would
save the owner the dollar or so per game it might have cost to have a
second person handling those duties.
Lastly a non otr related question (sorry)--was this
Ben Chapman the player who was killed by a pitched ball--the only death from
a thrown ball up to the present?
That was *Ray* Chapman, a shortstop for the Cleveland Indians who was hit
in the head by a pitch thrown by Carl Mays of the Yankees in a game at
the Polo Grounds in 1920. Chapman tried to stand up and walk to the
clubhouse after being hit, but collapsed and never regained consciousness
-- and died later that night. Mays was known and reviled by the fans of
that era as a dirty competitor, and to the end of his life he complained
that killing Ray Chapman was the only thing that kept him out of the Hall
of Fame. In fairness to Mays, however, the fatal pitch was thrown as
twilight was falling, and the ball was scuffed, dirty, and very difficult
to see.
Ben Chapman had his own claim to infamy -- he was one of baseball's most
aggressive bigots, who was traded by the Yankees to the Washington
Senators after several years of complaints from Jewish patrons that
Chapman had the habit of shouting venomous ethnic slurs into the stands.
(In a bit of crude irony, the man the Yankees got in return was Jake
Powell -- who ignited a furor of his own in July 1938 when in a pregame
interview with Chicago White Sox announcer Bob Elson of WGN, Powell
commented that he was looking forward to his off-season job as a police
officer, because it gave him a chance to keep in shape by "cracking
[extreme racial slur] in the head and throwing them in jail." After the
broadcast generated national outrage in the African-American press, the
Commissioner's office suspended Powell without pay for ten days, and
required him to spend the period of his suspension walking the streets of
Harlem, introducing himself to passersby, and apologizing for his remark.)
In the late 1940s, Ben Chapman resurfaced as manager of the Phillies --
where he led that club in racial harassment of the most loathsome kind
against Jackie Robinson during Robinson's rookie season with the Dodgers.
Chapman was challenged to a fight by Dodger infielder Eddie Stanky, who
dared him to mouth off to someone who was allowed to defend himself, but
Chapman refused the challenge. Under pressure, Commissioner A. B.
Chandler fined Chapman and forced him to publicly apologize for his
actions -- and there's a famous picture of Chapman and Robinson posing
together before a game, holding a bat and looking as though both of them
would rather be anywhere else. Years later, Robinson acknowledged that
what he really wanted to do was shove the bat down Chapman's throat, and
it took all the restraint he could muster to avoid doing so.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 01:57:47 -0400
From: "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Bob Hope and Lawyers' Delights
"jsouthard" <jsouthard@[removed]; writes:
I remember an incident,
(may have been an aprocypal story) that on one broadcast Hope in his
monologue said, "What is a fisherman's delight? One night on Veronica
Lake." His lawyers then had to scour the world to find a lake named
Veronica to keep from being sued by the movie star of the same name.
This sounds somewhat like one of the gags I heard Steve Allen crack on a
couple of radio appearances in the early 1970s. For whatever reason, the
name of a particular Jack Nicholson hit movie would be brought up, and Allen
commented, "Five Easy Pieces?? Oh, yes, The DeMarco Sisters!" Don't know if
Allen received any legal nastygrams over that one, but it seems to me that
this would have been even more ripe for them than Hope's Lake gag.
Back to the issue of the often salty Mr. Hope for a minute. It's my
understanding that, not unlike the content of the military-use-only "Private
Snafu" cartoons, much of the material on the various AFRS programs would
have been vetoed by the networks for general domestic use on the stars' own
shows. Anyone have any specific instances from "Command Performance," "[removed]
Journal," et cetera?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 09:39:42 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history
From Those Were The Days --
1942 - CBS radio debuted Our Secret Weapon. It was a program that
featured Rex Stout, who countered lies being broadcast by the Axis
powers through shortwave radio.
1901 - Charles Farrell actor: My Little Margie; developer [w/Ralph
Bellamy]: Palm Springs Racquet Club; d. May 6, 1990
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 09:39:51 -0400
From: "e ginsburg" <edginsburg@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: books on tape?
anyone know of any good books on tape about some of our favorite radio
stars?
I have already heard the one about Lucy
thanks
ed
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 09:40:22 -0400
From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Schumann-Heinck
Bob Fells tunes in and wrote:
I'm hoping that somebody on the Digest can refer me to a vendor who
sells copies of Madam Ernestine Schumann-Heink's radio broadcasts from
1934-35
Bob, I have a reel of these things which came originally from Mr. Kiner the
senior. Can't place my hands on the reel as I type this [removed]
Joe Salerno
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 10:08:36 -0400
From: "Bill Rockhold" <brockhold@[removed];
To: "Old. Time. Radio (E-mail)" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Hal Stone / Bob Hope
A number of digesters have criticized Hal Stone for his comments regarding
Bob Hope. I would like to offer my thanks to Mr. Stone for his candid
remarks.
Some on this list have argued that one's actions can be excused if that
person is a talented artist (you're only interested in their talent). In
my opinion, talent or fame should never be excuses for bad character. It
is "indeed" important to me to know a little of the character of an artist
who's work I admire. I loathed Chet Baker's (jazz musician) life-style,
but, I still love his music.
Bill Rockhold
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 10:29:28 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Controversy
Hi All.
First let me say that I do not post to the Digest with the intention to be
"controversial". Generally, I do not post unless I'm asked a specific
question, or, when there is a thread that I know something about, and can
shed a little light on the topic.
Based on the private eMails I receive, the vast majority seem to appreciate
getting a "first hand" account about things that I experienced. So when
someone posted innocently enough about listening to some rehearsal
recordings done by "Mr. Hope", and detecting what appeared to be "Out of
Character" comments from that funny man, I felt it might help to clarify the
confusion in his mind.
I'm not out to tarnish anyone's reputation. (That speaks for itself among
the people in the business). But I thought my insight and experiences,
(having been there), gives you folks a closer look at the reality of the
way things were "behind the scenes". Sure, I run the risk of "bursting some
bubbles", but I don't do it maliciously. And yes, some can say "Well,
that's just one mans opinion". But I would like to think that my 50 years
experience in "Show Biz" qualifies me (to a reasonable extent), to let you
in on the reality of certain situations as I knew them.
The OTR hobby is a lot like Stamp Collecting. People tend to "specialize"
and collect only certain issues, Country's, subject matter, etc. In OTR,
people are interested in specific programs, performers, technical stuff,
etc., while some like hearing about the "Golden Age" of radio in general. I
can only contribute material in the latter category.
Bob Hope, to be quite honest with you, was not that much different than many
of the comedians I either worked with, or at least met in a social
situation. (Excuse me if I sound like I'm "name dropping", but I'm trying to
make a point here). Jonathan Winters, Henny Youngman, Phyllis Diller, Soupy
sales, Joe E. Brown, Cliff Arquette, Art Carney (and others), all had
something in common. Off stage, they could be very reserved, introverted,
and very "different" than their on-camera persona. (Well, maybe Henny
Youngman was the exception to the rule). He was always "On". He just
couldn't stop with the one-liners. :)
But for the most part, they were consummate "pros' who respected the jobs
that others had to do, and cooperated fully. I don't mean they were smiling
and affable all the time, but were not all that difficult to work with. Oh
sure, some could be testy, and a bit egocentric, but for some reason or
other, that comes with the territory. One learns to deal with it, and
doesn't take it personally. I've heard from some head shrinks that
Comedians, as a breed, seem to deal with a lot of insecurity. So they act
out on occasion to validate their "importance". [removed] temper tantrums,
being nasty or uncooperative, is viewed as being "Totally Unprofessional",
regardless of how talented or funny they may appear to the public.
That said, permit me to respond to a an interesting reaction to my posting
regarding Mr. Hope.
Cope Robinson (boy, that name sounds familiar) had this to say;
The year was 1950, I was the lone man from the advertising agency (then
Newell-Emmett) responsible for the Bob Hope show for Chesterfield. I
attended every rehearsal and every performance for that entire season
(excluding two or three shows in Korea), some in NBC's Hollywood studios,
some at military bases. I will confess that I have associated with more
"personable and likable" people in the business but at the same time I found
him friendly, pleasant, and helpful. I saw none of the Hope, Hal Stone
describes.
Hal Stone's Bob Hope is not the one that I know.
Cope, I am sure he wasn't. I don't dispute anything you said. But I offer
this in response. You state the year was 1950. A lot can happen to a person
in 25 years. Besides, you were "Ad Agency Brass". Performers know which side
their bread is buttered on. In my original posting, I said Mr. Hope spent a
lot of time being very pleasant shmoozing with the clients and their wives.
I should have said "Agency Brass", clients and wives). As for the Ad Agency
people in the trenches, (the commercial's Producer, Creative Director,
Writer, and Art Director) all were ignored, and intimidated all to hell and
back by his attitude and lack of cooperation. They were crestfallen, because
they were all so looking forward to working with this "mega-star".
Hey, I was a big fans of Bob Hopes since the 50's also. But I think your
very insightful comments about having worked with >"more personable and
likable" people in the business"< might have been a precursor of things to
come later down the road.
By the way, thanks to all who send me private e-mails saying they
appreciate my honesty and forthrightness when I try to tell it "like it was,
is, could have been, and should be" :)
Hal(harlan)Stone
Jughead
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 10:32:59 -0400
From: BryanH362@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Bob Hope
Jer51473@[removed] writes:
You know old bob is in no position to defend himself from public attacks and
opinions
Bob has enough money that he is indeed in the position to defend himself from
untruths .
and somehow there is something wrong, imo, to cut the man up with a
negative opinion of him. He is an american institution
Why ? Being an American institution does not license you to treat others in
a negative light. And being in the public light one would have to realize
that when one acts like a jerk there will come a time when people will
publicly talk about it. It goes with the territory . If that is how Hal
Stone remembers Bob Hope then so be it . Who are we to argue??? If the
accusation was untrue or if Bob had one bad day and this one day was being
used as an example of his everday behavior well then I might have a problem.
Otherwise I say deal with it.
I look to entertainers to
entertain me and care less about opinions about their personal traits unless
they include factual information about low morals and/or criminal type
behavior at which point i refuse to be entertained.
If I know an entertainer to be a real jerk behind the scenes it takes away
from my desire
to enjoy their work . It's hard to like the work of an entertainer when you
know their staff had to put up with the devil to get the show out. Everyone
should get a little respect you know. Also when an entertainer is not
really nice you begin to wonder about self serving motives when they
entertain for charity .
Just my honest opinion. BTW I am not speaking directly about Bob Hope
because I have no idea of his behind the scenes demeanor other than what Hal
has posted.
-Bryan
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 10:36:29 -0400
From: Michael Berger <makiju@[removed];
To: otr <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: '51 broadcast recreation?
Elzabeth's conjectures are very sensible, but in this case,
I am pretty sure that Russ Hodges used the Chesterfield
promo record, which included most if not all of the bottom
of the 9th, and KSFO filled to there with the McLendon
tape.
I seem to recall that McLendon, being the promoter he was,
issued a two LP set of the LBS broadcast of the '51
playoff, and do remember hearing the game broadcast on a SF
station in the 60s.
Michael Berger
= ====
Please reply to: intercom1@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 11:05:48 -0400
From: otrdsiegel@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Bob Hope Issue
When I read Hal Stone's posting about Bob Hope I was reminded of the 1993
unauthorized biography of Bob Hope (The Secret Life Of Bob Hope) written by
Arthur Marx (Groucho's son) and published by Barricade Books. If you are not
familiar with this volume it goes into much detail about the less than
pleasant characteristic of Mr. Hope.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #309
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