------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 01 : Issue 44
A Part of the [removed]!
Today's Topics:
Music Goes Round and Round [William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];]
Gold Coast shows [Osborneam@[removed] ]
DIFFERENT TIME ZONES ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
uncle don [TIZZ EYE! <cien@[removed]; ]
Paul Harvey ["Tom and Katja" <kattom@[removed]]
Tex Beneke [ArtsMilitaria@[removed] (Arthur Fun]
Re: Cereals [Udmacon@[removed] ]
President Reagan [nicoll <nicoll@[removed]; ]
Lone Wolf? [Ga6string@[removed] ]
Sid Luigi Ranger ["Ed Kindred" <kindred@[removed]; ]
Marvin Miller's "Talking Book" recor ["Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed]; ]
Gold Coast Show / Old Time TV [Tom and Susan Kleinschmidt <tomkle@]
Time, Gentlefolk, Time! ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
Re: commercials [Sam Levene <srl@[removed]; ]
Thanks, Anthony Tollin!!!! [Wwtom@[removed] ]
Wrestling on the Radio [Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed]; ]
Premium Thoughts ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
LONE RANGER'S FIRST & LAST NAME: ONE ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
MORE RADIO SUPER STARS ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
#OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig [lois@[removed] ]
Wrestlers ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 12:06:53 -0500
From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Music Goes Round and Round
Charlie Summers wondered about the hearse story, so here goes. At age 19
(1935) my first paying job was running the sound system at an amusement
park (now known as Sea World)). After Labor Day the park shut down for
the winter so I was offered a job as Service and Lease manager for Public
Ad, Inc., who manufactured, serviced, and leased public address systems
in Cleveland. One of our clients was an auto livery who operated out of a
wharehouse, renting Packard limousines and hearses for funerals and
weddings. (Even at present funeral parlors rent their equipment. The
signs in the windows are interchangeable). My company had installed a 78
rpm turntable in front of the right seat of one of the hearses. I do not
recall where the amplifier was but the speaker was in the engine
compartment. The idea was to play organ records at the cemetery during
the graveside service. The owner of the service was a skinflint so the
very large garage was dimly illuminated by very low wattage light bulbs.
When I came through the entrance one day "The Music Goes Round" was
emenating from a hearse with a group of drivers huddled around it. It
quickly stopped. As the garage was so dimly lit, they thought it was
their boss, as I then was tall and thin. Their boss, an old grouch, was
also tall and thin. When they realized that it was me they said that I
had to hear this great record and played it again. (as to the problem
with sound system, it was quickly rectified when I advised the guys to
start the turntable before they left the garage and keep it running.
Cleveland gets pretty cold in December).
End of the saga of "Music Goes Round and Round".
Bill Murtough
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 13:39:11 -0500
From: Osborneam@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Gold Coast shows
Ken Piletic remembers some of the Gold Coast shows and says that perhaps
some retired WBBM person might have some copies. I recall finding some
copies of that show in the ORCA lending library's catalog, so if anyone is
interested in hearing them, you might want to join ORCA and rent them.
Barry Hill is still the person to contact and his wife is the club librarian.
His
email is orca@[removed]
Arlene Osborne
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 13:39:09 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: DIFFERENT TIME ZONES
In issue #43 someone inquire about the same broadcast in different
time zones and how they were done, were they the same each time, etc. Here
is a story relayed to me by Alfred Ryder in an interview at Center Stage in
Baltimore in 1975 when he was appearing in "The Staircase". Alfred created
the role of "Sammy" in the Goldbergs. I asked him almost the same question
that was posted and here is a story he told me about when he did a Shadow
program. They had completed the show for the East coast and had a
three-hour wait for the West Coast Broadcast to come on at the same time.
In order to "pass the time" the cast went to a little bar down the street
from he studios for a couple of "quick ones". When they got back to the
studio for the West Coast broadcast, Alfred said that the WEst Coast version
(for obvious reasons) did not exactly sound like the East coast one. ( I
have often wondered why they did not record the original broadcast and just
pay it back three hours later).
Maybe this is just another made up story for their own amusement.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 13:39:07 -0500
From: TIZZ EYE! <cien@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: uncle don
hi
speaking of UNCLE DON and bloopers and faw paws ....did anyone out
there actually hear uncle don say what he is accused of saying or is
that simply un-true,,,re "that'll hold the little B-------"?
cn
--
cien1@[removed]
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 13:41:15 -0500
From: "Tom and Katja" <kattom@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Paul Harvey
Hello all:
Just read Ted Kneebone's post regarding Paul Harvey. I've listened to Mr.
Harvey regularly for about 14 years, and find him very entertaining. I've
always thought he was something of a throwback to OTR.
I think the key word here is ENTERTAINING. There's no way anyone can
realistically call what Paul does "news." It's more like news-based
entertainment. News is factual, objective information (I know, I know, but's
that's a whole different argument).
Mr. Harvey has never been or pretended to be objective in what he does.
Don't misunderstand [removed] think this has its place, as long as it is called
what it [removed] Harvey's News and Comment. More comment than news.
Just my $[removed]
Tom Zotti
Wolfeboro, NH
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 15:43:59 -0500
From: ArtsMilitaria@[removed] (Arthur Funk)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Tex Beneke
All this talk of big bands is great. I grew up listening to the radio
remotes and still listen to big band today. I'm glad to see that there
is a lot of interest in swing today among the younger set. Tex Beneke
is the only big band performer I ever saw in person. He was at Busch
Gardens a couple of years ago, not long before he died. He was moving
slowly but that jaunty twinkle was still in his eye. He sang
"Chattanooga Choo-Choo" and "Kalamazoo" in the same mischievous manner
that we all know. And, of course, he led the band in doing a few Glenn
Miller numbers. It was a highlight of my life. The preceding verbal
interlude was brought to you without the anything to do with the
American Federation of Musicians, James C. Petrillo, President.
Art Funk
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 15:43:57 -0500
From: Udmacon@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Cereals
Does anybody remember an eight-pack (I think) cereal pack in which each
individual cereal box converted into a little house, while the pack itself
was convertable into a village block of stores? I think it was General Mills,
and (OTR content) probably was mentioned in commercials.
This was wonderful for kids with trains! MEMORIES!!
BILL KNOWLTON: "BLUEGRASS RAMBLE," WCNY-FM: Syracuse, Utica, Watertown NY
(since Jan. 1973). Sundays, 9 pm est: [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 15:47:26 -0500
From: nicoll <nicoll@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: President Reagan
Listening to NPR this [removed] piece on President Reagan's 90th
birthday. They played tapes of him telling some of his favorite
jokes/stories. One of the tales was a sport story.
I did a double [removed] tone, inflection, timing ----that's BILL STERN.
Upon further [removed] Reagan DID sound an awfully lot like
Bill Stern.
Will Nicoll
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 16:04:35 -0500
From: Ga6string@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lone Wolf?
Hi all,
Back in the fall, I inquired about the career of Gerald Mohr and several of
you contributed excellent info. One question that I haven't been able to find
the answer to, however: I read in John Dunning's book that in addition to his
movie roles as "The Lone Wolf," Mohr starred in a radio series of the same
name for one season (1947, maybe? I don't have the book in front of me.) Are
any of these programs in circulation? I'd be interested in hearing them.
Thanks,
Bryan Powell
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 17:29:12 -0500
From: "Ed Kindred" <kindred@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Sid Luigi Ranger
I always wondered why spaghetti westerns were popular or why they existed.
How about Puccini's opera with the western setting? How about that Orowitz
kid from Brooklyn on the Ponderosa. They must have all been inspired by Sid
Luigi Ranger. Reminds me of the song sung by the vaqueros on el rancho
grande, Have some Tequila, Have some Tequila.
Ed Kindred
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 17:29:10 -0500
From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Marvin Miller's "Talking Book" recordings
Hello again --
In answer to Ed Carr's request:
since i acquired a 5 record set with him (Marvin Miller) reading "the
adventures of
pinocchi" i wonder how one can find out how many of these he did do.
. . . perhaps others can remember if they had recordings of Marvin Miller
recorded at this slow 16 2/3 speed.
I had only the three-record set of stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe read
by Marvin. What a great voice!
I lost this album in college, but I was able to locate a kind gentleman
through this OTR digest a couple of years ago who had two of the records and
taped them for me -- I'm still trying to find the remaining one. I do
remember that there were other "talking books" in the series listed on the
back of that particular album, but I cannot recall whether or not M. M. did
the narration.
I had no trouble playing these recordings at all, because my Zenith
Cobramatic -- and we're talking 1953 here -- played any speed from 85 rpm to
about 15 or so. The record manufacturers included a circular cardboard
insert to plug the rather large hole in each record for those who didn't
need to fill that hole with the gear mechanism that reduced the record's
speed from that of the LP record.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 19:31:51 -0500
From: Tom and Susan Kleinschmidt <tomkle@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Gold Coast Show / Old Time TV
For those looking for episodes of The Gold Coast show, you may
want to try Chuck Shaden's Hall Closet. I know he has rebroadcast a few
shows on his Those Were The Days program. I think I have about 8 shows in
my collection all dating from the late 1950's and early 1960's
Charlie Northway asked:
"Do you suppose, say fifty years or so down the road, there will be someone
sitting down as I am now and writing a letter like this about OTT (Old Time
Television) and if so, what in the world will those folks have to talk
about? With looks being the paramount objective in today's entertainment,
and no super stars of TV to really speak of, what in the world will there
be to talk about? Can you imagine Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on TV
No way. They were purely radio and could not have made it in television."
Of course they will. Nostalgia is nostalgia whether it's about
OTR, old time TV shows, products that are no longer manufactured, or
whatever you choose. I have an excellent example of this. I have a large
collection of current and older TV shows, easily as large as my OTR
collection. Around Thanksgiving I was contacted by Bob Greene of the
Chicago Tribune. He had been doing a web search for a show that he
remembered from high school called Saints and Sinners. It was very short
lived, but it made a great impact on him at the time and he credited it
with his choosing journalism as a career. He found my web site where I have
the shows in my collection listed and emailed me. To make a long story
short, I sent him a tape and he wrote two columns about it and another show
as he reminisced about the TV shows of his youth. He mentioned me
prominently for helping him find the show. More recently he devoted two
more columns to one of the shows, Then Came Bronson (I was not mentioned in
those).
There have been mailing lists in the past similar to this one dedicated to
older TV shows, and most of that was nostalgia for the shows of the 1970's!
They no longer exist as far as I know. I'm still hoping that Charlie will
create one as he suggested a few months ago.
As for Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy being purely radio, they did
indeed have a TV series in the late 1950's sponsored by Coca-Cola, but as
you suggest it wasn't very good.
Tom
[ADMINISTRIVIA: The Kinescope (the Nostalgic TV list) is really ready to
[removed]'m currently working with a survey on the OldRadio Mailing List (this
list's "sister" publication), which is the only thing distracting me from
starting up The Kinescope. --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 19:31:53 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Time, Gentlefolk, Time!
Steven Kostelecky asks,
I've always wondered how many duplicate shows of the rebroadcasts made
to accommodate different time zones exist? <<
Well, many shows were transcribed, and the transcriptions were
distributed for playback at the specified time. And usually, the shows
were broadcast at the same time for Eastern and Central time ([removed], 5:30
PM ET, 4:43 CT). I don't know whether every radio station had their own
disks, or if certain hub stations did and sent audio feeds to other
stations.
I know many shows would do an early show for the East Coast and a later
one for the West Coast, and there must have been differences in the
performance<<
Once shows were transcribed, there shouldn't have been any reason to do
more than one performance: While I'm not privy to all the ins and outs
of transcription disks, one of the neat features of any record was that
once the master molds were made, they could be stamped out like cookies,
so to speak. The one 16-inch 78 RPM disk I saw seemed to be made of that
brittle record material used for our standard records and record albums.
At the front of every Lone Ranger recording I have, the first two words
are a nearly ringing, "By transcription."
Anthony Tollin, speaking of the Lone Ranger's first name, observes,
I would never want to know for sure whether that was what Fran Striker
may have intended. It would take some of the mystery away from the
character (as the terribly updated 1980s LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER movie
unfortunately accomplished long after Striker's death) . . mystery that
Fran Striker went to great lengths to put there in the first [removed];<
Well, last things first. As with the comic book, movie serial, and TV
versions of Captain Midnight, as compared to the OTR show, so with the
Legend of the Lone Ranger film to the original OTR show: it's not part of
the true Canon. So whether he was called "John" or "Murgatroyd" in that
film is immaterial. As it happens, I have a tape of what I understand to
be the actual pilot episodes of the TV show (with Glen Strange playing
the part of Butch Cavendish), and even as Anthony notes, the face of the
surviving Texas Ranger was obscured prior to his donning the mask and
assuming the identity of The Lone Ranger. I'm in rough agreement that
the WXYZers probably weren't intending to give Reid a first name.
However, unlike some others, if Reid's first name would have been
revealed, it wouldn't have detracted from the Lone Ranger for me. That
Captain Midnight's actual name was Charles James ("Jim") Albright doesn't
detract from his identity derived from his code name, which elevated him
to something near legendary. If the Lone Ranger's first name were ever
conclusively established, the Lone Ranger identity elevated the man to
the near mythic.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 21:41:12 -0500
From: Sam Levene <srl@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: commercials
One of my favourite OTR commercial slogans was "Ipana, for the smile of
beauty ....
Sal Hepatica, for the smile of health."
Sal Hepatica was a laxative, I learned many years later. As a kid I
couldn't tell what it was, so discreet were the commercials. May I
presume that neither of these products still exists?
Sam Levene
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 23:18:03 -0500
From: Wwtom@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Thanks, Anthony Tollin!!!!
A special thanks to Anthony Tollin for setting the record straight on a
couple of recent postings containing incorrect information regarding the
Shadow and the Lone Ranger. Its so nice to have people in our hobby who have
factual information and share it with us.
Wesley Tom
Redlands, CA
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 23:18:04 -0500
From: Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Wrestling on the Radio
May I add an important name to Tony D's posting about wrestlers on the
radio: Antonino Rocca.
Rocca was a well-liked "good guy" who wrestled barefoot and had his own
show on WHOM in New York in the early 50s.
Another Rocca appearance on the radio is remarkable. He was a guest on
the NBC series "Toscanini: The Man Behind the Legend". The wrestler and
the conductor were good friends, and Ben Grauer interviewed Antonino
Rocca about their personal relationship.
Rocca revealed that Toscanini was a big wrestling fan, and though he
never came to the arena he made it a point to watch Rocca every time he
was on TV. Grauer asked if Toscanini was interested in the fine points
of wrestling, and Rocca admitted he was. The interview continued
something like this (I wanted to get this written right away -- someone
else may want to check the tape).
"Did he ever ask you to explain specific holds?"
"Sure he did."
"How did you demonstrate them?"
"We'd just get down on the floor and I'd show him the hold."
"You mean (gulp!) you wrestled with Toscanini?"
"Mr. Grauer, I know he was a great conductor. But I'll tell you,
Toscanini could have been the greatest wrestler in the world."
--Bill
Jaker
(BTW,
I was born Monday, 7 August 1939 at 8:40 PM, while Howard & Shelton were
telling jokes on CBS, Alfred Wallenstein conducting the Triumphal March
from "Aida" on NBC-Red and Benay Venuta doing her variety show on
Mutual).
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 00:44:26 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Premium Thoughts
Larry Bohall notes,
I just missed the "premium age"--I remember getting a couple of things,
but by the time I was the right age, the television producers (OTR had
passed on) had quit. <<
Well, there was a sort of crossover period from OTR to early TV where
there were premiums. The hybrid show, Captain Video, which had a great
deal of OTR in it (space battles, for example, were described by someone
looking out of a spaceship's porthole rather than being displayed),
offered a few premiums that were just like OTR premiums. In the early
1960s, for that matter, Batman and The Green Hornet had photographs as
premiums (as prior to TV, shows including Tom Mix, The Challenge of the
Yukon, Orphan Annie, The Lone Ranger, Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen,
Jack Armstrong, and Captain Midnight, among others). But these were
phasing out, for two reasons.
First, most radio shows were sponsored by a single product or company
([removed], Tom Mix was sponsored by Ralston; the Lone Ranger by General
Mills). Television didn't allow that luxury, in part because of the
increased production costs. With rotating and/or shared sponsorships,
things like premiums would tend to fall by the wayside.
Second, OTR shows that offered premiums weren't rerun. (Relatively few
shows of any sort were.) Television had to go into reruns to help
recover the overall production costs. If a premium like a Jack Armstrong
Dragon's Eye Ring were offered at the beginning of the season, the
sponsor would probably be out of them by the time a rerun was aired.
Thus, for the most part, premiums had to be an OTR phenomenon.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 00:45:10 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: LONE RANGER'S FIRST & LAST NAME: ONE FINAL WORD
If anyone is fortunate enough to own a rare print of the Republic
1938 Serial "The Lone Ranger", according to Hollywood writers his Last name
was not even Reid! At the close of the last chapter, Lynne Roberts asks if
she can see his face. He removes his mask and she utters:. . . "why you're
ALLEN KING!" Talk about taking liberties with a story for dramatic impact.
According to this version, there were 5 bogus graves dug, and for 15
chapters we had to guess which one was the Lone Ranger. I wonder if Fran
striker approved of this bogus story of the Lone Ranger? At the time it
came out the radio series was really going strong, and it must have really
been confusing to young kids who listened to the show and then went to see
the Chapter Play. To add injury to insult, about 3 years after the chapter
play ended, Republic edited it into a feature film called "Hi-Yo, Silver!"
Here is my question: Why would the creators of the LR (Striker, Trendle,
Camble Muher) allow such a treatment of this show while it was still on the
air?
- 30 -
Owens Pomeroy
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 01:07:16 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: MORE RADIO SUPER STARS
In 1932, Kate Smith had earned more money as a result of her radio
appearances than any other singer. When she was asked at the height of her
career in 1940, she received $[removed] from CBS for a single broadcast. She
insisted on - and got - $7,500 per week for concert and Vaudeville
appearances. For a night club date $[removed] per week was her price. But the
most amazing figure of all was the $7,500 she got for singing one song -
just one, mind you, in the Paramount film, "The Big Broadcast Of 1932". She
was only on the screen for a total of 5 minutes -----that figures out to
about $1,500 per minute!
**********************************************
Amos & andy were millionaires by the year 1937,as a result of radio.
Gosden and Correll were only getting $100 per week when they started in
Chicago at WGN. When they went network, NBC paid them a guarantee of $1
million dollars pe year per year each, which figures roughly to about $1,975
per week for each one. To top off the deal, they received a bonus of $5,000
per year extra on how good they were as (on air) toothpaste salesmen. They
also earned revenue on toys, candy bars, and school pads named after them.
A sum total of their NET proceeds from all this, including the radio
broadcast rounded out to about $7,500 for each man. and this was in the
depression year of 1932!! (Oh, waa, oh, waa, oh waa!)
- 30 -
Owens Pomeroy
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 04:52:00 -0500
From: lois@[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 three years, same time, same channel!
Our numerous "regulars" include one of the busiest "golden years" actors in
Hollywood; a sound man from the same era who worked many of the top
Hollywood shows; owners of some of the best OTR sites on the Web;
maintainer of well-known OTR digest lists (we all know who he is)..........
and Me
Lois Culver
KWLK Longview Washington (Mutual) 1941-1944)
KFI Los Angeles (NBC) 1944 - 1950
and widow of actor Howard Culver
(For more info, contact lois@[removed])
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 11:49:54 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Wrestlers
Tony D. asks,
Are there any other OTR Shows that feature or mention wrestlers?<<
Well, in the Pat Novak For Hire show where Novak was accosted by two
tough guys looking for Joe Dineen, Novak relates that the caper all
started as he was leaving a wrestling match that Gorgeous George had just
trounced another wrestler.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #44
******************************************
Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
including republication in any form.
If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
[removed]
For Help: [removed]@[removed]
To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]
For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]
To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]
To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]