------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2007 : Issue 27
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
1-23 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Re: digitizing turntables [ Paul Gough <paulgough@[removed] ]
Greatest Lost Shows [ Oliver <joliver@[removed]; ]
Phil Harris [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
We the People [ "Robert Birchard" <bbirchard@earthl ]
Greatest loss to OTR [ Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed] ]
I don't mean to tug on Superman's ca [ Lance Grider <lancelotlmg@[removed] ]
The fed & the hidden microphone [ <vzeo0hfk@[removed]; ]
radio interview of OTR author [ <vzeo0hfk@[removed]; ]
WGMS Correction [ "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed] ]
OTR Lost (hidden?) Tom Mix Shows [ Penne <bandpy@[removed]; ]
snapshot #?: the German OTR scholar [ <vzeo0hfk@[removed]; ]
"lost" OTR [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
Lost OTR Shows [ "John Eccles, Jr." <jeccles@earthli ]
Arthur Godfrey Collection at LAB [ <mlhenry@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 07:51:45 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 1-23 births/deaths
January 23rd births
01-23-1884 - George McManus - St. Louis, MO - d. 10-22-1954
"Bringing Up Father" based on his comic strip
01-23-1892 - Eleanor Nash - d. 10-3-1969
beauty and style consultant (Sister of Ogden Nash): "Ask Eleanor Nash"
01-23-1893 - Franklin Pangborn - Newark, NJ - d. 7-20-1958
actor: "Screen Guild Theatre"
01-23-1894 - Clara Acuff Adams - d. 12-31-1950
soprano: KOA Denver, Colorado
01-23-1898 - Randolph Scott - Orange County, VA - d. 3-2-1987
actor: "Academy Award Theatre"; "Campbell Playhouse"
01-23-1899 - Jospeh Nathan Kane - NYC - d. 9-22-2002
writer: "Break the Bank"
01-23-1907 - Dan Duryea - White Plains, NY - d. 6-7-1968
actor: Lou Dana "Man from Homicide"
01-23-1910 - Django Reinhardt - Belgium - d. 5-16-1953
jazz artist: "Djanjo Reinhardt and the Quintet of the Hot Club France"
01-23-1910 - Dorothy Arbuckle - Eldred, IL - d. 11-xx-1982
radio journalist
01-23-1913 - Max Smith - Des Moines, IA - d. 7-23-1999
singer: (Member Sportsmen Quartet) "Jack Benny Program"
01-23-1919 - Ernie Kovacs - Trenton, NJ - d. 1-12-1962
announcer, panelist: Monitor, "Where Have You Been?"
01-23-1919 - Millard Lampell - d. 10-3-1997
co-founder of the Almanac Singers: "Treasury Star Parade"
01-23-1923 - Florence Halop - Jamaica Estates, NY - d. 7-15-1986
actor: Hotbreath Houlihan "Jimmy Durante Show"; Miss Duffy "Duffy's
Tavern"
01-23-1925 - Bernice Wirsbitzke - Milwaukee, WI - d. 9-14-2006
singer: "Heinie and the Grenadiers"
01-23-1926 - Lyn Osborn - Wichita Falls, TX - d. 8-30-1958
actor: Cadet Happy "Space Patrol"
01-23-1933 - Chita Rivera - Washington, [removed]
singer: "WOR Diamond Jubilee"
January 23rd deaths
01-16-1916 - Norval Taborn - d. 1-23-1990
singer: (The Vagabonds) "The Breakfast Club"
01-19-1887 - Alexander Woollcott - Phalanx, NJ - d. 1-23-1943
commentator: "Early Bookworm"; "Town Crier"
03-26-1907 - Phil Rapp - d. 1-23-1996
creator, writer, director: "The Bickersons"; "Baby Snooks"; "Old Gold
Time"
03-28-1924 - Freddie Bartholomew - London, England - d. 1-23-1992
guest: "Anchors Aweigh"
04-08-1919 - Virginia O'Brien - Los Angles, CA - d. 1-23-2001
actor: "Blue Ribbon Town"
04-09-1898 - Paul Robeson - Princeton, NJ - d. 1-23-1976
singer: "Pursuit of Happiness"
04-13-1918 - Brad Ansley - d. 1-23-1992
sportscaster: WIOD Miami Florida
05-20-1925 - Vic Ames - Malden, MA - d. 1-23-1978
singer,: (Ames Brothers) "Sing It Again"; "Robert Q. Lewis Show"
05-30-1914 - Bob Sherwood - Indianapolis, IN - d. 1-23-1981
music: "The Eddie Cantor Show"
07-07-1899 - George Cukor - NYC - d. 1-23-1983
film director: "Marilyn Monroe: Fame is Fickle"; "Hollywood Calling"
09-16-1893 - Alexander Korda - Pusztaturpaszto, Hungary - d. 1-23-1956
director: "Lux Radio Theatre"
10-23-1925 - Johnny Carson - Corning, IA - d. 1-23-2005
announcer, disc jockey: "Johnny Carson Show"
11-01-1933 - Art Stamper - nr. Hindman, Knott County, KY - d. 1-23-2005
bluegrass fiddler: Performed with Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe's
Bluegrass Boys
11-04-1896 - Ian Wolfe - Canton, IL - d. 1-23-1992
actor: "Suspense"; "Cavalcade of America"; "Escape"
11-12-1903 - Jack Oakie - Sedalia, MO - d. 1-23-1978
comedian: "Jack Oakie's College"
12-18-1915 - Bill Zuckert - NYC - d. 1-23-1997
actor: Detective. Lieutenant. Parker "Crime and Peter Chambers"
12-25-1886 - Kid Ory - LaPlace. LA - d. 1-23-1973
dixieland jazz trombonist: "This is Jazz";"Radio Almanac"; "Here's to
Veterans"
12-28-1929 - Brian Redhead - Newcastle-upon-Tyne - d. 1-23-1994
presenter: "Today"; "A World in Edgeways"; "From Plato to Nato"
Ron Sayles
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 07:51:58 -0500
From: Paul Gough <paulgough@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: digitizing turntables
The New York Times article on the ION turntable says
it will also digitize 78 rpm records and cassette
tapes.
Is the cassette tape part true, and if so, does anyone
have any experience digitizing casette tapes using the
ION?
Thanks
Paul Gough
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 07:52:17 -0500
From: Oliver <joliver@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Greatest Lost Shows
I have two answers in response to this thread:
1. NBC Monitor - This was such a wonderful series from the transitional
days of radio, with so much great talent, including great hosts, such as
Henry Morgan, and later Ted Brown. As far as I can tell, almost no
complete shows exist.
2. The Shadow - Young people who know no other otr shows have heard of The
Shadow; it's a shame that only a handful of the shows exist in good
technical quality for new generations to be exposed to.
3. Tennessee Ernie Ford - I recall from the Late 50's a syndicated (Ozark
something or other) 15-minute series that was just wonderful, and I've
never seen a listing of shows from a collector; since they were all
recorded, they should be around, [removed] they lost?
Joe Oliver
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 07:52:32 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Phil Harris
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 07:41:40 -0500
From: Ken Greenwald <radio@[removed];
However, when the Phil Harris/Alice Faye show was spun off of Jack
Benny's show, the sponsor and the network felt that Phil should
drop the boozer character -- especially since Phil and Alice had
their children on the show.
Interestingly enough, when Phil Harris died, well into his 90s, and I
told my mother, she was surprised that he had lived that long. "He
was a boozer," she said. I had to point out that he was a boozer
like Jack was a cheapskate. Not for real.
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210 Fax [removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 07:53:03 -0500
From: "Robert Birchard" <bbirchard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: We the People
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The following was posted on the AMIA (Association of Moving Image
Archivists). Thought I'd pass it along in case any of you guys can help.
From: Platner, Lee Ann (NBC Universal)
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 9:41 AM
To: 'AMIA-L@[removed]'
Subject: RE: We The People request ....
We are looking for an old NBC radio show called WE THE PEOPLE from April 25,
1939. It was a broadcast with Gabriel Heatter and Morgan R, about AA. We
donated many of our "We the People" episodes to LOC, but LOC does not have
this one. I'm hoping one of your members will have a copy of this program or
an idea of where to find this recording.
We have the transcript, but need the actual recording.
We have already tried: UCLA, LOC, National Archives, Fred McDonald, Pacific
Pioneer, AA, CBS, Chicago Museum of Broadcasting
LeeAnn Platner
Director, Clip Licensing
NBC Studios and Bravo TV
100 Universal City Plaza
Building 4250 3rd Floor
Universal City, CA 91608
818-777-5147 Phone
818-866-2574 Fax
LeeAnn Platner
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 07:54:04 -0500
From: Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Greatest loss to OTR
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Hi Folks ! Over here in Europe , one of the greatest losses must be the
programming from the early days of the American Forces Network in London
(1943 - 45 ) then the early days of AFN in Germany. Hey, but if you know
differently then please reply to me off-list and maybe we can [removed] !
Cheers ! Graeme Stevenson, Editor : Tune into Yesterday - Old Time Radio
Show Collectors Association
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 07:55:10 -0500
From: Lance Grider <lancelotlmg@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: I don't mean to tug on Superman's cape [removed]
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I don't recall if I read this in the OTR Digest recently or in an off-link,
but a recent innocent sidetrip on the Web compels me to play mythbuster, no
matter how shocking.
The Myth is that when Bud Collyer accepted the role of Superman in 1940 he
agreed to go uncredited. This would allow the Youth of America to believe
that the Man of Steel himself was on the air. This belief sustained America
through the entire war, supplying much of the moral stamina needed to defeat
the Nazis. Not until 1946 did it come to a dramatic end. In that year, in
order to produce a show in which Superman combated racial intolerance,
Collyer was forced to give an interview to Time magazine revealing that he
supplied Superman's on-air persona. Thus, while one Myth bit the dust, it was
only for the Greater Good of the American Way.
Ah, but sadly, mistakes grow into myths like pigs pack on lard. A simple
online archives check of Time magazine reveals no 1946 interview with Bud
Collyer. But it does list a 370-word story on Sep 14, 1942 in which Collyer
is fully revealed as WOR's Man of Steel, who ducks not kryptonite but
questions about the reality of Superman from his admiring Sunday School
students.
Perhaps there is a 1946 interview with Collyer and the Time archive is
missing the interview. Or perhaps the interview was in another magazine,
Life, Look, or Newsweek. And the program with Superman fighting racial
intolerance? Geez, wasn't that what HUAC and Hoover considered a goal of
communism?
So while I'll concede that Collyer was not listed in the on-air credits
until 1946, grown-ups who could read and had a library handy could easily
learn his secret identity. And while the Web gives flight to some myths,
others it flings to the ground. Up up and away!
Lance Grider
Billings, Montana
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:32:51 -0500
From: <vzeo0hfk@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The fed & the hidden microphone
I enjoyed Mike Martini's remarks about "I Was a [removed]" including his
comment about the episode where Cvetic hides a microphone and recorder the
size of a suitcase in flowers on a table during a top-secret Commie meeting
(the following is a bit off topic -- but if "The Boss" will allow it - here
it is)
It reminded me of when I was a "Fed" -- though not a real Fed in the sense
that our friend Jack French was. My first job (for 2 years) was with the US
Public Health Service's syphilis eradication program - interviewing infected
patients for the names of their sex contacts etc. (no laughs yet or I WILL
START NAMING NAMES!) Here's a quote from my memoir in progress:
"During our training I commit a gaff. We do our first interviews in a
small room equipped with a two-way mirror and a microphone hidden in a table
lamp, while the instructor and the rest of the class stand quietly observing
through the mirror in another room. When my turn comes, as the patient is
talking, thinking that he is not loud enough for the observers to hear, I
gently move the lamp closer to him. As I am later told, the move panics the
instructor and cracks up the class. "Oh no," Wendell says, "I hope he's not
going to say, "Please speak a little louder into the lamp," as one fellow
did." Fortunately the patient does not catch one. On the last day of the
class, Wendell receives word that the practice which after all violates the
patients' right to privacy, is to be immediately discontinued. . . .
Howard Blue
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 10:55:28 -0500
From: <vzeo0hfk@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: radio interview of OTR author
I was recently interviewed by a Westchester radio station -- the
topic,related to my book, "WORDS AT WAR," was radio propaganda and war. This
time,in addition to discussing World War II, it touched a little bit on the
war in Iraq. Below is the website
Howard Blue
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 11:11:39 -0500
From: "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: WGMS Correction
Yesterday I sent a note saying that WGMS, Classical station in
Washington, DC since the '40's had been sold to Dan Snyder,
owner of the Washington Redskins. I was mistaken. The talks
with Snyder broke down some time ago. However, they did
abruptly change formats yesterday, and in an agreement with
the local public station, WETA, donated their classical CDs
and program director to that station. For details, see
[removed].
html?sub=AR
(You might have to register to read the article)
The article begins:
Washington radio station WGMS dropped the music of Mozart and
Tchaikovsky yesterday after nearly six decades and replaced its
classical format with tunes by Cheap Trick, Elton John and the Bee
Gees in a two-part shake-up.
Last night, WETA dropped its news and talk programming and became
a classical station again in a coordinated move with Bonneville
International
Corp., which owns WGMS ([removed] and [removed] FM). WETA ([removed] FM)
was a classical station for 35 years until dropping the format in February
2005.
Bonneville said it struck the unusual agreement with noncommercial WETA
to prevent classical music from disappearing from local airwaves.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 12:18:01 -0500
From: Penne <bandpy@[removed];
To: OTR <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR Lost (hidden?) Tom Mix Shows
Someone wrote: <I was told that someone has 200 Tom Mix shows) and further
wrote something else he probably does not really mean. The person who "may"
have these may soon come to realize that he is not that mean of a person,
after all, and let them loose to fellow listeners. If he goes away, those
may get lost forevermore in the shuffle. Are you listening, whoever you
are?!!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:33:00 -0500
From: <vzeo0hfk@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: snapshot #?: the German OTR scholar
She was young, pretty, blonde German graduate student. And she was upset. She
had come over from Germany to do research for a [removed] dissertation here in
the BBC archives in Reading, England where I too was doing the same in the
early stages of my work on my book on OTR. "Some of these files are missing,"
she told the librarian in a very upset voice.
"Well," said the librarian in a patient and gentle manner. "You're looking
for files from 1940 and 1941 and that was the war period. The BBC suffered
some damage during that period." I guess because she didn't want to offend,
the librarian didn't elaborate on who was responsible for that damage. "But
it makes my work so much more difficult without those files!" the young woman
replied. "Sorry," the librarian said. She and I exchanged knowing glances and
raised eyebrows as the young woman walked away.
Howard Blue
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:59:39 -0500
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "lost" OTR
One thing I wish we had more of is something that, technically
speaking, didn't really exist in the first place. I enjoy listening to
documentaries about OTR, and interviews with people from that era.
Virtually all of these that I've heard are from the post-OTR era.
Wouldn't it be fascinating to hear interviews with people when these
events took place? Hearing Wyllis Cooper talk about Quiet Please in
1947, or Gosden and Correll discuss Amos and Andy in 1930, or Orson
Welles describe how a typical Mercury Theater script is put together,
would be fascinating. You hear occasional snippets of this in OTR, but
it's generally scripted. Much of the interview material from the era
published in magazines is, like the stuff in film magazines, either
highly edited or just made up by publicists. The reporters who wrote
those must have had notes (and in some cases, recordings)--did any
survive? Was there any OTR equivalent of "Inside the Actor's Studio,"
where people could talk off the cuff about the creative side of OTR?
And if so, do any recordings survive?
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:07:04 -0500
From: "John Eccles, Jr." <jeccles@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lost OTR Shows
It is my opinion that lost OTR Shows, like lost old movies, have a certain
mystique about them. We will never know how they sounded when they were
first broadcast, so we automatically impute all manner of brilliance to them,
whether they deserve it or not, which will lead to detractors saying,"Well,
it couldn't have been THAT good." Even reading a script of a lost show can
not really indicate how good it was when it was broadcast. I believe OTR has
one quality in common with the works of Shakespeare. It is meant to be
performed, not read. Would reading a sound effect description of a crying
baby send a chill up your spine as it does when you first listen to the ILAM
story "The Thing That Cries In The Night"? Would reading the script of
"Sorry, Wrong Number" in your easy chair compare to hearing Agnes Moorehead's
brilliant performance as Mrs. Stevenson? Would reading a script describing a
sound effect of coins being deposited in a pay telephone have the same
resonance as actually hearing Orson Welles making that final phone call in
"The Hitchhiker"? I doubt it. But think for one moment what the consensus
of opinion might be if these programs did not exist. They would no doubt be
revered for their impact at the time they were broadcast, but there would
inevitably be detractors stating "ho, hum."
I can think of one program which was largely lost, and then, when
rediscovered, lived up to its hype. "Quiet, Please." I read one of the
scripts for "Quiet, Please", a story called "Whence Came You", which was
transcribed on an internet website. The script is basically a series of
monologues by Ernest Chappell, with occasional breaks for dialogue from a
minor character. It does not make compelling reading. However, as I
previously stated, it was not meant to be read. Chappell's performance,
combined with Wyliss Cooper's script and Albert Berman's (I apologize if
their names were misspelled) organ music, take the chilling tale and give it
a depth and resonance that a reading on your couch could never do.
I have no doubt that many lost shows would fail to live up to their hype if
they were rediscovered. But I believe that the performance of these plays
brought so much to the impact of these shows that a reading of the script can
never really convey how good it may or may not have been.
John Eccles, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:07:33 -0500
From: <mlhenry@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Arthur Godfrey Collection at LAB
Hello Digesters,
Just a follow up to the recent comments about the surviving Arthur Godfrey
Collection. The Library of American Broadcasting does indeed have the Arthur
Godfrey Collection. The collection consists of wire recordings, reel-to-reel
tape recordings, and kinescopes. The collection also contains print material
such as scripts, business records, clippings, awards, and sheet music.
As Walden correctly stated, funding and staffing are very tight here right
now, so we haven't had the resources to devote to transferring the Godfrey
recordings to more accessible formats. As you well know, transferring audio
and film recordings to more accessible formats can be very expensive and
delicate work, especially in the case of wire recordings. In the meantime, we
are maintaining the material under archival conditions and hope to acquire
the necessary funding and staffing in the near future. We will keep the OTR
community updated on any developments as they come.
-Michael Henry
Library of American Broadcasting
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #27
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