------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 01 : Issue 93
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Morningside Again ["tas richardson" <tasrichardson@spr]
15 minutes [removed] [Ga6string@[removed] ]
Re: "Thing-Fish" and A&A [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
Re: Kate Smith - We'll Meet Again [Sam Levene <srl@[removed]; ]
Ann Sothern [Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed]]
GALE STORM AND CONTEST ["Frosty R. Povick" <Frosty@prodigy.]
Re: Superman's liftoff ["J. Alec West" <Alec@[removed];]
CBS Radio Myster Theater [Jack Harris <jack@[removed]]
Superman's Cry Redux ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
Re: Veola Vonn [Robert Kirk <kirk@[removed]]
Up, Up and away [PGreco2254@[removed] ]
Record genres and cover versions ["Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed]]
Up, Up and away [PGreco2254@[removed] ]
Re: NIGHT THAT PANICKED AMERICA, OTR [SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
APPOLOGY TO YOU ALL: [Owens Pomeroy <george_arlis@[removed]]
Jack Benny 1950 Christmas shopping [JackBenny@[removed] ]
Reminder - Jack Benny chat Sunday at [JackBenny@[removed] ]
Re:SONIC: Revised URL [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
Henry Aldrich and Script Dropping ["Henry R. Moreno" <henry@[removed];]
Re: Truth of Consequences [Cnorth6311@[removed] ]
books ["gcoppen" <gcoppen@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 12:45:17 -0500
From: "tas richardson" <tasrichardson@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Morningside Again
Fairly new to the list. Thanks, Owens, for letting me know about this
wonderful place with such articulate subscribers.
I am old enough to remember as a kid running home from school in Banff, to
flop down in front of our floor model Philco (or was it a Rogers Majestic?)
and with the help of my imagination, for the next hour and a half before Mom
called me for supper, to enter the exciting worlds of: Superman, Dick Tracy,
Tarzan, Tom Mix, Terry & The Pirates, and that
AAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL--Americanboy, JACK ARMSTRONG! And listen again in the
evenings to some of my favourites, The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet, Red
Ryder with his sidekick, Buckskin, and Indian ward, Little Beaver, ("You
betchum, Red Ryder") I even had a Red Ryder bee-bee gun. Oh to be eight
years old again, and the world is a simpler, more carefree place. Perhaps
not safer, as World War 2 was on, but that was far away, and though my Dad
was gone, fighting overthere, I just knew he was coming back safe and sound
to Mom and me. [removed]
Was all set to answer Randy about Gzowski and Morningside, but Bev, and Sam
beat me to it. (Nice to know there are some other Canadians in here.)
Weekday mornings on CBC are just not the same anymore, as Peter was
irreplaceable. Yes he did have a weekly [removed]"Interviews with Great
Minds" or something, but think that must have ended too. Have to content
ourselves with his column in the Globe & Mail. I too have three of the five
editions of The Morningside Papers, one autographed, and his Private Voice,
also autographed. He does turn up on television from time to time, as a
host of some special or as an interviewer, of which he has few equals.
And to end with pre-OTR, has anyone mentioned that Newfoundland is
celebrating this year, the 100th anniversary of Marconi receiving the first
trans-Atlantic radio signal on what became known as Signal Hill? His
grand-daughter will be present at a special commemoration of the event, that
proved that radio signals follow the curvature of the earth, and the rest,
as they say, is history!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 13:15:54 -0500
From: Ga6string@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: 15 minutes [removed]
Hi again all,
I posted recently to ask if anyone had info on logs or available episodes of
the 15-minute Treasury Dept. program, "Guest Star." I have a couple of
episodes, and log info on a dozen or so more, and was interested in learning
more about this program. Haven't heard from anyone, so I thought I'd expand
my search to include the following 15-programs, all from the 40s/50s, all of
which have a public service slant:
Errand of Mercy (Red Cross syndication)
In Your Name (Red Cross)
For The Living (American Cancer Society)
Star Spots (Red Cross)
You Were There (Red Cross)
These are mostly a curiosity to me, but apparently plenty of big-name stars
(Bogart, E. G. Robinson, Bergman, etc.) performed on these programs.
Thx,
Bryan Powell
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 14:47:15 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: "Thing-Fish" and A&A
On 3/22/01 12:51 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
The album itself is rather off-topic, but where else could I possibly
find out about this misunderstood Amos and Andy/Frankenstein's monster of
music?
Anyone out there familiar with this album? Have some leads for me?
Comments? Thanks!
This album definitely isn't for the faint of heart, so I'll confine my
comments to specific OTR references. The mutated "Thing-fish" character,
who acts as a sort of master of ceremonies, seems to me to be Zappa's
homage to the flamboyant Tim Moore TV version of the Kingfish more than
the more subtle radio version, with perhaps a little Algonquin J. Calhoun
mixed in. "Sister Owl-Gownkwin Jane Cow-hoon," one of the Mammy Nuns
(don't ask), is, of course, a specific reference to Johnny Lee's
character. There are a few specific A&A references in the original lyrics
to "You Are What You Is," including the invocation of "Saffire!" But I
don't notice any other overt, specific A&A references elsewhere in the
work.
Zappa's characters are often described as speaking in "Amos 'n'
Andy"-style dialect, but this is actually not the case if you examine it
closely. The re-for-d unstressed initial syllable substitution common in
A&A never appears in Zappa's work, and he uses the invariant "be" far
more frequently than was the case in A&A -- a giveaway indication that
Zappa was inspired more by 1960's/'70s urban Black English (with maybe a
touch of Mississippi Delta) than by the 1900s/1910s Southeastern variety
which was the basis of the dialect used in A&A. Zappa's dialect is also
much thicker and more heavily creolized than that used by Correll and
Gosden -- just as Moore's TV Kingfish tended to be more broadly-played
than Gosden's radio version.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 14:47:13 -0500
From: Sam Levene <srl@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Kate Smith - We'll Meet Again
No doubt Kate Smith's version of We'll Meet Again was effective. I've
never heard it. But outside the USA at least, that song is indelibly and
forever associated with Britain's Vera Lynn, still around and still singing
it from time to time.
Sam Levene
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 14:47:11 -0500
From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Ann Sothern
Perhaps I missed it, but was there ever a reference here that Ann Sothern
had passed away? I just learned it from a good friend who knew her in
Ketchum, Idaho, where she was living, and where a Mass will be celebrated
tomorrow.
There is no question that Miss Sothern was the first lady to champion the
rights of a genuine working girl
in a famous series of MGM movies. Her Maisie character appeared on radio in
both supported and sustained versions. Her sponsor, I believe, was
Eversharp. The syndicated series is quite available.
Her two early television series (one which alternated with Jack Benny)
also championed the image of a career woman who rose to the top of her
profession. Ann Sothern was a trailblazer in this regard.
She had a cousin in Sandy, Oregon, who brought her to town for a Hospice
Benefit in the very early eighties. Many of us got to visit with her,
including aspiring actors from Sandy High School. She was generous with
her time and helpful and gracious to our community's young people. While
here, she was also persuaded to teach a well-attended morning drama
workshop at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham.
She showed clips of her career at Portland's Benson Hotel, where Hospice
hosted a dinner on her behalf. Her only comment on Maisie was "that's so
old, I can't believe anybody ever remembers it."
She told an amusing anecdote about Jesse White ( a great character actor
who used to be the Maytag Repair Man) and who played "Cagey Calhoun" in her
first television series, "Private Secretary." She did a play with Jesse.
He had a habit of forgetting his lines so he had his daughter in the wings
feeding him the lines from offstage that he missed. Apparently this
arrangement lasted for some time.
She remembered the program from "Suspense" that she did ["Beware the Quiet
Man," August 12, 1948] and particularly enjoyed doing an Alfred Hitchcock
hour for TV in which she played a character surrounded by rats. She
called "My Mother, the Car" a turkey [she was the voice of the car in that
legendary TV series, for which, unbelievably, Eve Arden also auditioned]
and considered Loretta Young among her best friends. They'd attend church
together and sit, inconspicuously, in the back pew.
I was glad she got her Oscar nomination late in her life ["The Whales of
August"]. I will always remember Ann Sothern as a warm and "down to earth"
person in spite of her fame. So will the young people in Sandy who met
her.
She passed away at age 92.
Dennis Crow
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 15:07:43 -0500
From: "Frosty R. Povick" <Frosty@[removed];
To: OTR Rountable <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: GALE STORM AND CONTEST
Yes, I remember reading that too, when her tv show was on. As
I remember, the man who won in the male category later became
her husband. I think his name was Lee Bowman, but don't trust
my memory!
frosty
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 15:15:34 -0500
From: "J. Alec West" <Alec@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Superman's liftoff
A. Joseph Ross wrote:
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
As he took to the air, Superman cried out, "Up, up, and away!" Sonovvagun!
My memory was clearer than I'd been led to believe!
Indeed so. And sometimes, as he started to descend for landing, he would
say, "Down. Down." Oviously, this was one of the more clumsy ways in
which radio dialog told the listener what could not be seen. Superman
never said that on TV, the movies, or in the comics.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I'd _swear_ he said "Up, Up, and Away!" in some of
the cartoons of the 1940s. FWIW, thinking about this reminded me of the
Republic "rocketman" serials ("Radar Men From The Moon," "Zombies Of The
Stratosphere," and "King Of The Rocketmen") I own on videotape -- specifically,
the control panel the rocketman had strapped to his chest with 2 control
positions --- "UP" and "DOWN" <grin>. I never wondered about this as a kid ...
but now I'm curious what he did if he wanted to go "LEFT" or "RIGHT" -- hehe.
Regards,
J. Alec West
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 16:51:55 -0500
From: Jack Harris <jack@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: CBS Radio Myster Theater
I taped a good portion of these off the air on reel to reel. About 500
plus have all the news and commericals. I was wondering if anyone else had
same and wanted to compare episodes for possible trading.
Regards
Jack
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 16:51:51 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Superman's Cry Redux
A Joseph Ross, speaking of my comment on Superman's cry of, "Up, up, and
away!" notes,
Superman never said that on TV, the movies, or in the [removed];<
He said it once, in a Justice League of America (JLA) comic. They'd
tangled with a villain named Libra, who sapped the various superheroes of
half their powers. The "reduced-power" Superman was a little slow of the
wit, and as he took off, he actually said, "Up, up, and away!"
The OTR link, such as it is, was that the phrase was first uttered on the
radio show.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 17:47:56 -0500
From: Robert Kirk <kirk@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Veola Vonn
Dennis Crow mentioned that:
Veola Vonn's husband, Frank Nelson, [...]
Veola Vonn was previously married to Baby Snooks' "Daddy," Hanley
Stafford.
Bill Murtough also remembered her being married to Stafford.
Someone mentioned to me that the three of them were buried together. Sound
strange. Is this fantasy or is there a relationship?
bob Kirk
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 20:28:14 -0500
From: PGreco2254@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Up, Up and away
Hi,
On the subject of Superman, he did utter those famous lines up, up and away
and
this looks like a job for Superman in the [removed] first of course was the
great
cartoons of the 1940's. Done with the voices of Bud Collyer and Jane
Alexander. Also in the 1948 Coumbia studio serial The Adventures of Superman
starring the first
and original Superman of films Kirk Alyn. In the first serial he said "up, Up
and away" and this looks like a job for Superman. Producer Sam Katsman wanted
to stay as close
to the radio show as possible. They followed this serial with another Atom
man vs.
Superman. Kirk Alyn rebelled and refused to say that line everytime he flew,
he said
people could see and no need for the line. He was right and it was eliminated
from
the second [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 22:52:35 -0500
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Record genres and cover versions
Prof Biel's discussion of Gale Storm's recording of several versions of the
same song brings to mind something that I'd meant to ask about. It seems to
me that, as late as the 1970's, popular songs would be recorded by artists
in several different styles, each meant for a different listener group.
These were "race" records, meant for African-Americans, country-and-western,
mainstream (which were presumably the ones that we'd hear on the radio), and
certain other ethnic groups like those for Irish-Americans.
It seems that the way it worked was that someone would record a hit in one
genre (often the African-American) and then the song would be immediately
recorded by a country-and-western artist, and then by someone like Pat Boone
for mainstream play, and by an Irish tenor for airplay on the weekly ethnic
radio shows that were (and still are) broadcast in most big cities. You
could see the various categories on the flip cards in restaurant juke boxes.
Now, I know that songs have always been covered by artists since music was
invented, but it seemed to me that, at one time, the music business was set
up so that a hit would be covered in all the saleable styles almost
simultaneously.
The practice has never really died out, of course. Except for the ethnic
aspects, a hit may be recorded as a techno-dance song, a country song, a
country dance song, and whatever else strikes the fancy of the record
producers. But I found the ethnic segregation of song styles fascinating,
and I wondered if anyone else had any further thoughts about it.
Mark Kinsler
once an engineer at WTSO, where the only Afro-American was Nat King Cole.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 23:09:04 -0500
From: PGreco2254@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Up, Up and away
Hi,
Correction, that should be Joan Alexander not Jane, who played Lois Lane on
radio and did the voice-over in the 40's [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 00:10:33 -0500
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: NIGHT THAT PANICKED AMERICA, OTR at Sam's
Club
In a message dated 3/22/01 11:51:14 AM, Michael Biel writes:
<<As I have mentioned before, a film made many years after the OTR era
largely by people who were not a part of it is not the most authoritative
source. >>
Actually, THE NIGHT THAT PANICKED AMERICA is often a fairly reliable source
since Paul Stewart was involved as a consultant. (Technical? Historical?
Don't recall his credited title.) Years ago, I once called my neighbor Kenny
Delmar and recommended he watch it. Kenny was amazed at how accurate the
actor impersonating Welles was at mimicking the way Orson Welles actually
directed a broadcast. That accuracy, of course, came from the participation
of the man who actually put the show together and directed many of the
rehearsals. And veteran radio actors like Casey Kasem also helped the
TV-film's authenticity.
BTW, Radio Spirit's OTR collections are now back at Sam's Club, including
some new collections with historical booklets by -- ANTHONY TOLLIN
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 08:55:08 -0500
From: Owens Pomeroy <george_arlis@[removed];
To: RADIO DIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: APPOLOGY TO YOU ALL:
I wish to apologize to all on this list for making
Michael retract my statements in the past few Digests.
I only have my memories to go by and not reference
books as some of you no doubt have with your vast
influx of OTR knowledge. I have been blessed by that
"master engineer" upstairs to have been able to
survive for 3 quarters of a century and, yes,
sometimes the memory does get fuzzy. If I were to
correct a poster on the list with such a long
explanation, I would do it one-on-one ( as some of
you have, and I thank you and respect you for that)
and not use the Digest for a personal soap box
criticism.
I assume Mr. Biel was in the business as I was,
because of his vast knowledge of the medium. Isn't
this Digest a forum where OTR fans and media members
can swap stories, offer their opinions and offer
criticism, without embarrassing a poster on the list?
Again, I offer my apologizes for opening another "can
of worms" and consider the topic closed.
To Elizabeth McCloud:
Did you ever answer my inquiry as to what happened
to the proposed Broadway musical, "Fresh Air Taxi,"
(Based on the A&A Show),that was suppose to debut on
Broadway a few years ago, and to star Johhny Brown in
the role of "The Kingfish?"
=====
Old-Time Radio, like vintage [removed] better with age.
Nostalgia is like a grammer lesson: you find the present [removed] the past
perfect!
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 08:55:13 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Jack Benny 1950 Christmas shopping
The 1950 Christmas shopping show is 12/17/50 (Jack buys Don golf tees), and
we do have that. There is also a show on 12/24/50 which we have just added
to the tape library. So I believe whichever 1950 Christmas show Bob Watson
wanted, it has been found!
--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 08:55:15 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Reminder - Jack Benny chat Sunday at 7 Central
Just a reminder that the monthly Jack Benny chat will be this Sunday, 3/25 at
7:00PM Central (8:00PM Eastern, 5:00PM Pacific). Please check our Web page
for more information. Hope to see you there.
--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 08:57:28 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re:SONIC: Revised URL
In my post yesterday about the LOC's SONIC database, I posted an
incorrect URL, which will deliver a "timed out" message when used. To
access this resource, try this address instead:
[removed]
and click the "SONIC Home" link. That should take you where you need to
be -- just select "Radio Broadcasts," and begin your search from there!
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 08:57:29 -0500
From: "Henry R. Moreno" <henry@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Henry Aldrich and Script Dropping
In 1949 I went with my parents to New York. As a treat (I was nine at the
time) they took me to see a broadcast of the Henry Aldrich Show. At least
one cast member dropped script pages. How do I recall after 52 years? When
the show was over, many (if not all) of the cast members remained on the
stage to talk to the audience and give autographs. As I went to the stage,
I picked up a script page off the floor and asked the cast members to
autograph it for me. The actor who played Henry Aldrich's father became
very upset with me when he saw the page. He asked me more than once how I
got the page. "Off the floor", I replied each time. He finally autographed
the page. I could never again hear Henry Aldrich without seeing that actor
staring at me. The program was never the same for me. My father put the
autograph page up for safekeeping.
Do I still have it? No. After my parents divorced about 5 years later, I
never saw the page again.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 08:57:31 -0500
From: Cnorth6311@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Truth of Consequences
1940 - 1st radio broadcast of "Truth or Consequences" on CBS
Are there any shows available today?
Charlie
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 10:18:58 -0500
From: "gcoppen" <gcoppen@[removed];
To: "OTR post messages" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: books
We have moved and finding ourselves making every inch of space count We
decided that a book case must go, needless to say so do the books. I have
tried to get rid of my wifes cooking books but didnt get to far with that
idea so I am going to part with some of my OTR books. The list is really not
that long so if you are interested in any Shadow, Sherlock Holmes,
[removed] etc. drop me a line at gcoppen@[removed] and I will send the list
on to you. Thanks Charlie.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #93
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