Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #439
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 11/14/2002 2:11 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2002 : Issue 439
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Adventures In Research, Etc           [ "Shawn A. Wells" <swells@[removed] ]
  Sold my Pink Slip                     [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Advertisers not buying some cities    [ "rcg" <revrcg@[removed]; ]
  "We The People"                       [ Henry Howard <hhoward@[removed] ]
  Assessed Value of Radio               [ Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed]; ]
  LENNY BRUCE                           [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
  TWILIGHT ZONE RADIO DRAMAS            [ "Carl Amari" <camari@falconpictureg ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Re: The Competition                   [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
  OTR Hall of Fame                      [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
  OWL CREEK                             [ Backus2@[removed] ]
  Credit & Wm Conrad                    [ SeptSev@[removed] ]
  mp3 hybrids, and hard-drive players   [ "Henry Brugsch" <henry@listentohear ]
  Bill Conrad's birth name              [ "Jan Willis" <jlwillis@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 23:21:09 -0500
From: "Shawn A. Wells" <swells@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Adventures In Research, Etc

Greetings All! Sometime back a few members inquired about the
'Adventures In Research' series. Anyway, I have started a log of that
series to that indicates what is known to exist. It's by no means a
complete log, however I have finished logging in all the ET's I have of
that particular series as well as most of the reels. You can view the
log at:

[removed]

It may take a minute or so to load, it's fairly long.
I have also finished the second CD set of the 'Direct From
Transcription' series, and I hope to have set three out by the end of
the month. It will contain a bonus CD of a pretty rare performance of
Vincent Price in a Christmas oriented program. 

Shawn A. Wells
The Old Time Radio Shop
[removed] 

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

Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 23:21:14 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Sold my Pink Slip

FYI:  I am getting onto e-mail for just a couple minutes to send out this
message, and I have to rush off.

>From now until December first, I will be away from my on-line desk to take
care of a couple matters, the largest being training in Harrisburg, PA for
my new job.  Although my true location is only 20-25 minutes away from the
house, Harrisburg is two hours away and I'm tired of driving back and forth
so I'll be motel hopping for most weekday nights between now and December
first.  I am making use of the time (proofing typed manuscripts, reading
scripts, etc).

The only time I'll be home is weekends and I do have to spend two Saturdays
this month off to do scheduled research - use it or lose it kinda situation.
  For anyone I said I'd have fliers or tapes out to you, or asked for
fliers, tapes, etc., etc., etc. they were either mailed this morning, or
will be mailed by third parties within the next few days so please allow a
small delay as a result.  Everything should be out of the house by Monday.

If you can't reach me by e-mail or find that I am not replying to your
e-mail, please give me a few days - you'll hear from me by the weekend.  If
you would prefer to call, phone me on weekends.  December should be back to
normal.
Martin Grams, Jr.
(This sure beats looking up everyone's e-mail addresses.)

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

Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 23:21:15 -0500
From: "rcg" <revrcg@[removed];
To: "Otr Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Advertisers not buying some cities

I wonder of any of you good people recall the practice, fairly prevalent in
the days of OTR, whereby sponsors would elect to not advertise in certain
cities, even though their products were marketed in those same cities. The
networks allowed sponsors to do this and it made the job of switching at the
station a very tough one.

I recall, in the city where I was raised, that the fifteen minute daily
version of Superman was fully sponsored by Kellogg's cereals, usually
Kellogg's Pep. By the time the 1950's arrived, most of the late afternoon
radio serials had gone to a 30 minute format, with a complete story told
during each broadcast. Mark Trail was sponsored by the same Kellogg company
but, for some reason, Kellogg elected to stop their broadcast advertising in
that city. Whomever was responsible for switching away from the network
commercials and inserting PSA's was very sloppy (or didn't give a darn) and
there was always some brief part of each Kelloggs commercial heard during
every break. Of course there was no automation in those days.

I know that some products, although nationally sold, were unavailable in
certain areas and I can understand why, in those cases, the sponsor had no
desire to pay to advertise in a city where the product wasn't sold. But, I'm
wondering, if anyone can tell me why sponsors would not buy cities where
their product was available and, why the networks permitted this to occur.

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

Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 23:21:17 -0500
From: Henry Howard <hhoward@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  "We The People"

Visit [removed]~[removed]
The University of Memphis
Program # 0732

          Henry Howard
radiodrama digest moderator
     [removed]

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

Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 23:21:19 -0500
From: Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Assessed Value of Radio

    I was giving a talk about old-time radio the other day and one of my
listeners told me something I'd never heard of before:
    She said that when she was a little girl growing up in Indiana in
the 1930s she remembers the County Assessor coming around to estimate
the value of the house and property for tax purposes.  If he saw a radio
in the house, the valuation went up a notch.
    Has anyone ever heard of such a practice?  Even during the deepest
days of the Depression, people wanted to keep their radios.  Maybe some
folks hid the radio when they saw the tax man coming.  If so, this would
be the closest thing I've heard of to a license fee on radios in the
USA.
                                          --Bill Jaker

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

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 15:58:21 -0500
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  LENNY BRUCE

    He made us laugh. Freely.
    I was 16 when I found a record under the bed of my friends parents. It
said 'Sick Humor' but then again they said that about Mort Sahl and Bob
Newhart.
    We had to listen to it.
    Obviously it was us who were sick and in need of some healing laughter.
    It was very late at night.
    It was also 1958.
    It was a red disc too. Unlike any other vinyl record I'd ever seen.
    Fantasy was the label.
    One of the employees of that label and indeed the man whose job it was to
record Lenny and get the final edits on to the cheery red discs became a dear
friend of mine during my radio days in San Francisco 1966.
    Saul Zaentz.
    A delightful soul who went on to produce a movie called "Payday" which I
was proud to be in as my first movie and a man who also went on to produce
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus" as well as "The English
Patient."
    A man who knew the nature of the healing laugh and who had the unenviable
job of editing all the "you know"s out of Lenny's performances.
    Ya, it was a raw record all right.
    It had some bad language in it, but mostly it grasped the internal nature
of absurdity at its core.
    The "White Collar Drunk" routine in particular seemed to illuminate the
true nature of wackiness when it came to dealing with drunks of the
self-deceptive kind.
    Sadly, if you want to learn more about this iconic figure of comedy. just
go to Google, enter his name and get ready for the lament.
    They seem to love to show the death photo of him on the floor of his
bathroom at his home on Hollywood Boulevard.
    Oddly, the same kind of room Elvis died in and of the same symptoms.
    Do we love our idols to death?
    Do we drive them to the only place in the house where they might be able
to get some privacy?
    The bathroom!
    Why can't they get out of the bathroom?
    Miss ya Lenny.
    Your descendant comedians seem to have misinterpreted your use of the
language as permission to be merely vulgar and stupid.
    True humor is liberating.
    Once again we could use some liberating.
                             <A
HREF="[removed],+Michael+C.">Michael C. Gwynne</A>

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

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 15:58:46 -0500
From: "Carl Amari" <camari@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  TWILIGHT ZONE RADIO DRAMAS

Hi,
I thought the digest might be interested to know that I've recently
completed several recording sessions of THE TWILIGHT ZONE RADIO DRAMAS
featuring original stars from the classic TV series.  Those stars include,
Shelley Berman, Beverly Garland, [removed] Wynant, Peter Mark Richman, Morgan
Brittany and Orson Bean.  I'm not casting them in the shows they originally
appeared in, because I think it will be more fun for the listener to hear
them in other shows.  We've also recently signed Adam Baldwin, Kate Jackson,
Richard Grieco, John Ratzenberger, Daniel J. Travanti and my dear friend,
Stan Freberg.  The series is being broadcast on nearly 100 stations from
coast-to-coast.  Feel free to contact me directly with your city and state
and - if we have a station in your area - I'll send you the info.  It's also
airing regularly on The American Forces Radio & Television Service, so if
you have a short-wave radio you can pick it up.  Beginning next year, you'll
be able to hear it on Sirius and XM satellite radio.  To hear clips of the
show, and to learn more about it, visit [removed].
Sincerely,
Carl Amari

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

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 15:58:26 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

>From Those Were The Days --

1921 - KYW radio, Chicago, IL broadcast the first opera by a
professional company. Listeners heard Samson Et Dalila as it was being
performed at the Chicago Auditorium.

Today's birthdays:

1904 - Dick (Richard E.) Powell, d. Jan 2, 1963

1910 - Rosemary DeCamp, d. Feb 20, 2001

  Joe

--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 16:02:09 -0500
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: The Competition

They say "Timing is everything in Life"
They say "Competition is healthy".
They also say "The squeaky wheel gets the grease"

Well, my timing could have been a lot better when I announced the
publication of my just finished book "Aw, Relax, [removed]". Now I
find I'm competing with my friends Jim Cox and martin Grams who also just
published books. I'm up against some pretty stiff competition here.  :)

So, to stay "healthy" and be able to compete with these authors who have
just published books on OTR subjects, and to get a little "grease", (book
orders), permit me if I "Squeak" just a tiny bit.

Jim Cox has been getting some nice things said about his book.

Just to add my praise to Jim Cox and his writings. High on  the list
of "musts" for any collector, the books give so much to anyone who wants to
sound very wise and aware.
I understand books on the Hummerts and "Mr. Keen" are in the works. Nominees
for the OTR Hall of [removed], Dunning and [removed] like a law
firm!
Don Frey

Hmmmm! I wonder how many books I have to write (or sell) before I can get a
nomination or two.

But then again, My book "Aw, Relax [removed]" is not in the same
class as those written by the above mentioned popular OTR authors. My book
is not a heavily researched, scholarly and definitive work. It doesn't have
an index, bibliography, program logs & titles, air dates, or any of that
stuff that serious OTR devotee's seem to hunger for. If that's what your
looking [removed]'t buy my book.

I took a different approach with my writing style for this book. Having been
in the Entertainment industry all my life, I wanted to continue in that vein
and write something that would enlighten, yet entertain the reader. And to
help accomplish that goal, I have included a total of 238 photographs,
drawings and illustrations. (Not counting the picture on the cover.)  :)
The only research I [removed] was trying to find in what boxes I packed all my
OTR memorabilia. :)

The book is [removed] by [removed] in size, and 336 pages. (Don't ask me how many
words.) It has a laminated soft cover. (that holds down the cost of
production, which holds down the selling price). Which, by the way, is
$[removed] + $[removed] S&H. (Volume discounts are available). :)

Although the title is "Aw, Relax, [removed]", I wouldn't want to
mislead you. It's not a book that just focuses on "The Adventures of Archie
Andrews" radio program. (Although as an OTR performer, that's the one radio
show that I am best known for.) The book really is about what it was like
being an young actor who grew up in "Show Biz", (the stage, radio, early
TV), and the fascinating people I met and worked with. Bottom line, I tried
to capture the "flavor", "disciplines" and "atmosphere" of working in OTR.

But I'm not comfortable with self promoting. That's not my style. How about
I let some other folks be "Squeaky wheels" in my behalf. (And none of them
are related to me.) :)  I now quote:

"I knew you were a "Scene Stealer". But now you are a "Sleep Stealer". You
kept me awake all night reading the book. I didn't want to put it down." (Jane
Webb)

"Hal, am just about done with your book.  It's the only book I have
ever read that I hear the author reading to me.  Haven't had so much fun
reading a book in ages." (Stewart Wright)

"Hal, I received the book I ordered at the REPS convention and I am enjoying it
tremendously.  You are a great writer because it feels like I am just setting
there talking to you and you are filling me in.  Thanks for sending them out
so quickly since I heard you just got them from the printer. My wife Kathie
and I enjoyed meeting you at the convention and enjoyed all of your
participations! Thanks." (Gary Hagan)

"I just finished your book, Hal.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was just like
you were conversing with me!" (Marilyn Wilt)

"The day before yesterday, what should appear in the mail, but my very
own autographed copy of Hal's book! So Hal doesn't have to plug it himself
(shameless self-promoter that he is), I'd like to tell you what a
wonderful book it is. I'd like to, [removed] Oh, okay, it really was
wonderful. I couldn't put it down." (David Kindred)

"I just received your new book and can say that I am very pleased with it.
Waiting all these months for it was well worth the wait." (Fred Korb)

"I have to tell you, Hal's comments almost always result in a guffaw or
"downright belly laugh. (Especially with his parenthetical phrases). His
"contribution to OTR had positively impacted many lives". (Dave Manary)

"Got the book in the other day, and started reading it last night. A
fun,informative, personal book! Thanks again." (Chris Irving)

There's more, but rather than take up a whole issue of the digest and get in
trouble with Charlie, you get the general idea. At least no one has asked
for their money back yet. :) But for what it's worth, here's one more
review. (And as far as I'm concerned, it's priceless.) Many months ago, I
sent an advance copy to our resident OTR Digest research icon, Elisabeth
McLeod, and asked if she'd consider writing a review that I could use as a
"blurb" on the back cover of the book. I was deeply honored by what she had
to say.

"In a jaunty, conversational style, Hal Stone takes you on a guided tour
of a life in show business -- from his early years as a juvenile model,
to his career as a rising Broadway child actor, to his years in radio as
'Jughead,' ever-popular sidekick to Archie Andrews -- and on thru his
adult career as a television director. The stories are fast and fun, and
the personalities are memorable -- it's a peek behind the scenes at one
kid's experiences in the Golden Days of Radio."

Thanks ever so much to all of the above folks who have such heightened and
discriminating literary tastes. Here's the web site address again, in case
you have been suckered into finally ordering the book. :) (You folks know
when I'm kidding around, right?)

[removed]

Regards

Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead

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

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 16:02:24 -0500
From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
To: "OTR message" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  OTR Hall of Fame
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html

Didn't mean to start cantankerous dialog! Earlier I suggested an OTR Hall
of Fame and suggested as inductees the "law firm" of Hickerson, Dunning &
Cox. I was thinking of not necessarily those with the "best" or largest
collections (impossible to do!) but those who have chronicled radio shows
in ways that have enriched each of us in the hobby as we search for a
date for that confounded Mr and Mrs North or try to figure out chronology
etc. Of course Martin Grams should be in "the hall" as should many
others. I actually had it"Hickerson, Dunning, Grams & Cox" but Mr. Grams
got left out in my final posting. idky. Salomonson, Eidemiller, the
Gassmans, Lackmann, many others have added so much. I suppose Mr. Goldin
should have  a spot as he considers himself "the man who saved radio."
It's just that HDG&C has a nice ring to it! Don Frey---
alanladdsr@[removed]

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 16:02:57 -0500
From: Backus2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OWL CREEK

For those of you who are curious (as I was) about this story, it can be read
at:
[removed]

Dick Backus
Monongahela, PA

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

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 16:03:39 -0500
From: SeptSev@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Credit & Wm Conrad

I'm sure Harry Bartell can speak to this better than I can, but from the
point of view of a TV actor, there are any number of reasons why an actor
does not take billing.

Sometimes we do a job because the money is good, but we'd rather not have our
name attached to it.

Sometimes we do it as a favor.  I've done guest spots on episodic TV as a
favor to the writers/producers, and in those cases I've requested no billing.

And finally, if you're an established actor and you want to do a tiny part
that interests you, you might refuse billing because of the perception in
American show biz that taking a smaller part means that's all you can get.
(Whereas in England, with the rep tradition, actors play all sorts of parts,
large and small, and audiences are delighted.)  In such a case taking no
billing is usually the traditional way to say, "I'm doing this because I want
to" and also, your fans love to spot you where they might not ordinarily see
you.

Maybe radio had the same tradition.

Thom Bray
[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 16:04:06 -0500
From: "Henry Brugsch" <henry@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  mp3 hybrids, and hard-drive players

David Rodgers wrote a query concerning the pros and cons of different mp3
players. All I can do is to speak to the issues thrown up by hybrid mp3, and
cd players. I have had a few of these, the best 2 being, a Dixons mp3
player, and an i-river  imp-200 model.
Both play just about every format. The i-river has never failed a format.
The dixon draws the line at 32kbit, 22050hz. But, there is very little
that's below this figure.
Battery life on the i-river is about 9 hours on standard alcholine
batteries, whilst the dixon player is 6 hours with the same, if memory
serves.
For me the biggest advantage is the fact that I can sling a load of cds into
my bag, and have several hundred hours of material.
Then too, you can play regular cds.
With the hard drive, you have the equavilent of a third of a cd. Did I
understand this was a 20 megabyte drive?
If so, and I haven't fallen into a numbers trap, you are getting the
equivalent of a third of a cd.
If it's a 20 gigabyte drive, then it's the equivalent of 40 cds which would
be a real good choice. 40 cds, if I have worked the numbers correctly. But,
if this is the case, how much does a drive like that draw in terms of
current?
I'd be willing to bet the hard drives are harder on batteries. Hopefully
others will comment.
Henry Brugsch
[removed]
mailto://henry@[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 16:04:51 -0500
From: "Jan Willis" <jlwillis@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bill Conrad's birth name

Thomas Butts (I think!) mentioned: Conrad was credited in the audition
episode of THE SIX >SHOOTER, an NBC broadcast that aired two weeks before
GUNSMOKE >premiered on CBS.  Another possibility: was he born "William
Conrad," or did he take a more "Waspy" sounding professional >name as
many radio performers and Holllywood stars did?

  I'd never stopped to think of that.
  Is the IMDb right, that Bill Conrad was born one
"William Cann"?
[removed],+William
  Other online sources note the same information
[removed]
and
[removed]
etc.
  but of course they may have taken it from the IMDb, and the information
there depends upon the accuracy of the contributor.
   The Social Security Death Index
[removed]
  does not bring up a match under "William Cann" but does
under "William Conrad," with the birth & death dates being a perfect match,
noting that he was issued his SS card before 1951.  If "William Cann" is
right, I assume he then legally changed it to "William Conrad."  Y'know,
"William Cann as Matt Dillon" sounds fine, but "William Conrad as Matt
Dillon" just has a RING to [removed]
  One funny thing: IMDb's rival, AMG / All Movie Guide, which does a very
good job in
many ways, thinks that Bill Conrad's birth name was Robert Conrad Falk
[removed];sql=B85717
  though that's _The Wild Wild West_'s Robert Conrad, actually.
[removed];sql=B85715
  The same AMG writer did both bios, and was in a little too much of a hurry
to get done, I imagine.

Jan Willis

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #439
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