Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #233
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 6/23/2002 10:23 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 233
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Radio Spirits' new catalog            [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
      Who's Who On The Air - 1932           [ David <dbmartin5@[removed]; ]
      seeking Movie Mirror 11/38            [ bloodbleeds@[removed] ]
      Perry Mason on radio                  [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
      RE: RS, Miss Duffy, and Jughead Au N  [ Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed]; ]
      [removed]                    [ Ruk77@[removed] ]
      Long Play records                     [ Vntager8io@[removed] ]
      Re Seduction of the Innocent          [ "Thomas Mason" <batz34@[removed] ]
      Re: "Long Playing"                    [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      [removed] WHAT'S NEXT!           [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      Re: Allen, NBC and CBS                [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 10:28:07 -0400
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in radio history

      From Those Were The Days --

    1933 - The Pepper Pot radio program welcomed a new host. Don McNeill
    took over the show and renamed it The Breakfast Club. The show, a huge
    success for the NBC Blue and later, ABC, became one of the
    longest-running radio programs in history. The show aired with McNeill
    as host until December 27, 1968. The Breakfast Club was a morning show
    that had its share of corny jokes, visiting celebrities and lots of
    audience participation.

    1941 - Front Page Farrell was heard for the first time on Mutual. In
    1942, the program moved to NBC and stayed on the air until 1954. Sally
    and David Farrell were the central characters. A young actor, who would
    become a major motion picture star, played the role of David Farrell. He
    was Richard Widmark.

    1947 - Wendy Warren and the News debuted on CBS. The broadcasts
    continued until 1958. No, the program was not a newscast, in the
    traditional sense. It was a serial -- one of many of the time. The
    unique thing about this particular show, however, was that Wendy Warren
    and the News did utilize a real three-minute newscast to open the show.
    The newscaster, delivering the news as part of the show, chose not to
    stay in the entertainment side of radio, but continued to be a true
    journalist and a legend at CBS. That newsman was Douglas Edwards.

      Joe

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

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 10:26:57 -0400
    From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Radio Spirits' new catalog

    One thing I don't like about the new Radio Spirts
    catalog is that they no longer list the individual
    episodes in their various collections. Now they just
    the names of the shows in the collection. So if you
    order you risk getting duplicates of episodes you
    already own. Yeah, that makes sense. Hopefully,
    they'll correct that oversight.

    I've ordered from Radio Spirits many times over the
    last decade and have always been pleased with the
    quality of their service. Time will tell if I feel the
    same about RS under the new ownership. If the quality
    of their service has diminished, then they'll lose my
    business.

    Rick

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 10:27:14 -0400
    From: David <dbmartin5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Who's Who On The Air - 1932

    FYI

    The following link contains an interesting scan of a "magazine"
    listing who is on the radio in 1932.  Good pictures and some
    interesting text.

    [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 10:30:31 -0400
    From: bloodbleeds@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  seeking Movie Mirror 11/38

    If anyone has a copy of Movie Mirror from Nov. 1938, it should have an article on Don
    Ameche. I'd very much like a copy - Xerox is fine - of this article. Thanks.

    Ben

    The Great Gildersleeve book
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 10:30:09 -0400
    From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
    To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Perry Mason on radio

    Hi all:
    I was listening to the Perry Mason story on NPR's web site and they said
    Perry Mason was a radio show that lasted for 10 years on radio.  This is the
    first I ever heard of it.  When did it air and who played Perry Mason?  Who
    were the other main characters?  Apparently, Earl Stanley Gardner didn't
    care for the series and that's why he fought so hard for control of the
    television program.  Still, I'd love to hear a few episodes of the radio
    program.  Can someone tell us more about it?
    RyanO

    "The most tragic thing that can befall a man is for him to become too
    complacent in his thinking."
    Elliott Lange

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 10:59:08 -0400
    From: Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  RE: RS, Miss Duffy, and Jughead Au Natural

    Bryan Powell writes:

>     Someone suggested that RS and/or MediaBay might file bankruptcy.
>     If so, what will become of RS product and rights? Will those products still
>     be available? Will others be restricted from selling those "protected"
>     programs, even though RS is moribund? I'm a blues music fan/journalist, and
>     something similar happened in the '70s with the catalog of the great Chicago
>     independent, Chess Records. The label went under, and for a couple years, you
>     were hard-pressed (no pun intended) to find a Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf
>     LP, until MCA picked up the Chess catalog later in the decade.

    I think you've answered your own question, Bryan. Although there is nothing
    aside from sheer rumor to seriously indicate that Radio Sprits or Media Bay
    will be going bankrupt anytime soon, should this ever happen, assets like
    their library and remaining inventory would almost certainly be acquired by
    another company - probably a larger media conglomerate. What they would
    choose to do with it would, of course, be up to them - meaning all of the
    shows would not necessarily all be made available for purchase or marketed
    in the same way as RS has done for the past decade or so.

    An easy comparison is the way that RS dealt with the assets of the other
    companies Media Bay purchased at the same time it acquired RS. Some of the
    inventory of tapes and tape sets sold by Radio Yesteryear and the others
    were liquidated at lower prices through the RS catalog. Some of the
    programs previously distributed by these other companies were subsequently
    repackaged as RS product, and some were not. Likely some of the rights
    agreements held by the previous companies were either not acquired in their
    purchase or not renewed by Media Bay when they came due.

    Basically, it would be up to the purchaser to decide what to do with the
    asset once it was purchased. Whether this would be better or worse for OTR
    fans is anyone's guess.

    Kenneth Clarke writes:

>     Speaking of "Duffy's Tavern", didn't Shirley Booth once play Miss Duffy at

    one time?  I think so.

    Yes, she did - in fact, she was married to Ed "Archie" Gardner for a time
    as well. She also played a character very similar to Miss Duffy - "Dottie
    Mahoney" - on bandleader Tommy Dorsey's program in the mid-1940s.

    Finally, Hal Stone made us quite an offer:

>     For a measly $1,000, I will even pose laying butt naked on said floor and

    personally

>     inscribe the photo. For an extra $2,000 I will even send a 1 inch piece

    cut from me. (no wise guy. Not

>     that!...It will be a lock of my hair).

    So, Hal, how much you gonna charge to *not* send me this stuff? I'm going
    to the bank on Monday and, with interest rates so low, it may be worth my
    while to take out a small loan.

    On second thought, you *could* pose for a nekked photo with your Jughead
    hat - might make for an interesting souvenir sale item at the upcoming REPS
    Showcase, not to mention a unique item for "Archie" fans. Hey, no one ever
    went broke underestimating the taste of the American public, you know.

    The exact placement of the hat in the photo would, of course, be at your
    discretion.

    Harlan

    Harlan Zinck
    First Generation Radio Archives
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 11:10:57 -0400
    From: Ruk77@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  [removed]

    Anyone can check out this HUGE collection of rare & uncirculated shows. It is
    my understanding that this catalog of shows was sold to Radio Spirits just
    before Carl Amari was bought out for 5 million dollars. (you will notice he
    is no longer mentioned on their websight). Since this buy out Radio Spirits
    is a shell of its former self.
        My concern is: will these shows ever make it into circulation or will
    they be lost forever??? Media Bay is a huge corporation that trades in the
    Nasdaq (sp?) and are more concerned with their bottom line than with catering
    to the interests of OTR hobbyists. It makes me sick because in my eyes these
    are museum pieces and represent a part of the history of the United States of
    America.
        will these shows go the way of the thousands of Vic & Sade [removed]'s that
    were thrown into a dumpster by Procter & Gamble because it did not make
    fiscal sense to pay to store these artifacts. Thousands of [removed]'s were also
    thrown into dumpsters by the networks when it became apparent that television
    would take over as the cash cow of media. If it wasn't for the performers &
    employees dumpster diving when they realized what was going on so many of
    these shows that we all listen to daily would be long [removed] very
    sad.
        We are the people of civilization. Let's all try to preserve the
    remaining otr shows for the generations of the future. It is a snapshot of
    our past and for thousands of years to come the shows will be enjoyed and
    studied by the people of this earth. I have learned A LOT about how society
    was in the 30's & 40's just by listening to these silly OTR shows. to me it's
    fascinating. Hopefully corporate greed can be tempered and all the shows that
    remain in existance can be listened to & enjoyed by all.
        If anyone has rare shows to trade, I havge a few myself. Or if anyone is
    looking for anything specific, please e-mail. Thanks

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 11:28:46 -0400
    From: Vntager8io@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Long Play records

    Forgive me for straying a little off-topic, but in a way this is related to
    radio, and certainly audio entertainment.

    In the last Digest, Dick mentioned:

>     I don't think 33
>     1/3 recordings were available to the public until the introduction of
>     the microgrove.

    That's not entirely true. Columbia introduced the first
    commercially-successful "long-play" records, but 33 1/3 records were really
    first introduced to the public about 17 years earlier by RCA Victor. About
    1931 or 1932 (I can't remember which), RCA Victor introduced "Program
    Transcriptions"  to the public which were mostly 10" shellac records that
    played at 33 1/3 rpm. Since they used standard-sized grooves (not
    microgroove) the playing time per side was only between 6-10 minutes. Many
    bands and popular artists like Paul Whiteman, Jesse Crawford, Ted Weems, Duke
    Ellington, and others recorded "Program Transcriptions" but these discs had
    the misfortune to come along during the middle of the depression, and since
    they required expensive new record players to play, they did not catch on and
    after a year or two, RCA stopped making the records. Today they are quite
    scarce. The playing quality of these program transcriptions was not quite as
    good as standard 78's from that time, although they don't sound bad either!
    When played with a proper-sized stylus, they can actually sound quite good.
    Usually, "Program Transcriptions" would contain medleys instead of individual
    songs with "tracks."

    On a related note, a couple RCA "Program Transcriptions" from 1932 also serve
    as the earliest existing true stereo recordings. These stereo recordings were
    actually made by accident and only recently recognized as such. In 1932, the
    depression was reaching its lowest point and record companies were strugling
    to stay in business (many did not succeed). At that time, the process of
    making a record involved cutting a master on a wax slab during the recording
    session. That wax slab master could not be played back directly (the wax was
    too soft and a needle would ruin the recording) but instead had to have a
    metal master plated from it. The process that followed included several
    plates being made from other plates until finally stampers were made to press
    the final records. This process left lots of room for mistakes which could
    permanantly damage the recording, and on several occasions, recording artists
    would be called back to the studio to re-record their number after the
    original wax master was mistakenly destroyed or damaged. Apparently, this
    happened fairly often. As you can imagine, this kind of mistake could become
    quite costly - especially when dealing with large, famous orchestras like Duke
    Ellington. During the recording of some "Program Transcriptions," someone at
    RCA Victor decided it would be a good idea to make two separate masters
    simultaneously during the recording session, this way, they'd have a back-up
    already made in case the first master was damaged or destroyed. Another
    possible reason for having two turntables recording simultaneously would be
    if the engineer could not decide on the best microphone position for an even
    balance. For whatever reason, some 1932 "Program Transcriptions" were
    recorded with two microphones hooked up to two separate cutting turntables
    and two masters were made simultaneously. One of the two masters was chosen
    for release, and the other was put into the vaults. In the early 1980s, a
    collector got test pressings of a couple of unissued second masters and
    "married" them with the issued masters of two Duke Ellington "Program
    Transcriptions." When properly synced, the two records produce a true stereo
    sound. I've heard a copy of this synced recording, and it's breathtaking to
    hear Duke Ellington's Orchestra in 1932 playing "Mood Indigo" in full stereo.
    I believe these are available now on CD.

    Back to long-play records. The earliest true long-play record released to the
    public that I'm aware of was developed in the mid-1920's by Edison's
    laboratories. They developed a 24-minute record which played at 36 rpm. Only
    a dozen or so different titles were issued, I believe. I've never heard one,
    but I understand the quality is poor, and since they also required special
    equipment to be played, they didn't catch on.

    Columbia is known for the first successful long-play record, but Edison beat
    them to it by over 20 years.

    Bryan Wright

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 11:57:36 -0400
    From: "Thomas Mason" <batz34@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re Seduction of the Innocent

    I was in college when all the hullabaloo started about censoring comics with
    EC immediately targeted.  Some of us were curious about some of Wertham's
    claims and went to the library and pulled his book.  My first astonishment
    was reading his flat out statement that Batman and Robin were the perfect
    example of a homosexual relationship.  How many of us in our young lives
    ever entertained that thought?  Wertham was [removed] had a further
    example of comics filth where he cited a jungle comic [removed] you
    examined a picture of the jungle hero and zoomed in on his naked armpit,
    then rotated the illustration to its side, he claimed it gave us the perfect
    outline of a womans naked crotch.  We all died laughing at that one and put
    Wertham's book back on the shelf, never to be viewed again.

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 11:58:57 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: "Long Playing"

    Dick Fisher wrote:

>     The 4 minutes mentioned above was for 78 RPM records. I don't think 33
>     1/3 recordings were available to the public until the introduction of
>     the microgrove. Elizabeth, is that correct?

    Actually, the public got its first crack at 33 1/3 recordings in 1931,
    when RCA Victor introduced its so-called "Program Transcription" format.
    These were "Victrolac" (a proprietary name for a type of vinyl)
    pressings, but were standard-groove. Quite a bit of material was released
    on this format during 1931-32, ranging from Duke Ellington to Stokowski,
    and the recordings boasted a total playing time of up to half an hour.

    However, the introduction of this format at this particular point in time
    was about the dumbest marketing move possible -- 1932 marked the rock
    bottom of the Depression, and few people were in any position to pay a
    couple of hundred dollars for a new radio-phonograph console just so they
    could take advantage of the new discs, especially at a time when the
    phonograph business itself was all but dead in the water. By the end of
    the thirties, all of the "Program Transcriptions" had been deleted from
    the Victor catalog -- except for several discs of pipe organ music,
    designed for use in funeral parlors.

    The unfortunate thing is that these same factors also killed the RCA
    Victor Home Recording System, which was introduced in 1930, and was
    offered on many of the new "long playing" radio-phono models. A 12-inch
    Victor Home Recording Disc recorded at 33 1/3 rpm could hold about ten
    minutes per side -- meaning that for the first time, home equipment was
    available that would allow listeners to make substantial recordings of
    broadcast programs. Had the machines been less expensive, or if economic
    conditions had been better, a lot more material might have survived from
    this era.

    Interestingly, Columbia's introduction of the microgroove wasn't anything
    new either. In the mid-twenties, the Thomas A. Edison Laboratories
    introduced "long playing" Diamond Discs which used a finer-than-normal
    groove, running up to 20 minutes per side -- and subsequently developed a
    microgroove recording system which, when run at 30 rpm, could include a
    full half hour of content per side. This system was developed for use in
    broadcasting, and a number of experimental aircheck recordings exist on
    discs of this type at the Edison Site (Mike Biel can tell you exactly how
    he discovered them and some of the material that's on them. It's a
    fascinating story -- the failure of the project may have hastened the end
    of Edison's phonograph division.)

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 11:59:48 -0400
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  [removed] WHAT'S NEXT!

    Many heartfelt thanks to Lynn Wagar for the kind words about the Waukegan
    information on our site.  It was my intent to create a narrative that would
    enable people to feel like  "you are there", and I am glad to know that the
    goal was met.

    For some added color, you can picture me sitting in our hotel room after
    midnight with the lights out (working by the light of my monitor) typing the
    diary on my laptop, with my husband occasionally mumbling through sleep, "You
    better get to bed soon."  "Yeah, OK, I just need to finish a couple more
    thoughts."  Thus the coffee comments.

    The photos have all come from members, so I have to give my pix thanks to Dan
    and Hal and Joel and Charlie and Eric and David and anyone else I've
    forgotten.

    [removed] that success under our collective belts, people have been asking
    for an IJBFC convention.  We're looking at doing it February 14-16, 2003 in
    Los Angeles.  It's open to anyone who loves Jack Benny, so please take a look
    at our Web page under "Featured Items" for a tentative schedule.  We are in
    the process of determining how many people would be attending, working the
    budget, etc.  So if you want to come, please E-mail me with the events you
    would attend and how many people you would bring (spouse/significant other,
    kids, parents, etc.).

    Please also pass the information along to anyone else who would be
    interested.  The more the merrier.

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 12:10:36 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Allen, NBC and CBS

    A. Joseph Ross wrote:

>     Did Fred Allen move from NBC to CBS or vice versa.  If he was one of the
>     many stars who
>     moved from NBC to CBS in the late 40s, I wonder whether standards and
>     practices was part
>     of the negotiations.

    Allen's first series, for the Corn Products Company (Linit) was on CBS,
    but he didn't have any contract with the network itself: he worked
    directly for the advertising agency. He moved to NBC for his second
    series, for Best Foods, and remained there thru his long run for Bristol
    Myers. Again, though, he wasn't an NBC Contract Artist -- his contract
    was with the advertising agency which produced the program, thru his own
    agent, Walter Batchelor (and not the NBC Artists Service, which handled
    all NBC contract performers.)

    Allen's move to CBS in 1940 was purely sponsor related -- he simply took
    over the program that Texaco had been running on that network since 1938.
    When he went back to NBC in 1945, it was because he went to work for
    Standard Brands, which put him into half of the Sunday night hour it
    bought from NBC since 1930 (Bergen and McCarthy had the other half.) In
    both cases, Allen had no say on which network carried his program -- he
    just went where he was told by the agency.

    When the "talent raids" began in 1948-49, it was only then that Allen was
    actually put under contract by NBC, specifically to keep him from taking
    a deal from CBS. By this time, Janet MacRorie was long gone (she quit in
    1946, leaving a 15-page letter of resignation in the NBC files) and after
    a sharp confrontation between Allen and her successor, NBC had eased up
    on Allen -- this was the famous
    "Allen-cut-off-the-air-for-ridiculing-the-network" affair, which led to
    NBC agreeing to liberalize its supervision of comedians.

    A side note -- speaking of the talent raids, I've not noticed any mention
    here of the recent passing of the man who was more responsible for those
    "raids" than anyone else. While William Paley is usually given credit for
    "luring the top comics to CBS," the raids were in fact triggered by Lew
    Wasserman -- the high-powered MCA talent agent who one day over lunch in
    1948 explained the tax advantages of incorporation to Freeman Gosden --
    and who subsequently brought Correll and Gosden's $[removed] million dollar
    buyout proposal to CBS, which jumped at the chance to own "Amos 'n' Andy"
    outright. By inspiring this "incorporate yourself and sell your show"
    movement later emulated by Jack Benny and others, Wasserman had a
    tremendous impact on the development of postwar broadcasting -- and at
    one time he was considered "the most powerful man in show business."  He
    died June 3rd at the age of 89.

    Elizabeth

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #233
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