Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #306
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 10/5/2005 7:45 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2005 : Issue 306
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      A Head's Up on an upcoming OTR Show!  [ ilamfan@[removed] (S Jansen) ]
      10-5 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Broadcast Dates for Gangbusters       [ [removed]@[removed] ]
      The Golden Age of Radio with Dick Be  [ "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed]; ]
      Re: Irene's Request for Proquest Inf  [ "jljonz" <jljonz@[removed]; ]
      Re: Eddie Green                       [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Artie Auerbach                        [ "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed] ]
      Jazzbo/Jazzbeaux                      [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
      MANC OTR Convention                   [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      indexes                               [ Allen J Hubin <ajhubin@[removed]; ]
      Radio with phono [removed]             [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
      Re: Al "Jazzbo" Collins               [ "Henry R. Hinkel" <hinkel@[removed] ]
      Re: Scripts, Reading, and Time        [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 09:04:17 -0400
    From: ilamfan@[removed] (S Jansen)
    To: [removed]@[removed] (OTR Bulletin Board)
    Subject:  A Head's Up on an upcoming OTR Show!

         Our OTR recreation group "Theatre Of The Mindless" (doing this for
    almost 10 years now!) will be performing for a library fundraiser in Waukegan
    Illinois, on Saturday October 29th, at 7 pm.  Funds raised from this event
    are being matched by other benefactors, so for each $20 ticket purchased, $40
    goes into the library's coffers!  Contact Mary Maxwell at (847) 623-2041
    extension 257 to purchase your tickets.  Show will be in the Ray Bradbury
    "studio", lower level of the library, 128 N County Street.

         Funds raised are for support of the new branch library/sports complex.
    Now, if you think (as I did, at first) that sports and library are a rather
    strange combination, picture all of those people doing all of those physical
    activities, many of them listening to their Walkmans or iPods at the same
    [removed]'t it be a novel idea to have a place where people could
    excercise, AND pick up and listen to music, or a book on tape, or old-time
    radio, or a full-cast audio production?  This new, forward-looking version of
    the library will be loaning out mp3 players, loaded with whatever audio
    patrons would like, for their listening and learning pleasure, while they
    excercise (and, I assume, to take home and listen to, if they'd like).

         Same premise as the regular library, but using mp3 players instead of
    books!  Unlike audio tapes (or even lp's, remember them at the library?),
    these shows will never wear out.  Even the players should last and last - the
    flash memory versions have essentially no moving parts!  I thought this was
    terribly innovative, and plan to donate BUNCHES of my mp3 OTR Archive to the
    library to help get the ball rolling.

         Anyway, a splendid time is guaranteed for all - we hope to see you there!

    Stephen Jansen

    --
    Old Time Radio never dies - it just changes formats!

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 09:04:29 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  10-5 births/deaths

    October 5th births

    10-05-1895 - Waldo Mayo - d. 7-xx-1976
    orchestra leader, violinist: "Major Bowes Capitol Family"
    10-05-1903 - Jimmy Ritz - Newark, NJ - d. 11-17-1985
    comedian: (The Ritz Brothers) "Hollywood Hotel"
    10-05-1904 - John Hoyt - Bronxville, NY - d. 9-15-1991
    actor: "Escape"; "Suspense"
    10-05-1905 - Harriet MacGibbon - Chicago, IL - d. 2-8-1987
    actress: Lucy Kent "Home, Sweet Home"
    10-05-1908 - Josh Logan - Texarkana, TX - d. 7-12-1988
    film/stage director: "Biography In Sound"
    10-05-1912 - Tony Marvin - Brooklyn, NY - d. 10-10-1998
    announcer: "Arthur Godfrey Time"
    10-05-1913 - Lois January - Fort Worth, TX
    actress: "County Fair"
    10-05-1918 - Allen Ludden - Mineral Point, WI - d. 6-9-1981
    host: "Mind Your Manners"; "College Bowl"
    10-05-1929 - Skip Homeier - Chicago, IL
    actor: "Let's Pretend"; Dickie Blake "Portia Faces Life"; "Reg'lar Fellers"

    October 5th deaths

    01-08-1910 - Dick Jurgens - Sacremento, CA - d. 10-5-1995
    orchestra leader: "Summer Spotlight Revue"
    02-08-1911 - Judith Allen - New York City, NY - d. 10-5-1996
    actress: Margo Lane "The Shadow"
    05-24-1878 - Harry Emerson Fosdick - Buffalo, NY - d. 10-5-1969
    preacher: "National Vespers"
    06-25-1899 - Arthur Tracy - Kaminetz-Podolski, Russia - d. 10-5-1997
    singer: (The Street Singer) "Street Singer"; "Music That Satisfies"
    07-13-1895 - Sidney Blackmer - Salisbury, NC - d. 10-5-1973
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    09-14-1899 - Hal B. Wallis - Chicago, IL - d. 10-5-1986
    film producer: "Tex and Jinx Show"; "Academy Award Program"; "Lux Radio
    Theatre"
    11-05-1897 - Jan Garber - Norristown, PA - d. 10-5-1977
    bandleader: "Jan Garber Supper Club"
    11-22-1921 - Rodney Dangerfield - Babylon, Long Island, NY - d. 10-5-2004
    comedian: "Voices of Vista"
    11-28-1925 - Gloria Grahame - Los Angeles, CA - d. 10-5-1981
    actress: "Hollywood Star Playhouse"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 09:59:03 -0400
    From: [removed]@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Broadcast Dates for Gangbusters

    I have been trying to organize my Gangbusters broadcasts with the help of
    Martin
    Grams excellent book. I have found broadcast dates and correct titles for most
    of the 59 shows in my collection except a few.

    Can anyone confirm the original broadcast dates on these shows. These titles
    are
    announced on the individual shows.

    531005 GANGBUSTERS - THREE SAFE CRACKERS - SYNDICATED - CBS (Date could be
    wrong.)
    Gangbusters- Safe Cracking Combine
    Gangbusters- Horse Race Hijackers - Reissue
    Gangbusters- Sledge Hammer Handicap
    Gangbusters- The Mound City Safecrackers - Reissue

    Please email me directly to avoid congestion on the list. Many Gangbusters
    shows
    in circulation have more than one title. I have figured out the dupes and made
    note of the alternate titles. If you need a listing email me directly.

    Thanks!

    Paul Urbahns
    [removed]@[removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 09:59:15 -0400
    From: "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Golden Age of Radio with Dick Bertel and
     Ed Corcoran

    The latest "Golden Age of Radio" programs with
    Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran, can be heard at
    [removed]

    This week we present three complete shows in MP3
    format for your listening pleasure or for downloading.
    We present new shows every week or so. The next
    update will be on or about October 13.

    Program 71 - February, 1976 - Robert Metz

    Robert Metz is the author of "CBS - Reflections In a
    Bloodshot Eye", the story of William S. Paley and the
    creation of the Columbia Broadcasting System.
    Robert Metz "... takes the reader on an intimate tour -
    personal and historical  of one of the most glamorous
    and influential corporations on [removed]" It's a very
    interesting book of facts and stories.

    Program 72 - March, 1976 - Leon Janney

    Leon Janney made his first theatrical appearance at
    the age of two, reciting Winken, Blynken, and Nod
    before an audience at the Pantages Theatre in Ogden,
    UT, in 1919. He spent the next seven years working
    in vaudeville, and also made his first appearance on
    radio in 1926, making the leap to legitimate theater
    soon after.

    Janney became a key member of AFRA (later AFTRA),
    the union representing radio (and later live television)
    performers, as well as in Actor's Equity. A master
    parliamentarian, he was a formidable debater and a
    tireless union activist. This landed him in trouble with
    the dawn of the "Red Scare" -- he was denounced, along
    with Burgess Meredith, Howard Da Silva, and others,
    and soon found himself blacklisted from broadcast work.

    Program 73 - April, 1976 - Martha Raye

    Martha Raye was born on August 27, 1916 in Butte,
    Montana. From her Vaudeville stage debut at age three,
    Martha Raye went on to conquer literally every
    entertainment medium -- stage, screen, radio, television,
    records, night clubs, as well as countless performances
    for her beloved Armed Forces.

    For a lifetime of giving of herself, Martha Raye was
    awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993,
    the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Academy Award in
    1968, and was a Legend Nominee in the 1999 American
    Film Institute's "100 Years -- 100 Stars" program.

    In the 1970's Dick Bertel created the program for WTIC in
    Hartford, CT. The idea came to Dick after he interviewed radio
    collector-historian Ed  Corcoran a few times on his radio and
    TV shows. "The Golden Age of Radio was first broadcast in
    April, 1970;  Ed was Dick's co-host.

    For the next seven years the program featured interviews with
    actors, writers, producers, engineers and musicians from radio's
    early days. Each show featured excerpts from Ed's collection.

    "WTIC's Golden Age of Radio" can also be heard Saturday nights
    on Walden Hughes's program on Radio Yesteryear.

    Bob Scherago
    Webmaster

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 10:42:59 -0400
    From: "jljonz" <jljonz@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Irene's Request for Proquest Info

    Hi Irene
    Proquest is a newspaper archivial service.  They have scanned and ocr'd major
    newspapers back to the 1800's.  The only way to access it is through
    libraries, either local or college.

    I subscribe to the Godfrey library on line ($35/year).  It carries the full
    line of Proquest archieved newspapers.  That includes NY Times, LA Times,
    Chicago Tribune. Boston Globe, Atlanta Journal, and Washington Post.  Godfrey
    also has The Dallas something and another search of some midwest newspapers.

    My local library only subscribes to the Proquest NY Times, which limits my
    searches.

    I hope this information helps

    I have not posted here before and am not sure this is the correct proceedure,
    so will send you an email also.

    jj

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 10:43:15 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Eddie Green

    On 10/5/05 9:19 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

>     Does anyone know where I might go to find pictures/biographies of
>     either Eddie Green or Charlie Cantor?

    Eddie Green is best remembered for his work in radio, but he was also a
    major star in black vaudeville and on the Broadway stage during the 1910s
    and 1920s. He was born in Baltimore in 1896, and went on stage with a
    minstrel show as a song-and-dance man while still in his teens. In 1916,
    Green wrote "A Good Man Is Hard To Find," one of the biggest song hits of
    that era. The publishing rights were bought in 1918 by the noted
    African-American songwriter/publisher W. C. Handy, who went on to make a
    fortune off the song -- but Handy was careful to arrange the terms of the
    contract to ensure that he made all the profits and Green got next to
    nothing.

    Green remained a stage star on the black-oriented TOBA vaudeville circuit
    during the twenties, becoming a great favorite of African-American
    audiences, and went on to appear in several all-black Broadway revues in
    the late twenties and early thirties. He wrote the book for "Blackberries
    of 1932," a stage revue featuring many of the leading black comedians of
    the era (Tim Moore -- later the TV Kingfish -- was also featured in this
    show, along with Mantan Moreland, Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham, and Moms
    Mabley.) Unfortunately, "Blackberries" was presented at a time when the
    musical theatre was severely crippled by the Depression, and the show
    flopped.

    Green made his radio debut in 1932, forming a comedy team with Ernest
    Whitman, a veteran actor who had shifted back and forth between comedy
    and straight drama over the course of his career and who would go on to
    play many straight roles on A&A in the mid-1940s. Green and Whitman were
    featured cast members in "The Gibson Family" during 1932-33, playing a
    pair of comedic circus roustabouts. (Ernest Whitman is probably best
    known today as Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman, the ever-jiving MC of AFRS's
    "Jubilee" series.)

    After "The Gibson Family" ended, Green made numerous guest appearances on
    various programs during 1934-36, and in the fall of 1936 became a co-star
    of Louis Armstrong's Harlem Revue, a black-oriented variety series heard
    on NBC Blue for Fleischmann's Yeast. That same year, Green became
    possibly the first African-American performer to appear on television in
    the US -- doing a routine in a special experimental telecast put on by
    NBC to inaugurate the earliest version of their all-electronic television
    system.

    Green continued to make guest appearances on various programs during the
    late thirties, and was a semi-regular with Rudy Vallee in 1940. He was a
    regular on "Duffy's Tavern" for most of its run, and joined "The Amos 'n'
    Andy Show" in 1947, remaining with both programs until his death. He died
    of heart disease on 9/19/50 at the age of 54.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 11:33:04 -0400
    From: "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Artie Auerbach

>     05-17-1903 - Artie Auerbach - New York City, NY - d. 10-3-1957
>     actor: Mr. Kitzel "Jack Benny Program"

     I noticed this entry in Ron Sayles' necrology for October 3, and it brought
    up a question. I'm at an age where false memories are becoming commonplace,
    so I'm wondering if anyone on the list can confirm what I remember. On an
    early Jack Benny TV show, I thought I remembered Artie Auerbach appearing as
    Mr. Kitzel. On the radio, he was a tiny, wizened old man, but when I actually
    saw him, I thought he might have been a linebacker for [name your favorite
    NFL team, for me it's the Bears]. Still, the voice was pure Mr. Kitzel. Does
    anyone know for sure if Mr. Auerbach actually appeared in on of the Benny TV
    shows?

    Thanx,

     B. Ray

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 11:47:51 -0400
    From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Jazzbo/Jazzbeaux

    Off topic, but I'll be brief.

    The faux-Cajun of the Jazzbeaux spelling reminded me of buttons I saw this
    January at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.  They would say either "Geaux
    Tigers" or "Geaux Hokies".  I thought it was pretty clever the first time I
    saw it.  After I saw a few [removed] eh, not so much.

    -chris holm

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 12:21:45 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  MANC OTR Convention

    new update and reposting the same request:

    On September 14 - 17, 2006, the Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Convention will be
    held in Aberdeen, Maryland.  It is a combination of old-time radio and
    old-time films 9though more than 70% of it will be old-time radio.

    I posted about a month or two ago for the request for events (panels,
    lectures, etc.)
    A number of people responded and events have been scheduled but the schedule
    still has free space on board.

    Anyone who wants to host a panel, talk about an OTR subject, and so on is
    more than welcome to participate.  Ken Stockinger is going to talk and play
    brief clips of baseball broadcasts on old-time radio.  Dan Reidtra is going
    to talk about Coca Cola Spotlight Bands on radio (1940s).  Our own Charlie
    Summers will be directing an X-MINUS ONE after the dinner banquet.  Derek
    Tague will be interviewing the guest stars on one-on-one interviews on stage
    throughout the weekend.  You get the idea.

    I have the duties of assigning the events so if an author wants to walk
    about a subject they wrote or researched, if someone wants to talk about
    their methods of preserving old-time radio to a new format, talk about a
    family relative who did radio broadcasts, etc. you are more than welcome to
    contact me.

    Elizabeth, there is scheduled an Amos n' Andy recreation on stage for
    Saturday afternoon - might be a nice opportunity to talk about Amos n' Andy
    on stage before the recreation . . .

    Someone last night e-mailed and asked if he could talk about old-time radio
    shows adapted from the pulp magazines and the differences between - and he's
    adding a couple people to his panel.

    Secondly, a web-site has been set up devoted to MANC, listing the guests,
    directions, registration, and even a rough sketch of the schedule of events
    (which will be revised during the coming months) so rather than continue to
    e-mail people back and forth, here's a site everyone can check out every
    month or so to see what's been updated and revised.

    [removed]

    Again, anyone wanting to talk about a subject or participate in a panel or
    do a recreation, drop me a line.  It's completely fan-based so ANYONE can
    talk or host whatever they want so long as it's OTR and/or nostalgic based.

    Martin
    mmargrajr@[removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 12:21:58 -0400
    From: Allen J Hubin <ajhubin@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  indexes

    I'd second (or third) the motion on indexes for reference works.
    Although it hasn't anything to do (at least directly) with OTR,
    my "Crime Fiction IV: A Comprehensive Bibliography 1749-2000"
    runs three volumes (1659 pages) for the author section, and two
    volumes (1030 pages) for the indexes thereto.  I suppose that
    might even be thought of as overdoing a good thing.

    Al Hubin

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 13:58:26 -0400
    From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Radio with phono [removed]

    We had an RCA console radio, (model 10 K, purchased in the early 1940s) in
    our living room.  When the RCA 78 rpm record player came out sometime in the
    early 1950s, Dad had a local radio dealer install an input jack and switch.
    That was the first electric/electronic phonograph we had at home.

    Records played through that console sounded great.  I think it had a 12"
    speaker.

    The radio had several bands:  standard broadcast, long wave, and 2 short
    wave bands.
    With that phonograph, my life was complete.  I no longer had to use my old
    crank Victrola -- which often damaged my records with that heavy tone arm.
    And I didn't have to use steel needles that had to be changed often!

    Ted Kneebone.  OTR website:  [removed]
    Democrats: [removed]
    1528 S. Grant St., Aberdeen, SD 57401 / Phone: 605-226-3344

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 16:26:56 -0400
    From: "Henry R. Hinkel" <hinkel@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re:  Al "Jazzbo" Collins

    I went digging through my stuff and found the following records listed for
    Al "Jazzbo" Collins:

    05/13/53  CORAL  Little Red Riding Hood
    05/13/53  CORAL  Three Little Pigs
    (Later re-issued on DECCA)

    01/18/56  CORAL  Max
    01/18/56  CORAL  Sam

    07/26/56  CORAL  Space Man With Steve Allen
    07/26/56  CORAL  Jazzbo's Theory
    (Re-issued on DECCA)

    Also, the following LP's:

    1956  CORAL     East Coast Jazz Scene
    1960  EVEREST   Swinging At The Opera
    1961  OLD TOWN  In The Purple Grotto
    1967  IMPULSE   A Lovely Bunch Of Al "Jazzbo" Collins

    There may be more but this is all I found.

    Hank Hinkel

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 20:21:52 -0400
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Scripts, Reading, and Time

    From: William Harker <wharker@[removed];

>     I am wondering if actors and directors ever varied the
>     pace of a given show (that is, spoke their lines more
>     rapidly, or less rapidly) given the considerations of the
>     script and the amount of time given to complete a particular episode.

    In broadcasting, then as now, timing is EVERYTHING!  Every second counts,
    and the programs must be exactly on time, not one second over nor one
    second under.  In the days of live broadcasting, during the rehearsals
    there would be an Assistant Director who would mark a script with the
    timings at every important point in the program.  If the rehearsal was too
    long, things would be cut or there would be admonitions to speed up at
    certain points.  If it ran too short, things would either be added or notes
    would be made of where the action could be slowed.  Then during the live
    broadcast, that [removed] would constantly tell the director if they were
    matching the rehearsal timings or meeting the required alterations.  The
    director would relay any necessary timing instructions to the actors by
    handsignals.  To speed up, a finger would be twirled like turning the hands
    of a clock forward.  To slow down, the director would tell them to stretch
    by pulling the hands apart like stretching taffy.  If the timing was
    correct, or on the nose, he would point to his nose.  (I never was taught
    what it meant if the director pinched his nose, but I can guess what that
    would mean!)  (Probably that Hal Stone ad-libbed a pun.)

    Bill Harker also remarked:

>     In the current age, one can play tricks with the tape to
>     speed or slow things down. I don't even know if this
>     was done in radio.

    Remember that although there were recorded syndicated programs from 1928
    thru the rest of the OTR era, with very few exceptions the networks did not
    permit the use of recorded programs during the OTR era until 1949, so all
    network programs were done live.  I assume the "tricks" you are referring
    to are speeding up tapes and restoring the pitch back to normal with a
    pitch shifter or harmonizer.  This would enable people to talk faster or
    shorten a program without editing it.   My daughter Leah did a documentary
    on such alterations of sound for her college class last year, and we aired
    it on my Sunday night YesterdayUSA program a few months ago.  We will
    probably air it again in a while and will try to inform the digest enough
    in advance.  Although mechanical pitch shifting techniques were possible
    even in the 1930s, they were rarely used until compressed speech recordings
    for the blind was begun in the 1950s.   As for changing the speed of
    recordings without correcting the pitch to normal, there were only a very
    few instances in OTR of recordings purposefully being speeded up or slowed
    down for comic effects.  The most notable OTR example was the voice of
    Sparkie done by Big Jon Arthur.  At about the same time, the late 1940s,
    Jim Fassett did a series of New York Philharmonic intermission features on
    CBS called "Strange To Your Ears" where he greatly speeded up or slowed
    down brief sounds to create entirely new sounds that would be
    unrecognizable as to their original source.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #306
    *********************************************

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