
 SEE INFO SECTION AT END OF THIS DIGEST FOR UNSUBSCRIBE AND OTHER INFORMATION. 
	  	         === Last Update 1/17/95  ====





	    [removed]   Volume 96 : Issue 61


Articles in this issue of [removed]:

	      Radio Spirits catalog on disk
	 Escape: East vs. West
	 Sound Bites and Scariest
	 Lights Out episode (was: Scare your socks [removed])/The Bubble
	 Re: Rare Fibber McGee & Molly Recording
	      CD file size
	 Grand Old Opry
	 Orson [removed]
	 Suspense, History of Broadcasting
	 Space patrol bloopers
	 Jack Benny Movie & More
	  Wellesian Thoughts
	 cassettes are dead???
	 Welles commercial 
	 Re: Orson Welles and the commercial
	 CBS Mystery Series
	 Re: Which college has OTR & Radio Dramas?

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

Date:         Wed, 14 Feb 96 08:18:57 EST
From: Lee Maschmeyer <LMASCHM@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject:      Radio Spirits catalog on disk
Message-Id: <m0tmhCp-000YRjC@[removed]>

Scott Hooker asked whether RS's catalog was downloadable.  I have
wondered this also, but I do know it is available on disk from
800-723-4648.  It may be just for the blind, but if you tell them you're
blind they'll send it to you.  This is mentioned on the inside of the
cover of their catalog, and the National Federation of the Blind (ick)
is mentioned as being involved in the project.

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 09:10:53 -0500
From: BULLFROG2@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Escape: East vs. West
Message-ID: <960214091052_143876719@[removed]>

I have been reviewing several episodes of Escape where I have both the East
and West Coast versions. I have come up with a few facts and a lot of
questions:

     During at least part of its run (part or all???) there were different
versions of each      show transcribed for broadcast on each coast.

     The most obvious difference is the music. The East version has a full
orchestra while      the West version uses only an organ.  (Unless you are an
organ lover, this makes      the East version much better. In some cases the
organ is quite intrusive while the      orchestra always seems to to fit the
mood of the moment.)  Also I noticed some      background sound effects only
on the East version.

     The actors are, for the most part, the same.  However, in one episode
William      Conrad does the intro on the East version while someone else did
the West. 

     In at least a couple of cases I could tell a difference in the actors
performance      between the two.  A line flubbed on one was OK on the other.
 A word is changed      from one to the other.  One show in particular the
East version sounded like actors        performing while the West version
sounded like the same people merely reading            their lines.

Conclusion: The West version was transcribed from a rehersal.

So what's the real story? Why wasn't the same transcription used on both
coasts?  Was this done for the entire run of the series or only for part of
it?  Why was the music added later?  Why no William Conrad on the one show
(was he off Gunsmoking when the West version was being transcribed)?   What
other shows were done like this?
 etc. etc. etc.

RICH

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

Date: 14 Feb 96 09:31:10 EST
From: "Robert I. Scherago" <[removed]@[removed]>
To: Old Time Radio <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: Sound Bites and Scariest
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

To the writer of the following:
>The trouble with you people is that you're all adults. Not enough of you
>have a corner of your heart where you're still ten years old.
>"Hi Yo Silver!" "Gettum up Scout!"
>:A clock tolls twelve ominously: "Captain Mid-Niiight!"
etc.

How many of you remember the Let's Pretend jingle:
     Cream of Wheat is the one to eat,
     You can eat it every day.

[removed] <BARK> That's my dog Tige, he lives in a shoe. I'm
Buster Brown. Look for me in there too!

[removed] the hapless Uncle Don with his ridiculous theme song,
     Hibbity Gitts [removed] (Wow, I can't believe I remember that!)

Also, for the adult in you. remember Manhattan Merry-go-Round
where you [removed]
     hear the top songs of the day sung so clearly you can understand
     every word and sing them yourself!

Nomination for scariest show: Arch Obeler's Chicken Heart!

Bob Scherago

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 96 06:32:19 PST
From: robertm@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Lights Out episode (was: Scare your socks [removed])/The Bubble
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]> wrote:

>>The second one is similar in that two secretaries working for Mr. Oboler
>>stay late to finish a script.  Slowly, the lights start going [removed] in 
>>the dark, the desks seem to start moving closer and [removed] 
>>driving the women out of their minds.

This is titled Murder in the Script Department (I think 5/11/43) and it is 
one of my favorite episodes!  It is quite scary and really neat in that it
deals with script writers for some radio show called Lights Out! :)
Love it!

Does anyone know, btw, how to get the Oboler film "The Bubble"?
I saw it years ago and loved it, and would like to see if I still feel
the same way about it!

Thanks!

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 09:10:27 -0600
From: "Andrew C. Green" <acg@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Rare Fibber McGee & Molly Recording
Message-Id: <[removed]@dlogics>

>SupDaveTV5@[removed] (Dave) writes:
>Hi members. I recently discovered in my local antique shop a set of 78
>records of Fibber McGee & Molly "The Night Before Christmas".  This record
>set is 3 records, and show very little wear.  Is there anyone out there that
>can tell me about them or would like to buy them.

Would that happen to be a "*Top-Ten*" brand from 1947? I found two titles
in that series, a Jack Benny and a Burns & Allen, at the antique museum in
Volo, IL last fall. Listings in the inside back cover showed about five
other titles, one from each of the popular radio shows of the period,
including a Fibber McGee & Molly title. All are listed as four-disc sets,
not three, FWIW, and the text brags that it is the first series produced
for home consumption. I posted details of these here previously but had
no feedback at all.

>When I was in Chicago at
>the Radio Hall of Fame. I found the same set in the museums display case.  

Definitely time for me to go back for another look!

Andrew C. Green            (312) 266-4431
Adobe Systems, Inc. (formerly Frame Technology)
Advanced Product Services
441 W. Huron               Internet: acg@[removed]
Chicago, IL  60610-3498    FAX: (312) 266-4473

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

Date:         Wed, 14 Feb 96 09:18:25 EST
From: Lee Maschmeyer <LMASCHM@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject:      CD file size
Message-Id: <m0tmjIm-000YSPC@[removed]>

Chris Zenchenko gave a method for calculating the amount of information
on a standard CD.  The formula he gave was [removed] *2 for stereo, *2 for
16-bit numbers, *60 for minutes, *74 for playing time.

I'm not much good in math, but I don't think this is correct.  CDs
contain a constant alternation of channel samples.  Each channel is
sampled at [removed] .  This is the reason early CD players had very
aggressive low pass filters - the sampling rate is just above the maximum
audible frequency.  So it would be [removed]*2=[removed] .  So the actual number
comes out to a little less than 392 meg.

The numbers he gives for the 32K sampling rate are approximately correct,
but only by accident.  Sampling at 32K is still sampling in stereo, since
each channel is sampled at 16K (thus the 15K frequency response).
according to the calculator I used:

(1024*16*2*2*60*30)/1024=115,200K .

If you can really sample only one channel with this method, the numbers
would be exactly half that, raising the possibility of at least nine
programs on a CDR without resorting to perceptual coding.  I listened
recently to an advertising cassette for the Smithsonian line of CDs, and
I am convinced they are using perceptual coding.  The results are in some
ways inferior to the unprocessed originals.  These CDs have gotten very
favorable reviews here, so I'll probably get some and see; but I remain
dubious about perceptual coding.

+--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| Lee Maschmeyer                       | lmaschm@[removed]        |
| Computing and Information Technology | lmaschm@[removed]         |
| 5925 Woodward                        | (313) 577-0741                  |
| Detroit, Michigan 48202 [removed]       | Fax: (313) 577-5626             |
+--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| The Story Man--Prof. Storytelling    | Home: (810) 545-0170            |
+--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 96 10:45
From: "bill harris" <billhar@[removed]>
To: "otr digest" <otr@[removed]>
Subject: Grand Old Opry
Message-Id: <m0tmjYR-000YOoC@[removed]>

>I am looking for a tape of a Grand Old Opry show, a program from 
>the 1930's if possible. I have scanned my catalogs and can't 
>seem to find any tapes offered. Anyone out there no if such exists?
>Please e-mail me if so. 

That should be "Anyone out there KNOW if such exists?" Gotta stop 
doing this so late at night.

Bill Harris

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 11:54:44 EST
From: bedtime@[removed] ( DAVID ALLAN BOUCHER)
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Orson [removed]
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

-- [ From: Me/Radio * [removed] #[removed] ] --


-------- REPLY, Original message follows --------

John Henley wrote about Orson Welles:

>  In his 40s, he still managed to
> make a couple of movies which are clearly the work of a unique
talent.
> 

What movies are you referring to????   
What did he make after Citizen Kane that would be worth checking out???

Dave

David Allan Boucher
Magic [removed]
WMJX-Boston

Internet Addresses: WMJX@[removed] - WMJX@[removed]

 WWW:  [removed]
 (Note: all above letters are lower case, except the 'MA'.)

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



-------- REPLY, End of original message --------

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 09:58:35 -0700
From: "Deane D McIntyre"  <dmcintyr@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed], cbholm@[removed]
Subject: Suspense, History of Broadcasting
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

>  Does anyone know the time frames for the various sponsors of Suspense.  ie
>when did Roma wines drop the show and Autolite pick it up, [removed]
>thanks

An excellent reference for questions of this nature, which to my
knowledge has not been mentioned in this forum, is " A Thirty-Year
History of Programs Carried on National Radio Networks in the
United States 1926-1956". Harrison B, Summers, editor. This is
part of the Arno Press/New York Times History of Broadcasting Series
which should be in most large libraries in the [removed] Reprint Edition,
1971, ISBN 0-405-03572-1.

This 228 page book is a listing, year by year, of all network radio
programs carried on American networks.  For each program in each year,
it gives the name of the Sponsor, the number of seasons the program
had been on the air at that point, the network, length of program
in minutes, day and time (Eastern) of broadcast, and where available the
Hooper/Neilsor rating for the programe. 

For Suspense we have the following:

Started 1942-43, CBS, 30 Min, Tuesday at 9:30 PM,  Sustaining [removed] no sponsor
1943-44, CBS, 30 Min, Thursday at 8:00 PM, Roma Wines, rating [removed]
1944-45, CBS, 30 Min, Thursday at 8:00 PM, Roma Wines, rating [removed]
1945-46, CBS, 30 Min, Thursday at 8:00 PM, Roma Wines, rating  [removed]
1946-47, CBS, 30 Min, Thursday at 8:00 PM, Roma Wines, rating  [removed]
1947-48, CBS, 60 Min, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sustaining  
1948-49, CBS, 30 Min, Thursday at 9:00 PM, Auto Lite, rating [removed]
1949-50, CBS, 30 Min, Thursday at 9:00 PM, Auto Lite, rating  [removed]
1950-51, CBS, 30 Min, Thursday at 9:00 PM, Auto Lite, rating [removed]
1951-52, CBS, 30 Min, Monday at 8:00 PM, Auto Lite, rating [removed]
1952-53, CBS, 30 Min, Monday at 8:00 PM, Auto Lite, rating [removed]
1953-54, CBS, 30 Min, Monday at 8:00 PM, Auto Lite, rating [removed]
1954-55, CBS, 25 Min, Thursday at 8:00 PM, Sustaining
1955-56, CBS, 30 Min, Tuesday at 8:30, Sustaining

Of course, Suspense ran until 1962, as a Sustaining program as far
as I know. 

Cheers, Deane D McIntyre
dmcintyr@[removed]

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

Date: 14 Feb 1996 12:36 GMT
From: Henry Brugsch <@[removed]:henry@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Cc: 
Subject: Space patrol bloopers
Message-ID: <02141996123629um@[removed]>

i sort of remember the incident with the tool box.
We had this old silvertone [removed] I couldn't then see, either, but I can
remember quite frequently hearing guys walking around whilst the show
was going on, you coud hear things being moved about on occassions.
Always the same piece of the film of the ship in flight with quite a
nice piece of library music behind it. Wonder whoes it was.

-----
   Henry Brugsch
   aka hbj elsewhere, CIS: [removed]@[removed], hbj@[removed]
Give me an alias long enough and I'll mail the world

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 15:40:55 -0500
From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Jack Benny Movie & More
Message-ID: <960214154054_222125199@[removed]>

Hi Gang -                      February 14 - 1996 -- Wednesday 2:40 PM cst

I just received my March issue of AMC magazine.  They will be showing a 
JACK BENNY movie, "To Be, or Not To Be" at the following times:
        March 9 - 5:45 PM cst,  
        March 10 - 1:45 AM cst,  
        March 26 - 7 PM and 10:45 PM cst.  
They have shown this movie several times in the past.  Now if we could 
only convince them to show "The Horn Blows at Midnight"......

-----  New Topic ---  Comments on posts from previous issues  ----

Issue 59 -  Red Lantern -
Bill Knowlton recalls some TV programs and asks about the "talking
fish" program.  LAND OF THE LOST was on radio before it went to TV. 
It ran from 1943 to 1948.  It was on that program that I first heard of 
BOSCO.  Yes, I remember the "talking fish" (Red Lantern), but from RADIO.

Issue 59 -  Thanks, Chris, for the info -
Chris Zenchenko's explanation of digital CD and the amount of programming
that can actually fit on a CD ROM was very informative.  I'll have to re-
read about how to play it, now that I finally got a Soundblaster installed
in my computer. 

Issue 57 -  Those "Little Tabs" -
Yes, Merlin, the little tab will "file protect" the side of the tape 
that corresponds to the bigger spool of tape.  In other words, if you
hold a wound cassette with the spool to the left and the opening toward
you, the tab on the left will protect the spool which is about to be 
played (or recorded).   The other tab will protect the other side after
the cassette is "flipped".  

Issue 56 -  More about "squeaky tape" (sorry) -
Remember, when you play a squeaky tape, some of the "goo" will get stuck
on the heads, guides, and other parts of the machine.  Unless you CLEAN 
THE MACHINE after playing a squeaky tape, subsequent tapes may squeak, 
too.  The other tapes may not be defective, they can squeak because of the
goo that is on the machine from playing an earlier tape.   Also, if your 
machine uses felt pressure pads on the heads, be aware that the pressure
pads usually capture the goo first.  It's not easy to clean the goo from
the felt.  It can be done, but it's sometime easier to install new piece
of felt. 

Issue 45 (and others)  - Radio Charlie -
I'd be most interested in obtaining copies of these propaganda songs. 
If anybody knows what label (and number) these alleged CDs re-issued 
them, please let us know.  If not commercially available, please let 
me know by e-mail how I can get a copy of your copy. 

Incidental -  Der Fuehrer's Face - 
The [removed] had propaganda songs, too, but the one I remember best is 
Spike Jones' recording of "Der Fuehrer's Face", written by Oliver Wallace, 
and featured in the Disney Cartoon "Donald Duck in Nutziland".  

That's all for now.
Happy Taping - Ken Piletic - Streamwood, Illinois 
kenpiletic@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 13:41:53 -0500
From: SeptSev@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Wellesian Thoughts
Message-ID: <960214134152_144119632@[removed]>

[removed]
Ah, Mr. Welles. Even years after his death, he entertains us--teases us
even--with thoughts of what he was and what he could have been.
Welles was a thrill seeking genius.  It may have sounded to some like he
"phoned in" some of his Shadow performances because he probably performed
many of them with little or no rehearsal. (He used to race between studios
through the streets of New York in an ambulance: how dramatic! How thoroughly
Wellesian!)
Was he a has-been at 25? Well, he made mistakes--as all young men do.  His
biggest mistake wasn't--as many think--taking on Hearst--but not making RKO
any money by taking on Hearst.  If CITIZEN KANE had done boffo biz at the box
office, not one person would have cared that he took on Hearst.
Hollywood hated Welles because he was an ego-driven young, EXTREMELY talented
outsider.  And they hated him even more because he didn't make them any
money. (There are lots of hard-to-work-with-ego-maniacs in Hollywood; they
keep working because they make studios and networks money.  When the do-re-mi
stops, so do they.)
Welles himself, at the end of his life, mused about his career and proclaimed
that after KANE he should have gone back to the theatre.  You get the feeling
he felt he had wasted his life spending 2% making movies and 98% hustling the
coin to make them.
Was he right?  Not if you consider that if he HAD stopped making movies we
never would have had (as a previous poster pointed out) CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT or
TOUCH OF EVIL.  But would he have been happier? Probably.  And the theatre
would have been richer. (I've always been dissapointed that he didn't get a
chance to do a weekly hourly TV series.  That would have been [removed])
And in regards to his ego, and the tape of his commercial session were he
balls out the director: friends, I started my career in ShowBiz as an actor.
 I've done TV, film, and plenty of voice overs.  The people directing you in
commercials can be a major PIA because often they have no idea what they
want, they give you directions that are meaningless and they really just love
to sit on the other side of the glass booth and hear themselves talk. (Not
all of them, mind you, but some.  It always amazed me that I would be hired
based upon my known talents, and once on the job the director would want to
change what I did best! It would be like hiring an electrician and then
asking him to fix your toilet.) :) Now--I had to politely take all this
direction, and make the best of it. In the case of Welles, if you listen to
that tape and listen to the direction being given him, it's a wonder he
didn't jump out the window! Here you hire ORSON WELLES--War of the Worlds-
The Shadow- Citizen Kane ORSON WELLES--and you, a twenty five year old snot
who thinks he is a director try to tell him how to sell peas?!! Amazing!!
When you hire Orson Welles--let him be Orson Welles@!
But then again, the moxie of that twenty five year old commercial director is
the same moxie that Welles himself had as the young man who gave us KANE.
Irony?
Yours truly,
Thom Bray

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 96 10:28:24 EST
From: platecap@[removed] (Bob B)
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: cassettes are dead???
Message-Id: <m0tmpbQ-000YQSC@[removed]>

Randy Minehan wondered about the validity of someone's claim that the
standard cassette is on the way out.

The writing has been on the wall for the last few years.
It is fact that CDs have far outsold cassettes for several years.

I would say their *total* demise is still quite a ways away though,
since they are *still* the most cost effective HOME recording method.

We can probably thank the recording industry actually, for keeping the
cost of digital audio tape machines high -- which has prolonged the life
of regular [removed] yes, the built in copy guard schemes in
consumer DATs make *that* means totally unsuitable for old time radio as
we currently know it.

As for standard cassettes, the market for books on tape, home
convenience recording and yes, old time radio will keep the format
around for awhile. The market is just too big.

At the same time, the medium of CHOICE for music is CD.

The mini-disk format seems to be doing reasonably good considering --
perhaps it will become the medium of choice for old time radio
hobbyists when cassettes finally do die.

Bob Burnham; BRC Productions; [removed] Box 2645; Livonia, MI 48151
voice (313) 277-3798;  fax (313) 277-3095; internet platecap@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 17:27:17 -0500 (EST)
From: "W. John Weber" <wweber@[removed]>
To: Old Time Radio <otr@[removed]>
Subject: Welles commercial 
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

A recent posting mentioned a commercial read by Orson Welles as an 
example of his ego.  There is no doubt about his ego, but it must be 
noted, having heard the tape, that he was right.  Anyone who reads ad 
copy for a living (I don't, but as an audio engineer I work with them all 
day) will attest that the producer's at that session were making idiotic 
suggestions. 

Choicest quote from that tape: (as the producers are asking him to put 
emphasis on the word 'in')  "If you show me how to emphasize 'in' before 
'July', I'll go down on you."

Now, THERE'S a sound bite!!!

-- John Weber

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 19:00:33 -0500
From: MVHaas@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
cc: MVHaas@[removed]
Subject: Re: Orson Welles and the commercial
Message-ID: <960214190032_144426689@[removed]>

   I think I've heard the tape of Welles butchering the commercial, but where
JRay hears an overblown ego, I remember thinking that everytime Welles
complained about the script he was right!  At least in the version I heard
broadcast (several years ago) the script was full of bad phrasing and poor
construction. So Orson, to my thinking, was somewhat justified in getting
upset.
  Face it, if you're going to use someone like Welles, you need to have a
high-quality script for him to read. Otherwise it's a farce. 

best -- Merlin Haas

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 19:02:55 -0500
From: BROACH88@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: CBS Mystery Series
Message-ID: <960214190254_222324215@[removed]>

About 15-20 years ago the local (Cols. OH) CBS affiliate ran a series that I
believe was called CBS Mystery Theater.  It had E. G. Marshall as host/star.
 As I recall the series had some good stories - but I've never seen it in any
of the catalogs.  Does anyone remember same - or have any information about
availablility?

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

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 19:09:10 -0800
From: banzai-1@[removed] (Alex Pissalidis )
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Which college has OTR & Radio Dramas?
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

Hello!

I'm excited about posting a question here, I stumbled across this site 
by accident but I'm really glad to have discovered it!!!

So does anyone know which college somewhere in the mid-West, I believe 
has a large collection of OTR and radio dramas available for listening. 
My understanding is that somehow one discovers what they have 
available, then you send them the necessary cassettes and they dub the 
shows for you!

Is this for real or a myth?  Any clarifications would be most 
appreciated!  Thanks in advance.

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

    


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---- 
End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #61

