------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2005 : Issue 161
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
5-23 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
New Archie Andrews Shows on CD [ "Jerry Bechtel" <jerrybechtel@jalc. ]
New Female Detective Radio Series To [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
Re: Scopes Trial [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Re: Sherlock Holmes [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
NBC Chimes trademark [ Michael Shoshani <mshoshani@sbcglob ]
When was the first American radio ne [ Andrew Steinberg <otrdig1@[removed] ]
Benny's last "live" show [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Arch Oboler - House on Fire [ Jay Sweet <sweetedit@[removed]; ]
Jack Benny on the Tonight Show [ Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed] ]
Re: Scopes Trial [ udmacon@[removed] ]
Sorry, Wrong Number [ "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@bas ]
Holmes vs Dracula [ "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@bas ]
Responses [ "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@charter. ]
RadioGOLDINdex [ Richard Pratz <[removed]@[removed]; ]
NBC Recordings policy [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Jon Pertwee [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
Carl in La-La Land [ "thomas" <evander800@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 07:27:42 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 5-23 births/deaths
May 23rd births
05-23-1882 - James Gleason - NYC - d. 4-12-1959
actor: "Jimmy Gleason's Diner"
05-23-1883 - Douglas Fairbanks - Denver, CO - d. 12-12-1939
commentator: "KHJ Los Angeles 1921"
05-23-1890 - Herbert Marshall - London, England - d. 1-22-1966
actor: Ken Thurston "Man Called X"
05-23-1898 - Frank McHugh - Homestead, PA - d. 9-11-1981
actor: Fairchild Finnegan "Phone Again Finnegan"
05-23-1910 - Artie Shaw - NYC - d. 12-30-2004
bandleader: "Melody and Madness"; "George Burns and Gracie Allen Show"
05-23-1910 - Benjamin "Scatman" Crothers - Terre Haute, IN - d. 11-26-1986
jazz musician: early radio into the 40s
05-23-1912 - John Payne - Roanoke, VA - d. 12-6-1989
actor: "Hollywood Star Preview"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-23-1912 - Marius Goring - Newport, Isle of Wight, England - d. 9-30-1998
actor: Sir Percy Blakeney/Scarlet Pimpernel "Scarlet Pimpernel"
05-23-1919 - Betty Garrett - St. Joseph, MO
singer-actress: "Savings Bond Show"; "Guest Star"; "Showtime"
05-23-1921 - Helen O'Connell - Lima, OH - d. 9-9-1993
singer: (Jimmy Dorsey Band) "Kraft Music Hall"; "Fitch Bandwagon"
05-23-1928 - Rosemary Clooney - Maysville, KY - d. 6-29-2002
singer: "Rosemary Clooney Show"; "On the Sunny Side"
May 23rd deaths
03-15-1915 - David Schoenbrun - NYC - d. 5-23-1988
news correspondent: CBS News, Paris; "CBS Radio Workshop"
03-20-1828 - Henrik Ibsen - Skien, Norway - d. 5-23-1906
playwright: "Great Plays";"Columbia Workshop"; "Theatre Guild On the Air"
03-26-1916 - Sterling Hayden - Montclair, NJ - d. 5-23-1986
actor: "We the People"
05-27-1912 - Slammin' Sammy Snead - Ashwood, VA - d. 5-23-2002
golf legend: "Kraft Music Hall"
07-10-1894 - Jimmy McHugh - Boston, MA - d. 5-23-1969
song writer: "Cavalcade of Music"; "It's Time to Smile"; "The Navy Sings"
07-19-1896 - Merle Kendrick - d. 5-23-1968
orchestra conductor: "Cabin B-13"
08-04-1915 - William Keene - PA - d. 5-23-1992
actor: Red Lantern "Land of the Lost"
09-12-1914 - Eddy Howard - Woodland, CA - d. 5-23-1963
bandleader, singer: "Carton of Cheer"; "Gay Mrs. Featherstone"
09-24-1886 - James Burke - NYC - d. 5-23-1968
actor: producer: "Rose of My Dreams"
10-28-1886 - Ruth Gates - Denton, TX - d. 5-23-1966
actress: Mrs Lenord "Amanda of Honeymoon Hill"
11-04-1912 - Humphrey Davis - Meriden, CT - d. 5-23-1987
actor: Al Douglas "Life Can Be Beautiful"; Sheriff Jackson "Tennessee Jed"
xx-xx-1874 - Arthur Maitland - d. 5-23-1959
actor: Zeke "David Harum"; Mr. Weatherby "Archie Andrews"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 07:32:22 -0400
From: "Jerry Bechtel" <jerrybechtel@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: New Archie Andrews Shows on CD
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Could anyone give me information on how to obtain the new set of Archie
Andrews CDs that will be available at the Puget Sound Convention? Since
I live in Illinois and work fulltime (still) I can't get to the distant
conventions yet. Is attending the convention the only way to purchase
these newly available shows? Archie Andrews (and, of course Jughead) was
my favorite show to listen to back in the 40's. I collected all the
shows that seem to be available and would love to add these to my
collection. Thanks for your help folks!
Jerry Bechtel
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:12:53 -0400
From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: New Female Detective Radio Series To Air
While the following may be slightly off topic, it should of interest to
all fans of Radio Drama.
A new female radio detective starts this weekend on the syndicated
IMAGINATION THEATRE. The series is called THE HILARY CAINE MYSTERIES. It
is the latest effort by Jim French Productions and is the creation of
British writer M. J. Elliott, who is a frequent contributor to French's THE
FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES and KINCAID, THE STRANGE-SEEKER
series, as well as the chief writer for RAFFLES, THE GENTLEMAN THIEF. This
first episode of THE HILARY CAINE MYSTERIES should be available for
listening to on the IMAGINATION THEATRE web site by Saturday of this week
at:
[removed]
In the initial episode of THE HILARY CAINE MYSTERIES, "A Reputation For
Murder," young Hilary Caine employs the methods of Sherlock Holmes and
Ellery Queen to solve the murder of the local minister. You can find out
more information about the series at:
[removed]
Signing off for now,
Stewart Wright
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:14:00 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Scopes Trial
On 5/23/05 7:30 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
On a network news show last evening, there was a graphic indicating that the
Scopes Trial was broadcast live. Is this correct and if so, are there any
surviving recordings of the trial?
The trial was broadcast over WGN, Chicago, with staff announcer Quin Ryan
assigned to provide commentary from the courtroom. The Tribune Company,
owner of the station, arranged for a special AT&T wire from the town of
Dayton, Tennessee back to Chicago to handle the relay.
No recordings are known to exist. There have been persistant rumors over
the years, and I've been approached by a couple of different people over
the years who "swear they've heard them," but these individuals have
never been able to substantiate their claims. Given the extreme rarity of
any genuine broadcast recordings prior to 1930, I have to say that there
is little-to-no chance that these claims have any substance. Silent
newsreel footage does exist, but there is no genuine audio.
For what it's worth, I haven't personally encountered genuine off-air
recordings of *any* WGN broadcasts until 1933 -- a few supposed ones have
turned up from the late twenties, but when investigated they invariably
turn out to be misattributed dubs of National Radio Advertising Inc.
syndication discs or ordinary commercial phonograph records.
Speaking in general terms, it's safe to say that if an event was
broadcast before 1930, the odds of a recording of that broadcast having
been made are very slim, and the odds of such a recording *surviving* are
even slimmer. No effective means for making an instantaneous, continuous
recording of a radio broadcast existed before 1927, and such equipment
did not become widely available until 1929-30. No station or network
posessed recording equipment of its own until the early 1930s. Thus any
recording of a broadcast from 1925 would have required the sort of
apparatus found in a commercial phonograph-company studio, and while
experimental broadcast recordings were made by some of these companies,
there is no surviving evidence that any of them recorded any portion of
the Scopes coverage.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:14:18 -0400
From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Sherlock Holmes
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 19:58:26 -0400
From: "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Sherlock Holmes
. . . .
I was recently in a Half-Price bookstore and saw a boxed set of Sherlock
Holmes radio shows. I was about to purchase it when I noticed it was not
OTR. These were recently produced scripts. I don't recall who put them
out. I'm not sure if they used the OTR scripts which are liberally
available from the archives of the Wisconsin State Historical Society in
Madison. Or, were they written anew for that series. Anyone know any
more
about that new Holmes set?
This set might be from the Jim French pastiche HOLMES series: THE
FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.
The series airs as part of the syndicated IMAGINATION THEATRE. It
started in 1998 and the 61st episode of the series, "The Adventure Of The
Aldgate Noose," aired this past weekend and can be listened to for the next
few weeks on the IMAGINATION THEATRE web site at:
[removed]
You can find much more information on THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK
HOLMES at:
[removed]
and
a broadcast log on the series with a great deal of background information
can be found at:
[removed]
Signing off for now,
Stewart Wright
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:14:28 -0400
From: Michael Shoshani <mshoshani@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: NBC Chimes trademark
Fr Michael Paraniuk writes:
As far as I know, the NBC chimes have always been the notes G-E-C which
they have registered as a trademark(?).
They did but it ran out. NBC, under RCA ownership, registered the
"chime-like musical notes" G-E-C as an audio trademark (actually, the
very first service mark) in 1950. This registration was only
applicable to radio; a separate registration for television usage was
made in 1971.
After the sale of NBC radio to Westwood One in 1987, the radio
trademark was not renewed at its twenty year interval, and trademark
registration lapsed in 1992. The television registration remains
active and was last renewed just a few years ago.
I don't think General Electric owns any of it anymore; NBC television
is now part of the Vivendi Universal Entertainment Group.
Michael Shoshani
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:22:24 -0400
From: Andrew Steinberg <otrdig1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: When was the first American radio news of
death of Hitler?
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Chuck Schaden's show Those Were The Days recently rebroadcast various
news programs announcing the death of Hitler. The broadcast dates of the
programs given was April 30, 1945. I think it is possible that the American
news programs did
not broadcast this news until May 1, 1945, and the April 30 date may be wrong.
Does anyone have any more detailed information on when this information was
first broadcast in the US?
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:22:39 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Benny's last "live" show
Kermyt wrote --
>> 5/22
>>
>> 1955 - Jack Benny signed off his last live network radio broadcast
>> after a run of 23 years.
> If I'm not mistaken, Jack's show hadn't been broadcast live for
several years by this time.
I should have been more specific by writing "the last regular
season's show". His program continued to be repeated for several years
after this date, but this was the last regular program in a series.
How's that? :)
Joe
--
Visit my homepage:
[removed]~[removed] No trees
were killed in the sending of this message. However a large number
of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:22:53 -0400
From: Jay Sweet <sweetedit@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Arch Oboler - House on Fire
I recently picked up a book, House on Fire by Arch Oboler, at a used
bookstore. It appears to be a horror book, published in 1969. Anybody know if
this is by the same Arch Oboler of OTR fame?
Jay Sweet
sweetedit@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:23:11 -0400
From: Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jack Benny on the Tonight Show
I'm looking for a copy of Jack's appearance on the Tonight Show
from Jan. 29, 1973. I believe this was one of the longer, 90 minute
shows,
and would like to see if this entire show is available as an mp3 ( I
have an edited version.)
thanks,
rob
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:23:42 -0400
From: udmacon@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Scopes Trial
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I've seen photos of the Scopes trial with a WGN, Chicago mic before the
proceedings.
I doubt if the trial was recorded; quite a few disks would have been
[removed]
BILL KNOWLTON: "Bluegrass Ramble," WCNY-FM ([removed]) Syracuse, WUNY ([removed])
Utica; WJNY ([removed]) Watertown NY. On the web: [removed]. Sundays: 9 pm to
midnight EST (since 1973) 315-457-6100
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:23:59 -0400
From: "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Sorry, Wrong Number
Wm Vest brought up SWN.
I have a copy of Miss Moorhead's script for this show. One with all her
notations, scribblings, etc. I have always found it interesting that,
except for the policeman on the phone at the end of the show, there are no
other characters in the script. It reads like a one-woman show. Yet, I
have never heard of such a version being broadcast. The ones I have heard
include other voices on the phone--policemen, the nursing service employees,
etc.
Does any one know if it was ever a solo performance?
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:24:10 -0400
From: "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Holmes vs Dracula
This is by no means definitive, but my first searches for information show
Sherlock Holmes portrayed in film 260 times, while Dracula is at 142. But
don't take this as gospel.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:24:53 -0400
From: "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Responses
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Hi -- A couple of responses to the last Digest:
Until very near the end of network programming, all transcribed shows had
to be so identified near the opening. Sometimes a staff announcer would say
"By [removed]" and the program would open, or the older announcement
was "The following program has been transcribed from an earlier broadcast to
be presented at this more convenient time." Or other variations. Later the
identification was buried in the show, and somehow the announcer always said
the unsavory word quickly and softly, as: "THE LUCKY STRIKE PROGRAM STARRING
JACK BENNY (transcribed) BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MAKERS OF ..." As the years
went by, the word was buried even deeper. "MR. DISTRICT ATTONEY, CHAMPION OF
THE [removed]" "And it shall [removed]" Etc., etc. Musical bridge. Announcer:
"We see two men seated across a desk from one another in an expensive office,
as our (transcribed) story [removed]"
So Laura Leff or someone else merely has to go through the extant
recordings of the Jack Benny show, and find the earliest one that does NOT
contain the identification that it is transcribed, and that will be the last
live Benny show. There is a slight possibility the show was recorded and
there was a live "by transcription" but it is far more probable the
transcribed identification was buried in the program as it was recorded.
Sponsors and producers liked to hide the word as much as possible. Live "by
transcription" was generally reserved for things like kids shows, Tom Mix or
Captain Midnight, delayed for a few hours from one time zone to the other.
I remember Arthur Godfrey discussing his operation and the cancer on his
aorta several times on radio. I recall him saying several times the surgeon
had scraped the cancer from the main blood vessel. It is a miracle he could
have "got it all" but the surgeon must have. This sounds more reasonable than
"spontaneous remission" although that does happen at times. Anyway, I am sure
that is what Godfrey himself said.
-- Jim Harmon
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:25:04 -0400
From: Richard Pratz <[removed]@[removed];
To: "OTR (Plain Text Only)" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RadioGOLDINdex
Does anyone know when RadioGOLDINdex "Search By Artist" will be up and
running again? J. David Goldin's site does not take email queries, but
states its search database by artist is under development and is expected to
be available on Feb. 1, 2002. Hmmm.
Rich
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:26:26 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: NBC Recordings policy
The question has arisen as to when Jack Benny had started to pre-record his
program. Although by this time Jack Benny had already switched over to
CBS, and prior to this time NBC did occasionally allow recordings on a
strict case-by-case basis (with VERY FEW approvals) the exact date of when
NBC rescinded their disapproval of the use of recordings on their radio
network was February 8, 1949. I reported this in my [removed] dissertation
almost 30 years ago.
In a memo numbered #2-49-005, NBC executive Ken R. Dyke wrote to all NBC
VPs, department heads and division heads:
"As a further step towards promoting program flexibility and improving
service to the listeners, NBC will immediately discontinue the network
recording ban and will permit the use of tape or disc transcriptions on the
network.
"Transcriptions will be accepted for network broadcasts whenever the
talent, advertiser, agency and network agree that such use will result in
program improvement.
"The use of such transcriptions will serve the convenience of radio
talent
and will give producers and directors an opportunity to perfect their
programs by reviewing and editing them in advance of broadcast.
"It is important that high fidelity transcriptions be used in each
case in
order that program quality will not be impaired.
"Program procedures already established for handling live broadcasts
will
be followed insofar as practical in accepting and broadcasting
transcriptions. However, where necessary, procedure changes will be made
to assure the same standards are maintained in presenting transcribed
programs on the network as have been established for live broadcasting.
"Instructions will be issued to operating departments establishing
specific policies for the handling of all types of transcribed program
material."
It was largely unknown that NBC had already allowed some West coast repeats
to be done on recordings on the West coast Blue network between 1939 and
1941 (including the Jack Benny Program) and that they had been delaying
nearly the entire network by one hour via recordings for non-daylight
saving time areas since 1947. But with very few exceptions, these delayed
recordings were of programs which had been broadcast live for the East
coast. This February 8, 1949 memo just dropped that other shoe, now that
it had been shown that the audiences did not complain about the use of
recordings (it really was a myth that they would complain) and the
realization that since the NBC Television Network HAD to make use of filmed
or kinescoped programs, it would be hypocritical not to allow the use of
recorded programs on their radio network. They realized the irony -- but
never stated it on paper -- that it was immediately apparent to TV viewers
when films or kines were being shown, but that it was rarely possible for a
radio listener to know that the program was pre-recorded until they heard
the required announcement.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:27:40 -0400
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jon Pertwee
I always remember Jon Pertwee from his appearances
on "Dr. Who", a BBC series (which I understand has quite
a cult following. Is this the same person to whom you are
referring?
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 19:32:31 -0400
From: "thomas" <evander800@[removed];
To: "old_time_radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Carl in La-La Land
On Sunday I saw a Carl Amari produced film that was dumped into the
metropolitan [removed] market (one theater in Bethesda, another in Arlington)
with almost no advertising. The title is 'Madison' and it is about speedboat
racing. It details the true story of Madison, Indiana's efforts to host a
Gold Cup race in 1971. Of course the town's entry won the race. A subtext of
the movie is the death of small town America.
The picture stars Jim Caviezel (before 'The Passion of the Christ') and
includes cameo turns by Bruce Dern and Paul Dooley. Carl even makes an
appearance.
I thought it was entertaining and well made. It was MGM's last release
as an independent company and will probably disappear without a trace. It
has
been on the shelf since 2001. What a shame!
Anyone know if OTR coverage of Gold Cup racing exists?
Tom vdV
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #161
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