Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #358
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 10/2/2003 8:49 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 358
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      George Fenneman vs. John Stephenson   [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      10-3 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Wanted to trade: Johnny Dollar        [ rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed] ]
      Mystery Playhouse returns to the air  [ rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed] ]
      You Bet Your Life on radio            [ "Ronnie Wise" <rwise@[removed]; ]
      Re: A&A -- The Song                   [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Re: BBC Radio For Sale                [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
      Lux Radio Theater                     [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      Re: C-120 tapes                       [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
      Eddy King at SPERDVAC                 [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
      Miss Sherlock                         [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
      Ann Scotland                          [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
      People Are Funny                      [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
      Re: Billy Murray and Amos 'n' Andy    [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Sound quality of OTR, was Lux Questi  [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      OTR mistake                           [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 10:09:11 -0400
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  George Fenneman vs. John Stephenson
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    Hey all you fellow Digesters:

           SOMEBODY ALERT RIPLEY!!! Believe It or Not, my good friend Michael
    Hayde, to whom I've given the quite-fitting sobriquet "Mr. Dragnet," has made
    a  mistake. The fact that Michael is also a phenomenal cartoon historian also
    compounds the following faux pas. In response to a question posed by Kenneth
    Clarke,  Michael writes:

>     After Liggett & Myers began sponsoring "Dragnet," Fenneman eventually took
>     over this line from Eddy King: "The story you're about to hear is true.
>     Only the names have been changed, to protect the innocent."  He also spoke
>     the TV variation of that line on every single "Dragnet" program through
>     1970.

            Sorry to compromise Badge 714, Michael, but the wrap-around narration
    from the 1966-1970 "Dragnet" incarnation was provided by veteran TV actor and
    Hanna-Barbera voice-man John Stephenson. I can see how the misconception that
    George Fenneman also announced the 1960s "Dragnet"  is perpetuated to this
    day as I don't ever remember Mr. Stephenson  receiving any sort of on-screen
    or spoken credit.
             Don't worry, Michael. you're not the only one to make this
    "dum-de-dum-dumb" mistake. I remember when Mr. Fenneman died a few years ago
    & how the E! cable-channel on their "Entertainment Tonight" knock-off "E!
    News Daily"  played the opening "badge" scene from the 1960s "Dragnet" and
    identified  John Stephenson's voice as that of George Fenneman's.
              As far as I'm concerned, Mike, you're still  and always will be
    "Mr. Dragnet." Besides, I need to be nice to you considering that your
    "Dragnet" panel is the lead-in to my "comedians' panel" later this month at
    the FOTR convention in Newark, NJ.
              Speaking of "Dragnet," I see how the newest re-incarnation starring
    Ed O'Neill on ABC has been re-titled "[removed] Dragnet" for the new season.  As a
    long-time fan of both "Dragnet" & of Jack Webb's oeuvre, I welcome this
    titular differentiation and feel the more this 21st century "Dragnet" does to
    distance itself from the original article, the better.
               The former "Al Bundy" Ed O'Neill seems angry all the time. Why
    don't they just call the entity "DRAGNETWORK" and have O'Neill/Friday shout
    "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more!"?
               In conclusion, I always liked how the early 1949 radio "Dragnets"
    ended with each episode being dedicated to the memory of  policemen who had
    died in the line of duty. I remember hearing one being dedicated to a cop
    named "Forrest Sawyer." I know this is a long-shot, but would anybody out
    there happen to know if this lawman is somehow related to the latter-day TV
    news anchor of the same name?

    That's about the size of it!

    Derek Tague
    Orange, NJ (home of Byron G. Harlan)

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 10:09:19 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  10-3 births/deaths

    October 3rd births

    10-03-1873 - Emily Post - Baltimore, MD - d. 9-25-1960
    commentator: "Emily Post"; "Right Thing to Do"
    10-03-1890 - Henry Hull - Louisville, KY - d. 3-8-1977
    actor: Honest Abe "Abraham Lincoln"; Nathan Hale "Roses and Drums"
    10-03-1898 - Leo McCarey - Los Angeles, CA - d. 7-5-1969
    judge: "This Is My Story"
    10-03-1899 - Gertrude Berg - NYC - d. 9-14-1966
    actress: Molly Goldberg, "The Goldbergs"
    10-03-1916 - James Alfred "Alf" Wight - Sunderland, England - d. 2-23-1995
    author: James Herriot Books

    October 3rd deaths

    02-24-1914 - Zachary Scott - Austin, TX - d. 10-3-1965
    actor: "Suspense"; "Encore Theatre"; "[removed] Steel Hour"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
    06-04-1917 - Charles Collingwood - Three Rivers, MI - d. 10-3-1985
    newscaster: CBS News UN Correspondent/White House Correspondent
    07-17-1914 - Eleanor Steber - Wheeling, WV - d. 10-3-1990
    singer: "Voice of Firestone"; "[removed] Fox Trappers"
    09-17-1928 - Roddy McDowall - London, England - d. 10-3-1998
    panelist: "Keep Up with the Kids"
    11-30-1913 - John K. M. McCaffrey - Moscow, ID - d. 10-3-1983
    newscaster: "Author Meets the Critics"; "What Makes You Tick?"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 11:37:09 -0400
    From: rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Wanted to trade: Johnny Dollar

    I'm compiling a list of my episodes of Johnny Dollar, and I am missing many
    episodes from the 30 minute Bob Bailey run.  Anyone who would like to trade
    these on cassette, please contact me.

    thanks,

    rodney.

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 11:37:28 -0400
    From: rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Mystery Playhouse returns to the air

    For those who live in the Cincinnati area, WVXU ([removed]) is now airing
    Mystery Playhouse rebroadcasts of Suspense and The Whistler weeknights at
    7pm.

    WVXU airs a full 24 hours of OTR material a week.  Quite a feat for any
    modern broadcast station!

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 11:52:22 -0400
    From: "Ronnie Wise" <rwise@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  You Bet Your Life on radio
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    Hi, radio buffs:  I'm trying to get all the Your Bet Your Life radio episodes.
    Does anyone have any idea how many YBYL radio broadcasts there were, and how
    many have survived? Also, were the YBYL TV shows simulcast on radio, and what
    date did that start?
    Any information is appreciated.
    Ron Wise

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 13:02:11 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: A&A -- The Song

    On 10/2/03 10:49 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     Now here's the promised OTR thread. Billy Murray, once billed as "The Denver
>     Nightingale," recorded a novelty tune in 1930 simply entitled "Amos 'n
>     Andy." I'd be interested in hearing it of course, but I'm guessing there's
>     little chance of that. So how about settling for a copy of the lyrics?
>     Anyone? Elizabeth?

    Easy enough to oblige --

    The song was "Amos 'n' Andy", AKA "I Wonder What Amos 'n' Andy Will Do
    Tomorrow Night," with music by William Tracey and lyrics by Jack Stanley,
    a couple of Tin Pan Alley hacks who specialized in upbeat novelty songs.
    The song was cranked out in the early months of 1930 to capitalize on the
    A&A craze which swept the nation during the winter of 1929-30, and was
    recorded by several harmony teams, with the Billy Murray/Walter Scanlan
    version recorded on 3/6/30 (Perfect 12597, also issued as Conqueror 9412,
    and pseudonymously as "Saunders and White" on Banner 9412, Oriole 1900,
    and Romeo 1261) probably the most successful.

    The lyrics are as follows:

    Verse:

    There's a very fu-nny pair
    Ev-'ry night they're on the air,
    And fans are gath-ered ev-'ry where
    A ra-di-o is han-dy
    In homes or at the groc-'ry store
    People listen in and roar,
    They laugh un-til their sides are sore
    At Am-os 'n' Andy.

    Chorus:

    Am-os 'n' An-dy,
    They're al-ways in a stew
    Bad luck seems to fol-low them,
    No mat-ter what they do.
    The boys are al-ways try-ing
    but they nev-er save a bean
    If King-fish does-n't get it
    then it's spent on Mad-ame Queen.
    We laugh at all their trou-bles
    But we hope they'll end all right
    We won-der what Am-os 'n' An-dy
    will do to-mor-row night.

    Second Verse:

    In the res-t'rant where you eat
    In the cars or on the street,
    Now ev-'ry-bo-dy that you meet
    Has just one con-ver-sa-tion
    Go east or west or north or south
    They're in ev-'ry-bo-dy's mouth,
    There's just one sub-ject talked a-bout
    Through-out all the nation.

    Second Chorus:

    Am-os 'n' An-dy,
    What will their fin-ish be
    This sus-pense is kill-ing us,
    Such ner-vous wrecks are we.
    Why ev-en old grand-mothers
    sit around in chairs and rock
    As soon as din-ner's ov-er
    ev-'ry eye is on the clock.
    This one important question
    Has the na-tion sit-ting tight
    We won-der what Am-os 'n' An-dy
    will do to-mor-row night.

    Third Verse:

    Am-os 'n' An-dy,
    Al-tho' they're nev-er seen
    They've be-come more fa-mous than
    The team of Pork and Beans.
    When you step on the gas or
    at a light you fail to stop
    You hear that cer-tain whis-tle
    and up jumps a traf-fic cop.
    His mind ain't on his bus'-ness
    On the ticket he will write
    "I won-der what Am-os 'n' An-dy
    will do to-mor-row night."

    Correll and Gosden themselves never authorized this song, nor did they
    license the use of their registered trademark in its lyrics -- although
    there's no evidence that they ever pursued legal action against Tracey
    and Stanley over it, as they did with various other infringers during
    this period. They also never performed the song themselves, and there's
    good reason to believe they were too embarassed by that sort of adulation
    to ever consider doing so.

    Archeophone Records puts out an excellent CD compilation of Murray's
    recordings, with the Perfect release of "Amos 'n' Andy" among them. (See
    [removed])

    Anyone who's seriously interested in early-20th-century pop culture needs
    to know who Murray was -- and this CD is an excellent introduction to his
    work.  Or if you're a 78rpm collector, his recordings are still very easy
    to find, and don't cost a lot. Plus they're a *lot* of fun.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 14:13:38 -0400
    From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: BBC Radio For Sale

    Allen Wilcox <aawjca@[removed]; asked the musical question:

>     Does any one know of any one who sells BBC radio
>     products?

    If you don't mind paying through the nose (among other places), all of the Beeb's currently-in-production titles can be had at:

    [removed]

    (If the above address breaks, just go through the Amazon UK "front door" at [removed] and search for "BBC" in "Audio CDs".)

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 15:17:20 -0400
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lux Radio Theater

    Hi Everybody,

    regarding in the last digest about why does the 1939 Lux Radio Theater has a
    special sound to them.  [removed] grandson donated his collection to SPERDVAc
    which mainly is from 1939 to 1945.  That might help expand the answer if
    your copy come from the SPErDVAC disc.  Take care,

    Walden

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 16:31:31 -0400
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: C-120 tapes

    John Matthews talked about his having no problems 2 hour tapes. You might
    just be lucky. There are two major problems with a tape that thin.

    1. Print through

    2. Weak batteries. Some portable machines tend to have a problem on the
    take up side if the batteries get weak. Result. Tape jams. This could even
    happen on a standard player if it is belt driven. The belts get stretched
    and the tape jams.

    My suggestion to all my clients is to not use C-120's. We had only one
    client that ever did use them. And that is over a period of 30 some years.

    Fred

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 17:01:59 -0400
    From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Eddy King at SPERDVAC

    Michael Hayde recently posted:

>     After Liggett & Myers began sponsoring "Dragnet," Fenneman eventually took
>     over this line from Eddy King.

    You'll have a chance to meet Eddy King and hear about the other shows he
    worked on, too at the next  SPERDVAC meeting on October 11th. The guest
    speaker will be EDDY KING, veteran radio/TV announcer who worked on
    Hollywood-originated shows such as: "RICHARD DIAMOND"(w/Dick Powell), "ROCKY
    FORTUNE"(w/Frank Sinatra), early "DRAGNET"(w/Jack Webb) among others.
    The meeting will begin at 12 Noon, is FREE and open to the public. The
    Library is located at 16244 Nordhoff St., North Hills (San Fernando Valley),
    just west of the 405 (San Diego) Freeway.

    Barbara

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 17:34:16 -0400
    From: otrbuff@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Miss Sherlock

    Once again Kenneth Clarke writes:

>     I'd like to get some information, if available
>     from anyone who knows about "Meet Miss Sherlock".

    See "Radio Crime Fighters," page 175, for fuller details on this series.
    There are presently only two known extant episodes of this 1946-47 CBS
    series in circulation and Kenneth already owns one of those.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 17:33:55 -0400
    From: otrbuff@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ann Scotland

    Kenneth Clarke writes:

>     I've looked through John Dunning's book, and others,
>     but can't seem to find any info about "The Adventures of
>     Anne Scotland".

    But did you look in mine?  See pages 36-37 of "Radio Crime Fighters"
    (McFarland, 2002).  The program's title is "The Affairs of Ann Scotland."
    The lady detective was considered a "satin-tongued cutie" and her series was
    on ABC from October 1946 to October 1947 and starred Arlene Francis.  You'll
    find a lot of trivia about Arlene in the text.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 17:43:28 -0400
    From: otrbuff@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  People Are Funny

    A. Joseph Ross tells us:

>     According to Art Linkletter's autobiography, People Are Funny initially was
>     co-hosted by him and Art Baker.  Then after a few weeks, at Art Baker's
>     insistence, Linkletter was dumped, but remained involved with John Guidel
>     in the production end.  This was because the show was too new to be able
>     to lose a host of Art Baker's status.   After the show was renewed,
>     Art Baker was dumped and Linkletter returned as full host.

    >From my book, "The Great Radio Audience Participation Shows" (McFarland,
    2001), pages 12-13, comes this affirming detail:

    "When Guedel proposed People Are Funny to NBC he preferred the extroverted
    Art Linkletter as emcee over the more pedantic Baker.  The network
    disagreed; Baker would host the show while Linkletter, who actually thought
    up many of the show's pranks, assisted for a little while.  Linkletter,
    incidentally, had been in on the ground floor of developing People Are
    Funny.  Guedel claimed the two men hatched the series in a corner booth of
    the Brown Derby Restaurant near the famous intersection of Hollywood and
    Vine. . . .

    "The rather avant-garde radio series premiered on April 10, 1942.  As time
    rolled by it became increasingly apparent to many that the show lacked a
    vital ad-lib quality at the top.  A year-and-a-half later Guedel abruptly
    replaced Baker with Linkletter.  Baker sued him and lost.  People Are Funny
    became Linkletter's venue, and the fans quickly forgot there ever had been
    another host."

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 18:55:07 -0400
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Billy Murray and Amos 'n' Andy

    I don't have the recording by Billy Murray (I'll have to look it up in the
    Murray discography) but I do have records of two A&A songs from the
    1929-1930 era.  My favorite is called "Amos 'n' Andy" but should really
    have been called "I Wonder What Amos 'n' Andy Will Do Tommorrow Night."
    The other song is much less inspired, called "I'm Dreaming of Amos 'n'
    Andy."  Now that I have found my tape of Episode 28--the earliest one know
    to exist--perhaps I should include these two records when we distribute it.

    And to add to Murray's OTR links, he did do broadcasts, and I have his
    appearance on the first program ofThe Edison Hour, Feb 11, 1929.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 18:56:06 -0400
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Sound quality of OTR, was Lux Question

    Bob Fells asks why the 1939 Lux Radio Theatre recordings are much more
    vivid than the earlier ones.  There can be many reasons, ranging from the
    quality of the original discs to the care that was taken or not taken in
    the initial transfers to tape, and also whether the earlier ones might have
    gone thru more generations of collector dubbings.  There also can be a
    difference based on whether it was recorded off the line in the city where
    the program originates vs. being recorded in a distant city with network
    lines.

    Even two recordings of the same program can be quite different in quality.
    Just yesterday I was starting to make a dub of Corwin's "We Hold These
    Truths" for my daughter to use for a class assignment, and I figured I
    could save time by just cloning the version on the Radio Spirits Walter
    Cronkite set.  I knew it was not as good as my tape, but I thought it would
    be good enough.  But I knew that I HAD to add the CBS Network introduction
    to the program that was on my tape but was not on the RS CD.  So I got out
    the edited version of the program I play in class and was intending to use
    it just for that network intro (it lists the programs and sponsors that
    were being pre-empted.)  But when I compared the sound quality I was
    absolutely floored at how much better mine was.  It was sparkling crystal
    clear.  High frequencies to 10 K and perhaps beyond were quite evident.
    Deep resonate bass.  Both in the music and in the voices such as Lionel
    Barrymore in the opening.  The Radio Spirits, on the other hand, was
    muffled, blurry, slushy, thin and bass less, and altogether disgustingly
    bad--especially considering all of Carl A's hype of their great sound
    quality.  It sounded like a seventeenth generation cassette that may have
    been recorded from a disc made in a city other than the originating city of
    LA.  Mine sounds like the first or second generation dub of a line check
    recorded in LA, probably at Radio Recorders.  It is open reel 7 1/2 IPS.
    So there is an example of how two recordings of the exact same broadcast
    can differ so much in sound quality.  And Leah, you'll have to wait a
    couple of weeks till I can pull out the unedited original tape and dub it
    real time to CD.

    Bob also indicates that "the 1939 broadcasts sound as though they were
    recorded directly inside the Music Box Theater, sort of the way RCA
    recorded Toscanini's NBC Symphony concerts inside Studio 8H."   They would
    never have the recording machines in the studios.  They would always be in
    separate isolated rooms.  They have to be able to monitor the sound off of
    speakers with no interaction with the original sound.  They also have to be
    careful not to have any sonic vibrations strong enough to vibrate the
    recording machine, discs, cutting head, etc.   From what I have heard from
    the people who have worked directly with the original NBC and RCA Victor
    masters for the official CD reissues, both organizations were recording
    side by side in the same facility using their own equipment.  It was
    elsewhere in the building.  I've also been told that usually the NBC
    recordings sounded better than the RCA Victor masters.  Occasionally for
    the broadcasts there were feeds with and without the announcer, so there
    might have been a half dozen recording machines going.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 19:49:18 -0400
    From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR mistake

              I believe I asked about an OTR program recently
    I referred to as "The Adventures of  Anne Scotland".  Well,
    I was wrong about the title.  The correct title of the program
    was "The Affairs of Anne Scotland".  If anyone knows where
    I can get cassettes of this program, let me know.

              Can anyone suggest a few good OTR detective/mystery
    programs from OTR apart from the usual ones?  (I already
    have "The Fat Man", "The Thin Man", "Candy  Matson", "Sherlock
    Holmes", "The Shadow" and the like.)  Are there any others
    which are available which anyone can recommend?  If so, let
    me know offline.

    Kenneth Clarke

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #358
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