Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #334
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 9/5/2003 11:45 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 334
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      9-6 Births/Deaths                     [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      reviews of two books on all-time rad  [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
      cds                                   [ "Dave Mills" <otrdave@[removed] ]
      The Joy Boys                          [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
      Phil Harris and "The Thing"           [ "Cancilla Dominick" <[removed]@buc ]
      Re: CD Construction                   [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
      Inner Sanctum                         [ otrdude@[removed] ]
      Robert Q. Lewis                       [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
      REPS hosts Jimmy Lydon, 9/6           [ otrarchive@[removed] ]
      Re: commercial CD life                [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Carmen Dragon                         [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      Re: Lone Ranger                       [ Ga6string@[removed] ]
      Writer -- Irving Ashkanazy            [ "Michael Delisa" <mdelisa@bormarlaw ]
      Today in radio history 9/5            [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Jack Armstrong                        [ "Caldwell, Wayne" <b-caldwell1@[removed] ]
      Inner Sanctum                         [ otrdude@[removed] ]
      Arthur Ross                           [ Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed] ]
      Lone Ranger                           [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Re: CD life expectancy                [ "Maureen O'Brien" <mobrien@[removed] ]
      Television mentioned in 1937 on Jack  [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 09:16:37 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  9-6 Births/Deaths

    September 6th births

    09-06-1885 - Otto Kruger - Toledo, OH - d. 9-6-1974
    actor: "Nobody"s Children"
    09-06-1891 - John Charles Thomas - Meyersdale, PA - d. 12-13-1960
    singer: "John Charles Thomas Program"; "Westinghouse Program"
    09-06-1894 - Billy Mills - Flint, MI - d. 10-21-1971
    conductor: "Fibber McGee and Molly"; "Great Gildersleeve"; "Amos 'n" Andy"
    09-06-1899 - Billy Rose - NYC - d. 2-10-1966
    creator-stager: "The Jumbo Fire Chief Program"
    09-06-1902 - Morgan Beatty - Little Rock, AR - d. 7-4-1975
    newscaster: "News of the World"
    09-06-1908 - Paul Lavalle - Beacon, NY - d. 6-24-1997
    conductor: "Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street"; "Dinah Shore Show"

    September 6th deaths

    02-09-1914 - Ernest Tubb - Crisp, TX - d. 9-6-1984
    singer: (The Texas Troubador) "Grand Ole Opry"
    03-23-1910 - Akira Kurosawa, Tokyo, Japan - d. 9-6-1998
    film director: NHK Tokyo, Japan
    07-11-1914 - Tommy Bartlett - Milwaukee, WI  - d. 9-6-1998
    emcee: "Welcome Travlers"
    07-18-1918 - Jane Frazee - Duluth, MN - d. 9-6-1985
    vaudeville act with sister
    09-06-1885 - Otto Kruger - Toledo, OH - d. 9-6-1974
    actor: "Nobody"s Children"
    09-26-1875 - Edmund Gwenn - Glamorgan, Wales - d. 9-6-1959
    actor: "A Christmas Carol"
    11-14-1920 - Johnny Desmond - Detroit, MI - d. 9-6-1985
    singer: "I Sustain the Wings"; "Philip Morris Frolics"; "Songs for Sale"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Hometown of [removed] Kaltenborn and Jay Jostyn

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 11:20:45 -0400
    From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  reviews of two books on all-time radio

    The latest edition of the prestigious Journal of Radio Studies (June
    2003) features excellent reviews of two books about old-time radio.

    Writing about WORDS AT WORDS (Scarecrow Press) by Howard Blue (yours
    truly) , Paul Heyer of Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario calls the
    book a "thorough perceptive study" and "an exceptionally probing and
    indispensable contribution to the history of American radio." Heyer adds
    "[Blue] has provided us with a comprehensive and revealing study that
    exhibits an extraordinary synchretism between in-depth research and
    accessible exposition." WORDS AT WORDS is available from my web site,
    [removed]

    Writing about SAY GOODNIGHT GRACIE: THE LAST YEARS GOLF NETWORK RADIO
    (McFarland & Company) by Jim Cox, Bradley Nason, of the Pennsylvania
    College of Technology, comments that  "Cox has done considerable research
    into . . . individual programs. . .
    and the pictures he paints of this time can be vivid.".  He also praises
    Cox's description of  programs and summaries of various genres.  SAY
    GOODNIGHT GRACIE is available from the publisher.

    Howard Blue

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 13:31:20 -0400
    From: "Dave Mills" <otrdave@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  cds

    Here is an idea. Each of us sample several of our older mp3 cd's and report
    on: 1. Brand, [removed] Method, 3. Age of cd. and 4. [removed] Let's do
    our own test. Dave

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 13:31:51 -0400
    From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Joy Boys

    My wife recently read the first Nero Wolfe book, "Fer
    de Lance" (first published in 1934). She called my
    attention to a passage at the start of Chapter 5:

    [Wolfe] wouldn't let me say anything about White
    Plains until the meal was over; in fact, there wasn't
    any conversation to speak of about anything, for he
    had the radio going. He was accustomed to say that
    this was the perfect era for the sedentary man;
    formerly such a man could satisfy any amount of
    curiosity regarding bygone times by sitting down with
    Gibbon or Ranke or Tacitus or Greene but if he wanted
    to meet his contemporaries he had to take to the
    highway, whereas the man of today, tiring for the
    moment of Galba or Vitellius, had only to turn on the
    radio and resume his chair. One program Wolfe rarely
    missed was the Joy Boys. I never knew why. [...] I
    have
    my radio favorites all right, but the Joy Boys seem to
    me pretty damn vulgar."

    Does anybody have any information on the Joy Boys,
    circa 1934? They're not listed in Dunning or my other
    references. I have a five minute segment of a
    Thankgsiving sketch whose title says it was done by
    the Joy Boys, but it sounds like it's from the 1960s
    or 70s. Anybody know anything about the show Wolfe
    listened to, and why Archie considered it "pretty damn
    vulgar"?

    Kermyt

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 13:32:19 -0400
    From: "Cancilla Dominick" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Phil Harris and "The Thing"
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    I've heard a number of episodes of the Phil Harris & Alice Fay (whose name I
    hope I'm spelling right) Show in which Phil refers to his song, The Thing. I
    recall hearing at least one episode where his daughters sing a parody of the
    song. What I'd be interested in knowing is whether there is an episode
    available in which Phil actually sings The Thing. I haven't heard the song
    since I was a wee tike, and would love to hear it again.

    Thanks!

    --Dominick

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    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 13:32:35 -0400
    From: Shenbarger@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: CD Construction
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    In an OTR post dated 9/5/2003 Mark Kinsler wrote:

>     Note that on CD's, the reflective layer is not sandwiched between two
>     transparent polycarbonate layers.  Only DVD's are constructed in this
>     manner.

    Mark is exactly right. Thanks for the correction to my comments.

    Don Shenbarger

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    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 13:34:09 -0400
    From: otrdude@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Inner Sanctum
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    Are these titles Inner Sanctum broadcasts? What are the real titles and air
    dates?

    Fast Freight

    How Soon Is Now

    Weight Machine

    ----

    Andrew Steinberg

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    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 14:35:09 -0400
    From: otrbuff@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Robert Q. Lewis

    Some of you were great fans of Robert Q. Lewis who, to me, was
    broadcasting's quintessential substitute host (for entertainers Arthur
    Godfrey, Bing Crosby, Jackie Gleason, Ed Sullivan and more).  Never feeling
    Lewis got his just due, I've tried to pacify that itch with an in-depth look
    into the performer's life and background in the autumn issue of Chuck
    Schaden's Nostalgia Digest, now available.  The cover-page story with photos
    runs 10 pages.  Considerable emphasis is given Lewis's recurring summer
    stints subbing on Arthur Godfrey Time weekday mornings.  It's an attempt to
    present an objective, thorough, accurate and entertaining examination of one
    of radio's most unheralded comical characters.  Nostalgia Digest,
    incidentally, is available from The Hall Closet, Box 421, Morton Grove, IL
    60053 or by calling (847) 965-7763 (subscriptions are $15 for 4 issues).
    Email:  twtdchuck@[removed].  And I get no compensation for this pitch--I just
    believe Lewis's fans will be interested in an introspective treatise that
    seems long overdue.

    Jim Cox
    otrbuff@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 14:45:27 -0400
    From: otrarchive@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  REPS hosts Jimmy Lydon, 9/6

    Jimmy Lydon will be the featured guest Saturday, Sept. 6th of the Radio
    Enthusiasts of Puget Sound.  If you are in the Seattle area, please join us.

    Jimmy Lydon and his irrepressible grin have entertained us since 'that man in
    the White House' went by the moniker of FDR, and young Jimmy Lydon joined the
    ranks of professional actors working the Broadway stage.

    Breaking into radio under the tutelage of Let's Pretend impressario Nyla Mack,
    Jimmy went on to roles in Pretty Kitty Kelly, Young Love, Favorite Story,
    Screen Guild Theater and many others, but his greatest fame was forged in the
    youthful effervescence he brought to the 1940s Paramount cycle of films based
    on the popular stage and radio character Henry Aldrich.

    Following the gravitational shift in Hollywood from film to television, Jimmy
    was a star in CBS TV' first daytime soap opera The First Hundred Years,
    learning the craft of television production from in front of the camera.
    While
    continuing to act, Jimmy became a script writer, director and producer helping
    launch 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaii Five-O and M*A*S*H.  In the latter 1960s Jimmy
    and William Conrad shared offices, the last two producers actively working on
    the celebrated Warner Brothers film lot, where Jimmy was kept frantically
    busy -
     in one tumultuous year he produced seven Technicolor features for the studio.

    Through the years Jimmy has worked with many great performers and has stories
    to share of working with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Van Johnson, William
    Powell, Van Heflin, and serving as a multi-term vice president of the Screen
    Actors Guild.  He has been a member of SAG and AFTRA (then AFRA) since 1937.

    Partial performing credits may be seen at [removed]

    Join us for an interview, film clips and a Q&A session.  Admission is free and
    the public is welcome.  2 - 4 pm, Queen Anne Library, 400 W Garfield, Seattle.

    Following the regular meeting, we will move to a nearby studio for a screening
    of Jimmy's 1980 documentary 'The Incredible Twentieth Century,' a 72-minute
    piece developed to convince Congress to help preserve the 100 million feet of
    newsreel footage contained in Fox' Movietone News archive.  Unscreened in
    nearly a quarter century, Jimmy will introduce the film.

    For more about REPS, visit the club website at [removed]

    - Paul

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 14:47:25 -0400
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: commercial CD life

    Mark Kinsler observed:

>     I believe that there hasn't been much question about the
>     longevity of commercial CD's (yet).

    It is with a great deal of sadness that I have to report that Mark is
    wrong.  The reports of failure of commercially produced discs began by the
    late 1980s.  Even before the first CDs were produced I had several friends
    in the archival community moaning about the fact that we would be dealing
    with a product laminated in layers rather than being one solid piece, and
    sure enough, when an example of a disc where part of the label side with
    the reflective coated had peeled off was passed around at a conference in
    Vienna, it was "I told you so" all around.  If you put stickers and
    paste-on labels on your discs, you are just asking for trouble.  You have
    no idea how the expansion and contraction of the label might differ from
    the disc, and you have no idea of whether something in the glue might eat
    thru the protective lacquer coating.  Also remember, it was the glue which
    held the two parts of LaserVideo discs together that caused the many cases
    of LaserRot that destroyed many LaserDiscs.

    There have also been cases where the ink used in the printing on CDs has
    eaten thru the lacquer, as in the famous case of the RCA box set of The
    Complete Caruso.  They tried to reproduce the original Red Seal batwing
    labels, and the red ink destroyed just about every set, and they had to
    replace them all. (I've been trying to find a defective disc to show as an
    example, but everyone I've asked returned theirs for replacement.)  The PDO
    plant in Blackburn, Lancaster, England found that sulpher in the air or
    used in the paper of some of the inserts and CD single sleeves could
    permeate thru the lacquer they were using and allow the silver reflective
    coating to tarnish.  This was called Bronzing because the label side of the
    discs look this color.  They had to replace hundreds of thousands of discs,
    and I still have a few that still play (I hope) but might not in the
    future.  They won't replace them till they die.  Hopefully the
    manufacturing processes and quality control have improved to eliminate
    these problems, but bad discs can sometimes still slip thru.

    We should also caution everyone about writing on discs.  Ball point pens
    will crush the pit groove, and most people have long known not to try to
    use them.  But the ink in permanent markers could contain something that
    can eat thru the lacquer.  Supposedly the lacquers used on recordable discs
    are much more resistant to this than the lacquers on commercially produced
    discs, but that still means that writing your name on a commercially
    produced disc might eventually kill it.  Only the very center around the
    hole is safe, but don't write over the table of contents area.

     To return the discussion to recordable discs, reports about stomp-on
    labels are circulating that warn the dye layers in the coatings of
    recordable discs make the lamination of the reflective and label layers
    less stable.  If you try to peel a label off the layers might come with it.
    But this might also happen if the label itself starts to wrinkle due to
    expansion and contraction of the disc.  You might keep the temperatures
    stable in storage, but the discs can get pretty warm in some players.

    Mark also observed:

>     Note that on CD's, the reflective layer is not sandwiched between
>     two transparent polycarbonate layers. Only DVD's are constructed
>     in this manner.

    That is only the case in single-layer DVDs, or double-sided discs.  The
    single-sided dual-layer discs have a second set of pits embossed on the top
    polycarbonate layer under only a thin lacquer coating.  Furthermore, I have
    fears that the glue between the two layers might not always be perfect.
    I've seen quite a few discs recently where there seem to be gaps in the
    glue near the center hole. I sometimes wonder whether the fancy picture
    labels might hide glue gaps elsewhere in the disc.

    Sorry for all the gloom and doom.  Everyone,  have a nice weekend!

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 17:22:17 -0400
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Carmen Dragon

    I was surprised to read yesterday that school officials in Antioch, CA which
    is in the SF Bay Area are naming a new elementary school which will open
    fall of 2004, after Carmen Dragon, an Antioch native son.

    The same article mentioned that he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of
    Fame for his work on radio.

    Elsewhere I learned that besides son Daryll, 'The Captain' he had a daughter
    who is his namesake!

    -Irene

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 17:22:23 -0400
    From: Ga6string@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Lone Ranger
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    I just saw that the Hallmark TV channel is featuring an all-day Lone Ranger
    marathon, beginning at 6 [removed] Sat., Sept. 6. The description on my TV Guide+
    schedule said, "The first 42 episodes of this 1949-57 series."
    Happy viewing,
    Bryan Powell

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    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 17:22:31 -0400
    From: "Michael Delisa" <mdelisa@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Writer -- Irving Ashkanazy
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    Can anyone provide any information on radio writer Irving Ashkanazy?

    He wrote at least one episode of The Lives of Harry Lime.

    Thanks, Mike DeLisa

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    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 17:22:40 -0400
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in radio history 9/5

     From Those Were The Days --

    1938 - The NBC Red network broadcast Life Can Be Beautiful for the first
    time. The program was "an inspiring message of faith drawn from life."
    The program aired until 1954.

    Joe

    --
    Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 17:37:44 -0400
    From: "Caldwell, Wayne" <b-caldwell1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Jack Armstrong
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    I am in need of some Jack Armstrong All American Boy shows. If you have any
    please
    let me know.

    Thanks
    Wayne Caldwell

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    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 17:42:23 -0400
    From: otrdude@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Inner Sanctum
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    After I sent the last message, I realized that How Soon is Now is actually a
    song by a band called Inner Sanctum, not an old time radio show. Sorry.

    Andrew Steinberg

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    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 18:28:17 -0400
    From: Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Arthur Ross

    I've received an email message requesting info on Arthur Ross.  I have no
    answers
    to the questions,
    and would appreciate any info any of you may provide.

> >     It is my understanding that there was a character named 'Judge Stone' on the

    Fibber McGee and Molly program, and that he was played by Arthur Ross, whose
    mother
    was named Elizabeth Bunker.  I am
    searching for more information concerning Arthur Ross, especially biographical
    information and photographs (out of general interest, since he was a distant
    relative of mine).  Can you help?<<

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 19:02:05 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Lone Ranger

    Jim Nixon commented:

>     The total number of broadcasts
>     logged, according to Terry Salomonson's log, was 3377.  These include the
>     episodes from the program's inception in 1933 to the time transcriptions
>     were first made, in January, 1938.

    I recommend Terry's Lone Ranger log.  I know he consulted the original
    source material.  Anyone wondering where to get the log can contact Terry
    direct at [removed]@[removed].  It's worth the price and a
    wonderful reference guide to the radio program.
    Martin

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 20:06:45 -0400
    From: "Maureen O'Brien" <mobrien@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: CD life expectancy

    I went Googling for some non-Linux CD recovery software for
    folks. I don't know anything about these personally.

    [removed]
    "CDRoller is a powerful, easy-to-use and low-cost toolset for CD data
    recovery." $[removed] Free trial version.

    [removed]
    "CD Data Rescue: The first and more powerful software designed
    specifically to recover data from damaged,scratched or defective
    CDs." $[removed] Free trial version.

    [removed]
    A page with several CD/DVD data recovery programs, some free.

    I couldn't find any Mac programs, but I'm sure Mac people will
    know better where to find such things than I do.

    Maureen

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

    Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 20:20:35 -0400
    From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Television mentioned in 1937 on Jack Benny

    Hello All,

    I remember listening to some children's program from about 1936 or 1937.
    The show had Ireene Wicker as a guest (it was NOT her show) and the male
    host of the program makes some comment about how attractive she is which
    everyone will get to see "when we get television" or words to that effect.
    As others will undobtedly point out TV had been "just around the corner"
    since the late 1920s.

    Does anyone know of other early references to television in surviving OTR
    programs?

    George

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #334
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