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The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2007 : Issue 252
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
BBC Archives article [ Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed] ]
OT: The Last Days of Coney Island? [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
Soap Operas [ "Frank McGurn Jr." <[removed]@sbcg ]
transcription response [ "joe@[removed]" <jsalerno@earthli ]
Telephone time signal [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
NBC Hollywood [ "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
9-1 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Lux Presents Laura [ Booksteve@[removed] ]
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Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:18:55 -0400
From: Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: BBC Archives article
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Hi Folks ! The BBC website has an article about the BBC Archives, to tie in
with the programme on BBC Radio 4, Saturday 1st September, at 8pm UK time.
Go to the usual BBC site ( [removed]) and in the search box type in:
Saving the Sounds of History
Graeme Stevenson Editor: Tune into Yesterday ORCA / UK
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Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:36:49 -0400
From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OT: The Last Days of Coney Island?
This could be the last weekend for Coney Island.
The classic Coney, that is. Or the neo-modern version (what's been there
for the last few decades)... Four to six blocks of arcade amusements,
and rides. bordered by the beach, and the Atlantic, and a Brooklyn
boulevard, Surf Avenue.
Tuesday, I rode the Cyclone, six times.
(Imagine, if I had liked [removed])
;-)
But the roller coaster has been there, eighty years. Like the Wonder
Wheel.
So when you ride some of these rides, or simply walk the amusement
parks' interlocking byways, or stroll the boardwalk--
You're seeing, and feeling, to some extent, what New Yorkers have felt
for nearly a century. And where many of our entertainers got their
start, when singers and dancers were featured attractions.
Real estate speculators have been trying to evict the amusement parks
(there's a few, and small attractions, and games, as well, including
some still on Surf Avenue). Astroland seems to have gotten another year
to go, but this could be your last chance to get a feel for what's been
there, for so much of our lives.
I had never been there, as an adult. My impression, from my youth in the
'70s, was that it was a place to avoid.
(Word was, it had become dangerous.)
Which is rather shameful of me, because it's become something rather
wonderful: People of all races, and ages, mixing together.
It IS a tad pricey.
But there are not too many opporunities to get even a glimpse of the old
New York. And truth be told, in the daylight, it does seem a tad seedy.
But at night, when the lights come on, Astroland, and Deno's Wonder
Wheel Park, and the rest, are more than some kind of midsummer magical.
It's well worth the subway ride, or drive (parking is plentiful, and
cheap). And it's now safe, with a consistent police presence.
(Here's what's really wonderful--imagine a six block stretch of
fun--including, of course,, beachgoers--culminating in a New York Mets
minor league ballpark, right off the baordwalk, which is a gem. (The
Brooklyn Aquarium, by the way, one of the best in the world, is also
just a few blocks away, around 2nd Street.))
What most of the world thinks of as Coney Island, begins at 10th Street,
and culminates at the ballpark, around [removed]
The Cyclone will always be there; it's a national landmark, as are the
ferris wheel, and the remnants of the Parachute Jump.
But all the [removed]
Some of it will be gone, after Labor Day.
Jim Burns (James H. Burns)
PS: Maybe not so [removed] Surely there had to be classic radio episodes
where the characters went to visit Coney By the Sea?
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Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 21:22:31 -0400
From: "Frank McGurn Jr." <[removed]@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Soap Operas
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I can't accept that virtually EVERY show was done with uber-experienced
||radio actors who dashed into the studio at broadcast time and just | sight
|read every script, leaving for another soap 15 minutes later
It was true in Chicago for several reasons. The actor and announcers were
on seveal programs on differenc radio stations and they had to travel to
different parts of the Loop (downtown). The Loop is almost an Island there is
Lake Michigan on the east and the Chicago River on the north and west ( the
river bends). There are 10 or 11 bridges over the river.
The river is very busy with commerical and pleasure ships and boat during
the day.
The actors had to cross the River to go to NBC or CBS and Blue on Mutal.
If the bridge was up the were stranded until the bridge was [removed]
that could take 5 or 10 minutes. So the actor would have rush to the next
program and just make it maybe, so they had read the script cold.
If you ask actors who moved to Los Angles, when radio left Chicago, about
the "Bridges Up" group that had regular reunions in LA. At one time or
another they were victums of the bridges being up.
I have been late for meeting etc when I was caught having to cross the
river, and the bridges were up. One sail boat with a high mast can tie up
trafic for 5 t0 10 minutes.
Frank McGurn
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Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 21:22:56 -0400
From: "joe@[removed]" <jsalerno@[removed];
To: OTR List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: transcription response
I recall from discussionson the 78-L that the best equipment of the
early 1930s was capable of recording frequencies to 14k. I am not sure I
agree with the part about vertical recording being the better of the 2
formats. Like Dick, I would like to see some unbiased figures. Has
anyone ever encountered pristine copies of the same radio program in
both vertical and lateral formats?
Joe Salerno
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Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 21:23:26 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Telephone time signal
Read in the LA Times that the phone companies in the last two states
with the ability to dial a number and get the time (and weather). I
recall as a child how we relied on the time on the telephone dial up as
the accurate source when we needed to check our clocks. Even before
that, of course, there was a live operator who would read the time to
those who dialed in to check it.
To relate this to OTR, you might want to listen to a Columbia Workshop
recording from 8/24/1939 called Meridian 7-1212. The story is an
excellent one built around the live operator reading the time to those
who dial in to get a time check.
Jim Widner
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 21:25:07 -0400
From: "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: NBC Hollywood
I know there are floorplans and photographs of the NBC radio
studios in San Francisco from the "Golden Age." Does anyone know
of something similar for NBC in Hollywood? If not, how about a
description of the studio(s) (that held audiences) from a list
member who remembers them ... were they a simple affair with not
much more than a raised platform at one end or something rather
fancy with art deco proscenium? That sort of thing .... Thanks.
Bob Cockrum
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2007 00:59:01 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 9-1 births/deaths
September 1st births
09-01-1875 - Edgar Rice Burroughs - Chicago, IL - d. 3-19-1950
author: Creator of Tarzan
09-01-1877 - Frank Tours - London, England - d. 2-2-1963
orchestra leader: "Will Rogers"; "The Vince Program"
09-01-1886 - Regina Wallace - Trenton, NJ - d. 2-13-1978
actor: Alice Aldrich "Aldrich Family"
09-01-1887 - William Daly - Cincinnati, OH - d. 12-4-1936
condctor: "Raleigh Review"; "Voice of Firestone"
09-01-1893 - Betty Blythe - Los Angeles, CA - d. 4-7-1972
actor: "The Whistler"; "This Is Your FBI"; "Let George Do It"
09-01-1899 - Richard Arlen - Charlottesville, VA - d. 5-28-1976
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-01-1900 - Don Wilson - Lincoln, NE - d. 4-25-1982
announcer: "Jack Benny Program"; "Good News of 1941"
09-01-1900 - William Anthony Farren - d. unknown
NBC staff announcer
09-01-1901 - Clyde Lucas - Minneapolis, KS - d. 1-15-1982
bandleader: "Spotlight Bands"; "Rendezvous Music"
09-01-1902 - John J. Anthony - NYC - d. 7-16-1970
moderator: "Good Will Hour"; "John J. Anthony Hour"
09-01-1904 - Johnny Mack Brown - Dothan, AL - d. 11-14-1974
actor: "Straight Arrow Pow Wow"
09-01-1905 - Bertram Tanswell - Blandford, England - d. 6-15-1984
actor/director: "Commandos"; "Second Husband"; "Stage Door Canteen"
09-01-1907 - Cliff Howell - Hattiesburg, MS - d. unknown
announcer: "Gateway to Hollywood; "The Euclid Ballot Box"
09-01-1907 - Ray Barrett - NYC - d. 1-16-1973
announcer, newscaster: "Monitor"; "Talent Search, Country Style"
09-01-1908 - Paul Sullivan - St. Louis, MO - d. unknown
news commentator: Monday thru Saturday 15-minute show on CBS
09-01-1915 - George Balzer - Erie, PA - d. 9-28-2006
writer: "The Jack Benny Program"
09-01-1922 - Yvonne De Carlo - Vancouver, Canada - d. 1-8-2007
actor: " Screen Guild Theatre"; "MGM Musical Comedy Theatre"
09-01-1925 - Art Pepper - Gardena, CA - d. 6-15-1982
jazz artist: "Jazz Alive"
09-01-1925 - Colin Free - Sydney, Australia - d. 5-26-1996
writer: "Afternoon Theatre"
09-01-1928 - George Maharis - Astoria, NY
actor: "Zero Hour"
09-01-1935 - Seiji Ozawa - Shenyang, China
conductor: Boston Symphony Orchestra
September 1st deaths
01-05-1879 - Jack Norworth - Philadelphia, PA - d. 9-1-1959
songwriter: "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"; "Shine On, Harvest Moon"
01-27-1912 - Benay Venuta - San Francisco, CA - d. 9-1-1995
singer: "Benay Venuta's Program"; "Shell Chateau"
02-20-1890 - "Prince" Michael Romanoff - Lithuania - d. 9-1-1971
restaurant owner: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
03-28-1892 - Philip Loeb - Philadelphia, PA - d. 9-1-1955
actor: Jake Goldberg "The Goldbergs"
05-31-1912 - Henry M. Jackson - Everett, WA - d. 9-1-1983
[removed] senator washington: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
07-18-1916 - Irene Winston - NYC - d. 9-1-1964
actor: Myra Gordon "Valiant Lady"; Rosemary Hemingway "Woman In White"
07-23-1914 - Edward Axt - d. 9-1-1998
saxophonist: "Major Bowes Capitol Family Program"
08-03-1915 - Hugh Douglas - Chicago, IL - d. 9-1-1993
announcer: "Have Gun, Will Travel"; "CBS Radio Workshop"
08-17-1904 - Ann Harding - Fort Sam Houston, TX - d. 9-1-1981
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Cavalcade of America"; "Hallmark Playhouse"
08-24-1875 - Frank Craven - Boston, MA - d. 9-1-1945
actor: "Arthur Hopkins Presents"; "Cavalcade of America"
08-28-1893 - Harriette Widmer - Water Valley, MS - d. 9-1-1964
actor: Madam Queen "Amos 'n' Andy"; Aunt Jemima "Aunt Jemima"
09-05-1897 - Doris Kenyon - Syracuse, NY - d. 9-1-1979
actor: Ann "Crossroads"
09-05-1897 - Morris Carnovsky - St. Louis, MO - d. 9-1-1992
actor: Adam Bassett "Prairie Folks"; Mr. Kriss "Into the Light"
09-18-1873 - Charles K. Field - Montpelier, VT - d. 9-1-1948
host: (Cherrio) "Cherrio"; "Arco Birthday Party"
10-31-1896 - Ethel Waters - Chester, PA - d. 9-1-1977
blues singer: "American Revue"; "Command Performance"; "Jubilee"
11-02-1901 - James Dunn - NYC - d. 9-1-1967
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-13-1897 - Drew Pearson - Evanston, IL - d. 9-1-1969
investigative reporter: "Listen America"; "Drew Pearson Comments"
xx-xx-xxxx - Fanny May Baldridge - d. 9-1-1961
actor: "Miracles of Magnolia"; "Ellen Randolph"; "The Man I Married"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2007 00:59:28 -0400
From: Booksteve@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lux Presents Laura
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Today I heard the LUX version of the classic noir picture, LAURA. Like the
film, it starred Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney and Vincent Price. In the movie
version, however, Clifton Webb gives a memorable turn as a character named
"Waldo Lydecker. " Does anyone have a clue, then, as to why Otto Kruger, in
the
LUX version, is called "Paul Lydecker?" Just curious.
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End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #252
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