Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #187
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 6/19/2005 8:34 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2005 : Issue 187
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Oscar Wilde                           [ Rentingnow@[removed] ]
      Question About Amos and Andy Show!    [ Trinapreston3@[removed] ]
      Question about Jack Benny Show of 12  [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
      re: "The riot that never was"--BBC    [ Mahlon Wagner <mwagner2@[removed] ]
      Re: CD Recorder                       [ Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed]; ]
      Re: Oscar Wilde on OTR                [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
      series done in multiple countries     [ <cooldown3@[removed]; ]
      Stop the Music                        [ "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
      Stop the Music!                       [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
      awards                                [ Partridge <rpartrid@[removed]; ]
      6-19 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Lone Ranger Pedometer                 [ "RICHARD RIEVE" <Rieve9@[removed]; ]
      help with transfers                   [ knight555@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 23:20:10 +0000
    From: Rentingnow@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Oscar Wilde

    <Does anyone know of any Plays by Oscar Wilde that have been adapted  for
    radio and have available scripts?>

    There have been a whole series of broadcasts of Oscar Wilde's works on  BBC.
    A number were recently posted on the [removed] group. There were
    several versions of "Importance of Being Earnest" for example.

    Learning about and using the binary groups in the Newsgroups is well worth
    the effort if one is looking for spoken word material.

    I use easynews.  For information: _[removed]
    ([removed]) .  There are others too  and some ISPs have
    newsgroups.  Special software
    is required to download  but it can be free - Freeagent- or inexpensive -
    Agent
    which is about $29.   There are other programs available which convert the
    text files of the  newsgroups to sound files.

    Larry Moore

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

    Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 23:25:09 +0000
    From: Trinapreston3@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Question About Amos and Andy Show!
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Can somebody tell me exactly what day of the week Amos and Andy show ran the
    longest on the radio?  Was it a Friday or Tuesday?
                                                                     Trina,

       *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
       ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

    Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 23:20:39 +0000
    From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Question about Jack Benny Show of
      12/15/40

    I was listening to the above show last night.  There is a bit between Jack
    and a quack doctor. After it ends Jack says something like "The doctor
    doesn't sound like he did in the first show.  That's the great thing about
    radio, if your doctor gets sick you can substitute one of your writers
    instead".  So, obviously, this is a recording of a West Coast broadcast and
    something happened to the actor who played the doctor in the East Coast
    broadcast and one of Jack's writers had to fill in for him.  Does anyone
    have more details, like who was the actor in the first broadcast, what
    happened to him and who filled in?

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

    Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 23:19:47 +0000
    From: Mahlon Wagner <mwagner2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  re:  "The riot that never was"--BBC

    Thanks to somebody here I requested the posting of this program--on

    [removed]

    and it appeared there this past Thursday or Friday.
    Also, I did happen to download it as well.
    Mahl

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

    Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 23:19:07 +0000
    From: Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: CD Recorder

      A while back, someone was asking about a way to record either cassettes
    or reel to reel tapes to CD without using a computer. I just bought a
    Tascam CC-222MKII. This unit has a cassette deck and a CD deck. It will
    record either from a cassette to a CD or from a CD to a cassette.

    It also can record both cassette and CD at the same time from another
    source. For example, you could plug in a reel to reel tape deck and make a
    cassette and a CD at the same time. I'm just learning all the features, but
    I found that it will do tracking. When it senses 4 seconds of no sound, it
    creates a new track. You can set the sensitivity of the unit as far as how
    soft is no sound.

    Most radio shows have some kind of sound going on all the time. When there
    is no dialogue, there may be music or sound effects. Dead air on radio, was
    always a "no no". I just transferred a reel to reel tape of 20 minute
    shows. They came from transcription discs. The unit sensed the end of each
    side of the record and put a new track at that point. Also the discs had
    spaces for commercials and the unit put in a new track at that point. This
    feature was is mainly to be used for transferring music cassettes where
    there is black spaces between songs, but for some OTR programs it works.

    You can also turn off this feature. One nice thing is that it has a phono
    input equalized to the RIAA (I think that is the right initials) standard.
    Today most turntables have built in amps, but if you have an older table
    that has leads that come directly from the phono cartridge, then you can
    plug them into this input.

    It uses regular CDs. You don't have to buy the more expensive "audio CDs".
    It will also burn on CD-RW discs although the manual says that CD-RW discs
    may not play back on some CD players.

    This is not for someone who wants to do MP3.

    If you put in a cassette, it can be set to play either one side or both
    sides. From what I read, the CD will continue to record when it hits the
    leader, so you may need to stay with it when it reaches near the end of the
    tape. I'll have to check this out. But if you have a bunch of cassettes you
    want to transfer to CD or even reel to reel tapes, this unit is a time
    saver. Put an equalizer between the output of the reel to reel tape deck
    and this unit and you can adjust the sound quality.

    You can't do noise reduction, but if your material is already at a good
    quality, then this unit is perfect. It is pricey. I paid $625 and that was
    discounted from the regular $700 street price. I just got it on Thursday,
    so I'm just learning how it works.

    Fred
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 23:24:48 +0000
    From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Oscar Wilde on OTR

     > Does anyone know of any Plays by Oscar Wilde that have been
     > adapted for radio and have available scripts?

    I'm pretty sure the BBC and CBC have done a number of these over the
    years. In the [removed], the Theatre Guild on the Air did hour-long
    versions of "The Importance Of Being Earnest" (4-13-47) and "An Ideal
    Husband" (3-30-52). Favorite Story did a short version of "Earnest" in
    1947. More recently, [removed] Theatre Works ([removed]) has done versions
    of "An Ideal Husband," "Lady Windermere's Fan" and "A Woman of No
    Importance."

    There is a 1939 book entitled "6 classic plays for radio and how to
    produce them" which includes a version of "Lady Windermere's Fan."
    Have never actually read it. The author's (or editor's) name is
    Ziebarth, I think. Probably available through Inter-Library Loan.

    Some other Wilde works that made it to radio:

    ... "Salome," radiated last week [by the Triangle Players over WGBS],
    was a splendid play for the radio because of the beauty and poetry of
    Oscar Wilde's lines. While, in a way, it is an almost morbid piece,
    its language is so superb that one does not dwell on the less
    agreeable side. The story, of course, is based upon the original
    biblical legend of the daughter of Herod who danced for the head of
    John the Baptist. [April 19, 1925 New York Times]

    ... One of the most interesting experiments in dramatic broadcasts
    that has ever come to my notice was the production, more than two
    years ago (January, 1929), of Oscar Wilde's "The Nightingale and the
    Rose." Raymond Knight conducted the experiment. He adapted the fantasy
    and had special music written for it. The part of the nightingale was
    played by Jessica Dragonette and she sang wordless songs -- in fact
    she was used as a human solo instrument rather than as a human voice.
    Capable actors and actresses handled the speaking parts and the entire
    production was played against a background of very colorful music. /
     >From an artistic standpoint the production was one of the finest
    things ever attempted. It has not been equaled since. But it was not
    successful. Knight used weeks to rehearse his cast. The special
    orchestration and the original music made the show expensive.
    Listeners liked it and said so. Yet economically it was not good
    radio. ... [From a 1931 book on radio writing by Peter Dixon]

    The Columbia Workshop did a few adaptations of Wilde stories: "The
    Happy Prince" (12-26-36); "The Young King" (6-13-37, not available?);
    "The Fisherman and His Soul" (5-7-38).

    Lady Esther Presents Orson Welles 12-22-41 "The Happy Prince"

    The Radio Hall of Fame 12-24-44 "The Happy Prince"

    The Lux Radio Theatre 6-18-45 "The Canterville Ghost" 1 hour. I don't
    know how accurate it is but there is a transcript of this version
    online at [removed]

    The Screen Guild Theater 7-16-45  "Flesh and Fantasy" (the one with
    Edward G. Robinson and Vincent Price -- it's based on Wilde's story
    "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime" but has a changed ending)

    Your Movietown Radio Theatre 1948 "The Happy Prince"

    Family Theatre 10-12-49 "The Happy Prince"

    The Railroad Hour 12-24-51 "The Happy Prince"

    The CBS Radio Mystery Theatre did versions of "The Canterville Ghost"
    and "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

    Theatre Royal 1950s? "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime"

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

    Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 23:18:03 +0000
    From: <cooldown3@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  series done in multiple countries

    Nightbeat was done in Australia and South Africa, Sherlock Holmes in Canada
    and South Africa, Suspense in South Africa, Lux Radio Theatre in South Africa.

    Superman in Australia,Inner Sanctum in Australia, Quiz Kids in Australia,
    Shadow in Australia,Tarzan in Australia, Gunsmoke in Australia, T-Men in
    Australia, Les Misurables in Australia.
    Probably the most interesting of these is Fibber McGee & Molly which was
    done in Australia Bobby Benson & The B-Bar_B doue in Australia as well as
    Dangerous Assignment and a popular soap whose name escapes me which was
    done in both new zealand and australia.

    Ian will remember the name of the soap.

    There was and stil is a tradition of recasting existing scripts in all
    english speaking countries and I have only touched the surface of these
    alternate views of radio treasures.

    When comparing BBC, Aussie, S A and others which are a closer tradition one
    finds the list too long to post.

    I  know of none existing but in theory there should also be shows produced,
    in english, in Rhodesia, Kenya, India, Hong Kong and many other parts of
    the world for local consumption. I see no logical reason to suppoce none
    were done in any of these locations. Ian has told me that grace Gibson
    productions circulated series throughout the nations of the pacific area
    and he could cast some light on this process as Australia had her "clients"
    for entertainment just as surely as the USA did and Aussie radio was a
    major cultural influence in the formative days of radio .

    It is a pity that more OTR fans are not knowledgable about Aussie OTR. It
    is a real thril to hear the Aussie versions of the above shows, perhaps a
    bit more so than the S A versions as Australia had a culture which shared
    the "expansion into the frontier "outlook which was a great part of our
    history.

    Aside from standing beside us in many perilous times and giving their "all"
    along with US troops, they relaxed and listened to many of the same shows,
    redone for local use as well as completely new shows from familiar themes.

    This is not to say each of these countries mentioned did not have a rich
    pool of local talent to draw upon for original entertainment. They did.

    Cheers,
    Patrick

    Cheers,
    Patrick

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

    Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 23:19:21 +0000
    From: "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Stop the Music

    Andrew Steinberg mentioned the radio program "Stop The Music".  This was the
    famous quiz show hosted by Bert Parks before he began giving away Miss
    America tiaras.  It featured the "mystery melody", and other music played
    during the program.  At a point during the show, the tune being performed
    was interrupted by Bert yelling "stop the music", and a telephone call was
    then placed to "someone at random in the US".  If upon hearing the "mystery
    melody" that person could identify it, they won buckets of money, or some
    such prize.
    The program had an enormous Hooper rating because most people naively
    believed that the show's producers actually called someone who might be
    listening to the show.  It was later revealed that the contestants weren't
    called at random, but "pre-contacted" so they would be home.  All of those
    people afraid to even go to the bathroom for fear they would miss the call
    from Bert were pretty ticked off, as I remember.  I believe the program
    followed Walter Winchell on Sunday evenings, and Winchell began giving clues
    to the name of the mystery melody in order to get more people to tune in
    ahead of time to listen to his show.

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

    Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 23:18:17 +0000
    From: <otrbuff@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Stop the Music!

    Andrew Steinberg writes:

     > I saw a reference that on the radio show 'Stop the Music, listeners called
     > in to the show. I believe that people at the show actually called people at
     > home. Which is right?

    The show called the folks at home, of course.  And you might be surprised
    that such calls weren't merely on the spur of the moment like the listeners
    were thinking.  Instead of backstage operators picking out names from phone
    books from all over the country to call while the show was on the air,
    producers greased the skids by doing that several hours prior to each show
    going on the air.  Operators telephoned individuals on Sunday afternoons --
    well before the 8 [removed] airtime -- to let those households know to "possibly
    expect a call from Stop the Music! tonight."  That way they avoided a series
    of on-air guffaws like wrong numbers, people not at home, people not
    listening, people not acquainted with the show's premise, etc.

    In an 18-page treatise on this show filled with anecdotes about the program
    and the personalities who were on it and behind it -- chapter 12 in "The
    Great Radio Audience Participation Shows" (McFarland, 2001) -- I observed:

    "Interestingly, more times than could hardly be imagined, the listener was
    often one song behind, naming the tune that had just been featured prior to
    the one he or she was asked to identify.  The listener might have been
    discussing that particular title with someone else, and possibly had even
    written it down, then became distracted when the call from ABC arrived.  At
    such times, the emcee punctuated the situation with some good-natured
    ribbing while the studio audience howled and jeered.  What those in the
    studio failed to acknowledge, of course, was that offering the right title
    on cue might not have been as simple as it appeared, and especially if they
    were at the other end of the telephone line."

    The concept was fascinating and for a while had the nation mesmerized.
    "Radio actually died when Stop the Music! got higher ratings than Fred
    Allen," wrote Frank Buxton and Bill Owen.  Humorist Henry Morgan assured
    everybody that such an aberration drove "the final nail in radio's coffin."
    Producer Louis G. Cowan was later involved in The $64,000 Question, The
    $100,000 Big Surprise and The $64,000 Challenge, shows that were abruptly
    withdrawn when the infamous TV quiz show scandals of the late 1950s burst on
    the American scene.  Some of the implications of that era are examined in
    depth in the text.

    The hardback volume, with a cover photo of emcee Bert Parks making a call to
    a "suspecting" listener and flanked by vocalists Kay Armen and Dick Brown,
    is available at [removed] and 800-253-2187 and at major
    retailers' websites near you.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 15:19:51 +0000
    From: Partridge <rpartrid@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  awards

    Were there ever awards formally given out to radio shows a la the oscars or
    the emmys.

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 15:20:00 +0000
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  6-19 births/deaths

    June 19th births

    All of you Dads out there . . . H A P P Y  F A T H E R ' S  D A Y ! !

    06-19-1865 - May Whitty - Liverpool, England - d. 5-29-1948
    actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    06-19-1897 - Moe Howard - Bensonhurst, NY - d. 5-4-1975
    original stooge: (Three Stooges) "Whatever Became of . . . .?"
    06-19-1901 - Frederic Tozere - d. 8-5-1972
    actor: Stephen Dallas "Stella Dallas"
    06-19-1902 - Guy Lombardo - London, Ontario, Canada - d. 11-5-1977
    bandleader: (The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven) "Lombardoland USA"
    06-19-1903 - Lou Gehrig - NYC - d. 6-2-1941
    baseball iron man: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    06-19-1908 - Mildred Natwick - Baltimore, MD - d. 10-25-1994
    actress: "Starring Boris Karloff"; "Best Plays"; "Campbell Playhouse"
    06-19-1910 - Virginia Payne - Cincinnati, OH - d. 2-10-1977
    actress: Ma Perkins "Ma Perkins"; Kerry Carter "Carters of Elm Street"
    06-19-1912 - Martin Gabel - Philadelphia, PA - d. 5-22-1986
    actor: John Wayne "Big Sister"; Gregory Hood "Casebook of Gregory Hood"
    06-19-1915 - Pat Buttram - Addison, AL - d. 1-8-1994
    actor: (Sage of Winston County) "National Barn Dance"
    06-19-1919 - Louis Jourdan - Marseilles, France
    actor: "Hallmark Playhouse"; "Screen Guild Theatre"; "U. S. Steel Hour"
    06-19-1919 - Pauline Kael - Sonoma County, CA - d. 9-3-2001
    film critic: Broadcast for Pacifica radio station
    06-19-1922 - Gwen Davies - NYC
    actress: "Advs. of Helen and Mary"; "Let's Pretend"
    06-19-1928 - Barry Took - London, England - d. 3-31-2002
    writer, comedian: "Round the Horne"; "We're In Business"
    06-19-1928 - Nancy Marchand - Buffalo, NY - d. 6-18-2000
    actress: "Cavalcade of America"; "A Private Space"
    06-19-1932 - Pier Angeli - Cagliaru, Saradinia - d. 9-10-1971
    actress: "Louella Parsons Show"

    June 19th deaths

    01-18-1915 - Lesley Midgley - Salt Lake City, UT - d. 6-19-2002
    producer cbs news: "The Twentieth Century"
    03-26-1894 - Will Wright - San Francisco, CA - d. 6-19-1962
    actor: Ed Kremer "Fibber McGee and Molly"; George Honeywell "My Little Margie"
    04-07-1918 - Peanuts Hucko - Syracuse, NY - d. 6-19-2003
    jazz clarinetist: "Swing Shift"; "I Sustain These Wings"; "Doctor Jazz"
    04-23-1893 - Frank Borzage - Salt Lake City, UT - d. 6-19-1962
    film director: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
    05-09-1860 - James M. Barrie - Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland - d. 6-19-1937
    author: "Great Plays"
    09-26-1898 - Richard Lockridge - St. Joseph, MO - d. 6-19-1982
    writer: "Mr. and Mrs. North"
    10-17-1905 - Jean Arthur - NYC - d. 6-19-1991
    actress: "Ford Theatre"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    10-29-1925 - Geraldine Brooks - NYC - d. 6-19-1977
    actress: "Hollywood Fights Back"; "Voice of the Army"
    11-09-1886 - Ed Wynn - Philadelphia, PA,  - d. 6-19-1966
    comedian: (The Perfect Fool) Fire Chief "Ed Wynn Show"; King Bubbles "Happy
    Island"
    xx-xx-1892 - Prosper Buranelli - d. 6-19-1960
    writer: Assistant to Lowell Thomas
    xx-xx-1917 - Al "Red" Benson - d. 6-19-1966
    quizmaster: "Take A Nuamber"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 15:20:28 +0000
    From: "RICHARD RIEVE" <Rieve9@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lone Ranger Pedometer

    I recently acquired a Lone Ranger Pedometer and was very interested to hear
    shows related to this item.  Thanks to Barbara Watkins and the wonderful
    people at SPERDVAC, I got copies of LR shows dated Feb 18, 20, 23 & 25,
    1948, all which featured the Pedometer as part of the plot.  Much to my
    surprise, the show did not offer the pedometer to the listener.  There was
    no "send in a dime and a boxtop" promotion.  Does anyone know how this item
    was first offered?   Was the offer on a cereal box?  Did it come in a cereal
    box?  Was it sold in stores?  I would appreciate similar information for a
    Lum and Abner item:  a glass Horlick's Malted Milk mixer with a metal
    stirring rod.  It has L & A's faces printed on the glass.  I have listened
    to many of the Horlick's sponsored shows and have never heard this item
    offered.  I doubt if I am the only one who collects this things.  Any
    information would be appreciated.

    Best regards to everyone, Richard Rieve

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 22:23:47 +0000
    From: knight555@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  help with transfers

    hi all.
    i wonder if anyone can help me with this?  i have lots of large old reels
    with otr shows (6-8 per reel) which i was slowly converting to
    cassettes.  As it now seems harder to get cassette players and i see the
    handwriting on the wall, i wanted to convert either the reels directly to
    cd or go reel to cassette to cd.  The problem is, i don't know how to get
    them "into" my hard drive.  I have an old TEAC r2r which is presently
    hooked up to a combo cassette/cd/record turntable unit, hence i usually
    record to cassette while i listen to the show.
    Does anybody know how to get these shows onto cd in wave (i assume) format?
    (so they play on a regular cd player).  If needed or optional, i can record
    to mp3 but i'd be more limited where i can play it (presently only in my
    car or with a headphones only Rio MP3 player that plays cd's (NOT a hard
    drive unit like an IPOD).
    I assume there's some kind of patch cord i could use, but being rather
    technically limited, i have no idea what output to use on either the R2R or
    on a cassette player, or what input to use on the computer.
    If anybody can help, please email me directly.
    Thanks for the help!
    MJ (the technically challenged ;o)   ).

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #187
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