Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #317
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 8/19/2003 7:03 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 317
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      ADMINISTRIVIA: I guess you [removed]  [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
      Spike Jones female fans               [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      In defense of the Marxes              [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      Jack's toupee                         [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      Re: home disk recorders               [ Steve Salaba <philmfan@[removed] ]
      Penthouse Murder Mystery/ Guests of   [ "Tim Hughes" <rekokut@[removed]; ]
      Wilcox Gay                            [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
      Lux Radio Theater [removed] discs       [ Tom Bourgeois <tomrbourg@[removed]; ]
      Re: Wilcox-Gay Record Player-Cutter   [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
      Re: iRiver CD Player Pouch            [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Russell McCoy                         [ JayHick@[removed] ]
      War of the Worlds (1971)              [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
      Radio's Dan Reid                      [ "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
      G I Jill                              [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
      Karen goes to college                 [ Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
      Re: WKBW's 1968 "War of the Worlds"   [ "David Tower" <dtower@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 01:23:42 -0400
    From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  ADMINISTRIVIA: I guess you [removed]

    Folks;

       I guess you noticed the server released a seperate message again, even
    after I added programming that stopped a few others. Oddly, it seems to have
    released as a seperate message a post that it ALREDY ADDED to the Digest.
    Just so there's no confusion, the post came in ONCE to the Digest address,
    and was NOT sent by the poster directly to you. The fault was in the Digest's
    mailing list server, NOT the poster. (You'll note that the server sent out
    seperately the last message appearing in Issue #316.)

       The problem was _seriously_ compounded by the content of the message that
    the server forwarded. Some of you have written to me suggesting the message
    was too commercial, and others have written to me wanting to "advertise" the
    same way. (*sigh*) With everything else going on, I am _not_ going to deal
    now with whether or not the message crossed that difficult-to-pinpoint line
    between information and advertising; I _am_ going to be a little more harsh
    over the next few weeks in rejecting commercial-leaning messages, only
    because I do NOT want something like this to happen again before the move to
    the new server. Once the move is complete, and I have some breathing space, I
    can worry about trying to come up with a reasonable policy that makes that
    nebulous line a little more concrete.

       This is particularly frustrating to me because I signed with a new colo
    facility [removed] (No, the irony is not wasted on me.) It'll take a week
    or so for the server to be there, connected, running, and all that, and then
    another few weeks more as there is an orderly move for all of the existing
    domains (and a few new ones, like [removed]). I will continue in the
    meantime to "baby" the existing server while performing the moves; I know
    there have been some problems, but I've been able to keep them down to a
    minimum, anyway.

       The new colo is costing a bit more, but we _are_ getting more bandwidth
    than at the existing server farm, which means the possibility for some
    additional services. But for right now, I'd just like to see if we can get
    the mailing list server software moved over to a machine that isn't choking
    twice a day on dead processes.

       My thanks for your patience, and my apologies for yet another "oops."

             Charlie

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

    Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 20:56:04 -0400
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Spike Jones female fans
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    Well, Derek, now that you mention [removed]

    I'll admit to being something of a Spike Jones fan.  I've had innumerable
    people send me copies of his version of "Love in Bloom" (can't imagine why).
    I
    also used to play his works regularly on my nostalgia radio shows.  Have quite
    a few of his numbers on both 78rpm and LP (haven't looked at my 45s in a long
    [removed] have some there, too).  One of my favorite pieces is the
    lesser-known George Rock number "Ya Wanna Buy a Bunny?".  We have two rabbits
    (both
    neutered), so we don't have the same issue that Rock did.

    Rock on,
    Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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    Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 20:56:10 -0400
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  In defense of the Marxes
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    Cynthia wrote:

>     Now, mind you, I wonder how many of us out there in the ether are fans
>     of either the Marx Brothers or the Goons.  (I happen to be both.)  They
>     seem to specialize in the same sort of physical, lowbrow humor as the
>     Stooges.  And a more modern equivalent would be Jim Carrey (who, for the
>     most part, I can't stand).

    I'm going to disagree with you on a point.  I don't think that the humor of
    the Marx Brothers was necessarily "physical, lowbrow humor".  In fact, the
    first thing I think of with the Marxes is exchanges like "Why a Duck?", the
    contract scene, or Harpo trying to communicate something to Chico in
    pantomime.  A
    Marx blackout that I see frequently is from A Day at the Races with Groucho
    commenting, "If I hold you any closer, I'll be in back of you."  So there's a
    very important physical aspect to the Marx humor.  If there wasn't, you
    couldn't
    have had Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel (OK, there's the OTR connection).

    Also, Weber and Fields published a list around the turn of the century
    entitled along the lines of "What is Funny".  Unfortunately I don't have a
    copy, but
    it went something like this:

    1)  Stick your finger in a man's eye
    2)  Stick two fingers in a man's eye
    3)  Stick one finger each in both of a man's eyes
    4)  Stick your finger in his eyes while you stomp on his foot
    [removed]

    You get the idea.  This is what I call "physical, lowbrow humor".  Compare
    this list to, say, the Stateroom scene (A Night at the Opera), the mirror
    scene
    (Duck Soup), the silverware bit (Animal Crackers), or the "Duck Soup" scene
    where Chico, Harpo, and the lemonade vendor exchange hats.  I've always
    thought
    that the Marxes took physical comedy and raised it to new heights, making you
    wonder what's going to happen next.

    At the IJBFC dinner last Friday, we were just talking about the Goon Show.  I
    haven't seen/heard it, and it seemed that there was interest but not a lot of
    familiarity from several attendees.  I also am not a Jim Carrey fan.  He
    strikes me as constantly mugging and doing things to not-so-subtly tell the
    audience, "Look at ME!  Look at ME!"  I like more subtle humor, or Groucho
    turning
    to the audience in "Horse Feathers" and saying, "I've got to stay here, but
    there's no reason you folks can't go out into the lobby until this thing blows
    over."

    --Laura Leff

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    Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 21:10:18 -0400
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack's toupee
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    William Schell asked:

>     Even in early radio broadcasts jokes are made about Jack Benny's toupee.
>     Did he in fact wear one?  David Letterman also makes jokes of his "hair
>     piece" yet he doesn't wear one.

    No, Jack really didn't wear a toupee.  The one small exception to this is
    during some of his late 30s movie work, where the studios wanted him to wear a
    small piece to extend the front of his scalp.  You can see the difference
    [removed]:

    Before:  [removed]

    After: [removed]

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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    Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 22:57:46 -0400
    From: Steve Salaba <philmfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: home disk recorders

    Speaking of home disk [removed]

    My father used to have one of those Wilcox-Gay recorders, though I never
    saw him record anything with it. I still have a few disks that were made
    before I was born, some recordings of relatives speaking and an episode of
    the "Durante-Moore Show" starring Jimmy Durante and Garry Moore. These are
    the really cheap disks (wax on thin aluminum?) and haven't survived well.
    I'm sure that if I tried to play them now, they would be so worn and
    scratchy that I wouldn't hear anything but noise. The Wilcox-Gay machines
    appear on e-bay rather regularly, although often the sellers say that the
    machine hasn't been tested and you are buying "as is". The company was
    based in Charlotte, Michigan.

    I recently acquired a Presto Model K-10 disk recorder on e-bay.
    Surprisingly, there are still two companies in the US that make blank disks
    for these machines. For a complete history of the Presto company and
    pictures of all their models, you can go to this wonderful web site:

    [removed]
    --
    Steve Salaba

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

    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 00:04:27 -0400
    From: "Tim Hughes" <rekokut@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Penthouse Murder Mystery/ Guests of Doom

    Hi, thanks for the answer to my question, Elizabeth!   I was wondering if
    you would know about some 1930s series called "The Penthouse Murder Mystery"
    and "Guests of Doom".  They both sound 1930s, I traded for them, but can't
    find any info on it.

    Thanks again!

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

    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 00:32:33 -0400
    From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Wilcox Gay

    When Mark Kinsler posted about seeing a Wilcox Gay portable disc
    recorder it made me think of one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen
    in a movie.  "Unfaithfully Yours" starring Rex Haririson and Linda
    Darnell  from 1947 (I think)  has a scene where Rex Harrison is trying
    to make a recording with a machine similar to the one Mark described.  I
    get hysterical every time I see it  This film was remade a few years ago
    with Dudley Moore which was also funny but did not contain this scene.
    After all who would know about recording on discs nowadays.

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

    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 00:32:58 -0400
    From: Tom Bourgeois <tomrbourg@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Lux Radio Theater [removed] discs

    Hi, I am new to collecting OTR on MP3 discs.  Recently I won a pair of
    Lux Radio Theater discs on ebay that are said to  have 527 shows on the
    two discs and were produced by [removed]  - trouble is I can't play
    them on my DVD player like I have been able to do for other MP3 discs.
    Probably a dumb question but are there certain types of MP3 discs that
    won't play on DVDs?  I think these two discs were sold to me by a
    consumer used as opposed to a dealer/seller like many of the ebay
    sellers.  Perhaps the excessive number of shows on each disc has
    something with it not being able to play on a DVD or ??

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

    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 08:13:26 -0400
    From: Shenbarger@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Wilcox-Gay Record Player-Cutter
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    In a message dated 8/18/2003 6:59:21 PM Central Daylight Time, Mark Kinsler
    writes:

>     And, lest we forget what the world was like in the 1940's, the machine had
>     a
>     built-in ashtray set into the deck.  At least it looked like an ashtray:
>     cigarette grooves, familiar detritus within, just like an old automobile
>     ashtray

    I believe the "ash tray" is for needles. The "cigarette grooves" provide a
    port where you can slide a worn needle into the cup as they are hard to pick
    up
    with your fingers--just notches in the flange lip actually. Those steel cups
    typically collect a lot of rust. I owned a Recordio (Wilcox-Gay) recorder 45
    years ago. But Mom had a different idea about what  good furniture looks like
    when I went away to become a sailor. Mine was a portable unit with a suitcase
    style lid that snapped over the front panel. I think it weighed about
    seventy-five pounds.

    Don Shenbarger

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    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 08:13:18 -0400
    From: Shenbarger@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: iRiver CD Player Pouch
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    In a message dated 8/18/2003 6:59:21 PM Central Daylight Time, Zbob writes:

>     iRiver CD player -
>     I have to get some kind of carrier as it has no handles, etc. of any kind so
>     has to fit in a pouch for carrying.

    Walmart has more pouches than a flock of kangaroos. Not costly either. I
    nearly bought a belt type that is vinyl but a ringer for leather last week
    for $8.
    Probably similar at Target and other places.

    My Rio-Volt has a sliding "lock" control to keep the buttons from doing
    anything. If the iRiver doesn't have something like that, then consider if a
    tight
    pouch may push the buttons.

    Don Shenbarger

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    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 08:13:32 -0400
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in radio history

     From Today in History (New York Times) --

    In 1929, Amos and Andy, starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll,
    made its network debut on NBC.

    Joe

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

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

    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 08:45:02 -0400
    From: JayHick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Russell McCoy

    Can anyone help?

    I am a 2nd or 3rd cousin of one of the original members of the Lone

    Ranger radio cast at WXYZ in Detroit.  His name was Russell Malcomb McCoy.

    Do you have any sources on how I may obtain information about Russell?  I

    would appreciate tremendously any assistance given.  Thank you so very much.

    Gary Taylor

    (248) 223-8005

    gtaylor@[removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 09:46:20 -0400
    From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
    To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  War of the Worlds (1971)

    Hi all:
    Many thanks to Stephen Jansen for posting a link to this broadcast.  It is
    absolutely neat and definitely worth a listen to any otr enthusiast.  Both
    the 1938 and 1971 broadcasts are not only great stories that are
    well-produced, but they are telling about the time periods they come from.
    I would make only two critical comments of the WKBW version.  Once or twice
    when we would be in the newsroom, you would hear phones ringing.  I thought
    these may have been real phones but they started up right in the middle of a
    ring at one point and you could tell that it was a tape recording being
    started.  Also, when the news men were first observing the Martian cylinder
    and the Martians turned their lasers on the crowd, you didn't hear any
    screams of death.  One of the most chilling aspects of the Welles version
    was when the Martians first fired up their heat ray and you can hear people
    screaming as they are turned into charcoal briquettes.  I'm surprised that
    WKBW left out this scary little detail.  They also forgot to put the sound
    of a helicopter in at an appropriate moment.  Still, these are nitpicky
    little details and the broadcast sounds very authentic.  People actually
    fell for this thing, even though WKBW went out of their way to advertise the
    drama, before and during the broadcast.  Guess people are still gullible in
    any day and age.
    RyanO

    "Life is short -- make fun of it."

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

    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 14:01:03 -0400
    From: "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Radio's Dan Reid

    Ron Sayles asked about someone named Jim Beasley who may have played Dan
    Reid on The Lone Ranger radio series.  I don't recognize the name either,
    Ron, that isn't to say your information isn't accurate.  Aside from Ernie
    Winstanley, who claimed to have played the character of Dan Reid during the
    period in the 1930's before the program was transcribed (and therefore
    leaving us with no recorded proof that he ever did), Bob Martin appears to
    have been Dan in the six-part origin series that was aired at Christmastime,
    1942.  James Lipton then took over the role.  If Dick Beals, who worked at
    WXYZ during the late 1940's when he was at Michigan State, ever played the
    role on the air, I can't say for sure, but I have not heard any such
    recordings, since Dick's voice was much better suited to playing younger
    children than Dan (who was 14, then, "teen-age" for the rest of the series).
    I'd be interested to here from anyone else who has some information on this.

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

    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 14:10:02 -0400
    From: Jer51473@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  G I Jill
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     I recently purchased the series and have found it to be outstanding, maybe
    the best of ww2 afrs broadcasts out there. Jill, of course, is the disk jockey
    playing the tunes to the service guys all over the world during the war and
    what an excellent job she does. What an exciting, sexy, young sounding girl,
    at
    least she comes off that way. What a morale boost she must have been. Does
    anyone know who she was or does anyone out there remember listening as a
    service
    man or woman? What a great buy of mp3!

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    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 14:46:40 -0400
    From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Karen goes to college

    For the many of you who have known Karen Hughes since her first
    appearance as a 12-year-old ranch girl in a Lone Ranger episode at the
    Cincinnati convention oh so many years [removed]

    She started college this week.  Illinois State, majoring in Special
    Education and considering a minor in Theater.  (She's an only child, and
    Mom and Dad are a bit weepy).

    In her first class the teacher said, "Who in this room knows Jack Benny's
    social security number?"  Totally befuddled, Karen raised her hand.  The
    next question from the instructor was, "WHY??"  (Karen had forgotten that
    on one of the many forms she had to fill out to apply for college, she
    was asked for a unique fact about her and Jack's SSAN was her response).

    If any of you would like to drop her a note, her email is
    jackbenny39@[removed].  She would love to hear from [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 18:34:16 -0400
    From: "David Tower" <dtower@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: WKBW's 1968  "War of the Worlds"

    It was very, very good.

    War of the Worlds brought together WKBW-TV's top rated "Eyewitness News"
    team and WKBW-AM's top rock DJs in a lavish production heavily promoted in
    an effort to get both young kids and teens off the street before dark. It
    had been anything but a quiet summer and the restiveness was still there.
    These were veteran broadcasters, their voices instantly recognizable and
    vastly credible, who played War of the Worlds as a legitimate, breaking,
    news story.

    I think this is as close as a contemporary american audience can get to
    understanding the power of the original Mercury Theater production and I
    have been in search of a copy for years.

    David Tower

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #317
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