Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #196
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 6/9/2004 11:35 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 196
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      6-9 births/deaths                     [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Nancy Davis                           [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Re: Over vs. Under-playing            [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Advertising in Program Openings       [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
      Jane Toppan                           [ "laurie platt" <laurie1125@hotmail. ]
      RBB's Request For 1950's radio airch  [ RickAir@[removed] ]
      I LOVE A MYSTERY THEME                [ "Gary Dixon" <argy@[removed]; ]
      Radio Comics                          [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      The classics on [removed]                [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
      Two radio prayers                     [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
      Classical theme music                 [ "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
      Stay awake with Walden this weekend   [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
      OTR music themes                      [ Tony Baechler <tony@[removed]; ]
      Current OTR recreations               [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
      OTR Acting/Cassette Reliability       [ "Tom van der Voort" <evan@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 18:11:47 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  6-9 births/deaths

    June 9th births

    06-09-1890 - Leslie Banks - West Derby, England - d. 4-21-1952
    actress: "Theatre of Romance"
    06-09-1900 - Fred Waring - Tyrone, PA - d. 7-29-1984
    conductor: "Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians"; "Pleasure Time/Victory Tunes"
    06-09-1908 - Robert Cummings - Joplin, MO - d. 12-1-1990
    actor: David Adair "Those We Love"; "Cavalcade of America"
    06-09-1910 - George Bryan - NYC - d. 6-27-1969
    announcer: "Helen Hayes Theatre"; "Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts"
    06-09-1910 - Joseph Julian - St. Marys, PA - d. 3-11-1982
    actor: Sandy Matson "Lorenzo Jones"; Archie Goodwin "Advs. of Nero Wolfe"
    06-09-1915 - Les Paul - Waukesha, WI
    guitarist: "Fred Waring Show"; "Drene Show"; "Rhubarb Red"
    06-09-1922 - George Axelrod - NYC - d. 6-21-2003
    writer: "Midnight in Manhattan"; "Grand Ole Opry"
    06-09-1926 - Mona Freeman - Baltimore, MD
    actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Suspense"
    06-09-1933 - Dick Orkin - Williamsport, PA
    comedian: "Chickenman"; "Tooth Fairy"

    June 9th deaths

    01-11-1910 - Betty Miles - Santa Monica, CA - d. 6-9-1992
    actress: Millie Anderson "A Day in the Life of Dennis Day"
    02-07-1812 - Charles Dickens - Portsmouth, England - d. 6-9-1870
    author: "A Christmas Carol"
    03-18-1905 - Robert Donat - Manchester, England - d. 6-9-1958
    actor, poetry reader: "Justice"; "Monte Carlo"; "Reader of Poetry"; [removed]
    Steel Hour"
    06-08-1921 - Alexis Smith - Penticton, British Columbia, Canada - d. 6-9-1993
    Actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Stars in the Air"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
    10-05-1918 - Allen Ludden - Mineral Point, WI - d. 6-9-1981
    host: "Mind Your Manners"; "College Bowl"
    12-12-1908 - Hank Ladd - Chicago, IL - d. 6-9-1982
    actor: Beetle "Phil Baker Show"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    For a complete list:
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 18:11:52 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Nancy Davis

    Did Nancy Davis do any radio. I can't find anything that she has done.

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 18:12:43 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Over vs. Under-playing

    On 6/8/04 10:06 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

>     In fact, I find the fault of most modern audio acting to be
>     UNDER-playing, not OVER. Listen carefully to the best work, old or new: as
>     you have only one sense represented, the playing has to be very full. "Just
>     overhearing it" film-style acting is dead as dishwater on mic.

    It's a very subjective judgement, though -- personally, I don't much care
    for "full" radio acting -- I prefer a quiet, understated, minimalistic
    approach as opposed to broad theatricality.

    When I was in community theatre, we had certain actors who loved to don
    false whiskers and swagger out onto the stage and Emote in a deep, phony
    Orson Welles voice. We dismissed such types as "beard actors," and I used
    to really flinch when they came out on to the stage.

    Radio was (and is) full of Beard Actors -- people who insist on cramming
    every line into your ear so as to make sure you get the point. They're
    the equivalent of the low-grade silent film actors who would wring their
    hands and beat their chests and pull their moustaches in order to ensure
    that even the most slackjawed yokel in the balcony fully understands
    every emotion that's being expressed. But I don't think most audiences
    need that sort of pandering, and more often than not I think that
    approach is nothing more than show-offy self-indulgence on the part of
    the actor who does it or the director who allows it. And I submit that
    radio, as a medium, is far too intimate for that kind of stuff.

    I've always felt that the supreme test of a radio actor is the ability to
    convincingly conduct a simple, routine conversation with another actor.
    No flamboyance, no over-punching words and phrases, no extreme emotions,
    none of that "You're so cru-ell!" elocution-school overenunciation that
    stage actors used to be so fond of -- just two people sitting talking the
    way any two people would sit and talk. Given a well-written script, it's
    possible for capable actors to create a whole world in the minds of the
    audience with nothing more than that.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 18:31:39 -0400
    From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Advertising in Program Openings

    Sean Dougherty mentions an article featuring Jack Benny's "Jello"
    connection, and how a Jello commercial was worked into the opening of his
    broadcast--- much like the Jello commercial heralding "The Aldrich Family,"
    I presume.

    My all-time favorite commercial opening is the one introducing that great
    western "Straight Arrow."  As drums (or tom-toms) beat rhythmically in the
    background, the announcer [removed], Nabisco is the name to
    [removed] a breakfast you can't beat, try Nabisco  Shredded Wheat.

    Another introduction probably more familiar is the Cream of Wheat song that
    commences
    "Let's Pretend."   Both are advertising gems. Their lyrics are simple and
    easy to remember.  I feel that  dozens of OTR commercials continue to
    resonate in our collective memories.  In fact, I personally  recall these
    jingles and songs more readily than those featured on commercial
    television.

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 18:55:30 -0400
    From: "laurie platt" <laurie1125@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jane Toppan

    I know that they have  done several radio radio dramas on Lizzie Borden, but
    are there any on Jane Toppan? Jane was a nurse in the early part of 1900 who
    murdered her patients in the New England area.

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 18:55:41 -0400
    From: RickAir@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  RBB's Request For 1950's radio airchecks
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    In reply to RBB's question about 1950's airchecks in OTR issue 190:

    Russ,

    Check out Tom Konard's website, The Aircheck Factory.  He has been collecting
    radio airchecks since the early 1960's on open reel and has some of the
    1950's shows you may be looking for.  Tom used to be the production director
    at
    Chicago's WCFL radio during the 60's & 70's.

    Here is the link to his site:   Hope this helps!

    Rick Garofalo

    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 20:27:42 -0400
    From: "Gary Dixon" <argy@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  I LOVE A MYSTERY THEME
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    john matthews asked for titles of classical music pieces used as theme songs
    for the old radio [removed] about [removed]

    "VALSE TRISTE" by Jean Sibelius ("I LOVE A MYSTERY")

    to his list?

    argydix

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 20:31:39 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Radio Comics

    Mickey points out, anent my suggestion that a radio series that had
    probably never been in a comic book, The Hartz Mountain Singing Canaries,
    noted,

>     If we take Mr. French's question literally, i. e. "...in a comic book",
>     I'd have to disagree, as the Hartz Mountain Canaries were indeed
>     featured in ads "in a comic book".

    Having never read all the comic books of the period, I cannot say
    categorically that there never was such an ad, my suspicions are that any
    such ads would more likely be in the Sunday comics sections of newspapers
    rather than in comic books.  All the comics I remember had an ad of
    Charles Atlas on the back cover and a kind of classified page where at
    least one of the ads were aimed at people with ruptures.

    By contrast, a lot of radio related items were advertised in comics
    sections.  I have images of several premiums simultaneously hawked in the
    newspaper sections.  These include the Kix Atomic Bomb Ring (aka The Lone
    Ranger Atom Bomb Ring), and the Captain Midnight Spy Scope.  There was
    also an ad for the television-program Captain Midnight Cold Ovaltine
    Shake-Up Mug, but that's drifting away from OTR.

    But that aside, going back to the original Jack French observation, there
    are many programs that would have been virtually as difficult to make a
    comic book out of.  Naturally, The Cities Service Band of America is one
    such program.  Another would be Twenty Questions.

    It was suggested to me off-line that soap operas might be poor candidates
    for comic books.  Actually, they'd have fitted in with the romance comics
    of the era.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 20:31:53 -0400
    From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The classics on [removed]

    John Matthews' list is a good beginning, showing which shows used what
    classical music as intros and closings.  Correction:  The Lone Ranger's
    opening and closing theme was Rossini's William Tell overture (the last part
    of it).
        Kids of that time got a liberal education in classical music by
    listening [removed]
        "The Lone Ranger"
        "The Green Hornet"
        "Challenge (Sgt. Preston) of the Yukon"  ...and several others.
        Actually, classical music was all over the dial, and on just about any
    kind of program, including soap operas, drama, kids' shows -- to name a few.
        For example, "The Lone Ranger" used many standard classical pieces as
    bridges, as well as several pieces composed especially for the program.
    Here are the standards I remember:
        Weber:  Oberon overture
        Mendelssohn:  Fingal's cave (Hebrides) overture
        Mendelssohn:  Ruy blas overture
        Wagner:  Rienzi overture
        Liszt:  Les preludes
        Thomas:  Mignon overture
        Franck:  Symphony in D minor
        The problem with trying to buy records of these themes was that
    announcers seldom (if ever) gave the names and composers of the music they
    played.  The way I found out what was what was to remember themes, then
    listen to classical DJs play the music on WOI, Ames, Iowa, WCAL & KUOM,
    Minneapolis, and KUSD, Vermillion, SD.  Sometimes I would hear these works
    played in their complete form on the NY Phil-Sym Orch. and NBC Symphony
    Orchestra broadcasts.
        The Telephone Hour and Voice of Firestone had their own themes, but the
    only regular symphony broadcast that I heard which had a classical theme was
    the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  Henry Weber used a  portion of the first
    movement of Brahms's first symphony as a theme.
        "Escape" used music from Musorgski's Pictures at an exhibition.

        There were several swing bands heard on the radio that converted
    classical pieces into modern versions, especially Freddy Martin.  He
    converted Chaikovskii's first piano concerto, Grieg's A minor piano concerto
    and several others.  Other bands used Chaikovskii's "Pathetique" symphony,
    Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto, and Borodin's Polovtsian dances, and some
    became hit tunes.  Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini became "Who
    are we to say?", and Hildegard used it on her program often.

    Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
    OTR: [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 20:32:14 -0400
    From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Two radio prayers

    A pal of mine wants to know if audio copies exist of two prayers that
    were aired over network radio the week of D-Day.

    1)  First one was commissioned by the War Writers' Board and written by
    Edna St. Vincent Millay. It was read on the air by NBC veteran actor
    Ronald Colman.

    2) The second was written by Robert Sherwood, who at that time was the
    White House speech writer. FDR delivered this prayer on  network radio,
    probably as part of a regular presidential address.

    Any help here, Howard Blue?

    Jack French
    Editor: Radio Recall

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 20:32:49 -0400
    From: "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Classical theme music

    John Mathews indicated in the last posting he is compiling a list of
    classical compositions used in OTR.  John, this is a very long list.  And
    you need to make a few edits in your initial compilation.  While Reznicek's
    "Donna Dianna" overture was the principal, and in most "Sgt. Preston"
    programs, the only music used, Liszt's "Les Preludes" was not used in this
    program.  It was instead the intermission music used in "The Lone Ranger"
    from mid-1940 to the conclusion of the series.  There was also a separate
    cue taken from "Les Preludes" also used in the Ranger.
    Tschaikovsky's "1812 Overture" had four different cues used on the Lone
    Ranger, and, if you want a list of all the classical cues used on that
    program, I refer you to Reg Jone's wonderful book, "The Mystery of the
    Masked Man's Music".  To that you can add Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the
    Bumble Bee" for the Green Hornet, and about thirty more classical cues used
    exclusively on that WXYZ program.  (If you want to hear a composition that
    keeps reminding you of the "Hornet", try Gliere's Symphony No. 3, "Ilya
    Mourametz".  There are at least five Hornet cues in that work).  This
    posting is getting overlong, but in conclusion, include Sibelius' "Valse
    Triste" as the "I Love a Mystery" intro theme.

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 01:32:37 -0400
    From: BryanH362@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Stay awake with Walden this weekend
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    The weekend schedule for Yesterdayusa's Walden Hughes show heard Firday ,
    Saturday and Sunday  at 7:30 pm  Pacific Time is as follows:

    Friday 6-11-04

    A.  Frank  Bressee with a  new  interview with Irving Fein. Irving was  Jack
    Benny's  and George  Burns'  manager.

    B.  To celebrate Hal Stone's  birthday Frank and Walden will  replay a
    favorite  interview with Hal.

    Saturday 6-12-04

    A.  Walden's  live interview with author Chris Nickens to  talk about many of
    his books on Hollywood history

    B.  A salute to Ronald Reagan.  Walden will feature   many radio shows that
    Ronald appeared  in.

    Sunday 6-13-04

    A.  Mike Biels talk

    B.  Laura Leff talk on the Jack Benny show of 6-6-37

    C.  Replay of interview with Brian Gari who is  Eddy  Cantors  grandson.

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 02:12:00 -0400
    From: charlie@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

    A weekly [removed]

    For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
    Network, the channel name is #OldRadio.  We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
    and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
    over six years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
    of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
    real-time OTR talk!

    Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
    others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
    range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
    it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
    it's always a good time!

    For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
    week and every week!

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 09:38:08 -0400
    From: Tony Baechler <tony@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR music themes

    Hello all.  I am surprised that no one has mentioned this site.  I
    originally read about it on this digest.

    [removed]

    This site lists musical themes for many OTR and TV shows.  Last I checked,
    the site was still up but he was asking donations because he lost all his
    paper archives.  There were severe fires last October in the San Diego area
    and he apparently lost a lot.  I am near San Diego also and there was a lot
    of smoke and bad air.  I know many homes were lost.  This site should help
    with John compiling his classical music list.

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 11:28:09 -0400
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Current OTR recreations

    Craig just posted;

>     It never ceases to amaze me that folks who would not in a million years
>     consider themselves qualified to write, put on, or perform in a stage play or
>     film, glady rush "up to the mic". I'm not being a snob here; but - unless you
>     have a natural/and/or developed gift for these arts, it's a bit like picking
>     up a brush & expecting to be Norman Rockwell the first time out.

    Craig. To that I say a very big "Amen".

>     As I'm an actor first, let me say it again: RADIO ACTING IS NOT JUST
>     READING!!!

    To that I say another "Amen". And while I'm at it, I will say that Craig is
    a standout among the crop of young actors who are interested in the art of
    radio performing.

    But I have to be honest. When I attend OTR Conventions, I sometimes cringe
    when the powers that be cast people in various roles who are not even
    remotely qualified. But on the flip side, I have to admire their courage and
    interest in participating, and for helping keep alive the spirit of OTR. But
    to be true to the spirit of OTR, one should also keep in mind that in the
    good old days, the performers without any vestige of talent, were rarely
    cast. Willingness and interest were not enough.
    Sometimes I think nepotism and/or cronyism are mitigating factors in today's
    recreations. Yikes, It couldn't also be the "Casting Couch" syndrome. Perish
    the thought.

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 11:51:39 -0400
    From: "Tom van der Voort" <evan@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OTR Acting/Cassette Reliability

         1) Recent comments concerning the proficiency of OTR actors as compared
    with current performers have overlooked one huge difference between the
    two--the frequency with which stalwarts of the past were able to display
    their talents. As the old saying goes, "practice makes perfect".  It stands
    to reason that an actor who spent a few hours each week before the mike in
    ensemble pieces would be able to develop his timing, delivery, [removed] hone
    his craft--in ways impossible in today's TV-centric world.  That goes for
    directors, sound men, etc., as well.  If I needed open heart surgery, I'd
    choose an operating team that did several procedures a week.  If I want the
    best in radio acting, I'll choose those with extensive mike time which, in
    this country, means going back fifty or sixty years to another era.
         2) With all the recent comments about defective CD's, and past remarks
    about reel-to-reel problems such as sticky shed syndrome, squealing tapes,
    and bleeding between tracks, I have come to wonder if the much reviled
    cassette may not be a sturdier storage medium.  I admit to a strong bias
    because I have collected on cassette for thirty years.  And they certainly
    have their problems--tape hiss, speed variations, broken leaders, etc. But
    in my experience, tapes dubbed twenty years ago still sound as good as the
    day they were made. Furthermore a flood that would have destroyed
    reel-to-reel tapes left my cassettes relatively unaffected. Maybe I'm living
    in a dream world, but the lowly cassette has some very real advantages in my
    estimation.

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #196
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