------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 53
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
This week in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Re: John Gambling's "Smile" song [ "Cynthia Van Cleave" <cvc@[removed]; ]
Duffy's Tavern - a query [ "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed] ]
Dr Demento [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
Information Please [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Radio Profaned Question [ "E. Scott Palmer" <espalmer@comcast ]
Re: Shadow [ Larry Groebe <lgroebe@genericradio. ]
Shadow Copyright [ <welsa@[removed]; ]
2-9- births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
The Shadow? Who Knows? [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
"Smiles" [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
2-8 typos [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Re: Radio Comedy book [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
Julius Schwartz (OFF TOPIC) [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
"Pack Up Your Troubles" audio [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 12:14:44 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: This week in radio history
From Those Were The Days --
Feb 8 --
1924 - John Joseph Carty of the Bell Telephone System spoke in Chicago,
IL. His speech was carried across the nation on the first coast-to-coast
radio hookup. An estimated 50-million people heard the speech.
Feb 11 --
1940 - NBC presented The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street for
the first time. The famous Blue network series included several
distinguished alumni -- among them, Dinah Shore and Zero Mostel. The
chairman, or host, of The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street
was Milton Cross. He would say things like, "A Bostonian looks like he's
smelling something. A New Yorker looks like he's found it." The show
combined satire, blues and jazz and was built around what were called
the three Bs of music: Barrelhouse, Boogie Woogie and Blues.
Feb 12 --
1924 - Calvin Coolidge, known by many as the 'Silent Cal', made the
first presidential political speech on radio. The speech originated from
New York City and was broadcast on five radio stations. Some five
million people tuned in to hear the President speak.
1924 - The Eveready Hour became radio's first sponsored network program.
The National Carbon Company took the honor of being the first sponsor of
a network show.
1940 - Mutual presented the first broadcast of Superman. The identity of
the man from planet Krypton was unknown to listeners for six years. The
secret eventually leaked out that Superman's voice was actually that of
Bud Collyer.
Feb 13 --
1939 - Virginia Payne, already popular as the voice of Ma Perkins, took
on a new character in NBC's soap opera, The Carters of Elm Street.
Virginia played the part of Mrs. Carter.
Joe
--
Visit my slightly updated (1/1/04) homepage:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 12:21:22 -0500
From: "Cynthia Van Cleave" <cvc@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: John Gambling's "Smile" song
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I can't guarantee the accuracy of this. It's just my recollection, heard
while I was waiting for Gambling to close Edison Township, NJ, schools in
the winter.
The line that Paula couldn't remember or hear correctly is:
"While you've a lucifer to light your fag"
which is way outdated slang for
"While you've a pocket match to light your cigarette".
Cynthia
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 12:31:03 -0500
From: "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Duffy's Tavern - a query
The same story may have been used on the Duffy's Tavern Christmas
broadcasts of 12-25-46, 12-24-47, and 12-22-48. A recording of the '48
broadcast is in circulation: Archie dislikes Xmas. A Stranger enters after
closing time, the two go out on the street together and Archie witnesses
three miracles: (1) Jimmy the lame newsboy suddenly can walk (to reach his
hero standing nearby, "Joe DiMaggio"); (2) a man will jump off a hotel ledge
when the midnight chimes toll but his wife, Ann, returns to him seconds
before the tolling -- the chimes were delayed four minutes; and (3) Archie
and the Stranger take a taxi which hits a blind pedestrian who, when he
comes to, can see. Back at the tavern, Archie's attitude towards Xmas is
now more positive.
Jeff Chandler plays the Stranger on the broadcast that's in circulation.
-- Did Jeff Chandler appear on more than one of those three Christmas
broadcasts?
-- Were the same three miracles described above dramatized on all three
broadcasts?
-- Would any of you know if scripts or recordings of the 1946 or 1947
broadcasts exist?
Thanks.
-- Phil C.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 14:41:43 -0500
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Dr Demento
My long-distance radio listening habit has become sporadic in recent years,
so I don't know if Dr Demento still runs his show. Lee Munsick's discussion
of John Gambling and Spike Jones brings the good doctor to mind: as ancient
as I am, I have only heard Spike Jones' music on Dr D's show.
I've learned a lot of history from Dr Demento. If I'm using the term
correctly, I'd nominate him as the best popular-music musicologist and
scholar there is. I wish his persona was a bit more restrained, though. He
is neither demented nor crazy, and I'm afraid he might tend to repel more
adult listeners, all of whom could stand to benefit by his work.
He has played the first recorded advertisement, the first singing
commercial, the ad for the first two-sided record, the entire history of
weird Christmas music (in which he details our annual loss of listening
discrimination,) every dance craze, all of the singing animal records, and
every other musical fad. Individually, these seem trivial. But taken as a
whole, they comprise a good self-examination of humanity, and that's perhaps
the most worthy goal of any scholarly pursuit.
Besides, it's funny.
M Kinsler
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 14:42:38 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Information Please
Rick Selvin mentioned:
I learned the answer while reading Martin Grams Jr.'s wonderful book on
"Information Please." It's such a good story that I won't ruin it for you.
I'm sure others know the tale. the book is "out of print" at Amazon but
there are used copies available there. Someone in the group (Martin?) also
must have a few extra copies.
[removed] is not always efficient when it comes to pricing, reviews and
availability. Their system has flaws and is publicly known for catering
more to books like Harry Potter than smaller print-run books. INFORMATION
PLEASE is available from [removed], but if you want a more direct approach,
it's also available at [removed] and
[removed]
Martin
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 14:42:57 -0500
From: "E. Scott Palmer" <espalmer@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Radio Profaned Question
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X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Thanks to all for the personal emails in regards to this question, much
appreciated.
Scott Palmer
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 14:44:11 -0500
From: Larry Groebe <lgroebe@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Shadow
on 2/8/04 11:30 AM, [removed]@[removed] at
[removed]@[removed] wrote:
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2004 19:07:27 -0500
From: "Harry R. Keller" <hrkeller@[removed];
I'm on an e-mail list from one of the Shadow PDF websites (where they take
the old mags and turn them into PDF files for free downloading) and the
site owner sent out an announcement that he'd received a letter from Conde
Naste attornies telling him to cease putting the old Shadow novels on the
web.
Anyone have any 4-1-1 on what this might be? Or is it just "protect your
trademark or lose it?
I got one of those letters as well just recently, asking me to remove the
Shadow (and Doc Savage) radio scripts from the [removed] website.
I did so, but I followed it up with a call to the lawyer who had sent the
letter asking for a bit more information. He told me that Conde Nast sent
about 30 or so of these letters out to various folks recently.
He also said that Conde Nast was preparing some new material for their
characters -- they were working on new movie deals as well as printing some
book collections -- and this was why the push right now.
For a lawyer, he was a nice enough guy. (grin.) He said that Conde Nast
didn't have problem with fan sites, but the posting of the original material
was a different issue.
Also, to my pleased surprise, he said Conde Nast generally DOES permit radio
theater groups to PERFORM Shadow scripts at no charge -- IF the situation is
non-profit; and if there is no taping or broadcast. That's not a blanket
opportunity, but they could choose not to allow ANY performances, and the
fact they they do (you contact them in advance; they send you a form) is a
not-unreasonable thing.
Of course, since I can no longer put any of those scripts online, I can't
tell you where to FIND a script to [removed]
--Larry Groebe
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 14:44:41 -0500
From: <welsa@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Shadow Copyright
The Generic radio website reports the same problem. They received an e-mail
from Conde Nast Publications threatening a lawsuit if they didn't remove all
the Shadow and Doc Savage scripts they had on the site. They have been
removed.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 14:44:51 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 2-9- births/deaths
February 9th births
02-09-1891 - Ronald Colman - Richmond, Surrey, England - d. 5-19-1958
actor: William Todhunter Hall "Halls of Ivy"; "Jack Benny Program"
02-09-1892 - Peggy Wood - Brooklyn, NY - d. 3-18-1978
actress: "NBC Present Eugene O'Neill"; "Great Scenes from Great Plays"; "
02-09-1899 - Brian Donlevy - Portadown County, Armagh, Ireland (R: WI) - d.
4-5-1972
actor: Steve Mitchell "Dangerous Assignment"
02-09-1901 - Walter Preston - Quincy, IL - d. 8-7-1982
singer: "Philco Hour"
02-09-1902 - Chester A. Lauck - Alleene, AR - d. 2-22-1980
comedian: Columbus 'Lum' Edwards "Lum and Abner"
02-09-1909 - Carmen Miranda - Lisbon, Portugal - d. 8-5-1955
singer: "Hello Americans"
02-09-1912 - Bob Hannon - Chicago, IL - d. 2-16-1993
singer: "American Melody Hour"; "Waltz Time"
02-09-1914 - Ernest Tubb - Crisp, TX - d. 9-6-1984
singer: (The Texas Troubador) "Grand Ole Opry"
02-09-1914 - Ralph Herman - Milwaukee, WI
bandleader: "Herb Oscar Anderson Show"
02-09-1922 - Kathryn Grayson - Winston-Salem, NC
singer: "Mail Call"
February 9th deaths
01-13-1884 - Sophie Tucker - Russia - d. 2-9-1966
singer: (The Last of the Red Hot Mammas) "Sophie Tucker and Her Show"
01-30-1914 - David Wayne - Traverse City, MI - d. 2-9-1995
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre" ;" Eternal Light"; "Stars in the Air"
02-08-1924 - Audrey Meadows - Wu Chang, China - d. 2-9-1966
actress: Alice Kramden "Honeymooners"
04-01-1909 - Eddy Duchin - Cambridge, MA - d. 2-9-1951
bandleader: (The Ten Magic Fingers of Radio) "Lasalle Style Show"
04-07-1908 - Percy Faith - Toronto, Canada - d. 2-9-1976
conductor: "Carnation Contented Hour"; "Pause That Refreshes on the Air"
05-07-1885 - George "Gabby" Hayes - Wellsville, NY - d. 2-9-1969
actor: "Andrews Sisters' Eight-to-the-Baar Ranch"; "Roy Rogers Show"
08-30-1908 - Willie Bryant - New Orleans, LA - d. 2-9-1964
host: "Night Life"
11-23-1915 - Natalie Park Masters - San Francisco, CA - d. 2-9-1986
actress: Candy Matson "Candy Matson
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 14:45:35 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Shadow? Who Knows?
Bob Keller notes,
I'm on an e-mail list from one of the Shadow PDF websites (where they take
the old mags and turn them into PDF files for free downloading) and the
site owner sent out an announcement that he'd received a letter from Conde
Naste attornies telling him to cease putting the old Shadow novels on the
web.
And asks,
Anyone have any 4-1-1 on what this might be? Or is it just "protect your
trademark or lose it?
Possibly indirectly.
The Shadow was both an OTR show and a pulp magazine. The latter was
published by Street & Smith, along with others. Eventually, Conde Nast
acquired The Shadow magazine from Street & Smith. In the 1970s and
1980s, some pulps were republished as paperbacks, including both Doc
Savage and The Shadow. During that time, the copyrights were renewed.
I believe that Conde Nast is protecting its copyrights. I don't think
that it has anything necessarily to do with forthcoming use of the
characters.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr,.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 14:47:20 -0500
From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "Smiles"
<<Paula Keiser posted the "Pack Up Your Troubles" theme song for John
Gambling>>
Fred Allen used "Smile, Darn Ya Smile" as his theme for the variety show.
Looks like there was a lot of positive attitudes during the OTR era - must
have been because of the stock market crash that they chose happy songs.
Some period songs with "smile" lyrics:
"Let A Smile be Your Unbrella" - "There Are Smiles That Make Us Happy" -
others with positive lyrics? anyone?
=Russ Butler oldradio@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 14:51:17 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 2-8 typos
Audrey Meadows died in 1996 NOT 1966.
Lana Turner was born in 1920 NOT 1921.
Sorry and thanks to you who pointed these out to me.
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 20:54:19 -0500
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Radio Comedy book
In a message dated 2/8/04 11:30:30 AM, Jerry Purvis asks:
Does anyone know of a book out there that examines
the great radio comedy writers like Don Quinn and how
they came up with their material?
***Jordan R. Young's 1999 book THE LAUGH CRAFTERS features interviews with
radio scriptwriters Parke Levy, Paul Henning, Charles Isaacs, Irving Brecher,
Norman Panama, Sherwood Schwartz, Bob Weiskopf, Bob Schiller, Hal Kanter,
George
Balzer, Sol Saks and Larry Gelbart. Paul Henning talks for several pages
about assisting Don Quinn on the FIBBER McGEE AND MOLLY scripts from 1937-39.
--Anthony Tollin***
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 23:48:45 -0500
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Julius Schwartz (OFF TOPIC)
Just a note that Julius Schwartz passed away earlier today at the age of
89. Julie wasn't involved in any way with OTR, as far as I know, but I know
a number of the members of this list grew up reading the comic books he edited
(in the 1940s through the 1980s) ... like Flash, Green Lantern, Justice
Society of America and JLA, Hawkman, and later Batman and Superman. And all
of us
in any branch of fandom owe a huge debt to the editor of the very first
fanzines, "The Time Traveler" and "Science Fiction Digest," in 1932.
As a science fiction writers' agent, Julie did a lot to push the careers
of a number of talented authors who did leave their mark on radio, including
his clients Alfred Bester (who recommended Julie in 1943 for his first
editorial job at DC Comics), Robert Bloch (who scripted the "Stay Tuned for
Terror"
radio series) and of course Ray Bradbury. (Julie sold Bradbury's first 72
stories.) Julie introduced his clients Edmond Hamilton (author of Captain
Future)
and Leigh Brackett (scriptwriter of "The Big Sleep" and "The Empire Strikes
Back"), and as I recall later served as Best Man at their wedding.
I did my first interior comic coloring assignments for Julie on Mighty
Isis, Justice League of America and Green Lantern, my first cover assignments
(on Justice League and Superman), etc. My friendship with Julie led to my
first personal contact with Alfie Bester and Ray Bradbury, and opened a lot of
other doors. I will miss both the man and his irreplaceable memories of the
early days of science fiction fandom, pulps and comic books. --Anthony Tollin
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 10:27:43 -0500
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "Pack Up Your Troubles" audio
I found this Canadian site, titled "
English Songs Popular during the First World War" that has a chorus singing
some of the song "Pack Up Your [removed]", and other songs of the era. It
also has some of the songs' words:
[removed]
Excuse me, I'm gonna go back and listen to other stuff on the [removed]
Herb Harrison
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #53
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