Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #51
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 2/9/2002 9:49 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 51
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Round the Horne and British Comedy (  [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Radio Archives News                   [ Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed]; ]
      What really happened to Glenn Miller  [ Alan Chapman <[removed]@verizon. ]
      Re: Crosby's first radio broadcast    [ Rob Spencer <rspencer@[removed]; ]
      RE; AROUND THE HORN/PETER SELLERS     [ ""Cynthia \"ChibiBarako\""" < ]
      Then and Now -- Black and White       [ Grbmd@[removed] ]
      Bob Clayton and Norm Prescott         [ "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed] ]
      Re: Merecedes McCambridge             [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
      Beryl Davis thaughts about Glenn Mil  [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      Re: Program that prints file names f  [ Gary McDole <gmcdole@[removed]; ]
      Re: Soap series name                  [ Donna Cookson Martin <cookson@telus ]
      the pool of working radio actors      [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      Re: Peter Sellers on recent series?   [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      NPR ALTERNATIVE                       [ grayghost@[removed] ]
      Directory printer                     [ Fred Korb <fkorb@[removed]; ]
      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      ROUND THE HORN/PETER SELLERS          [ "S Skuse" <sskuse@[removed]; ]
      Bill AND Carol                        [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 18:10:48 -0500
    From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Round the Horne and British Comedy (and sex)

    Gray Ghost had mentioned "National Public Radio did air for years such
    shows as Around the Horn, with a very young Peter Sellers . . ." and
    David Rogers replied:

>     I may be wrong but are you sure that Peter Sellers was in Round
>     The Horne?  I felt sure that the cast was Kenneth Williams,
>     Kenneth Horne, Bill Pertwee, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden, and
>     Douglas Smith as the announcer.

    Since "Round the Horne" was produced in the years 1965-1968, if it did
    include Peter Sellers (which it didn't) it would not have been a
    __young__ Peter Sellers!!!  There was a show in 1959-60 called "Round
    the Bend" which starred former Goon, Michael Bentine, but also did not
    feature a Peter Sellers of any age.  I also don't think that it was ever
    part of the BBC Transcription Service, which is the source of the
    programs that overseas stations air.

>     [Round the Horne] was and is one of the finest Britcom radio shows of all
>     time.

    Actually I preferred his series that preceeded it, "Beyond Our Ken".

    For those who are interested in a guide to British radio comedy, I
    recommend a lovely little book that I picked up in London early last
    year, "Radio Comedy 1938-1968: A Guide to 30 Years of Wonderful
    Wireless" by Andy Foster & Steve Furst, published 1996 and reprinted
    1999 by Virgin Publishing, Ltd.  I was about to recommend it last Spring
    when I noticed that none of the British book web sites listed it
    anymore!  I found out why during my September trip to London where I
    sadly spotted it in a remainder bookshop for about 3 Pounds (original
    price [removed]).  So you may have to do a little searching. (ISBN
    0-86369-960-X)

    The book has two main weaknesses: it is done in chronological order of
    premiere date, and there is no index.  And sometimes related programs
    were grouped together which breaks the chronological order of the total
    book, but in the case of Kenneth Horne's programs, each was listed
    separately despite his name being in both titles.  While it makes a
    wonderful read and in this form it gives a good narrative of the
    development and evolution of British radio comedy, in order to find a
    program you have to fan thru the book pages repeatedly till the title
    pops out at you in large black letters.

    I would like to hear from any Brits who have this book whether there are
    program series that were missed by this book.  I seem to think that it
    is very weak on the programs of the pre-war commercial stations,
    concentrating on the BBC.

>     Listening to [Round the Horne] now I am constantly suprised at
>     just how "dirty" they were and I marvel at how they got away with it.

    Despite their Victorianism background and the title of their
    long-running play "No Sex, Please, We're British", the English seem to
    be much more sexually permissive in their media and in their outlook on
    life then Americans.  All you have to do is look at their newsstands or
    open one of their tabloid newspapers.  They show things on regular
    over-the-air television that sometimes our cable networks censor.  For
    example, you would not believe the goings on during the live BBC2
    telecast I saw of the Royal Opera Company's new production of
    "Rigoletto" last September at the early hour of 7 PM Saturday.

>     Even more amazing is that when I was a kid in England I used
>     to listen to it with my dad !!!!  Happy days.   David Rogers

    I've been wondering how many British parents unknowingly choose that
    telecast to introduce their children to opera!  It sure would have
    turned _me_ on to opera!!!  No warnings were made about the full frontal
    nudity--they don't consider it to be necessary.  I do know that opera
    ticket sales soared--the remaining four performances of this production
    at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden were immediately sold out!

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 18:11:03 -0500
    From: Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Radio Archives News

    Hello!

    If you signed up for a free subscription to the First Generation Radio
    Archives newsletter between January 21 and February 6, I would ask that you
    please resubmit your request. Due to a computer problem, since resolved, it
    appears that some e-mails were not successfully delivered to our address.

    If you received a copy of our latest newsletter on or about February 6th,
    your address *has* been successfully added and you do not need to send in a
    request again.

    To request a free subscription, go to:

    [removed]

    and follow the simple instructions.

    My apologies for this inconvenience. I'm hoping that, with the help of God
    and Microsoft, this will not happen again! <g>

    Harlan

    Harlan Zinck
    First Generation Radio Archives
    [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 18:47:34 -0500
    From: Alan Chapman <[removed]@[removed];
    To: Old-Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: What really happened to Glenn Miller?

>     (Summary) Glenn Miller and all those on the plane he was
>     flying with while crossing the English Channel were killed
>     when a bomber returning to England with a full load of bombs
>     they could not drop over Germany due to bad weather, dumped
>     the bombs at sea on the return flight to England. The bombs
>     fell on Miller's plane, and the plane and all aboard were
>     lost in the Channel. The information was revealed by the
>     British Government some 55 years after the event.

    Before this becomes a on-going thread, let's put it to bed.

    While this has a certain ring of believability, it is little more than
    an unsubstantiated theory; it is not a fact!!
    There have been many theories on Glenn Miller's demise (including ones
    that have him alive [removed] or at least did a few years ago).  It is
    an interesting theory, and might be true, but no one knows for sure.
    This one was originally advanced in the 70s by a retired RAF officer
    who studied RAF flight logs and intervieweed RAF flight personnel from
    the flight that might possibly have been the culprit.  He presented
    his conclusions as a THEORY.

    I was Admin Officer at RAF Chelveston (the base Miller flew out of)
    when it was mothballed in the mid-60's. When we shut the base, it was
    my job to review all the air traffic control logs and records retained
    at the base (including from Miller's flight), pack and ship them to
    the Pentagon.  Because of my own interest, I carefully read the logs
    from the day of Miller's flight.  There is no doubt that his plane
    went down over the North Sea.  How and why is conjecture.  The most
    prevalent theory is bad weather caused the accident (the ceiling was
    extremely low that day ... outgoing flights were delayed on and off
    throughout the day waiting for a break in the clouds.)
    Miller's filed flight plan would not have brought near enough to the
    RAF bomber in question, but there is a real possibility that Miller's
    plane went off course because of the weather -- hence the theory. Like
    so many other theories, it's been repeated often enough to be reported
    as fact.

    Alan Chapman

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 19:22:58 -0500
    From: Rob Spencer <rspencer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: Crosby's first radio broadcast

    Thanks to Steven Lewis for his answer to my question.  The copy of the
    broadcast available at the Bing Crosby Internet Museum is, by the way,
    edited very slightly: a few of Harry Von Zell's words here and there,
    and also a station ID and local commercial at the start.

    With Victor Young and Eddie Lang present, am I right to assume that the
    broadcast originated in New York?  I had assumed it had been done in LA,
    since the aircheck was made there.

    Rob Spencer

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 20:01:28 -0500
    From: ""Cynthia \"ChibiBarako\""" <cvc@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: RE; AROUND THE HORN/PETER SELLERS

    The confusion is probably coming up because a (very young) Peter Sellers
    was on The Goon Show through its entire run.

    Cynthia

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 20:02:32 -0500
    From: Grbmd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Then and Now -- Black and White

    A while back we were following a thread about what worked during the Golden
    Age that wouldn't work today.  I came across another example.

    A few days ago I was listening to several tapes of "The Shadow."  One of the
    episodes was named for the gang of bad guys, who called themselves The White
    Legion.  I forget why they picked that name, but I guess it made sense in the
    context of the show back in the Forties.

    Fast-forward to the present day.  I can't imagine any gang or any program
    episode picking The White Legion as its name.  It sounds too much like the
    White Citizens Council, which is a stand-in for the Ku Klux Klan.  The phrase
    would probably offend today's black community and the more sensitive whites.

    I find this sad for two reasons in two eras.

    Back in the Forties, I'm afraid, the white community didn't concern itself
    enough with the sensibilities of the black community.  Except when there was
    a riot, as in Detroit, the white community was content to let sleeping dogs
    lie.  We enjoyed Amos and Andy and we laughed with Rochester, but overall in
    the real world we weren't that concerned with the plight of blacks.

    Nowadays, after we have worked our way through the Sixties civil-rights
    activities and have achieved a number of legal and social gains for our black
    citizens, I'm afraid that everyone has become a little too hyper about small
    slips of the tongue.  One example is the recent flap that emerged because a
    white-owned food store had a fried-chicken special for Black History Month.
    It was done with good intentions, I'm sure, but it was perceived by blacks as
    promoting stereotypes.  I think it's sad that we've all become that
    oversensitive.

    I'm sorry, Charlie, if I've gotten too serious for this Digest, but the
    subject has been bugging me since I listened to that Shadow episode.

    Spence

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 20:03:07 -0500
    From: "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Bob Clayton and Norm Prescott

    Dave Walter asked if the late Bob Clayton, who hosted the very popular,
    "Boston Ballroom" on WHDH was a TV game show host.   Yes, he was one of the
    hosts of "Concentration" and he did appear in a film called "Disc Jockey" in
    the mid-1950's with deejays from other radio stations around the country.

    Another, competing Boston DJ, Norm Prescott  was also in the film.  Norm was
    with WORL, WHDH, WBZ in Boston, WNEW-AM in NYC and eventually went to
    Hollywood to produce Saturday morning TV cartoons.  If anyone on this list
    knows about Norm, or where he is today, please contact me off-list.  Many
    thanks.

    Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 21:18:45 -0500
    From: BryanH362@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Re: Merecedes McCambridge

>     to those actors like
>     Mercedes McCambridge and Tony Randall who say radio drama isn't
>     really acting, .......

    Could you elaborate a little on this  in regard to Merecedes ? The last time
    I heard her in a radio interview she acted as though radio  was her first
    love .

    She was telling stories about the good old days of radio and how much fun she
    had
    and how radio was a more personal medium than TV . Merecedes sure seemed like
    a radio fan to me . Is she still with us?

    -Bryan

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

    Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 22:42:26 -0500
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Beryl Davis thaughts about Glenn Miller death

    Beryl Davis who was Glenn Miller last girl band singer have told me that
    that the band had no word about Glenn for months.  All they where told that
    he was missing.  Her last appearance with Glenn was on 12-12-44, then Glen
    took that plane ride to France on 12-15-44.  After her stint with Glenn, a
    GI send Bob Hope a record recorded by Beryl, and Bob sent for her to come to
    the USA after hearing her recording.  I have just only have found 1 of those
    Bob Hope show from 2-11-47.  She join the Your Hit Parade on 12-6-47 and
    stay with the show until 7-31-48.  Being from England she never knew about
    the prestige of being on Your Hit Parade.  She was also the singer on Phil
    Silver radio show.  She is still performing and one of the nicest people I
    know in the business.  Take care,

    Walden Hughes  before

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

    Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2002 00:43:07 -0500
    From: Gary McDole <gmcdole@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: Program that prints file names from mp3 cd

      "William Brown" <billb@[removed]  wrote:

>     Does anyone know of a program I can use to print out a list of mp3 programs
>     on a cd disc?

    I really like rjhExtensions, (for Windows 95/98/NT/2000) which is free and
    can be found at
    [removed]

    Among other things, it will print or save to disc a list of files in a
    directory.  If you're using it to save a list of mp3s on a cd, you just
    have to change the path so that it doesn't try (unsuccessfully) to save the
    list ON the cd.

    Gary in Berkeley

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

    Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2002 09:08:04 -0500
    From: Donna Cookson Martin <cookson@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: Soap series name

    Frank wrote:

>     Does anyone know the name of a radio soap opera that had 2
>     characters named Poppa David and Chichi in the cast?

    	You must be thinking of "Life Can Be Beautiful." In Canada in the early
    1950s it was the first of four 15-minute programs which were known as
    "The Proctor and Gamble Hour". The three other shows were "Ma Perkins",
    "Pepper Young's Family" and "The Right To Happiness".

    	As a blind child on an Alberta farm, I was homeschooled by my mother
    for the first two grades. Every day after lunch--which we called dinner
    because it was the main meal of the day and always came with dessert--I
    would run up the short path to Grannie's house, and she and I would
    listen to "Life Can Be Beautiful"  and the other programs. Then I would
    go back home to Mum and my lessons.

    	Poppa David, as I recall, was aptly named David Soloman, a very wise
    and dear old gentleman who ran a bookshop. Chi Chi Conrad was a young
    woman (an orphan perhaps?) who seemed somewhat lost and really needed
    Poppa David's gentle guidance. I haven't thought about that bookshop in
    so many years. What was it called?

    	Anyway, the Proctor and Gamble Hour and Poppa David, assisted by my
    beloved and very proper English Grannie, taught me much about life in
    that magical hour after dinner.

    Donna Cookson Martin

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

    Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2002 09:08:20 -0500
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: the pool of working radio actors

    If any one has a radio directory handy, I am  wondering what was the brake
    down of the numbers of working radio actors at all three major hub of radio.
    I have heard that there was around 400 total at one time.  My guest the
    smallest area would be in Hollywood because of very little day time work.
    Was the pool bigger in Chicago or New York.  I would also guest that in New
    York, and Chicago that there wore more day time actors rather than night
    time.  I have heard interview with New York actors saying that there was a
    deafenly a separation between working day time and night time and there was
    just a select group of actors who did both.  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2002 09:09:19 -0500
    From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: Peter Sellers on recent series?

    From: grayghost@[removed]

>     In answere to David Rogers inquiry about Peter Sellers being in
>     the cast of ATH, although not a regular member, he did appear a
>     number of times as guest artist on that show

    That seems strange because the format of "Around the Horne" did not seem
    to fit having guest stars.  Indeed, the show was described thusly: "Each
    show seemed to have a cast of thousands played by the same four highly
    accomplished actors from 'Beyond Our Ken'."  Can you cite some specifics
    of Sellers' appearance?  Since this series was done after Sellers had
    become an international celebrity, he certainly would have attracted
    attention appearing on this show.

>     as well as HHGTTG,

    The BBC web site for "Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy" does not mention
    Sellers in the section where they discuss cameo appearances by
    celebrities.  The first radio series was done in 1978 about 2 years
    before his death, during a time when he was gathering strength for his
    final film.  Do you have a specific reference to him in this series?

>     and RD. Gray Ghost

>     >From what I can see, the first "Red Dwarf" TV series was done in 1988,

    eight years after Sellers' death.  The audio series came later, around
    1995.  The creators of this series had earlier done a radio series "Son
    of Cliche" which included elements that would later become "Red Dwarf",
    but these also postdate Sellers' death: Aug-Oct 1983 and Oct-Dec 1984.
    Additionally, I see no mention of any of these in Adrian Rigelsford's
    book "Peter Sellers: A Celebration".

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2002 09:06:49 -0500
    From: grayghost@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: NPR ALTERNATIVE

    To the chap who was digusted with the NPR programmes, why hasen't anyone in
    the US thought of Cable radio - or do they have that there?  That would be
    like your Cable TV, with a monthly fee.

    Gray Ghost

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

    Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2002 09:11:41 -0500
    From: Fred Korb <fkorb@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Directory printer

    Dear Readers,

    I just happened, by chance, on ZDnet, found and downloaded the free
    directory printer from Visual Impact Technologies at the following site:

    [removed]

    Check it out! It is free and there is no registration fee, ever. It does
    a great job listing all the contents of OTR files on OTR CDs. You can
    customize the way the list is printed out with or without grid lines and
    also vary the column widths. There is even room on the printed pages to
    punch holes and put the sheets in a binder. It is a very nice way to
    keep track of what shows you have on CD.

    I hope this information helps all of the collectors of OTR out there and
    enables them to enjoy listening to the shows. I use my lists as a log
    for collecting as well as to keep track of which ones I have listened
    to.

    Take Care,

    Fred Korb - Secretary
    Oldtime Radio Collectors and Traders Society

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: This is a Windows program. Let's remember, folks, that not
    everyone here uses Microsoft operating systems, so if you recommend software,
    be sure to mention on what operating system it runs.  --cfs3]

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

    Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2002 09:14:38 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Today in radio history

      From Those Were The Days -

    1958 - Radio's last big serial debuted on CBS. Frontier Gentleman began
    a brief run. Starring in the role of [removed] Kendall was John Dehner.

      Joe

    --
    Visit my home page:
    [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2002 09:09:41 -0500
    From: "S Skuse" <sskuse@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: ROUND THE HORN/PETER SELLERS

    On 8 Feb 2002 grayghost@[removed] wrote:

>     In answere to David Rogers inquiry about Peter Sellers being in the
>     cast of ATH, although not a regular member, he did appear a number
>     of times as guest artist on that show as well as HHGTTG, and RD.

>     Gray Ghost

    This is just not so. Peter Sellers was never in either The Hitch Hikers
    Guide to the Galaxy, nor Red Dwarf.

    I don't know of any instance, either, of him guesting on Round The Horne,
    which was a show that didn't feature guest artistes. It had a fixed cast
    (Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden, Bill Pertwee,
    Douglas Smith) and Peter Sellers wasn't one of them!

    Sandra Skuse
    Website: [removed]
    dedicated to English OTR comedian Jimmy Clitheroe

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

    Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2002 09:14:21 -0500
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Bill AND Carol

    In my recent post to Bryan, letting him know how to tune in to OTR on the
    internet, I made a terrible goof.

    I'm sorry. Mea Culpa. Forgive me,...I'm being deluged with corrections.

    It's all Charlie Summers' fault. He taught me how to cut and paste addresses
    out of e-mails. I was behind in reading digests, and posting, so I hastily
    cut and pasted an address from an e-mail that Bill Eberle sent me, and
    simply wasn't thinking.

    I should have said that the Host of the internet OTR program is BILL EBERLY.
    His wife's name is Carol. (Maybe I had Carol on my mind). Bill told me he's
    the "Archie Andrews" fan in the family. Carol prefers "Henry Aldrich". Maybe
    I thought that if I gave her some "Credit" also, she would reconsider and
    think better of me. :)

    The goof wasn't a "Senior Moment" this time. I'm saving that excuse for the
    next mistake that shows up in the digest. Along with others [removed]  "having
    a bad hair day" (Losing a few strands more)... [removed]"The dog ate my address
    book)."

    Sorry Bill Eberle. I'm ashamed and embarrassed. Particularly since you did
    something nice for me recently.

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: And as a reminder, the URL for Bill's website is:

    [removed]

    --cfs3]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #51
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