Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #150
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 4/9/2003 1:12 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 150
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Re: Radio Magazines                   [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Re: Cloaked Threat?                   [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Wm B. Lewis: Who was he & where are   [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
      Re: missing Johnny Dollars            [ rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed] ]
      Comedian Harmonists                   [ Vollmannp@[removed] ]
      Re: Amos & Andy                       [ rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed] ]
      The April Fool Queen                  [ "Tom Thomas" <tomth@[removed]; ]
      Re: How did the Shadow?               [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
      Accuracy                              [ Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed] ]
      shows on Yesterday USA                [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      Amos and Andy                         [ "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed] ]
      Radio scripts                         [ "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed] ]
      The joke                              [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]
      CBS Tribute to Richard Crenna         [ jhcollins@[removed] ]
      binary newbie                         [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 12:35:45 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Radio Magazines

    On 4/8/03 11:55 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     Prior to about 1935 radio schedules were limited to newspaper columns and
>     some small publications in larger cities like Chicago and New York (where
>     sales of the magazines could be profitable and enough stations existed to
>     make a compilation worthwhile).

    There were quite a few such regional magazines. One of the most
    interesting was "New York Radio Program Weekly," published in 1927-28 by
    Hugo Gernsback of "Radio News" and science-fiction-magazine fame. This
    publication contained detailed program listings for all New York City
    stations, along with feature articles on programs and personalities,
    illustrated by line drawings and cartoons. The cover illustrations were
    rather hideous paintings, but otherwise this is an excellent publication
    both for research and casual reading.

    "Broadcast Weekly" was a small, digest-size magazine published on the
    West Coast from the late twenties into the mid-thirties, and contained
    detailed listings for all stations in the region. Most of the editorial
    contact was taken from press releases or tear sheets, but there were
    occasionally original articles on West Coast-based performers.

    Another magazine of interest in the late 1920s was "Radio Index," usually
    abbreviated to "RADEX." This was a digest-size magazine focused on the
    interest of "DX" listeners -- people whose primary interest in radio was
    locating and tuning in distant stations. Abbreviated program listings
    were published, along with detailed rosters of all functioning broadcast
    stations. Most of the editorial content revolved around DX topics, but
    occasionally short star profiles were published, usually drawn from press
    releases.

    "Broadcast Listener," based in Cincinnati, was another interesting
    magazine of the 1926-27 era. There were no program schedules, but there
    were articles and news items on personalities and programs. However, the
    magazine also featured a regular department devoted to Theosophy, a
    quasi-religious "New Thought" movement of the era, and many readers found
    this section to be both offensive and inappropriate -- and its presence
    probably contributed to "Broadcast Listener's" demise. The effect was
    something like if TV Guide suddenly decided to feature a weekly column
    based on the philosophy of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh -- it simply wasn't
    the sort of content readers expected or wanted from the magazine.

    Doubleday-Doran's "Radio Broadcast," beginning in 1922, was probably the
    slickest radio magazine of the twenties, and the one most often preserved
    in bound volumes by libraries. It began as a technical journal, but by
    1923 was devoting a section each month to programming issues and
    personality profiles, and also dealt with broadcasting-industry-business
    topics as needed. This wide focus eventually compromised the magazine,
    and in 1929 it became strictly a technical magazine devoted to the
    radio-repair-and-service trade before going out of business in the summer
    of 1930.

    The most important nationally-published radio magazine of the era -- was,
    by far, "Radio Digest," which began as a weekly newsprint tabloid in
    1922. At first the Digest dealt with mostly technical subjects, but by
    the end of 1923 it featured detailed weekly program listings for major
    stations, organized by time zone.

    The publication switched to semimonthly format in 1925, and began
    featuring two-color art covers in 1927. The content shifted more and more
    away from technical topics to focus on programs and personalities -- and
    beginning in 1926, the magazine even published fiction. (Its 1926 serial
    "The Step on the Stair" was adapted for radio by Fred Smith of WLW,
    Cincinnati, becoming radio's first-ever mystery serial.)

    In 1927, the magazine switched to monthly publication, and in the summer
    of 1928 it abandoned the tabloid format for a new perfect-bound
    standard-sized magazine format with full-cover art covers. This format
    was published quarterly until the fall of 1929 when monthly publication
    resumed.

    "Radio Digest" from fall 1929 into 1932 is probably the definitive
    publication on programs and personalities of the era -- the editorial
    quality of its articles were excellent, and its scope was impressive,
    giving equal coverage both to network and local/regional personalities.
    In the summer of 1930, "Radio Digest" merged with Doubleday-Doran's
    "Radio Broadcast," and moved from Chicago to New York -- but otherwise
    remained unchanged, other than a switch to bi-monthly publication in
    1932. Around this time, Radio Digest Publishing Company began a second
    magazine, "Radio Art." This was exclusively a trade publication,
    available by subscription only, dealing primarily with the business
    aspects of broadcasting, and intended as a competitor to "Broadcasting"
    magazine.

    The Depression's impact on advertising sales compromised the magazine's
    cash low, however, and in the spring of 1933 "Radio Digest" underwent a
    radical change, transforming into a new monthly magazine called "Radio
    Fan-Fare." This is a difficult magazine to describe -- it had "attitude"
    in a way that no radio magazine had ever had, with an emphasis on snide,
    smart-mouthed, and sarcastic criticism of programs and personalities.
    This "College Humor" approach to radio  inflamed old-school Radio Digest
    readers, and "Radio Fan Fare" died before the end of 1933. It made for
    interesting reading while it lasted, but it was a far cry from "Radio
    Digest's" glory days.

>     From 1935 to 1942 Radio Guide was published on a regional basis weekly.

    Radio Guide actually began in Chicago and New York in November 1931, as a
    venture of Moe Annenberg, publisher of the Daily Racing Form. For about
    its first year it was presented in a tabloid newspaper format, with most
    of its editorial content coming from press releases -- although New York
    Journal radio critic Mike Porter and music critic Carleton Smith were
    regular contributors from very early on.

    Beginning in 1933, Radio Guide began to feature two-color "art covers"
    and was presented in a saddle-stitched large-magazine format. There was
    also a new emphasis on original editorial content, and Chicago
    Herald-Examiner radio editor Evans Plummer became a regular contributor
    with his "Plums and Prunes" column.

    Full color art covers were featured beginning in the spring of 1935, and
    continued until the magazine switched to black-and-white photo covers in
    early 1938. Many of these covers were elegant portraits of
    stars-of-the-moment painted by Charles Rubino, and these issues are
    perhaps the most collectible of the run. This period also marked the peak
    of Radio Guide's editorial quality -- it published substantial criticism
    and serious journalism about radio, such as its 1935 expose revealing
    that certain elements of "Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour" were rigged.

>     In about 1940 the publication morphed into Movie-Radio Guide so it
>     could begin covering the Hollywood stars and their latest movies along with
>     the radio celebs.

    This happened as a direct result of Moe Annenberg being sent to prison
    for tax evasion in 1940 -- the magazine was taken over by his son Walter
    (later publisher of "TV Guide") and the change to a combination
    radio-movie format was an attempt to pump up the cash flow by merging
    "Radio Guide" with "Screen Guide," another troubled Annenberg publication
    of the era.

    The transition to "Movie Radio Guide" was unfortunately accompanied by a
    sharp drop in editorial quality -- the publication became much more of a
    gee-whiz celebrity fanrag, rather like what's happened to TV Guide over
    the last fifteen years.

>     I have yet to find a Movie-Radio Guide published after
>     1942/1943, the loss may be war related (shortage of paper or ink) or just
>     financial.

    "Movie Radio Guide" ceased publication at the end of 1943, as a casualty
    of the wartime paper shortage. The magazine had tried several strategies
    for reducing page count during 1942-43, and switched to a monthly format
    in early 1943, which continued until the publication went out of business
    at the end of the year.

>     Oh yes, the Guide was published in an oversized format (13x16
>     approx) and had beautiful color illustrations of various actors/actresses
>     on the cover. Some were done by fairly famous artists and eBay occasionally
>     has someone selling/buying the covers just for the artwork.

    Coverless copies of the Guide are an excellent value if you're interested
    more in the content of the magazine than in the pretty pictures on the
    cover. I've come across them in bulk at flea markets for a couple of
    dollars per copy. Complete issues with covers, especially from the
    Rubino-art-cover period, will rarely sell for less than $8-$10 per copy,
    and popular cover subjects will usually sell for far more.

>     From 1941 to 1963 a publication called Radio Mirror was published. It had
>     a more traditional magazine format (8-1/2 x 11) with more advertisements
>     and articles about the actors.

    "Radio Mirror" actually started in 1933, and was probably the best of the
    straight fan magazines, which actually isn't saying a whole lot: the
    somewhat-cheesier "Radioland" and "Radio Stars" being its major
    competitors. It was targeted almost entirely to working-class women, and
    its editorial content rarely advanced beyond the manipulative "Will Jane
    Radiostar Find Love?" level. There *were* some interesting personality
    profiles in the magazine during its early years, but by the 1940s it had
    degenerated sharply, and its articles from this era should be taken with
    large quantities of salt. Even during the thirties the reporters for
    these fanrags tended to be very sloppy with facts, and when using these
    magazines as research sources one needs to be very aware of the influence
    of press agents, and to *always* double-check claims of fact before
    depending on such articles as valid sources.

    Under the title TV-Radio Mirror, this magazine was still being published
    into the mid-1970s -- but by the sixties it focused pretty much entirely
    on daytime TV serials. It was finally put out of business by hipper, more
    aggressive competitors like "Soap Opera Digest."

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 12:36:07 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Cloaked Threat?

    On 4/8/03 11:55 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     If any offense should be taken, it should be taken by her
>     for receiving a cloaked threat.

    I *was* a bit taken aback by this when I first saw it, to be honest --
    but I'm willing to asssume it was just an attempt at humor, and let it go
    at that. I'm not the type to tolerate any sort of actual threat from
    anyone under any circumstances, and if I actually *felt* threatened in
    any way, be assured I know how to determine exactly where it came from
    and what to do about it.

    But after thinking about it, I don't see any reason to take this comment
    as anything more than a tossed-off wisecrack, and so far as I'm concerned
    the matter needs no further comment.

    Elizabeth
    (And they say *I* have questionable [removed])

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 12:36:22 -0400
    From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Wm B. Lewis: Who was he & where are his
     papers?--Art Chimes comment

>     >From time to time, I'm identifying the locations of the papers of various

    OTR folks:

    Art Chimes is quite correct in pointing out the importance of NUCMC as a
    source of information which can point the way toward locations of various
    OTR folks
    papers. There are one or two other important reference sources too, which
    I will soon be mentioning.

    William B. Lewis,  the former vice-president of programming at CBS was a
    major figure in the development of the network's success. For one thing,
    it was he who nurtured Norman Corwin's career at CBS. It was also Lewis
    who give the green light to Irving Reis who was anxious to start an
    experimental drama program, called The Columbia Workshop.  The Columbia
    Workshop. succeeded so well that some 7,000 plays a year flooded into the
    network from playwrights hoping to see their work given a chance.

    Finding Lewis' papers was a challenging task. As I recall, I had to
    contact a newspaper in Florida where he died, to find an obituary which
    provided information about his residence in the North.  That eventually
    led me to contact a librarian on the East End of Long Island who provided
    me with information that led to my contacting both Lewis' widow and
    daughter--It was the daughter who Informed me that the papers were in the
    special collections library at Boston University.

    Howard Blue

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 12:36:40 -0400
    From: rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: missing Johnny Dollars

     >Aug 23-31, 56 (Part 3 of

>     7-part story; Let me know also if >these
>     are available.

    As has been pointed out to me, and confirmed by listening to it, this is not
    a 7 part story.  The serial started on a Friday, and wrapped up the next
    week, so it's a 6 parter.  Chalk it up to a mistake in a log that's been
    allowed to go hog-wild over the years.

    See all of you in Cincy!

    rodney.

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 12:37:15 -0400
    From: Vollmannp@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Comedian Harmonists
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I, too, enjoy the Comedian Harmonists. The German feature movie about them
    made in the nineties was quite good and one of the few money makers of the
    heavily subsidized German film industry.
    It is my understanding, that after being forced to replace the Jewish members
    of the group, the Comedian Harmonists suddenly found they had a competing
    group touring non-Nazi Europe, and in one instance both groups were even
    appearing in the same city at the same time.
    I don't recall the concert aboard ship you mentioned. It is highly improbable
    that a recording was made and survived.
    Peter

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

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 12:37:43 -0400
    From: rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Amos & Andy

>     Given the tendency of  "Amos 'N Andy"  to portray its characters as
>     ignorant buffoons, wasn't it inevitably going to  be viewed by black
>     Americans as racist--and perhaps with good reason?

    Only if you're going to view every sitcom that features white actors as
    racist against caucasians.

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 12:37:58 -0400
    From: "Tom Thomas" <tomth@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The April Fool Queen

    I'm late jumping in on this, but a recent post by [removed], (amply
    responded to by Gwynn), drove me to my keyboard.  OTR is, after all, a
    vehicle for the imagination, a launchpad for our flights of fancy.  Isn't
    that what Elizabeth's April 1 posting was all about - a starting point for
    one's imagination?  What an excellent OTR what-if.  The variety of responses
    is testament to the power of imagination, and in each one of the wheels were
    probably turning in a different direction.  But I'll bet they were turning.
    Considering Elizabeth's many hours of authoratative postings and generous
    responses, even if one didn't enjoy the ruse - and I'm one of those who
    did - surely it can be read in the spirit in which it was written.

    Here's to next April Fool, whoever takes up the gauntlet.

    Tom Thomas

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 12:40:18 -0400
    From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: How did the Shadow?

    In a message dated 4/8/03 3:47:39 PM, Joe Salerno asks:

>     the voice I mean. The filtering part is easy, but if the Shadow and another
>     character speak at the same time, how was the Shadow's voice acoustically
>     isolated from other mics (assuming multi-micing, which has not been shown in
>     photos generally) so that it would not bleed into other channels and leak
>     over the air un-filtered? Was he behind a gobo or in a booth or did he walk
>     into an adjacent room?

    ***The actor portraying The Shadow always used a separate microphone (usually
    an 8-ball) that was hooked into the filter device at the engineer's board.
    (The same microphone was also used for telephone voices.)  In the early days
    of the series, Frank Readick spoke his lines in a biting stage whisper,
    almost kissing the mike.  Readick's words were almost unintelligable to the
    actors working a few feet away, but came through loud and clear over the
    radio, with an etherial, ghostly, shadowy quality that none of his successors
    possessed.

    During the early 1940s, a separate booth was constructed at the side of the
    stage, with its only window facing the control room.  Bill Johnstone, John
    Archer or Bret Morrison would enter the booth to give voice to The Shadow,
    and return to the onstage microphones to portray Lamont Cranston. --ANTHONY
    TOLLIN***

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 12:40:51 -0400
    From: Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Accuracy

    Art Chimes wrote

    Notes:         The collection consists of 317 radio scripts and
                      60 television scripts (with some preliminary
                      drafts and working notes) for the long-running
                      series "Gunsmoke."
                   Norman H. MacDonald and John A. Durkel, Gift,
                      6/25/1974.

    I don't know how accurate the rest of the material is, but it is 0 for 2  on
    name spelling. It should read  MacDonnell and Dunkel. As we used to say in
    showbiz: Don't care what you say , but spell the name right!

    Harry Bartell

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 12:52:28 -0400
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  shows on Yesterday USA

    Hi Everybody, there are allot of special things happening on Yesterday USA
    this weekend all starting at 7-30 PM California time.  This Friday on
    4-11-03 Frank Bresee and I will be celebrating Les Tremayne,s 90th birthday
    with a live telephone call with Les and three Golden Days of Radio shows
    featuring highlight of Les career.  On Saturday 4-12-03 John Dunning will be
    my live guest, and I will rerun an interview that John and Larry Gassman did
    with Les Tremayne.  On Sunday 4-13-03 I will run an interview with Alan
    Chatman and Will Hutchins talking about Radio Classics Live.  You can hear
    all three show at [removed]  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 13:36:29 -0400
    From: "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Amos and Andy

      I was not planning on buying any Amos and Andy radio shows after having
    only known the TV version but now I know I need to give the radio show a
    chance.
      Correct me if I am wrong but I think Amos and Andy was the first well
    known comedy radio show which would make it imperative to have in any OTR
    comedy collection.
       Next week when the A&A shows arrive in the mail I will give the show an
    unbiased chance on its own without any comparison to the TV version.
       Andrew Godfrey

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 13:58:48 -0400
    From: "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Radio scripts

      I was wondering how the OTR actors were able to be holding scripts next to
    mike and for the listeners not to hear the papers being handled.
    Was a special kind of noiseless type paper used? Would enjoy hearing the
    comments of those who might know how this was handled.
      Andrew Godfrey

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 14:00:10 -0400
    From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The joke

    To all of the individuals who, many days later, are
    still whining about how Elizabeth fooled us all with
    her highly imaginative prank: GET OVER IT!!!
                  Thank you
                  Larry Albert

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 14:53:11 -0400
    From: jhcollins@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  CBS Tribute to Richard Crenna

    Next week's episode of "Judging Amy" (CBS, Tuesday,April 15, 9:00-10:00 pm
    dst in the eastern time zone, USA) will feature the death of "Jared Duff",
    Richard Crenna's last role.

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 14:53:23 -0400
    From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
    To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  binary newbie

    Hello Newbie,

    Download a program called FreeAgent, made by Forte. I don't recall the
    address but search and you will find.

    After you set up the groups you want to sub to, refresh the headers, like in
    any group. Click on one of the files of a show you want to DL, and then
    Control+D.

    Then you go drink coffee, lots of it. Even on a fast line it takes a while.
    A 30 minute program takes about 30 minutes on my cable, but at some times of
    the day it is slower. That's cable.

    When you get back, your MP3 is somewhere in the Agent folder, unless you
    tell it to save somewhere else. I think it's groupspropertiessomething or
    other to set the directory to DL to. Search "binary" in the help menu

    That's about all there is to it.

    Joe Salerno

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #150
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