Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #72
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 2/25/2002 7:43 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 72
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Recording Formats                     [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
      February 24, 1945                     [ Grbmd@[removed] ]
      Radio actors credits                  [ Carolie Minuscule <daggerofthemind2 ]
      Log of the Black Parrot               [ "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; ]
      SPERDVAC Convention                   [ DanHaefele@[removed] ]
      dem ol' Consolidation Blooz           [ "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@hotmail ]
      "I ain't got no yo-yo"                [ jao@[removed] (Joseph Onorato) ]
      The Lone Ranger's Previous Horse      [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      News updates                          [ Kubelski@[removed] ]
      FRC and FCC                           [ "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed]; ]
      Re: "tampering with communications"   [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 20:09:10 -0500
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Recording Formats

    Recording formats. The field is wide open. I just read where Apex and a
    number of other DVD manufacturers are going to be supporting the WMA file
    format in their DVD players. This means that you will be able to burn a CD
    with files in WMA format and play them in many of the new DVD video players.

    The WMA format allows 22 hours on a single CD. I read a while back that the
    quality of WMA is better than MP3. I'm not sure if WMA supports as large a
    range of compression and sampling settings as the MP3 format.

    So much for standardization. About 50 years ago, the consumer public didn't
    have a lot of choices. You could buy phonograph records in 3 different
    speeds (4 if you include talking books) and pre-recorded music was
    available on reel to reel tape.

    You knew that if you purchased any one of these formats that your home
    record player or tape recorder could play them. Then 4 track reel to reel
    tapes came out and you either needed to install a new playback head for
    your tape deck or buy a new recorder. But, the new 1/4 track tape decks
    were at least compatible with the 2 track tapes.

    Then the new formats started to arrive and ever since you could forget
    about standardization. Cassettes, 8 track tapes, audio CD, MP3 files, etc.

    I keep reading questions from OTR collectors asking why a CD with OTR MP3
    files will not play on their portable CD player.

    You have to keep in mind that there is no longer any kind of standard that
    applies to everyone. MP3 first became the rage for popular music buffs.
    They could load hundreds of songs on a small player that would fit in their
    shirt pocket. Then CD players arrived that would playback MP3 files as well
    as regular audio CDs. Again, the market was for musically numbers than only
    ran 4 or 5 minutes. Putting 12 hours of music on a single CD was a big thing.

    The compression rates and sampling rates were set for music quality. A 12
    hour CD compared to a 74 minutes CD was the reason for the big acceptance
    of MP3.

    Then OTR fans noticed that you could make the files smaller. Compress them
    and sample them less. Since the quality of many of these programs was far
    from high fidelity, no one seemed to notice a difference in sound quality
    with these small MP3 files.

    So, now, you could put hundreds of 30 minutes programs on a CD, not just
    hundreds of 5 minute [removed] entire collection could be held in one hand.

    But, we OTR collectors are still just a small percentage of MP3 player
    buyers. The manufacturers look for big sales and it is still music that
    owns that market. This is why most of the MP3 players on the market will
    not playback OTR files that are downloaded off the Internet.

    To everyone who has said their MP3 player does not play their OTR files, I
    make the following suggestion. Convert those files to a stereo 128 kbs [removed]
    file. I would be very surprised if those files do not play on any MP3
    player on the market. You may have to read your instruction manual to see
    if the player requires files to be in folders or not in folders and if they
    will work with CD-RW as well as CD-R, but other than that, the newly
    converted files will play.

    Oh, but now you can only get about 24 - 30 minutes programs on a CD. ONLY
    24 PROGRAMS!!! So, what is wrong with that. A single audio cassette can't
    hold 24 programs. A reel to reel tapes can, but it takes up about 5 times
    more physical storage space than a CD.

    Besides, if you loose a single CD, you've only lost 24 shows. Much better
    than loosing a CD with several hundred shows on it.

    What I'm trying to say as my son might put it "get real". If you want a CD
    player that will handle the very small OTR MP3 files, expect to pay a
    premium price and find just a few players on the market. If you want to
    spend less than $100 on an MP3 player than accept the fact that you'll have
    to make those OTR MP3 files bigger.

    We are still a minority market and even though some manufacturers may be
    catering to our needs, it will be a while until the mass market of MP3
    players aims their products at our consumption.

    That said, here is something to think about. I just bought a new stand
    alone DVD video recorder. It allows you to put 6 hours of video on a single
    DVD disc. The video gets highly compressed at that rate, but the audio
    stays the same. It is still the same settings as a standard audio CD.

    Blank DVD-R have come way down in price. In some cases, under $[removed] for a
    [removed] Gig discs. Now 6 hours is not as long as a 12 hour MP3 disc, but it
    will playback on every new DVD player. Not just the ones that play MP3.

    And while the program is playing, I could put still pictures of the stars
    of the program on screen and even text information about the show. Wouldn't
    that be a great way to store a collection. During the 30 minutes that the
    program is playing, you could have video graphics and text that contain the
    history of the show, the actors, whatever.

    If the manufacturers want to keep throwing new formats at me, I can at
    least grab one of them and use it to my advantage. My imagination is
    already starting to come up with ideas. The possibilities are endless.

    Fred Berney http;[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 20:09:27 -0500
    From: Grbmd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: February 24, 1945

>     >From Herb Hobler's book, "And Now the News, 1945":

    "A spectacular photo taken on Mt. Suribachi of Marines hoisting a victorious
    American flag is in newspapers coast to coast taken by Joe Rosenthal,
    Associated Press photographer, who has been commended for his outstanding
    pictures of the Iwo Jima invasion."

    Who among us doesn't remember that one?

    That was on a Saturday.  The night before there were the Friday night fights
    from Madison Square Garden in New York, sponsored on radio by Gillette, which
    we discussed before.  In that fight, Sugar Ray Robinson outpointed Jake
    LaMotta.  Remember the scene in the movie "Raging Bull" where LaMotta (Robert
    DeNiro) was bloody but unbowed, and he taunted Robinson about it?  "Ray!
    Ray!" LaMotta said.  "You didn't knock me down."  Jake was proud that he
    seemingly could take any punch and couldn't be knocked off his feet.

    Spence

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 20:10:06 -0500
    From: Carolie Minuscule <daggerofthemind2000@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Radio actors credits

>     It seems that "Radio Credits" don't count for much.
>     These Bio's primarily concentrate on TV or Motion
>     Pictures.

    I have long been planning to put a Radio Actors
    Credits page on my site, and this comment decided me
    to get my girdle in gear and go ahead and do it.

    It is very skeletal at the moment, since I've just
    started it, but I wanted to announce it to everyone
    and request your help!  The Credits page will consist
    of the actor's name, show name and episode title,
    role, and air date.  I'm confining it at the moment to
    roles played on mystery, suspense and crime dramas.

    The index page for men is at:
    [removed]

    For women:
    [removed]

    So far I've put up pages for Virginia Gregg on the
    woman's side, and Dan O'Herlihy, Harry Bartell, Lloyd
    Nolan and Vincent Price on the  men's side.  Again,
    these are very skeletal at the moment, just to give
    you an idea of what I'd like to do.

    I'm handicapped by the fact that most of the tapes I
    own do not give actors credits at the end, so unless
    an actor has an incredibly distinctive voice like Paul
    Frees or Barney Philips, I'm sunk.  Also, when credits
    are given, no roles are attached, so again, I'm sunk.

    If you'd like to help me with this project, please
    email me at Daggerofthemind2000@[removed].

    And if there are any actors/actresses out there who'd
    like to share any reminiscences of their time on any
    of these programs, I would love to put that on the
    site as well.

    Eventually I'd also like to have a radio writer's
    page, but they're credited even less often then the actors!

    =====
    Caroline Miniscule
    THE FRIENDS OF MR. CAIRO
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 20:10:15 -0500
    From: "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Log of the Black Parrot

    Forgive me if this has been covered here already, but are any episodes of
    "Log of the Black Parrot" known to exist?  As a big fan of "Voyage of the
    Scarlet Queen" I would love to hear some of the Black Parrot shows.

    Doug Leary

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 20:11:00 -0500
    From: DanHaefele@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: SPERDVAC Convention
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

        There have been some misconceptions regarding the radio group SPERDVAC's
    intentions and abilities to hold an old-time radio convention in 2002.  As a
    Board member, I'd like to clarify.

         SPERDVAC wants to hold a convention.  At Saturday's Board meeting I
    proposed we work to hold a convention in the Los Angeles area on Nov. 8, 9
    and 10.  We have a convention site selected and will make a down payment this
    week.  The vote on this was unanimous.  Suggestions that we do not favor a
    convention are falsehoods.

         We do have a problem regarding a convention chair.  An event of this
    magnitude requires an organized individual with the time and inclination to
    do the job.  As in any hobby group, we have those who'd like to help but
    can't and those who offer to help, then back down. (We also have those who
    complain but won't try to do much work, but I guess that's human nature,
    too.)  A committee of persons can work sometimes, but we really need one
    person in charge.  So, SPERDVAC is wrestling with this difficulty.

       This isn't meant as an attack upon anyone,  "airing of dirty laundry" or
    even a complaint.  It's just an honest picture of the difficulties we
    encounter in arranging a convention.  There are some really good,
    hard-working people in SPERVAC management who will work to make the
    convention idea work.  Hopefully, many of the faithful OTR fans across
    America will support us by attending our convention.

       (In case you're wondering what I'll be doing for the convention, I am on
    that long list of SPERDVAC volunteers with too many other irons in the fire.
    I'm working on a couple of other projects for SPERDVAC in my limited spare
    time.  And, very much off the subject, I'm delighted to report my adoption of
    a 10-year-old boy who needs my time and attention a great deal more than my
    hobby does.)

       Any readers interested in info on joining SPERDVAC may e-mail us at:
    SPERDVAC@[removed].

    Dan Haefele

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

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 21:18:36 -0500
    From: "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: dem ol' Consolidation Blooz

    Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed]; decries:

>     Here in the Los Angeles area, we had one surviving
>     "semi-independent" TV station, channel 9, which devotes most of its
>     broadcast schedule to news programs, all locally produced & anchored.

    Actually, isn't Channel 9 (KCAL-TV) news during the evenings (when not
    showing a baseball, basketball or hockey game) and talk shows during the
    day? Of course, Channel 9 used to be owned by Disney, before they bought ABC
    and (under the original FCC rules) had to divest itself of Channel 9 in
    order to acquire KABC-TV Channel 7. And, before that, Channel 9 was KHJ-TV,
    of which RKO General had to divest itself due to some bookkeeping
    shenanigans on its part. So Musical Chair Ownership in TV is hardly anything
    new.

    BTW, there is still at least one other local independent station in the [removed]
    market -- KDOC-TV Channel 56 in Anaheim. Co-owned by Pat Boone, if I recall
    accurately. Mainly sitcom and Western series reruns and, when he feels up to
    producing a show, Wally George's shouting matches. But Wally started out as
    a disc jockey in the OTR era, so I guess that situation ain't all that bad.
    :-)

>     1> Viacom promises that Channel 9's format will be "essentially unchanged".

    I can't see how that could be, as they're talking about moving the UPN
    programming over from KCOP Channel 13. So there will go the prime-time news
    and sports immediately.

    Also, to be fair, there have been several cities (Chicago, Boston, San
    Francisco, Dallas, Minneapolis and Milwaukee among them) where the same
    entity has simultaneously owned and operated two PBS TV stations since the
    late '50s. Certainly, if commercial operations should be limited to one
    signal apiece on AM, FM and TV, shouldn't non-commercial entities as well?

>     2> We had two independenel to comment on events on a daily basis. Today,
>     you don't hear Brokaw, Rather or Jennings openly analyze events on their
>     newscasts, while analysis was specifically what Kaltenborn, Dreier and
>     Thomas were retained for. But, of course, without actually hearing opinions
>     expressed by the TV anchors, we couldn't have so many people swallow the
>     "liberal media control" canard hook-line-and-sinker. Yet another example of
>     OTR being superior to what passes today as broadcasting.

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 21:54:47 -0500
    From: jao@[removed] (Joseph Onorato)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: "I ain't got no yo-yo"

    any help on this song?  I kinda remember hearing it on radio ...40's
    most [removed]   japanese [removed] maybe lyrics had  "you got no yo-yo
    too".

    when we get to the sept/december of our years,  how odd that we (think)
    we remember things like this.

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

    Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 23:10:22 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: The Lone Ranger's Previous Horse

>     Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 19:57:44 -0500
>     From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];

>     In reference to Joseph Onorato's query about the Lone Ranger's horse. I am
>     not sure that Silver had another name, but the name of the Lone Ranger's
>     original horse, before he captured Silver was Dusty.

    I suppose there are various versions of this.  In one of the Lone Ranger
    novels, the previous horse was "Pony-hoss."  In at least some versions of
    the story, the LR's previous horse was shot in a gunfight as the LR was
    closing in on Cavendish's gang.

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 09:38:51 -0500
    From: Kubelski@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: News updates

    The Wall Street Journal has a cover story today on the growth of Clear
    Channel Communications and its attempt to nationalize local radio.  Radio
    continues to evolve as a business and a medium and even for all of us who
    recognize that the heyday of radio was several decades ago, it's probably
    worth a read.

    Secondly, for those interested in intellectual property issues, fights
    surrounding "abandonware," or old computer games no longer available at
    retail but made available by pirate sites on the Internet got a very long
    feature on [removed] recently.  There are many echoes of the hobbyist
    preservation of OTR in the face of long-time corporate indifference in this.
    It also might be of interest to this forum.  Unlike the WSJ, this site is
    free, so here's a link:
    [removed]

    Late update: there is also an article on the Bono amendment in today's New
    York Times: [removed]

    Sean Dougherty
    Kubelski@[removed]

    [removed] if anyone caught which episode of The Fred Allen Show ("Town Hall
    Tonight") WFUV in New York played this morning, please e-mail me with the
    date.

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

    Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 09:24:02 -0500
    From: "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: FRC and FCC

    danhughes@[removed] wrote:

>     A lot more than just a name change, I think.

    Exactly right.  The FRC was created under the Radio Act of 1927; the FCC was
    created to replace the FRC, under the Communications Act of 1934.  (Another
    major difference is that the FCC also regulates interstate communications
    services even if they don't use radio facilities.  The Interstate Commerce
    Commission regulated interstate telephone service before then, with the
    FRC's role limited to radio.)

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

    Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 09:27:24 -0500
    From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re:  "tampering with communications"

    From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];

>     under "liberalized" FCC rules we can now expect that three or four
>     national corporations will now control all broadcast & cable
>     news/enternainment content practically everywhere in the nation.

>     The only real "non-corporatized" TV and radio outlets in many markets
>     are PBS (television) and NPR (radio) stations. Conservatives in Congress
>     have repeatedly tried to kill both networks, contending that the "free
>     market" system will provide us with everything that we truly *want* in
>     entertainment or news, or intellectual enrichment.  Herb Harrison

    Ever since the Nixon administration started the enforced over-dependence
    on corporate underwriting for Public broadcasting, even these outlets
    are not free from the influence of the business environment.  Notice how
    often you will hear an announcement of an underwriting grant for an
    organization directly involved in the major news piece covered during
    that half hour.  For example, the "German-Marshall Fund for reporting on
    Germany" is usually identified whenever there is a major piece on
    Germany on ATC or Morning Edition.

    But let us compare the current environment with the OTR days.  During
    that era there were only two, three, or four major national network
    owners.  During a large chunk of the 1930s local stations were
    discouraged or enjoined from presenting their own independently local
    news.  They could only read--unchanged--the newscasts provided by the
    Press Radio Bureau, and end with a reminder to read your local newspaper
    for further details. So there were very few broadcast news voices then,
    but there sure were a heck of a lot of local newspapers!!!

    After the PRB blockade was breached in the late 30s, the subsequent
    growth of the number of independent voices of broadcast journalism in
    the 40s thru the 70s was coupled with a decrease in the number of print
    outlets.  That was fine as long as the multitude of independently owned
    broadcasters continued to provide their listeners with news.  But then
    disaster struck in the personage of Mark Fowler, Reagan's unfortunate
    choice for FCC Chairman.  Fowler's openly stated campaign of
    "un-regulation" allowed broadcasters to abandon news and public affairs
    entirely if they wished.  They could present 100% music or even 100%
    advertising--and many do.  Fowler's screw-up of the AM-Stereo and
    Wide-Band AM receiver situation so destroyed the viability of the AM
    band that subsequent Commissioners had to resort to removing the
    multiple ownership caps to keep stations on the air.  This has backfired
    to the dreadful situation we have now that is wiping out all independent
    ownership of any stations.

    I am proud that in 1985 I had the opportunity in a public forum to tell
    Chairman Fowler and all the rest of the Commissioners to their faces
    that their AM Stereo decision was wrong and was going to lead to
    disaster. I was joined that morning by the only Commissioner with the
    guts to stand up to Fowler, James Quello, who castigated his fellow
    Commissioners by telling them that their decisions were going to allow
    speculators to "buy and sell broadcasting stations like pork bellies."

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #72
    ********************************************

    Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
      including republication in any form.

    If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
       [removed]

    For Help: [removed]@[removed]

    To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

    To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
      or see [removed]

    For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
      in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

    To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

    To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]