------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 319
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Re: transfer of older recordings [ Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed]; ]
re: Declaration of War [ chris chandler <chrischandler84@yah ]
WAR OF THE WORLD/CHARLIE McCARTHY PR [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
Putting the MP3 format to disc [ Michael Browning <aquarii2u@[removed] ]
Lessons in History III [ Kubelski@[removed] ]
Re: Drinking, Besmirching the Stars [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
Re: Gay Couple? [ Grbmd@[removed] ]
Your Hit Parade [ William Halbe <[removed]@verizo ]
Religious Radio [ "Read G. Burgan" <rgb@[removed] ]
Re: religious radio [ Jim Byrd <byrd@[removed]; ]
Magicians on the radio [ "Jackie Lannin" <jackquack@[removed] ]
re: LONE RANGER [ "randy story" <bygeorge@[removed]; ]
Mailing List [ "Hugh Rodgers" <hubear@[removed]; ]
Rogers of the Gazette [ "Elizabeth Minney" <epminney@wcsonl ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 16:07:39 -0400
From: Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: transfer of older recordings
In the past couple of issues, there have been some postings requesting
information on transferring older recordings - 78s, cassettes, LPs - to
compact discs. There are a considerable number of affordable,
consumer-based types of units that can make this possible, both PC/MAC
based and home stereo stand-alone recorders. All have limitations and most
- aside from the most expensive professional-grade types - can have some
negative effect on the fidelity or audio range of the original recordings.
Likewise, it is still possible to purchase turntables capable of playing
the majority of older recordings but they, too, can be expensive --
especially when you factor in the cost of various stylii and related
accessories.
However, if you'd prefer not to make the investment in equipment but,
instead, pay a very reasonable cost to have recordings transferred to tape
and/or compact discs, we may well be able to help you out. In addition to
transferring original radio recordings, many of the volunteers who work
with the First Generation Radio Archives offer transfer and restoration
services at prices much, much lower than that charged by restoration
studios. And, since our volunteers use professional-grade state-of-the-art
equipment, the result is a transfer of far better quality than most
hobbyists or collectors are able to create on their own.
If you're interested in any of these services, drop a line to
membership@[removed] with details of what you have in mind and
we'll see what we can do.
BTW, this is in no way an offer to "bootleg" anything for anyone - just an
affordable way for collectors to be able to enjoy their collections of old
recordings for their own personal pleasure.
Harlan
Harlan Zinck
First Generation Radio Archives
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 16:07:00 -0400
From: chris chandler <chrischandler84@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re: Declaration of War
Jim Widner recounts a CBS 12/11/41 broadcast:
As he talks his way through he later sends the
broadcast back to New York.
At this point what I have sounds like an engineer or
some one with a very east coast accent saying "Naw
kid I don't see any reason to return to [removed] I'll
just give our closing commercial and then we'll sign
off"
This is Ted Collins, lontime announcer/handler of Kate
Smit. He's saying "Naw, KATE", instead of "naw,
Kid"...the news coverage had apparently overrun the
12:00 noon CBS broadcast of "Kate Smith Speaks".
Chris
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 16:43:34 -0400
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: WAR OF THE WORLD/CHARLIE McCARTHY PROGRAMS
In a message dated 8/13/2002 11:25:23 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
Apparently,
everyone tuned into the Charlie McCarthy show for the opening monologue,
then switched to something else when the singer came on, and the ones who
tuned into Mercury Theater missed the opening intro
I seem to recall reading in a Welles Biography that he received a
telegram from somebody referring to the fact that the audience was tuned into
one 'dummy' and then tuned into Welles thus two 'dummies' caused the whole
darn ruckus.
Does anyone remember the exact words of that telegram and who sent it?
<A HREF="[removed],+Michael+C.">Michael
C. Gwynne</A>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 16:42:55 -0400
From: Michael Browning <aquarii2u@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Putting the MP3 format to disc
In the past I have recorded old time radio off the
radio to cassette tapes so that I could save them. But
since I have received a computer with a cd/rw drive, I
have recorded old time radio programs off the Internet
onto discs. I had also noted in my work at recording
of the old time radio programs, that on the Internet
there are two formats that are used, MP3 and RM. MP3
programs I can turn into wav files but had trouble
with the Real media programs. Into turning those
programs into wave files I had to get Total Recorder
and with Total Recorder I was able to record the real
media files and then turn them into wav files. Then in
the past I got into buying programs that were recorded
in the MP3 format which has a lot of programs on the
disc. Recording in that format you can get a lot of
programs on a disc, where in the wav format you can
only get 80 minutes. I know there is one problem with
this format and that being they can only be played on
certain machines but that is changing where there are
more machines made available that play that format. My
problem is how do you record in that format, where you
can put that many programs on one disc. Is there any
body out there that can help me out with this problem.
If you need another machine or different software, I
would like to know just what is needed and what has to
be done. I thank any one that can help me out. You can
contact me through my regular email which is
mchbrwnng@[removed] or contact me through yahoo at
aquarii2u@[removed]
Mike B.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 18:25:58 -0400
From: Kubelski@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lessons in History III
In a few of the Jack Benny biographies I've read, there were references to
protests from southern stations about Eddie Anderson's role in the program
and even a couple of stories of Jack directly confronting racists.
So somebody, somewhere, was complaining about black people being part of
radio even if the individual programs that Elizabeth mentioned were popular.
It wasn't just the executives.
I've always suspected that the reason so many of Anderson's bits involved him
calling on the phone for Benny was to placate complainers by physically
isolating him from the rest of the cast in the context of the program, even
if they would all have been at the same microphones in the studio. I'm also
sure the fact that Anderson's timing made the phone bits sure-fire encouraged
Benny to stick with them.
Sean Dougherty
Kubelski@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 18:30:17 -0400
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Drinking, Besmirching the Stars
Jer51473@[removed] speculated:
As far as fred allen drinking a quart of bootleg whiskey a day, ill bet
there
werent TOO many of those days as he would have been gone even earlier than
he was.
Assuming he moderated his habits eventually, he might have lived to a ripe
old age. I have had at least three friends die of excessive imbibing; one of
them, a rather well-known sci-fi author, was drinking a fifth a day of Jack
Daniels Black Label, plus beer and wine chasers. He almost made it to age 50
without cutting back. Excessive drinking seems to be common to creative
types, espcially writers; I have no idea why.
-------
Ian Grieve <austotr@[removed]; opined:
...speaking for myself, I want the TRUTH, the WHOLE TRUTH and nothing but
the TRUTH.
Well, I have mixed emotions about that. I am staunchly opposed to censorship,
and there are times when the hardships and travails of stars can be
instructive; after all, they overcame their problems at least for a while and
to some extent, or they wouldn't be stars. On the other hand, having certain
concepts or images of actors in our heads can affect our enjoyment of their
work. The job of an actor is to make us believe briefly that he or she is
somebody else, and that becomes more difficult if we know too much about the
actor's idiosyncracies. I'd just as soon not have known, for example, that
Gandolph the Wizard was gay, not because I'm prejudiced but just because that
doesn't fit with my concept of Gandolph.
I, for one, was interested in hearing the apocryphal tale of Brace Beemer's
suspect sexual orientation, first, because I had no idea there was any such
rumor, and, second, becaue it was so amusing to see its prompt rebuttal. I
sense there is a somewhat higher percentage of gay people in creative fields,
for whatever reason, maybe because they are not welcome in the steel mills,
_The Simpsons_ notwithstanding. However, as someone else here implied, there
just aren't THAT many gay people in the world. Masters and Johnson figured it
at 10%, about the same as the percentage of left-handed people, but later
research has not borne that out; the accepted figure now is about 3%. Not
everybody who marches to a different drummer can be presumed to march to THAT
particular different drummer.
But, had the story turned out to be true, I probably would not have wanted to
hear it. I'm no gay-basher, but that's just not the image of the Lone Ranger
that I cherish from my childhood. At work one day I happened to glance at my
coworker's monitor and saw that he was visiting one of those disgusting sites
that features ghoulish images of people deformed, dying or long dead. There
before me was the autopsy photo of one of the great female icons of American
movies. "Damn it, Jameson!" I said, "that's not the image I wanted to carry
in my head of her!" And, sure enough, I can never see one of her movies now
without thinking of that photo. As some sage or other said, more or less, "Be
careful what you put in your head; you'll live with it forever."
I imagaine Brace Beemer could have shrugged off such National Enquirer type
nonsense anyhow. I think it was Confucious who said, "He who spits at the
heavens befouls only himself."
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 18:31:02 -0400
From: Grbmd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Gay Couple?
In a message dated 8/13/02 11:24:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
Batman and Robin have already been accused by Frederick Wertham in his
> Seduction of the Innocent of being the perfect gay couple.
I always thought the Lone Ranger and Tonto were the perfect gay couple.
And, pray tell, what does someone's sexual orientation have anything to do
with his/her ability to act a part in a drama, musical, or comedy?
I'll be honest. As a kid, I was just a dumb fan of acting, writing,
direction, sound effects, etc. What did I know about sexual orientation? I
guess I had a feeling "down below" about Marilyn Monroe or whomever, but what
did I know (or care) about someone else's feelings?
Put it another way. Would I want someone else intruding on my own "down
below" feelings about MM or that cute blonde over there in the corner of my
high-school geography class? I don't think so.
You live your life, and I'll live mine. Okay?
Spence Coleman
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 18:31:46 -0400
From: William Halbe <[removed]@[removed];
To: OldRadio Mailing Lists <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Your Hit Parade
For many years I have collected re-creations of Your Hit Parade Radio
Shows. These shows were originally broadcast beginning in 1935. I have
a few of these original shows and would like to collect more if they
are available. Can anyone help? The shows I have were done by a local
DJ and he used recordings of artists that made the songs popular.
The original programs had stars like Bea Waine, Snooky Lanson,
Frankie Sinatra.
Bill
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 18:31:31 -0400
From: "Read G. Burgan" <rgb@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Religious Radio
Cliff Martin asks if some on this Digest are interested in religious radio.
The answer is that a few of us are.
I am involved in a long term project in conjunction with Fuller Seminary to
digitally restore and transfer to CD the ET's of Charles E. Fuller's "Old
Fashioned Revival Hour." Most of the Fuller Seminary collection of ET's, as
well as those of the founder's son Dr. Daniel Fuller and several other
private collectors are now temporarily housed here as I slowly do the
digital transfers and create a detailed database of the materials and
contents.
We still lack several years of programming from the early years (1937-mid
1946) and welcome any contributions of ET's from that period. Anyone
looking for copies of programs already transferred should contact me off
line.
Read Burgan
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 18:30:33 -0400
From: Jim Byrd <byrd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: religious radio
I also would be interested in hearing some of the old shows. I once saw a
couple of minutes of Bishop Sheen on television (in the 50s!), and would be
interested in hearing more of those.
Also, I have heard about radio programs originating in the Boston area by a
"Father Coughlin", if I remember correctly. Does anyone have any of these?
I am definitely not interested in these for any religious reasons (I happen
to be an atheist). But these programs are an important part of American
history.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 20:16:45 -0400
From: "Jackie Lannin" <jackquack@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Magicians on the radio
Hello out there in OTR Land,
Wanted to do a quick update about the success of Magic Camp with the
kids- just great! Want to thank again -Ron, Sandy, Harry, John, Jim and Dick
for their generosity of cds and information. I found a computer and we have
been listening to the shows as we work along- a total hit for the kids from
the Olden Days as my 12 year olds are calling it! They have been imitating
the shows and the patter presented in the shows when presenting their little
acts of magic. Beyond just being great radio, it has been a real excellent
intro on how to speak to your "Audience". Again-this list has great people
that are extremely generous-thanks again!
Jackie in Science Museum Land
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 20:18:54 -0400
From: "randy story" <bygeorge@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: re: LONE RANGER
Wow.
All of this fuss over labeling.
[removed] am not going to weigh in on that part of the subject of The Lone
Ranger. I want to focus on what the character symbolizes to me. And how it
was that show that show that first got me interested in OTR and how it
possibly saved my sanity. Maybe even my soul.
As I type this posting, I am sitting about 4 feet away from my persoanlly
autographed photo of Clayton Moore as the Ranger. I never met the man, but
got the work as a gift some years ago. In another part of this room I can
see some other artworks related to the masked hero of the old west. Even at
38 years my passion for my childhood idol has not quivered while ridiculous
"rumors" and jokes about the ranger and his best friend prevail in today's
culture. In a time when people attack the simplicity of that
friendship(based on the desire to help each other and countless others
around them) as being somehow inapropriate, obscene, or even racist, I find
comfort in the symbol it upholds.
That symbol is at the core of humanity: be kind to others.
It also represents many other things: loyalty, support, dependability, [removed]
For a kid, like myself, growing up in a home with an alcoholic father who
never acknowledged his love for his oldest son(me) until three years ago,
The Lone Ranger represented hope. I could count on the ranger and Tonto when
I could not do so where my father was concerned.
Before my dad finally sought help for his deep problem in the late 1970s, I
would often lay awake at night until he got home. I knew that a loud and
sometimes abusive argument would erupt when he got in as mother was always
wairting for him. I would huddle close inder my covers with my little radio
and tune in one of the Chicago stations and hear late night reruns of many
OTR shows. On Wednesday(the day of the week my dad was most likely to come
home intoxicated because it was payday), The Lone Ranger rode onto the radio
scene for two whole [removed] the argument in the next room intensified, I
would get lost in those adventures of the mind's eye. And [removed] found
refuge.
One night the ranger talked about honoring your father regardless of his
faults. The ranger told a boy to always hope that the day would come when
things would be better. I never knew the episode and I have not heard it
since. It doesn't really matter to me now; but, what does matter is that one
moment in time saved me from hating my father completely. I thought about
those words for days and when my father sought treatment to conquer his
demons I felt connected with the Ranger in some odd way.
I will never forget that period of my life nor the imapct that character's
words held over me.
Even today I find myself wishing that I could solve my problems with kind,
thoughtful way that the ranger and Tonto did. I appreciate the fact that the
ranger used violence as a last resort, preferring instead to use his wits
and logic to prevail. He taught people to treat everyone with equal respect
and that earth needs our care if we are to survive. To look past faults and
great differences(unless they threatened to harm others) to see the real
person behind them.
We need more of that thinking in today's world.
[removed] the Lone Ranger gay? Was Brace Beemer?
I could care less.
I have hopefully learned to look past the so-called faults of others when it
is necessary.
The Lone Ranger taught me to.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 20:17:29 -0400
From: "Hugh Rodgers" <hubear@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Mailing List
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
I really enjoy the OTR mailing list. I don't agree with everybody who spouts
there opinions upon us but I do listen to them and weigh them to my own
knowledge and beliefs. That is how and why I can grow. Without others to
expand the paramiders of our knowledge we are nothing but stagnant pools. I
appreciate the list and am proud to be able to learn from all of you. Hugh
Rodgers
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 20:20:16 -0400
From: "Elizabeth Minney" <epminney@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Rogers of the Gazette
I really like the programs directed by Norman Macdonnell, so I've been
seeking them out. Lately I've been listening to Rogers of the
Gazette. It's a happy little comedy-drama about a small town as seen
through the eyes of the editor of its local newspaper, The Ilyria
Gazette. Will Rogers, Jr. plays the editor. Georgia Ellis plays
Maggie Button, Will's secretary and would-be love interest. Parley
Baer is Doc Clemmons, the friendly, down-to-earth doctor. Other
favorites are Harry Bartell, Vic Perrin, Lawrence Dobkin, Jeannette
Nolan, Sam Edwards, Sammie Hill--a wonderful cast! Kathleen Hite is
the writer.
One of the shows I listened to was called a rehearsal show. This
didn't register with me until suddenly right in the middle of the story
a voice boomed out in a tinny way, saying, "Let's go back -- page such
and such, line so and so." The actors all sort of stopped and muddled
around, and I suddenly realized that the tinny voice was Norman
Macdonnell directing! This was indeed a rehearsal! The cast tightened
up, returned to their scripts, and redid the piece he wanted them to
practice.
Then, later in the show, Rogers began to stutter, to thub, thub, thub
with his tongue and said, "Let's do that again." Georgia Ellis chimed
in with, "Let's go back to line so and so--I need to say "your" house,
rather than "the" house." She was right--that one word gave a whole
different slant to the conversation. I was impressed by their strict
attention to detail.
I was also impressed when Macdonnell called John Dehner, "Johnny."
It's hard for me to imagine that stentorian voice being
called, "Johnny." He so often projects a big, forbidding person.
Also included in this particular tape collection was the final version
of the show. It had been good in rehearsal, but with sound effects and
music it came alive. It was good to compare the two and to appreciate
the difference in their performances.
Something that bothers me though is that in this series, as well as in
the several Romance shows I've listened to, Georgia Ellis speaks in a
tight, strained voice. I am, of course, much more accustomed to
hearing her lovely, whisky voice in Gunsmoke, but this tenseness I hear
troubles me: she played in Rogers of the Gazette in 1953 and 1954--the
early years of Gunsmoke. But what a difference in her performances!
One funny little jolt at the end of each Rogers episode is Roy Rowan's
very-recognizable voice announcing that "Georgia Ellis plays Maggie
Button and Parley Baer is Doc." I keep waiting for him to
say, "Georgia Ellis is Kitty and Parley Baer is Chester!"
Elizabeth Minney
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #319
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