------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 43
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
The Golden Age of Radio Hawaiian sty [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
Today in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Nero Wolfe [ Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed] ]
Re: The Name of the Lone Ranger [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
Jack's first car [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
OTR--MP3's and players [ "bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed] ]
Hummerts [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
The Legend of The Lone Ranger, Avunc [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
Lux Radio Theater's "Blood on the Su [ Rocky Cookus <rocky@[removed]; ]
Dinah Shore [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
White Christmas [ "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed]; ]
Boxing on radio [ "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@ezlin ]
Glimpsing Joe [ Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed] ]
Re: Transcribed program announcement [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Disc jockeys' record collections [ "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed]; ]
"Transcribed" [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
America At War [ Jim Kitchen <jkitchen@[removed]; ]
what's in a name? [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 13:16:34 -0500
From: BryanH362@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: The Golden Age of Radio Hawaiian style
I am just returning from sunny Maui . While on that Island I came upon many
historical items in regard to Hawaii just after the Pearl Harbor attack and
into WWII.
In regard to radio it was noted that many Hawaiians depended very much on
radio for the latest information. This got me to thinking ----what was radio
like in Hawaii during the 40s?
Apparently all the networks (NBC, CBS , Mutual -Don Lee ) had stations in
Hawaii
but what was the distribution method? Up until the 1980s (before satelites
allowed same day distribution ) Hawaiian TV stations received the programs
on tape from the networks via mail . Hawaiians were usually seeing the
shows a week or more later than viewers on the mainland. Was it the same
for radio in Hawaii in the 40s
or were the programs fed direct via short wave? Perhaps Hawaii only received
select
network programs ? I know it was mentioned on the digest that Jack Benny
specifically mentioned on his radio show that he was heard in Hawaii.
Historically it would be interesting to know exactly what the CBS and NBC
station actually broadcast on 12-7-1941.
-Bryan
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 17:22:32 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history
From Those Were The Days --
1927 - [removed] President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill into law that
created the Federal Radio Commission. This was done "to bring order out
of this terrible chaos." The president was speaking, of course, of the
nation's then unregulated radio stations.
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 17:32:19 -0500
From: Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Nero Wolfe
Rodney Bowcock speculates on the short, unhappy life of the New Adventures of
Nero Wolfe.
Usually, when a show departed after a short run, the answer was simple:
numbers. It didn't draw the ratings. In this case, although I wasn't aware of
it at the time, I think there was some general dissatisfaction with
Greenstreet's Wolfe. That may account for the turnover in Archies; trying to
find a better chemical mix to soup up the show. This is all speculation on my
part.
Of one thing I can be sure: the actors did not depart of their own volition.
They were simply not invited to make the rehearsal next week. For the most
part. freelance actors viewed the bulk of the producer-directors as The Enemy;
unknowing dolts who didn't have the ability to recognize the amazing talents
of the actor. This attitude was subject to change if the actor wound up as a
regular on a series.
Maybe Hal Stone, who converted, could enlarge on this condition.
Harry Bartell
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 17:27:22 -0500
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: The Name of the Lone Ranger
Harry Machin, Jr. asks:
I think this topic may have been worn out, but I have missed so many
Digests. A recent posting said/suggested that John Reid was not the name of
the Lone Ranger. On page 406 of John Dunning's "The Encyclopedia of Old-Time
Radio" (latest edition) it is stated that the Lone Ranger's name IS John
Reid. And that John Reid was the younger brother of Captain Dan Reid. What
is the basis of the argument by those who say otherwise? Of course, I would
also like to ask what is the basis for John Dunning's claim. I haven't heard
the episode that Dunning seems to be referring to when he says that John Reid
was one of the rangers ambushed by Butch Cavendish. It seems to me that this
matter of names could be settled (and should have been settled) by listening
to that particular episode. I'm sure that someone will answer this question
for me.
LONE RANGER-creator Fran Striker never gave the masked man a first name in
any of his radio or comic strip scripts or hardcover novels. In fact, he
went to great lengths to avoid doing so. (As an example, listen to the 20th
anniversary "Retuirn of Cavendish" script where Dan Reid, Jr. and The Lone
Ranger return to Bryant's Gap and read the names of the dead Texas Rangers.
Dan stops at the last name and his uncle says, "Yes, that's my name" . . .
but the name is never spoken. The pre-Lone Ranger is also referred to only
as "Reid" in the origin sequences in the 6-part Christmas storyline that
introduced his nephew (12/14/42-12/25/42), the 15th anniversary radio show
(06/30/48 - included in Radio Spirit's "The 60 Greatest OTR Shows of the 20th
Century selected by Walter Cronkite), the first Clayton Moore TV episode, the
comic book and comic strip retelling of the origin, etc.
It's pretty clear that Fran Striker wanted his creation to be a man of
mystery whose true identity was buried back at Bryant's Gap with his brother
and his friends. In fact, Striker suggests in the 15th anniversary script
that The Lone Ranger is more than just the man he was before the ambush, that
he somehow arose as a spiritual composite of all six Texas Rangers.
Unfortunately, faulty memories resulted in "John" being given as the masked
man's first name back in the 1960s in Buxton and Owen's THE BIG BROADCAST and
an error-ridden trivia paperback . . . and it stuck. It became a popular
trivia question and ended up being inserted into the mythos in the dreadful
1981 film, THE LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER (airing this month on the Western
Channel), which utilized a screen story treatment that had been rejected by
Striker back in the 1950s. It's pretty obvious that the film's producers
were trying to emulate the romance storyline and appeal of the first
Christopher Reeve SUPERMAN movie, not realizing that mystery was an essential
part of THE LONE RANGER's appeal. It was an hour into the movie before
attorney John Reid first dons the mask, and he was only deputized a Texas
Ranger while riding into the fatal ambush at Bryant's Gap. Contrast that
with the care exhibited at not showing his unmasked face in the Clayton Moore
TV origin story and the comic strip and comic book origins (where the
pre-masked man is always pictured from the back or with his face in shadow).
Today, origin stories are commonplace in comic books and TV shows, but
mystery was often preferred by creators back in the 1930s; Walter Gibson
wrote more than a hundred SHADOW novels before giving THE SHADOW an origin
and true identity (Kent Allard, not Lamont Cranston), while Fran Striker
waited nearly a decade to give his masked man an origin on radio (that was
strongly based on the origin story featured in the 1938 Republic LONE RANGER
movie serial).
Yes, we have had this discussion in the past, and some listers insisted they
(or their fathers) had heard The Lone Ranger referred to as "John" on
specific OTR episodes, but when they were supplied recordings of those shows,
memories proved to be in error. On the flip side, The Lone Ranger was
officially established as "John Reid" in a movie that was released two decade
s after the death of LONE RANGER-creator Fran Striker, but I refuse to accept
that as being part of the canon, just as I refuse to believe that the masked
man was an attorney instead of a career Texas Ranger . . . or that Hal (Green
Lantern) Jordan is now a mass murderer or any of hundreds of other current
revisionist treatments today perpetrated on classic characters by other hands
than their original creators. --ANTHONY TOLLIN (author of RSI's THE LONE
RANGER ON RADIO)
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 17:28:19 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Jack's first car
Well, its been nearly a week and not even one guess on Jack Benny's
first [removed]
On the 10/24/37 show Jack tells about trading his old car for a new
one, a Maxwell. The car he traded in? A Stanley Steamer.
On a personal note, I have some experience with Stanley's. When I was
in high school (1965) I helped a teacher restore a 1914 Stanley Steamer
Mountain Wagon, which was a seven seater open vehicle, capable of
carrying 28 people. The Stanley Brothers built a few of them to carry
passengers from the train station to their hotel in Estes Park, CO.
Joe (we now return you to boxing, already in progess)
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 17:29:11 -0500
From: "bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed];
To: "" old-time radio digest ">" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR--MP3's and players
Hi all,
When saving MP3's to a disk that I want to use in a portable MP3 player, can I save directories of individual programs to a disk--westerns etc. with programs in
the individual directories or do I need to just save all the individual shows to disk.
I think what I'm asking is can a player read a disk with directories of shows on it?
Bill
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 17:29:27 -0500
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Hummerts
As I anticipated, several members of this troupe rushed to my aid
following a post last week in search of an elusive Hummert collection.
It was found, praise be, and with it a bonus--the personal papers and
scripts of Lawrence Klee, one of the producers' most prolific wordsmiths.
Thanks to one and all. It's a most knowledgeable and caring group!
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 17:30:36 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Legend of The Lone Ranger, Avuncular
Aspect
Approved: ctrn4eeWlc
Russ Butler asks,
where does the Nephew, "Dan" Reid enter into the storyline?
At one of the enactments of the Butck Cavendish ambush, Capt. Dan Reid
asked his brother that if he (Dan) didn't survive and his brother did,
that the future Lone Ranger would look after his wife and young son,
using Catp. Dan's share of the silver mine that the brothers owned.
Naturally, wife and child were going to come out West.
As we all know, the ambush cut down Dan Reid the Elder, and his brother
became The Lone Ranger. Subsequently, he looked for Dan's wife and son,
but en route to the West, the wagon train they were part of was attacked.
Years later, young Dan, who had survived, was reunited with his uncle,
and the rest is history.
Dan visited his Uncle and Tonto every Summer from back East.
The Lone Ranger made sure his nephew got a good education, realizing that
with the 20th Century coming fast, being educated was vital. So, during
the school year, Dan attended some of the best schools in the country.
Wasn't his horse, Victor, an offspring of "the great horse" Silver?
Victor was Silver's son. There was a contest to name the horse.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 17:31:00 -0500
From: Rocky Cookus <rocky@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lux Radio Theater's "Blood on the Sun" w/
James Cagney
Approved: ctrn4eeWlc
I'd love to find a copy of this show in any form. So far I've
had no luck. I believe the broadcast date is 12/3/45 and the
show # is 505. Please reply to me at rocky@[removed]
Rocky
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 17:28:54 -0500
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Dinah Shore
Far be it from me to match wits with the inimitable Bill Murtough of this
list who was "there" but when he claims Dinah Shore (Fanny Rose) got her
start at WNEW I'm of a slightly differing opinion. I'll agree she may
have become known nationally from that venue but -- as a former
Tennessean -- my heritage won't let me overlook the fact that the girl
from Winchester studied voice as a teen in the Volunteer State and
regularly performed as a vocalist over Nashville's WSM during collegiate
days at my alma mater, Vanderbilt University. This is a source of
considerable pride among the city's extensive entertainment annals. Her
initial audition in 1937 for New York radio flopped when she lost her
voice. In 1938 she had a second tryout which led to openings at WNEW and
subsequently NBC. But had there been no WSM there might have been no
Dinah.
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 17:31:27 -0500
From: "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: White Christmas
John Jensen (JJJ445@[removed]) wrote:
Interestingly enough the Bing Crosby "White Christmas" so familiar to
millions is the the re-recorded version he made on March 19, 1947 and not
his 1942 version. I'm sure Decca felt the fidelity on the later date was
superior and so used it for release on their millions of LPs and now, CDs.
FWIW, I know of at least three versions of the Merry Christmas album (which
I assume used the 1947 re-recording you refer to). The first, with ten
songs, was released as a 78 rpm album, and later as a 10" LP and, I assume,
as a 45 rpm box set (Decca played both sides of the street). By 1961 10"
LPs were basically extinct (as were 78 rpm records and 45 rpm box sets), so
MCA added "Silver Bells," "It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas,"
"Christmas in Killarney" and "Mele Kalikimaka" to pad it out to fill a 12"
LP; this version was later released on 8-track, cassette and finally CD.
There was a third, CD-only extended version in the mid-1980s whose title
I've forgotten (and I can't find it on CDDB) which had some outtakes.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 18:14:38 -0500
From: "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Boxing on radio
I remember exactly where I was when listening to the Joe Louis
and Billy Conn fight in the late '40's. (Conn lost as I recall).
I have a reel to reel tape that I personally recorded in my collection
of the fights between Floyd Paterson-Ingemar Johanson Mar. 13,
1961 - Cassius Clay (Mohammed Ali)-Sonny Liston bout on
Feb. 25, 1964 and the rematch on May 24, 1965.
Don Dean N8IOJ
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 18:14:37 -0500
From: Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Glimpsing Joe
The prize fighting thread inside the Digest lately has prompted
me to jot down one of my memories of the fight game. It's a
part of my history I'll never forget so impressed was I on
that particular day of my youth.
[removed]
CAB
--
conradab@[removed] (Conrad A. Binyon)
From the Home of the Stars who loved Ranches and Farms
Encino, California.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 19:55:12 -0500
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Transcribed program announcement
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
If a program was pre-recorded, by law it would have to be
announced as being "Transcribed".
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
I wonder how long that continued to be the case.
In the 1960s the rule was interpreted to require an announcement if
there was an element of timeliness to the program to the extent that it
would be considered deceptive for the audience not to be told that the
program was not live. Thus the "Tonight Show" was always announced as
having been pre-recorded, but so was "Laugh-In!" How that highly edited
show could have been anything but pre-recorded was a point well taken by
the producers, so they turned that announcement into a running gag to
see how Gary Owens could zing the network lawyers this week.
I remember hearing that announcement on early television. In 1949,
every episode of the Howdy Doody Show ended with Howdy saying,
"A portion of the Howdy Doody Show electrically transcribed."
I didn't know what that meant, and my mother explained it to me.
In this specific case it was Howdy's voice that was recorded. Bob Smith
wasn't a ventriloquist and never made any pretense of being one, so the
director always had to be careful not to show Bob's face when he did
Howdy's voice live at first. They soon worked out a method of
pre-recording Howdy's lines which required close work between Smith and
the audio operator. There also were movie features in the program, but
I would assume the network lawyers would be satisfied with Buffalo Bob's
elaborate introductions to the movies that included opening the movie
projector's box, etc. The program's open was a superimposed film after
the first years, and some commercials were also filmed. But usually
these incidental elements were not required to be identified, so I think
that the Howdy's voice was the main reason for the announcement.
Of course there also was a Howdy Doody radio program on Saturday
morning, and I always preferred the radio version to the TV version.
The entire program was pre-recorded, so one announcement for the whole
show was all that was necessary. I believe that Smith did Howdy's voice
live, but there was a small library of songs that he had recorded that
were used as musical interludes between the scenes. The song I always
remembered the most was "Loch Lomand" and when I made my first trip to
Scotland in 1983 my wife and I took a boat ride on Loch Lomand.
By early 1950, they weren't making that announcement orally any more,
but I later noticed, after I had learned to read, that they had an
announcement to that effect on the screen with the closing credits.
Interesting. It is thus ironic that in most cases for adult
programs--where it is assumed that the entire audience does know how to
read--that the pre-recorded announcement was sometimes the ONLY verbal
announcement during the otherwise printed closing credits. By the late
1970s the law was re-interpreted and changed to allow the STATIONS to
have a once daily announcement that read: "Some or all of the programs
on this station were delayed by means of Electrical Transcriptions."
Although the spirit of the law would supposedly still require an
announcement directly at a program with a time element--such as a
pre-recorded newscast--by the un-regulation era of Mark Fowler's FCC in
the 1980s, the governmental watchdogs no longer cared if the public was
being deceived into thinking that the newscaster they were watching was
actually there doing the newscast at that very moment. This was
sooooooo different from the OTR era when overseas correspondents were
expected to be reporting live even if it was 2 AM where they were and
they were reading militarily censored scripts they had written six hours
earlier.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 19:56:37 -0500
From: "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Disc jockeys' record collections
William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; wrote:
Someone wondered about the large cabinet of records along with Martin
Block. There is a story with that. One day Martin approached WNEW manager,
Bernice Judas, and informed her that the vast record library at WNEW
belonged to him and she would have to pay him a rental fee. It was true. The
record companies at that time would send their newest releases directly to
the disc jockeys. Consequently they were actually the property of the
"jocks". As Bernice was known as "a tough cookie", I can imagine her
reaction. However, she paid. Wish I could have witnessed that encounter!
Much later, Joe Donovan at WHAS used his own collection of 45 rpm singles
from the 1950s and 1960s on his all-request oldies shows. He kept the
records at home, so you'd have to call in a request a day in advance. As
best I can recall, Joe moved here in 1977 and stayed on the air until 1997
or '98, though for the last few months Clear Channel moved him to another
Louisville AM station (much to the disgust of truckers who could no longer
hear his all-night show hundreds of miles away).
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 00:57:19 -0500
From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "Transcribed"
The words designating a show that had bee recorded varied with time. The
local stations were, of course, using ET's (Electrical Transcriptions) long
before they were used by NBC, CBS and ABC. Mutual used them dating back to
probably the late 30's. Michael Biel would probably have dating details.
Phrases that I can recall included: just the single word: "Transcribed" to
a much more elaborate local phrase at my old home (WCOP- ABC in Boston): "The
following program was transcribed earlier, for broadcast at this time" "The
following is electrically transcribed" "Portions of todays program were
transcribed" "By Electrical [removed]" "By Special Recording" and
maybe others I may have forgotten. <<<Tom Heathwood>> Heritage Radio
Theatre [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 00:57:29 -0500
From: Jim Kitchen <jkitchen@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: America At War
The Radio Spirits' album "America At War", Patriotic Radio Broadcasts
from World War II is available at Cosco for the usual Cosco price.
Jim Kitchen
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 00:57:40 -0500
From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: what's in a name?
As I recall from our last discussion, someone traced "John" Reid's name for
the Lone Ranger to the movie starring Clinton Spillsbury. No one was able to
find any reference in any of the LR radio eps themselves that gave him a
first name, let alone John.
Joe Salerno
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #43
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