Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #185
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 5/25/2002 2:55 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 185
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Thanks for the memories               [ "Jim Lewis" <jimlew2@[removed]; ]
      Creeps By Night - Mystery Playhouse   [ Steven Kelez <otrsteve@[removed]; ]
      Re: radio test pattern                [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
      Re: Kenny's DVD/VCR/MP3 Player Probl  [ George Guffey <grguffey@[removed]; ]
      Famous Firsts                         [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
      Sorry, Wrong Number                   [ "Bob Watson" <crw912@[removed]; ]
      Regarding Ron Sayles & his dislike f  [ Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@telu ]
      guest on Yesterday USA                [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      Re: appeal of Amos & Andy             [ "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self ]
      Chicken Heart                         [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
      re: "Creeps by Night" episode         [ Doug Berryhill <fibbermac@[removed] ]
      Lucy on radio                         [ AandG4jc@[removed] ]
      Amos and Andy in 1943                 [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      Robert Trout                          [ William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; ]
      Re: Lucy                              [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Lucy on Radio                         [ "Philip Adams" <padams33@[removed]; ]
      Dating "One Man's Family"             [ Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed]; ]
      Chicken Heart Recreation              [ "Scott D. Livingston" <sdl@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 14:00:04 -0400
    From: "Jim Lewis" <jimlew2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Thanks for the memories

    Is there an interesting story behind how this got to be Bob Hopes theme
    [removed]'ve seen the Big Broadcast of 1938 and saw/heard him and Shirley do
    the song and recently acquired it via the [removed] actually an enjoyable
    [removed] certainly wasn't a major film star at that [removed] he buy it or
    was this just some sort of an honorarium type [removed] didn't realize till I
    saw the movie that it was a complete song, and had thought it was just a few
    bars they played when Bob came on [removed] know the how,when,and why of
    the [removed]
    Jim Lewis

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 11:06:14 -0400
    From: Steven Kelez <otrsteve@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Creeps By Night - Mystery Playhouse

    The Mystery Playhouse episode taken from the Creeps By Night program is "Those Who Walk In
    Darkness." It was broadcast the following week after the lengthy preview mentioned here
    previously. You can find this recording at the Radio Showcase web site
    <[removed];. Here is the entry:

    MC-1558: MYSTERY PLAYHOUSE
    Side 1- Those Who Walk In Darkness (Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre) (Excellent,
    AFRS, Thriller)
    Side 2- The Six Who Did Not Die (Jackson Beck, Peter Lorre) (Excellent, AFRS,
    Mystery) * Those Who Walk In Darkness is from the Creeps By Night series.
    Cassette Length: 60 Min.

    Each day I read a lot of inquires in the Digest regarding various programs, if they exist, where
    they are, etc. Most of these recordings can be found in the Radio Showcase database. It is
    searchable by any criteria you care to use; series, program title, date, actor, genre. Give it a
    try, it only takes a couple of seconds to search over 13,000 programs. You never know what might
    turn up.

    Steven Kelez
    RADIO SHOWCASE <[removed];

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 11:06:29 -0400
    From: Jer51473@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: radio test pattern

      Different strokes for different folkes. If you didnt like a&a you probably
    were and are not part of the majority. A lot of anyones favorites, im sure,
    are not favorites of many others of us. But we all have our favorites and
    often our least favorites dont jive with the larger segment of listeners. For
    instance i found The Shadow and The Lone Ranger only average, but most of the
    other posters here rave about them. Johnny Dollar, i could take or leave, but
    again most of the others seem to think he was great. Now maybe i shouldnt say
    most, but many.

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 11:07:06 -0400
    From: George Guffey <grguffey@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Kenny's DVD/VCR/MP3 Player  Problem

    Many lovers of OTR who have acquired MP3 files from
    various sources badly need access to a list of players
    that seldom (or never) fail to play the wide variety
    of encodings currently available. (Perhaps this
    mailing list would be a good place to begin building
    such a list of versatile, dependable players.)

    Unfortunately, many of us have had the problem Kenny
    has recently run into. It is currently almost
    impossible to get specific information about the
    relative ability of an advertised MP3 player to
    properly respond to a wide range of potential MP3
    encoding variables without taking it home and trying
    it out.

    Like Kenny, I have a DVD/VCR/MP3 player (not a
    Toshiba). It can play some of my MP3 files but not
    others. In this case, the disparity seems to be partly
    due to bitrate differences. The machine will play most
    high-bitrate files but not low-bitrate ones. I suspect
    that very few machines that combine as many functions
    (playing DVDs, video tapes, and MP3 files) as Kenny's
    Toshiba and my own player can handle MP3 files with
    low-bitrate encoding. If this is the reason for the
    poor MP3 performance of Kenny's player, his only
    solutions would appear to be re-encoding at a high
    bitrate or acquiring a more versatile player.

    The instructions that accompanied Kenny's player
    emphasized that it could handle only "ISO9660
    Certified" files. I suspect that what is being
    referred to here are the ISO9660 specifications for
    file names:

    1. A file name should have a maximum of 11 characters
    (8 characters + dot + 3 characters). Example:
    [removed]

    2. Allowable characters: letters a-z, digits 0-9, and
    underscore

    3. First character of a file name must be a letter
    (a-z)

    4. A hyphen (or minus sign) is not permitted

    5. Directory or folder names are limited to 8
    characters (no extensions)

    6. Disc directory structure can have no more than 8
    levels

    Kenny's problem may stem from the "violation" of one
    or more of these strictures. He can check out this
    possibility by burning a disc with a single OTR file
    that has been named in compliance with ISO9660
    specifications (for example, "[removed]" [no quotes,
    of course]). Then he can see whether his player can
    successfully handle this newly burned file. (Most
    Usenet-available files have usefully descriptive names
    like "Great Gildersleeve - 1946-02-10 -197 -Gildy's
    New [removed]".)

    George

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 11:07:18 -0400
    From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Famous Firsts

    Hello All:

>     Who was the first President to deliver a radio address to the nation, and
>     when?

      Calvin Coolidge, 1925

    Didn't President Harding make a speech or two on the radio?  Or were his
    only on local stations and thus not considered "to the nation"?

    George

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 11:07:37 -0400
    From: "Bob Watson" <crw912@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Sorry, Wrong Number

    Just purchased the movie version of Sorry, Wrong Number starring Barbara
    Stanwyck on DVD.  While it is a good transfer of the movie, Paramount missed
    the boat.  They could have put all the surviving radio versions on the disc
    as an added extra feature but didn't.  Oh well.

    Also a few months back, we were discussing how changes and new features by
    the phone companies have really dated the show, and how the play might could
    be updated.  Someone suggested that maybe a cell phone could be used.  Well,
    I just want to go on record as saying that it could indeed happen that way.
    I know.  Just a few weeks back, I went to make a cell call and was cut into
    another conversation, just like poor Mrs Stevenson.  Fortunately, the
    conversation I briefly overheard was nowhere near as dire.  LOL  It is the
    first, and only time, time it has happened to me.

    I understand that there is an LP version of SWN that Agnes Moorehead made.
    Was this taken from a radio broadcast or completely done in studio for the
    LP???  Is it available anywhere these days??

    Bob

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 11:08:25 -0400
    From: Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@[removed];
    To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Regarding Ron Sayles & his dislike for A&A

    Hi There Ron! and Digest Readers

    I have no argument with your dislike of A&A. However, I have
    the feeling that you are in the minority this time.

    However, whether you like a program or not depends on many
    factors with most of them being very subjective.

    I don't recall where I heard the story but in Toronto during
    the height of their popularity, A&A were on five nights per
    week with a 15 minute show; When the show started, the city
    streetcars all came to a halt in front of a hardware or
    appliance store. Most of these had outside speakers wired to a
    radio tuned to the show and crowds gathered to listen. After
    the show, life returned to normal. No other show of the era
    attracted this sort of attention.

    A similar occurrence took place when television arrived in
    Detroit. I grew up near Windsor, Ontario and n those days
    Saturday night was the night we went to town; in my case it
    was Essex, some 15 miles or so from Windsor. The local
    hardware store had a small (about 7"0) TV in the show window
    with outdoor speakers connected and we would gather around to
    see this miracle of modern technology.

    Apparently similar happenings took place in the USA; I am told that
    movie houses stopped the film and planted a radio with a large speaker
    in the middle of the stage where the show was aired, with the film
    resuming afterward.

    I don't believe this popularity stemmed totally from the "newness" of the
    show or the medium. To me it was just "Plain Funny" and I wish you could
    enjoy it as much as I did (and still do).

    Anyway, that's enough for now; as I stated before, your tastes were
    created by many factors and they are now part of your life. The same
    applies to all the people who read the Digest.

    Thank you for putting up with this:

    Most sincere regards from ===> ELMER

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 11:08:39 -0400
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  guest on Yesterday USA

    On this Sunday at Yesterday USA James Arness who did some radio announcing
    back home in his state of Minnesota, and our very own OTR digest Laura Leff
    the president of the international Jack Benny fan club will be our guest.
    Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 11:08:56 -0400
    From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: appeal of Amos & Andy

    I like Amos & Andy because I think it's cleverly written and funny.  The
    theory of the show being popular until "something better came along" is
    blown by the fact that Amos & Andy were prominant radio figures until the
    late 50's or early 60's.  Or perhaps Mr. Sayles finds the god-awful drek
    that passes for radio today to be that "something better".

    Amos & Andy still remains one of the most popular OTR programs to date,
    and that can't entirely be attributed to urban legend and folklore.  The
    talent of the actors and writers has to figure in there somewhere.

    rodney.

    Past Tense Productions
    Carrying Old Radio related films, and Hal Roach shorts, for $7 per tape.

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 11:09:06 -0400
    From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Chicken Heart

    The Chicken Heart "Lights Out" episode is out there
    because I've heard it. It's one in a collection of
    short tales called "A Study in Horror." Try looking
    under that title.

    The Cosby routine is a classic, by the way.

    Rick

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 11:10:12 -0400
    From: Doug Berryhill <fibbermac@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  re: "Creeps by Night" episode

    -Fibbermac here-

    Gerry Wright, responding to "Kenny" said:

    "The "Mystery Playhouse" excerpt is from an unnamed
    "Creeps by Night" episode and lasts 7:43, with Karloff
    as Dr. Paul Wade,... Hopefully the full version will
    be found some day."

    The Mystery Playhouse version of this episode does
    exist and is called "Those Who Walk in Darkness". I
    know because I've got it (in mp3).

    If Gerry and/or Kenny would care to respond to me off
    list, I'll see if I can't get them a copy of it.

    -Regards,

    -The Fibber-

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 11:41:00 -0400
    From: AandG4jc@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Lucy on radio

        It was the soundtrack from the filmed episode with Dezi doing the
    narration for radio. By the way if you noticed that the opening was very
    different from the famous opening used on television. Very strange! It was
    more of a plug for Chester Morris Cigarettes. Which was their sponsor.
    Allen

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 12:23:49 -0400
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Amos and Andy in 1943

    What factors causes Amos and Andy to change there program in 1943?  Take
    care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 12:42:18 -0400
    From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Robert Trout

    In reference to the posting by David Schwartz. I worked with Bob many
    times at CBS. H e was a very fine gentleman. I think my first association
    with him was doing the WCBS six PM local television news. (our wives
    would sit together in the lobby waiting for us). Then he and his wife
    went to Spain to live. He returned in1968. I was in charge (technical) of
    the coverage for the famous 1968 national conventions, Miami and Chicago,
    for the CBS owned and operated radio stations. My long time associate,
    engineer Joe Cooper, and I travelled by an overloaded stationwagon.  As
    we neared Chicago on the second leg of our journey we began seeing huge
    billboards proclaiming "ROBERT TROUT'S BACK AND WE HAVE GOT HIM!". When
    Bob arrived and I told him about it, he refused to believe it, insisting
    that I was joking. He was a very unassuming gentleman.

    During the JFK inauguration I was the TV audio engineer at our anchor
    location in the very old Raleigh Hotel. Bob was in a booth overlooking
    the reviewing stand in front of White House. We were to open with a
    newsman from our affiliate describing the Kennedy's departing from their
    townhouse. (I was not too enchanted with this joker).
    The picture came up fine and I could see the reporter talking, but no
    audio. I yelled to the director to have Trout describe the scene from his
    monitor, and I switched to him. He did the job to perfection. (I knew he
    could handle it). When the director asked what had happened, I observed
    that I thought the reporter  was talking into his thumb. The director
    said that he saw that the guy actually had his mike. It turned out this
    guy had dropped his mike head first into a snow bank and it was packed
    with snow.

    Another story about which he told me himself. He was then working out of
    our Washington Bureau and was assigned to cover FDR's arrival at
    Washington's Union Station by the pesidential train. When the train
    arrived Bob "took air". However the president didn't exit from his car.
    Bob "ad libbed", describing the station, his surroundings, and anything
    else he could think of. Finally he was "running out of steam" and was
    about to switch back to the studio when FDR left the train. It turned out
    that Roosevelt was listening to him on his radio and wanted to see what
    Bob would do.

    Bill Murtough

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 13:00:26 -0400
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Lucy

      George asked --

>     I have heard this program. Maybe someone might be able to clarify more, but
>     after watching a particular tv episode, I got the impression that the alleged
>     radio show is merely the soundtrack of a tv episode.  I didnt record the
>     episode in question and compare.

      That's it in a nutshell.  The sound track was from the "The lease
    breakers" episode where Lucy and Ricky try to break their lease and
    eventually have Ricky's orchestra rehearse in the apartment.  The only
    addition was a opening and closing narration by Desi.  There is a
    hilarious scene at the end of the show where the chandelier falls off
    the ceiling unto the Mertzs' and they appear at the door with around it
    their shoulders, covered in plaster.  In the audio version there is all
    this laughter but the listener has no idea why.  Copies of the show
    float around the net and pop up every now and then.
      Joe

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

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 13:39:53 -0400
    From: "Philip Adams" <padams33@[removed];
    To: "otr digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lucy on Radio

    This question has been raised before and I wish I could put my finger on the
    direct quotes (but I can't at the moment so I will try to paraphrase as best
    I remember it).
    The "radio show" in question was indeed just the soundtrack from the
    particular tv episode (with the additional narration by Desi). I seem to
    recall that someone involved explained that it was just an experiment to see
    if they could "reuse" what they had already done for tv and resale it to
    radio since both mediums were still active.
    Obviously though tv was growing much faster and soon they realized it didn't
    make sense to "divide" their efforts so nothing else was done with the
    project.
    They never intended to do a strictly radio series but if they could have
    reused what was already "in the can" then that would have just been gravy.
    Personally with all the physical comedy and sight gags that I Love Lucy used
    I doubt that such a program on radio would have really done Lucy and Desi
    justice anyway so it's probably just as well.

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 16:45:06 -0400
    From: Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Dating "One Man's Family"

    Attention fans of "One Man's Family"!

    The First Generation Radio Archives is putting together our next Round
    Robin CD collection, 20 CDs of newly transferred and digitally restored
    radio programs, to be issued next month. Included in the group of shows are
    seventeen episodes of "One Man's Family" - including four previously
    uncirculated episodes transferred from mint condition 16" lacquer line
    checks, recently discovered in Pennsylvania.

    Also included in the batch is a series of twelve episodes from the 1940s,
    recorded and released by the Armed Forces Radio Service. These were taken
    from first-generation reels, transferred from disks many years ago, and the
    sound quality - especially after CEDAR processing - is outstanding.

    Whether by oversight or because the information was simply not available,
    the broadcast dates for the AFRS shows were not noted by the person who did
    the transfers. (Normally the AFRS scratched the original dates of broadcast
    into the "dead" or run-out portion of their disks; they may or may not have
    done so in this case.) The broadcast dates for the lacquers were written on
    the disks with grease pencil, but the information was fairly illegible and
    may be incorrect.

    We would, of course, like to add the broadcast dates to our database and to
    the CD labels before they are released to our members. If anyone can offer
    any assistance in providing this information, we'd be very grateful. The
    book and chapter numbers for each show are included.

    Here's the complete list of shows:

    Book 98, Chapter 315
    Recorded September 18 for broadcast September 24, 195? - 15:00 - NBC,
    sponsored by Miles Laboratories (This show also includes a false start, in
    which the announcer gets tongue tied and has to start over - a delightful
    bit of "backstage" for OMF fans!)

    Book 99, Chapter 21
    December ?, 1952 - 15:00 - NBC, sponsored by Miles Laboratories (Year
    believed to be correct)

    Book 99, Chapter 22
    Tuesday, December 16, 1952 - 15:00 - NBC, sponsored by Miles Laboratories
    (Date believed to be correct)

    Book 99, Chapter 27
    Tuesday, December 23, 1952 - 15:00 - NBC, sponsored by Miles Laboratories
    (Date believed to be correct)

    Book 125, Chapter 46: The Cure (AFRS #206)
    Broadcast Date? - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 125, Chapter 47: Final Proposition (AFRS #207)
    Broadcast Date? - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 125, Chapter 38: The Unsigned Document (AFRS #208)
    Broadcast Date?  - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 125, Chapter 49: The Letter in the Wastebasket (AFRS #209)
    Broadcast Date?  - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 126, Chapter 16: Certified Mail for Henry Barber (AFRS #231)
    Broadcast Date?  - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 126, Chapter 17: Talk of a Wedding (AFRS #232)
    Broadcast Date?  - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 126, Chapter 18: A Moment of Indiscretion (AFRS #233)
    Broadcast Date?  - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 126, Chapter 19: Midnight Questionnaire (AFRS #234)
    Broadcast Date?  - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 129, Chapter 54: Report from Pebble Beach (AFRS #456)
    Broadcast Date? - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 129, Chapter 55: Lost in the Fog (AFRS #457)
    Broadcast Date? - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 129, Chapter 56: An Eight-Car Collision (AFRS #458)
    Broadcast Date? - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 129, Chapter 57: The Truth About Andy (AFRS #459)
    Broadcast Date? - 15:00 - AFRS

    Book 40, Chapter 13: The Last of 1941
    Sunday, December 28, 1941 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Tenderleaf Tea
    (Date believed to be correct. This is a particularly touching episode in
    which the Barbour family discusses the events of 1941 - including the
    attack on Pearl Harbor - and ponders what the future will bring. Hearing
    this show after the events of September 11, 2001, it struck me that perhaps
    our world - or at least our individual views of it - hasn't really changed
    that much in sixty years after all. Our hopes, our fears, and the love of
    our families remain pretty constant.)

    Many thanks for any help you can provide - and my condolences to the family
    of Bernice Berwin and the members of the "One Man's Family Family" on her
    passing.

    Harlan Zinck
    First Generation Radio Archives
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 16:45:12 -0400
    From: "Scott D. Livingston" <sdl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Chicken Heart Recreation

    Steve mentioned a recreation done of Arch Oblers, Light Out "Chicken Heart"
    episode. Where does one get a copy to listen to?
    Fibber

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #185
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