Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #38
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 1/27/2004 1:53 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 38
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Geeks                                 [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      Turn offs                             [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      Billy May Obit - NY Daily News        [ seandd@[removed] ]
      MAY I indulge in a RIDDLE?            [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      Robert Donley--do the math            [ Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
      of interest?                          [ knight555@[removed] ]
      Radio Classics, Formerly on KNX       [ "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed] ]
      Detective-Show Terminology            [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Fwd: OTR Research                     [ Thomasmartin245@[removed] ]
      OTR References in pop [removed]      [ "Jeff G" <geddes_jeff@[removed]; ]
      re: Another OTR death                 [ "Michael Hingson" <MHingson@guidedo ]
      tape recorder                         [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      1-28 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Re: Easy Aces Quote                   [ Udmacon@[removed] ]
      Obit: Jack Parr                       [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 09:38:22 -0500
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Geeks

    It's funny that this question should come up just now, as last night I
    watched "Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control".  It's a documentary about four guys with
    unusual specialties:  a robotics engineer at MIT, an expert on naked mole
    rats, a topiary gardener, and a wild animal trainer.  The box purports that it's a
    study of "four obsessed eccentrics" and "demonstrates the fine line between
    genius and insanity."

    Well, kids, I guess I just have a higher tolerance for eccentricity than the
    rest of the viewing audience, or at least the person who wrote the liner
    notes.  The message, as I saw it, was more that we should all love what we're doing
    as much as these guys do.  They all have their "thing" or "scene".  As I see
    it, the difference of obsession is more in whether your entire life is
    goverened by your "scene", to the exclusion of all else.  If not, then God bless you
    and enjoy yourself.

    I recently got a listing of questions from a researcher (looking at fan
    clubs) that included one about, "Do you feel more comfortable in the company of
    your members and those who share your interest?  Do you feel isolated when you're
    not with them?"  I was starting to get sarcastic and responded, "I do not
    feel isolated when I'm not in the company of my members [removed] have a
    life."  By and large, the IJBFC members are wonderful, caring, considerate
    people.  The monthly chats with them are fabulous.  But I also know when to say
    "I need a break" to avoid burnout, as I did last October-November.

    There are probably a lot of people that would consider me a Jack Benny geek,
    and I'd guess most of them are people who don't know who he was and/or aren't
    familiar with his work.  It's a label.  After teaching a class for some
    software on which I'd led development, someone called me "half standup comedian,
    half computer geek".  That's a badge of honor, as far as I'm concerned.

    The question to me is more of balance, that you can walk away from something
    (an interest, or whatever) and not be dependent upon it for fulfilling
    something you feel you're lacking, or using it as an escape/avoidance from dealing
    with a deeper issue.  At times, Jack Benny was an escape from an abusive father.
     But it's now my way of making the world a little better place, helping
    people to laugh and feel good.  If that makes me a geek, bring it on.

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 09:38:37 -0500
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Turn offs
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    Funny thing about radios warming up (I may be young, but I have enough old
    radios to know of which you speak)...a member of ours has a routine where he
    recalls that in turning off old televisions, the picture would go down into a
    little dot at the middle of the screen that took 20 minutes to go away
    completely.

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 09:38:52 -0500
    From: seandd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Billy May Obit - NY Daily News

    David Hinckely remembers Billy May in today's edition - a great piece that
    covers May's work with Stan Freberg and his origins as a band leader on Ozzie
    & Harriet.

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 09:39:56 -0500
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  MAY I indulge in a RIDDLE?
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                  Hi again, Gang:

>     My favorite Sinatra/May story.

    <snip>

>     Sinatra put his arm around Billy, and said, "F**k
>     them, let's go make OUR version."

    	    As always, I truly enjoy Sandy Singer's stories about "the
    Chairman of the Board." But if Sandy will allow me to indulge, I'd like to
    share my favourite story involving that other great Sinatra
    arranger/conductor Nelson Riddle. On a 1967 rdition of "The Smothers Brothers
    Comedy Hour," on which Mr. Riddle was the house bandleader, Nancy Sinatra and
    Frank Sinatra, Jr., came on to sing the hit song "Something Stupid," (even
    though it was Nancy and Frank SENIOR who sang on the actual recording).
    After the song, the Smothers brought on Mr. Riddle and introduced him to the
    Sinatra kids saying something to the effect of "We'd like to introduce to you
    an old family [removed]"  An incredulous Nancy and Junior , apparently not
    recognising Riddle, inquired to who he was. The Smothers insisted it was
    their dad's old buddy Nelson Riddle. Nancy said that it was definitely NOT
    "Uncle Nelson" being that they didn't recognise him. One of the Smothers then
    had Nelson turn his back to the Sinatras and raise his arms in a band
    conductor's pose; this then brought instant [removed]"Now THAT's Uncle
    Nelson!"

    	Ether!

    	Derek Tague

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    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 10:25:53 -0500
    From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Robert Donley--do the math

>     Donley was best known for broadcasting over 50,000 radio performances on
>     such [removed]

    Hmmm.  Let's say Donley was in radio from 1920 through 1962, pretty much
    the whole run of OTR, which is 42 years.  And let's say he worked seven
    days per week, with no vacation and no sick days.  That's 15,340 days,
    counting leap years.  Which works out to [removed] shows per day.

    I think the newspaper lost a decimal point [removed]

    ---Dan

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 10:59:17 -0500
    From: knight555@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  of interest?

    Hello all.  I recently came across a website which appears to be a newer
    company producing comics, really, they are more story than your average
    comic today.  Anyway, I see they are producing this type format of The
    Mysterious Traveller, Boston Blackie, [removed], Sherlock Holmes, Bulldog
    Drummond, Johnny Dollar, Cisco Kid , Ilove a Mystery ("the radio adventures
    return  with classic thrillers" according to the blurb,) and some others
    (some are old time monster characters).  I have no idea how true to the
    radio shows these may be, but the company apparently has an interest in
    characters of that era and has new stories and art to go with them.  If
    anyone is interested, the site is [removed].  I have no
    interest in the company, just found them when looking for The Phantom,
    which they also produce.  Based on what I received for that character, they
    are well done.  Maybe somebody else has purchased some of their other
    'comics' (graphic novels?) and can give an opinion?    MJ

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 10:59:46 -0500
    From: "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Radio Classics, Formerly on KNX
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    This is one of those questions I've been meaning to ask for several years.
    Back in the early nineties, whenever the Jack Benny program played on KNX,
    Jack would give the order, "Sing, Dennis," which was followed by a round of
    applause, and Jack saying something like, "That was Dennis Day, singing
    "Blah-Blah-Blah-Blah," while the song itself was carefully excised from the
    broadcast. In the past few years, I didn't notice this deletion, and
    whenever the singer, Dennis, Larry Stevens, or whomever sang, we heard the
    song. Does anyone out there know why the songs were deleted from the Radio
    Classics versions (I believe these all were from late in the post-war
    period.)?

    Thanx,
    [removed]

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    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 10:58:53 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Detective-Show Terminology

    Kenneth Clarke, speaking of terms for private detectives, asks,

>     I've also heard them called 'gumshoes', 'private dicks', and 'flatfoot'
>     from time to time (usually on OTR shows from the thirties).... I'd like
>     to know where the rest of these expressions came from.

    "Gumshoes" comes from the idea that a lot of private detectives wore
    shoes with soft-rubber heels and soles so they could move about making a
    minimum of noise.  "Private dick" or even just "dick" is a corruption of
    "detective."  "Flatfoot" was more usually applied to beat policemen, who
    were on their feet for so much of their duty that their arches fell.

    Some of these expressions hit OTR via detective pulp magazines of the
    1930s.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 11:19:38 -0500
    From: Thomasmartin245@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Fwd: OTR Research
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    Can any of you kind folks help this fellow?

    - -----

    From: "Christian Goller" <ich@[removed];
    Subject: OTR Research
    Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 16:21:45 +0100

    Dear Mr. Martin

    My name is Christian Goller. I am a German student from the University
    of Leipzig.
    I am currently writing my master thesis on American Radio and I am
    thinking about focusing on OTR combined with the Roosevelt Fireside
    Chats, since this was probably the most important time in Radio history.
    I found your address on [removed] <[removed];  and
    I was wondering whether you could help me out with information about
    that time and the radio. Since it is pretty hard to find good books on
    this topic in our libraries I will have to order some books which are
    quite expensive. I think I would like to focus on the impact of radio on
    the American society, the way these shows were planned ([removed] to support
    troops or to advertise.) and the way Hollywood movie stars were included
    (imagine nowadays Bruce Willis doing radio shows.). If you have any
    suggestions on books that are a "must", any additional reports,
    information, data I would be really thankful. I really love these old
    shows and listen to them wherever I can find them on the Internet. One
    of my favourites certainly is the "Abbott & Costello Show".
    It would also be very nice if you could give me some email addresses of
    some other people I could contact about this.

    Thank you very much
    Best wishes

    Christian Goller

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    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 12:28:18 -0500
    From: "Jeff G" <geddes_jeff@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR References in pop [removed]

    Hello All!

    Just read the post about the references to OTR in the [removed]

    I thought of a reference i just recently saw in a "Family Guy" tv episode.

    It had the mayer of the city (Mayer Adam West) put a toilet roll around his
    mouth and say in a muffled voice "Do I sound like I'm on Old Time Radioooo?"

    All my friends laughed at the joke, but I'm not quite sure they really know
    what they were laughing at ;)

    Happy Listening!

    jeff

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 12:28:57 -0500
    From: "Michael Hingson" <MHingson@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  re: Another OTR death
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    Rich reported the death of Robert Donley.  For those of us who are blind
    his passing is exceptionally sad news.

    For years Robert Donley read Talking Books for the blind.  I especially
    remember his reading of Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
    His voice was one of the most expressive talking book reading voices I
    have ever heard.

    Truly he will be missed by all of us.  His contributions to
    entertainment will long be remembered.

    Gee!  Perhaps he is the greatest entertainer of all time?  We'll leave
    that for another day.

    [server removed an attachment of type text/x-vcard which had a name of
    Michael Hingson (E-mail).vcf]

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    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 12:46:07 -0500
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  tape recorder

> >     1948 - Wire Recording Corporation of America announced the first
> >     magnetic tape recorder. The 'Wireway' machine with a built-in oscillator
> >     sold for $[removed]

>     Why would a company named the WIRE Recording Corp introduce a TAPE recorder
>     called the "WIREway"????  Wouldn't it be a WIRE recorder, not a TAPE
>     recorder?  And actually, January 1948 is a bit late to be introducing the
>     first wire OR tape recorder.  Brush had sold wire recorders before the war,
>     and were selling tape recorders by 1947.  I think both Webster-Chicago and
>     Silvertone were selling wire recorders in 1947, and Eicor was selling tape
>     recorders in 1947.

    It's just marketing, I think.  Presumably "Wireway" was the trade name that
    the firm had used for other products, and they felt that retention of the
    old name would give customers confidence and a sense of continuity.  It's
    fairly common to do this sort of thing nowadays.

    There were quite a few tape and wire recorders in 1948, but they were not
    common for home use.  $[removed] was a lot of money back then, but I recall
    that people bought $[removed] VCR's in the 1970's.

    About the best I can figure about the 'built-in oscillator' is that early
    high-fidelity amplifiers were equipped with 'tape head' inputs and 'tape
    record' outputs.   These were to be connected directly to the playback and
    recording heads of a tape machine.  However, magnetic tape (or wire) can be
    properly written only if a very robust ultrasonic tone is mixed with the
    signal to the recording head.  This was called the 'bias oscillator,' and
    would presumably been furnished as a separate item.

    Home taping was an intermittent fad throughout the 1950's.  You could buy a
    big console that had a radio, a turntable, and (I dearly hope I'm wrong
    here) a television set, all in one monstrous 'piece of furniture' that
    probably came in 'Mediterranean' or 'contemporary' style.  All of the
    interconnections were there, so you could tape audio from the radio or TV
    set.  Godawful thing would have to have been from RCA.

    My sense is that home tape machines were seldom used to record broadcast
    material, except on historic occasions.  Mostly they were used like 8mm
    movie cameras, to record family events.  At least that was the custom in
    Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where there were a few home tape machines back
    then.  I recall that a tape recorder was occasionally the centerpiece of
    kids' parties

    M Kinsler

    I was appalled at the sound of my own voice.

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 14:58:25 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  1-28 births/deaths

    January 28th births

    01-28-1900 - Mahlon Merrick - Farmington, IA - d. 8-1969
    music: "Jack Benny Program"; "Skippy Hollywood Theatre"
    01-28-1904 - Irene Beasly - Whitehaven TN - d. 1-7-1980
    actress: Old Dutch Girl "Red Hook 31"
    01-28-1909 - Arnold Moss - Brooklyn, NY - d. 12-15-1989
    actor: Philip Cameron "Against the Storm"; Reed Bannister "Big Sister"

    January 28th deaths

    04-29-1912 - John MacVane - Portland, ME - d. 1-28-1984
    newscaster: "United or Not"
    10-22-1907 - Roger DeKoven - Chicago, IL - d. 1-28-1988
    actor: Professor Allen, "Against the Storm"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 15:18:18 -0500
    From: Udmacon@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Easy Aces Quote

    Ref: Jane Ace's reference to "Lake Marijuana," Jane was noted for the
    malaprops hubby Goodman wrote for her. This was obviously a name close to
    another Lake's name; I know not which.

    I always liked Jane's reaction: "you could have knocked me over with a
    [removed]"

    BILL KNOWLTON: "Bluegrass Ramble," WCNY-FM ([removed]) Syracuse, WUNY ([removed])
    Utica, and WJNY ([removed]) Watertown NY. On the web: [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 15:52:33 -0500
    From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Obit: Jack Parr

    Folks;

       Jack Paar, who pioneered late-night talk on The Tonight Show, died at his
    Greenwich home as a result of a long illness. Brief obit available at:

    [removed]
    Entertainment

       ...ironically a Canadian television website.

       The bio at:

    [removed]

       ...lists a number of radio credits, including, "serving as a fill-in for
    Don MacNeil on the Breakfast Club and panelist on The $64 Question."

             Charlie

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #38
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