Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #278
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 7/17/2003 9:15 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 278
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Bill Beningfield                      [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
      book about Orson Welles on radio      [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
      Re: ipod                              [ Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed] ]
      re: Bob and Ray sketches              [ "Robert W. Paine" <macandrew@prodig ]
      Ipod                                  [ Jeff Weaver <jweaver@[removed]; ]
      War of the Worlds revelation          [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      What's Going on Radio Spirits!        [ Trinapreston3@[removed] ]
      JFK Assassination Radio Coverage      [ "mike ray" <mikeray42@[removed]; ]
      War of the World time length          [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Re: Stan Freberg                      [ "Candy Jens" <candyj@[removed]; ]
      burning dvds                          [ "Robert Angus" <rangus02@[removed]; ]
      author needs Atlanta area volunteer   [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 22:22:51 -0400
    From: "Don  Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
    To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bill Beningfield

    For any who live in the vicinity of Columbus, Ohio.
    A friend, Bill Beningfield, will be attending a meeting of the Central Ohio
    Theater
    Organ Society, Sunday July 20 at Thomas Worthington High School in Columbus.
    At 3PM, he will give an organ recital on a "Wurlitzer, 16 ranks (of Pipes)
    plus
    percussions, three-manuel Wurlitzer Console." Bill has a fondness for
    Gaylord Carter,
    Rex Koury, studied under a man taught by Jesse Crawford, and will play many
    radio [removed] of you might be interested.

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

    Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 00:17:40 -0400
    From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  book about Orson Welles on radio

    A scholarly book about Orson Welles' radio work is now complete and will
    probably be published within the next year and a half. I will keep the
    digest posted.

    Howard Blue

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

    Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 09:08:28 -0400
    From: Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: ipod

    Herb Harrison posted:

>     Jeff Weaver said: "The ipod is what you want." I have read that it's a
>     very good player. It's made by Apple Computer. Is it compatible with
>     Windows computers, or do you need a Macintosh to make it work?

    Apple's new Ipods are both Mac/PC compatible,
    and I heartily recommend it. The new models can hold up to
    30 GB of data,and that translates to thousands of hours of OTR.

    I use mine all the time, and if you don't fill it completely full of
    music,
    you can also use it as a regular Firewire hard drive.

    rob

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

    Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 09:05:19 -0400
    From: "Robert W. Paine" <macandrew@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  re: Bob and Ray sketches

    OK, Bob Hoban, I'm going to put you on the spot <G>. Seriously, I have been
    wondering for more than twenty years - exactly WHAT happened to Miss Edna?

    The last I heard, she was in bed but - as you pointed out, NOT bed-ridden.
    One conversation went something like this. (Ray is Edna, Bob the doctor)

    Miss Edna: Oh, Doctor, it's so nice and comfy here under the covers, I think
    I'll stay for
                        several more months.

    Doctor: Really, Miss Edna, there's nothing wrong with you. You can just get
    up out
                   of that bed right now.

    Miss Edna: Well, Doctor, I'm SURE there must be something wrong. Maybe you
    can find
                        one of those new-fangled diseases [removed]

    (Disclaimer - Any similarity between this re-creation and the true dialogue
    is a real [removed])

    So, Bob - can you put my mind at rest after lo these many long years and
    tell me how the story played out. Or will I go through life always wondering
    what did happen in those long-ago episodes of "The Gathering Dusk"?

    Enjoyed the posts on Bob and Ray. Keep 'em coming, folks.

      Macandrew

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

    Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 10:11:49 -0400
    From: Jeff Weaver <jweaver@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Ipod

    The new generation Ipod is compatible with PCs. It uses a USB [removed]
    port, which is an easy upgrade on most computers. It uses Music match
    on the PC for software and Itunes on the mac.

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

    Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 10:13:47 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  War of the Worlds revelation

    Craig Wichman remarked:

>     I've been comparing several CD's of WAR OF THE WORLDS recently. All seem to
>     be uncut, but Metacom's comes in at 57+, as opposed to everyone else's
>     (including Ed Carr's nice one)clocking at 59+.
>     I know that turntable speeds don't always match; as the Mercury was still
>     sustaining at this point, the longer time seems [removed] Opinions?

    I would think that there are two factors involved in determining which
    recording is complete.
    1.  Time factors, as Craig pointed out, is one way but as Craig also
    mentioned, the speed can be adjusted not just by turntable, but from other
    reasons.  I have an episode of radio's HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL that runs 19
    minutes and as the recording gets closer to the end, the dialogue and action
    speeds up more and more.  (And this was a commercial release through the
    WIRELESS catalog years ago).
    2.  The other factor is content.  If you listen to both recordings at the
    same time, Craig, you might be able to determine the difference - speed or
    content.  Could there be a half minute missing from the center of one
    recording?  Could the last few seconds be missing?  Using HAVE GUN - WILL
    TRAVEL as an example again, I have two copies of the same broadcast with one
    noticeable difference.  One has Armed Forces Radio commercials, the other
    has actual CBS network commercials.  This means the AFRS was a re-airing and
    the one with CBS network commercials like shampoo and cigarette ads is the
    more complete version.  Difference in time length is two minutes.  But
    that's dealing with the commercials.  (Hech, you can purchase factory-sealed
    STAR TREK television episodes timed at 52 minutes long, and then watch the
    same episode on TV like The Sci-Fi Channel (timed at [removed] minutes long) and
    notice scenes on TV not found on the commercial releases.  Which is more
    complete?  An ever-lasting question.)

    THE MERCURY THEATER was sustained - meaning no sponsor - but that doesn't
    mean one version isn't edited slightly.  Since the program was broadcast at
    an hour-long time slot, 8 to 9 pm, EST, the 59 minutes sounds more accurate,
    but for all I know (without pulling out print records), there might have
    been five minutes of news after the program.  Some radio programs during the
    forties and fifties were presented at a 25 minute time slot with five
    minutes of news before or after (completists take note).

    Perhaps the best way to acquire a definitive recording of the WAR OF THE
    WORLDS broadcast is to find an OTR dealer who has been in the hobby for
    decades and learn where they acquired their recording.  Far as I know,
    copies of the actual broadcast was made days after the horrifying Halloween
    for legal purposes, meaning many discs dating 1938 are in existence.
    Perhaps an OTR dealer (maybe even one on this digest) had access to one of
    THE original discs and had their master made from the CBS master?  Cause in
    truth, even the WAR OF THE WORLDS recordings being sold through Metacom and
    Radio Spirits are now multiple generation, cause they had to buy their copy
    from someone whose copy originated from someone who got their copy from
    someone, who got their copy from someone else, etc.

    As for researching the WAR OF THE WORLDS production, I have read many
    articles and books claiming what changes were made to the script during
    rehearsals AND during the broadcast after the staff was informed of what was
    happening outside.  I cannot for the life of me, figure out how these
    authors and writers can clearly say what changes Welles made to the script
    during the broadcast.  Why?  Cause in reality, just a day or two after the
    panic incident, multiple copies of the WOTW script was made.  The FCC wanted
    at least two copies of the script (according to TIME magazine), the
    broadcasting moguls at CBS each wanted one, and so on and so on.  This means
    not a dozen, but literally dozens and dozens of copies of the original
    script was copied the same week of the broadcast.  Getting a copy of a WOTW
    script from 1938 isn't as difficult as getting a copy of any of the other
    MERCURY productions (the price may be higher but finding one isn't
    difficult).  Many actors wrote their name on their script so if it was
    misplaced, it would be returned to them.  The only true way to find a 1938
    script that was using DURING the actual panic broadcast and not one copied
    after the broadcast is to find one with some notation or wording written on
    the script to prove that it was one used during the broadcast (maybe a staff
    member's name written on the cover).

    I have no doubt that during the FCC's and CBS's reviews of the script after
    the broadcast, marks were made in pencil or pen on the pages.  If I came
    across an actual original script from 1938, and found some changes made in
    pencil or pen, I would want to know exactly WHO wrote the changes and when
    they did (any initials next to the words?).  I have yet to see anyone
    produce a copy of the rough draft initially composed BEFORE the final draft.
      No one, not even a Welles biographer, has yet to list any rough draft in
    their bibliography suggesting the only reference they used besides
    newspapers (which took any word or panic story from people off the street
    that came to them) was the recording itself.  Course, one Welles biography
    published about eight or nine years ago had fantastical stories including
    one about a member of the CBS staff who got fired days after the broadcast
    for eating a Mars Candy Bar in the studio.  (Yeah, right.  Could that author
    have at least given the name the staff member?  I wrote to them and got no
    reply.)  Charlie Chan says "take everything with a pinch of salt, avoid the
    grain."

    Welles closing remarks including the reference that they "utterly destroyed
    the Columbia Broadcasting System" definately suggests that his closing
    remarks was improvised and not what was initially intended to be broadcast.
    Else why make the comment that he did?  I still suspect that his closing
    remarks was improvised off the top of his head.  Welles was the primary star
    during the last fifteen minutes of the broadcast (a one-man performance) and
    it seems highly unlikely that he would have had time to write anything down
    on his script regarding his closing remarks unless he can write something
    down at the same time he performs and acts dialogue.  Even the script
    printed in Cantrill's book includes Welles' closing remarks suggesting his
    source for the script was one of the dozens copied AFTER the broadcast, made
    from the transcription of the recording.  All common sense.  My question:
    Does anyone actually have an original rough draft of the script BEFORE the
    broadcast?  This would shed light into the production.  Certainly somewhere
    there has to be all the drafts before, during and after.
    Martin Grams, Jr.

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

    Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 10:53:48 -0400
    From: Trinapreston3@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  What's Going on Radio Spirits!
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Can anyone out there explain the changes with Radio Spirits website downloads
    for there syndicated programs "Radio Movie Classics," "Radio Theatre", and
    "Radio Superheros"?  I notice this past Saturday that none of the three
    programs
    were there, in fact not a trace of up coming show listings or past shows.
    What's happening with Radio Spirits?  The quality and care they had for
    customers are gone.  Where I live in Philadelphia, PA I don't have the
    convenience of
    going out to the nearest mall or book store to buy the latest radio spirits
    collection nor do I have the intense pleasure to hear classic radio programs
    like I heard on their website.  Call me mad and upset about their changes.  I
    feel they care less and they are further away from their customers than ever
    before.  I enjoyed in the past when Carl Amari ran things it was a sense of
    connection and enjoyment of radio programs, now it is exclusive profits.  If
    anyone
    from Radio Spirits is reading this, Can you explain these changes.  I feel the
    three programs I spoke of were wonderful programs and it was a great Ideal
    for those of us who couldn't experience the joy of hearing there syndicated
    shows on their local radio station.  Not everyone wants to download programs
    to
    sell to other people.  I am the type if, I hear something on your site I
    liked I
    generally buy that program from your company if it is available for sell by
    Radio Spirits.  Also what happened to the single cassettes?  You can only
    purchase a few on Radio Spirits web site.  Is that fair to people who do not
    have
    Internet services?  Not everyone should have to exclusive buy collector boxes
    which 9 out 10 you may have that in your collection that you purchase from
    them, or something you may not like in that collection.  Only thing I am
    saying
    guys at Radio Spirits give people a choice again and listen again to your
    customers.  Is Radio Spirits experiencing economic troubles?  Please don't
    remove
    the syndicated program "When Radio Was" next.

                                                                        Trina,

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

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

    Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 12:37:50 -0400
    From: "mike ray" <mikeray42@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  JFK Assassination Radio Coverage

    Recently Iíve noticed that there has been an on again off
    again thread related to the JFK Assassination coverage on
    radio. I have nearly 40 hours of radio coverage on this
    case. If you are interested in any of those radio programs
    just contact me off the list.
    Best regards,
    Mike Ray

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

    Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 13:59:43 -0400
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  War of the World time length

    Craig Wichman comments about the timing differential in supposedly uncut
    recordings of War of the Worlds, suggesting that 59+ minutes would be more
    accurate because the program was sustaining.  However you are forgetting
    that all released copies of this program ARE cut.  The time of the middle
    station break is missing.  A year or two before this "complete" version of
    WotW was released on Evolution records in the early 70s, I was given a tape
    of this set of discs and there is 30 or 40 seconds of surface noise heard
    at the point where the station break is introduced.  (I'll try to dig this
    tape up and check on the real length.)  This shows, by the way, that this
    recording was a line-check, although we still do not know where it was
    recorded.

    This brings up another point that was asked a day or two ago--did Welles
    know that some people might really believe the program?  Over 30 years ago
    I heard this story concerning the incomplete set of discs that was released
    in the 1950s on Sidney Frey's Audio Rarities label.  Frey had bought out an
    old New York City recording studio and this set of discs was there. (Its
    also where he got the Barrymore Shakespeare recordings he released.)
    Supposedly this was a set that had been recorded for Welles but was at the
    wrong size or speed.  He had called the studio a few days before the
    broadcast and commissioned them to make a recording of the program for him.
    He told them that these are HIS recordings, but he might not come around
    for them for a few weeks or so.  But in the meantime if anybody else asked
    if they had by chance recorded the program, under no circumstances were
    they to admit to having a recording.  The theme of this story is that he
    DID know that something would happen and that everybody would be out
    searching at all the recording studios for a copy.  And they might even be
    following him to see if he drops by a recording studio.  I have never had
    any confirmation of this story.  It was mentioned by the teller that the
    studio had done it at 33 on 16 inches and Welles needed 12-inch 78s, and
    that the studio made a dub and kept the original.  But the set on Audio
    Rarities seems to have been at 78 and there are numerous sections missing
    that some seem to be side-length, as if a disc is missing.

    I also met a man many years ago who worked for CBS and claimed to be the
    one who made CBS's recording of the program on their newly installed
    recording equipment.  When all Hades broke loose, he hid the discs and
    later took them home.  Over the years the discs had gotten lost.  I seem to
    recall that his son brought them to school.  I have a feeling that the
    Manheim Fox discs are this set, but I have never been able to find anybody
    who has seen them.  And come to think of it, where is all of Sidney Frey's
    archive?

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 17:29:18 -0400
    From: "Candy Jens" <candyj@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Stan Freberg

    Stan Freberg did a 45 single (remember them?) on Capital called "Green
    Chri$tma$" - a satire on the commercialization of Christmas running almost
    seven minutes.  Very good, of course, and even more appropriater today than
    when it was first recorded!  The flip side is "The Meaning of Christmas,"
    consisting of four of his favorite carols.  Worth looking for next time
    you're in a second-hand-records store!

    Candy Jens

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

    Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 17:30:03 -0400
    From: "Robert Angus" <rangus02@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  burning dvds
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I realize that this is somewhat OT, but is anyone out there burning old movies
    from VHS to DVD?  If so what software are you using?  I have been trying to
    make Easy CD/DVD Creator 6 work for me, but so far unsuccessfully.
    (Does it become any more OT when I explain that among the movies I'm trying to
    convert are two Edgar Bergens and two Fibber McGees?

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

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: Please respond privately to the poster.  --cfs3]

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

    Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 18:06:44 -0400
    From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  author needs Atlanta area volunteer

    In the past I've queried the digest on behalf of my friend, Frances Lee,
    widow of radio, stage and film actor Canada Lee (Body and Soul, Cry for
    Beloved Country etc.), for volunteers to help her on her memoir about her
    late husband.  She is legally blind and among other things needs people
    to read material into her database.  She's a delightful person working on
    a very interesting project.

    Frances has several people helping her, but their time is limited.
    Please let me know if you or someone you know can assist.

    Howard Blue

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #278
    *********************************************

    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]