
 SEE INFO SECTION AT END OF THIS DIGEST FOR UNSUBSCRIBE AND OTHER INFORMATION. 
	  	         === Last Update 1/17/95  ====





	    [removed]   Volume 96 : Issue 59


Articles in this issue of [removed]:

	 Margo is Margo
	 Radio Spirits online?
	 "Theatre of the Mind"
	 Intro, Question, Challenge, Info
	 Space Patrol on Planet X
	 Cloak and Dagger
	 suspense
	 Kate Smith's show
	 Orsonian comments
	 Kate Smith SPEAKS
	 Welles' "slide"
	  re-  cassettes discontinued
	  re-  cassettes being discontinued
	 tape recording and Germany
	 "Action In the Afternoon"

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

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 20:46:13 -0500 (EST)
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Margo is Margo
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

>	According to Anthony Tollin, the Goodrich Tire Summer shows starred
>Margo Stevenson as Margo Lane, not Agnes Moorehead. 
>	For more details, you'll have to wait until May when the Shadow 
>documentary is released.  It will feature Ms Stevenson, John Archer, and 
>many others.  Or hopefully this will be cleared up when the Shadow 
>Scrapbook is (hopefully) re-issued.
>	Who has the definitive answer on The Shadow?  Anthony Tollin [removed]
>mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! 
>

Not only Mr. [removed] recall at an FOTR some years back Ms. Stevenson 
mentioning this herself.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Widner                      INTERNET: jwidner@[removed]
Dayton, OH                      WWW: [removed]
COMPUSERVE: 74566,3041          AOL: JimWidner  
                          

                                                 

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

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 21:42:32 -0500 (EST)
From: SCOTT HOOKER <SCOTTHOOKER@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Radio Spirits online?
Message-id: <01I152UR757M96XP54@[removed]>

Does anyone know whether Radio Spirits has produced any of their catalogs in
machine-readable format?  It has been a great help to me, and I suspect to
other readers of this digest who are blind, that several vendors have
downloadable catalogs.  If RS has not yet produced such a catalog, I would
appreciate anyone's forwarding this message to anyof their personnel forwhom
you have e-mail contact.  Thanks much.

ScottHooker
scotthooker@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 22:42:12 +0001 (EST)
From: "'A. Joseph Ross'" <lawyer@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "Theatre of the Mind"
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

> Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 03:45:23 -0500 (EST)
> From: JACKBENNY@[removed]
> To: otr@[removed]
> Subject: Sound Bites (Bytes)
> Message-id: <01I1416282SO9EF5J8@[removed]>
> 
> I don't know if there's an official time limit for sound bites, but if you
> really want to embody the magic of radio and how it differs from any other
> medium, there are basically two choices:
> 
> 1)  Jack Benny's vault
> 2)  Fibber McGee's closet
> 
> As someone recently said, "theatre of the mind."

Reminds me of an ad Stan Freberg used to do some years ago which depicted 
the construction of an enormous ice-cream sundae, using a large crane to 
lowar a giant cherry on the top, all with sound effects and dialog.  It 
was meant to illustrate the power of radio, and it did.

======================================================================
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                                      617/367-0468
15 Court Square                                   lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2573                    [removed]~lawyer/
======================================================================

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

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 22:56:39 -0500
From: ERICKZIN@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Intro, Question, Challenge, Info
Message-ID: <960212225639_421126666@[removed]>

Hi,

Albuquerque, New Mexico calling. I would like to finally say hello to this
GREAT group (the best and the cleanest on the Internet). I became interested
in OTR back in the 70's with the CBS Radio Mystery Theater.  I really enjoyed
the stories, some made your imagination run wild.  It would be great if the
CBS network brought these shows back.  Now, I am in the hunt for some of
these shows on tape for my son (and me) to hear again.  Looking forward to
the CBSRMT Log.  By reading this group and the views and recommendations of
the subscribers, I have become hooked on Horror, Sci-Fi, Mystery, and some
Comedy (Bob and Ray, George Burns) stuff.  I love "Lights Out, Everybody",
"Escape", and "Suspense".  Recommend more!  I just heard "Zero Hour", which
will make any parent think about their childs questions and games and "Meteor
Man" which reminds me of a great show, I think on "The Twilight Zone", called
"To Serve Man".  The Sci-Fi Channel showed "The Screaming Women" on the Ray
Bradbury Theater the other night and now I want to hear the radio version
which I am sure is much better! I also want to explore the "Inner Sanctum"
and "Quiet Please".

Favorite Sound Bite (so far): "[removed]
 Lights Out, Everybody!"

CHALLENGE:

I would really like to know what everybody thinks are the top 10 scare off
your socks, make you really think, thriller OTR shows? 

KNX 1070 (which carried the CBSRMT) in Los Angeles carries OTR every night
from 0900-1000 [removed] Under Radio Guide via Net Search you will find the
daily schedule.  KNX plays "Suspense" Fridays from 0900-0930  [removed]

What a Great Hobby.

Thanks

Carl

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

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 22:56:40 +0001 (EST)
From: "'A. Joseph Ross'" <lawyer@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Space Patrol on Planet X
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

> Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 13:53:22 -0500
> From: alabok@[removed] (Bob Jennings)
> To: otr@[removed]
> Subject: Space Patrol
> Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
> 
>         For me also, the most memorable part of the SP radio show, the one
> that stuck in my memory years after I heard it, was the epic battles between
> Buzz and Prince Bucharatti on Planet X.  This series of shows only lasted a
> few months in 1953 for the September and October season, yet it carved out
> an incredible nitche in the memories of its listeners.  Everybody who grew
> up hearing Space Patrol remembers those stories in particular.

Interestingly enough, Prince Baccarratti held forth on the TV version of 
Space Patrol at just about the same time, but with a little different 
story line.  He was still on Planet X, but the story was different.  I 
didn't hear the radio version until about 20 years ago, when I got a set 
of episodes on tape.

About a year later, both the radio and TV shows had different versions of 
Prince Baccarratti's twin brother appearing.  The twin had different 
names on radio and TV.  On TV, the Baccarratti family was from Venus, and 
on radio, they were from Jupiter.  And on a phonograph record, 
Baccarratti was the "Tyrant ruler of the planet Neptune."  I guess he 
really got around.

The TV version of Brince Baccarratti on Planet X supposedly gave rise to 
one of TV's classic bloopers.  Commander Corry and Cadet Happy had just 
landed on Planet X, and Corry is talking about what a devastated planet 
it was, and how there couldn't possibly be any life on it.  We then cut 
to a scene of the barren landscape of Planet X, showing there is life 
there after all:  A stagehand carrying a ladder, followed by another with 
a box of tools.  I don't remember seeing this, but I read about it years 
later in TV Guide. 

======================================================================
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                                      617/367-0468
15 Court Square                                   lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2573                    [removed]~lawyer/
======================================================================

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

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 23:23:21 -0500
From: JRayb71827@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Cloak and Dagger
Message-ID: <960212232321_421151596@[removed]>

For Marty Dzik:
  This show went on NBC in 1950 and yes, it was all espionage because it was
made up of dramatizations based on files of the Office of Strategic Services
(OSS), the forerunner of the CIA.  Joseph Julian played the part of the OSS
agent and there were such in the cast as Raymond Edward Johnson (one of the
hosts on "Inner Sanctum," who, incidentally, attends the Friends of Old Time
radio convention in Newark.  Julian appeared often on "Dimension X"; the
later "X-Minus One; "Lorenzo Jones" (as Lorenzo's friend, Sandy Matson;  as
well as "Big Sister," "Bright Horizon," "Columbia Presents Corwin," Joyce
Jordan, Girl Interne," "Life Can Be Beautiful," "The Life of Mary Sothern,"
"The O'Neills," "Orphans of Divorce,"  "The Sparrow and the Hawk," among
others.  He wrote a fairly interesting book called, "This Was Radio," which
came out a little over 20-years ago.  You might run across it in a used book
store somewhere.  
   Others in that "Cloak and Dagger" cast were Berry Kroeger, who played The
Falcon in 1943 on ABC; and Karl Weber, who played the lead on "Dr. Sixgun."
  

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

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 12:40:27 +0500
From: cbholm@[removed] (c holm)
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: suspense
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

  Does anyone know the time frames for the various sponsors of Suspense.  ie
when did Roma wines drop the show and Autolite pick it up, [removed]
thanks

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

Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 00:16:52 -0500 (EST)
From: BOBFABRIS@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Kate Smith's show
Message-id: <01I1583Z6CQA9EFL16@[removed]>

I too recall hearing the Kate Smith show, as did Bob Sheldon.  When I
came home from school for lunch, I would hear Ted Collins announcing:
It's high noon in New York, and time for Kate Smith."

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

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 22:06:57 -0800
From: AndyBlatt@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Orsonian comments
Message-ID: <960212212255_24834923@[removed]>

It was mentioned here last time that Orson Welles (in an A & E Biography) was
referred to as "the youngest has-been".  I saw a program on PBS last week
regarding William Randolph Hearst and Orson Welles and Welles' attempts to
resist the studio's attempt to bury or water-down or underpromote Citizen
Kane.  When Welles heard about this, he was even more determined to try to
ensure his movie had as much exposure as possible.  The studio received such
negative publicity because of this movie, they (and ultimately others) never
let Welles have complete artistic freedom as writer/producer, etc.  Also
Welles, had a lot of negative fallout from The War of the Worlds Mercury
Theater program and his refusal to air disclaimers every 15 minutes or so.
 His response was basically that people had enough common sense to know it
wasn't really a bonafide news story.  Welles' career peaked too soon.  After
that, he started doing whatever came his way.  There is an awful lot of
programming with his credits to its credit, and toward the end he started
doing endorsements for everything.  The California wine he pitched comes to
mind "They will sell no wine before it's (its) time".

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

Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 08:59:27 -0500
From: Robert Kirk <kirk@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Kate Smith SPEAKS
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

A
>Date: Sun, 11 Feb 1996 17:39:32 -0500
>From: Ted McKay <tmckay@[removed]>
>To: otr@[removed]
>Subject: Kate Smith SPEAKS
>Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
>
>Something tells me that Martin Kaynan was referring to "Kate Smith
>Speaks" and not "The Kate Smith Hour." "Kate Smith Speaks" was on CBS at
>12 noon Monday through Friday, and Miss Smith's announcer and long time
>friend was Ted Collins. Now, the trivia question of the [removed]
>program followed "Kate Smith Speaks" at 12:15, and what was the sponsor
>(Lever Brothers) selling?  I did chain breaks between those two shows
>for more years than I care to remember!
>
>Ted McKay
>Cincinnati OH
>

I seem to remember Vaughn Monroe Racing with the Moon, and then
Lanny Ross.

Bob Kirk

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

Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 08:57:23 -0600
From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Welles' "slide"
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

David Allen Boucher wrote:
>Did anyone see the peice on Orson Welles on A & E?  One thing that
>struck me, was they quoted somebody as calling Orson Welles "the
>youngest 'has-been' in the business".  Apparently most of his sucesses
>were early in [removed] his career was on the downward slide for the
>majority of his adult/professional [removed]
>Thoughts?

That's an old cliche about Welles, fostered in many cases by those who were
bitter about his early successes and gleeful about his later failures. 
It's just one way to look at it.  The truth is undoubtedly more complex. 
For instance, some film scholars take the tack that Welles was victimized
by politics, the Hearsts, greedy and stupid movie executives, and all kinds
of nasty people who conspired to suppress a major talent.  That doesn't
take into account that Orson was by many peoples' accounts a rather
haphazard and undisciplined creator, who often seemed more interested in
eating the finest foods and drinking the finest wines than in getting a
project finished.
My own guess:  It would be more correct to say that the lucky breaks went
his way during his early life and then tended to go against him afterwards.
 If you chart it, it was more like a steady upward slope and then a sudden
drop-off to a more-or-less flat line.  In his 40s, he still managed to make
a couple of movies which are clearly the work of a unique talent.

John Henley
jhenley@[removed]
ph  (512) 495-4112
fax (512) 495-4296

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

Date:     Tue, 13 Feb 1996 10:47 CST
From: ZENCHC@[removed] (Chris Zenchenko, 7-3543)
To: otr@[removed]
Subject:  re-  cassettes discontinued
Message-Id: <m0tmNw6-000YOtC@[removed]>

In reply to Randy's comments concerning discontinuation of cassette, let
me state that he mis quoted my statements.  I said that many lines from
the major tape companies are indeed being discontinued.  Maxcel has
already removed almost 3/4th of their tape lines, cassette, video, and
reel.  TDK is cutting their offerings in half.  This information came to
me from three major distributors of recording media.  These distributors
do not carry recordable cd media and have no interest in promoting that
form.
For the first time in the memory of my sales rep from Maxcel there was a
price increase in all tapes still being offered.  Metal and several of
the mid line cassettes from them are no longer available.  TDK is
removing several of their mid level cassettes as well.  The TDK rep
indicated that there would likely be some increases in his base pricing
to retail locations.  Much of the video tape coming off the shelves is
from southeast Asia and the quality is suffering.  Distributors think it
likely that the same thing will happen in cassettes.
Does this mean that you won't be able to buy cassettes? No!  They will
be around for a long time.  My comments were that high quality mastering
tapes might be hard to find in the future.  Also as stores that sell
consumer audio on cassettes remove this source of entertainment and sell
more cds there will be a push to move buyers to that form.  Note that in
1996 GM cars you currently have at least three choices.  Many models
come with a basic stereo radio/cassette.  For an extra charge you can
convert to a radio/cd and for a yet larger charge a radio/cd/cassette.
Note that a large number of "walkman" models are now cd and radio.  Also
many "boom boxes" now are cd and radio with no way to dub to cassette
other than from the cd in the unit.
All of these factors mean that cassettes will play a smaller role in
future audio storage and playback.  I am not suggesting that Randy or
anyone else should panic.  My weekend broadcast was to suggest that for
first generation mastering of otr there is possibly a better choice than
tape.

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

Date:     Tue, 13 Feb 1996 10:47 CST
From: ZENCHC@[removed] (Chris Zenchenko, 7-3543)
To: otr@[removed]
Subject:  re-  cassettes being discontinued
Message-Id: <m0tmNw8-000YPIC@[removed]>

Here is a summary of what I outlined on Yesterday USA's Sunday evening show
concerning cdrom storage of otr.
First sample rates and file space.

A standard audio cd holds up to 74 minutes of stereo audio sampled at
[removed]  This works out to somewhere near 783 mega bytes of information.
You get this figure by
[removed] sample rate, times 2 for stereo, times 2 for 16 bit audio, for
your total space per second.  Now multiply that by 60 per minute and
then by 74 minutes and you arrive at the 783+ mb figure.
For mastering otr in quality that is good but not excessive in file size
some choices need to be made.  I have selected 32k for a sample rate.
This provides a maximum frequency response of just over 15,000.  This is
the limit of modern broadcasting on FM radio and TV.  Since the audio is
not stereo there is no need to sample in stereo.  Changing these items
makes the audio files playable only on a computer and not on a home
cdplayer.
The numbers for a half hour show run around 120 mb per program.  Since
cdrom formats only allow 650 mb of storage that would limit a disk to
five half hour shows.
A special audio compression program that does not modify the audio data
called SONARC can crunch the programs by somewhere in the range of 40 to
60 percent.  Results in my first several productions gave me 14 shows
averaging 26:30 in length per cdrom.
(See back issues of OTR Digest for computer requirements to play
these audio files.)

Additional comments I made concern the ease of making duplicates of
shows stored in this method.  They do not suffer from generational
degradation, they can be transferred by internet or modem, they can be
digitally edited or cleaned, and of course they can be played back and
dubbed to whatever portable media you choose.

There is always the question of durability.  We have no way of knowing
how long the cdrom recordable media will last.  It is my hope that if
enough electronic copies of a show exist it will have a better chance
of surviving.  It takes less time to copy a file and the process leaves
the next copy as good as the source.  Even if the original cdrom is lost
you still have copies of the shows that are as good as the original
copy.  This is not true of analog tape in any format.

With this in mind, I feel it is worth considering digital storage of
otr.  My Sunday show was to let people know that it is an option.

Speaking to the charge of interest in sales of recordable media,  I have no
stocks, interests, shares, and
have received no consideration from any of the companies I mentioned on
the broadcast.  I have no monetary connection of any kind with companies
that produce recordable media.

My offer to sell at $[removed] copies of any cdroms I produce is simply to
allow anyone who is interested the chance to try cdrom based otr.  The
cost covers blank disks and the ware on the recorder and computer
equipment.  I am not an "otr dealer", but I do make available shows for
trade or purchase and the price is determined by what it costs me to run
the tapes and the price of the blanks.

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

Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 12:05:04 -0500 (EST)
From: Mark Kinsler <kinsler@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: tape recording and Germany
Message-Id: <[removed]@bobcat>

> My simple question is: How comes, that the big american electronic 
> industry (which for some reasons was much bigger than Telefunken, Lorentz 
> or AEG in Germany) in those days did not develop the tape-machine? In 
> Germany the Telefunken-machine was derived from earlier Poulsen/Stilles- 
> Steel-Wire-Machines on one side and the "Selenophon" and 
> "Triergon"-celluloid-techniques on the other. Austrian and german 
> Radio-Play-Makers did some stuff on these sound-movie-celluloids (without 
> pictures). So didn't americans have had no sound-movie-technologies?! - 
> of course: but why no ferro-magnetic tape-machines??

Because nobody here thought of it.  My old man worked for the Aberdeen
Proving Grounds in WWII on such things as the trench mortar, the proximity
fuse, and the first computers.  It was his opinion, widely shared by his
collegues, that German technology was a heck of a lot better than that of
the Allies, and had the Nazis not been outnumbered and thoroughly
overwhelmed at D-Day, they might well have won the whole thing.  The tape 
recorder was a good example of this.  

There's been a good deal written of late on how the Allies won because 
they developed radar and code-breaking techniques.  This may well have 
been true, but the Germans had operational turbojets, rocket planes, and 
guided missiles while we were flying P-51 Mustangs.  My father and I are 
both glad that Germany lost: we're Jewish, for one thing.  But I think 
that it was generally felt during the war that the Nazis, unpleasant as 
they might be, were stupendous engineers.  They were, from a military 
standpoint, exceptionally worthy foes.  

                                 Mark Kinsler
                            Who's not as certain as Bill Gates that
                            technology will save us from ourselves.

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

Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 13:41:12 -0500
From: Udmacon@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "Action In the Afternoon"
Message-ID: <960213134111_143148264@[removed]>

To Richard Repotski-Lada: "Action In the Afternoon" was a CBS-TV western,
televised live, rain or shine, from a western set constucted outside of
Philadelphia! It was on for 30 minutes  Mon-Fri, and I thought I was the only
old fogie who remembered it! It was lots of fun watching this show when it
rained! Now, who remembers "Green Lantern", or was it "Red Lantern"; a kid's
show set on the bottom of the sea, and starring fish?! And what about
"Wormwood Forest", a kid's show from WSM, Nashville, and on the network
Saturday afternoons?! One more TV memory: anybody remember when CBS sent test
tv shows out of its mechanical color tv method? Your b&w picture turned into
six pictures, all rolling. Unwatchable, but you could hear the sound. 

Bill Knowlton  udmacon@[removed]

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

    


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---- 
End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #59

