Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #215
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 8/9/2006 1:14 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2006 : Issue 215
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Mr. Chameleon                         [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
      WHBI                                  [ "Bill Knowlton" <udmacon1@[removed] ]
      Jack Benny transcriptions             [ "Sammy Jones" <sjones69@[removed] ]
      Re: Off-Air transcriptions            [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Re: WHBI                              [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Garbo on OTR                          [ <rfells@[removed]; ]
      Mutual's shut-down                    [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
      Mr. Chameleon                         [ JimBourg@[removed] ]
      8-9 births/deaths                     [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Mr. Chameleon                         [ "WILLIS G Saunders" <saunders8@veri ]
      Gunsmoke DVDs                         [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
      Re: WHBI in Newark, New Jersey        [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 15:09:40 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Mr. Chameleon

    Kenneth Clarke asks about "Mr. Chameleon," a show where a detective was a
    master of disguise.  He would be assigned to a case, and work openly to
    about halfway through the show.  Then, he would "disappear," and another
    character would be introduced, who of course would be the detective in
    disguise.

    The listener would always know the true identity of the new character.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 15:13:34 -0400
    From: "Bill Knowlton" <udmacon1@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  WHBI

    As a kid growing up in the 50s in Queens NY I recall that WHBI only operated
    for about 36 hours a week, between Saturday night and Monday morning. It was
    a sharetime station with WOV (now WADO--why would anybody give up a three
    letter call?!) at 1280kc.

    I remember that WHBI stood for "Hoyt Brothers International," and broadcast
    from the firm's warehouse in or near Newark NJ.

    The format was mainly religious with many area black churches doing remotes.
    Also there were live gospel shows from the studio--which one had to reach
    via a freight elevator.

    I do not remember it having any netwwork affiliation.

    BILL KNOWLTON

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 15:14:20 -0400
    From: "Sammy Jones" <sjones69@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Jack Benny transcriptions

>     Since KFI was the NBC flagship station (were KFI studios and NBC studios in
>     the same location? No matter.), it would make sense for one of the outside
>     recording firms (and even in-house NBC itself) to record off KFI's program
>     [removed]

    Bob,

    I appreciate your thoughtful response, and, yes, that's a good point.

    However a plus to taking the feed off the air would be that it was free.
    Renting lines was expensive, especially when the program was available off
    the air for free.  I think that the transcriptions were being made by the
    personal request of Jack Benny and not for the network or sponsor--so he
    might have been wary to spend more money than was necessary to make them.  I
    could be wrong, because I'm not working from primary sources.

    To me it seems more likely that transcriptions would be made off a network
    line, and not a line from an affiliate.  After all, if the recording company
    wanted to check the line, they could presumably listen and set levels to
    whatever network program was coming down the line before the one they wanted
    to record.

    The sound quality of AM reception would not have been up to the standard
    available from a line connection, but if the radio receiver was in the same
    city as the station doing the broadcasting, acceptable results could be
    obtained.

    That being said, it's hard to tell from listening to my copies of the
    recordings if these are AM broadcasts.  The overall sound is rather pinched,
    which could betray an AM source.  No doubt, however, that the multiple
    analog tape generations that the recordings have gone through before
    reaching my CDs have something to do with that.

    I hope that someone who has actually seen the original discs or has
    first-hand knowledge of the source of the recordings can be of help.

    Sammy

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 15:55:40 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Off-Air transcriptions

    On 8/8/06 12:18 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

>     I ask because virtually all Jack Benny Programs from this period have a KFI
>     station ID at the end, which is often followed by a time check (which is
>     often periously close to the minute mark--overrunning the 30 second break
>     in-between programs).  Even the programs that originated from New York while
>     Benny was involved in the jewelry smuggling trial are from KFI recordings.
>     Why not take them off the NBC network line, unless they were simply being
>     made off the air?  Or was a KFI line the usual and, hence more convenient,
>     way of making the transcriptions?

    The Benny recordings weren't made by NBC -- they were personal recordings
    made for Jack himself by the Electro-Vox studio in Hollywood, which
    didn't have a direct connection to the NBC circuit until around the
    middle of 1937. Prior to that it used a local line from KFI or KECA to
    record NBC programming, so technically these aren't off-air recordings
    but rather recordings made off off the local program circuit. Electro-Vox
    disc labels are quite specific about which circuit was used, "NBC/KFI" or
    "NBC/KECA." Once the direct network circuit was installed, the
    inscription changes to "NBC LINE".

    Electro-Vox was across Melrose Avenue from the old NBC studios, occupied
    by the network from 1935 until the move to Sunset and Vine, and during
    that period it became pretty much the default recording studio for
    performers wanting copies of programs on which they appeared.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 15:56:02 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: WHBI

    On 8/8/06 12:18 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

>     Can anyone on the list tell me any info on WHBI in Newark, New Jersey? I
>     am most curious as to the network affiliation it had

    WHBI had no network affiliation, other than its affiliation with the
    Father Coughlin Network in 1938-41. Otherwise it was a strictly-local
    part-time station founded by the Hoyt Brothers furniture company, and
    later owned by May Radio Broadcast Corporation. The station shared time
    on 1250 kc with WNEW. Most of its programming consisted of records,
    syndicated features, and paid political and religious programming.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 15:59:19 -0400
    From: <rfells@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Garbo on OTR

    At least one MGM movie promo of the late 1930s featuring Greta Garbo's voice
    from a soundtrack makes the point that she would not appear on "commercial
    radio" perhaps to avoid confusion that she was actually making a radio
    broadcast.  However, "Garbo" did appear on the April 21, 1940 broadcast of
    Screen Guild Theater in a half hour adaptation of her hit comedy,
    "Ninotchka."  Spencer Tracy played the Melvyn Douglas role from the film (to
    prove, according to Tracy, "how badly the role could be played"), while
    Rosalind Russell provided such a dead-on impersonation of Garbo that anybody
    tuning late into the show would have sworn that it had to be Garbo herself.

    And that is the only "appearance" of the reclusive Garbo on OTR that I've
    encountered.

    Bob Fells

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 16:51:38 -0400
    From: <otrbuff@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Mutual's shut-down

>     I am thinking Mutual Broadcasting System closed down in 1982; am
>     I right or not close at all?

>     Bill Bergadano
>     Yessterday USA Newsletter Editor

    Actually, not close at all.  MBS, as a separate chain, was
    officially closed down by owner Westwood One on Sunday,
    April 18, 1999.  To be more precise, "Official time of
    Mutual Radio's death was Midnight 4/17/99.  No tribute, no
    mention it was the last newscast ... it just died."  The
    Mutual name, meanwhile, remained in Westwood One's
    possession, actively used as a corporate trademark even
    though there was no on-air programming.

    Some details about the end of the MBS era appear in my book,
    "Say Goodnight, Gracie:  The Last Years of Network Radio"
    ([removed]).  Particularly note pp. 177-179.
    Other major networks and what became of them are recounted
    on adjacent pages.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 20:31:23 -0400
    From: JimBourg@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Mr. Chameleon
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    It was a series in the mode of "Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons". It was
    one of my favorites growing up, I preferred it to Mr. Keen. I am only aware
    of
    two existing episodes: "The Case of Murder and the Million Dollar Smile"
    4/23/53  & "The Perfect Maid Murder Case" 12/19/48. They used to be available
    from
    Radio Spirits and might still be. I hope someone informs us that more
    episodes  have been found.

    Jim Bourg

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

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 00:07:27 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  8-9 births/deaths

    August 9th births

    08-09-1892 - Joe Emerson - Grand Rapids, MI - d. 9-30-1969
    gospel singer: "Hymns of All Churches"; "Hymn Time"
    08-09-1894 - Kathleen Lockhart - Southsea, England - d. 2-18-1978
    actor: "The Nebbs"; "Abroad with the Lockharts"
    08-09-1901 - Charles Farrell - Onset Bay, Cape Cod, MA - d. 5-6-1990
    actor: Verne Albright "My Little Margie"
    08-09-1902 - Zino Francescatti - Marseilles, France - d. 9-17-1991
    violinist: "Encores from the Bell Telephone Hour"; "Concert Hall
    Program"
    08-09-1903 - Don Bernard - d. unknown
    director: "Blondie"; "Life of Riley"; "Meet Mr. Meek"
    08-09-1903 - Maurice Wells - Nebraska - d. 6-25-1978
    actor: Donald Putnam "Your Family and Mine"; Warren Biggers "Lawyer
    Tucker"
    08-09-1905 - Leo Genn - London, England - d. 1-26-1978
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-09-1910 - Snag Werris - NYC - d. 2-27-1987
    writer: "The Comedy Writers Show"; "Quixie Doodles"
    08-09-1934 - Cynthia Harris - NYC
    actor:"CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"

    August 9th deaths

    01-19-1866 - Harry Davenport - NYC - d. 8-9-1949
    actor: "Screen Guild Theatre"; "Family Theatre"
    03-17-1919 - Marx B. Loeb - d. 8-9-1991
    director: "Suspense"; "Romance"
    04-18-1918 - Tony Mottola - Kearney, NJ - d. 8-9-2004
    jazz guitarist: "Gordon MacRae Gulf Spray Show"; "Burl Ives Sings"
    08-24-1900 - Jimmy Fidler - St. Louis, MO - d. 8-9-1988
    commentator: "Jimmy Fidler"
    09-20-1899 - Elliot Nugent - Dover, OH - d. 8-9-1980
    actor: "Best Plays"; "United States Steel Hour"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    09-25-1906 - Dimitri Shostakovich - St. Petersburg, Russia - d. 8-9-1975
    composer: "Four for the Fifth"
    10-01-1899 - Rupert LaBelle - d. 8-9-1972
    actor: Rufus Kane "Story of Joan and Kermit"
    10-02-1897 - Jess Kirkpatrick - Illinois - d. 8-9-1976
    actor: Harry Henderson "Beulah"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 00:08:06 -0400
    From: "WILLIS G Saunders" <saunders8@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Mr. Chameleon

    Hi Mr. Chameleon Fans,

    For what it's worth, here's what I know about the show, and I hope it helps:

    I remember the showing being on CBS from sometime in 1949 to sometime in the
    1950's.  I believe it was sponsored by the Whitehall Pharmacal Company.  The
    three main characters who were on the show from beginning to end wereMr.
    Chameleon (played by Carl Swenson), Sgt. Dave Arnold (played by Frank
    Butler), and the police commissioner, who was nameless (played by Richard
    Keith).  Chameleon was a super detective, working out of Central Police
    Headquarters on Centre street (now Police Plaza) in New York City.  His name
    was Chameleon because, likethe lizzard, he could change his appearance with
    disguises, which helped him solve his cases.  Dave Arnold was the
    ever-present sidekick whom needed like an eighth hole in the head.

    I hope this is some help.

    Buck Saunders

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 00:09:38 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Gunsmoke DVDs

    Someone wrote:

>     Another GUNSMOKE DVD set will come out on November 14th. It will be
>     called GUNSMOKE: DIRECTORS COLLECTION. It will feature 15 CBS television
>     episodes (half hour and hour episodes).

    If you wish to see the complete series put out on DVD by the season, CBS is
    doing these boxes for two reasons.
    1.  To test the market and see if there is a market for the series.
    2.  In the event that there is a market, they can sell these sets BEFORE
    selling the complete series season by season.  I know that sounds cruel,
    selling the same shows they intend to release later in box sets, but that's
    marketing.

    Columbia House released the series in consecutive order, with 6, 7 or 8
    half-hour episodes per DVD.  They stopped at volume 20, which was in the
    middle of the fourth season.  Columbia House does not plan to issue any
    more, regrettably, because they found that it's a waste of their time since
    companies like CBS (who they license the shows from) are putting them out in
    box sets and selling them considerably cheaper than they.  The retail from
    Columbia House was $[removed] a pop meaning you had to spend $[removed] plus
    postage just to have the first season's episodes.

    It is the early episodes of the first few seasons that were based on the
    radio scripts so for OTR fans, the Columbia House releases were magnificent
    (though pricey).  (If you search around you'll find the same Columbia House
    DVDs for $[removed] a piece or cheaper).

    If the box sets like the one described in the earlier posting continue to
    sell well, CBS will be releasing the series on DVD season by season
    beginning with the first season (which means for those who bought the
    Columbai House DVDs, it'll mean having to wait till they reach season four).

    Anyone wondering why the studios test the markets before releasing a series
    season by season is self-explanatory.  it costs a lot of dollars to have
    such sets designed and created, and printed (usually in another country
    other than the [removed]) and to have them distributed to stores.  They don't
    make a lot of money per box set so a studio CAN easily take a loss putting a
    show out unless they feel certain there is an interest.

    So if you want to tell CBS they are doing a great job and encourage them to
    put the series out season by season, buy the set - if not for you, for a
    friend.  The studios look at dollar signs, not letters of praise as
    consideration.

    Martin

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 02:12:00 -0400
    From: charlie@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

    A weekly [removed]

    For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
    Network, the channel name is #OldRadio.  We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
    and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
    over nine years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
    of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
    real-time OTR talk!

    Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
    others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
    range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
    it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
    it's always a good time!

    For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
    week and every week!

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

    Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 15:09:50 -0400
    From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: WHBI in Newark, New Jersey

    About, oh, a million years ago, I did a  radio "talk-show" on WHBI!

    Back then, their studio was in the basement of a building in the West
    80s, in Manhattan. (I'm thinking 86th Street, but am not [removed])

    The station had been the home to many pop culture, and nostalgia talk
    shows, frequently renting time to hosts, and producers.

    The engineer told me that Calvin T. Beck, the editor/publisher of CASTLE
    OF FRANKENSTEIN, that wondrous newsstand mag on celluloid fantasy and
    science fiction and all sorts of other neat stuff--to which OTR Digest
    denizen Bhob Stewart made some significant contributions--had done a
    show for a long time, one of the features of which was his dramatically
    recreating famous short fiction, including SHERLOCK [removed]

    Allen Asherman did a STAR TREK talk show for years, in the '70s,
    replacing one that had been created by Jonathan Gleich.

    And, if I recall correctly, Uncle Floyd Vivino may have done one or two
    of his foreign language music shows from WHBI's studios.

    I don't recall if Newark was the broadcast tower way back when--

    But if someone else can't recall,  I can dig out the old [removed]

    Jim Burns  (James H. Burns)

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #215
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