------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 420
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Teaching Broadcasting [ "Marvin R. Bensman" <mbensman@latte ]
The Fifth Horseman [ Joyce Brabner <jbrabner@[removed]; ]
US Steel Hour [ leemunsick@[removed] ]
convention thoughts [ bloodbleeds@[removed] ]
Re: Robert Clary [ Grbmd@[removed] ]
FOTR convention [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Cincinnatti OTR convention [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
The Secret Word is .... [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
FOTR Convention & Halloween episode [ Bryan Wright <bswrig@[removed]; ]
Thanks Everybody! [ Trinapreston3@[removed] ]
scary otr programs [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
RCA RCD128 MP3 Boombox [ LSMFTnolonger@[removed] ]
Clary and Archiving [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
Twilight Zone Radio [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]
Thanks for the info on the MP3 playe [ "James G. DuPuy" <dupuy@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2002 20:48:19 -0500
From: "Marvin R. Bensman" <mbensman@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Teaching Broadcasting
To answer:
How many schools are there now that actually teach
"broadcasting"?
Russ Butler oldradio@[removed]
Take a look at the web pages of the Broadcast Education Association at:
[removed]
Over 1,300 professors, students and media professionals are currently
individual members. There are at least 250 community colleges, 4-year
colleges and universities that have graduate programs that belong to
this association. Over 800-900 individual members attend the annual
convention in Las Vegas at the same time as the National Association
of Broadcasters in April.
Every one of those schools teaches Broadcast History as a basic
course, and then there are advanced studies of the subject.
--
Professor Marvin R. Bensman, [removed], [removed]
University of Memphis
Department of Communication
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2002 20:49:49 -0500
From: Joyce Brabner <jbrabner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Fifth Horseman
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Martin Grams, Jr. said:
I know it was produced by the public service, broadcast over NBC, Thursday
evening from 10:30 to 11 [removed], EST. The guests included: Henry Fonda,
William Bendix, Glenn Ford, Robert Young, Howard McNear, George Couloruis,
William Johnstone, Charles Bickford, J. Carrol Naish, and Dane Clark. Only
eight episodes were produced and each set the stage (as you can see by the
titles) leading up to a Nuclear holocaust and the eventual destruction of
Mankind.
Who WAS NBC's public service at that time? What were their political/personal
reasons for going out that far on a limb at a time when people still thought
America's new atom bomb was a real neat way to flex muscles? Any names or
backgrounds would be appreciated
Joyce
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2002 20:50:20 -0500
From: leemunsick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: US Steel Hour
Chet Norris mentioned his love for this program:
I remember listening to the uss steel hour religiously as a kid and
thinking how guilty i felt because i had never bought even one pound of steel
Oh, really? Think about [removed]
To parallel the famous nightclub cigarette ladies, "Cars, tin cans,
[removed], tin cans, [removed] knows what else! Over the years,
ounces, pounds, [removed]"
Lee Munsick
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2002 20:51:06 -0500
From: bloodbleeds@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: convention thoughts
Hi all. I got back from the convention this afternoon. Went with Charles Stumpf who
hadn't been in 5 years. He said it was one of the best he'd Ever been to (and he's been
to a lot), and I thought the whole event was wonderful. I think the best entertainment was
Friday night, esp. the Lawyer Tucker show which I never knew about (no one did that I
talked with). Perfect performances, even in the weaker material (Nero Wolfe wasn't my
favorite, but the acting couldn't be beat). The Arch Oboler piece seemed to come out of
nowhere (there was an intro to it by the great Tommy Cook, but I still thought): it didn't
seem to start or end, and I'm still not sure who the kid character was ([removed] fully developed
character), but brilliantly portrayed by some fine actors like Arthur Anderson (I got to sit
with him at last night's dinner! Yeah!).
>From talking with the other dealers (and I was one of them), sales were down from
usual. And of course I'll be forever disappointed there was no Bickersons recreation
done, though the music program that took its place was grand and was probably more
popular than Bix would've been. But that's the worst I can say about this delightful time.
Glad Jim Cox got his much deserved award. Ditto for the loud emcee Jay Hickerson :)
(Don't sit by the speakers if you can help it!)
It was great meeting some of you. I had a super time. I hope these events go on forever.
Ben Ohmart
The Bickersons Scripts
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2002 20:54:50 -0500
From: Grbmd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Robert Clary
Irene said:
John Henley provided some news and links about Eddie Cantor's family for
which I thank him.
............
I don't think I'm repeating this info and apologize if this has already
been
posted, but I don't believe I've seen reference to Eddie's relatively high
profile son-in-law Robert Clary, married to daughter Natalie, who was born
in Paris, and was a Holocaust survivor. He has had a long career which
started as a singer on Broadway, most notably in "New Faces of 1952" and he
has had a long career as an actor in both film and TV.
I didn't know Clary was related to Eddie Cantor. Thanks for the info.
I haven't seen Clary on TV because I don't watch much of it, but I did see
him in the movie version of "New Faces of 1952." I remember particularly he
sang a song wherein he was supposed to be a young student infatuated by his
teacher, Miss Logan. The line, sung very brightly, went something like "I'm
in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, with Miss Logan."
Later he is dismayed to see that, I think I remember, she already has a
boyfriend. Then the line becomes, sung very depressingly, "If there's anyone
I don't love, it's Miss Logan."
That Broadway show produced a number of up-and-coming talents, notably singer
Eartha Kitt.
This reply is slightly off-topic, I know, but his relationship to Eddie
Cantor took me by surprise, and I had to respond.
Spence Coleman
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2002 22:34:48 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: FOTR convention
Here comes my two cents (I'm sure everyone at FOTR) is submitting their
favorite moments to the Digest as I type this.
Just when I thought it couldn't get better, the events get more fun.
The panels were very interesting and the "Sorry, Wrong Number" performance
was magnificent. The best part about recreations is that you get to see the
actors "act" on stage. Course, the first hand lotion commercial on the Nero
Wolfe recreation was a riot when Hal Stone was told "she's such a nice girl"
and Hal replies "she has rough hands." (Imagine my dirty mind, imagine my
laughter.)
Congradulations to Jay Hickerson, a well-deserved award for all the hard
work he puts into each convention.
I finally got to meet a couple people I have only chatted with through
e-mail (including a co-author of my Ellery Queen book, if anyone can believe
it), and I came home with two boxes of tapes, books, and other goodies. Now
if I can just find the time to read the Bickersons script book - I can see
that being my bathroom reading material for the next few [removed]
Hal Stone's book was available at the convention. If anyone has yet to get
a copy, and wants one autographed, contact Hal - he's on this digest. You
can still get a book autographed.
Fred Berney is also offering convention tapes (videos) this year so anyone
who has never ever attended an OTR convention before (or couldn't attend
this year), Fred has them available at $[removed] each. Fred is also on the
digest, e-mail him and he'll send you the schedule of events and you can
order from that. (I'm mailing you a check Fred, I want to get a couple of
the panels and recreations on video.)
Lastly, our own Derek Tague, another member of this Digest, is going to be
on WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? on November 12. I am, of course,
referring to the syndicated series airing weekday afternoons/evenings
without Regis hosting. I can only imagine how well Derek did on the chair
(I can't imagine him missing a question). Just spreading the word if anyone
wants to see Derek, the newest OTR millionaire - see? OTR really pays!
(I'll try to get him on video if I can.)
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2002 22:36:11 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Cincinnatti OTR convention
As if it's not too early (it's never too early!), the Cincinnati, Ohio OTR
convention is already in the works. Now at a newer hotel than the past
years, it's right down the road, walking distance. Info just came in and is
as follows:
BEST WESTERN HOTEL, 11911 Sheraton Lane, Cincinnati, Ohio 45246
513-671-6600
For info about the convention, contact Bob Burchett at 888-477-9112 or
haradio@[removed]
Dates are April 11 and 12, 2003, the weekend before Easter.
Friday 9 am to 9 pm and Saturday 9 am and 4 pm. There is a dinner on
Saturday evening around six or so which includes music and performances.
Many people show up Thursday night and evening so it never hurts to attend
early. The hotel rates are lower than last year's and admission is less
than an hour's worth of pay at most 9-5 jobs. If you wish to split the cost
of a hotel room, the hotel has doubles and I am sure Bob can find someone to
help split the cost of a room for you. (Pay for one night but spent two
nights? What a deal!)
If you are driving distance from Cincy (I drive 11 hours to get there so
there's no excuse for 2 hours), please come and attend. One visit and I
guarentee you'll return year after year.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2002 22:36:22 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Secret Word is ....
Whether it was Joe Mackey or Those Were the Days, speaking of Groucho
Marx and You Bet Your Life, the entry ends,
By the way, who is buried in Grant's tomb?
Actually, besides the General/President, there's also Mrs. Grant.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 07:49:07 -0500
From: Bryan Wright <bswrig@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: FOTR Convention & Halloween episode
Boyoboyoboyoboy!
After seven hours in the car I just returned from the FOTR convention. This
was only my second time there, and I had a blast. A BIG thanks to Jay
Hickerson, the planning committee, the stars, and the attendees who helped
to make it happen. I'm already counting down until next year :)
I enjoyed not only the panels, re-creations, and browsing around the
dealers' tables, but also the opportunity to meet and chat with fellow
digest subscribers (including list-master Charlie Summers). At Thursday
evening's banquet, I had the pleasure of sitting next to and talking with
veteran announcer George Ansbro and his wife Jo-Anne, two of the kindest
people I have ever met. Moments later, George Ansbro walked to the stage for
the "Lawyer Tucker" re-creation in which he brought the house down with
applause each time he stepped to the microphone to announce with a smile
"[removed] to Autolite!"
On another note, one of my favorite OTR "Halloween" episodes is one
broadcast on "Dark Fantasy" called "The Headless Dead" originally broadcast
January 23, 1942. I last heard the episode a couple years ago, but as I
recall, it's a story about a gentleman on a private tour of the Tower of
London learning about its bloody past. Somehow, he loses his tour guide and
finds himself face-to-face with the ghosts of those murdered or executed in
the tower over the previous centuries since the tower was built. The
suspense builds as the ghosts decide they don't want to let him go. I recall
finding it a particularly effective and spooky story just perfect for
Halloween.
Happy listening!
Bryan Wright
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 07:49:26 -0500
From: Trinapreston3@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Thanks Everybody!
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Thanks to everyone who helped me with answers to my questions about the "Zero
Hour" and "Twilight Zone" radio drama. I understand one reader suggested I
return back to the "Twilight Zone" radio drama web site to get more
information about the drama. I admit I didn't click every icon the site had
to offer. I just went out of curiosity and only clicked on the CD and audio
collection episode descriptions. I had visited the site today and the site
still doesn't have much yet. I would like to thank Carl Amari for sending me
a e-mail today offering me assistants should I have any more questions about
the "Twilight Zone" radio drama. I appreicate your generosity Carl. I will
do so in the near future. If you're reading the digest today, can you please
let me know if, the city of Philadelphia, PA will be on the list of cities
that the radio drama "Twilight Zone" will be heard? I often think it will
not, because the radio series "When Radio Was" isn't picked up here in
Philadelphia. The only national public radio station my city has is WHYY
[removed] and they do not pick up radio dramas. This is a sports and talk city.
I wonder if some of the readers are from Philadelphia, PA. I sure would like
to know. This city I live in lacks when it comes to radio dramas. I
exclusively rely on buying tapes and listening to old-radio dramas on the
Internet for enjoyment of old-time radio shows. I became an old-time radio
fan in 1998 when I read the Sunday cartoon comics and saw an ad for Radio
Yesteryear advertising old-time radio shows for sale. I been hooked since
then, old-time radio programs are the only things I will ask for as a
Christmas or Birthday present I love it. Thanks again everybody!
Trina,
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 07:49:36 -0500
From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: scary otr programs
Hi all:
Here are my top five picks for scariest otr shows.
1. The Hall of Fantasy ("The Crawling Thing") This is the story of
scientists who give a tarantula spider serum and cause it to grow quite
large. The sound effect of the spider crawling across the floor is
blood-chilling.
2. Suspense ("The House in Cypress Canyon") Robert Taylor and Cathy Lewis
star as a married couple who move into a house in a canyon. They find a
locked closet they can't open, discover blood running from under the door
and begin to hear unearthly howling cries in the night.
3. Escape ("Three Skeleton Key") Three men are trapped in a lonely
lighthouse that has been overrun by a ravenous army of gigantic ship's rats.
4. Lights Out ("Kill") A man has visions of an evil woman who comes to
him and urges him to commit murder.
5. The Mercury Theater (The Hitch-hiker") Orson Welles stars as a man
driving across the country who encounters the same hitch-hiker every few
miles. Great ending!
RyanO
"Walking Alone and Marching Together."
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 07:49:53 -0500
From: LSMFTnolonger@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: RCA RCD128 MP3 Boombox
Don Belden described how much he likes this new model boombox for
playing his MP3 CDs. I agree. It's the best MP3 boombox yet. However, if
you want to get one, don't pay $[removed] for it at Best Buy like Don did in
Denver. I bought mine here in Las Vegas for $[removed] at Best Buy. The
salesman told me Best Buy has it on sale at this lower price about once
a month.
Greg Jackson, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 07:54:41 -0500
From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Clary and Archiving
Charlie, was Clary's book paperback or hard back?
= ==============================
Norman wrote:
I personally disagree with the sometime-heard view that says mp3 is not
a good preservation medium. Certainly no analog media is particularly
good for long-term preservation (reel-to-reel, 8-track, LP records,
cassette tapes, wire recorders, etc.) - all are at end-of-life.
I guess you better define end of life. I have LPs that play just fine, and
will for many more years as long as they are handled with care, as would be
required of ANY media, analog or digital. I have shellac records that play
fine. I have reel to reel tapes that play as good as the day they were
recorded. Until quite recently the Library of Congress, and many other
archives of the same stature, were archiving only on open reel.
Digital media automatically stops the analog generational degradation that
OTR
dealers know so well. Also, audio quality at 32/22 mp3 (11 KHz bandwidth)
should be able to challenge the quality of the original older radio
broadcasts.
You haven't been listening to the same sources I've been listening too. Have
you heard some of the First Generation Radio Archive CDs? Heard a program
directly from a transcription? If you cut off everything above 11K you will
definitely hear the diff.
Those who think 16-bit wav files (also available as audio CDs) are the
only way to preserve audio are of course entitled to their view.
Bit depth determines the signal to noise ratio, but sampling rate determines
the highest recordable frequency. I think 16 bit is fine for OTR, but that
is only half of the quality issue. (You refer to this in the previous
paragraph.)
I would just urge them to also provide all episodes in compressed mp3.
For archiving? Not me. For distribution, fine if that is what you prefer. My
preference for archiving is 48K or 92K sampling rate, 16 bit CD-ROM, which
has greater error correction than an audio CD. Holds a little less though.
For the Halls of Ivy mp3 CDs, you can easily convert from mp3 to 16-bit
[removed]
For what purpose? After it's been compressed and the information thrown out,
converting back to 16[removed] will not restore the information. At this point
you might as well keep it in MP3, which, as you point out, will take up far
less room. If you figure out a good way to label a CD with 100 or so titles,
please let me know.
[removed] Halls of Ivy is one of my least fav shows for all time. I wouldn't
waste electrons on it myself. To each his or her own.
I think we must agree to disagree on these points.
Joe Salerno
[ADMINISTRIVIA: "From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes" was available at the
FOTR Convention in hardbound. --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 07:55:07 -0500
From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Twilight Zone Radio
Last Thursday, October 24th, The Seattle PI carried
on the radio page an announcement that KIXI-AM would
start to carry the Twlight Zone radio show sometime in
November on staturday nights at 9:00 [removed] This will
put the show in direct competition with Imagination
Theatre which is carried on KNWX-AM at the same time.
As far as I know this is the first time two, non-OTR,
dramatic radio series have competed with each other
for listeners in the Seattle area in over 40 years.
Larry Albert
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 07:55:17 -0500
From: "James G. DuPuy" <dupuy@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Thanks for the info on the MP3 players!
Thanks to those of you who Emailed me with info and the web address for info
on CD based MP3 players. I currently have a Rio SP-90 that actually seems
to work quite well with CD-Rs I don't have any CD-RW so can't say about
that. My only gripe with it is that it does not have much audio output
power. I think it is rated at around 4 to 5 mw/channel.
Normally, that would be fine and is fine for use with the cassette adaptor
for the car but I am a bit hard of hearing and need more. I see the SP250
listed at the top of the list. I believe it's output power is around
7+mw/channel. That would be better. For those that are curious, the SP90
is going for $40 (referb) from Tiger Direct. The SP-90 is going for $99.
The boom-box idea is intriging, but I simply have no room for it. I got way
too much junk now. Time for a garrage sale! Thanks for the help again!
I don't suffer from insanity, I create and enjoy every minute of it!
Mitsy, my yorkie dog says; "I'm so darn cute even I can't stand it!"
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #420
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