Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #125
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 3/24/2003 6:16 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 125
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Arch Oboler's Chicken Heart           [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
      Re: Chicken Heart                     [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
      David Street, vocalist                [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Re: Sam and Henry recordings          [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Jack and Ethel                        [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Rye Billsbury?                        [ dltnkt@[removed] (Dennis/Nancy Town ]
      Wire player                           [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      March 24th Birthdays                  [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Japanese translation                  [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Australian Charlie Chan               [ "Jamie Kelly" <jamie77@[removed]. ]
      MARK DILLON                           [ "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed]; ]
      Truth or Consequences                 [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      More on Parley Baer                   [ "Nemesis@[removed]" <nemesis@[removed] ]
      remastering otr - ultimate solution!  [ Mark Reesor <mrees@[removed]; ]
      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      OTR-inspired place names              [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
      moderating an OTR panel--advice need  [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
      March 25th Birthdays                  [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Andrew Keefe                          [ "Ken Lanza" <klanza@[removed]; ]
      Harry Bartell's Essay                 [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 19:11:28 -0500
    From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Arch Oboler's Chicken Heart

    Ryan Osentowski asked whether the version of "Chicken
    Heart" on Arch Oboler's Drop Dead lp was the same that
    Oboler broadcast on Lights Out. I don't think any
    broadcasts of the full version of "Chicken Heart" have
    survived (you sometimes see it listed in
    collections--but it always turns out to be the Drop
    Dead version). My understanding is, most (if not all)
    of the stories on "Drop Dead" are abridged versions of
    Oboler's full-fledged radio plays. The only one I've
    heard in both the original OTR version and the Drop
    Dead version is the final track on Drop Dead, "The
    Laughing Man", which is based on the "Future" or
    "Humbug" segment of the Arch Oboler's Plays story "The
    Ways Of Men: Past, Present And Future", from 04/15/39.

    Does anybody know if the scripts from the lost
    episodes of Lights Out and Arch Oboler's Plays have
    survived? I gathered from a reference in Dunning's
    encyclopedia that little is known about the Wyllis
    Cooper plays for Lights Out, which implies that the
    pre-Oboler scripts are lost as well. But Oboler was
    much more of a packrat and I imagine most of his
    scripts were saved. Any ideas what might have happened
    to them?

    Kermyt

    PS. If you've never heard Bill Cosby's spoof of
    "Chicken Heart", go look it up! It's on one of his
    first records--Wonderfulness might be the name. A
    classic homage to OTR, from a child's perspective.

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 19:11:40 -0500
    From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Chicken Heart

    Regarding the Drop Dead version of "Chicken Heart,
    Paul Urbahns noted, "The story may be the same but its
    not the same recording." I should have noted this in
    my earlier message--the original version of "The Ways
    of Men: Past, Present and Future" starred Raymond
    Edward Johnson (pre-Inner Sanctum) in the "future"
    segment, while somebody else plays the role on Drop
    Dead. This got me wondering who played some of these
    roles in their original version. The track "I'm
    Hungry" on Drop Dead features a Peter Lorre
    soundalike--could Lorre have played the original role?
    And the track "A Day at the Dentist's" on Drop Dead
    features Hal Peary, who worked for Oboler when they
    were both in Chicago in the late 30s. (A trivia
    question: what "Lights Out" broadcast stars both
    Harold Peary and Willard Waterman, before either of
    them played the Great Gildersleeve?) So I'm wondering
    whether Peary might have played the dentist in the
    original version as well. Unfortunately, because
    Oboler liked to change titles when rebroadcasting his
    stories, it's often difficult to match the stories on
    Drop Dead to their original OTR counterparts. (For my
    money, the version of "The Dark" on Drop Dead is one
    of the greatest pieces of audio atmosphere ever
    created--that cackling woman just freaks me out!)

    Kermyt

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 19:12:05 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  David Street, vocalist

    I received a letter earlier this week (only now going through my mail after
    a week's partial absense) to find a letter, handwritten, four pages, double
    sided by a man who seems to be obsessed (shall I say "possessed"?) by a
    voalist named David Street.

    David Street was a vocalist who was at one time a regular for the Sealtest
    Village Store, and other radio programs.  Seems this fella is looking for
    ANYTHING related to Street, pictures, articles, Playboy interview,
    recordings, you name it - he wants it.

    This fan is David McClow, 3162 Harvest Street, Gandville, Michigan.  Sorry,
    as many times as he repeated his mailing address in his four-page letter, he
    never gave a zip-code.

    If anyone can help this fella out, it would be greatly appreciated.

    Martin

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 19:12:59 -0500
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Sam and Henry recordings

    On 3/23/03 4:52 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     I guess the obvious question is, are there any extant air-checks (pretty
>     early for air-checks) or transcription recordings of Sam & Henry? (not
>     commercial studio recordings)

    Nope, not a one. No genuine airchecks of Correll and Gosden's work are
    known to exist in any form until 1932, and the earliest genuine program
    recordings are several syndicated "Amos 'n' Andy" discs from 1928.

    The widely-circulated "Sam and Henry" recordings known to OTR collectors
    are, of course, all dubs of Victor records, and while they're not
    airchecks of actual broadcasts, they do give a good idea of what the
    performers sounded like in the earliest part of their career. I find it
    interesting in listening to these Victor records that neither performer
    has fully mastered the microphone yet -- although they have a basic
    notion of what they *want* to do, it isn't quite as refined as it would
    be after a couple years of practice.

    Correll's work on these records is especially interesting -- there is
    really none of the cocky, swaggering, from-the-belly quality that would
    characterize Andy's voice in that of Henry. Instead, Correll delivers
    Henry's lines out of the side of his mouth, in almost an under-the-breath
    mumble.

    Another interesting note from the Victor "Sam and Henry" records is that
    the sketch entitled "Sam and Henry at the Fortune Teller's" is actually
    adapted from a bit that Correll and Gosden wrote and performed in
    whiteface in the Paul Ash stage review "Red Hot" in 1925, and they had
    apparently worked up the basics of this routine as far back as their days
    with Joe Bren. The fortune teller character heard on this record, played
    by Gosden with a broad, bogus quasi-French accent, later turned up in
    "Amos 'n' Andy," as the fortune teller/small-time blackmailer Prince Ali
    Bendo.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 19:13:09 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack and Ethel

    Does anyone know of or have heard of a radio program called JACK AND ETHEL?
    The only info I have been able to dig up is that it was a short-run series
    broadcast only on the West Coast during 1930 or 1931.
    I'm curious to know anything about this oddity.
    Martin
    mmargrajr@[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 19:13:26 -0500
    From: dltnkt@[removed] (Dennis/Nancy Townsend)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Rye Billsbury?

    Yes I know he is the first Mark Dillon of the Gunsmoke auditions but
    does anyone know anything else about him? I cannot recall hearing him on
    anything [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 19:13:45 -0500
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Wire player

    The phenomenal wire playback machine asked about by Stephen Jansen was
    actually a reconfigured open reel tape recorder (an Ampex AG 440) not a
    cassette recorder.  The machine can be seen at:
    [removed]
    and Art Shifrin's home page  [removed]    has links to
    discussions of the machine and examples of playbacks including part of one
    of the 3200 wires in the Arthur Godfrey collection at the Library of
    American Broadcasting at U of Maryland.  The NPR broadcast  Stephen
    probably heard is also on this site.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 19:13:52 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  March 24th Birthdays

    If you were born on March 24th, you share your birthday with:

    1914 - Richard Conte - Jersey City, New Jersey - Died: 4-15-75
    1915 - Bill Bivens - Wadesboro, North Carolina
    1923 - Murray  Hamilton - Washington [removed]
    1928 - Vanessa Brown - Vienna, Austria
    1930 - Steve McQueen - Slater, Missouri

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 19:14:15 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Japanese translation

>     Just dial TOKYO san hachi hachi ni go ni yon [removed]

    38825241

    Ron Sayles

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 21:30:09 -0500
    From: "Jamie Kelly" <jamie77@[removed];
    To: "[removed] ([removed])" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Australian Charlie Chan

    In recent issues of the Digest their has been some discussion re
    "Charlie Chan", here are some details on the Australian series - William
    Rees played "Charlie Chan" and Rodney Jacobs was his Number One Son,
    "Lee Chan". As far as I have been able to determine, the Grace Gibson
    version was first broadcast in 1950, and there were 52 episodes.

    I haven't heard much of the US series apart from a US transcription disc
    I have on the - RAMOND R. MORGAN PRODUCTION label, so I can't make much
    of a comparison. I have about 6 episodes of the Gibson series and I
    believe it is based on US scrips.

    Very few episodes exist of the Australian series because  unfortunately
    Grace Gibson productions in the 1960's made the discission to dump a lot
    of their transcriptions mainly pre 1950 shows that they didn't feel were
    going to be popular for broadcast any more and they also needed the
    space. How I wish I had been around in those days, I certainly would of
    found space for them! :) They did thankfully record many of the more
    popular series such as the "shadow" and the Gregory Keen" series before
    they were dumpt.

    I'm happy to trade CD audio copies of "Charlie Chan" with anyone for any
    Australian OTR that I don't have.

    Jamie Kelly
    Melbourne Australia

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 23:36:40 -0500
    From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  MARK DILLON

    You are correct in that the Mark Dillon of the early Gunsmoke recordings
    were named Mark Dillon, then changed to Matt as Mark sounded too modern.

    Howard Culver and Rye Billsbury did the two presentation Gunsmokes.  Howard
    Culver was chosen for the role but had to turn it down because his role of
    "Straight Arrow" on Mutual would not let him out of his contract to take the
    Gunsmoke lead.

    Lois Culver
    KWLK Radio (Mutual) Longview, WA 1941-44
    KFI Radio (NBC) Los Angeles CA 1945-47, 50-53
    Widow of Howard Culver, actor

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 23:37:23 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Truth or Consequences

>     1940 - Truth or Consequences was first heard on radio. The Ralph
>     Edwards-produced program was hosted by Mr. Edwards. The show was
>     originally heard on only four CBS stations. Later, NBC picked up the show
>     where it eventually became the most popular of all radio quiz shows.

    I've never really considered Truth or Consequences a quiz show, at least in the form that I
    saw in the 1950s.  Perhaps it changed, but when I saw it, the contestants were asked only
    one question, and it was some sort of a riddle that no one could possibly answer unless they
    had heard it before.  They were guaranteed to have to pay the consequences.  So much so
    that often the host, Jack Bailey and later Bob Barker, would tell the audience the trick that
    was going to be played on the next contestant, with no expectation at all that they would
    actually answer the question correctly.

    One time, when the contestant actually did answer the question correctly, Bob Barker said
    he'd gotten a signal from the control room that they'd asked the wrong question and asked
    another.

    Still later, they stopped even bothering to ask the question and just proceeded to the
    consequence.

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 23:37:43 -0500
    From: "Nemesis@[removed]" <nemesis@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  More on Parley Baer
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    This (shortened) obituary appears (of all places) in the current Star Trek
    Communicator magazine:
    "Veteran character actor Parley Bear, who played one of the three elder
    Nechani in Voyager's "Sacred Ground," died Nov. 22,,,The Salt Lake City native
    first worked as a circus ringmaster and with on to roles in more than 15,000
    radio programs, 1,600 television shows and 60 [removed]" (Parley Bear appeared
    in a Star Trek: Voyager episode and I didn't catch it--me a Trekkie!)
    Linda T.

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

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 23:44:25 -0500
    From: Mark Reesor <mrees@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  remastering otr - ultimate solution!

    Further to Stephen Jansen's post about remastering otr. I guess the
    perfect solution would be a custom version of the ELP Laser Turntable
    which would play ETs. This device uses five laser beams to 'read' the
    record grooves. The only problem is that the cheapest model costs $9,500
    -- and a $500 vacuum is strongly recommended! Of course, add a few
    hundred thou (at least) to modify it to read ETs! Oh well - it's
    interesting to read about anyway - the website is:
    [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 11:09:47 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in radio history

     From Those Were The Days --

    1932 - Belle Baker hosted a radio variety show from a moving train ... a first
    for radio broadcasting. The program originated from a Baltimore and Ohio train
    that chugged its way around the New York area. The broadcast was heard on WABC
    in New York City.

    1935 - After a year as a local show from New York City, Major Bowes' Original
    Amateur Hour was heard on the entire NBC network. The show stayed on the air
    for
    17 years. Later, Ted Mack took over for Bowes and made the move from radio to
    television.

       Joe

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 11:10:45 -0500
    From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OTR-inspired place names

    Hi Gang:

       Resident historian & keeper of the OTR time-line Joe Mackey wrote:

>     1940 - Truth or Consequences was first heard on radio. The Ralph
>     Edwards-produced program was hosted by Mr. Edwards. The show was originally
>     heard on only four CBS stations. Later, NBC picked up the show where it
>     eventually became the most popular of all radio quiz shows.

       Mention of "T or C" reminded me how there was a town in New Mexico which
    re-christened itself "Truth or Consequences,"  as an homage to this popular
    quiz-show. This, in turn, got me thinking about the Arkansas town which
    re-named itself "Pine Ridge" in honour of  "Lum 'n' Abner.'
       My  question now is: are there any other instances of USA place names
    inspired  by OTR programmes? How about street names? There must be a "Wistful
    Vista" or a "Margot Lane" out there somewhere.

    Yours in the ether--

    Derek Tague

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 11:10:07 -0500
    From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  moderating an OTR panel--advice needed

    I will be moderating an OTR panel in April. I have made up a list of
    questions for several actors who will be participating.  But I would
    appreciate suggestions for additional questions. For example, these
    actors (collectively) worked on Mystery Theatre,  Big Town, Crime Does
    Not Pay, Dimension X, among other shows.  Therefore, I would appreciate
    particular questions relevant to those shows. Also, I would love to hear
    some general questions from people who have moderated panels in the past.

    Thanks,

    Howard Blue

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 15:47:21 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  March 25th Birthdays

    If you were born on March 25th, you share your birthday with:

    03-25-1867 - Arturo Toscanini - Parma, Italy
    03-25-1887 - Raymond Gram Swing - Cortland, New York
    03-25-1892 - Andy Clyde - Blaingowrie, Scotland - Died: 5-18-1967
    03-25-1901 - Ed Begley - Hartford, Connecticut - Died: 4-28-1970
    03-25-1903 - Frankie Carle - Providence, Rhode Island
    03-25-1905 - Binnie Barnes - London, England
    03-25-1906 - Margaret Daum - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Died: 2-23-1977
    03-25-1919 - Jeanne Cagney - New York City
    03-25-1920 - Howard Cosell - Winston-Salem, North Carolina - Died: 3-23-1995
    03-25-1921 - Simone Signoret - Wiesbaden, Germany

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 16:34:55 -0500
    From: "Ken Lanza" <klanza@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Andrew Keefe

    Anyone with information on Andrew Keefe?

    He recorded on Edison cylinders, "Uncle Josh
    In a department store" Edison 9221.

    Looking for info on where he was from. Maybe
    Albany, NY?? Was he ever on radio WGY perhaps???
     Thanks!
    Ken Lanza

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 19:15:59 -0500
    From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Harry Bartell's Essay

    I enjoyed Harry Bartell's enlightening little essay on  "interpretation."
    Audiences comprise "individuals," who judge  what they see on stage
    differently based on their own unique life  experiences and mindsets.  So
    do actors as they interpret a part.

    It reminds me of the famous writer  [I think it was Noel Coward] who wrote
    that a particular  character should come on stage after having drunk a cup
    of tea. I could be wrong,  but I think the play was "Blithe Sprit."  The
    playwright  must have thought that particular stage direction  would affect
    an actor's interpretation of a part, but  how  was it supposed to affect me
    as an audience member?   Or  am I missing the point.

    Dennis Crow

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #125
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