------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 217
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
The Cowboy Kid [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
Here's Lucy DVD [ seandd@[removed] ]
#OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig [ charlie@[removed] ]
Waukegan [ "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@charter ]
Re: Forties Comedy [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Non-Contact Audio Restoration [ "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; ]
My client curley [ Robert Sheldon <rsheldon@sbcglobal. ]
Non-Contact Audio Restoration [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
Re: Country Wide Silent Period [ "Jim Pogras" <jimpo@[removed]; ]
Funny Side Up [ "Tim Hughes" <rekokut@[removed]; ]
review of portable Memorex MPD8507CP [ "Tim Hughes" <rekokut@[removed]; ]
Parley Baer [ "mike ray" <mikeray42@[removed]; ]
7-1 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Mercedes McCambridge Arail [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 21:21:26 +0000
From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: The Cowboy Kid
Penne Yingling asks about Bobby Benson, a show in the 40s with a Western theme.
There were actually two series with Bobby Benson in the lead, as the orphan
kid with his own ranch in the Big Bend section of Texas. The first one
began in 1932 on CBS called "The H Bar O Rangers" and ran until 1936. Among
the lads who portrayed Bobby at the microphone was Billy Halop, later to
become the leader of the Dead End Kids on stage and in film. A second
series, "Bobby Benson and the B -Bar-B Riders" aired on Mutual from 1949 to
1954. Ivan Cury, and later, Clive Rice, voiced the Cowboy Kid, and both
actors are still alive and well. While no audio copies have survived from
the CBS series, there are approximately 20 in circulation from the latter.
A lengthy article by your truly, covering both series, is posted on the web
site of Jerry Haendiges, "Vintage Radio" at
[removed]
Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
[Author, "Private Eyelashes" - [removed] --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 21:21:34 +0000
From: seandd@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Here's Lucy DVD
Another review of the Lucille Ball DVD collection makes note of the fine
episode of her series that guest starred Jack Benny.
Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]
HERE'S Lucy Best Loved Episodes
[removed] - Canada
... Stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Carol Burnett, Jackie
Gleason, Johnny Carson, Milton Berle, and Jack Benny are characters in
her humorous ...
<[removed];
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 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 six 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, 30 Jun 2004 09:18:20 +0000
From: "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Waukegan
Hello Anybody--
I stopped in Waukegan a couple of days ago and spoke with the owner of a
business near the Genessee Theater who said the restoration project has
become a complete mess. As you might recall, two Junes ago a statue
of Jack Benny was unveiled across from the theater. It was a weekend of
celebration featuring performances by Benny impersonator Eddie Carroll,
radio show reenactments by the International Jack Benny Fan Club, speeches
by local officials, and more.
Those in attendance were allowed to view the interior of the Genessee
Theater, where premier showings of Jack's movies were run. We were told the
theater was to be renovated and were led to believe that after the work was
completed, a performance by Eddie Carroll and a Jack Benny movie would
highlight the reopening.
There is work going on at the theater but not much progress is being
made. It looks like a wreck. The man I spoke with said funds have not just
run out, they have been pilfered and several individuals are under
investigation. The box office has been removed, not restored, original
theater seats have been ripped out and trashed, porcelain fixtures have been
stripped and looted.
If what this man says is true, it is purely a shame. I know a lot of
people who were looking forward to seeing the place restored to its original
beauty, the way many theaters around the country have been. This looks like
a disaster.
I intend to further investigate this matter and will post again here
when I get more information.
Michael Leannah
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 09:18:46 +0000
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Forties Comedy
On 6/29/04 8:30 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
>How could you get Fred Allen, who you practically have to have a masters in
>American history to get at this point, and not find the rest of it funny?
Well, I have to admit that I've loved Fred Allen since I was fourteen
years old, but have little use for any Marx Brothers picture made after
they left Paramount. And Abbott and Costello have never, under any
circumstances, made me laugh.
I'm not entirely sure why it is -- but maybe it's just that I sense a
real pasteurized-process quality in so much of the mass-produced,
committee-written, Hollywoodized humor of the forties, especially from
about 1945 onward. It strikes me as a *product* cynically ground out for
mass consumption, and makes no real attempt to hide it. There are
exceptions -- Allen, Benny, Henry Morgan, and perhaps Harris/Faye jump to
mind. But so much postwar radio comedy was the sort of limp gag-file
jokes that could be read by anyone that it just doesn't work for me. The
exceptions I've cited *do* work specifically because they *aren't* that
generic written-by-three-guys-named-Zelmo stuff.
I do think, though that Lileks has a good point: comedy movies were made
to be viewed with a large theatre audience, and were written, directed,
timed, and performed for such an audience. Their impact, and the quality
of their humor, cannot be adequately judged by from viewing them alone on
a TV set. Even a moldy damp dishrag of a film like "The Big Store" is
slightly more tolerable when viewed with a live audience.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 09:19:12 +0000
From: "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Non-Contact Audio Restoration
Wow, this seems to be the real thing this time. I think this is really
exciting because at one time I was thinking of trying to do it myself.
Someone once claimed on the Internet to have scanned a phonograph record
with an ordinary photo scanner, then converted the image to sound with
software. They even submitted a sample mp3 file of the alleged result. There
were various technical rebuttals and it turned out to be a hoax, but it got
me thinking about how to really do it.
The person making the claim was sketchy on details but said he simply put a
record on a scanner and processed the round image in a spiral fashion. My
idea was to mount the record on a spindle that would ride along with the
scanhead, rolling the record against a straight edge so it would rotate as
it moved. This would produce a straightened-out scan of one revolution of
the grooves, sort of like tire tracks. Converting the shadowy ripples to
sound with software might not be all that difficult (I'm a programmer).
Certainly simpler than processing a round image.
If it worked at all, getting decent quality would require a pretty high-end
scanner, because the information in the grooves is very dense. For example,
at 78 rpm a track 3 inches from the center hole travels past the needle at
about 24 inches per second. For sound at 20,000 Hz, the tiny ripples in the
groove would occur about every 1/1000 of an inch. A 1200 dot-per-inch
scanner would barely register these patterns, let alone capture their
subtleties. Nevertheless, I had an old malfunctioning scanner that I was
going to use to try to get this to work at a crude level. Combining multiple
scans with the light source in different positions might simulate a higher
resolution scanner. That would be for later. But alas, taking apart my old
scanner with a screwdriver was as far as I got. (Maybe that explains why I'm
not a wealthy inventor!)
The Berkeley guys seem to be using a scanning method involving subatomic
particles. Rocket science compared to my idea! Now if they can just engineer
it to be cheap enough for universities and large libraries to afford it, and
can avoid getting sued by the [removed]
Doug Leary
Seattle
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 09:20:16 +0000
From: Robert Sheldon <rsheldon@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: My client curley
> For those not aware of the plot, it deals with a talent scout/agent who
hires a
> dancing caterpillar named "Curley"....
Yeah, I know what "ing" is, but what was the reason Curley came up on All
Things Considered last week?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 09:20:38 +0000
From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Non-Contact Audio Restoration
<<<Stephen Jansen posted about the recent NPR [removed];>>
Thanks for bringing that interview to the list. I, too, was fascinated with
listening to the two developers of the non-contact audio restoration
scanner. They were particularly interested in seeing if they could restore
and transfer the audio from old, fragile cylinders of Thomas Edison as an
initial test.
If I correctly remember the comments, their process does not eliminate the
scratches, surface noises or hisses, that would be done by another computer
software program. However, the scanner would identify the "bumps." This
concept to scan and transfer is a marvelous, technical innovation. Kudos!!
=Russ Butler oldradio@[removed]
(Everything that is old, is new again!)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:48:46 +0000
From: "Jim Pogras" <jimpo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Country Wide Silent Period
Someone asked about a silent period across the country in 1960. This
was the one and only time that the old CONELRAD system was activated.
It was done as a test. My dad was an engineer at WHK in Cleveland,
Ohio. He had the honors or re-tuning the stanby transmitter for 1240
Khz. As I remember the test ran from 1600 to 1630. I don't remember
the exact date of this test.
--
Jim Pogras Cleveland, Ohio
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:48:56 +0000
From: "Tim Hughes"
<rekokut@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Funny Side Up
Hi,
Does anyone have Funny Side Up (it was packaged in AFRTS as "Funny Side Up"
and "Garry Moore-Funny Side Up") from disc or a generation off? I love
that show.
Tim
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:49:02 +0000
From: "Tim Hughes"
<rekokut@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: review of portable Memorex MPD8507CP CD
mp3 player
Hi,
I bought this player - which is basically a knockoff of the Rio Volt
SP-250, for $54, at Walgreens. I bought a power adapter for $[removed] at
Wal-mart.
The Memorex MPD8507CP plays .mp3 and allegedly .wma, although I don't know
why anyone would want to play .wma. I make custom mixes for work and on
the go, at usually beween 80-128/44 mono. It also played the ultra-low 32/22.
It shows id3 tags, you can search for a filename, has a few equalizer
presets, and it has a resume button.
It plays CD-RW's, which I use exclusively for my mixes. HOWEVER, it seems
to be finicky how FAST you burn them. It wouldn't work at above 4x on the
CD-RW. I haven't tried experimenting on speeds with CD-Rs. It played the
few that I put in there. Occasionally, you'll have to turn it on and off a
couple times to get it to read the disc successfully.
I've been transferring a lot of lo-gen reels, and this has been a great way
to listen to more of them. (I keep the archival .wav, of course.). What
I've been doing when doing my CDs lately is, the default directory is the
.wavs and a summary of what's on the shows in a .txt file. Then I have an
mp3 separate folder with the mp3 so I can listen on my bedside radio.
(beside Philips Expanium mp3 boombox). I've really been enjoying Escape
and Our Miss Brooks. I've also been listening to an Australian mystery
serial of the dark house type, except on a ship, Passage of the Tangmar - a
superb series! We Americans shouldn't snub Aus OTR - they really excel at
serials. The Major Keene series is SUPERB - Dossier on Dumetrius, 26
Hours, Deadly Nightshade, etc. Dumetrius was by far the best spy serial I
had ever listened to.
The player has its foibles, but is all-in-all a decent player for a cheap
price.
Tim
From 'will you?' to 'I do,' MSN Life Events is your resource for Getting
Married.
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:49:19 +0000
From: "mike ray"
<mikeray42@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Parley Baer
Hi Gang:
A picture of our beloved friend Parley Baer will
Be on my web site for 5 days. You can check it
Out at:
[removed]
Best regards,
Mike Ray
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:49:28 +0000
From: Ron Sayles
<bogusotr@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 7-1 births/deaths
July 1st births
07-01-1881 - Josef Pasternack - Czenstachown, Poland - d. 4-29-1940
conductor: "Atwater Kent Concert"; "Carnation Contented Hour"
07-01-1899 - Charles Laughton - Scarborough, England - d. 12-15-1962
actor: "Three Ring Time"; "Columbia Presents Corwin"; "Blue Ribbon Town"
07-01-1901 - Irna Phillips - Chicago, IL - d. 12-23-1973
actress, writer: Mother Moran "Today's Children"; "Guiding Light"; "Road of
Life"
07-01-1902 - William Wyler - Muhlhausen, Germany - d. 7-28-1981
film director: "Screen Director's Playhouse"; "Hollywood Fights Back"
07-01-1907 - Bill Stern - Rye, NY - d. 11-19-1971
sportscaster: "Carnival of Champions"; "Colgate Sports Newsreel"
07-01-1908 - Alvino Rey - Oakland, CA - d. 2-24-2004
bandleader: "Horace Heidt and His Brigadiers"
07-01-1909 - Madge Evans - NYC - d. 4-26-1981
panelist: "Leave It to the Girls"; "Who Said That?"
07-01-1916 - Olivia De Havilland - Tokyo, Japan
actress: "Plays for Americans"; "Your Hollywood Parade"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-01-1925 - Farley Granger - San Jose, CA
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre", "Screen Guild Theatre"
07-01-1931 - Leslie Caron - Boulogne, France
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-01-1934 - Jamie Farr - Toledo, OH
actor: Armed Forces Radio
07-01-1934 - Jean Marsh - London, England
actress: "Earplay"
July 1st deaths
02-21-1938 - Wolfman Jack - Brooklyn, NY - d. 7-1-1995
disc jockey: Mexican Border Radio"
08-06-1917 - Robert Mitchum - Bridgeport, CT - d. 7-1-1997
actor: "Family Theatre"; "So Proudly We Hail"
08-08-1910 - Sylvia Sidney - The Bronx, NY - d. 7-1-1999
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Columbia Presents Corwin"; "Philip Morris
Playhouse"
12-23-1913 - Anton M. Leader - Boston, MA - d. 7-1-1988
director: "Eternal Light"; "Murder at Midnight"; "Suspense"; "Words at War"
12-26-1891 - Tony Wons - Menasha, WI - d. 7-1-1965
host: "Tony Wons Scrapbook"; "House by the Side of the Road"; "Camel
Quarter Hour"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:11:05 +0000
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr."
<skallisjr@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Mercedes McCambridge Arail
A friend of mine asked me whether I could identify a radio program,
possibly a serial. In it, Mercedes McCambridge played a lady on a train
who had killers after her. Possibly she was either guarding or seeking
some gold pins.
Does anyone know anything at all about this?
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #217
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