Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #31
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 1/21/2004 4:18 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2004 : Issue 31
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Fibber McGee & Molly                  [ "William Schell" <bschell@[removed] ]
  Convention in Cincinatti              [ "Bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed]; ]
  Al Jolson                             [ "Dave Mills" <otrdave@[removed] ]
  Robert Dryden                         [ "Tom Hagler" <hag@[removed]; ]
  Re: Transit of Earth                  [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
  Re: Transit of Earth                  [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Lone Ranger disappointment            [ Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed] ]
  Tom McConnell                         [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  In Defence of Jerry Haendiges         [ Jandpgardner@[removed] ]
  An mp3 question                       [ smzmurphy@[removed] ]
  Harry Fleetwood                       [ JayHick@[removed] ]
  Logs: Books and/or On-Line?           [ <orders@[removed]; ]
  Fran Striker, Jr.                     [ JayHick@[removed] ]
  Tony Wons and The Shadow              [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
  Chinese New Year births/deaths        [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Singer Tony Martin                    [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ lois@[removed] ]

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

Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 18:47:20 -0500
From: "William Schell" <bschell@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Fibber McGee & Molly

To Fibber McGee & Molly buffs,

I often hear Molly laughing in the background when Fibber tells a joke or
appears to flub a line.  Was this laughter scripted or was it spontaneous?
Other times I think I hear both Fibber and Molly breaking up, usually with
something the Old Timer said.  Again, was this part of the script?  I'd like
to think not as it gives the impression they really enjoyed doing the show.
Bill
Magalia, Ca

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

Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 18:47:28 -0500
From: "Bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed];
To: ""old-time radio digest">" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Convention in Cincinatti

Just curious if anyone brings their kids to the conventions?
My boys are 11 and 15 and they'd love to go since they are big OTR fans.
Bill

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

Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 21:43:21 -0500
From: "Dave Mills" <otrdave@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Al Jolson

Hello Ladies and Gents- I've a mother who is very fond of Al Jolson. I am
wondering if he has any material out there that was related to radio, or a
show. If any information can be given it would be appreciated.
[removed] Mills

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

Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 21:43:47 -0500
From: "Tom Hagler" <hag@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Robert Dryden
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As a fan of CBSRMT, I came to recognize Robert Dryden's voices instantly. He
became one of my favorites, along with Ralph Bell, Leon Janney, Mercedes
McCambridge and Arnold Moss. I was surprised to hear of his recent passing. He
was so often cast in the roles of old men that I had assumed that he must have
died many years ago! This only goes to show what imagery a talented radio
actor can place in his listener's mind!

Tom Hagler, Oroville, CA

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Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:16:56 -0500
From: Shenbarger@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Transit of Earth
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In a message dated 1/20/2004 John Mayer wrote:

[removed] maybe X-1, maybe some other sci-fi [removed] I heard a
dramatization (or was it a reading?) of Arthur C. Clark's story
"Transit of Earth," about the last days of the last survivor of an
ill fated first landing on Mars. Does anyone know more, and where I
can obtain a copy?

Transit of Earth was first published in Playboy in 1971. It is widely
available in a reading by Arthur C. Clarke, but would not likely be the
subject of
any American radio drama. "Alien Worlds" may be the only American SF radio
series done since 1971, and this story was not done by them. The BBC may have
produced a radio drama.

You may be thinking of "Night Call, Collect", a Ray Bradbury story dramatized
by BYU in a series called "Bradbury 13". The lone survivor of a Mars Colony
gets recorded phone calls from himself 30 years later. The series is widely
available on cassette tape.

The Lunar Colony story is unfamiliar to me, although it resembles a British
TV series about Moonbase Alpha called "Space 1999" where a nuclear waste dump
on the Moon blows up blasting the Moon out of orbit and out of the solar
system, carrying the Colony to adventures and alien encouters. As far as I
know this
was an original story concept.

Don Shenbarger

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Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:17:24 -0500
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Transit of Earth

At 06:18 PM 1/20/2004, you wrote:

[removed] maybe X-1, maybe some other sci-fi [removed] I heard a
dramatization (or was it a reading?) of Arthur C. Clark's story
"Transit of Earth," about the last days of the last survivor of an
ill fated first landing on Mars. Does anyone know more, and where I
can obtain a copy?

John, "Transit of Earth" wasn't published until 1971 and X Minus One was
only doing re-runs of their fifties episodes, so it wasn't on that series.
Is it possible it was a BBC Production or a Canadian Production?  If you
heard it on radio the odds are that it was from one of those two countries.
There was very little science fiction on radio in the USA by the seventies
except for occasional versions on some of the revival programs such as
Radio Mystery Theater, Zero Hour, etc. I don't recall it being on any of those.

Do you have a timeframe for the moon colony episode you ask about?

Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 10:36:24 -0500
From: Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Lone Ranger disappointment

I just got done listening to the episode "Fast on the Draw" 48-12-13
and found it to be a rather obvious rip off ( or homage??)  of the John
Wayne/Montgomery Clift
relationship story within "Red River"  also released in 1948.

This is the only LR show I can recall that was so greatly "influenced"
by a current or existing
western film.

rob

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

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 10:37:01 -0500
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Tom McConnell

The patriarch and founding father of the Kentuckiana Radio Addicts Club, Tom
McConnell, 73, passed away Tuesday evening, January 20 of complications from
several health problems.  Tom was fairly widely known among OTR
practitioners, having participated frequently in the Cincinnati conventions
and occasionally at the Newark meetings.  He identified himself with a
number of people across the country who loved this hobby and continually
expressed an eagerness to learn more about it.  Tom was a generous man,
loaning and often giving material away that occupied his vast collector's
storehouse of tapes and recordings and printed materials related to his
interests.  He had a tremendous sense of humor, a twinkle in his eye and
never a put-down for anybody.  He didn't claim to be more than he was.  To
hint that he will be missed by his colleagues is an understatement.  He
leaves behind a wife, four sons and six grandchildren.  A service honoring
his life has been planned for Friday in Bardstown, Ky. with interment later
that day at Springfield, Ky.  Messages of sympathy may be addressed to his
widow, Mrs. Wilma McConnell, 415 Wisteria Avenue, Louisville, KY 40222-4697.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 10:37:53 -0500
From: Jandpgardner@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  In Defence of Jerry Haendiges
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Earlier this month, after Arlene asked in a posting how she and a friend
could get a reply from Jerry Haendiges, I made a similar posting saying that
for
well over a year I had been trying to contact him and get him to send me
cassettes I had ordered. Since then there have been several postings with a
few for
Jerry but mostly against him.
Well, my problem has been sorted out. On reading my posting Jerry sent me an
e-mail explaining that after he received my order (in December 2001) he had
replied at length the following day telling me what he could supply and what
he
could not and giving details of similar cassettes featuring the star in whom I
am interested that are available. He enclosed a copy of that e-mail from 2
years ago but, for some reason, it never got to me at that time. Thinking he
had
ignored my order, in the ensuing 2 years, I have sent him several e-mails but
it seems they never got to him and he tells me he finds his anti-spam program
had seen me as a 'Spammer' and added my name to his anti-junk mail list so
that my e-mails never got to him.
This failure of communication between us led to the position I mentioned in
my posting earlier this month. Now that we have (in Jerry's words) "finally
connected" and this has been cleared up, I have today received from him in the
post as much of my order as he can supply. Even though I am in England, he has
sent me the cassettes without my having paid him anything and I don't know of
anyone else who would do that. As I would expect, the cassettes are in very
good sound quality and I am paying him at once.
I have seen the postings regarding the errors on his 'Vintage Radio Logs'
site but I have to say that I find them extremely comprehensive and useful
even
though there are some errors. His weekly 'Same Time Same Station' is, in my
opinion, extremely good, in the best sound quality on the net and often
contains
quite rare shows. Although obviously a very busy man, he clearly puts a lot of
time and effort into this.
Having been one of those apparently voting 'Against', I want to set the
record straight and make it clear that you can put me down as a vote 'For'
Jerry. I
recommend [removed];
John.

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

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 10:38:27 -0500
From: smzmurphy@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  An mp3 question

My apologies in advance if this is off topic, but it has me wondering. I've
recently added several mp3 CDs to my OTR collection. Some of the episodes
sound great (obviously put together by someone who knew how encode properly),
and some sound lousy. The number of episodes on each CD varies widely, and it
seems like most of the bad-sounding episodes are on the CDs with more
content. Does "cramming" more shows onto a CD make the episodes on that CD
sound worse or is it just a coincidence that most of the bad-sounding shows
are on the CDs that are really packed? Does "cramming" make the sound quality
of the CD deteriorate?

     Also, on the topic of dealers, remember how beneficial trading with
other collectors can be. Not only have I added some wonderful material to my
collection, but I have met some fantastic people.

Mike

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

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 10:38:35 -0500
From: JayHick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Harry Fleetwood

Harry Fleetwood died on Jan 18 at the age of 86.  Harry was a frequent
attendee at our convention and was on radio in New York for many years.

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

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 14:02:04 -0500
From: <orders@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Logs: Books and/or On-Line?

Martin Grams Jr. wrote:

Anyone seriously looking for a definitive source for a radio log
specifically designed toward one >particular radio program I highly
recommend a book

I think you are 100% right, but the way I use on-line logs can't be easily
replicated in book form.  Let's say, I want to find all the shows I can
starring Bob Hope.  I go to Jerry's website, select Lux Radio Theater, go to
my edit menu and select "find on this page," I enter Bob Hopes name and I am
transported to the first Lux show in which Bob appeared.  I write down the
date and click on the search again button, and write down the next date.
Then I go and trade for, or purchase those shows.  As you say, Jerry's
website is often inaccurate, but usually he only has part of the title wrong
or the date is of by a couple of days, and his information is often close
enough to help me further my collection.

Having said all of this, Mr. Grams, your beautiful Edgar Bergen Log offers a
list of
all of the guest appearances that Mr. Bergen made on other shows, and this
negates the need of using the On-Line logs to find the info.  If I could
just find a book that offered that kind of in depth log for the top 20 most
popular shows and performers, I would gladly pay for it.  If you created a
website with your articles on-line that charged say $[removed] a month, I would
be more than willing to pay that each month for a steady stream of new
articles and logs.  Does anyone know of a great log book out there that
covers Jack Benny?  I would pay virtually any price for an in-depth Log of
his show.

Zongo out

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

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 14:31:33 -0500
From: JayHick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Fran Striker, Jr.

In response to some inquiries to Fran's location, here it is.

Fran Striker, Jr., 116 Juniper Trace, Parrish, FL 34219 (841) 776-0940
<Fhstrikerjr@[removed];

Hope this helps.  Jay

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

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 15:03:29 -0500
From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Tony Wons and The Shadow

One of the cherished myths in OTR is that radio personality Tony Wons
was born Anthony Snow, and later reversed the letters in his surname to
create a new professional name. Turns out it t'aint so.  In an article
in the February issue of RADIO RECALL,  an amateur historian and
distant relative of Tony's proves he was born Szczepau Antone Wons in
Merrill, Wisconsin on December 26, 1891. His parents were Polish and
the English version of his name would be Stephen Anthony Wons. Later
Tony moved his first name to the middle and took the nickname "Tony".

OK, how many sponsors of "The Shadow" can you name?  Well, there's Blue
[removed] many others?  Did you forget Goldblum Dairy Products,
West Durham Lumber Company, and Lustig's Shoe Store?  In a second
article in this February issue, Karl Schadow, an authority on his
namesake, reveals the local and regional sponsors of the "The Shadow"
outside blue-coal territory. He discusses major artist, Edd Cartier,
and Karl illustrates his article with rare advertisements of these
little-known sponsors from the 1938-45 time frame.

A subscription to RADIO RECALL is just one of the perks of membership
in the Metropolitan Washington OTR Club.  More about the club and
membership information can be found at our web site, [removed].

Jack French
Editor

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

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 15:05:48 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Chinese New Year births/deaths

Chinese New Year

January 22nd births

01-22-1875 - [removed] Griffith - La Grange, KY - d. 7-23-1948
movie producer-director: "Brooklyn Mark Strand Stage and Studio Program"
01-22-1893 - Conrad Veidt - Potsdam, Germany - d. 4-3-1943
actor: "Free World Theatre"
01-22-1899 - Anne Elstner - Lake Charles, LA - d. 1-29-1981
actress: Stella Dallas "Stella Dallas"; Mary Weston "Wilderness Road"
01-22-1909 - Ann Sothern - Valley City, ND - d. 3-15-2001
actress: Maisie Revere "Maisie"
01-22-1932 - Piper Laurie - Detroit, MI
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "NBC Radio Theatre"; "Screen Guild Theatre"

Januaray 22nd deaths

02-10-1892 - Alan Hale, Sr. - Washington, [removed] - d. 1-22-1950
actor:"Lux Radio Theatre"
05-23-1890 - Herbert Marshall - London, England - d. 1-22-1966
actor: Ken Thurston "Man Called X"
06-23-1895 - Pick Malone - nr. Dallas, TX - d. 1-22-1962
comedian:"Show Boat"; "Chesterfield Supper Club"
07-21-1901 - Allyn Joslyn - Milford, PA - d. 1-22-1981
actor: "Island Boat Club"; "Page of Romance"; "Show Boat"
10-22-1891 - Parker Fennelly - Northeast Harbor, ME - d. 1-22-1988
actor: Titus Moody, "Fred Allen Show"; Dan Tucker, "Lawyer Dan Tucker"
12-07-1920 - Frances Gifford - Long Beach, CA - d. 1-22-1994
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 15:54:53 -0500
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Singer Tony Martin

Last summer I was lucky enough to see a performance by singer Tony
Martin.  As he was approaching age 92 I wasn't expecting much, but I was
pleasantly surprised that he both looked and sounded like Tony Martin of
old.  Except for the fact that he had to sit for most of his act you'd
never know that he was as old as he was.
I got to meet him backstage and had a nice chat. Since I create the
daily entries for the Glenn Miller calendar every year I had one with me
and presented it to him. I also told him that on that very night 60
years before(1943) he had sung "Sunday, Monday, or Always" with the
Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band over NBC on the "I Sustain The Wings"
program. He didn't seem the least bit surprised that I had that
information but just nodded and said "thats right, I was with that
band". Then he said "that's a good song" and he proceeded to sing it to
me sitting there in his dressing room!
I was flabbergasted but pleased. I asked him if his wife(Cyd Charisse)
was with him, but unfortunately she was not. What a beauty she was(is).
Tony performed on radio begining with Burns and Allen in 1936-37, was
with Andre Kostelanetz in 1939-1940 and was on the Carnation Contented
Hour from 1948 to 1951. At that point he had his own television show
which was on the air for two years.
Anyway what all this is leading up to is I'm trying to reach Tony either
by email or snail mail, or his agent whose name I don't know. If anybody
out there has any clue as to how I might accomplish this I'd appreciate
if you'd contact me off line.

Thanks
Goerge Aust

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

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 15:57:56 -0500
From: lois@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

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!

Our numerous "regulars" include one of the busiest "golden years" actors in
Hollywood; a sound man from the same era who worked many of the top
Hollywood shows; a New York actor famed for his roles in "Let's Pretend" and
"Archie Andrews;" owners of some of the best OTR sites on the Web;
maintainer of the best-known OTR Digest (we all know who he is)..........

and Me

Lois Culver
KWLK Longview Washington (Mutual) 1941-1944)
KFI Los Angeles (NBC) 1944 - 1950
and widow of actor Howard Culver

(For more info, contact lois@[removed])

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #31
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