Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #110
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 4/30/2008 10:18 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2008 : Issue 110
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
  4-30 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  lost special                          [ Kurt Edwin Yount <blsmass@[removed]; ]
  SUSPENSE DISC                         [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
  BASEBALL BROADCASTS                   [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
  NBC Fourth Chime                      [ "W. Harris" <nbcblue@[removed]; ]
  SPERDVAC convention                   [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
  The Gassman brothers                  [ <vzeo0hfk@[removed]; ]
  The Ghost Corps                       [ "Jim Kitchen" <jkitchen@[removed]; ]
  The price of books                    [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  5-1 births/deaths                     [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:12:01 -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, 30 Apr 2008 08:44:14 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  4-30 births/deaths

April 30th births

04-30-1870 - Franz Lehar - Romorn, Austria-Hungary - d. 10-24-1948
operetta composer: "Railroad Hour"; "Showtime"
04-30-1886 - Dick Elliott - Boston, MA - d. 12-22-1961
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
04-30-1903 - Fulton Lewis, Jr. - Washington, [removed] - d. 8-21-1966
commentator: "News and Comments"
04-30-1907 - Sidney Harmon - Poughkeepsie, NY - d. 2-29-1988
writer, director: "The Life of Riley"; "Honest Abe"
04-30-1909 - Bud Linn - Indianapolis, IN - d. 7-31-1968
singer: (The King's Men) "Kraft Music Hall"; "Fibber McGee and Molly"
04-30-1910 - Al Lewis - NYC - d. 2-3-2006
actor: hosted weekly radio program on WBAI-FM New York
04-30-1911 - Orin Tovrov - Boston, MA - d. 8-16-1980
writer: "The Brighter Day"; "Ma Perkins"; "Manhattan Mother"
04-30-1912 - Eve Arden - Mill Valley, CA - d. 11-12-1990
actor: Connie Brooks "Our Miss Brooks"; Libby Collins "Lux Radio
Theatre"
04-30-1916 - George Salverson - St. Catherines, Canada - d. 4-9-2005
script writer for the CBC
04-30-1916 - Phil Brown - Cambridge, MA - d. 2-9-2006
actor: "Arch Obolor's Playes"
04-30-1916 - Robert Shaw - Red Bluff, CA - d. 1-25-1999
choral director: "Radio Hall of Fame"; "American School of the Air"
04-30-1917 - Bea Wain - The Bronx, NY
singer: (The Reverie Girl) "Your Hit Parade"; "Your All-Time Hit Parade"
04-30-1919 - Jack Haskell - Akron, OH - d. 9-26-1998
singer: "Dave Garroway Show"; "Music from the Heart of America"
04-30-1924 - Sonny Day - d. 2-7-2005
singer: (Smokey Mountain Boys) "Grand Ole Opry"
04-30-1925 - Corinne Calvert - Paris, France - d. 6-23-2001
actor: "Martin and Lewis Show"
04-30-1926 - Cloris Leachman - Des Moines, IA
actor: Local radio as a teenager
04-30-1926 - Lou Cioffi - d. 5-2-1998
news reporter: "The Warning Bell"; "Big News of 1957/58"
04-30-1948 - Perry King - Alliance, OH
actor: Han Solo "Star Wars"

April 30th deaths

01-11-1923 - Jerome Bixby - Lincoln, NE - d. 4-30-1998
author: "History of Rapture/Trace"
03-02-1918 - Elmira Roessler - St. Louis, MO - d. 4-30-1975
actor, singer: Jennifer Davis "Backstage Wife"; Tweetsie Herringbone
"Ma Perkins"
03-12-1888 - Hall Johnson - Athens, GA - d. 4-30-1970
choral director: (Hall Johnson Choir) "Paducah Plantation"; "Show Boat"
03-17-1938 - Zola Taylor - Los Angeles, CA - d. 4-30-2007
singer: (The Platters) "Camel Rock and Roll Dance Party"
04-04-1912 - Charles Cliff - Asheville, NC - d. 4-30-2000
orchestra leader: NBC, CBS and MBS
04-17-1898 - Howard Claney - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 4-30-1980
announcer: "American Album of Familiar Music"; "NBC Symphony"
04-17-1909 - Rex Rienits - Dubbo, Australia - d. 4-30-1971
author: "A Matter of Life or Else"
04-20-1889 - Adolf Hitler - Braunau, Austria - d. 4-30-1945
dictator: Propaganda broadcasts
06-06-1918 - Peter Donald - Bristol, England - d. 4-30-1979
actor, emcee: Ajax Cassidy "Fred Allen Show"; "Can You Top This?"
06-15-1909 - Mickey Katz - Cleveland, OH - d. 4-30-1985
clarinetist: (Father of Joel Grey) "Here's to Veterans"
07-31-1900 - Elmo Roper - Hebron, NE - d. 4-30-1971
pioneering polster: "America's Town Meeting of the Air"; "Word from
the People"
08-03-1927 - Gordon Scott - Portland, OR - d. 4-30-2007
actor: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy"
08-04-1905 - Luther Roundtree - d. 4-30-1990
banjo player: "The Bob Burns Show"
10-27-1908 - DeWitt "Snuffy" Jenkins - Harris, NC - d. 4-30-1990
strings: (Jenkins String Band) "Crazy Water Crystals Barn Dance"
11-24-1877 - Alben Barkley - Lowes, KY - d. 4-30-1956
[removed] vice president: "Information Please"
12-06-1900 - Agnes Moorehead - Clinton, MA - d. 4-30-1974
actor: Margo Lane "The Shadow";  Marilly "Mayor of the Town"
12-31-1908 - Jonah Jones - Louisville, KY - d. 4-30-2000
jazz trumpeter: "Eddie Condon's Jazz Concert"; "Army Bandstand";
"Manhattan Melodies"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:45:02 -0400
From: Kurt Edwin Yount <blsmass@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  lost special

I sure do seem to recall that Orsen Wells was in lost special somewhere.
Is my memory going or did he do it somewhere else?  Kurt

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:45:36 -0400
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  SUSPENSE DISC

WONDERFUL!!!!!! THRILLING!!!
The  discovery of yet another 'lost' SUSPENSE show is a great find and I
congratulate  Randy on his persistence and good fortune.
I wonder if I  might presume upon him to photograph the disc label to share
with us all the  wondrous sight of such a thing as this disc from long ago?
We are all assuming he has the Gray turntable and stylus to allow himself the
 luxury one starry night to play that show for his ears only and so be this
first  to listen for many a decade to [removed]'tale well calculated.'
Standing by I am awaiting the moment when the rest of us might lend an ear to
 yet another Wellsian creation long lost in the dusty archives of time and
dark  dusty rooms.
"Look. Up above. It's  bird. It's a  [removed]'S ANOTHER RADIO DISC
DISCOVERY!!!
Keep  your eyes not to the skies but to the attics and radio station cellars
and homes  and swap meets all over the land. There are more out [removed]
know.
By the way I have just returned from closing my  vaults in Hollywood
containing all my books and records and  autographed first editions and
photos as well
as my reel-to-reel collection  which will arrive in New York some time
Mid-May.
I shall  then look upon that collection with renewed [removed] try to
find a place in  my house for these items, especially the numbered reels from
the
original  Pioneer Radio Collection I built from 1972 onwards.
Please  write me off list if you are interested in a reel-to-reel  collection.
It's going to be like an archeological 'dig'  to see them again.
    Onwards!!!
Michael C Gwynne

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:45:53 -0400
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  BASEBALL BROADCASTS

I have a dear friend who is  very ill and would love to hear some of the
baseball games of his youth  again
Specifically the 1947 Dodgers-Yankees World Series  games.
Being a New Yorker I am sure any games from that  era would be a delight to
him.
Since he is losing his  sight these would be a gateway to his imagination and
a real treasure for  him.
Anything you can do would be a great help.
Download sites are OK too as I have cable modem and  d'loading would be a
breeze.
I have been telling him about  the OTR Group and he finds it hard to believe.
Shall we  make another believer?
Write me off list if this is too  much.
Thanks  all.
Michael Gwynne

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:46:05 -0400
From: "W. Harris" <nbcblue@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  NBC Fourth Chime
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Correction on the URL, shouldn't post so late at night.

[removed]

B Harris

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

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:46:20 -0400
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: oldtimeradio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  SPERDVAC convention

If you're coming to the SPERDVAC convention this weekend (and if not, why
not!), don't miss the two recreations I'm directing on Saturday afternoon.
We'll be doing two uncirculated shows, an EASY ACES 30-minute show and a THE
FAT MAN "An Album for Murder", complete with Camel cigarette commercials.

Se you there!

Barbara

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:48:45 -0400
From: <vzeo0hfk@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Gassman brothers

Many subscribers to this digest may not know Larry Gassman who posted
recently. If the digest featured little bios of the big movers and shakers in
OTR, Larry and his twin brother John would probably be among the top ten that
we would be reading about.

Unfortunately, these two guys live on the remote West Coast (in California
territory) far from civilization. But they are big collectors and at least in
the past, they had a big role in SPERDVAC that bastion of a frontier OTR
organization. They were also extremely helpful to this OTR writer years ago
when he went hat in hand asking for access to some important resources while
I was researching my book.

It was nice to hear from you Larry!

Howard Blue in New York

[ADMINISTRIVIA: Howard was too kind to tell you that the Gassman brothers
have another clame to fame in this hobby; they are rivled only by Ed Clute
and Derek Tague in the Painful Pun department.  --cfs3]

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:54:39 -0400
From: "Jim Kitchen" <jkitchen@[removed];
To: "old time radio digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The Ghost Corps
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Recently listened to 2 Ghost Corps stories: Knives of El Malek and Prayer Rug
of Nana Sieb. They are 13 part stories of freelance diplomacy, intrigue and
mystery in the far east, similar to Chandu the Magician. C. D. Baker is the
Ghost Corps Chief with [removed] "KC" Smith as the Chief Operative assisted by
Ali.

Would like to know more about the Ghost Corps. A Google search indicates
several OTR Vendors have these two stories: otrcat labels this program
as a Mystery (1930s). Can't find any reference to this program by Dunning.
Are any more Ghost Corps stories available?

Jim Kitchen

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

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:48:41 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The price of books

A new Scarecrow Press catalog arrived and of interest to some readers of
this forum is the 2005 release currently being re-advertised, "Swining' on
the Etherwaves:  A Chronological History of African Americans in Radio and
Television Programming, 1925-1955" by Henry T. Sampson, "the first book to
fully document the historical contributions of African Americans to
broadcasting in the United States" in the period represented.

At 2,528 pages, this two-volume cloth-only edition could be especially
helpful to some who do research in the field.  But at $406, it's hardly a
bargain.  In fact, while I know some OTR hobbyists and historians who could
probably afford it, I can't think of any who have ordered -- or will be
ordering -- this expansive work.  It's regrettable that books, like gasoline
and a $[removed] gallon of milk I saw the other day in L. A., is being priced out
of sight for the average user.  (Libraries will order, but individuals
won't.)

Fortunately, most OTR publishers seemingly are continuing to hold the
line -- at least, so far -- at typical rates they have proffered in the last
decade.  While even those are beyond the reach of some and cause a few
releases to remain on permanent wish lists, we can be glad they haven't been
subjected to surcharges like airline tickets and other commodities.  Keep
your fingers crossed.

Most of you know that authors "earn" only a few pennies per book, and those
who don't assume the risks associated with self-publishing have no say in
the prices put on their texts.  When authors' travel, supplies, mailing,
telephone, computer, printer, rented or purchased photographs, professional
proofreading and indexing, research materials and assistance, and other
expenses (to say nothing of a writer's time) are added, most of the scribes
I know subsidize everything they produce -- many times over.  For some, none
of it was ever about the money anyway.  For yours truly, it was always about
discovering and preserving radio history.  And I suspect that holds true for
some others with similar proclivities.  The rewards are truly intrinsic --
and satisfying to a fault.

While we've discussed all of this before, it's good on rare occasions to
revisit it.  With the economy in such a depressing tailspin, now seems
particularly appropriate.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:48:49 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  5-1 births/deaths

May 1st births

05-01-1888 - Anna Appel - Bucharest, Romania - d. 11-19-1963
actor: Mrs. Cohen "Abie's Irish Rose"
05-01-1888 - [removed] Armstrong - Waverley, Australia - d. 11-18-1973
writer: "Drought"
05-01-1892 - Howard Barlow - Plain City, OH - d. 1-31-1972
conductor: "March of Time"; "Voice of Firestone"
05-01-1906 - Rose Hobart - NYC - d. 8-29-2000
actor: "Nightbeat"
05-01-1906 - "Little" Jackie Heller - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 7-15-1988
singer: "Ben Bernie, The Old Maestro"
05-01-1907 - Kate Smith - Washington [removed] - d. 6-17-1986
singer, emcee: (Songbird of the South) "Kate Smith Revue"; Kate Smith
Speaks"
05-01-1912 - Anna Pollak - Manchester, England - d. 11-28-1996
soprano: (English Opera Group) "BBC Third Programme"
05-01-1913 - Louis Nye - Hartford, CT - d. 10-9-2005
comedian: "Louis Nye Show"; "Official Detective"
05-01-1916 - Glenn Ford - Quebec, Canada - d. 8-30-2006
actor: Christopher London "Advs. of Christopher London"
05-01-1918 - Jack Paar - Canton, OH - d. 1-27-2004
comedian: "Jack Paar Show"; "Take It or Leave It"
05-01-1919 - Dan O'Herlihy - Wexford, Ireland - d. 2-17-2005
actor: Nicholas Lacey "One Man's Family"
05-01-1919 - John Meredyth Lucas - d. 10-19-2002
film director, producer: "Bud's Bandwagon"
05-01-1922 - Katy Abraham - Wayland, NY - d. 5-25-2005
gardening expert: "The Green Thumb"
05-01-1924 - Art Fleming - The Bronx, NY - d. 4-25-1995
host/announcer: "When Radio Was"
05-01-1924 - Dennis Main Wilson - Dulwich. London, England - d.
1-20-1997
producer: "Goon Show"; "Hancock's Half Hour"; "Citizen Smith"
05-01-1927 - Bill Byers - Los Angeles, CA - d. 5-1-1996
trombone, arranger: "Count Basie Orchestra"
05-01-1933 - Joan Hackett - NYC - d. 10-8-1983
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"

May 1st deaths

02-03-1907 - Paul Laven - d. 5-1-1950
writer: "The Bob Hope Show"
02-07-1866 - George Ade - d. 5-1-1944
humorist: WJZ New York City
03-06-1913 - Ella Logan - Glasgow, Scotlans - d. 5-1-1969
singer: "The Chase and Sanborn Hour"; "Kraft Music Hall"
03-27-1930 - Bob Larson - Los Angeles, CA - d. 5-1-2002
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-01-1927 - Bill Byers - Los Angeles, CA - d. 5-1-1996
trombone, arranger: "Count Basie Orchestra"
05-12-1910 - Gordon Jenkins - Webster Groves, MO - d. 5-1-1984
conductor, composer: "Everything for the Boys"; "Bob Burns Show"
05-21-1912 - Stephen Estaban Kelen - Budapest, Hungary - d. 5-1-2003
writer: "Fifty Years from Farrer"
06-30-1904 - Glenda Farrell - Enid,  Oklahoma Territory - d. 5-1-1971
opposing pitcher: "Quizzer's Baseball"
07-06-1938 - Luana Patten - Long Beach, CA - d. 5-1-1996
actor: "Martha Deane Show"; "Radio Reader's Digest"; "Hallmark
Playhouse"
08-04-1901 - Arcadie Berkenholz - d. 5-1-1975
violinist, orchestra leader: NBC Blue Network
09-15-1919 - Nelson Giddings - NYC - d. 5-1-2004
writer: "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon"
10-09-1912 - John L. Barrett - d. 5-1-1984
actor: "Covered Wagon Days"; "Lone Ranger"
11-05-1877 - Henry M. Neely - Philadelphia, PA - d. 5-1-1963
actor, writer, director, producer: "Fitch Bandwagon"
12-14-1911 - Spike Jones - Long Beach, CA - d. 5-1-1965
bandleader: "Bob Burns, The Arkansas Traveler"; "Spike Jones Show"
12-17-1906 - Martin Skiles - d. 5-1-1981
music: "Mr. Aladdin"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #110
*********************************************

Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
  including republication in any form.

If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
   [removed]

For Help: [removed]@[removed]

To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
  or see [removed]

For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
  in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]