------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 01 : Issue 232
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Hasting's Who? [hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
Wanna bet, Bill [hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
MP3 collecting: What's the big hurry ["greg przywara" <orsonwelles3@home.]
Re: Other Credits? [hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
Pay attention Charlie [hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
CANCELLATION NOTICES ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
A Parley Baer story [Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
Shadow--live audiences [Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
John Dehner & Bob Bailey [Mike Ray <MRay@[removed]; ]
Player's names as characters ["Ed Kindred" <kindred@[removed]; ]
Sardi's, The Brown Derby and Forest ["Frank A McGurn, Jr" <fanjerclrad@j]
Ellery Queen radio shows ["Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm]
Jan Miner [William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];]
OTR Superheroes ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
Re: The greatest Radio Super Hero ["J. Pope" <jpope101@[removed]]
Re: Greatest or Favorite OTR SUPERHE [SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
Re:Some hard to find OTR programs [Kenneth L Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 11:38:20 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Hasting's Who?
DETBoss@[removed] asks.
Subject: Re: Bob Hastings
Hal Stone has referred to Bob Hasting on several occasions. Is this the same
Bob Hastings that played on McHale's Navy?
That's him! That's the same Bozo. It is the very same good looking, multi
talented, lovable individual. (He pays me two bits every time I say that!)
But in case your not aware, he also played the bartender on TV's "All in The
Family" [removed] "Archie's Place".
And the voice of the "Commissioner" on the Batman cartoon series, and he was
also on the soap "General Hospital."
I just realized the coincidence. Humph! "Archie Andrews" on "Archie's
Place".
But although [removed] will never admit it, he owes much of his successful career
to me. Although he was "Substantially" older than I (back in those good old
OTR days) he learned a lot when I let him hang around and observe my style.
:)
Hal(Harlan)Stone
"Jughead"
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 12:07:40 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Wanna bet, Bill
William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; said.
Someone mentioned organist George Wright as being the organist at the
Paramount Theater. I think George was a west coast organist. I Never knew
him.
Hey! Willy. That someone was me. Hal (Harlan) Stone, AKA Jughead, AKA
Forsythb P. Jones, AKA resident Digest Smart A**.
George may have been a West Coast Organist (eventually), But in the Golden
Age of Radio, he was firmly planted in [removed], and for many years, the
organist on the "Archie Andrews program over the "Bing, Bong, Bing" Network.
Bill, weren't you a CBS Engineer?. (That "other" upstart network the carried
the "Henry Aldrich" show).
However Lew White was the the Paramount organist as well as doing
radio shows.
Wanna Bet? Remember the typical NYC wager, with the payoff being, "I'll (you
know what) in Macy's window?. (Is Macy's still there?) :)
I'll grant you one thing, William. We may both be right. It could be we are
talking about different time frames. Lew may have preceeded George at the
Paramount, or followed him, but George Wright played the big pipe organ
there for a long time.
Unless it was Lew who snuck me in the stage door (many times) to see the
Paramount movies and Stage Shows, and used George Wrights name?
By the way, you could help me out with some research instead of paying off
the bet with the Macy's window thing. I assume the Radio Engineers were a
small fraternity in [removed] Did you know any of the NBC staff? I'm trying to
remember the last names of the two great guys that worked the "Archie" Show
over its 10 year period. The first one was "Doc" something or other. (We
just called him "Doc"). And the second, (He did the program the longest),
was named "Gene" something or other. Would you happen to have a Union
Directory laying around with the names of these [removed] NBC guys?
Ah! You also mentioned Jan Minor. The love of my raging hormonal teenage
life.
Anybody out there holding the bet about George playing at the Paramount? :)
Hal(Harlan)Stone
"Jughead"
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 12:22:50 -0400
From: "greg przywara" <orsonwelles3@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: MP3 collecting: What's the big hurry?
A follow-up to last week's gripe about the downside of MP3 trading:
Being a cashier at one of the busiest supermarkets in Madison,WI (Woodman's)
I am all for efficiency and getting things done the quickest way possible.
Unfortunately, I do not support doing a half-assed job and this is what a
few individuals(and I am not pointing fingers here) do when they encode and
label programs for online archives like [removed]
and CD-rom trades. When I digitize programs from tape, I take pride in my
work and try to make sure that the files are labeled properly and the audio
quality is good enough that I could play them for my grandmother and she
wouldn't have to sit with her ear pressed up against the speaker to get
anything out of it. I have heard some mp3'd programs that have so many disc
skips and distortion issues I've had to pitch them. It is also frustrating
when I download something that judging from the filename is a program I
don't have and then when I listen to it I find it is something I've heard a
dozent times before.
By far the goofiest thing I've witnessed is people who forget to check if
their files are truly in mp3. I recently recieved a CD-rom in the mail on
which two files were completely invalid because the trader forgot to make
sure that the letters ".mp3" followed the show title. The format was listed
as "file", making the shows completely unplayable. And these were a couple
of programs I REALLY wanted to hear.
In my opinion, a lot of these practices come from the fact that too many
people are entirely too hasty to collect tons of free programs in one
trade/download without taking into consideration exactly how long it will
take to listen to these shows. And then they upload them to the ftp servers
or swap them without listening to them first to see if they sound OK or if
they're labeled properly.
So please fellow digital traders listen before you upload/trade. OTR is not
going to become extinct tomorrow so you have plenty of time to collect all
the great old shows that are out there.
Happy Listening
Greg Przywara
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 12:22:52 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Other Credits?
Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed]; asks Harlan Stone
I hate to direct yet another request to him.
What the Heck! What's one more?
<SNIP> He may be saving it for,,,,,The Book!
Gotta hold something back, Dennis. But then again, I may just save all these
digest "Postings", staple them together, put a cover on 'em, and palm it off
as a "Book." (And then watch me get "Tarred and Feathered" and run out of
OTR on a Rail!)
Mr. Stone will be appearing at the Queen Anne Library in Seattle at 2:00
[removed] on Saturday, November 3. He is the guest speaker at the REPS (Radio
Enthusiasts of Puget Sound) monthly meeting.
And I'm looking forward to it. (Thanks for the plug!)
I'd be interested if Hal could share anything about appearances on those
programs other than Archie.
Since my Radio Performer days were 50/60 years ago, I have no sharp
recollections about specific shows. From age 8 till 23, I, (or my family)
didn't bother to keep records. And the only main source that documented my
prior credits was the printed Radio Registry cards that I happened to find
among my memorabilia. These were the 3 X 4 postcards that listed an Actor's
"Credits" and were annually sent by mail (or handed out) to any and all who
were responsible for casting the Radio Programs of that period. (Directors,
Agency Casting Director's, etc.)
These "Cards" had to be continually updated and revised over the years,
based on the additional program credits that an actor would amass. And these
"cards" rarely indicated the frequency of appearances on any given program,
unless it was the lead, or a long running part. That's why I remember and
can document performing on the shows that are mentioned in my Bio. (It's in
the Cards!) If a performer was busy, the shows all became somewhat of a blur
over the years. Particularly for a teenager interested in other things. Like
discovering Girls! :)
The only other specific "record" of a performance remaining in my possession
was the "Playbill" from a Theatre Guild of the Air episode. The Producers
printed up a "Theatre Program" for the audience much like the ones handed
out when attending a stage play. So in that instance, I know the title of
the show, and the part I played on it. (And I'll print a copy of it in the
book). See, I am holding back some stuff. :)
But as you might imagine, after 9 years playing "Jughead", I can remember
those shows a little clearer. And some of the other one's I appeared on in
the early 50's.
But what I do recall, quite vividly, was my fellow Actors and Actresses that
I worked with over my 15 year OTR span, the atmosphere in the "Work Place",
and certain interesting events that occurred. Those will be forever etched
in my memory. Not what parts I played on many of the other programs. Sorry
'bout that! :)
Also, I am wondering if Conrad Binyon and Hal competed for roles and if
they knew each other in their wonderful radio days.
Nope, Conrad was West Coast ([removed]), I was East Coast ([removed])
We only recently got to "know" each other via e-mail. Our only other common
ground is that we are both ex-Air Force. Conrad was a "Jet Jockey". I was
.........(Well,as you said, "you'll just have to wait for,,,,, The Book!")
I'd be too embarrassed to bring it up here in the Digest!
And I can't resist asking. Did either run into Harry Bartell? Did Hal or
Conrad appear with Harry?
I did not have the pleasure of knowing or working with Mr. Bartell. (Again,
wrong "coast"). But I bet Conrad did. My only connection with Harry is that
we have mutual Performer friends who went from NY to LA.
Maybe we could have a party, right here on this Digest! Do you suppose?
[ADMINISTRIVIA: I thought we were having one pretty much every day? ;)
--cfs3]
Sure Charlie. Where's the booze and Hors D'oeuvre's? *^#&$#)* Cheapskate!
Hal(harlan)Stone
"Jughead"
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 12:23:42 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Pay attention Charlie
TedOTR@[removed] Just Posted as follows:
Subject: A Drink For Hal Stone
Hal Stone writes (or quotes - I get mixed up soo easy)
<snip>
[ADMINISTRIVIA: [removed]! ;)
Hold off there Mr. ADMINISTRIVIA. NOT SO FAST! [removed] You notice what
MY Good Buddy Ted has as a subject Heading. It distinctly reads, "A Drink
for Hal Stone".
To paraphrase the StarKist commercial. "Sorry Charlie! Only the Best Tuners
are chosen" (As in OTR) :)
Gad, What a dreadful pun! Mea Culpa everyone!
Hal(Harlan)Stone
"Beerhead"
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 12:47:15 -0400
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: CANCELLATION NOTICES
This is for the Media members of the Digest, Hal Stone, Harry Bartell, etc.
When we were doing a show here in Baltimore, we would only have a week's
notice that the show would be cancelled with the Friday's broadcast. Did
the Networks give such short notices that a series was going to be
cancelled? And how did you find other shows to do?
Owens Pomeroy
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 13:06:10 -0400
From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: A Parley Baer story
The discussion of organ music sparked this memory:
A few years ago I had the opportunity to chat with Parley Baer, and he
told me that before he became an actor he was a radio studio engineer at
KSL-Salt Lake City, the home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, whose
broadcasts were heard around the nation on the CBS radio network.
Parley worked on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcasts with two other
audio engineers, and though Utah is LDS country, none of these three
engineers were Mormons.
His punch line: "So what the nation didn't know is that the Mormon
broadcast they heard every Sunday morning was brought to them courtesy of
a Jew, a Protestant, and a Catholic."
---Dan
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 13:06:19 -0400
From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Shadow--live audiences
Don't know the year, but a friend of mine whose father was band director
for Kate Smith told me that when she was a little girl (late '40's or
early '50's), her father took her to a Shadow broadcast.
She was sorely disappointed that when the Shadow appeared, Lamont did not
become invisible: "He just walked into this phone booth on stage and it
changed his voice."
And there's no Santa Claus, either.
---Dan
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 14:46:06 -0400
From: Mike Ray <MRay@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: John Dehner & Bob Bailey
I was wondering if I might pose this
question to our friend Harry Bartell.
Harry you worked with John Dehner
and Bob Bailey a number of times in
your carrier. I was wondering what
type of people were they to work with.
and did you ever socialize with either
one away from the studio.
Thank you for your kind consideration.
Best regards,
Mike Ray
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 16:28:26 -0400
From: "Ed Kindred" <kindred@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Player's names as characters
I have been going through an Escape marathon the last few days (thanks to
MP3 disks). Today, about 50 shows into the marathon I heard an episode
with a Conrad in the Andes and another with John Dehner playing a Tony
Dehner traipsing across China. So far no Lovejoy, Bartell or Frees.
Ed Kindred
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 16:28:23 -0400
From: "Frank A McGurn, Jr" <fanjerclrad@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Sardi's, The Brown Derby and Forest Lawn ETC
There are advantages to being an old man, I heard a lot of radio in my
youth. Living in the mid west I didn't know about the west coast places
that got laughs from the audience. As I listened, I learned that Forest
Lawn was (or is) a large cemetery in Los Angles. I also learned that
Sardi's and the Brown Derby were very popular restaurants in LA, where
the stars dined. Important to be seem there. I learned because they used
these place over and over. So I put two and two together and figured out
what they were.
Most of the radio comedians and their writers used these place for some
comic situations. Remember the writers were in California as was the
studio audience. They were aware of these places.
If you remember all the big stars entertained at military installations
around the country during the was years. The comedians and the writers
all made jokes about the small towns, the local Beer Joints, the officers
at the base. They brought the house down. We, listening at home, had no
idea what was being talked about.
So it no wonder the young people hearing the old shows don't relate to
the various land marks or night spots.
When I was 11 or 12 years old what did Anaheim, Azusa & Cucamonga mean
to me except Mel Blank made it funny the way he said it, or the La braya
Tar Pits also sounded funny. The audience laughed, that was the goal.
Frank McGurn
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 16:49:54 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Ellery Queen radio shows
If anyone has any photos of the Ellery Queen radio series, and wouldn't mind
loaning them for a short time, please contact me. I am in the midst of
completing the rough draft of THE RADIO ADVENTURES OF ELLERY QUEEN and I and
my co-author only have about four photos. We'll be more than glad to give
photo credit, and we'd only need to borrow them, we can return them as soon
as the book is completed printing.
Martin Grams, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 16:49:59 -0400
From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jan Miner
I made a typo in my posting about Casey, Crime Photographer. I said that
Jan Miner played Jan Miner, She played Ann Williams, Casey's girl friend.
Bill Murtough
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 17:30:47 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR Superheroes
Allen Wilcox asks,
"Who do you think was the greatest Super Hero?"
Okay, but "superhero" better be agreed upon. A superhero, by
definition, has powers beyond those of humans. This eliminates The Lone
Ranger, Captain Midnight, The Green Hornet, Tom Mix, Nick Carter,
Sherlock Holmes, The Fat Man, Mr. Keen, etc., etc., etc. So who are
radio's superheroes?
The Shadow, Superman, Chandu the Magician, and folk of that ilk.
The Shadow was one of my favorite shows, but if I had to be pinned down
to "the greatest," I'd have to go with Chandu.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 17:43:56 -0400
From: "J. Pope" <jpope101@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: The greatest Radio Super Hero
My favorite is, without question, the Lone Ranger. Hi yo Silver,
awayyyyyyy!
Jennifer
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 18:46:27 -0400
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Greatest or Favorite OTR SUPERHERO
In a message dated 7/18/01 10:44:48 AM, Allen Wilcox writes:
Hello everyone? By reading these articles, from time to time, that every
one has an opinion on what was their favorite subject. And I would like to
get
some feed back from people on, "Who do you think was the greatest Super
Hero?" I know that a lot of people think that The Shadow is the ultimate
radio hero. But there are a lot of others who may think different. Even if
you think that The Shadow is the one, who comes in second? I myself love The
Green Hornet.
***Will, I guess that depends on what one's definition of " radio superhero"
is. After all, The Green Hornet doesn't possess superpowers, while the radio
Shadow possesses mystic abilities that his pulp predecessor did not. And
again, the Lamont Cranston version of The Shadow didn't originate on radio so
I wonder if either The Shadow and Superman truly qualify as "radio
superheroes."
Superman also didn't originate on radio (though the radio series did
introduce Jimmy Olsen and Perry White, kryptonite, the Superman-Batman team
and the expanded origin story with Rozan and the Kryptonian science council).
And the SUPERMAN radio series had a daily audience of around 5 1/2 million
listeners, compared to ACTION COMICS monthly circulation of 800,000 copies
(not counting passalong readers) and [removed] million sales of the SUPERMAN
bimonthly . . . which means the radio show's audience was much larger than
the comic book's . . . but may still have been dwarfed by the huge readership
of the newspaper comic strip. So does Superman qualify as a "radio
superhero"? Or to take up the other side, did he still qualify as a "comic
book superhero" after the radio series and newspaper strip began dwarfing the
comic book audience (which is one reason both movie serials were based on
radio storylines instead of the comic books)?
If the non-superpowered Batman qualifies as a "superhero" and The Green
Hornet qualifies as a "radio superhero," then I would think that his
great-uncle must too, so I guess I'd have to cast my vote for "the daring and
resourceful masked rider of the plains" as the greatest "radio superhero,"
especially considering his 23-year radio run in more than 3000 broadcasts . .
.
. . . though it is a little-known secret that I am personally quite fond of
the man of mystery who was "never seen, only heard." --ANTHONY TOLLIN (who
points out that "greatest" and "favorite" are not necessarily the same thing)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 18:46:25 -0400
From: Kenneth L Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:Some hard to find OTR programs
The subject of this installment may be a bit misleading.
Recently, I received three tapes of OTR programs as a gift.
The programs included "The Cavalcade of America", "Mystery
House", "Mystery In The Air", and "Tarzan". I found broadcast
dates for "Cavalcade of America" and "Tarzan", but not the
other two.
I tried looking in John Dunning's "Encyclopedia of OTR Radio"
and J. Fred MacDonald's "Don't Touch That Dial", but with
little or no luck. Does anyone have broadcast dates and/or
a brief outline of "Mystery In The Air" and "Mystery House"?
Any help will be appreciated.
Kenneth Clarke
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #232
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