Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #458
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 11/29/2002 9:03 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 458
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      New Winter Holidays SE mp3 collectio  [ "Paul Feavel" <paulfeavel@[removed] ]
      OTR Audio Restoration with Diamond C  [ Jpotter64@[removed] ]
      Broadcasting during the War Between   [ John Mayer <johnfmayer@[removed]; ]
      Re: NBC Inaugural Photos              [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Martin's Book, OTR's Greatest Themes  [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      Radio theme [removed]                  [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
      Re: Suspense Book Query               [ William Harker <wharker@[removed] ]
      Today in radio history 11/29          [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      The NBC Chimes                        [ BH <radioguy@[removed]; ]
      Collyer as Mr [removed]                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 22:21:10 -0500
    From: "Paul Feavel" <paulfeavel@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  New Winter Holidays SE mp3 collection from
     REPS

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

    Winter Holidays on the Radio, Second Edition is available for immediate
    delivery from the Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound (REPS).  Our annual
    Seattle OTR convention, Showcase 2003, will be held June 26 - 29 with
    details to be announced and registration forms available Saturday, Dec.
    7.

    Winter Holidays on the Radio SE comprises 20 Thanksgiving episodes, 58
    vintage Christmas shows, 2 new production from Jim French, 2 from the
    REPS Radio Readers and 20 programs for New Years from member
    collections, and include a mix of some all-time favorites and rare shows
    not generally known to survive which were transferred from original
    electrical transcriptions.

    Also on the disc is a new custom-built mp3 player based on the image of
    a gorgeous 1937 wood Packard Bell tabletop radio.  No computer knowledge
    or expertise is need to play these shows on a Windows-based PC.  Mac
    users and those with mp3-enabled cd or dvd players and portables can
    play these shows as they would any other mp3 file.

    This year's disc, like last year's sold-out edition, is intended to
    distribute a selection of terrific shows to OTR enthusiasts and to
    provide them with an intriguing, inexpensive holiday gift. The package
    is finished with professional full-color artwork, shrinkwrapped and
    ready to be gift wrapped.  Orders are shipped USPS priority mail (2-3
    day delivery coast-to-coast).

    Order forms were mailed 10 days ago, but some of our members from the
    East Coast, Midwest and Southwest and those areas account for nearly
    half the membership) report not having received those yet.  Order forms
    for members and non-members are posted on our website at
    [removed]  From the homepage, choose the 'Winter
    Holidays 2' button at lower left to go to details and the order forms.
    (Non-members ordering 3 or more discs will save by joining REPS and
    ordering at member rates.)

    REPS Secretary Joy Jackson can answer questions about orders at
    jjljackson@[removed]

    Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving and warm Winter [removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 22:21:16 -0500
    From: Jpotter64@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR Audio Restoration with Diamond Cut Tools

    A few days back there was a thread pertaining to audio restoration and a
    reference to Cool Edit.

    My purpose here is to make you aware of a software package that lends itself
    very nicely to restoring OTR. I am in no way connected with any of the
    vendors. I feel that you need to know what is out there. In fact the manual
    is worth the price of the software. Yes, you get a manual.

    Some of the filters are the Impulse Noise Filter that takes care of pops and
    clicks.

    The Continuous Noise Filter that takes care of   continuous noise. Hiss, Hum,
    in fact any noise or sound that is a constant throughout the recording.

    Filters that will handle rumble, hum, buzz and dropouts. These filters can be
    selectively applied to any part of the file and not encroach on the areas
    that are not a problem.

    Reverberation, Graphic Equalization and file conversions.

    My favorite is the Paste Interpolate feature. You zoom in on a particular
    area in the wave that is troublesome and paste interpolate. The software
    replaces the artifact with material that would have been there had not it
    been for the artifact. This works very well if the record has a crack. You
    would never know they were there when finished.

    How about those speed errors? There is change speed correction.

    The gain control will allow you to selectively raise the gain on dropouts, or
    lower if need be.

    The above are just a few of the tools in this software. You aren't confined
    to a single venue. It is super for 45's, LP's or just any source. In general,
    Diamond Cut is perfect for noise removal for any format.

    I have used the software for 4 years and it just keeps getting better.

    There is a bulletin board for users where if you have a problem on how to do
    something, the answer comes from the software developers. Where else can you
    communicate with the authors? They are interested because they use the
    software themselves. There are many knowledgeable users that will also assist
    you with your situation.

    There are Forensics filters and a program that is separate from the main
    program that will allow you to chain filters together (you can chain filters
    in any of the packages). You run the material through a sound card into the
    computer. Apply the filters and route it back out to your recording device.
    This is all in real time.

    You can go to the following site to download a trial of the software. It will
    be the latest release. Price wise there is no program that can touch it.

    The Diamond Cut site has the user group and other information.

    The Record Finder/Memory Lane Records also sells the software as well as all
    manner of equipment. A source for turntables, cartridges, styli and other
    electronic components as well.

    I too have used Cool Edit Pro, but found that the visual simplicity of
    Diamond Cut placed it head and shoulders of anything else out there. Except
    for the CEDAR systems.

    Jim

     <A HREF="[removed]">Tracer Technologies: Noise Reduction,
    Microphones, CD Recording,PC Audio hardwa</A>

     <A HREF="[removed]">Diamond Cut Productions, Inc</A>

     <A HREF="[removed]">[removed]</A>

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

    Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 22:19:34 -0500
    From: John Mayer <johnfmayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Broadcasting during the War Between the
     States

    "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed]; said, optimistically:

>      Now I doubt many people think that there were really microphones at
>      Gettysburg, Valley Forge, and the like.

    I don't know, Stephen, if you've seen the Jaywalking
    person-in-the-street interviews that Neil Crowley mentioned in the
    same [removed]

    I read that a Canadian host with a similar segment on his show stated
    the interviews were representative of a cross-section of those he
    encountered; [removed], he did not have to discard many for lack of a
    laugh. Another example of a product of American education: on a
    recent _Battle of the Jaywalk Allstars_ episode, a young lady
    speculated that the photo of the planting of the flag on Iwo Jima was
    Neil Armstrong and friends planting the flag on the moon. Apparently,
    though there's obviously not much rain, the air is breathable on the
    moon.

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

    Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 22:19:57 -0500
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: NBC Inaugural Photos

    On 11/27/02 11:11 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     Are there any pictures of this gala event? NBC spent
>     quite a lot of money on the opening, surely someone took a picture
>     or two.

    That's a good question. The only picture that I've seen published that
    seems to be authentic is one taken in the WEAF control room, showing
    chief operator O. B. Hanson supervising his team of technicians manning
    the consoles during the inaugural broadcast. I'm not 100 per cent sure of
    this one -- but there's nothing in it that automatically says "Not 1926."

    There are two photos commonly used by NBC and others to illustrate the
    inaugural broadcast, and we've all seen them many times: one showing Will
    Rogers standing at a podium and the other showing Weber and Fields in
    full comedy makeup performing a routine. Neither of these is an authentic
    1926 image -- as is clearly evident from the presence of RCA 4-A-P
    microphones in both photographs. The Weber and Field shot first shows up
    in radio fan magazines around the end of 1929, while the Rogers picture
    may date as late as 1932. (Both of these photos appear in the recent NBC
    75th Anniversary book, and were used simply because authentic 1926 photos
    were not available.)

    One interesting fact in connection with the coverage of the NBC inaugural
    is that it was heavily downplayed by Radio Digest, the most important
    fan-oriented magazine of the day. This is most likely because Radio
    Digest publisher E. C. Rayner was an outspoken critic of "chain
    broadcasting." He had regularly criticized AT&T's Red Network during
    1925-26, and considered the formation of NBC an objectionable attempt by
    "the Radio and Telephone interests" (GE, Westinghouse, RCA and AT&T) to
    consolidate corporate control of broadcasting and to deprive local
    broadcasters of airtime. As a result, the activities of NBC received
    comparatively little attention in the pages of Radio Digest during
    1926-27. The coming inaugural is mentioned in the November 15, 1926
    issue, in a brief article with no photos -- but there is no followup
    mention at all of the gala inaugural broadcast in the next issue, dated
    December 1st.

    Rayner didn't oppose "chain broadcasting" completely -- but he believed
    all network stations should be required to forfeit their local frequency
    allocations and instead be assigned to certain channels that would be
    specified as being for exclusive use of chain broadcasters. That way,
    more space on the broadcast spectrum would be freed up for local
    broadcasting, and there would be much less redundancy of content as
    listeners scanned across the dial. There were actually attempts to
    explore Rayner's idea of "synchronous broadcasting" -- for several years
    during the 1930s WJZ in New York and WBAL in Baltimore were assigned to
    share 760 kc during the evening hours as part of an experiment to
    determine whether undue interference would result -- but the idea never
    made much political progress, and by the 1940s it was forgotten.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 01:39:10 -0500
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Martin's Book, OTR's Greatest Themes

    "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed]; asked:

>      Besides John Berrima and Ted Kneebone and others on the

    Digest who have been encouraging me to do at least one more reprint - even
    if it's a small one - is there any interest?

    Happily, I have an autographed copy I bought from you in Cincinnatti
    a few years back. But why print it just as it was; with knowledge you
    have acquired since your first book came out, perhaps you could
    expand upon it sufficiently that true radio scholars would feel the
    need for the updated version. If you feel it was sufficiently
    exhaustive, perhaps there is yet something you could add. I've
    mislaid my copy - as it happens I just got it down recently to look
    up some bit of arcana for my nephew, a generation X OTR fan - but, if
    memory serves, it could profit from an index.

    As to the size of the edition, a friend of mine just published a book
    under the impress of 1st Books Library. I don't know much about them,
    but I gather they are in the business of "Just in Time" printing,
    [removed], they actually print and bind books, at least in part, as they
    are ordered. They distribute through Amazon, Borders, and several
    others. No doubt there are other such printers.

    Just a couple of [removed]
    Ruk77@[removed] ruminated:

>      It got me thinking about what people think are the best theme songs
>      from radio.

    Well, most of the very best ones had already made their mark in the
    world of Classical music. Do they count? My favorite in the day, and
    one that still pricks up the hairs on the back of my neck and causes
    me to pull my jacket closed, is the theme to Challenge of the Yukon
    (Overture to Doņa Diana). The theme to I Love a Mystery is a haunting
    one (Valse Triste). And it's hard to get the theme to No School Today
    out of your head (Teddy Bear's Picnic). As to original melodies, the
    theme to Gunsmoke is one of the most compelling (though I hated Matt
    Dillon as a boy; too bossy). The strange melody of The Whistler was
    rather avant garde; it was said at the time that few professional
    whistlers could master it) and the theme to X-1 was unique, scarcely
    a melody at all. There are so many great themes (no doubt you're
    familiar with the Themes Like Old Times albums), picking out the top
    50 would not be easy.  But, if you come up with a list that meets
    with broad OTR fan approval, and if the internet continues to swell
    the ranks of OTR fans, Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnatti Pops will put
    together a concert of great radio themes for a future Cincy Con.

    Finally, as I'm sure Mr. Crow and others will agree, at this time of
    the year the bittersweet strains of the theme to The Cinnamon Bear is
    sure to bring a lump to the throat of anyone who once shared his
    adventures.

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

    Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 10:46:38 -0500
    From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Radio theme [removed]

    Here are some of my favorite radio theme songs.

    Quiet, Please = Franck: Symphony in D minor (theme from one of the
    movements)
    Challenge of the Yukon = Reznicek: Dona Diana overture
    Longienes-Wittnauer program = Beethoven: Moonlight sonata (theme from 1st
    mvt.), and later in the     program, Beethoven: Symphony #5 (opening of last
    movement)
    Lone Ranger = Rossini: William Tell overture (last part) and for bridge
    music, many classical pieces.     That program launched me into a lifetime
    search for the rest of them! Then, thru this fine newsletter     discovered
    that many of the bridges were composed especially for the program.
    Halls of Ivy = ?
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra weekly concert:  Brahms: Symphony #1 (theme after
    the long                 intro of the first mvt.)

    Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
    OTR: [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 11:19:14 -0500
    From: William Harker <wharker@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re:  Suspense Book Query

    Concerning Mr. Grams request, I definitely would be interested.

    Bill Harker
    wharker@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 12:37:18 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in radio history 11/29

>     >From Those Were The Days --

    1950 - I Fly Anything, starring singer Dick Haymes in the role of cargo
    pilot Dockery Crane, premiered on ABC.

       Joe

    --
    Visit my home page:
    [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 13:50:40 -0500
    From: BH <radioguy@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The NBC Chimes

    It is reported that the three famous notes of broadcasting
    history, the NBC Chimes (G-E-C) were first broadcast on this day,
    November 29, 1929.

    The history of the chimes can be found at:

    [removed].

    Bill H.

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

    Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 20:27:16 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Collyer as Mr [removed]

    In Hal Stone's book, "[removed], Archie! Re-Laxx!," he says, and these are
    his exact words, "Bud Collier's (Collyer's) most notable radio credit was in
    the lead role of "Mr. District Attorney." I was under the impression that
    Collyer's most notable role was that of Superman.  The role of Mr. District
    Attorney was played by Dwight Weist, Raymond Edward Johnson, Jay Jostyn, (the
    best known for the role, and from Milwaukee) and David Brian. Is Hal's memory
    playing tricks on him? Of course at his age, I guess that is to be expected,
    just kidding Hal.

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Make your day just a little better, listen to Olde Tyme Radio!

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #458
    *********************************************

    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]