Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #302
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 10/3/2005 12:47 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 302
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Don't Touch That Dial                 [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
  Re: Need Help with Shadow ad          [ "Candy Jens" <candyj@[removed]; ]
  Lifebuoy Soap, etc.                   [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
  70 Year OTR Mystery Solved            [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
  Gildy's Song                          [ Carla Bjork <cbjork@[removed]; ]
  Congratulations Martin                [ "david rogers" <david_rogers@hotmai ]
  WFLA, WFLA and WFLA                   [ "Jed Dolnick" <jdolnick@[removed] ]
  Let George Do it                      [ "Rick Botti" <rbotti@[removed]; ]
  radio acting                          [ "karl tiedemann" <karltiedemann@hot ]
  Did you know ...?                     [ "WILLIS G Saunders" <saunders8@veri ]
  Kerouac, Dylan & Digital              [ "Mike Hobart" <zines50@[removed]; ]
  uncirculated or not                   [ "ed carr" <edcarr@[removed]; ]
  WAAB - WTAG                           [ RBB <oldradio@[removed]; ]
  10-3 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Transcription, Audio, mp3             [ "Austotr" <austotr@[removed]; ]
  Tom Mix Music                         [ <whhsa@[removed]; ]
  The Play's the Thing                  [ seandd@[removed] ]
  BACKSEAT DRIVER                       [ DurangoKid@[removed] ]

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 15:40:30 -0400
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Don't Touch That Dial

On Monday, October 3 from midnight to 3 am Tuesday, "Don't Touch That Dial"
with Barbara Sunday and Bobb Lynes airs on KPFK [removed] FM (and [removed] in Santa
Barbara) and streams on the web at [removed]  Our in-studio guest
will be Jim Harmon, pioneer old time radio host and author. Jim will co-host
and talk about his early experiences in the OTR hobby and the OTR books he
has authored, including "The Great Radio Heroes", "The Great Radio
Comedians", "Jim Harmon's Galaxy", "Radio and TV Premiums" and "Jim Harmon's
Nostalgia Catalog."  He'll also bring a couple of uncirculated radio
programs to share with listeners.

Roy of Hollywood will continue on "Something's Happening"  with more OTR
until 5:30 am with Lux Radio Theatre "Les Miserables" starring Ronald Colman
with Robert Newton and Deborah Paget (12-22-520, Lux Radio Theatre
"Wuthering Heights" starring Ida Lupino and Basil Rathbone (11-4-50) and
Favorite Story "Moby Dick" starring William Conrad, Howard Duff and Frank
Lovejoy (1946).

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 16:36:55 -0400
From: "Candy Jens" <candyj@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Need Help with Shadow ad

Worcester sounds like Massachusetts. So if stations WAAB and WTAG or any
of
these businesses ring any bells, please let me know off-list.

Derek Tague

Yes, both stations are/were in Worcester, MA.  I'm replying to the list
because the source might be of help to others.  I got the info from a
soft-cover book, "Highway Radio," Third Edition (c. 1991), by William Stank.
It lists all the AM and FM stations by call letters and by state (with
maps), giving power and type of broadcast.  There are even a few pages
devoted to TV stations.

Apparently it's no longer printed, but I just found that copies of the1989
version are available online (Google "William Stank").  Might be a project
for an OTR fan - the raw data must be available from the FCC - ?

Candy

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 19:09:47 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Lifebuoy Soap, etc.

Richard Langham's mention of Lifebuoy soap, which sponsored some shows on
OTR (possibly Truth or Consequences?  All I can remember is the
commercial with "Lifebuoy really stops BO," with the last two letters
underscored with a foghorn sound) spawned a schoolyard joke:

Can I hold your palm, Olive?
Not on your life, boy.

Ah, these trivial memories

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 19:10:04 -0400
From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  70 Year OTR Mystery Solved

The identity of the actress who played the title lead in "Phyl Coe
Mysteries" in the late 30s has frustrated OTR historians for nearly 70
years. Now an OTR researcher from Utah, Jim Jones, using the resources
of "ProQuest", an internet archival service, has solved that enduring
mystery. Phyl Coe was played by Peggy Allenby and her boyfriend on that
series, Tom, was the voice of Clayton "Bud" Collyer.

Like several other radio historians, I had hoped to crack this case
before my book went to press. However PRIVATE EYELASHES was published
in the spring of 2004, and while I could take credit for identifying
the musical theme of that series ("Caucasian Sketches" by Mikhail
Ippolitov-Ivanov) I was unable to discover Phyl's "secret identity." So
I ended my section in the book about this series by saying:

  "Perhaps some vintage radio historian will eventually uncover the
identity of the woman who was the voice of esteemed lady criminologist,
Phyl Coe, and put an end to her final mystery."

Jim Jones has done just that.

My personal thanks to two Digesters:  Irene Heinstein of San Francisco
and Ian Grieve of Australia, both of whom noticed Jim's recent post on
Yahoo's OTR Researcher's Group, and put Jim in touch with me. Jim has
since furnished me with copies of all relevant news articles, plus his
spread sheet on the broadcast airings in the fall/winter of 1937.

Jay Hickerson will incorporate this new information in the next edition
of his "Ultimate Guide."

Jack French
<[removed]>

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 19:10:11 -0400
From: Carla Bjork <cbjork@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Gildy's Song

Does anyone know what the winning title was for the "Name the Song Contest"
on the Great Gildersleeve program back in the 40's? I have listened to the
episodes where the winners names were announced (some won cars and/or cash
prizes!) but the actual winning title was not mentioned. Maybe someone out
there recalls the title, or has found it listed somewhere. I'd like to see
if lyrics and music are available for this song, but I need the title first.

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 19:13:54 -0400
From: "david rogers" <david_rogers@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Congratulations Martin

Congratulations on the wedding Martin and Michelle.

As my father said to me when I told him we wanted to get married, "I'm a
suffering, why shouldn't you."

Love as always, David Rogers

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 19:25:37 -0400
From: "Jed Dolnick" <jdolnick@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  WFLA, WFLA and WFLA

This made me really curious, so I did some surfing. WFLA (540) in Orlando is
actually licensed as WPLF, and WFLA (1270) in Tallahassee is really WNLS!
The "flagship" station in Tampa is the real WFLA. All of the stations are
owned by Clear Channel. From what I understand, the make-believe WFLA's use
those call letters as slogans, and get away with it by obscurely giving
their true call letters every hour. They do a good job of hiding their true
call letters even on their web pages. I don't know if this is done elsewhere
in the country. One more example of "homogenizing" by media behemoths like
Clear Channel.

Jed

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 19:32:53 -0400
From: "Rick Botti" <rbotti@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Let George Do it

I'm a fan of detective shows like Johnny Dollar, Richard Diamond, etc.
Recently I've started listening to Let George Do it starring Bob
Baily. It my opinion Mr. Bailey made the Johnny Dollar program stand
out from the early shows that seemed to be more of a Richard Diamond
or Sam Spade Wanta-Be. The Baily episodes were the best of the Your
Truly Johnny Dollar program.

So far I've listened to about 8 episodes of Let George Do it, but in
that time I've noticed a big change in the general direction of the
show. The early days had George as someone looking for working doing
all kinds of odd jobs. It was supposed to be funny and up beat. The
direction changed to a hard boiled private eye.

Anyone know why the change in plot?

Rick Botti
rick@[removed]

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 20:10:22 -0400
From: "karl tiedemann" <karltiedemann@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  radio acting

The opinion was offered some time back that actors in NTR are more likely to
sound as if they're merely reading from a script than do actors in OTR.  I
would suggest that it's a question of where the NTR is from.  Certainly,
over many years, I've been very impressed by the verisimilitude and
conviction of most of the performances on the BBC.  And I just acquired a
booklet by Bert Coules, who wrote most of the adaptations for the recent BBC
Sherlock Holmes radio series, that told a bit about why this should be.  The
writer comments on how most people envision a radio production as a pretty
simple affair, but:

"The production of even a straightforward radio drama is a much more complex
affair than that. Yes the actors read their lines from their scripts but in
almost every other respect they perform the roles as if on the stage or in
front of the camera.  They move around sets, come in and out of doors, they
sit, they stand, they run, they walk. Scripts permitting, they handle props
-books, guns, walking sticks-and if their hands are too tied up and get
their hands hard to find out, then these things are dealt with for them by a
sound effects expert who weaves silently in and out of the action like a
surreal ballet [removed]"

There's also a photo on Mr. Coules' website, of Clive Merrison as Sherlock
Holmes, website that gives a further indication of how this all works out.
Go to:
[removed]

His booklet, incidentally, is a pretty good read.  It's essentially the
story of the production of the Merrison-Williams Holmes series, with a good
deal about the mechanics of adaptation, etc.  As both a Holmes and OTR fan,
I found it quite interesting (if, arguably, a bit pricey at $15 for 76
pages).  And it's certainly heartening to hear about how alive and kicking
radio drama can still be.

                    --  Karl Tiedemann

END.

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 23:06:52 -0400
From: "WILLIS G Saunders" <saunders8@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Did you know ...?

    Hi Folks,

When, several issues ago, when people were discussing Dorothy Kilgallen in
the OTR Digest, I didn't note any mention of her career as a radio actress.
I don't know how lokng it lasted, because I remember only three shows on
which I heard her.

I think it was sometime around 1950, and she acted in three "Chandu:  The
Magician: scripts, starring Tom Collins as Chandu.  In these scripts, she
played a newspaper reporter friend of Chandu's named Dorothy Kilgallen.  The
reason I remember this is:  In the last of these shows I heard, John Larkin
played a villain for the first time, to my knowledge.  Wow!  What a letdown,
after hearing him play so many good guys before then!

I hope somebody besides me can get some good use ouut of this information.

Buck Saunders

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 23:07:17 -0400
From: "Mike Hobart" <zines50@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Kerouac, Dylan & Digital

Regarding recent comments :

1.  some people have been talking about Kerouac and Dylan as persons rather
than what they were like as creative artists;  I'm reminded of Alec Guiness
who once said "Never go backstage to meet the artist --  you'll only be
disappointed."

2. AM versus Digital  --  I once heard digital referred to as a
falling-off-a-cliff medium because usually it either worked fine or it
didn't work at all, there was no in-between.   Hence the differing results
with your old AM radio to a modern digital.

3.  Bless the FGRA -- long may their efforts continue.

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

Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 23:07:58 -0400
From: "ed carr" <edcarr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  uncirculated or not

hi
since the subject of uncirculated shows came up it had me wondering, so i
checked a few
piles and this is what i came up with so far.
does anyone have these, the aldrich family prog #13-part 2, prog#14-part
1(16in)
also i checked so far i came up with my son jeep 15min 4 shows,oct 4,5,6,7
these are in circulation, but i have my son jeep aug 2 1955 prog 4-30min,
prog 6-30min prog 7 30min
are these uncirculated? also a show called "happy the humbug" 15min #1/2
ed

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

Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 07:51:29 -0400
From: RBB <oldradio@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  WAAB - WTAG

<<Derek Tague asked about the Worcester, MA radio stations advertising
THE SHADOW and DEAR JOHN programs>>>

WAAB 1440AM was originally a Lexington, MA station then a Boston station
which was moved to Worcester, MA by John Shepard - a department store
owner and legendary radio pioneer broadcaster in the early 1940's. He
crafted The Yankee Network with the familiar show opening, "News while
it is [removed]"  and The Colonial Network, (a short lived network)
organizing stations in New England.

Shepard owned another station in Boston, WNAC 1260AM at the same time
when the FCC outlawed duopolies, so rather than sell it, he moved WAAB
to another market, Worcester. (It is on the air today as a sports
station, WVEI a satellite signal for Boston's WEEI.  WAAF is an FM call
in Worcester even today.

WTAG 580AM was owned by the Worcester Telegram and Gazette newspaper - a
heritage station from the 1920's and it is on the air today with the
same call letters.  It was a CBS network affiliate (as was WEEI, then at
590AM) and listeners could hear
the same old time radio, network shows driving from Boston to almost the
upstate NY state line in Western Massachusetts.  Because of the
adjacency of the two frequencies, 580 and 590, the audio signals would
merge.

So, Derek, the answer to your posted question about the newspaper ads
for THE SHADOW, DEAR JOHN  programs and the other advertisers is
"Worcester, MA" and it was probably published in the Worcester Daily
Telegram or in The Evening Gazette after 1943.

=Russ Butler  (...who grew up listening to Boston stations with a Philco
cathedral radio and there was a "WAAB 1440 Boston" indicator on the dial
with the glowing orange light!  Thanks to Donna Halper for her research
article on John Shepard in the Boston Radio Archives)

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

Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 07:51:36 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  10-3 births/deaths

October 3rd births

10-03-1873 - Emily Post - Baltimore, MD - d. 9-25-1960
commentator: "Emily Post"; "Right Thing to Do"
10-03-1881 - George Moran - Elwood, KS - d. 8-1-1949
comedian: (Two Black Crows) "Majestic Theatre of the Air"; "Eveready Hour"
10-03-1890 - Henry Hull - Louisville, KY - d. 3-8-1977
actor: Honest Abe "Abraham Lincoln"; Nathan Hale "Roses and Drums"
10-03-1898 - Leo McCarey - Los Angeles, CA - d. 7-5-1969
judge: "This Is My Story"
10-03-1898 - Morgan Farley - Mamaroneck, NY - d. 10-11-1988
actor: "Escape"
10-03-1899 - Gertrude Berg - New York City, NY - d. 9-14-1966
actress: Molly Goldberg, "Goldbergs"
10-03-1910 - Gwen Davenport - Colon, Canal Zone, Panama - d. 3-23-2002
author: "Lux Radio Theatre"
10-03-1911 - Michael Hordern - Berkhamsted, England - d. 5-2-1995
actor: Gandolf "The Lord of the Rings"
10-03-1916 - James Alfred "Alf" Wight - Sunderland, England - d. 2-23-1995
author: James Herriot Books

October 3rd deaths

01-23-1919 - Millard Lampell - d. 10-3-1997
co-founder of the Almanac Singers: "Treasury Star Parade"
02-24-1914 - Zachary Scott - Austin, TX - d. 10-3-1965
actor: "Suspense"; "Encore Theatre"; "[removed] Steel Hour"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
05-17-1903 - Artie Auerbach - New York City, NY - d. 10-3-1957
actor: Mr. Kitzel "Jack Benny Program"
06-04-1917 - Charles Collingwood - Three Rivers, MI - d. 10-3-1985
newscaster: CBS News UN Correspondent/White House Correspondent
06-13-1911 - Maurice Copeland - Rector, AR - d. 10-3-1985
actor: Augustus Pendelton "Ma Perkins"; "Curtain Time"; "Hall of Fantasy"
07-06-1927 - Janet Leigh - Merced, CA - d. 10-3-2004
actress: "Cresta Blanca Hollywood Players" - Radio Debut
07-17-1914 - Eleanor Steber - Wheeling, WV - d. 10-3-1990
singer: "Voice of Firestone"; "[removed] Fox Trappers"
09-17-1928 - Roddy McDowall - London, England - d. 10-3-1998
panelist: "Keep Up with the Kids"
09-20-1896 - Si Wills - Pennsylvania - d. 10-3-1977
writer: (Husband of Joan Davis) "Joan Davis Time"
11-30-1913 - John K. M. McCaffrey - Moscow, ID - d. 10-3-1983
newscaster: "Author Meets the Critics"; "What Makes You Tick?"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 07:52:45 -0400
From: "Austotr" <austotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Transcription, Audio, mp3

In issue #300 Harlan Zinck mentioned

The thing is that unless a person pays very, VERY little for a
transcription, there is no guarantee that they will recoup their
investment -- especially after the show(s) it contains hit the MP3
collectors. (It's hard to describe a disk as "rare" after thousands of
people were able to get the show(s) it contains for free.)

Its a fair statement, however does an mp3 or 1,000 mp3 copies equal a
Transcription Disc and audio copies.  Does having 1,000 circulating copies
in mp3 devalue the one and only Transcription Disc or do the mp3 copies make
people aware of the show contained on the Transcription?  Subsequent
reissues of books do not devalue the 1st Edition.  Nor do copies or prints
of works of art, in fact they all help to spread the fame of the original.
I would rather have the original where it is possible or as low generation
copy as possible.

I also agree with the spirit of Harlan's previous statements on supporting
OTR clubs, Transcription Buying groups and helping out with buying or
assisting others to buy the originals.

Mp3 has introduced so many people into OTR and whilst there has been quality
issues with mp3 just as there has been with cassettes and reels, there are a
lot of mp3 people working hard to correct naming issues, logs, speed
problems etc that have been incorrect since long before mp3 came along.
There are a lot of Collectors, Dealers, Researchers and listeners of all
formats working together to fix past mistakes as well as recent mistakes.
But Low Generation, close as possible to the original, well recorded
episodes still beat the general run of all formats.  Transcriptions still
sell if an mp3 copy is in circulation, they are different markets.

Ian

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

Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 08:41:59 -0400
From: <whhsa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Tom Mix Music

Dear Folks;
Peace.
My friend, Jack French, mentioned the varied lyrics for the Ralston Straight
Shooter song, however he failed to mention (or left it for to me to do) that
Straight Arrow's side kick Packy McCloud as Fred Howard wrote the music for
the Ralston jingle, which is actually the tune for When The Bloom Is On The
Stage (or Round Up Time In Texas). This song was co-written by Fred and Nat
Vincent in 1930 and recorded by the Beverly-Hill-Billies. Fred and Nat, also
recorded it as the Happy Chappies as well as Bing Crosby and many others. It
and another popular western song co-written by Fred and Nat, I'd Like To Be
In Texas For The Round Up In The Spring can still be heard today.
Manituwah
Bill
Watch for the definitive book on Straight Arrow-riding your way soon!

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

Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 12:02:49 -0400
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Play's the Thing

Terry Teachout wrote about an audio drama program on XM Satellite Radio
supported by the LA Theatre Works that recreates great plays in audio format
in Saturday's Wall Street Journal.

It's called "The Play's the Thing," and apparently airs weekly.

Teachout's article is a review of the company's production of "The Great
Tennessee Monkey Trial," a play based on the same case that inspired "Inherit
the Wind."

The article is not online but information can be found at [removed].

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 14:45:17 -0400
From: DurangoKid@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  BACKSEAT DRIVER

Do some of the landmarks mentioned in the
episode still exist?  And I guess another question I need to ask is, could
the
episode possibly be updated using today's topography of the area and not
loose
any of its effectiveness?

When I listen to the story, as I have several times, I'm able to follow
along in my mind where they're driving . . .  At the time when the show
was aired, along Ventura Blvd in the Encino area, it was somewhat an
open area with homes on acres instead of lots . .

If the story was updated, they would be in bumper-to-bumper traffic,
crawling along at 10 to 15 miles per hour, a stop light at every
intersection and there wouldn't be a cop in sight . . Even if the cop
in the area was kin (as in the story), he wouldn't be able to see your
car for the thousands on the street . .

Another word for Grid-lock: The San Fernando Valley ! ! ! !

Glenn E. Mueller
Rowland Heights, CA

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #302
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