------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 177
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
purchase of mp3 [ "Wright, Cheryl" <CWright@[removed]; ]
Who Wears the Trousers [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
CBS Radio Mystery Theatre & CBS news [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
Radio/TV Classics Live Update [ Alan Chapman <[removed]@verizon. ]
Frankie Remley [ Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed] ]
April 25th Birthdays [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
snapshot 11: The Man Behind the Gun- [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
Hal Stone/The Digest [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
Copyrights and such [ marklambert@[removed] ]
Seabiscuit [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
Great Gildersleeve and Bob Hope show [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
archival media [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
Signs of past times [ Zharold138@[removed] ]
re: electric organs [ GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@ ]
Copyrights [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 13:37:07 -0400
From: "Wright, Cheryl" <CWright@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: purchase of mp3
I also bought the mp3 player from Digitech and it is great I need a reliable
source to purchase mp3 disc from
I recently made a purchase that had several issues I don't want to create
an issue with the seller I just want a source that
when a program is listed on the disc it is there and plays I am aware that
sound quality is a variable
This group is so great at solving problems and providing info I had to ask
Thaks
ckhw
This message and any included attachments are intended only for the
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and notify the sender of the delivery error by e-mail.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 13:37:15 -0400
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Who Wears the Trousers
Does anybody know how many episodes there are going to
be in the BBC radio series "Who Wears the Trousers"?
This week they're doing Jack and Mary. They've already
covered Fred and Portland, Jim and Marian, Goodman and
Jane, George and Gracie. I'm racking my brain for any
further husband/wife comedy teams, but none come to
mind at the moment. (Well, there's Harold Peary and
Gloria Holiday, but surely that's a stretch.) Perhaps
the series is over?
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 13:37:45 -0400
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: CBS Radio Mystery Theatre & CBS news
broadcasts from January 1974-June,1977
I received the following inquiry from someone on another Internet list. I
would appreciate your responses:
Thanks,
Howard Blue
When CBS Radio Mystery Theatre first aired I recorded most of the first
three and a half years worth of the episodes . I always included the
five minutes worth of CBS News at the beginning and the end of the
program. This included the repeat programs and of course the news was
not a repeat in this case. There are about 1200 days worth or a little
over 2400 news programs, January 1974 to about June 1977.
This covers the first gasoline crisis, Agnew being replaced, all the
events leading up to Nixon resigning and then Ford coming in, all day by
day.
Is this something that should be preserved? Or is it of little value?
I am asking because someone wants to transfer all the tape to CDs and I
was just going to let them have the tapes afterward. They had no intent
of saving anything connected to a repeat.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 13:51:24 -0400
From: Alan Chapman <[removed]@[removed];
To: Old-Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Radio/TV Classics Live Update
As Radio/TV Classics gets close -- it's next weekend, May 2 & 3 -- we
have a couple of changes:
Don Hastings (Bob's "kid" brother) joins our cast. Don is best know as
Dr. Bob Hughes on TV's "As The World Turns" -- a role he has played now
for 43 years (yep, 43 years and still going). Old-timers will also
remember him as the The Video Ranger on "Captain Video." He got his
start at the ripe old age of 6 on radio's "Coast-to-Coast On a Bus" --
thanks to big brother Bob who was the boy soprano on that show.
We'll be featuring the brothers Hastings in an X Minus One episode as
well as other recreations.
Unfortunately, Fred Foy has had to bow out this year, as has WBZ-TV4's
Kerry Connolly.
Tickets are still available by calling The Buckley Performing Arts
Center at 508-427-1234 or contacting Sandy Wilhelm by email at
swilhelm@[removed]. For ticket and hotel information, see our
website: [removed].
In case you forgot, here are the details:
The 14th Annual Radio/TV Classics Live!
Friday & Saturday, MAY 2 & 3, 2003 at 7:30 PM
At the BUCKLEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Massasoit Community College
One Massasoit Boulevard, Brockton, MA
Recreations include Blondie, Columbia Radio Workshop (My Client Curley),
Duffyís Tavern, Ethel & Albert, Fibber McGee & Molly, Lux Radio
Theater, Pete Kellyís Blues, Sam Spade, X Minus One Ö and more! We do
completely different programs each night.
Featuring veteran Radio/TV stars Peg Lynch, Arthur Anderson, Rosemary
Rice, Herb Ellis, Will Hutchins, Don and Bob Hastings. Also, Boston
radio, tv and theatre personalities Alice Duffy, Rod Fritz (WRKO), Ken
Meyer, Barry Nolan (Extra Magazine, WBGH), Ben Parker (WRKO), Jordan
Rich (WBZ), Gil Santos (WBZ), Anne Williams (Nightscapes), Robin Young
(WBUR), and Len Zola (WCRB).
Alan Chapman, Coproducer
alan@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 15:24:58 -0400
From: Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Frankie Remley
is there a source of info on the real Remley -
bio, photos, solo performances, anythin?
I know he was a freind of Jack's,
but his false persona is so much more dominant.
rob
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 15:25:04 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: April 25th Birthdays
Birthdays for April 25th.
04-25-1899 - Guinn (Big Boy) Williams - Decatur, TX
04-25-1908 - Edward R. Murrow - Pole Cat Creek, NC - d. 4-27-1965
04-25-1918 - Ella Fitzgerald - Newport News, VA - d. 6-15-1996
04-25-1919 - Albert Aley - NYC - d. 1-1-1986
04-25-1923 - Melissa Hayden - Toronto, Canada
04-25-1930 - Paul Mazursky - Brooklyn, NY
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Radio is theatre of the mind, TV is theatre of the mindless
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 19:27:39 -0400
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: snapshot 11: The Man Behind the Gun--A find!
snapshot 11: --of an eight-year long book research project--The Man
Behind the Gun--A find!
I'm sitting in the study of an elderly former radio dramatist. He's
given me one of the very best interviews that I've ever done. That by
itself justifies the long car trip that I've made from Long Island to see
him. Now comes the icing on the cake--It turns out that he has kept a
number of scripts that he wrote for
The Man Behind the Gun, one of the best written shows from the war era.
The quality of these shows should be no surprise considering that William
Robson was its director and that its writers included people like Arthur
Laurents, who later gained fame as writer of West Side Story add other of
Broadway's greatest musicals. The writer tells me that he does not own
the copyright to the shows. He knows how much I admire his work,
particularly his scripts of The Man Behind the Gun. We have gotten along
very nicely and--(I forget which)--either he offers to let me copy the
scripts and take the copies home, or I request same. They sit in my file
drawer and sooner or later I will decide what to do with them.
.Coming soon: snapshot 12: Inside an OTR treasure trove
Howard Blue
"Snapshots" is brought to you by WORDS AT WAR (Scarecrow Press, Dec.
2002). For ordering information etc. see [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 19:28:01 -0400
From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Hal Stone/The Digest
I can not tell you how delighted I am that Hal Stone is writing another
book --- this time, taking the gloves off, about his encounters in the
advertising business which has comprised much of his life. That is going to
be great fun to read, if only to absorb his anecdotes about the show
business folk with whom he worked.
I don't know if I am alone (I suspect not) but it is exactly the kind of
question that irritates Harry Bartell that I like answered most --- what
was it like to work with (you fill-in the blank). Mr. Bartell is always
reluctant to get into that kind of question, and I do respect him for that,
but his chapter on George Reeves really hummed. He presented a side to
Reeves that I had never seen. Like many hobbyists, I associate with
radio professionals through this informative list, or though lectures and
encounters at conventions, or through the books they write. That's the
only first-hand information I get about the people I hear or watch perform.
I really want to glimpse another side to their personality, if only to
guage in a very superficial way, what they'd be like having dinner with,
or engaging in conversation about current events. The thrill I had in
first encountering Parley Baer, and experiencing him as a real human being
outside the sound stage, is hard to describe. When he discusses in the
"Gunsmoke" retrospective that he used to pick up the wonderful Howard
McNear and drive him to the studio for the "Gunsmoke" broadcast, I wished I
could have been an invisible passenger and overhear their conversation.
So Hal, don't tarry too long in writing your book. I can hardly wait.
Dennis Crow
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 19:28:34 -0400
From: marklambert@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Copyrights and such
To follow up on Charlie Summers' comments re: copyright and other
intellectual-property law: He's exactly right. As with most areas of law,
the only way you are going to get an authoritative answer to your questions
is to hire a lawyer who specializes in this field. Things are often much,
much more complicated than they appear on the surface -- and that is
especially true with intellectual property matters. Beware of any general
statments about the state of any law. One- or two-sentence statements of
the law are almost always incorrect (as a quick example, I heard a lawyer on
tv say the other day that "since minors cannot legally enter into contracts
in any [removed]" -- not true, they CAN in my state). At the very least,
simple statements, even if generally accurate, don't take into consideration
complicating factors that can change the analysis. I'm a lawyer, but I've
hired other attorneys, specialists in certain fields, to deal with my
personal legal issues.
--Mark Lambert
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 20:07:42 -0400
From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Seabiscuit
Hello All,
Anyone else see the PBS documentary on Seabiscuit (1930s racehorse) earlier
this week? Obvious tie-in with the forthcoming feature film, but quite well
done. On the PBS website there is downloadable audio of the radio coverage
of 5 Seabiscuit races from 1937-1940. Some of the calls are by Clem
McCarthy. Interesting stuff, and you can find it at:
[removed]
George
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 20:20:48 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Great Gildersleeve and Bob Hope shows
Hi Everybody,
I would recommend joining SPERDVAC or RHAC to find a large collection of
Gildersleeve shows. A part of the missing shows of 1951 can be bought
through Radio Spirit or get them through the First Generation Archive. The
remading show are which is under 20 is with Nostlagia, and part of the old
archive of Radio Yesteryear. Radio memories also has some of the hard to
find shows. There seems to be under 10 of the shows from the last three
years that survive. uThe Bob Hope show from 1938 to 1947 can be bought
through Radio Sprits, and SPERDVAC archive has some too. Does any one know
of a good source of Fibber McGee and Molly broadcast from the Fall of 1953
through 1960? Take care,
Walden Hughes
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 23:30:56 -0400
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: archival media
The April Fools story on NPR and the recent discussion of compact disk life
vs that of other media are part of the eternal search for truly
[removed], ever-lasting--audio recording media. The issue is of
particular interest to those of us who pursue old-time radio for its
historical content, but it's clearly important to everyone who likes old
stuff.
Some of my professional experience has been in materials research, and I've
done a certain amount of extra-curricular poking around in other contexts:
for example, the subscribers of the Mechanical Music Digest are always
concerned with the deterioration of both software and hardware--their piano
rolls and the player mechanisms in their player and reproducer pianos. I've
also been involved in the repair of darn near every sort of mechanism over
the years.
At any rate, I've given the matter a good deal of thought, to wit:
There is no way to accurately predict all of the mechanisms of deterioration
of a given material, nor is there any way to predict the length of time that
these slow chemical reactions will require. Many chemical reactions are
exceedingly slow: some research shows that concrete won't completely cure in
less than several hundred years.
Plastics, in particular, are difficult materials in this respect because of
the complexity of their molecular structure. For example, there was a very
strong, light and flexible polymer foam that was found to make a superior
suspension membrane for loudspeaker cones, especially for large 'woofer'
speakers. Thousands were made in the 1970's and '80's. And despite serious
scientific testing, every single one of them degraded and crumbled into
dust. (Kinsler Hi-Fi Service paid tuition for my MS degree due to that bit
of misfortune.)
To obtain a rough prediction of the lifetime of a new material, we give it a
series of tests. Each of these tests subjects the material to a known
(emphasize *known*) mode of deterioration.
Plastics, of which almost all audio media consist, are known to deteriorate
when the bonds of their long-chain molecules are subjected to ultra-violet
light, extended heat, ozone gas (which can be generated by electrical
contacts in motors and switches,) and some others that I've forgotten. So
tests consist of subjecting samples of the plastic to high-intensity
ultra-violet light, to extreme cycles of heating and cooling, and to a
high-pressure ozone gas environment, and combinations of these. Six months
of such tests translates to x number of years, where x is an integer
determined by the time-honored scientific process of, well, guessing.
But plastics can deteriorate in other ways, and we discover new ones every
year. Certain materials (say, the material of a tape reel or a paint used
on a CD label) used in conjunction with our new plastic might emit, say,
bromine, which makes significant chemical changes in some plastics. Light,
either visible or ultra-violet, makes impressive changes in many organic
compounds, especially when other elements are present. (That's why
prescription pill bottles and most beer bottles are a yellow/brown color.)
In short, any new material can fail in surprising and unpredictable ways.
Old materials are a different story. The National Public Radio spoof piece
on archival recording got several points right, the most significant being
that we _know_ that shellac records will last 100 years, because they
already have. Archaeologists can tell us which ancient materials will last
for hundreds or thousands of years and under which conditions. Hence our
collegues over at the Mechanical Music Digest (see [removed])
favor old-time hide glue and old-fashioned leathers for their seals and
hinges, and are forever (and legitimately) suspicious of the hundreds of new
varieties of plastic and rubber tubing needed for their intricate pneumatic
machinery.
Compact disks are ancient history from the standpoint of computer users, but
are very new media from the standpoint of human history. Recordable compact
disks are newer, and eraseable, re-recordable CD's are even newer. None
have withstood the test of time to any great extent, so we really cannot
honestly say whether a recordable CD will last fifty years of twenty years.
Nor do we know whether the integrated circuits used in the decoding
electronics of our CD players will last for any great length of time (the
lifetime of semiconductors is a matter of, uh, vigorous debate at the
present time.)
We do know, of course, that software deteriorates, but from human frailty
more than materials failure. People retire, and die, and everyone gradually
forgets how to use it. This isn't much of a problem with analog media--you
could always map the magnetic pattern on, say, a steel wire recording--but
the interpretation of the Reed-Solomon code used in compact disks can only
be done if you know this coding method (designed to minimize errors) and can
write a computer program to decode it into music. MP3's use another form of
coding, and DVD's use something else. Any of the decoding methods for these
could be lost--but digital media are so superior to analog in so many ways
that this is perhaps a risk worth taking.
M Kinsler
512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
[removed]~mkinsler1
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 23:45:22 -0400
From: Zharold138@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Signs of past times
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Hi Anybody,
On the subject of Oxford,[removed] "Home of Brace Beemer" they were there in
1985
as a friend and myself went there to do a video on Brace with the town's
people and I have pictures of me standing next to [removed] was strange that they
disappeared the same time we were [removed] IT WASN'T US!!
While I'm still here I have a non radio [removed] anyone know who
invented the mirrored revolving ball used in ball rooms to make star light?
Till Next Time,Harold
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 00:11:19 -0400
From: GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re: electric organs
While many larger radio stations (such as
WLW, Cincinnati) had in-studio pipe organs, the
real workhorse of OTR is supposed to have been
the 1938 Hammond electric organ.
At least some of these came equipped with a
full set of Deekin chimes, which hung from a rack
behind the main unit and could be played from the
keyboard.
By the mid-1940s many organists had added a
SoloVox keyboard bolted to the front of the
Hammond. This gave the organist an electric piano
voice, played from its own speaker.
A lot of these units are still around -
Hammond organs, Deekin chimes, SoloVoxes - and
properly maintained they sound as good as ever.
Sincerely,
George Wagner
GWAGNEROLDTIMERADIO@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 00:39:38 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Copyrights
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 13:29:33 -0400
From: "Gary Dixon" <argy@[removed];
With so many collectors exchanging material over the years (and I
admit that I'm one of them)...just who holds the copyrights for
licensing on these? ... Can somebody please clear the [removed] at
least direct me to an accurate source who can?
OK, I think I'm going to have to get into this. Once. And I am not going to
respond to
questions on the list (and maybe not off either). I am a lawyer, and while
this isn't the main
thrust of my practice, I have been involved in copyright issues from time to
time. I know what
I'm talking about.
As Charlie has already pointed out, the simple answer to your question is,
there is no simple
answer. To find out the ownership of any given show, you have to research
that show, when
it was produced, under what arrangements, who was working for whom, and a lot
of other
things. I've researched things like that once or twice, and it's no easy
matter.
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 13:30:42 -0400
From: Frank Coopersmith <fc90030@[removed];
Once this was done the programs were the property of anyone with
access to the radio waves, ... If you have the means of
recording or recapturing it it is yours. Frank Coopersmith
Sorry, but that's not the law. You certainly have the right to think it
ought to be, and to urge
that upon your representatives in Congress. But until you can get it
enacted, that's not the
law.
Tell you what. Why don't you videotape episodes of "The West Wing" off the
air and start
giving away copies free over the net. See how long it takes before the
lawyers descend upon
you.
Yes, you can tape for your own personal use. But that's all.
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210 lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #177
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