------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 01 : Issue 86
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Jack Benny Program -- East and West ["A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed].]
Episode log for [removed] Journal [Wboenig@[removed] ]
A&A Episode Summaries 1928-30 Now Av [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
Lovecraft on Radio [bruce dettman <bdettman@[removed]]
MEMORIES, MEMORIES, MEMORIES! ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
Morton Downey, Jr. [LeeMunsick@[removed] ]
shortwave, a new look? ["Henry Brugsch" <henry@listentohear]
Re: Episode log for [removed] Journal ["J. Alec West" <Alec@[removed];]
Re: BLOOPERS [Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Introduction [thebard@[removed] ]
Ocelot ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
BROADcasting ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
not a blooper, but funny ["J. Alec West" <Alec@[removed];]
Women in OTR ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
THOSE WERE THE DAYS on the air or no ["Dandrea" <cdandrea@[removed]; ]
1939 Rose Bowl [removed] [Graham Newton <gn@audio-restoration]
Dying Radio Stations [JJJ445@[removed] ]
Re: satellite radio [RadioCM25@[removed] ]
Art and Glenn's Book Venture [Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed]]
Lux Radio ["Kenneth Studdard" <rtoombs@alltel.]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 07:45:34 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jack Benny Program -- East and West
As early as Benny's first CBS broadcast on 1/2/49, the program was being
recorded and played back on the west coast (both the east and west
coast versions of this broadcast exist)
If the program was recorded, why were there two versions? Why shouldn't
one version be recorded and played twice?
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed]~lawyer/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 07:46:59 -0500
From: Wboenig@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Episode log for [removed] Journal
J. Alec West asks:
<< Is there a definitive log for the AFRS "[removed] Journal" show? I'm
attempting to
locate the airdate for program #73, featuring Orson Welles. Thanks.
>>
The book you want to get your hands on is "Command Performance, USA! A
Discography" by Harry MacKenzie (Greenwood Press). It has complete logs for
Command Performance, Mail Call, and [removed] Journal, as well as an index for the
first two shows which allows you to cross-reference shows by who appeared on
them.
[removed] Journal episode #73 is dated December 15, 1944 in this book. (Wasn't
that the day that Glenn Miller's plane was lost?) However, calling this an
"airdate" may be misleading, because the show was distributed on disks to
AFRS broadcasting bases around the world for local broadcast. (Anyone can
correct me on this, or just add more [removed])
Wayne Boenig
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 07:47:55 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: A&A Episode Summaries 1928-30 Now Available
Newly added to my "Amos 'n' Andy In Person" website, plot summaries of
all A&A episodes from the first broadcast on 3/19/28 to episode 865,
12/31/30. While these are not complete scripts for each episode, they do
make it possible to get an idea of the storylines that drove the series
during its first three years on the air.
Summaries are available for all 438 episodes of the "chainless chain"
series, and for the first fifteen months of the program's network run.
This period includes a number of important storylines, including Amos and
Andy's move from Georgia to Chicago, the formation of the Fresh Air
Taxicab Company, the introduction of the Kingfish, the pawnshop robbery,
the Jack Young, "Honest Tom," and Earl Dixon affairs, Andy's relationship
with the Widow Parker, the move from Chicago to New York, Andy's
developing relationship with Madam Queen, the Great Home Bank debacle,
and the introduction of Brother Crawford and the Big 3 Lunchroom.
Eventually, summaries will be available for the entire NBC-Pepsodent
series thru December 31, 1937. The summaries can be accessed at
<[removed]~[removed])
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:02:26 -0500
From: bruce dettman <bdettman@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lovecraft on Radio
March 15, 2001
As so often happens, I have a friend with no particular interest in OTR,
but who once heard two shows that made a lasting impression on him and
which he would like to locate. When he learned that I collect, he saked
if I could help him so I'm turning to the experts, you out there.
He thinks the first was a "Suspense" show but is not positive. He always
believes Ronald Coleman was the star. It was an adaptation of [removed]
Lovecraft's story "The Dunwich Horror."
The second is less specific, a comical ghost story about two reporters
in a haunted house who meet up with spooks.
Any help would be very much appreciated.
Bruce Dettman
[removed] Because of the business he is in, selling public domain videos,
he was curious about how the law now reads on OTR and ownership. I know
this has been a hot topic in the past on this board. Is there any hard
and fast legal wording on this subject I could find for him or does it
remain nebulous at this point?
Thanks in advance.
[ADMINISTRIVIA: Direct responses only, please, to his postscripted question -
we've just done this a month or so ago, so postings on the subject will not
be accepted to the [removed] --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:02:24 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: MEMORIES, MEMORIES, MEMORIES!
This posting is for Lois Culver and any other OTR performers who are on
this list.
Remember when we were getting ready for a broadcast, we took off our
shoes (at least we did in my case), so our footsteps would not be picked up
on mike and broadcast on the [removed] when we finished a page of script,
we oh, so gently let it fall to the floor behind us so the rumple of paper
would not go out over the air as [removed] finally, when we ended the
broadcast, shoes in hand we quickly left studio "A" and hurried down (or up)
the corridor to studio "B" and entered, just as the page boy handed you your
script for your next broadcast just seconds before air time? Sometimes we
did that routine 4 or 5 times a day at $[removed] a pop per Broadcast. We
really worked for our money! Ah, [removed]!
- 30 -
Owens Pomeroy
"That Nostalgia Guy"
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:08:31 -0500
From: LeeMunsick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Morton Downey, Jr.
I will look forward to a listing of programs featuring Morton Downey (Sr.).
This in connection with my Arthur Godfrey book. I wrote Downey Jr. several
times but never got a response. One never knows in such cases whether the
principal ever receives the letters. Very frustrating, as I am sure every
one of the many OTR authors can attest.
The connection is that in the 1950s Morton Downey, Sherman Billingsley, and
Arthur Godfrey jointly owned "Sortilege". This was a brand of perfume and
soap featured at New York City's "Stork Club". Billingsley--a former
bootlegger--owned the Stork Club, which was featured at the same time with
its own TV show, at least in New York. This was done from a TV set
duplicating the restaurant's celebrity room, so many people thought it came
from the Stork Club itself. Billingsley would wander around and speak to the
various celebrities on hand, just as he was wont to do in the real
restaurant. This leads me to wonder if there was a radio program equivalent.
Does anyone know?
Sortilege products came in a book decorated with a painting showing many
famous people in the Stork Club. I have one, complete with the original
soap. I'm trying to figure a method of duplicating the soap: three bars
each with a sculpture of one of the three owners, Billingsley, Downey and
Godfrey.
Billingsley spared no expense. The artist of the painting was Albert Dorne,
who founded the Famous Artist School, was President of the Society of
Illustrators, and 1963 winner of the Horatio Alger Award. According to the
blurb on eBay, as a young artist in 1926, Dorne was earning $500 a week, and
that's when the dollar was worth [removed] at least ten times its
current value, perhaps much more. Through the 1930s and 1940s Dorne was the
highest paid advertising artist in the country, with work in Life, Colliers,
Look, Liberty, and SatEvePost. Dorne died 12-15-65.
Recently, eBay had an offering of an actual Stork Club meno which had the
same painting on its cover. The final bid was $[removed]! Too rich for me.
Lee Munsick "That Godfrey Guy"
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:08:32 -0500
From: "Henry Brugsch" <henry@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: shortwave, a new look?
Apologies in advance if this is telling Grannie how to suck eggs, but wonder
if people are aware of the new satellite band which I think is called
"world-band" It's not the set of signals piggybackedonto existing satellite
television, but a discrete satellite service.
There are now, radios being built, and sold for this service. I have seen
one, about the size of a small boombox. On the back is a satellite dish, and
a set of buttons to access different menues. I didn't have a real hard look
at one purchased by a neighbor, but he flicked through the offerings he had
laid into his set. Amongst other things heard, were described movies, and
various offerings from Radio World Wide International.
Also heard was the BBC World Service, and NPR.
the quality was variable from mushey poor mp3ish to what sounded real good.
Apologies for the late posting of this to an original item in this digest,
for some reason I put this message asside and discovered it was still
unsent.
Henry Brugsch
mailto:henry@[removed]
[removed]
G0GKU/K1HBJ
+441562820090 voice
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:08:35 -0500
From: "J. Alec West" <Alec@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Episode log for [removed] Journal
Wayne,
Thanks. Two other persons responded with similar info ... and yes, the date
shown was the 'recording' date as opposed to 'airdate'. And, in hindsight,
that makes sense. Distribution of disks during wartime was probably touch and
go ... and airdates became dependent upon availability. December 15, 1944 is
as good as any date to use.
[removed] And yes, show 73 was recorded on the same day Glenn Miller's plane took
off for Paris and ended up ??????? The good news is that the Glenn Miller
Orchestra formed in 1956 (under trombonist, Larry O'Brien), and continues to
perform live all over the world. See [removed] for the
details.
Regards,
J. Alec
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:08:44 -0500
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: BLOOPERS
From: "David Phaneuf" <dphaneuf@[removed];
OK, here's one for all you blooper lovers. I'm sure this one is
WELL-KNOWN, but I have no idea what program it came from? The
Protestant Hour? Fosdick? Some other religious OTR program?
"Tune in next week when the sermon will be 'Cast Thy BROAD upon
the waters.' This is the National BREADcasting Company."
It came from Kermit Shaffer's Pardon My Blooper, which means it probably
DIDN'T COME FROM ANYTHING. Remember, 95% of the things on his records
were phony.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:11:00 -0500
From: thebard@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Introduction
Hi!
I'm a new subscriber, but wanted to introduce myself. My favorite OTR shows
are mystery and drama shows.
I'm looking forward to reading lots of information in this news letter.
Bill
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:11:16 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Ocelot
UIn the last edition, anent Honey West, I noted,
Well, she was the title character, but for me, the best feature of the
show was Sam, her pet ocelot. <<
Charlie Summers reminded me that her ocelot was named Bruce. Indeed it
was. Sam was her partner.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:11:13 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: BROADcasting
Dave Phaneuf asks,
OK, here's one for all you blooper lovers. I'm sure this one is
WELL-KNOWN, but I have no idea what program it came from? The Protestant
Hour? Fosdick? Some other religious OTR program? ... "Tune in next week
when the sermon will be 'Cast Thy BROAD upon the waters.' This is the
National BREADcasting Company."
Maybe "none of the above." During the 1930s and 1940s, a lot of stations
carried a lot of local church services on Sunday mornings. It's quite
possible that a variant of the above was a locally produced bread ...
broadcast. Sometimes the best known bloopers are really of questionable
legitimacy.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:11:44 -0500
From: "J. Alec West" <Alec@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: not a blooper, but funny
David Phaneuf wrote:
OK, here's one for all you blooper lovers. I'm sure this one is
WELL-KNOWN, but I have no idea what program it came from? The Protestant
Hour? Fosdick? Some other religious OTR program?
"Tune in next week when the sermon will be 'Cast Thy BROAD upon the waters.'
This is the National BREADcasting Company."
I don't recall those offhand but your post's reference to 'religious' OTR
chicanery reminded me of something. I posted this a while back but it
certainly deserves a re-post.
Garrison Keillor is the author of "[removed]: A Radio Romance." The book is a
hilarious look at two brothers who decided to start a radio station in
Minneapolis during the "good old" days. Characters included a chain-smoking
child-star, a blind sportscaster, and a religious announcer everyone else
picked on. In the religious man's case, they'd provide him with copy to read
that included sexual innuendos (which he didn't pick up on). The pranksters
were finally 'busted' when they wrote an ad for a local meat company. The
religious announcer read the ad -- the last sentence of which was, "Remember,
nobody beats Murray's Meat!" -- and the sponsor was none too happy with the ad
when he heard it <grin>. Anyhoo, the 1992 book is still in print and can be
had at Amazon:
[removed]
_20/104-2642215-3353513
Regards,
J. Alec
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:13:10 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Women in OTR
Elizabeth E, speaking of the lower proportion of women in OTR roles,
notes,
It's the same in Hollywood films, Ted, as you've probably noticed. And
TV. And especially for lead roles &/or positive roles for women. <<
Returning to my "special" program, Captain Midnight, it was atypical in
this regard. One of the lead characters was Joyce Ryan. Joyce was
brave, resourceful, and a vital member of a Secret Squadron team. She
accompanied Captain Midnight, Ichabod Mudd, and Chuck Ramsay on many
missions, including in Nazi-occupied France, in the Pacific, and South
America. She acted as turret gunner in combat, shooting down several
enemy aircraft in a battle against Japanese fighters, went on commando
raids, and the like. She always pulled her own weight, and often then
some.
The interesting thing about the show and the Secret Squadron (as
portrayed in the manuals) was that women were always welcomed as members
-- not auxiliaries, but full members. We could have done with a lot more
like Joyce Ryan on OTR.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:13:12 -0500
From: "Dandrea" <cdandrea@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: THOSE WERE THE DAYS on the air or not?????
Jello all,
Anyone know if WNIB-WNIZ FM [removed] In Chicago is playing "THOSE WERE THE
DAYS" on Saturdays from 1 PM - 5 PM with Host Chuck Schaden. Someone told
me it was no longer on the air. Is this true.
Thanks
Chris
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:13:14 -0500
From: Graham Newton <gn@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: 1939 Rose Bowl [removed]
A friend, who's father played in the game, is looking for a recording of
the 1939 Rose Bowl football game between the Duke University "Blue Devils"
and the University of Southern California "Trojans".
(You gotta love those team names!)
It was broadcast on NBC and credited to "20th Century International
Radio Newsreel". There definitely were transcriptions made of the broadcast
since he has a very poor quality cassette tape that has obvious side breaks
about every 15 minutes.
There is a really insipid NBC three tone "mallet" chime at the end of the
program for the network ID, and I can see why they later developed the
electronic chime with it's crisp plucked-sounding G-E-C notes.
Has anyone got a good copy of this broadcast or know where one could be had?
It would run about 2-1/2 hours if complete.
... Graham Newton
--
Audio Restoration by Graham Newton, [removed]
World class professional services applied to phonograph and tape
recordings for consumers and re-releases, featuring CEDAR processes.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 09:58:41 -0500
From: JJJ445@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Dying Radio Stations
Mark Reesor's first hand experience at working at a dead radio station
reminded me that my station probably had its most creative period while
operating as a dying one.
When the heirs to the estate of the owner of my San Francisco radio station
put it up for sale, I attempted to get a group together to purchase it. Flush
with cash from the motion picture "The Godfather," and enamored with what we
had been doing in bringing back radio variety, drama and the big band sound,
Francis Ford Coppola offered to buy it outright and plunked down the down
payment. It was indeed my lucky day. Here was a guy who had the same
interests as me and with the cash and connections to make it all happen.
We met on several occasions and discussed what kind of format we could
develop drawing on the talent and technical assistance he and Zoetrope
studios could provide.
One of the things he was excited about doing was returning to evenings filled
with radio drama and variety programs---not just playing old programs but
also producing new ones. We even discussed buying the old NBC radio studios
(now a TV station) and refurbishing it to it's1940s grandeur and once again
doing live shows with a radio audience.
At the time I felt like a kid in a candy store. I couldn't believe my good
fortune.
He also envisioned adapting many of the film scripts that came his way into
radio versions. At the time, quad sound was just coming into vogue and many
FM stations were contemplating broadcasting in that medium. One of the things
I was working on was producing and broadcasting some radio shows employing
that method. We also wanted to take it further and actually do radio drama
"on location" and place the listener in the middle of the action. Thus we
would tape a portion of a production like "Strangers on a Train" actually on
a train. Our two principles might appear on the left and right channels in
front and the conductor would sound like he was behind and the entire sound
of the train would surround the listener. Imagine how rich the doppler effect
of such sounds associated with that scene would be to a listener.
Today all that could be produced quite easily in a studio and today's movies
employ surround sound as a given. At least we were thinking out of the box
and attempting to reintroduce and invigorate radio drama and variety
programming in a way that would attract a new audience.
While Francis went off to film his opus "Apocalypse Now," I continued to
develop ideas for the new format and introduced them on the air. I also
scouted for a new location that would allow for studio audiences.
FCC approvals for radio station transfers can take months and sometimes
years. But I didn't worry. Francis had plenty of money.
Well, he did have plenty of money. As we all know, he spent every dime and
then some on his film and returned from the Philippines broke. The byproduct
being he couldn't complete our radio deal.
The station went back on the market and I continued to look for buyers. One
day the phone rang and it was the attorney for George Lucas. It turns out he
also was interested in doing what Francis had planned. Again, I was on cloud
nine. Unfortunately, before Lucas could get his bid in, the station was sold
to another party who had other plans. The community created such an uproar
over the possible loss of this unique format that it caused the FCC to delay
the sale for close to two years. I stayed for the whole time hoping they
would eventually turn down the sale and allow Lucas to purchase it. But in
the end, it went through and it was all over.
We waited a while, but no other station in the market became available and I
eventually moved on to other things. Later, I did partner with Francis in
developing a radio version of one of his film scripts, and I also worked with
George Lucas on "Radioland Murders." But the big dream of a radio station
devoted to new radio drama and variety programming remained just that---a
dream.
John Jensen
Federal Way, WA
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 13:04:15 -0500
From: RadioCM25@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: satellite radio
Called Sony's 800 number to start getting an XM50 satellite radio of theirs.
They said they're still working on it, and it's supposed to be introduced in
May.
Also my order with Amazoncom for a Kerbango radio was supposed to be shipped
in mi February, but I still haven't heard any more from this.
I hope this doesn't digress too much from our usual topics but I am hoping to
find OTR on both units when they come on the market.
Chick Meyerson
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 15:07:12 -0500
From: Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Art and Glenn's Book Venture
In Volume 84 Dennis Crow wrote:
Art Gilmore, premier announcer and founding president of Pacific Pioneer
Broadcasters, wrote a textbook entitled TELEVISION AND RADIO ANNOUNCING. I
am also trying to locate this volume. He also has appeared at OTR
Conventions and is most generous with his time. His voice is extremely
well known to radio, television, and movie trailer enthusiasts. He appeared
in a continuing role on "Dragnet."
Indeed, Art Gilmore, along with a co-author, Glenn Middleton,
authored a book entitled "Radio Announcing" in which my picture
appears. There may have been
an update to include television, I'm not sure, but I mention more
about the book
I know at [removed]
In that book it doesn't include Art's interest in flying. He and
I used to park our Beechcraft Bonanzas in the same area of Van
Nuys airport, his plane's registration number was AG1 I believe.
He said Arthur Godfrey would have to eat his heart out, the 'ole
redhead still being among the living at the time.
I still see Art Gilmore at Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters luncheons
looking as good as ever.
CAB
--
conradab@[removed] (Conrad A. Binyon)
From the Home of the Stars who loved Ranches and Farms
Encino, California.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 17:41:53 -0500
From: "Kenneth Studdard" <rtoombs@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Lux Radio
Does anyone know where I can obtain an episode log for Lux Radio Theater? I
really enjoy the list.
Kenneth Studdard
Summerville, GA
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #86
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