------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 219
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Characters named Bradley [ Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed] ]
Unorthodox MP3 player [ "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; ]
Independance Day Weekend with Walden [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
Re: Zeppo Lives! [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Re: comedy and laughing [ David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@yahoo. ]
Personal Album [ Jandpgardner@[removed] ]
Morgenthau [ Richard Carpenter <sinatra@ragingbu ]
IMPORTANT reminder [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Re: Eddie Anderson [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
Gangbusters books [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
REPS Showcase 2004 [ Don Strong <donsplace@[removed] ]
7-3 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:32:12 +0000
From: Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Characters named Bradley
For the gentleman who thinks he was named by his broadcasting fan mother
after a radio character named Bradley, I would doubt that this is the
person who inadvertently gave you his moniker, but here is someone about
whom you should know:
Bradley ("Brad") Barker was one of the more famous sound effects
artists. He specialized in imitating animals, especially dogs. And yes,
his name was Barker. Perhaps his most famous effort was as "Sandy", Little
Orphan Annie's ubiquitous canine cutie. In the late 1930s, Barker played
opposite Agnes Moorehead on a program called "The Mighty Show", a CBS
across-the-board airer which supposedly took place within a circus. This
undoubtedly gave Brad all kinds of roles to fill, differing week after week!
Always a fetching character in vital supporting roles, Bradley filled many
such, and became a pet choice of animal-loving directors! He was nearly
the star of "Renfrew of the Mounted", the CBS bold-faced rip-off of
"Challenge of the Yukon". Bradley bayed the opening and closing wolf howls
that were practically the themesong for the show.
RCMP Inspector Douglas Renfrew, by the way, was played with class and
distinction as always by House Jameson, better known as Henry Aldrich's
father. This man of the House family was the veteran of probably a score
of ongoing radio series, and appeared in a number of films and early
television programs.
But back to Bradley Barker. OTR fans and SFX experts have had a lot of fun
kidding about the man whose moniker was Barker, but who also played that
role with great conviction, experience, panache, and expertise. Arf!
Our inquirer named Bradley might also want to check into Truman Bradley, a
veteran actor-announcer whose voice and visage added prestige and class for
numerous sponsors on many, many radio programs, films and television
shows. Probably this Bradley's best-known TV role was under his own name
as host of "Science Fiction Theater", which aired in the mid-1950s and
again in the 1960s. In the latter run, it appeared under the title "Beyond
the Limits". This was about the same time as the better known "The Outer
Limits" which is still kicking around in film and reruns.
Bradley, I guess we've overwhelmed you with too many Bradleys to bite
into. Do your dog-gone Best!
Cheers from dog lover Lee Munsick, whose pets resemble Corky of the Disney
TV series.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:32:22 +0000
From: "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Unorthodox MP3 player
I have a large collection of mp3 files which I wanted to listen to anywhere
in the house. Running speaker wires from the computer to speakers all over
the place is one solution, but then you have to keep going back to the
computer to select programs, and different people can't listen to different
programs in different parts of the house. What I really needed was several
cheap little computers, each with a display screen for selecting programs
from the main computer and an audio jack to connect to a stereo in the room.
Happily I stumbled upon the perfect answer, in a failed product from a few
years ago called a 3Com Audrey.
The Audrey was one of a generation of "internet appliances" that a number of
manufacturers unsuccessfully tried to sell. Basically it is a stripped-down
computer with no hard drive, whose main purpose is Internet use. It was
designed to sit on the kitchen table for reading the morning news, checking
the weather, stock market, looking up recipes, buying things online, etc. It
is about 10 inches square and 2 inches thick, with a small touch screen
about 5" by 7". It looks sort of like a Jetsons version of an Etch-a-Sketch.
Originally the Audrey sold for $499, but you can get them on EBay new or
used for about $80. A large hobbyist community has grown up around the
Audrey. People have figured out how to replace the original software, adding
mp3 players and other fun things. Various people sell them preconfigured on
EBay.
I bought several Audreys and an 8-port network switch ($35) to hook them
together, stringing many feet of network wire discreetly through the house.
You don't really have to be a computer geek to get such a system set up.
(Personally I am a computer geek, but all I did was plug everything in and
turn it on and it all just worked.)
So now, instead of sitting in front of the computer to listen to my OTR
files, I can settle back in the recliner in the living room. Simultaneously
the kids can be in the basement rec room streaming music on a different
Audrey. At night my wife plugs headphones into the Audrey in our bedroom and
listens to audio books to lull her to sleep. Whatever mp3 files I add to the
main computer are immediately available throughout the house. It's a great
system! My next project is to build an antique radio case around an Audrey.
I realize this sort of setup probably isn't for everybody, but if you have
an interest give me a buzz and I will go into more details.
Doug Leary
Seattle
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:32:46 +0000
From: BryanH362@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Independance Day Weekend with Walden
Hughes
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_[removed]_ ([removed]) for live streaming
Friday , Saturday , Sunday at
9:30 pm CDT / 7:30 PDT. There was some talk that the Friday
Night Show would begin at 6:00 PM PDT with a special live feature this
week .
Not able to confirm by press time.
Friday 7-2-04
A. Walden will broadcast part of the Friday night show from Fort Worth
thus during the Frank Bresee live segment we will have no call in number.
B. There will be background music with a live orchestra.
Saturday 7-3-04
A. A short interview with Bob Hope by George Fisher. Frank Bresee was
behind the scenes during this interview.
Sunday 7-4-04
A. Mike Biels will be on the road, thus there is a good chance he will not
be available this Sunday .
B. There is a good chance that Laura Leff's Jack Benny feature will be
heard at 8 [removed] West Coast time rather than 9 [removed] Laura will present the
Jack
Benny show of 6-20-37.
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:33:19 +0000
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Zeppo Lives!
On 7/2/04 12:18 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
>I thought I was the only person in the world who viewed the
>departure of Zeppo as a liability, not an asset. Thankfully, there's an
>online international organization that agrees with me: SPAZ - the Society
>for the Prevention of Abuse toward Zeppo.
Zeppo is, and has always been, my favorite Marx Brother. That he was
actually a comic artist of rare subtlety cannot be denied by anyone who's
ever closely watched his hilariously insincere performance of "Everyone
Says I Love You" in "Horse Feathers," in which he sings right thru Thelma
Todd without ever once suggesting that he actually believes any of the
sentiments he is vocalizing -- and in doing so, he deconstructs the whole
notion of cheesy early-thirties crooning.
The problem with Zeppo's successors -- Allan Jones, Tony Martin, et al --
is that they didn't realize and never acknowledged how ridiculous and
superfluous they actually were in terms of their relationship to the
Marxes' world. They took themselves, and their performances, seriously --
which, today, makes them far more painful to watch than Zeppo ever was.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:33:32 +0000
From: David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: comedy and laughing
In speaking about "ritualistic stuff", Steven A.
Kallis, Jr., writes: "I suspect that for many
listeners, each repetition of the "funny" material
merely evoked fond memories, which might have
been enough."
One of the "rituals" you didn't mention is one alluded
to another message in this issue of the digest, and
that is Mr. Oldtimer's "That ain't the way I heeerd
it. The way I heeerd it [removed]" on the Fibber McGee &
Molly show.
On those rare occasions when I manage to get my oldest
daughter to listen to FM&M (usually forced listening
while riding in the car with Dad, haha) and Mr.
Oldtimer's segment comes on, there is uproarious
laughter from the audience. Inevitably my daughter
says: "What is so funny?" (Now she's 20 years old, so
the humor is obviously not touching her, and not just
over her head.) In my own inept way I try to explain
that it's one of those things that are just kind of
expected, kind of a trademark, that is funny simply
because of that reason alone. My explanation had no
impact. And of course, I could think of no
contemporary parallels to help her understand it.
Of my three kids, my youngest, my son (13) is the most
susceptible to OTR, and, if the truth must be told, I
think a closet admirer of the art, though he wouldn't
dare admit it to anyone else. He fell in love with
Archie's "twitter" when Veronica gave her trademark,
"Hellooo, Archie", and every time he would hear it he
would break up in his own uproarious laughter and
rewind the tape again and again to that point (my
cassettes of the Archie show have distinct thin spots
in certain segments).
Dave Phaneuf
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:33:43 +0000
From: Jandpgardner@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Personal Album
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On a CD I purchased recently there are some tracks that come from the AFRS
wartime series called 'Personal Album'. I have been able to find very little
information about this series. In Jay Hickerson's book he gives the dates as
1944-5 and says 147 of the 15 min. shows are available of 'about 1100 shows
broadcast'. Jay refers to the shows as 'many bands' and gives the numbers of
the 147 shows that are available but does not give the names of the bands or
singers in those shows. David Goldin on his website gives brief details of
124
shows in the series (nearly all by female singers as opposed to bands) but
many of his numbers do not match those listed by Jay and he doesn't list the
show by the artist on my CD (Betty Grable). In his book 'This is the American
Forces Network', Patrick Morley only says that the series was "given over to
one particular performer (women vocalists to start with)" and was a "daily
musical program (stated on AFN to be) brought to you by the Theater
Savings and
Insurance Office". A 'Google' search has not assisted but I would like to
find out more about this series.
Does anyone know where details of the shows in the 'Personal Album' series
can be found and how copies of the shows can be obtained?
Thanks in advance for any help.
John.
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:33:56 +0000
From: Richard Carpenter <sinatra@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Morgenthau
In a posting in this forum about Fred Allen's
topical humor, there was a reference to jokes about
Petrillo. In my OTR listening I've also noticed a
plethora of jokes about Morgenthau -- FDR's treasury
secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. -- on shows from Fred
Allen to Amos 'n' Andy. I can't imagine today's TV
audience chuckling over jokes about a secretary of the
treasury. I can't imagine that audience even knowing
who the treasury secretary is. Either audiences were
more knowledgeable then or Morgenthau's fame was an
exception.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 12:42:47 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: IMPORTANT reminder
Just an FYI for posters and lurkers . . .
There's a virus being spread through e-mail in the form of a .zip
attatchment, and it's being spread through OTR fans. I just received by
third e-mail in the last three weeks, and all of them are people who are
OTR fans and posters on the digest. They usually have one or two word
descriptions like "read me" or "important", and the subject line usually
reads "I love you" or "thank you" or something of this type. The
attatchment has had different names but always ended with .zip
Someone's already been working on figuring out who the culprit is, but the
e-mails all have attatchments ending with .zip and vague descriptions and
subject lines, and always giving the appearance that they are from other
OTR posters. As a reminder, DO NOT OPEN ANY ATTACHMENT unless you are
absolutely sure you know what the attatchment is, and if you were expecting
the attatchment or not. Best to be safe than sorry.
Martin Grams, Jr.
[ADMINISTRIVIA: Questions or comments about viruses and how to avoid them
should be sent to me DIRECTLY at listmaster@[removed] - please do NOT send
virus-related posts to the Digest. --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:34:17 +0000
From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Eddie Anderson
"Philip Railsback" <philiprailsback@[removed]; wrote:
> A couple of nights ago I watched that classic Bette Davis movie
> "Jezebel". An actor appeared on screen who looked quite familiar. But
> then he talked and he didn't *sound* familiar at all. That is the voice
> did not match the face. I'm talking about Eddie Anderson, of course.
> There was no gravel in his voice. In fact, he sounded perfectly normal.
> The movie was made in 1938, though I don't know if that makes a
> difference. My question -- how real was his Rochester voice? If that
> was his real voice, how come he sounded so different in 1938? Did
> something happen to his throat?
The story has always gone that Anderson strained his vocal chords
as a young boy trying to out-hawk rival newsboys on noisy
streetcorners. Whether or not this is true is, of course, lost to history.
What is =not= "lost to history", though, is the fact that, long before
Anderson's association with the Benny program, the "Rochester"
voice had been Anderson's trademark as a vaudeville singer as well
as in what were then called "race" films, like 1936's "The Green Pastures"
or, later, his best-known film vehicle, "Cabin in the Sky".
Having never seen "Jezebel" (yeah, yeah, I'm a philistine), I'm not
qualified to say why (or, honestly, even =if=) his voice may sound
substantially different there. It's certainly possible that screening
audiences weren't enamored with the way his voice came across,
leading the studio to loop another actor's voice over Anderson's
performance, but that's only speculation.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:34:30 +0000
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Gangbusters books
In response to a few e-mails, for those who pre-paid for their book, the
GANG BUSTERS books are being mailed out within a week or two. I'm still on
the road attending conventions so the books have not yet been delivered to
the house for me to start packing and shipping them out. Please have
patience, it's only another week or two.
Martin Grams, Jr.
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:34:40 +0000
From: Don Strong <donsplace@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: REPS Showcase 2004
For those of you who had to miss Showcase 2004, I am truly sorry for
you. I've been to many, many "fan" conventions over the past few decades,
and I can say without reservation that REPS puts on the absolute best!
Not only were the guests professional, approachable, and wonderful but the
attendees were the most pleasant and likeable group of people I've had the
pleasure to spend too little time with that I've ever met at such an event.
The Thursday afternoon workshop was more fun than I could have imagined,
the recreations were excellent (Gil Stratton's ''ghost" in the cold read
was hilarious), and I made many new friends and learned a LOT. How did you
get to be so knowledgeable at such a young age, Martin?
Rather than run on for far too long - many memories, many impressions -
I'll just say that if at all possible, start making plans for 2005 now!
--- [removed]
"Never mess up an apology with an excuse."
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 03 Jul 2004 11:01:09 +0000
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 7-3 births/deaths
July 3rd births
07-03-1878 - George M. Cohan - Providence, RI - d. 11-5-1942
composer: "Collier Hour"; "Ed Sullivan Show"; "Free Company"
07-03-1881 - Leon Errol - Sydney, Australia - d. 10-12-1951
actor, comedian: WENR Chicago
07-03-1899 - Herb Polesie - d. 6-8-1979
panelist: "Twenty Questions"
07-03-1903 - Wynne Gibson - NYC - d. 5-15-1987
actress: Amah "Thanks for Tomorrow"; Angie "When a Girl Marries"
07-03-1906 - George Sanders - St. Petersburg, Russia - d. 4-26-1972
host: "High Adventure"; "Hollywood Hotel"; "[removed] Steel Hour"; "Cavalcade of
America"
07-03-1913 - Dorothy Kilgallen - Chicago, IL - d. 11-8-1965
commentator: "Voice of Broadway"; "Breakfast with Dorothy and Dick"
07-03-1914 - Gertrude Niesen - Mid-Atlantic Ocean - d. 3-27-1975
singer: "Songs by Gertrude Niesen"; "Good News of 1939"
07-03-1915 - Jerry Gray - Boston MA - d. 8-10-1976
bandleader: "I Sustain the Wings"; "Philip Morris Frolics"; "Club 15"
07-03-1930 - Pete Fountain - New Orleans, LA
dixieland clarinetist: "New Year's All-Star Parade of Bands"
July 3rd deaths
02-25-1913 - Jim Backus - Cleveland, OH - d. 7-3-1989
comedian: Hubert Updike "Alan Young Show"; Chester Fenwick "Sad Sack"
03-22-1920 - Ross Martin - Grodek, Poland (R; NYC) - d. 7-3-1981
actor: Soap Opera "Janice Grey"
03-27-1921 - Harold Nicholas - Winston-Salem, NC - d. 7-3-2000
dancer: (The Nicholas Brothers) "Big Broadcast of 1936"; "Ben Bernie Show"
07-28-1901 - Rudy Vallee - Island Pond, VT (Raised: Westbrook, ME) - d.
7-3-1986
singer, bandleader, emcee: (The Vagabond Lover) "Fleischmann Hour"; Rudy
Vallee Show"
10-08-1919 - Gabriel Dell - Barbados, British West Indies - d. 7-3-1988
actor: (The Dead End Kids) "Texaco Star Playhouse"
12-22-1885 - Deems Taylor - NYC - d. 7-3-1966
commentator: "Deems Taylor Music Series"; "Prudential Family Hour"; "RCA
Victor Show"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #219
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