Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #63
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 2/24/2001 9:10 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                          The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                             Volume 01 : Issue 63
                       A Part of the [removed]!
                               ISSN: 1533-9289

                               Today's Topics:

     Re: Remember WENN                    [Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];       ]
     Don Ameche show                      [DIANEK9331@[removed]                 ]
     Re: CONELRAD                         ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
     Tubes                                [Bill Harris <billhar@[removed];    ]
     Night that Panicked America          [Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];       ]
     Re:member                            ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
     Transcription Discs                  [Richard Fisher <w9fjl@[removed];     ]
     Re: Interview Records                [Thomas Butts <trbutts@[removed]]
     One-Sided Interview Records          ["General Manager" <genmanager@radio]
     Ersatz Old Radio                     ["Len Freedman" <lenfreedman@earthli]
     Rathbone on Berle                    ["J. Randolph Cox" <cox@[removed]]
     Re: Sorry Wrong Number on SUSPENSE!  [OTRChris@[removed]                   ]
     RE: 1940s Radio Hour                 ["Michael Brady" <MBrady@[removed]; ]
     Jack Benny Christmas                 ["Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed]]
     quiz                                 ["Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed]]
     Another Club has made it to the web  ["Robert McDivitt" <robmcd@[removed];]
     Paul Frees and Elvis                 ["steven kostelecky" <skostelecky@ho]

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

    Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 20:31:45 -0500
    From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Remember WENN

    From: LDunham509@[removed]

>     I'm not certain ''Remember WENN'' -was- intended to convey an
>     accurate impression of a radio station, any more than TV's
>     ''WKRP In Cincinnati'' was, in its era.

    Right! That was EXACTLY the point I and Bill Harris and several others
    were trying to make.  While you and the others were commenting on my
    posting, don't forget that I was commenting on a posting that DID say
    that WENN was an "accurate portrayal" of a radio station:

>     From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
>     Subject:  RADIO SALUTE: TV & MOVIES
>     . . . The third and most recent production was he TV original
>     series on American Movie Classics called "Remember WENN" about
>     a small station in Pitsburgh, just ptior to and during WW II.
>     What a well written and acurate portrayal of the era that one was!

    Although I hoped it would be accurate, I never expected it to be.  I
    just wanted to point out that it would be folly for anyone to watch that
    program and think that it WAS an "accurate portrayal".  It was an
    impression and a satire--and often betrayed the film and TV backgrounds
    of the creators.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 21:31:34 -0500
    From: DIANEK9331@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Don Ameche show

    Does anyone have a log of Don Ameche's Drene Show?
    Thanks,
    Diane

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

    Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 22:47:27 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: CONELRAD

    Henry Brugsch comments on the early emergency broadcasting system,

> >     conolrad (spell?<<

    Actually, it was CONELRAD.  It was an acronym that I slightly
    misemphasized when bringing it up.  Just as RADAR is RAdio Detection And
    Ranging, so CONELRAD is CONtrol of ELecrtomagnetic RADiation.
    Admittedly, a little ambitious for a title, but a name's a name.

> >     A bit like an electronic version of the blitz [removed];<

    A nice analogy.  The Japanese aircraft homed in on a Honolulu radio
    station on the way to attack Pearl Harbor.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 22:47:29 -0500
    From: Bill Harris <billhar@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Tubes

    Stephen Kallis Jr. commented about 'drug store tube testers".

    Step back to the 50'[removed] radio set built in the 1930s would only be 20 years
    old.
    The capacitors and resistors would most likely  still be in good condition so
    if a
    set failed, probably there was a 90% chance it would be a tube. Today a
    1930's set
    is 70 years old and the percentage favors that it will be the old capacitors or
    resistors and not a tube that will be the defective component. Those in-store
    testers were designed to sell tubes and often skewed the test towards the red
    (bad)
    side of the dial. Anyone who pulled the tubes out of their radio or
    television were
    bound to find several that read at least week and of course felt the need to
    buy
    new ones for top performance. A technician would test the tubes in a set
    brought in
    for service and replace any that measure weak. Today, restorers do not have
    that
    luxury and never throw out a tube just because it may read weak on a tester.
    The
    current inventory of tubes is limited, there are no more being made except
    for a
    few tube types currently being manufactured for the audiophile crowd. When the
    current inventory is gone there is no more, so no matter how weak a tube my
    read,
    if it still works I leave it in the set until the day comes it will no longer
    perform.

>     There was a kitchen radio genus that service technicians of the time called
>     "the

    All-American Five," because radios of that sort used five of the smaller
    tubes like
    12AX7s, that ran in the 50-Watt range.  I > suspect that a significant number
    of
    surviving tube radios are of that sort.

    These radios were the AC/DC (aki dak) sets that used tubes such that when the
    required voltages for the filaments were added up, the total voltage equaled
    120
    volts. These tubes were developed in the 30's. Up until that time most tubes
    filaments operated on 6 volts, which required a transformer to step down the
    120
    volt ac input voltage. By using these  new tubes with the filaments string
    wired in
    series, the entire string could be operated directly across the 120 volt ac
    line
    and the need for a transformer was eliminated thus greatly reducing the cost
    of the
    set. A typical 'All American Five' AC/DC set might use a tube line up of a
    12SA7,
    12SK7, 12SQ7, 50L6, and 35Z5. If you add up the filament voltages of the
    tubes (the
    first number before the letter) you get 121 volts, just the right voltage
    drop to
    operate directly across the 120 volt ac line. In these sets, since the filament
    string was connected in series, if the filament of one tube opened up, that
    interrupted the current flow to the rest of the tubes and they all went out,
    so you
    could not tell which tube might be bad just by looking to see which ones were
    glowing as could be done with a transformer operated set.

    Bill Harris

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

    Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 22:47:32 -0500
    From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Night that Panicked America

    For those of you who (like me) missed it when it was on in November, the
    SciFi Channel is airing the 1975 CBS-TV movie "The Night That Panicked
    America" which is a re-creation of Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds"
    broadcast.  It will be on Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, Feb 24/25 at
    2:00 [removed] Eastern.  It is two hours long.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 23:45:57 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re:member

    Speaking of Remember WENN, Bill Harris says,

> >     It was far from an accurate portrayal of how a radio station of that

    era was [removed];<

    Whereas, on the same subject, Robert Gee notes,

> >     If presenting a technically and historically accurate depiction of a

    radio station were the series creator's goal, he would have written a
    documentary, not a dramatic series.  ... Any dramatic portrayal of an
    event will offend purists.  <snip>  As an historian I find myself
    cringing occasionally when I listen to old radio historical dramas, but I
    enjoy them if they engender a "feel" for the particular era or event they
    [removed];<

    Which tempts me to throw an oar in here.  Anyone who is specialist in an
    area can be bothered by an anomaly.  Sometimes it's a tiny detail;
    sometimes it's so bad that the resulting story is flatly impossible.  In
    terms of OTR, the radio exchange between Hop Harrigan in "CX-4" and the
    unnamed control tower is so unrealistic to provoke speculation on which
    of them is the most incompetent communicator among anyone with an
    aeronautical background, but that wasn't sufficient to keep one from
    listening.  The aeronautical aspects of  Captain Midnight and Sky King
    were very accurate (even to a passing reference to altimeter lag in a
    Captain Midnight episode); and that very accuracy helped make Captain
    Midnight a favorite for Air Corps flight crews when they were stationed
    where they could hear it.  [Deviating from OTR for a moment, the Bruce
    Willis film, Die Hard 2, with an aviation content, is absolutely, flatly,
    impossible.  That utterly spoils it for those knowledgeable.]

    Little gaffes can jar a listener (or viewer), but can be overlooked, like
    the astronomer in the Lone Ranger story.  Objecting to a "law" cited by a
    crooked deputy prohibiting the use of a telescope in court testimony, he
    noted that he'd seen planets exploding in his studies of the skies,
    though why that made the "law" "stupid" was left unclear.  Now the fact
    that even in the 21st Century, nobody's ever seen even a single, tiny,
    planet explode didn't really detract from the story, though it was
    momentarily jarring.

> >     I think too much nit-picking is self-defeating.  <<

    Yes, but this is also how misinformation becomes "known fact."  If a TV
    show or movie depicts OTR in a way that leads to "everybody knowing"
    certain things that just ain't so, problems develop.

    Last year, Ovaltine, through its Himmel Nutrition distributor, offered on
    its label, a "decoder ring," proclaiming that "It's back!"  The only
    problem is that Ovaltine had never before offered a Decoder Ring -- not
    in the Little Orphasn Annie radio show, nor in either the radio or TV
    versions of Captain Midnight.  (In fact, no OTR show ever did.)  But
    their marketing people were certain that they had.
    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 23:49:00 -0500
    From: Richard Fisher <w9fjl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Transcription Discs

    I have a very few 16 inch transcription discs and have become curious
    about them.

    Some are on aluminum and are heavy, some are quite flexible and light
    weight, some are recorded on only one side so that a 30 minute show
    takes up two discs. I also saw one recently that had a 30 minute show
    #xxx on side one of disc one and on side one of disc 2 and  another
    episode of the same show #yyy on side 2 of disc one and side two of disc
    2. I can guess at some of the reasons such as if the show were live on
    the air they would have to have 2 recorders going to get both halves of
    the show if they also wanted the commercials.  This also begs the
    question - did they ever do a recording this way [removed] two discs and then
    copy the second disc on to the flip side of disc one so that the entire
    show would be on one disc.

    There apparently were hundreds of companies producing these discs at one
    time. I don't think any two I have have the same manufacture except of
    course AFRS.

    I would like to know why so many different ways of putting a program on
    a disc and why the different materials - I understand there are glass
    base and aluminum base and have no idea how many others there were.

    I have searched [removed] for new books on this subject and ABE and a
    couple of others for any used books but have found nothing.  Possibly
    this information is contained in a book(s) that do not have
    transcription discs in their title or more likely this is a "who cares"
    topic that wouldn't sell a single copy if someone wrote about it!!

    Please reply directly as this type of question may not be of general
    interest to OTR fans.

    Dick

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 01:01:42 -0500
    From: Thomas Butts <trbutts@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Interview Records

    As I recall, Wally Phillips, the great WGN "disk jockey" became famous by
    asking
    "humorous" questions before playing the response on these records.  I vaguely
    recall hearing one of his "interviews" on some sort or retrospective of his
    career.  Perhaps someone from Chicago has more information.

    Tom Butts
    Dallas, TX

>     Subject:  Interview Records

>     The practice of giving local stations canned interviews with celebrities to
>     be read by local anchors as if they were live interviews continues to this
>     day.

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 01:01:44 -0500
    From: "General Manager" <genmanager@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  One-Sided Interview Records

    Arthur Smith <agsmith_stl@[removed]; writes:

    "Concerning "Interview Records", I believe it was Johnny Carson who told the
    story that when he was on radio in Nebraska, they were often sent these
    bogus interview records to localize the celebrity. He said in at least one
    instance, he made up questions that would have little to do with the "real"
    questions."

    By sheer chance, I happen to have a copy of Carson's profile from the New
    Yorker magazine (1978), which describes his first job in radio:

    "A multi-purpose job (at forty-seven dollars and fifty cents a week) as disk
    jockey, weather reporter, and reader of commercials on an Omaha radio
    station, where he breaks a precedent or two; [removed], when he is required to
    conduct psudo-interviews, consisting of answers prerecorded by minor
    celebrities and distributed to small-town [removed]'s with a list of matching
    questions, he flouts custom by ignoring the script. Instead of asking Patti
    Page how she began performing, he says, "I understand you're hitting the
    bottle pretty good, Patti - when did you start?,"
    which elicits the taped reply "When I was six, I used to get up a church
    socials and do it."

    One shudders to think what Howard Stern would do in the same situation
    today!

    Harlan

    Harlan Zinck
    First Generation Radio Archives
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 01:19:18 -0500
    From: "Len Freedman" <lenfreedman@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ersatz Old Radio

    Stephen Kallis's idea of an ersatz old radio triggered a memory.  I
    was in a used stereo shop back in the early '70s.  The walls of the
    shop were lined with audio components of every vintage (well,
    seperate components had only been around about 20 years at
    that point).  To me, being only about 20 years old, it seemed
    almost like a museum.

    One receiver had a fat, satisfied-looking cat curled up on it, fast
    asleep.  The receiver was on, but not playing  The owner of the
    shop said "That one's not for sale.  The tube units are getting
    scarce these days.  We keep this one just for the cat."

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 01:19:20 -0500
    From: "J. Randolph Cox" <cox@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Rathbone on Berle

    Should anyone remember my query about the date when Basil Rathbone appeared
    on the Buick-Berle Show, I found the answer by going to the radio and tv
    listings pages of the New York Times. I had found some ads and descriptive
    listings in the Minneapolis Tribune which identified the guests to help me
    eliminate some dates. Then I checked the Times for the dates for which I had
    no guest list -- and arrived at January 12, 1954.

    Elementary!

    Randy Cox

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 08:37:15 -0500
    From: OTRChris@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Sorry Wrong Number on SUSPENSE!

    In a message dated 2/22/01 6:43:15 AM Pacific Standard Time,
    [removed]@[removed] writes:

    <<My question is this:  Was there a
     special rebroadcast of SWN to correct the goof for west coast listeners???
     Thanks,
     Bob >>

    No there was not to the best of  my knowledge.   At the time Sorry Wrong
    Number was first heard  on Suspense   05-25-1943 the program was airing on
    CBS on Tuesday nights at 9:30 pm Eastern  War Time. Right up against FIBBER
    MCGEE AND MOLLY on NBC.  Both of these shows were only performed once so the
    air time on the Pacific Coast was 6:30 PM. So the actor misreading his line
    on Sorry Wrong number was heard that way coast to coast. I realize many
    people have often written that this was corrected for the west coast but all
    the radio logs I have ever seen would contradict this statement.  Those
    vendors that claim to posess a recording of a  west coast version  actually
    could not have such since there was no such second broadcast. In fact I think
    the recording touted as such is simply the same old flubbed show with the
    flub cleverly edited out.
    A few months later on 08-21-1943 Sorry Wrong Number was repeated .
    There were two performances done that night  as the program was in its new
    time slot 7:30 PM EWT  Saturday ( heard at 8PM PWT.) But there was no flubbed
    line on this night.

    During the Roma Wine years The show was performed twice also .
    Suspense aired at 8pm Thursdays and also 12 midnight  Mondays ( some eastern
    stations supposedly carried both performances but the second performance was
    intended  for the west coast  for a 9pm airing. )
    Around the spring or Summer of 1946 the second performance was  changed from
    Monday night to Thursday . At this time Suspense would be heard all across
    the country on the same night. 8pm EWT/ 7CWT /  6MWT/   9PWT
    Repeat performance of SWN were heard 2-24-44 and 9-6-45 again flub free.

    By the time Sorry Wrong Number was repeated again on 11-18-1948 Suspense was
    sponsored by Auto Lite  and was again only performed once each evening.
    9 PM Eastern /6pm Pacific  Thursday Nights.
    It would be done three more times into the 50s but by such times its possible
    that the show was pre-recorded and not live.

    -Chris

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 08:38:16 -0500
    From: "Michael Brady" <MBrady@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: 1940s Radio Hour

    Actually, one of the many theater companies here in town did the show a
    couple of months [removed] and was very well received, with good sized
    audiences.

    I was part of the cast, and played Lou, the stage manager.  I was very
    pleased with how it came out and wished we'd had a longer run.

    Back to lurkdom,
    Michael Brady
     ----------------------------

>        I just saw a local production of the Tony Award winning "I94o's Radio
>     Hour" recently at one of our local Community College Theatres.  I must say I
>     was very well impressed by the over-all feel of the production, just as it
>     was then.  Anyone who hasn't seen it yet, keep an eye on the entertainment
>     section of your local paper as to when it will play in your area.  I
>     understand from people  associated with the production that they revive it
>     about 3very 2 years.  Has it played in Your area yet?

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 09:34:22 -0500
    From: "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Jack Benny Christmas

    Hi Gang,

    There's another item, but not from a Benny show.  I dubbed it years ago from
    a 16" lacquer when I knew Raymond Scott & had access to his disks.

    It's about a 12 minute portion of a Lucky Strike Christmas special.  In it,
    Jack's getting ready to call his sponsor (to which Dennis ask's "what are
    you going to call him this time?").  At the beginning of the skit, Jack
    announces that:

    - Mary's not appearing due to a cold
    -Mary's sister Babe is playing her part
    -Phil Harris isn't on because of his own show

    Rochester and Don are present too.  Amongst the gags: Jack waters down
    Rochester's eggnog, Don explains why he can't eat turkey,  and Frank Morgan
    stops by asking to use Jack's phone & of course needs change to do so.
    Dennis cracks up Jack by feigning confusion between Christmas and Pesach
    (Passaover).  Jack sings Abbott & Costello's Camel theme, ending in
    raspberries.  The sketch ends with the cast singing special lyrics to "God
    Bless America" (God Bless American).  It's funny and warm and delightful
    entertainment.

    Well!
    Shiffy
    check out my website: [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 09:42:47 -0500
    From: "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  quiz

    Sorry to say that I'm sure of only two answers: #13 Bing & Bob Crosby; #16
    Connee Boswell.  I'm guessing that # 2 is Arch Obler & #11 is Benny Goodman.

    Best,
    Shiffy
    check out my website: [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 11:07:53 -0500
    From: "Robert McDivitt" <robmcd@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Another Club has made it to the web

    Another club has finally made it to the web. You can find "The Old Time
    Radio Club" of Bffalo, Ny. at  '[removed] ' . The club has been
    around since 1975 and finally made it to the web.

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

    Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 11:07:55 -0500
    From: "steven kostelecky" <skostelecky@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Paul Frees and Elvis

    I don't know how much of this has been covered in past Digests, but I
    thought it bizarre and a little fascinating.
    In Peter Guralnick's "Careless Love," the second part of his two-volume
    Presley biography, on page 412, he talks about Elvis' association with John
    O'Grady, "ex-Los Angeles narcotics chief and private [removed] night
    the whole gang went out for dinner with O'Grady at Chasen's, and O'Grady
    introduced Elvis to Paul Frees, 'the man of 1,000 voices,' who was famous
    for his commercials, cartoons, and voice-overs. Frees was also an undercover
    narcotics agent and at O'Grady's prompting showed Elvis the federal badge he
    had recently obtained from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in
    recognition of his extensive undercover work. From that point on, all Elvis
    could talk about was getting his own BNDD badge."
    Don't worry, Elvis got his badge on Dec. 21, 1970, from Pres. Nixon.
    I think anyone who reads any creditable writing on popular music will know
    Mr. Guralnick. He's written for over thirty years on blues, rockabilly, rock
    'n' roll, soul and other American roots music. That's why I'm reading an
    Elvis biography from him--I trust him.
    The source he cites is an interview with one of Elvis' cronies, Jerry
    Schilling, but he also says, "virtually every memoir and biography and
    innumerable interviews, have recounted this incident with little variation
    save for the location of the dinner."
    Anybody know any more about Mr. Frees' undercover work?

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #63
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