Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #39
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 2/6/2006 1:58 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2006 : Issue 39
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Re: self-referential radio shows      [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK               [ "Jerry Haendiges" <jerryhaendiges@c ]
  OC Register Reviews Sat. Radio        [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
  The other side of the sun             [ "Cynthia Heimsoth" <chibibarako@hot ]
  benny baseball question               [ "Mike Leannah" <mleannah@[removed] ]
  optical reconstruction of phonograph  [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
  Breaking the fourth wall              [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
  "Golden Age of Radio" and "A One Nig  [ "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed]; ]
  Re: An OTR Oscar Nomination           [ Jordan Young <jyoung@[removed]; ]
  Bursting through the audio fourth wa  [ Grams46@[removed] ]
  Re:WJSV Complete Day of Broadcasting  [ "Leslie Waffen" <[removed]@nara ]
  Johnnie & Marcia                      [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 16:44:18 -0500
From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: self-referential radio shows

Apparently, this self-referential stuff goes way, way back to the very
earliest days of original radio drama.

I recently ran across an interesting article in the April 23, 1923 Los
Angeles Times. The newspaper, which owned KHJ, regularly published
"reviews" of the station's programming by Ben A. Markson. These
promotional pieces described the previous day's broadcasts or promoted
upcoming ones in the most glowing terms.

By April '23, KHJ was experimenting with scripted "theme nights" and
"continuity programs." In this lengthy excerpt, Markson discusses
"Sunday Night at Home" (or "At Home"), a continuity program broadcast
on April 22, 1923. Although he claims that "this was the first time in
the history of radio that something resembling a drama has been
broadcasted," there had, of course, already been quite a few dramas
over the radio at that point (the WGY Players, for example). But the
interesting thing is some of the self-referential content of the
program which was clearly written especially for the radio:

***
KHJ TRAVELS IN PRETENSE LAND

Microphone Alarm Clock for Studio Family Home

"Children" All Perform for Listeners-in

Affair Mixed, but Waves Were Kept Busy

BY BEN A. MARKSON

Sunday night in the KHJ studio. We all thought that the witching hour
was midnight, but it turned out to be 8 [removed] The spider web in a
corner of the ceiling quivered. The incandescents winked and flushed
to a wan, eerie glow. Shadows danced on the tinted walls. Red and
green bubbles floated across the room.

Then the lights flashed back to their normal brilliance and we saw
things as they were not. The studio had changed into the parlor of a
residence and we were all members of a family grouped together for
Sunday night sociability.

ALL AMUSING

It was strange, and yet amusing, to discover that we were suddenly
related although we bore different names and several of those present
had never met before. On the other hand, there was nothing strange
about it, for how can things that aren't so differ in degrees from one
another? You'll have to make allowances for the fact that King Tut
strolled into the family parlor leading two dogs, that the microphone
turned into an alarm clock without losing any of its broadcasting
propensities, that Uncle Remus came out of the story book in the guise
of E. M. Bonnell and that Uncle John was present although he wasn't
there? ["Uncle John," [removed] John S. Daggett, was KHJ's bedtime
storyteller.]

These conflicting details are insignificant, because anything goes in
the "Land of Make-Believe."

A dramatic theme was woven through the program. The setting was laid
in a prospector's home at Victorville on the edge of the Mojave
Desert. The scene opened with a mother talking to her son, 5 years of
age. The telephone rings and dad announces that he has found ore which
indicates a gold mine and fabulous wealth. The sketch has its ups and
downs and various minor climaxes, building not toward a denouement but
carrying out the centralized idea of a Sunday night in an American
home. The love element enters into the story through the romance of
the prospector's daughter, played by Mary Newkirk Bower, with a
visiting attorney played by S. R. Donaldson.

The important feature of the program was that this was the first time
in the history of radio that something resembling a drama has been
broadcasted. It arouses speculation in a new field of radio
entertainment activities--that of a play being enacted by unseen
characters, voices alone serving to unfold the action of the story.

Seated in the parlor we chatted, the children were scolded, neighbors
dropped in for a friendly word, games were played, and finally we
tuned-in on KFI to hear the radio concert.

MADE BELIEVE

That gave us an idea. We decided to make believe we were KHJ, The
Times, and give a program, using an alarm clock for a microphone and
taking turns at imitating Uncle John.

Really, it was a lot of fun for us to pretend that we were KHJ, the
funniest part being that we, who actually are KHJ, were pretending
that we were not.

Sort of a reversible affair, so to speak, which gets more mixed up the
harder you try to understand it. At any rate, it was a good program.

Mary Newkirk Bower, the daughter in this little domestic play, sang
exquisite selections, accompanied by mother, Carrie Preston
Rittmeister. I think her golden soprano voice went out wonderfully
well over the alarm clock, even if the alarm did ring at the wrong
time.

And Florence Westengard Dabney seated herself at the piano, circled by
the soft glow of the floor lamp, and performed with such artistry that
any radio station or concert hall would consider it is a privilege to
have her on a program.

She played Prelude in C Sharp Minor, by Rachmaninoff, "Sextette," from
"Lucia," and "Faust Waltz," by Liszt. Well, we were certainly proud to
have her in the family.

LITTLE BROTHER

Richard Headrick was little brother last night. At other times he is a
juvenile film star and a violin prodigy. Bright remarks by the baby of
the family comprised his share of the party.

George Pepper, 7 years of age, next youngest in the family, provided a
violin solo, "Liebesfreud," by Kreisler, adding to the glory of his
temporary kin with his uncanny talent.

Someone in the family has to be a saxophone addict and M. Bertrand
Howard was tagged. He made it moan loud enough for the neighbors to
hear with "Over the Waters," "Friendship," by Howard, and "The
Bubble," by Friml.

This aroused a trombone mood in S. R. Donaldson, so he showed us how
trombone music should be played with "My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice"
from "Samson and Delilah," by Saint-Saens.

After everyone had said goodnight to everyone else eight or nine
times, the alarm clock was changed back to a microphone, the parlor
again became the KHJ studio and the things that weren't so became
restored to the things that are.

If you listened in last night these matters may not appear so
puzzling. ...

***

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

Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 17:57:47 -0500
From: "Jerry Haendiges" <jerryhaendiges@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK

Hi Friends,

Here is this week's schedule for my Olde Tyme Radio Network. Here you may
listen to high-quality broadcasts with Tom Heathwood's "Heritage Radio
Theater," Big John Matthews and Steve "Archive" Urbaniak's "The Glowing
Dial," Lee Michael's "The RADIO Show" and my own "Same Time, Same Station."
Streamed in high-quality audio, on demand, 24/7 at
[removed]
=======================================

SAME TIME, SAME STATION

NBC UNIVERSITY THEATER
Episode 23    1-9-49    "The Grapes of Wrath"
Stars: Jane Darwell and Wally Maher
Author: John Steinbeck

HOMOCIDE O'KANE
3-2-43    "The Killer Who Returned From The Dead As The Clock Struck The
Hour"
STARS: John Heston, Richard Le Grand, Howard McNear, Harry Lang, Sara Selby,
Grace Holby
KECA - Blue Network Sustaining

LET'S PRETEND
6-5-54    "Beauty and the Beast"
==================================

HERITAGE RADIO THEATER

THE THEATRE GUILD ON THE AIR
ABC 11/11/45 [removed] Steel
Two One-Act plays by Eugene O'Neil: "The Emperor Jones" and "Where The Cross
is Made"
Starring Canada Lee and Boris Karloff.

BLACKSTONE, THE MAGIC DETECTIVE
WOR/MBS   Synd.   10/31/48
Ed Jerome stars as Harry Blackstone in "The Educated Dummy"
====================================

THE GLOWING DIAL

The Jack Benny Program - "Orson Welles guest hosts, Phil Returns After 3
Months"
originally aired March 14, 1943 on NBC
Starring: Orson Welles, Dennis Day, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Don Wilson,
Phil Harris, Frank Nelson, Verna Felton.
Special Note: Audio restoration on "The Jack Benny Program" was done by
Jerry Haendiges.

 The Jack Benny Program - "Orson Welles guest hosts, Mary Returns"
originally aired March 21, 1943 on NBC
Starring: Orson Welles, Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day, Eddie "Rochester"
Anderson, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Frank Nelson, Verna Felton.
Special Note: Audio restoration on "The Jack Benny Program"  was done by
Jerry Haendiges.

The Jack Benny Program  - "Orson Welles guest hosts, Too Much Mayonnaise"
originally aired March 28, 1943 on NBC
Starring: Orson Welles, Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day, Eddie "Rochester"
Anderson, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Bill Morrow & Eddie Beloin (Benny's
writers), Verna Felton.
Special Note: Audio restoration on "The Jack Benny Program" was done by
Jerry Haendiges.

The Jack Benny Program - "Orson Welles guest hosts, Little Red Riding Hood"
originally aired April 4, 1943 on NBC
Starring: Orson Welles, Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day, Eddie "Rochester"
Anderson, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Andy Devine, Bill Morrow & Eddie Beloin
(Benny's writers), Verna Felton.
Special Note: Audio restoration on "The Jack Benny Program" was done by
Jerry Haendiges.

The Jack Benny Program - "Orson Welles, Jack Returns After a 5 Week Illness"
originally aired April 11, 1943 on NBC
Starring: Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Eddie
"Rochester" Anderson, Don Wilson, Frank Nelson, Orson Welles, Verna Felton.
Special Note: Audio restoration on "The Jack Benny Program"  was done by
Jerry Haendiges.
==================================

The RADIO Show

SPEED GIBSON OF THE INTERNATIONAL SECRET POLICE
"Stop Plans for Explosion", Ep. 22 (Pgm. #122), starring Howard McNear and
Gale Gordon (Syndicated by Radio Attractions for air April 25, 1939)

A Word from Our Sponsors: Hamilton Electric, Eskimo Pie

Frontier Fighters
Episode 4, "John C. Fremont" (Syndicated by Transco, 1935)

Fibber McGee & Molly
"House Raffle" starring Jim and Marion Jordan (NBC, Sponsored by Johnson's
Wax, 8-26-35)
===================================

If you have any questions or request, please feel free to contact me.

     Jerry Haendiges

     Jerry@[removed]  562-696-4387
     The Vintage Radio Place   [removed]
     Largest source of Old Time Radio Logs, Articles and programs on the Net

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

Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 17:58:16 -0500
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OC Register Reviews Sat. Radio

This feature story on satelite radio services includes a story of a person 
who became an OTR fan by listening to classic radio on XM.

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

[removed] 

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

Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 19:35:30 -0500
From: "Cynthia Heimsoth" <chibibarako@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The other side of the sun

Rick Keating wrote:

There seems to have been a lot of speculation in the early part of the 
twentieth century that Earth had a solar counter-balance that was invisible 
because the sun was always between both planets.

Here's a site I Googled; I make no claims to its accuracy:
[removed]

Cynthia "ChibiBarako"

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

Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 00:24:34 -0500
From: "Mike Leannah" <mleannah@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  benny baseball question

Thank you to Michael Berger for taking the time to provide the information
on the Benny question. Interesting to know that those were real baseball
players. I still think it's unusual for the Benny show to mention names like
that without an obvious purpose. I thought for sure there'd be a later
reference to the names but it never came. I guess they were going for
realism. Even Mel Blanc as the train station voice made a serious call from
time to time, although he ALWAYS came through later with something funny.

Mike Leannah

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

Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 07:46:12 -0500
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  optical reconstruction of phonograph records

I was searching through the world's accumulated knowledge in a vain attempt
to figure out how to build an all-mechanical record/playback phonograph
(like Edison's) when I came upon the following paper:

[removed]~av/

It's a discussion how one might recover the audio from a difficult disk and
then digitize it.  Several clips and movies are included.

Since there's a good deal of discussion about such restoration methods here,
I thought it might be interesting.

Mark Kinsler
512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 07:46:53 -0500
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Breaking the fourth wall

Jim Widner gave a Richard Diamond example.   There is another one from that
series.  I hope that I'm not duplicating another message.  I added McAfee
spam buster (?) and it played havoc with my email.   I removed it and lost a
whole lot of mail including a couple of OTR newsletters which it had decided
was spam.  Anyway you get the picture.

The episode of Richard Diamond I'm thinking of was the one where his wife,
June Allyson, was a client.  I think it was the opening episode one season.
She kept telling Diamond how much he resembled her husband, etc. etc.   It
was entertaining but impossible to consider as a serious story.

Johnny Dollar made many references.  His 'radio program' gave him some
celebrity access.  The person I remember his mentioning more than once was
Vincent Price.  There were others but can't remember.

  Irene

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

Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 10:27:22 -0500
From: "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  "Golden Age of Radio" and "A One Night Stand"

The latest "Golden Age of Radio" programs with Dick Bertel
and Ed Corcoran, and "A One Night Stand with the Big Bands"
with Arnold Dean can be heard at [removed].

In the coming weeks we will feature three complete shows
in MP3 format for your listening pleasure or for downloading;
two "Golden Age of Radios" and one "One Night Stand." We
present new shows every week or so. The current three
programs will be available on line at least until the morning
of  February 13, 2006.

Program 18 - September, 1971 - Noel Gerson

Noel Gerson, writer of over 10,000 radio shows, was a
prominent writer of historical novels. He wrote under
many preudonyms, including Donald Clayton Porterk, Anne
Marie Burgess, Samuel Edwards, Paul Lewis, Philip Vail,
and Carter A. Vaughn.

Some of his novels include  The Golden Lyre, Theodora, The
Conqueror's Wife, The Cumberland Rifles, Daughter of Eve,
Emperor's Ladies, The Golden Eagle,  The Highwayman, The
Scimitar, and That Egyptian Woman.

The discussion on this show will center on his radio career.
(Of course!)

Program 19 - October, 1971 - Ed Rice

Ed Rice was a writer, producer, and director of "The Shell
Chateau," with Al Jolson.

After leaving the Broadway stage, Jolson starred on radio,
and his shows were typically rated in the top ten. However,
Jolson scored what many believe to be the greatest
comeback in show business history when Columbia Pictures
produced the film biography The Jolson Story in 1946, which
starred Larry Parks as Jolson, lip-synching to Jolson's voice.
Jolson himself made a short appearance in the film. A box
office smash (it was the highest grossing film since Gone
With the Wind) led to a whole new generation who became
enthralled with Jolson's voice and charisma. Despite such
singers as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Perry Como being
in their primes, Jolson was voted the "Most Popular Male
Vocalist" in 1948.

"A One Night Stand with the Big Bands" With Arnold Dean

Charles McPherson - May, 1975

Charles McPherson was born in Joplin, Missouri and grew up
in Detroit from the age of nine. He went to school there and
started playing flugelhorn, as they didn't have any saxophones
available. Then the next semester, his mother bought him an
alto. He was about thirteen. He studied briefly at the Larry
Teal School of Music. One of the guys there was Don Sinta.
At that time, he was the best of the younger classical
saxophonists in town. A lot of the guys studied at the Teal
School. He studied with a guy named Robert Anderson.

Charles McPherson is one of the four or five great alto
saxophonists on the planet now in the new millennium. He
certainly is one of those "chosen few" still left who have
essentially learned their craft at the feet of "the master",
Charles "Bird" Parker. The style of Charles Parker has had
a profound effect on McPherson, who has absorbed Bird's
playing and constructed it into his own very personal style.

In the 1970's WTIC decided that there was a market in
the evening for long-form shows that could be packaged
and sold to sponsors. Two of those shows were "The
Golden Age of Radio" and "A One Night Stand with the
Big Bands."

Dick Bertel had interviewed radio collector-historian
Ed  Corcoran several times on his radio and TV shows,
and thought a regular monthly show featuring interviews
with actors, writers, producers, engineers and musicians
from radio's early days might be interesting. "The Golden
Age of Radio" was first broadcast in April, 1970;  Ed was
Dick's co-host. It lasted seven years. "The Golden Age
of Radio" can also be heard Saturday nights on Walden
Hughes's program on Radio Yesteryear.

Arnold Dean began his love affair with the big band
era in his pre-teen years and his decision to study
the clarinet was inspired by the style of Artie Shaw.
When he joined WTIC in 1965 he hosted a daily program
of big band music.  In 1971, encouraged by the success
of his daily program and "The Golden Age of Radio"
series, he began monthly shows featuring interviews
with the band leaders, sidemen, agents, jazz reporters,
etc. who made major contributions to one of the great
eras of music history.

Bob Scherago
Webmaster

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

Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 14:33:46 -0500
From: Jordan Young <jyoung@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: An OTR Oscar Nomination

"A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin," a documentary by
Eric Simonson, has been nominated for an Academy Award in the
Documentary (short subject) category.

Ironically, Norman himself was one of the people who voted on the
documentary Oscars, until recently. He seemed surprised and delighted
by the nomination when I spoke to him Friday. As he remarked, "It
would never have happened while I was on the committee."

Jordan R. Young

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

Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 14:33:56 -0500
From: Grams46@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bursting through the audio fourth wall

Bursting through the audio fourth  wall>

paul rhymer, the writer of vic and sade referred  to "homer heck of norman,
oklahoma" in his scripts occassionally.
the real  homer heck was a director at nbc.  he directed vic and sade for a
while  during the war.
peace from kathy
support our troops; end the war
john  3:16

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

Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 14:34:38 -0500
From: "Leslie Waffen" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re:WJSV Complete Day of Broadcasting

I must say as a audiovisual archivist that I am amazed at the comments in
this thread about the WJSV complete day of broadcasting from 1939, and how
boring and tedious it is to listen to. I urge everyone to remember that this
is the earliest existing complete day of radio broadcasting that has
survived.

The transcription recordings that document that day of broadcasting are  66
years old and preserved in your National Archives because it at the time
requested local station WJSV-CBS to record President Franklin D. Roosevelt's
address to Congress on that day.  WJSV decided to record the whole day on
radio transcription discs and donate it to the National Archives for
posterity.  The result is a day of broadcasting like no other,
minute-by-minute, from sign-on to sign-off.

This is an astounding group of historically significant recordings which last
year was selected to be placed on the National  Registry of Historical Sound
Recordings by the Librarian of Congress as recommended by the National
Recording Preservation Board.

To listen to the complete day is to experience what your parents and
grandparents were listening to at that point in time.  It is truly a radio
time capsule, with all it warts and grandeur. What is amazing and oh so rare
is that it even exists at all today to document radio as of September 21,
1939. This is the way it was. When you listen, imagine, and place it in the
context of the times, and I hope you will have a greater appreciation for
what your ears are hearing.

Les

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

Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 15:58:08 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Johnnie & Marcia
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Our pal Chris "Castile" Holm posted:

 and the Kents' names (originally John and Mary,
but ultimately established as Jonathan and
Martha;

From that point on, you can guess what wouldn't get out of my [removed]

[removed] [removed]
[removed] [removed]
<snip>

In 1996, Stan Freberg was doing a phone-hookup interview promoting his latest
CD "Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America, Volume 2" over NJ
station WFMU-FM. I managed to call in & get my questions asked & even got to
mention how brothers Larry and John Gassman [whom Freberg interjected that
they were very good friends of his] had been playing on their radio show  his
"John & Marsha" routine the previous year during the [removed] Simpson trial
dedicating it to opposing attorneys "John(nie Cochran) and Marcia (Clark)."

Ether!

Derek Tague

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
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End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #39
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