------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2001 : Issue 298
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Re:Singers on OTR [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
Need Help Playing mp3 Discs!! [ GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@ ]
Froggy the Gremlin [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
My Favorites [ Marty <martyd@[removed]; ]
Civil War on OTR? [ "cominghomemag" <cominghomemag@msn. ]
OTR labels [ "Bob Wallace" <ewcbob@[removed]; ]
A Favorite Series [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
"he couldn't have made it with a poc [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
The Greatest Story Ever Told [ Wich2@[removed] ]
Another top [removed] [ Ga6string@[removed] ]
Re: Louie's Hungry Five [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
OTR mp3 and big auction site [ "stephen jansen" <stephenjansen@ema ]
Quiet Please/The Fourble Board [ "Scott business" <[removed]@worldne ]
OTR Favorites [ "Bob Wallace" <ewcbob@[removed]; ]
Re: Scopes Trial On Radio [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 21:25:52 -0400
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:Singers on OTR
I've often read e-mail listings on this mailing list from
members asking for information about the actors/
actresses, comedians, and where their performances
can be found.
One thing I've yet to hear anything about, however, is
the singers on OTR. There were more than a few.
Some examples which I remember include: Kate Smith,
Gertrude Niesen, Frances Langford, Marsha Hunt, Frank
Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Ray Noble, Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson,
Don Ameche, Dennis Day, Dinah Shore, Bobby Sherwood,
Edgar Fairchild, and Dianna Durbin.
Several of these singers did double duty and performed on
several popular OTR programs. Frances Langford, Marsha
Hunt, and Don Ameche ("The Bickersons"), Dennis Day
("A Day In The Life Of Dennis Day" and "The Jack Benny Show"),
Eddie Cantor, Bobby Sherwood, Dianna Durbin, and Dinah Shore
("The Eddie Cantor Show"), and Kate Smith ("The Kate Smith Show").
I think it would be nice if some of their contributions were noted
as well. It would be great if some of their performances could
be captured on tape and made available. It would be a collection
I'd have an interest in. Are there any already out there now?
If not, there should be. Their performances are also a part of
OTR.
It's the same with the bands of OTR: Billy Mills (Fibber McGee & Molly)
Ray Noble ("Chase and Sanborn Hour" , "The Edgar Bergen/Charlie
McCarthy Show"), Duke Ellington ("A Saturday with Duke Ellington"),
Red Nichols, Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny
Goodman.
Just think about it and let me know if any of you agree.
Kenneth Clarke
kclarke5@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 21:26:08 -0400
From: GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Need Help Playing mp3 Discs!!
I purchased a half-dozen mp3 OTR discs a few
days ago - my first-ever mp3 discs - and didn't think
that I'd have any trouble playing them. I'd previously
downloaded WinAmp, Real Audio, Windows Media Player,
Quicktime, plus some more obscure media players, and
have no problem playing mp3 clips off the Internet, so
I thought I'd be okay.
So please drag me through the process. I put the
CD in the drive. Then what?
Thanks, all!
George Wagner
GWAGNEROLDTIMERADIO@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 23:04:01 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Froggy the Gremlin
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 17:04:11 -0400
From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
Interestingly, as I remember it, Froggie didn't always have a magic
twanger. There was the sound of a "twang", but I don't recall that
Smilin' Ed told Froggie to plunk his magic twanger in the early days
of the show. Froggie just became visable and played his tricks on
Mr. Shortfellow the poet, or whoever the guest happened to be.
This is interesting because I remember a television episode in which, at
the point in the show where Froggy usually appeared, Smilin' Ed came
to center stage and said to the audience that someone or other was
coming to give a lecture, and Froggy always upset her with his tricks.
But Froggy couldn't plunc his twanger and become visible, said Smilin'
Ed, unless he said the magic word. "So today," said Smilin' Ed, "I'm
not going to say 'Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy.'"
That, of course, was enough to produce the puff of smoke and the
twanging sound, and Froggy became visible.
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210 lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 23:04:23 -0400
From: Marty <martyd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: My Favorites
All right, I finally decided to put my 2-cents worth in the pot.
Here's my favorites:
1) Suspense
2) The Great Gildersleeve
3) Fibber McGee & Molly
4) Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (w/Bob Bailey)
5) The Jack Benny Show
Of course, there are many others. However, if I had to live on the moon
and only take with me 5 *series*, these are the 5 I would take.
Marty Dzik
Somewhere in Chicago-land
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 23:03:40 -0400
From: "cominghomemag" <cominghomemag@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Civil War on OTR?
Hi Everyone,
I do a lot of our homeschooling using OTR history oriented shows. Anyone
know of any episodes or series focusing on the Civil War?
kylistener
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 22:34:54 -0400
From: "Bob Wallace" <ewcbob@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Net" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR labels
There are lots of transcription disk labels for down load at:
[removed]
You can find ready made CD labels for your MP3 discs at:
[removed]
Bob
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 23:14:01 -0400
From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: A Favorite Series
As many fine Radio series have been mentioned by posters to the
Digest, I thought I would add one of my favorites that hasn't been
mentioned. It is a short-run series, 13 half-hour episodes, that was made
for Armed Forces Radio Service and also seems to have been later aired on
commercial radio. The original airing date is unknown.
It might be called a documentary drama. The historically accurate
scripts were written Karl A. and William Tunberg. The director was William
Lally. Sound pattern were performed by Gene Twombly. The announcer was
Michael Rye.
The series co-starred a poster to this Digest: Harry Bartell; the
other co-star was veteran actor John Anderson. The fine supporting class
included: Cliff Holland, Helen Gerald, Karl Swenson, Sebastian Cabot, Les
Tremayne, Tyler McVey, Dal McKennon, Howard Culver, Jack Edwards, Jack
Kruschen, Sam Edwards, Frank Gerstle, Herb Ellis, Eddie Firestone, Ben
Wright, and Jay Novello.
I thought a mention of this series would be appropriate as the 200th
anniversary of this historic event it is based on is coming up.
Gee, won't he ever tell us?
OK, the series is HORIZONS WEST, a docu-drama of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition, starring Harry Bartell as Cpt. Meriwether Lewis and John
Anderson as Cpt. William Clark.
I highly recommend the series; it is not only educational, but also
entertaining.
[removed] HORIZONS WEST is in the SPERDVAC and RHAC tape libraries. All 13
episodes are available.
Signing off for now,
Stewart Wright
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 23:45:31 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "he couldn't have made it with a pocket full of
aces." -- Pat Novak
Sandy Singer quotes,
Rod Serling told me Science/Fiction was the easiest thing to write,
because you could write anything and still be legit.
Which says more about Rod Serling than it does the genre. As a sometime
practitioner in the genre, I can "legitimately" point out that real
Science Fiction (hereinafter SF) has two primary characteristics.
1) The scientific aspect of the story is necessary for the story to work.
A story about a love triangle set in the future isn't SF unless there is
something about the triangle is based upon or has to employ a scientific
principle.
2) The science in the story is consistent with the scientific/technical
knowledge of the time it was written. A story about a robot's "brain"
being based upon a "platinum-iridium sponge" written in the 1930s might
qualify as SF, before the development of logic circuitry, but not in the
1990s.
A corollary to 2) is that a technology that doesn't exist now but that
doesn't contradict known science is legitimate in SF provided it's
consistent within the story.
Anything outside these bounds is not SF, even though it may have the
trappings of the genre. In an OTR format, most 2000 Plus and some
Mysterious Traveler episodes were not SF, even though presented as if
they were. Many Dimension X episodes were adapted from stories that
first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, the "hardest" SF magazine
of the period ("hard" as in "hard core").
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 23:44:31 -0400
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: The Greatest Story Ever Told
Merv- (& all)-
I write this w/o going to the reference books, but I do know that said series
existed (late 40's, I think). I've heard one or two episodes; they're well
done, if a bit dated- the approach to the stories then was in a sense TOO
reverential- hence a little stuffy, to my tastes (my contemporary group,
Quicksilver Radio Theater, hopes at some point to do my own TRIAL OF JESUS OF
NAZARETH).
I believe a writer on GSET was Fulton Oursler (sp?), who later novelised the
material to considerable success. That novel, in turn, was a main source of
the 1960's George Stevens film of the same title.
And again, I know some episodes are circulating out there- I've heard them in
the last 10 years.
Best,
Craig Wichman
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2001 00:01:52 -0400
From: Ga6string@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Another top [removed]
Hi y'all,
These top five listings have been interesting to me, particularly as I note
that my tastes as not exactly in accord with many others in the group. For
one thing, I'm not a fan of OTR comedy, while many of you clearly are. Please
don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking it, but other than Jack Benny and Fibber
McGee and Molly (both based on great character development, you'll note), I
personally don't enjoy the comedy that much.
On the other hand, I seem to have a greater appreciation for the Hollywood
connection than most -- I love to hear classic movie stars on OTR -- Humphrey
Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Alan Ladd, Dick Powell, Bette Davis, Ingrid
Bergman, Ida Lupino, Barbara Stanwyck, Claire Trevor, etc. Imagine what it
would be like today to turn on the radio any given night and hear (for
example) Harrison Ford or Sean Connery or Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts
recreating their latest film role LIVE on the radio. Imagine [removed]
With that said, my "top 5" includes:
1. Lux Radio Theatre
2. Screen Guild Theatre (Gulf, Lady Esther, Camel)
3. Suspense
4. Gunsmoke
5. The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (big fan of Chandler and of Gerald Mohr,
as many of you know!)
Give the opportunity to list a second five (try and stop me!), I'd go for:
6. The Whistler
7. Escape
8. Screen Director's Playhouse
9. The Adventures of Sam Spade
10. Rogue's Gallery
...with honorable mention to Academy Award Theatre; Nightbeat; Box 13; the
Cavalcade of America; Richard Diamond, Private Detective; Yours Truly, Johnny
Dollar; the Green Hornet; and a special honorable mention for the CBS Radio
Mystery Theater, which hooked me on radio drama in the first place, back in
the '70s.
I'd also like to mention that I'd be very interested in reading everyone's
thoughts on a similar type of listing of favorite individual broadcasts,
versus programs. For example, the Suspense episodes "House on Cypress
Canyon," "Fugue in C Minor" and "The Search for Henri LeFevre" would
certainly be among my top programs, as would Escape's "Three Skeleton Key,"
the Lux broadcasts of "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (with Bogie and Walter
Huston!), "Murder My Sweet" (Dick Powell) and "My Darling Clementine" (Henry
Fonda); and the Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre episode of "The Maltese
Falcon," including Bogie, Mary Astor, Sidney Greenstreet AND Peter Lorre. And
how about "Red Wind" from The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (with Mohr from
9/26/48, not the Van Heflin episode), or my favorite "The Third Man" episode,
"Pearls of Bohemia," or "The Six Shooter" audition program (if that's the
right word) from Hollywood Star Playhouse? To name a few! What are some of
your favorites?
Sincerely,
Bryan Powell, age 41
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2001 00:08:17 -0400
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Louie's Hungry Five
From: "Randy Spurlock, [removed]" <randys@[removed];
Has anyone heard of a show in the early 30's called "Louie's Hungry
Five". I just bought about a hundred transcription discs of it and
haven't listened to them yet and have no idea what type of show they
are yet.
I've got discs of about 15 of 'em, so we ought to check with each other
if I have any episodes to fill in holes in the series when you dub
them. I seem to recall that there was another record collector who also
had a bunch of them--they've shown up over the years. In addition to the
ironies that Elizabeth noted about this series vs. Amos 'n' Andy, the
first year or so of Louie was recorded by Marsh Labs which was the
studio where the first year of the A'n'A syndication was recorded. The
Louie's are better pressings though, good Columbia laminated pressings.
I'm trying to recall who did the later Louies. It wasn't Brunswick,
which is where the later A'n'A's and the National Radio Advertising Co.
programs were done. Some of the Louie's mention the Chicago Tribune on
the labels. It would be good to get a listing of all of the matrix
numbers with the program numbers and the dates--it might help pinpoint
when Marsh went out of business. The Marsh matrices have a tiny M in a
circle somewhere in the lead-out area, not necessarily by the matrix
numbers.
BTW,in the same group were more than 900 shows of Cecil and Sally
from the early 30's as well and I plan on converting them as soon as
time allows. Randy
This is a much rarer series, I don't recall if I've ever seen one of
these discs, but this series had much greater promotion in the industry
trade press. There are some ads with cartoons of the lead characters.
You certainly have your work cut out for you. I hope for the sake of
your sanity that you like this series as you listen to it. I can tell
you that I had a VERY hard time listening to the Louie's I have!!!
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2001 10:46:47 -0400
From: "stephen jansen" <stephenjansen@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR mp3 and big auction site
Just wondering if anyone out there has noticed a huge reduction in OTR
mp3 sales on that huge (you know the one) auction site? Just a month ago a
search for "OTR mp3" yeilded somewhere between 12 and 20 pages of great,
affordable public domain OTR, and now there's only a measly 2. What
happened to the other 90 percent? Is there something going on? Or is it
just me?
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2001 10:46:01 -0400
From: "Scott business" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Quiet Please/The Fourble Board
I listened to the Thing on the Fourble Board last night and I agree that it
is a great episode of Quiet Please. My memory is a little fuzzy but wasn't
the same script used for an episode of another show. I'm thinking the
Mysterious Traveler but I'm not sure. Can someone hwlp out?
Scott
PS I'm pushing 51 (real hard) and my five favorites are: The Great
Gildersleeve, Rocky Fortune, The Six Shooter, Fibber McGee and Molly and
last but not least Gunsmoke.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2001 10:52:35 -0400
From: "Bob Wallace" <ewcbob@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Net" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR Favorites
I'm 60 and started recording OTR from the Armed Forces Radio and Television
Service in the late 60's.
In 30 years I was able to collect about 3,000 shows, MP3 has allowed me to
triple that number in less than a year.
A disc will hold about 50 hours and can easily be sorted in chronological
order without constant re-recording of cassettes
with it's attendant loss of quality.
As I remember my favorites as a child were:
1. Horatio Hornblower
2. The Scarlet Pimpernell
3. Fibber McGee & Molly
4. No School today
5. Archie Andrews
Now my favorites are:
1. The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen
2. The Lives of Harry Lime
3. Escape
4. Crime Classics
5. The Black Museum, Philip Marlowe, Richard Diamond
Gunsmoke, Fort Laramie, Have Gun Will Travel
Comedy
1. Phil Harris & Alice Faye
2. Fibber McGee & Molly
3. The Great Gildersleeve
4. Jack Benny
5. Amos & Andy, Duffy's Tavern, The Stan Freeberg Show.
Bob
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2001 10:52:15 -0400
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Scopes Trial On Radio
From: Udmacon@[removed] Bill Knowlton
The Scopes Trial was recorded in sound by newsreel cameras and you
can spot the ever-present WGN microphone in front of the testifiers.
One of the Holy Grails of OTR when I arrived in the Chicago area in 1968
was the Scopes Trial. I never had any evidence that any sound recording
ever existed. My mentor, Dr. Martin J. Maloney's [removed] dissertation was
on Darrow, so he had been looking for Darrow recordings for many
decades, and he knew everybody in Chicago radio. The film that was
taken at the trial was silent, not sound. Quite possibly some damn fool
documentary producer added some crowd murmering sound effects recording
to make a phony soundtrack on the version Bill saw, but the original
footage itself was silent.
It's interesting that a station from so far away, rather
than Nashville's WSM, broadcast the trial. Bill Knowlton
This answer is simple. WSM didn't exist yet. They first signed on on
October 5, 1925 but the trial started on July 25.
>From Bernard Wichert, Germany
I do have an entry in my archive listing: [removed] 25 2'05
"The Scopes Trial on Evolution: William [removed] and Clarence
Darrow (S.'s [removed] Defense)" [authenticity is not verified;
words may be uttered by professional actors]. There is also
a recording by country singer Vernon Dalhart on it.
There is a phony recording by actors on Edward R. Murrow's "I Can Hear
It Now, Vol 3, 1919-1933" and this might have been coupled with a
segment of one of Dalhart's many recordings of songs about the trial.
If the spoken segment discusses whether Jonah was actually swollowed by
a whale, it is probably the phony Murrow recording. (Whenever you are
confronted by a recording of an event from this era, always check this
album first. All but 5 recordings on it are fake, and several of those
were later recreations by the original person.)
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2001 Issue #298
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