Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #72
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 3/20/2008 4:18 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2008 : Issue 72
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      OTR and Godfrey on IGAS               [ David Ballarotto <[removed]@ ]
      Blissful Listening -- the Art lives!  [ Richard Fish <fish@lodestone-media. ]
      Harper Green                          [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Later Radio                           [ Robert Everest <erest@[removed]; ]
      3-20 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Questions About Radio Drama Producti  [ audioboyma@[removed] ]
      Charlie Chan Radio Serials            [ Campbell Connell <rcconnell@[removed] ]
      Yes, and No?                          [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      Bob & Ray Article in NY Daily News    [ seandd@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:21:38 -0400
    From: David Ballarotto <[removed]@[removed];
    To: Old Time Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OTR and Godfrey on IGAS

    I'm surprised there hasn't been a lot of discussion about the episode of
    "I've Got a Secret" that aired early on 3/19/2008 that, because of Arthur
    Godfrey's 30th anniversary at CBS, was totally devoted to OTR.

    In case a lot of people missed it, this was great.  It was from January 1964
    and the guests included Brace Beemer's grandchildren, Dick Kollmer, plus an
    actor who played "The Shadow", three of the Quiz Kids all grown up, plus 4
    heroines from radio soaps.

    One of the things that really stuck out was seeing how the panelists reacted
    so fondly to actualities and the themes from the radio soaps.  Of course,
    this came, what, less than two years after the final episodes of "Suspense"
    and "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"?

    GSN has aired the episodes of "What's My Line?" and "Password" that were all
    a part of the Godfrey 30th anniversary celebration and there are a handful of
    the Godfrey radio shows from that week in circulation, too.  The radio show
    where George Burns, Harry Von Zell, Richard Nixon, and Godfrey himself are
    all upstaged by Jackie Gleason is probably one of the funniest hours I've
    heard.

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

    Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:22:40 -0400
    From: Richard Fish <fish@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Blissful Listening -- the Art lives!

    Jim Cox asked about new radio theatre shows, post-OTR, and there's been
    some mention of Jim French's work and a few other things.

    SFX:  SOAP-BOX PLACED ON FLOOR. FOOTSTEPS UP ONTO BOX.

    The truth is, there's a LOT of it. It's just not on the radio.

    The art form we all love was invented before radio, on wax cylinders. It
    of course flowered most spectacularly during the OTR era, on broadcast
    radio. But the art itself is independent of its medium. It started on
    cylinders, moved on to discs, then to radio, and then went back to
    recordings: 78s, LPs, reels, cassettes, and CDs. It's still widely
    distributed on CD, but is moving onto the Web, which is a whole new
    ballgame.

    This list is very properly focused on Old-Time-Radio, a truly wonderful
    era which I love dearly. It's a wonderful list!  But the widely-held
    perception that the art died when the medium changed is the most
    frustrating misconception the modern audio theatre industry,
    particularly here in the US, has to deal with.

    Today, the art itself is usually called "audio theatre," and the term
    "radio theatre" is a subset -- audio theatre is radio theatre when it's
    on the radio. If you want to really plunge into the current state of the
    art, come to the annual National Audio Theatre Festivals workshop in
    Missouri, starting June 22.

    Modern work ranges from schlock to brilliant, just like OTR. You can
    google up quite a lot of sites and sources under either term today. Here
    are a few websites with examples, info, and links:

    [removed]

    [removed]

    [removed]

    [removed]

    Don't want to get too far off-topic! But you'll find a lot of OTR
    influence in some of the new productions. And the very best way I know
    to get younger people interested in OTR is (usually) to hook their ears
    with a new work, and then open them up to some of the wonderful things
    that survive from the Golden Age of Radio.

    SFX:  STEPPING DOWN FROM SOAP-BOX

    Thanks for letting me sound off!

    Richard Fish

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

    Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:16:59 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Harper Green

    This is probably going to be one of those questions only a young'un like me
    would ask . . .

    After listening to a recording of a radio actor (who has since passed on), he
    said that Harper Green supplied coffee and donuts to the cast and director.
    I would love to know who (or what) was Harper Green.  A person or a company?
    This would have been in California.

    I'd call the actor up to ask for a clarification, but I don't see it possible.
    Martin
    mmargrajr@[removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:07:51 -0400
    From: Robert Everest <erest@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Later Radio

    Jim Cox mentions;

    Rod Serling
    began hosting the Hollywood Radio Mystery Theater, produced on the West
    Coast and syndicated across the country.  The FM Stations (the Off-Broadway
    of radio) are already carrying a number of new programs such as the National
    Lampoon Radio Hour, with sketches more daringly satirical than anything in
    the past, and heard on over 100 stations.

    I remember the Lampoon Hour as a Saturday Night Show clone for radio.
    Lampoon and put out an album earlier of comic bits which probably lead to the
    radio show.

    Rod Serling was involved with a program that did half hour a night dramas
    that where completed weekly. I think it was called Zero Hour.  Lewis, can't
    remember his first name but was married to Cathy, was the producer director.
    Don't know if that's the same as
    Hollywood Radio Mystery Theater.  I do know that Zero Hour pops up in the
    oldradio newsgroups.

    Rob

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

    Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:08:02 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  3-20 births/deaths

    March 20th births

    03-20-1828 - Henrik Ibsen - Skien, Norway - d. 5-23-1906
    playwright: Many of his works adapted for radio
    03-20-1890 - Gigli Beniamino - Recanti, Italy - d. 11-30-1957
    operatic tenor: "Atwater Kent Hour"
    03-20-1890 - Lauritz Melchior - Copenhagen, Denmark - d. 3-18-1973
    singer: "Magic Key"; "Metropolitan Opera"; "Voice of Firestone"
    03-20-1903 - Edgar Buchanan - Humansville, MO - d. 4-4-1979
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    03-20-1904 - Bob Chester - Detroit, MI - d. 11-xx-1975
    bandleader: "Bob Chester and His Orchestra"
    03-20-1906 - Ozzie Nelson - Jersey City, NJ - d. 6-3-1975
    actor: "Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet"
    03-20-1908 - Frank Stanton - Muskegon, MI - d. 12-24-2006
    president of cbs 1946-1971
    03-20-1908 - Kermit Murdock - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 2-11-1981
    actor: Rod Buchanan "Whisper Men"
    03-20-1908 - Michael Redgrave - Bristol, England - d. 3-21-1985
    actor: Horatio Hornblower "Horatio Hornblower"
    03-20-1908 - Stuart Metz - Buffalo, NY - d. 1-5-1994
    announcer: "Pepper Young's Family"; "Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons"
    03-20-1909 - Doris C. Frankel - Manhattan, NY - d. 2-3-1994
    writer: "Ma Perkins"; "Romance of Helen Trent"
    03-20-1912 - Sarah Burton - London, England
    actor: Mrs. Bixby "Mrs. Miniver"; Lisa "Against the Storm"
    03-20-1913 - Judith Evelyn - Seneca, SD - d. 5-7-1967
    actor: Grace Marshall "Helpmate"; Kay Miniver "Mrs. Miniver"
    03-20-1913 - Kenny Gardner - Lakeview, IA - d. 7-26-2002
    singer: "Guy Lombardo Show"; "Lombardoland [removed]"; "Your Hit Parade"
    03-20-1914 - Lawson Zerbe - Portland, OR - d. 8-18-1992
    actor: Frank Merriwell "Advs. of Frank Merriwell" Pepper Young
    "Pepper Young's Family"
    03-20-1914 - Wendell Corey - Dracut, MA - d. 11-8-1968
    actor: Detective Dan McGarry "McGarry and His Mouse"
    03-20-1915 - Sviatoslav Richter - Zhitomir,Russia - d. 8-1-1997
    classical pianist: "Boston Symphony Orchestra"
    03-20-1918 - Jack Barry - Lindenhurst, NY - d. 5-2-1984
    actor: "It's the Barrys"
    03-20-1918 - Marian McPartland - Stough, England
    jazz pianist: "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz"
    03-20-1921 - Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Cotton Plant, AR - d. 10-9-1973
    singer: "Jubilee"
    03-20-1922 - Carl Reiner - The Bronx, NY
    comedian: "The Curse"; "Sounds of Freedom"; "Here's to Veterans"
    03-20-1922 - Jack Kruschen - Winnipeg, Canada - d. 4-2-2002
    actor: Sergeant Muggowen " Broadway is My Beat"
    03-20-1922 - Ray Goulding - Lowell, MA - d. 3-24-1990
    comedian: "Bob and Ray Show"
    03-20-1924 - Philip Abbott - Lincoln, NE - d. 2-23-1998
    actor: "Family Theatre"
    03-20-1950 - Linda Aronson - London, England
    worter: "Reginka's Lesson"

    March 20th deaths

    01-19-1886 - Samuel Pettengill - Oregon - d. 3-20-1974
    conservatice commentator: Weekly 15 minute program on ABC
    03-01-1917 - David Dunhill - England - d. 3-20-2005
    announcer: "BBC Light Programme"; "Take It From Here"
    03-03-1937 - Bobby Driscoll - Cedar Rapids, IA - d. 3-20-1968 (body
    found)
    actor: "A Day in the Life of Dennis Day"; "Family Theatre"
    05-05-1921 - Ted Brown - Collingwood, NJ - d. 3-20-2005
    announcer, emcee: "Bulldog Drummond"; "Lawrence Welk High Life Revue"
    06-12-1909 - Archie Bleyer - Corona, NY - d. 3-20-1989
    conductor: "Arthur Godfrey Time"; "Casey, Crime Photographer"
    07-05-1904 - Don Goddard - Binghamton, NY - d. 3-20-1994
    news commentator: "The Goodyear Rubber Company's Farm Radio News"
    07-07-1908 - Ben Brady - NYC - d. 3-20-2003
    host: "The Comedy Writers Show"
    08-03-1920 - Marilyn Maxwell - Clarinda, IA - d. 3-20-1972
    singer, actor: "Kraft Music Hall"; "Abbott and Costello Show"; "Bob
    Hope Show"
    10-22-1906 - Sidney Kingsley - NYC - d. 3-20-1995
    writer: "Pulitzer Prize Plays"
    12-06-1920 - Howard Atwell - d. 3-20-2002
    disk jockey: WVPO Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
    12-10-1911 - Chet Huntley - Cardwell, MT - d. 3-20-1974
    newscaster, producer: "Chet Huntley and the News"
    12-18-1885 - J. Anthony Smythe - San Francisco, CA - d. 3-20-1966
    actor: "Carefree Carnival"; Henry Barbour "One Man's Family"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:51:14 -0400
    From: audioboyma@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Questions About Radio Drama Production in the
     1950s

    Hi everyone.

    I'm doing research for a new project my audio theater troupe is developing
    and I'm hoping some of the experts here can help.

    The series is set in the current day, but the backstory and numerous
    flashbacks revolve around a fictional radio horror program that was made
    between 1950 and 1955.  We have some questions about radio drama production
    at that time and the answers will affect some of the plot development.  Plus,
    it would be nice to be fairly accurate in our depiction of the way things
    were done at the time.

    So here is an initial set of questions that relate to our pilot episode. If
    anyone would prefer to respond to me off-list-especially if you need to ask
    questions about the project-that's fine. I wouldn't want to bog the list down
    in the discussion of our show, which could end-up being only
    tangentially-related to the overall topic.

    Thanks!

    8<------------

    1. Were there any shows in the 1950-55 period that were being produced
    independent of a network studio and sold to individual markets? (ie: along
    the lines of today's syndication of TV shows)

    2. Did independent recording studios, particularly for radio drama, even
    exist outside the networks at that time?

    3. Were any network shows being produced solely by transcription at that
    time? (ie: never done live: always pre-recorded and played at a later date)

    4. What were the primary methods of preserving recordings at that time and
    would the methods used have been different depending on the reason for
    preservation? (ie: recordings for use by Armed Forces Radio vs. recordings
    that the creator of the show might have made for posterity)

    5. I'm looking for examples of shows with "shout outs" to, or prayers for,
    the troops in Korea.  Are there any specific programs I should look for
    recordings of to find some of these?

    ---
    Neil Marsh * neil@[removed]
    The Post-Meridian Radio Players * [removed]

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: While direct discussion of Neil's proposed program may be a
    bit off-topic, a discussion about the questions he posed _certainly_ belongs
    here.  --cfs3]

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

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:22:09 -0400
    From: Campbell Connell <rcconnell@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Charlie Chan Radio Serials

    According to Wikipedia, "Walter Connolly initially portrayed Chan as part of
    Esso Oil's Five Star Theater, which serialized adaptations of Biggers
    novels."  Does anyone know if recordings of these exist.  I have heard some
    poorly written original Chan shows from the 1940s, but not these.  Thanks!

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

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:24:05 -0400
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Yes, and No?

    In a message dated 3/19/2008 6:18:37 [removed] Eastern Daylight Time,
    [removed]@[removed] writes:

>     Groups such as Nita's, and Craig  Wichman's Quicksilver Radio Theater
>     are keeping the tradition  alive.

    Thanks for the kind words, friend Mark! To be fair to those that ARE such,
    though, Quicksilver is not really a Re-enactment/Re-creation group.

    Various ad-hoc subgroups of our gang have done old material, as in Jay
    Stern's direction of "2000+" at last year's FOTR, where I had a part; live
    shows
    as a part of OpenHouseNY, which included a "Great Scenes from Great Plays";
    and
     a lecture/demo that includes a "Fibber" scene.

    But our primary pieces, the one-hour shows being offered this season at  PRX,
    are new audio dramas. I love Acting in vintage scripts, but I Produce new
    ones! I have the greatest respect for the mission of the recreators mentioned
    this far in this thread; but Quicksilver's goal is not a veneration of past
    glories, but a statement of the continuing fact that as long as humans have
    ears
     and imaginations, audio drama is still a living medium.

    Best,
    -Craig

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

    Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:53:05 -0400
    From: seandd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bob & Ray Article in NY Daily News

    The New York Daily News writes of a long-lost connection between Bob & Ray
    and modern newscaster Keith Olbermann and also highlights an upcoming NYC
    personal appearance by Bob!

    David Hinckley - where would radio reporting be without him?

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

    [removed]
    [removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #72
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