------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 116
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
FWD: OTR Question [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]
Shrimp Boats [ wilditralian@[removed] ]
1928 Amos & Andy [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
OTR on TV Reminder [ dougdouglass@[removed] ]
Birthday dates [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Re: Sight reader Strong [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
Patricia Zeller -- Chicago radio sta [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
David Craig [ Mark Reesor <mrees@[removed]; ]
Jerry of the Circus [ "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@charter ]
March 16th Birthdays [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
EQ Review of "It's That Time Again" [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
Hotlips vs. Hotbreath [ "Harry Machin Jr" <harbev5@earthlin ]
Charlie Chan [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
Nite Owls and Nitecap Show [ "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@sbcglob ]
Night Owl Shows [ "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed]; ]
Electrical Transcription terms [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 09:52:03 -0500
From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: FWD: OTR Question
I received this inquiry from Feliks Banel, the
director of the Museum of History and Industry here in
Seattle. I'm passing it on to the digest posters in
hopes one or more of you can help him. His E-mail
address is at the top of the posting.
Thanks
Larry Albert
From: "Feliks Banel" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR Question
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 18:26:20 -0800
Hey Larry! I am in search of a recording that may or may not
exist--NBC Radio's coverage of the Olympic crew race in Berlin on
August 14, 1936 (featuring local rowers from the UW). It was
broadcast locally on KOMO.
Know anything about that one?
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 09:52:30 -0500
From: wilditralian@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Shrimp Boats
15 MAR 03
Gentlemen:
Al Girard asked:
Dad and I listened to Fibber McGee and Molly and Jack Benny. Why does
the song the Shrimp Boats are a Coming also make me think of those long
ago Sunday Nights?
This may be a little far-fetched, but stream-of-thought is a funny
thing. When I think of that song my mind seems to turn to "Porgy and
Bess" ... then the song, "Summer Time".
Best regards,
Jim Arva
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 09:53:00 -0500
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: 1928 Amos & Andy
otrdigest@[removed] wrote:
A good site with free radio shows is
[removed].
This is a valuable site. I listened to an A&A show from 1928. I had never
heard any of the radio shows; I only remember the TV series, and little of
that.
It took a while to download in QuickTime at 5600k, but it was worth the
wait. I'll check out more programs later.
A question:
I've heard and read that, in their heyday, A&A's program was so popular on
radio that movie theaters would "pipe in" the broadcasts on their sound
systems so that their audiences would have no excuse to stay home and
listen to the radio.
Is this true, and if so was the program as popular with black audiences as
it was with whites (or was there even a polling method at the time that
took into account the "race" of the audience?
Just curious,
Herb Harrison
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 09:53:17 -0500
From: dougdouglass@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR on TV Reminder
Game Show Network will air the July 31, 1957 episode of "I've Got A
Secret" featuring "Salute To Radio" at 5:20AM ET on Sunday, March 16.
Guests include Virginia Payne, Julie Stevens, Adele Ronson, Jay Joston,
John J. Anthony, Arthur Tracy, Parker Fennelly, Westbrook Van Voorhis,
H,V, Kaltenborn and CBS sound effects men, Orville Wright and Jerry
McCarthy.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 09:53:37 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Birthday dates
As most of you know I have been doing a daily post of Olde Tyme Radio stars
birth dates. I know that some are tenuous, but if I know they appeared on
radio at all I will list them. If anyone sees erroneous information or if you
know of a birthday that I missed, please let me know off-line. I have received
positive feedback so I will continue as long as I can. If I know that I will
be gone for a couple of days I will post more then one day at a time. Again,
thanks for the positive response.
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 09:54:10 -0500
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Sight reader Strong
Don Strong just posted;
I don't often post to the Digest, but my wife bought me a copy of
"[removed] Realax, Archie! Re-laxx!" for my birthday (ain't she great?) and
due to a windstorm that knocked out our electricity for 18 hours, I had
nothing else I could do but sit by the window and read it today. Left
me with [removed] hours to nap; once I started, I couldn't put it down!
Let's see if I got the arithmetic right. Out of that 18 hour blackout, you
napped for [removed], and read the book in an hour and a half?
You are either an incredibly fast sight reader, or somehow or other, you
were sent a "Readers Digest" condensed version. :)
I sure don't want to leave people with the impression that it's pamphlet
size. Or that I used oversized type to fill up the 336 pages. :)
But then again, since I used lots of pictures and illustrations, they do
occupy some space, (along with the type) of the [removed] X [removed] book.
I want to take the time to publicly thank Mr. Stone for writing such an
entertaining and informative tome, and for the speed with which the
book was delivered - not to mention the heartwarming inscription on the
flyleaf.
Speaking of heart warming. Since you had no electricity, what did you do
after reading it? Burn it in the fireplace to warm up the house while you
took your nap?
Say, Hal - how's that for a low-key plug for everyone to rush out and
buy a copy? :)
That's great, Don! Many thanks for the kind words, But Sheesh! You could
have saved me the trouble and included the web site address where they could
"rush" to. :)
[removed]
It's not in the book stores yet, so I don't advise anyone "Rushing out" to
get one. Unless they are in the Sedona, Az. area. :)
I wrote it primarily to entertain fans and subscribers of the OTR Digest,
and the response from my fellow digesters has been most gratifying. (Not to
mention doing a brisk business at OTR conventions as well).
My heartfelt thanks to all who have let me know how much they enjoyed
reading it.
Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 09:56:50 -0500
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Patricia Zeller -- Chicago radio star, oil
painter [obituary]
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/related
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
This is a local obituary (SF)
-Irene
[removed]
[removed]
Patricia Dunlap Zeller, a Chicago radio actress from the 1930s to the '50s
who spent her later years as an artist in the Bay Area, died Feb. 24 at a
San Francisco nursing home. She was 91.
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:26:38 -0500
From: Mark Reesor <mrees@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: David Craig
Derek Tague wondered if anyone had any background on David Craig. I know
a little. He was a newscaster at CFRB radio in Toronto for many years
(the same station Gordon Sinclair was at). He left in the late 80s or
early 90s, as I recall, and turned up on a classical music station in
Cobourg, east of Toronto. He was named news director of a Cobourg AM
radio station last year.
Mark Reesor
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:26:45 -0500
From: "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jerry of the Circus
Hi Everyone,
Does anyone have any information on the show called Jerry of the Circus?
I have nearly the complete run of the show--100+ 15-minute episodes--but can
find nothing about it in any of the OTR books I own. It's a continuing story
of a boy who joins the circus, made in the 1930s (I think). My kids like it,
though it's not a GREAT favorite. It does well as a replacement for The
Cinnamon Bear when the Christmas season is past. Some of the voices used on
the show are familiar but I can't pinpoint any of them. The show is well
done, though predictable in the way of lots of children's shows.
I would appreciate any factual information relating to this show. Thank
you.
Michael Leannah
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:27:15 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: March 16th Birthdays
If you born on March 16th, you share your birthday with:.
1897 - Conrad Nagel - Keokuk, Iowa
1916 - Harry James - Albany, Georgia
1926 - Jerry Lewis - Newark, New Jersey
1927 - Dick Beals - Detroit, Michigan
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:27:34 -0500
From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: EQ Review of "It's That Time Again"
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May 2003, features the following book
review by Jon L. Breen
"Fans and collectors of vintage radio comedy and drama offer new
adventures
of their favorite characters in 'It's That Time Again: The New Stories
of Old-Time Radio'
(BearManor Media, $15), edited by Ben Ohmart. Only about half the
programs
represented are criminous, and many are more successful as nostalgia
than fiction, but
the enthusiasm of the writers and their respect for the period is
infectious. I especially
enjoyed Patrick W. Picciarelli's new case for insurance investigator
Johnny Dollar and
the framing device of Christopher Conlon's Inner Sanctum entry. Some
relatively
obscure shows are included, such as the pioneering female private-eye
program Candy
Matson, Yukon 2-8209, a San Francisco-based program aired between 1949
and 1951."
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:28:06 -0500
From: "Harry Machin Jr" <harbev5@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Hotlips vs. Hotbreath
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html
Kermyt Anderson says that Dunning must be wrong since several people,including
myself, have said it was "Hot Breath." That was my recollection, butI
could be wrong. And my guess that it was Abbott & Costello she was
talkingto in that Mae West fashion (I once saw Mae West on stage, by the
way), isprobably wrong because so far no one has agreed with me. I
certainly wouldn'twant to bet my meager income that it was HotBreath, not
HotLips. Harry Machin, Jr. Harry Machin Jrharbev5@[removed]
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:28:20 -0500
From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Charlie Chan
To add to the Charlie Chan dilemma: I have 10 from Mr. Chan.
8 are 15m and my data says Episodes 48 10/1/36 Colonel Willoughby is dead,
#49
10/8/36 at the landing field, #50 10/l5/36 Chan knows the murderer and #51
10/22/36
Sgt O'Brien talks with [removed] don't think Begley is in any of those.
Then 2 dated
1938-9, Episodes 2 & 7 Deacon Jessup story and Eye of the Buddha which MAY
be Ed Begley though I kind of doubt it. Gale Gordon is Rand in the Buddha
one.
I have the two mentioned with Begley from, I was told, June and July of
1945. The other two are 30m, Australian, "Sea Witch" and "Talking Doll." I
underestand those are
Grace Gibson's from the 50'[removed] open to being told I am full of egg foo.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:28:38 -0500
From: "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Nite Owls and Nitecap Show
Regarding what Kurt Yount had to say about the Nite Owl Show and the
Nitecaps:
First of all, KFI announcer and program host, the late Ben Hunter, started
the all-night Nite Owls show on KFI-Los Angeles sometime in the 1950s.
(I'm not sure if callers were placed directly on the [removed] Culver, do
you know?)
The Nite Owls was popular in Southern California and anywhere where KFI's
50,000 watt clear channel signal could be heard during those wee small hours
of the morning. After Ben Hunter left KFI radio to work in television at
KTTV-channel 11 in [removed], Ron McCoy took over the Nite Owls show into the
early 1960s, and possibly later. Not sure when this program went off the air
at KFI-640 AM.
Forward to 1964. A DJ/program host/staff announcer at
KSL-Salt Lake City named Herb Jepko wanted to start a new all-night
telephone talk show on KSL. Herb had worked in the 1950s as promotion
director at KFI when Ben Hunter was doing the Nite Owls Show, and he also
knew Ron McCoy.
KSL-1160 had signed off at midnight, but in 1964, KSL management let Herb
Jepko open the midnight to 6 am hours to people who wanted to call in and
[removed] listeners and callers were the shut-ins, elderly, lonely,
all-night workers or just plain incomniacs and night people.
Originally called "The Other Side of the Day", the name of the show soon
became "The Herb Jepko Nitecap Show."
Herb allowed callers to talk about anything, except politics and religion.
He wanted the show to sound like it was a conversation between two neighbors
over the backyard fence. People were allowed to talk for no more than 5
minutes, to allow more people to get on the [removed] music box called
"tinkerbell" would play to gently remind callers when their time was
[removed] called into several different lines, and let the phone ring, as
Herb didn't use a screener or [removed] would simply go to the "Oregon
line", or Southern California line", etc. and your time would start when he
took your call and put you on the air, with a 7 second delay. Special lines
were set up for truckers on the road and people calling from out of the [removed]
who may have heard KSL or the other stations.
Herb soon added a small network of 50,000 watt stations in other markers,
sich as WBAL-Baltimore and WHAS-Louisville, and smaller stations in other
[removed] started Nitecap fan clubs, a magazine for listeners and sold
them their own Nitecap insurance policies, travel packages, cruises,
[removed] Conventions also took [removed]
By late 1974 and into 1975, the Nitecap Show started being carried on the
Mutual Broadcasting System, and the number of stations that carried the
show [removed] recall KRLA-1110 in [removed] carried the Nitecaps around 1976.
At one point, Arbitron estimated aboyut 10 million people listened to the
Nitecaps each night, with about 300,000 who had their own Nitecap membership
[removed] other co-hosts included Rex Walgren and Frank Nolan, and former
pro-wrestler called "the Crusher"....His wife Patsy and two sons also were
heard at various times, and his friend and former Nite Owl show host Ron
McCoy also helped host the Nitecap show from time to time, along with
[removed] Mutual tried to change Herb's show and wanted better
demographics than the elderly, etc.
In 1977, Mutal dropped Jepko's show and within a year, Larry King took over
and really put Mutual on the map with his all night radio [removed]
The Nitecap Show with Herb Jepko had to start over again, with only KSL and
10 affiliates, but it seemed interest in the show was not as strong as it
was in the late-'60s and early-'70s, so the Nitecap Radio Network went off
the air in [removed] more attempts were tried in 1983 and 1990 to bring it
back to all night radio, but they failed.
Herb Jepko died in 1995 at age 64.
There is now a Web site dedicated to the history of the Nitecaps Show with
photos, sound clips, etc. You can even sing along ( and get the words
right) to the Nitecap Song, Herb's theme song that started each show from
1964 to 1979, at a time in radio he liked to call "the early side of the
day."
[removed]
I was a fan of the show and listener from 1972-1979, called in a few times
and met [removed] nice guy. This site will bring back some good memories to
past Nitecaps everywhere.
Jim
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:29:11 -0500
From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Night Owl Shows
Couldnt stand Ben Hunter on KFI -- Ben was much too full of BEN HUNTER!
Al Poska had the Midnight Flyer which started at midnight on KFI in the
early to mid-60'[removed] played records and had guests - a young lady (cant
remember her name but have a publicity picture of her) sang on the show.
Started off with a train whistle. Several other talk shows came along there
[removed] of the hosts were popular with the callers-in, but not with the
KFI station personnel.
Lois Culver
KWLK Radio (Mutual) Longview, WA 1941-44
KFI Radio (NBC) Los Angeles CA 1945-47, 50-53
Widow of Howard Culver, actor
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:29:41 -0500
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Electrical Transcription terms
While looking thru the discussion Joe Salerno, Harlan Zinck and I have had
in the past few days about the Little Orphan Annie discs, I realized that
we were tossing around a few terms that some of you might not know about,
such as vertical and lateral, and matrix numbers. They're not that
difficult to understand.
When a master disc is cut for making multiple pressings of the same
recording, they write or stamp an identifying number into the master so
that it can be visually identified when it can't be played. Each side has
its own separate "matrix number". If the recording ledgers for a company
exist, these numbers can be used to get specific information from those
files. But even in the absence of the files, sometimes there is info in
those numbers. From the Little Orphan Annie numbers it does seem that they
often or usually recorded several programs in a single recording session.
We don't have enough to establish a specific pattern, but because there are
some adjacent programs with numbers missing inbetween that were used for
other recordings, it does seem that they did not lay aside whole blocks of
numbers just for this program. Then all of them would be consecutive even
if they were made many days apart. It does seem that World was honestly
assigning the masters the next matrix number available for assignment.
Prefixes and suffixes in these numbers can also mean alot. My guess is
that the prefix C here stands for Chicago. In the suffix the number would
be the take, and the L following it indicates it is the Lateral master. 1L
is the first take lateral, and 2L is the second take lateral, etc. Which
brings us to the terms Vertical and Lateral.
Western Electric was the manufacturing arm of the Bell Telephone Co., and
in the early 20s they developed the first successful high quality
electrical recording system. I've heard samples going back to 1922, and it
was introduced commercially in 1925 by Victor and Columbia. WE continued
to improve the system, and utilized it for synchronized motion picture
soundtracks that became known as Vitaphone. All of these recording formats
used a needle which vibrated from side-to-side, which is the Lateral
system. This was the disc groove standard introduced by Emile Berliner
with his first discs in the late 1880s. But Edison had favored a groove
that had the needle moving up-and-down, which is the hill-and-dale or
Vertical system. Edison cylinders used this system, as did his later
Diamond Discs, and the Pathe company's discs.
Because some people felt that Vertical modulation of the grooves was better
than Lateral modulation, in the late 20s the newly formed Bell Laboratories
started experimenting and comparing the two. In the early 30s they had so
improved the Vertical system that they called it the Western Electric Wide
Range Vertical recording system and claimed an upper frequency response of
between 12,000 and 14,000 cycles per second. World Broadcasting System was
among the first to use it, but because there were many radio stations that
did not want to bother installing special tone-arms for Verticals, many of
the syndicated programs they distributed were available in both Vertical
and Lateral versions. As Joe indicated, it is the usual procedure for them
to record both versions simultaneously on two separate lathes.
I am one of those who believe that there is not inherent advantage to
vertical recording. I feel that either direction of modulation can sound
equally well if the equipment is equal. As Joe indicated, the World
laterals sound pretty darn good, better than most other recordings of that
era, but their verticals do sound just a bit better. They have an extra
sparkle in the high frequencies. But why is that so? My personal opinion
is that the cutter heads they made for vertical cutting were better than
their lateral heads, and that if they wanted to they could have made their
lateral heads sound as good as their vertical heads. There is also the
possibility that they reduced the high frequency range on the laterals to
allow for the use of equipment that might not have been as good as the
vertical equipment they made. During most of the 1930s WE was the only
company making vertical pick-ups, but many companies made lateral pick-ups.
There is one other possibility. As I mentioned a day or two ago, the organ
music and song openings and closing of LOA were dubs on each of these
programs. But they still sound great, don't they? There is a slight
possibility that the laterals programs are dubs of the vertical versions.
I doubt it, but it is possible. I think it would be unnecessarily time
consuming--it would double the time needed to prepare the masters. It
would be quicker and better to cut the two versions simultaneously live.
It would take less time and there wouldn't be a generational loss for the
whole program.
I hope this has helped you understand a little more about the strange world
of Electrical Transcriptions.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #116
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