Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #393
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 12/23/2005 6:20 AM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 393
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  OTR Clubs/Damon Runyan Theater audit  [ Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@yahoo ]
  Amos 'n' Andy Sponsors                [ James H Arva <wilditralian@[removed] ]
  FM&M on TV                            [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Rexall One-cent [removed]              [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
  12-23 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Does "Shaving Cream" ring a Bell?     [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
  XM to broadcast Chistmas Command Per  [ Paul Gough <paulgough@[removed] ]
  Sy Shaffer [removed]                     [ Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@earthlin ]
  Bold Venture                          [ "jjonz44" <jjonz44@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 09:29:55 -0500
From: Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR Clubs/Damon Runyan Theater  audition

Hi all,

I'm thinking of joining a national OTR club lending
library. I'd appreciate any feedback on the audio
quality of the different groups. A club seems to be
the economical way to get quality shows.  The one I
join I'm going to try to decide on a combination of
quality (very important), value, and accessibility to
members to its holdings. SPERDVAC I've heard has a lot
of from transcription stuff, but I'm not exactly sure
what from their catalog.  It seems to be a good value
and the members seem to get access to most of the
collection.  REPS I don't know that much about but
I've met some very nice people from the club and their
growing CD catalog seems of pretty decent quality.
The First Gen group certainly fits the quality
(arguably the top among the bunch), but doesn't have
the accessibility I want, as members currently get
access to a small amount of their holdings, so that
puts it out of the running for me.
  Ok, so I know a little about SPERDVAC and REPS - my
question goes out to NARA and RHAC members, two clubs
which I know almost nothing about.  Perhaps some
members could fill me in if they have any from
transcription stuff, etc.
  Also, if SPERDVAC members could fill me in about
which general libraries have the lo-gen stuff, etc,
that would be great.  Please make any replies to my
email, as not to clutter up the Digest.
(Oh, and other must factors I'm also looking for a CD
library or lo-gen reel, I don't do cassettes).

[removed]  I dug into my personal archives and shared a
rare show not in wide circulation, the audition to
Damon Runyan Theater - it doesn't have the same cast
as the series we're familiar with and wasn't made by
the same company.  Contact me if you don't know how to
get to usenet.

Thanks and Merry Christmas to all,
Trav

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

Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 09:30:14 -0500
From: James H Arva <wilditralian@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Amos 'n' Andy Sponsors

Wasn't Blue Coal a sponsor of Amos 'n' Andy somewhere around the middle
40's?

Regards,

Jim Arva
--
James H. Arva
201 Short St.; Harrisburg, PA 17109; (717) 545-5709
E-MAIL:  wilditralian@[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 13:20:49 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  FM&M on TV

   Tim Lones wrote --

   > Jim and Marion Jordan was dead set against the show as NBC produced
it, but because NBC owned the characters, there was not much they could do

   I recall in the ever dimming recesses of my memory of seeing one or
two of the shows the first time around, or shortly after.  The only
thing I can remember is Cathy Lewis washing dishes while "Fibber" is
going on about something.
   I heard a interview Jim Jordan did in the mid-70s and the tv show
came up.  He used two examples:
   That on the radio show Fibber would buy an elephant (why? who knows?)
and then brag to Molly about the deal he got.
   On the tv show "Fibber" would try to hide the elephant from Molly.
   IOW, the tv "Fibber" was out of character for something Fibber would do.
   And the same thing with the Gildersleeve tv show, which I have never
seen.  One writer to the digest a couple of years ago said one of the
producers of the tv show bragged he had never heard the radio show and
knew nothing about it.
   Joe

--
Visit my home page:  [removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 14:47:23 -0500
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Rexall One-cent [removed]

Now that we are considering the Rexall drug stores, the one-cent sale was an
annual (or more often) event.  "Buy one of Rexpirin at the regular price and
the second bottle is yours for only one penny more!"  I have two of Rexall's
programs promoting their one-cent sales.

They are labeled "Rexall one-cent sale, program 1" and "Program 2."  Graham
McNamee and the violin of Rubin are featured.  The date is sometime in 1939,
and each is 15:00.  If anyone wants to trade for these, let me know.  They
came as a bonus trade along with "GE Excursions in Science." They came from
ETs and are in excellent audio.

Ted Kneebone.  OTR website:  [removed]
Democrats: [removed]
1528 S. Grant St., Aberdeen, SD 57401 / Phone: 605-226-3344

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

Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 20:20:12 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  12-23 births/deaths

December 23rd births

12-23-1873 - Burns Mantle - Watertown, NY - d. 2-9-1948
writer: "Best Plays" based on Mantle's theatrical yearbook
12-23-1887 - John Cromwell - d. 9-26-1979
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-23-1893 - Anne O'Neal - St. Louis, MO - d. 11-24-1971
actress: Cynthia Veryberry "Grapevine Rancho"
12-23-1903 - Helen Troy - San Francisco, CA - d. 11-1-1942
actress: Telephone Operator "It Happened in Hollywood"
12-23-1907 - Don McNeill - Galena, IL (Raised: Sheboygan, WI) - d.
5-7-1996
host: "Breakfast Club"
12-23-1911 - James Gregory - The Bronx, NY - d. 9-16-2002
actor: Captain Vincent Cronin "21st Precinct"
12-23-1913 - Anton M. Leader - Boston, MA - d. 7-1-1988
director: "Eternal Light"; "Murder at Midnight"; "Suspense"; "Words
at War"
12-23-1922 - Ruth Roman - Boston, MA - d. 9-9-1999
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Hollywood Sound Stage"
12-23-1923 - Ray Kemper - Lankershim, CA
sound effects: "Gunsmoke"; "Voyage of the Scarlet Queen"; "Fort Laramie"
12-23-1924 - Floyd Kalber - Omaha, NE - d. 5-13-2004
news correspondent: NBC; News Anchor for WMAQ and WLS in Chicago
12-23-1943 - Harry Shearer - Los Angeles, CA
actor: Member of the Beavers "Jack Benny Program"

December 23rd deaths
01-03-1909 - Victor Borge - Copenhagen, Denmark - d. 12-23-2000
comedian, pianist: "Victor Borge Show"; "Kraft Music Hall"
01-20-1912 - Paula Stone - New York, NY - d. 12-23-1997
moderator: "Leave It to the Girls"
01-30-1862 - Walter Damrosch - Breslau, Germany - d. 12-23-1950
conductor, commentator: "Baulkite Hour"; "Music Appreciation Hour"
02-08-1886 - Charlie Ruggles - Los Angeles, CA - d. 12-23-1970
comedian: "Texaco Star Theatre"; "Suspense"; "This Is My Best"
04-02-1920 - Jack Webb - Santa Monica, CA - d. 12-23-1982
actor: Joe Friday "Dragnet"; Pete Kelly "Pete Kelly's Blues"
04-06-1924 - Mimi Benzell - Bridgeport, CT - d. 12-23-1970
singer: "Jack Pearl and Mimi Benzell"; "Railroad Hour"
05-14-1890 - Carlton Brickert - Martinsville, IN - d. 12-23-1943
actor: David Post "Story of Mary Marlin"; Howard Thurston "Thurston
the Magician"
07-01-1901 - Irna Phillips - Chicago, IL - d. 12-23-1973
actress, writer: Mother Moran "Today's Children"; "The Guiding
Light"; "Road of Life"
07-02-1910 - Jeff Alexander - Whidbey Island, WA - d. 12-23-1989
conductor: "Amos 'n' Andy"; "Light Up Time"; "Tums Hollywood Theatre"
10-25-1924 - Billy Barty - Millsboro, PA - d. 12-23-2000
comedian: "Spike Jones Band"
11-11-1911 - Patric Knowles - Horsforth, Yorkshire, England - d.
12-23-1995
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-30-1884 - Hideki Tojo - Tokyo, Japan - d. 12-23-1948
prime minister: War Time Broadcasts

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 20:21:17 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Does "Shaving Cream" ring a Bell?
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Jim Burns posted:

I can remember seeing Benny Bell, as a VERY old man, doing the "Shaving
Cream" song, on THE UNCLE FLOYD SHOW (the subject here, periodically, of
some conversation)--

In the early 1980s!

<snip>

I may be thinking of a Professor Irwin Corey appearance, but I think
the FLOYD SHOW had to bleep the song!

In the 1970s and 1980s ,  this one-time New York Times cruciverbalist and
failed game-show contestant happened to  be the "Official Historian" of "The
Uncle Floyd Show." As far as I know, I still hold the title being that I never
formally relinquished it, and nobody has ever usurped it from me.

As a one-time uncredited writer & secondary cast-member of "The Uncle Floyd
Show," I can attest that when Benny Bell showed up at the studios in Newark,
that Channel 68 DID NOT bleep the song "Shaving Cream."  By this time in the
"Floyd" show evolution, adult humour was the norm wherein. Floyd & Co. would
push the proverbial envelope without  crossing over , with rare exceptions,
into the realm of bleep-able.
To quote Gordon Sinclair, "I was [removed] saw that!"

Around that time, I had also attended Dr. Demento revues at the NYC club The
Bottom Line, which, at one time or another ,featured Demento show perennials
such as Weird Al Yankovic, Tiny Tim, Eddie "the Old Philosopher" Lawrence,
Sheb Wooley/Ben Colder,  Bobby "Boris" Pickett, Benny Bell, and "Uncle" Floyd
Vivino.  Usually at these live adults-only shows, the "Doctor" and the tummler
would perform multi-versed (some established, some improvised on the spot)
renditions of "Shaving Cream" with the "Uncle"  on the piano. When the song
was finally over after about ten minutes, Benny Bell would actually sing "You
all thought I was going to say  "s--t.'"

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

You all thought I was going to say e---r,

Derek Tague

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

Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 20:23:27 -0500
From: Paul Gough <paulgough@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  XM to broadcast Chistmas Command Performance

I heard an announcement on XM channel 4 ("40's and
whole lot more" that the two-hour Christmas 1945
Command Performance hosted by Bob Hope will be
broadcast at 10 [removed] Eastern Christmas Night. It does
not show in the weekly email of specials that they
sent out.

Paul Gough

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

Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 23:18:21 -0500
From: Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Sy Shaffer [removed]

Once again I have sad news to report regarding one of "The Little Godfreys".
Trombonist Sy Shaffer has passed away in New Jersey, on December 10th.

At the beginning and end of every broadcast segment, we heard those familiar
sliding trombone notes leading into "Seems Like Old Times", the Godfrey theme
song which he "borrowed" from Carmen Lombardo.  Sy Shaffer was the trombonist
and sometimes silly giggling vocalist on various Arthur Godfrey recordings
like "Slap 'Er Down Agin, Paw" and "The Too Fat Polka".  Sy was a regular on
the Godfrey programs for many years.

He had far more widespread credentials than that.  In the 1930s he was a
sideman in various big bands, and was heard on many big-band network remote
broadcasts.  In the mid-1950s, he left the long-term Godfrey assignment to
become the musical director and conductor of the Vienna State Opera in
Austria.  In my collection, there are at least 2 Westminster LPs of him
conducting that group.

After a few years in Europe, Sy returned to Manhattan and created a so-called
"jingle factory" successfully producing many, many familiar advertising
commercials and themes.  In semi-retirement, he moved to Florida and became a
distinguished Professor of Music at a Florida university.  If one would like,
one may do a Google on his name, which will produce a number of glowing
tributes to him written by various former students who laud this
knowledgeable, talented veteran musician and academic for contributing
greatly to their education and subsequent careers.

Sy Shaffer passed away on December 10th in New Jersey, where he had been
living with his daughter Lynne after the death of his beloved wife Ruth, some
years before.

My wife Charlotte and I were fortunate to be able to include Ruth and Sy
Shaffer among our friends.  We were honored to know him, both personally and
musically.  Rest well, Sy.

Holiday greetings from Lee Munsick

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

Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 08:20:15 -0500
From: "jjonz44" <jjonz44@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Bold Venture
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In researching titles and play dates for Bold Venture I have come across some
conflicting data.  Hopefully someone here may be able to clarify.

Most popular logs indicate 78 shows were produced.  Many of these logs also
indicate or cross reference Ziv production numbers where available.

My research indicates only 52 shows were produced.  I submit the following
information to substantiate this claim.
1. LA times article (51-01-11) about Bogie and Becall.  In the article it
states they signed a 5 year contract with ZIV productions.  Included in the
contract "Bogie and Lauren are scheduled to star in 52 (not 78) half-hour
radio programs titled Bold [removed]".
2. Confirmed 52 consecutive weekly play dates for BV in LA.  04-19-51 to
04-10-52, KFI 6:30pm.
3. Confirmed 52 consecutive weekly play dates for Syracuse NY.  04-11-51 to
04-02-52, WYSR 10:30pm.
4. Converstation with Jerry H, who told me he had a transcription disc titled
"Venezuelan Island" #52 - Final Program"

Many people are always concerned about NY play dates.  Though of no
consequences to this particular issue, the show did run for two short periods
(36 total episodes) in NY.  It also had a short run in Chicago.

I am trying to prepare an accurate log for this popular series.  If anyone
can
offer positive proof that more than 52 episode were indeed produced I would
appreciate it.

jj

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--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #393
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