Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #353
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 11/15/2005 8:37 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 353
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  A&A Music Hall                        [ RBB <oldradio@[removed]; ]
  Elizabeth's book at the library       [ "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed] ]
  Jacques Renard                        [ george aust <austhaus1@[removed]; ]
  Amos & Andy Music Hall                [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
  Re: Amos 'n' Andy Music Hall          [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
  NBC CHIME SONGS                       [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
  Yankee Yarns                          [ "[removed]" <asajb2000@ ]
  Burgess Radio Nature League           [ Bethany Rutledge <bsr_mmr@[removed] ]
  11-15 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  October deaths                        [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Re: Lord Of The Rings                 [ "Nevik" <nevik@[removed]; ]
  Starring Weber's Bread                [ Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed] ]
  Lord Of The Rings                     [ "Henry R. Hinkel" <hinkel@[removed] ]
  Re: Wyllis Cooper                     [ Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed]; ]
  Show Sponsors, for the Younger Set?   [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
  Frank Capra Productions               [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
  Can You Top This?                     [ Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed] ]
  Lord of the Rings                     [ Osborneam@[removed] ]

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

Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 23:26:49 -0500
From: RBB <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  A&A Music Hall

Bob C. posted

The concept was screwy ... if I wanted to hear music,
that was available during the day from discjockeys ... from A&A I wanted
comedy with only an occasional interruption for a word from Rinso.

I totally agree, the A&A Music Hall was not the program to hear
recorded, popular music. I think it was mentioned awhile ago that they
were perhaps in transcribed syndication (maybe on ET's circulated to
radio stations around the country?) and they  "voice tracked" their
announcing segments, a "recorded on transcription in advance" technique
when the engineers played the records and used their short voice inserts
(cuts on the ET)  trying to sound like a smoothly run program.

This may have been the first example, the pioneering of "voice tracking"
as it's used today on digital equipment. Many of the syndicated music
network shows on "the satellite birds" do this.  The personality sits in
the studio recording music intros/outros for a half hour and it becomes
a three hour show.

Incidentally, Beverly Sills, the legendary opera star, was the first
voice to sing the Rinso "White" jingle.  (The commercial with the
whistling intro and a happy little washday song.)   She was nicknamed
"Bubbles" (for the Rinso soap product, of course) and now you can see
her on PBS-TV, Lincoln Center programs.

Happy Thanksgiving and other holidays to the list as I pack and move
North in the next weeks.

=Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 23:28:12 -0500
From: "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Elizabeth's book at the library

I'm way behind on my OTR digests and trying to catch up, so I don't know if
this has been brought up or not.  A couple of months ago I was in our local
library and had a brain storm.  I went to the reference desk and put in a
request that they add Elizabeth McLoud's book to their collection.  Last
week I got a note from the library that they had decided to purchase the
book I suggested and that it is on order.  I have it reserved when it comes
in.  Today [removed] Hal Stone, it worked once why not twice.
I'm sure most libraries in the US work the same way.  You might request your
library buy some of these great OTR books.

Roby McHone
Fairbanks, Alaska

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:31:20 -0500
From: george aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Jacques Renard

Lee Munsick posted  about  hearing Jacques Renard singing on a record on
XM's 40's channel.

Jacques Renard was an orchestra leader who had somewhat of a reputation
in the early 1930's. He had some name musicians in his band from time to
time but these were  really just pick up groups for recording dates. I
don't believe that he was a singer! I could be wrong because I'm going
on memory here, but I believe I once heard the name of  his singer on at
least one occasion. No it wasn't Frank Parker. One of the records that
he made around 1933 was "As Time Goes By" a new song at that time.
Nothing much happened with the record.
Ten years later and "Casablanca" was released and the whole country
heard (probably for the first time) that wonderful song. The problem was
the movie was released right in the middle of the musicians strike and
no one was able to record it. The public wanted to buy it so the record
companies searched their vaults and I think it was RCA who came up with
Jacques Renard's record and released it. It was really old fashioned by
1943, in fact in 1933 it wasn't setting any fashions either. But the
public bought it. It was on Billboard Magazine's top ten list from March
27 until June 26 1943 reaching as high as #3. That was a long run.
Begining on May 22 Rudy Vallee's recording of it joined Jacques on the
charts. If anything Vallee's record was even worse, but they both sold
alot of records.
The confusion  (if I'm correct about Jacques not being a singer) is
because in those days many times the vocalists name was not even on the
record label. Often it was list as "with vocal chorus" or "with vocal
refrain".
By 1943 Jacques didn't even have an orchestra! It was somewhere around
that time that he was conducting Abe Lyman's orchestra on Abe's radio
program (the name of which I 'd have to look up) but anyway there is the
OTR connection.:)
I've often wondered what would have happened if there had not been a
strike and Glenn Miller or Tommy Dorsey had recorded it. It probably
would have been an enormous hit. The vocalists of the day, Bing Crosby,
Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore etc. were recording with just vocal
accompaniment,
but I imagine that the record companies thought that they couldn't get a
disc onto the market in time to take advantage of the movie release.

George Aust

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:32:35 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Amos & Andy Music Hall

Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 17:11:40 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];

Perhaps the most unusual fact connected with the Music Hall was that
it actually won an award. In 1957, George "Kingfish" Stevens was
elected the Disc Jockey of the Year by the readers of Radio-Television
Mirror magazine, and although that publication was hardly on the
cutting edge of contemporary pop culture, it does at least indicate
that the series had a strong following, right up to the end.
 
Well, I listened to it regularly while doing my homework.  I only heard the half-hour sitcom 
once or twice, and I didn't really understand it.  I a lot more of the TV show, and I got to 
understand that a lot better, except that I wondered why it wasn't called "Kingfish & Andy."  
By the time I started listening to "Music Hall," I was in high school and understood what was 
going on.  And besides, they played hit records.

I know that Black groups objected to the show and its stereotypes, but many of the same 
stereotypes appeared on white sitcoms.  And it also tended to break down stereotypes, 
since, at least on the TV show, there were no White characters.  Everyone -- including 
lawyers, doctors, and police officers -- was Black.  

There was even a show in which Andy got a job in a department store playing Santa Claus -- 
more than a decade before Black Santa Clauses started to appear in advertising that White 
people would see.  I remember remarking, "But Santa Claus isn't Colored!"  And my father 
said, "Why not?  To Colored people, he can be Colored."

-- A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed] 15 Court Square, Suite 210 Fax [removed] Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:33:51 -0500 From: Dixonhayes@[removed] To: [removed]@[removed] Subject: Re: Amos 'n' Andy Music Hall X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain In a message dated 11/14/05 10:28:56 PM Central Standard Time, [removed]@[removed] writes:
The great thing about the Music
Hall is they tend to play what might be called "non-canonical" 50s
pop, in that most of the records on the Music Hall seem to be ones
that don't get played on stations today that include 50s music in
their programming, but they are equally as good.

So I am curious, what kind of music did they play, say, 1957-60?  I can't 
fathom Elvis singing "Jailhouse Rock" in the "Amos 'n' Andy Music Hall" and 
ditto, say, Buddy Holly doing "Oh Boy" but what about doo-wop or the like?  
The only one I've heard is one I have from '54.

Dixon  

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:34:06 -0500
From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  NBC CHIME SONGS

[removed]

[removed]

[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:34:20 -0500
From: "[removed]" <asajb2000@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Yankee Yarns

Hello everyone.  I am posting this for a friend, who
would like to know the name of the gentleman who was
the lone voice on the anthology series Yankee Yarns.
This was strictly a one-person read and I notice there
are no crediys given at all during the program.

Thanks.

Andy

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:34:54 -0500
From: Bethany Rutledge <bsr_mmr@[removed];
To: OTR List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Burgess Radio Nature League

This is probably just a shot-in-the-dark, but I
thought I'd check and see if anybody in the group may
be able to shed some light on [removed]

Children's author and naturalist Thornton W. Burgess
(1874-1965) became an early star of New England radio
in 1922 when he began reading his stories on over WBZ
(Springfield, MA). Two years later, Burgess became the
host of a weekly program called Radio Nature League
that lasted until 1936. RNL included everything from
dramatizations of stories about people and animals and
interviews with such nature luminaries as the
Connecticut State Tree Surgeon to visits Edward Avis,
the famous bird call-ist, and - of course - the
occasional story about Peter Rabbit, Reddy Fox, and
friends. Adults and children who listened to the
program could join a club called RNL and compete for
prizes for such projects as winter bird feeding and
tent caterpillar nest burning. RNL was heard on one or
both of the old New England networks and may have been
syndicated for a time on one of the NBC networks as it
was advertised in a magazine with a nationwide
audience. The program ended in early 1936 when they
were unable to land a steady new sponsor and, though
Burgess flirted several times over the next decade
with reviving RNL, that never materialized. (One
classic near-miss is a meeting of his in 1938 with the
Pepsodent people when they were looking for a
replacement for AnA!)

I've always hoped beyond hope that we would one day
find a transcription of a RNL [removed] The Thornton
W. Burgess Society in East Sandwich, MA holds an
amazing collection of material related to the program,
including scripts from 1925, several diaries from this
period containing references to the program, fan mail
from radio listeners, and photos of Burgess (and his
occasional sub, Mrs. Burgess) at the microphone. Has
anybody in the group ever come across a reference to a
RNL recording? I realize the chances of a
transcription from the '20s is very, very, very slim -
but I've always hoped that we might find in some dark,
dusty attic somewhere a transcription or two from the
'30s.

Another mystery that's been pulling at me is the
result of a contest NBC held in 1938, probably ending
in November of that year. They were looking for a new
program and welcomed scripts submitted by anyone and
everyone. Scriptwriters were supposed to create two
scripts for each program idea - the grand prize being
a chance to land a spot on the NBC line-up. Burgess
submitted scripts for four possible radio programs,
one of which was awarded an Honorable Mention, but he
never recorded who won the contest! Has anybody heard
before of this contest or know the result? I've always
been curious if it yielded a new [removed]

A new fan of OTR,

Bethany Rutledge

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:35:04 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  11-15 births/deaths

November 15th births

11-15-1879 - Lewis Stone - Worcester, MA - d. 9-12-1953
actor: Judge James Hardy "Hardy Family"
11-15-1881 - Franklin Pierce Adams - Chicago, IL - d. 3-24-1960
panelist: "Information, Please"
11-15-1885 - Herbert Rawlinson - Brighton, England - d. 7-12-1953
actor: Edgar, the courthouse guard "The Amazing Mr. Tutt"; "Escape"; "Twelve
Players'
11-15-1890 - Samuel Ornitz - New York, NY - d. 3-11-1957
hollywood ten screen writer: "House Unamerican Activities Committee"
11-15-1893 - Grover Jones - Rosedale, IN - d. 9-24-1940
writer: "Silver Theatre"
11-15-1909 - Sydney Smith - d. 3-4-1978
actor: Abie Levy "Abie's Irish Rose"; Ellery Queen "Advs. of Ellery Queen"
11-15-1919 - Carol Bruce - Great Neck, NY
singer: "Ben Bernie Orchestra"; "Carton of Cheer"
11-15-1923 - Robert Barron - New York, NY - d. 5-28-2002
actor: Flint Blackbeard "Jack Armstrong"
11-15-1925 - Gordon Hinkley - Port Edwards, WI
announcer, host: "Ask Your Neighbor"; "Invitation to Beauty"; "HotShots"
11-15-1929 - Ed Asner - Kansas City, MO
actor: "Odyssey of Homer"; "We Hold These Truths"
11-15-1932 - Petula Clark - Epsom, Surrey, England
singer: "Vanity Bandbox"; "Guard Session"; "It's All Yours"
11-15-1946 - Janet Lennon - Culver City, CA
singer: (The Lennon Sisters) "Music on Deck"; "Voices of Vista"; "Guest Star"

November 15th deaths

01-16-1890 - Lloyd Bacon - San Jose, CA - d. 11-15-1955
film director: "Screen Guild Theatre"; " Screen Director's Playhouse"
01-25-1924 - Speedy West - Springfield, MO - d. 11-15-2003
steel guitarist: "Grand Old Opry"; "Tennessee Ernie FordShow"
02-22-1890 - Enid Markey - Dillon, CO - d. 11-15-1981
actress: Lillian Burke "Woman of Courage"
04-05-1912 - John Le Mesurier - Bedford, England - d. 11-15-1983
actor: Sergeant Arthur Wilson "Dad's Army"
04-28-1878 - Lionel Barrymore - Philadelphia, PA - d. 11-15-1954
actor: Leonard Gillispie "Dr. Kildare"; Ebenezzer Scrooge "A Christmas Carol"
05-05-1914 - Tyrone Power - Cincinnati, OH - d. 11-15-1958
actor: Dean Edwards "Freedom [removed]"
05-28-1920 - Gene Levitt - New York, NY - d. 11-15-1999
writer: "Advs. of Philip Marlowe"
06-10-1897 - Boris Kroyt - d. 11-15-1969
violinist: (Member of the Budapest String Quaratet) "Library of Congress
Concert"
08-28-1898 - Charlie Grimm - St. Louis, MO - d. 11-15-1983
Sportscaster:(Jolly Cholly) WBBM Chicago
10-18-1913 - Evelyn Venable - Cincinnati, OH - d. 11-15-1993
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Stars of Tomorrow 1934"
12-19-1888 - Fritz Reiner - Budapest, Hungary - d. 11-15-1963
conductor: "Curtis Institute Musicale"; "Ford Sunday Evening Hour"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:35:10 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  October deaths

09-25-1929 - Ronnie Barker - Bedford, England - d. 10-3-2005
comedian: "The Floggits"
05-01-1913 - Louie Nye - Hartford, CT - d. 10-9-2005
comedian: "Louie Nye Show"; "Official Detective"
10-04-1914 - John Larch - Salem, MA - d. 10-20-2005
actor: (Married to Vivi Janiss) Rocky Starr "Starr ofSpace"
xx-xx-xxxx - Fres S. Fox - St. Louis, MO - d. 10-23-2005
writer: "Freddie the Fox"
08-20-1908 - Al Lopez - Tampa, FL - d. 10-29-2005
baseball hall of fame: "Greatest Sports Thrills"; "Tops In Sports"
07-29-1924 - Lloyd Bochner - Toronto, Canada - d. 10-29-2005
actor: "The Chase"; "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:35:25 -0500
From: "Nevik" <nevik@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Lord Of The Rings

   I've heard a couple of versions of the Lord Of The Rings & The Hobbit for
radio.  I'm pretty sure the Mind's Eye release has Tom Bombadil in it.  :-)
I've seen this available on CD in Barnes & Noble as well as popping up in
Half Price Books once in awhile.

Kevin

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 14:52:18 -0500
From: Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Starring Weber's Bread

How right  Robert Angus <rangus02@[removed];  was re
the various bread companies sponsoring "The Lone
Ranger."
In my time and area (late '30's, Los Angeles) it was
Weber's Bread that did the honors.  And it is only
until now that I realize the Lone Ranger Deputy Gold
Star Badge premium's my brother and  I sent in for and
ultimately sported on our shirtfronts with the name
Weber's Bread screened in red upon it had to be just
two of many different similar badges with different
bread bakeries names as well.

CAB

---
conradab@[removed] (Conrad A. Binyon)
Encino, CA
Home of the Stars who loved Ranches and Farms

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 16:33:41 -0500
From: "Henry R. Hinkel" <hinkel@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Lord Of The Rings

For anyone who may be interested, I have 13 CD's containing 26 episodes of
the BBC broadcasts of The Lord Of The Rings.  These are the NPR
re-broadcasts with introductions by Tammy Grimes.  I also have 4 CD's
containing 8 episodes of the BBC broadcasts of "The Hobbit".   As you may
know The Hobbit tells the story of how Bilbo found the Ring.

Henry R. Hinkel
CRABAPPLE SOUND       [removed]
OLD-TIMER HOMEPAGE    [removed]~hinkel

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 18:06:22 -0500
From: Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Wyllis Cooper

Martin Grams Jr. wrote:

Interesting trivia: Should Wyllis Cooper be spelled Wyllis or Willis?
It is spelled both ways in the movies (the title screens of Son of
Frankenstein, The Phantom Creeps, etc.)  The answer is both.  He changed
his name from one spelling to another to please his wife's numerological
preferences.  All depends on what time period you are writing about
depends on which spelling is accurate for that time.

To add to Martin's comments, while he was known among friends and
colleague's as "Bill", I do have documents that indicate by 1940 he was
signing his name as "Wyllis."  I also know that he was born "Willis."

So, yes, it was both, but pretty much after 1940 at least he was
identified officially as "Wyllis."

Jim Widner

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 18:06:56 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Show Sponsors, for the Younger Set?

Jack French, speaking of sponsors of children's shows, notes,

While the cereal companies were frequently the sponsors of kids' shows,
many of these programs had "non-breakfast" sponsors. In addition to those
already pointed out on the Digest, Mutual's "Bobby Benson" while usually
a sustaining show did have two sponsors briefly: Kraft Candy Company and
Adams Chewing Gum.  "Smilin' Jack" was sponsored by Tootsie Rolls and
Wrigley's Gum paid the bills for "Melody Ranch."

Well, I never considered chewing gum breakfast food.  But I wouldn't have
turned down candy.

This also brings up the blurry line between children's shows and those
for "grownups."  Most of the shows on OTR would be rated "P" or "PG,"
using the movie rating system.  I can't think of one that would hit the
"R" level, though Pat Novak, Gang Busters, and Gunsmoke, among others,
could be pretty intense.  Some nominally "children's" shows were on in
the evening, prime time.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:08:55 -0500
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Frank Capra Productions

Does anyone here know how to contact Frank Capra Productions for copyright
permissions?  I've come up dry on the Internet, and I thought that the old
Hollywood hands here might have some ideas.  Thanks very much.

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

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:10:14 -0500
From: Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed];
To: OTRDIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Can  You Top This?
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

As a collector of joke books, I have long had copies of _Can You Top This_
and _Cream of the Crop_.  What I didn't know before listening to some
episodes of the show was that they were given as prizes to some contestants.

--Were the books also for sale at some point?

--Does anyone have or has anyone seen any of the recordings that were said to
have been given out to certain contestants on the show?

--When did the maximum number on the Colgate Laugh Meter change to 1,000?
  Assume that was for more dramatic efffect?

--Comments have been made about Amos and Andy and Cantor in blackface perhaps
  limiting current appeal.  In one episode, someone on CYTT says, "That's
mighty
  white of you."  I've only heard six episodes so far--are there other racial
type remarks made on the show?

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

Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:10:23 -0500
From: Osborneam@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Lord of the Rings
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Don't forget the spoof on Lord of the Rings called
Hordes of the Things.

Arlene Osborne

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