Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #152
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 5/2/2004 8:04 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2004 : Issue 152
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Re: Hastings the crooner              [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
  "It's [almost] time now for Mr. Keen  [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  another Lucy and OTR connection       [ Allen Wilcox <aawjca@[removed]; ]
  Radio origin                          [ <welsa@[removed]; ]
  5-2 births/deaths                     [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Re: Unsolved mysteries in OTR         [ Alan/Linda Bell <alanlinda43@yahoo. ]
  Benny's Maxwell                       [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
  Radio 7 announcers                    [ "david rogers" <david_rogers@hotmai ]
  Price of Fear                         [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Re: Record Your Tapes on Your Comput  [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  This week in radio history 2-8 May    [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Jack's Maxwell                        [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Mayor od Doodyville                   [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  Re: As I Remember Lucille Ball        [ Mike Thompson <mthomp86@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 10:55:22 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Hastings the crooner

Joe Caramella posted the title of the "Archie" show that had a "baby" theme.

The title I have is:  Riverdale Formal Dance 5/27/51

Thnaks Joe, that saves me digging through boxes to find it. Joe then asks
me;

Hal, Bob Hastings sings a lullaby to help the baby fall asleep.

Yea! whenever he sang he'd put me to sleep also. :)

Did he sing in other episodes.

You Betcha! As you folks may or may not be aware, Bobby started out in radio
as a child singer. (See my book if you really give a gnats patootie).

[removed]

Anyway, Carl Jampel, the "Archie" program's sole writer, would, every once
in a while, come up with a plot that would require Bobby to sing. I remember
him Doing "Danny Boy", "When You Walk Through a Storm", and other smaltzie
Irish tenor numbers. I guess the writer felt if he could integrate a song
into the plot, that was three+ minutes of dialogue he didn't have to write.
:)  Longer, if Bobby held the notes.

Then, during the "Al Jolson" resurgence following the release of the film,
The Jolson Story", we milked that for a while, because Bobby could do a
pretty fair impersonation of "Jolie".

Did you ever sing in any?

You gotta be kidding. :)  Actually, I did, (if you could call it singing).
One of the shows we did about "Jolson", Jughead sets out to prove to
"Archie" that he could impersonate "Jolson" every bit as good as "Archie"
could. Needless to say, I got a hernia trying to hit the high notes.
The less said about my singing career, the better.

Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 13:19:00 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  "It's [almost] time now for Mr. Keen"

Many readers of this forum well remember Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons,
"the kindly old investigator" who each week (or weeknight, during some of
his ethereal history) "took from his files" and brought to us "one of his
most widely celebrated missing persons cases."  Were you aware that Keen and
his sidekick Mike Clancy persisted in their efforts far longer than any
other sleuths in radio or television?  Eighteen years, in fact, as the
deductive detective and his bone-headed partner ("Saints preserve us, Mr.
Keen-why, it's a dead body!") aired 1,690 aural episodes, a favorable
comparison to runner-up Nick Carter with 726 performances.  No TV gumshoe
came close to those phenomenal numbers, by the way.

Readers who recall Mr. Keen's earliest years know that, in reality, there
were actually two premises carried out by the resilient drama.  In its first
six years on the air (1937-1943) the narrative was aimed at a search for
lost people, including individuals who had dropped out of sight for many
reasons:  sudden discovery by someone or some deed from the past, a current
conflict that might be resolved by going into hiding, illnesses (emotional,
mental, physical), foul play, and many other causes.  All that changed
eventually and Mr. Keen's focus became one of pursuing cold-blooded killers.
After a brief vignette in which listeners heard a murder committed, a
relative, friend, acquaintance or business associate of the victim landed at
Keen's door requesting help in solving the crime.  Interviewing several
suspects, Keen put together clues that led him to a revelation of the
culprit shortly before the story's end.  Often the killer, once identified,
turned on Keen and Clancy, the latter acknowledging to the radio audience:
"Saints preserve us, boss!  He's got a gun!"  Invariably Keen's wit and
Clancy's brawn saved the day (and their lives) and put, as the tracer was
fond of summarizing, "another murderer in the state's electric chair."

At long last McFarland & Co. will be releasing my latest book, "Mr. Keen,
Tracer of Lost Persons," within the next month.  The 374-page volume
includes seven chapters on the longrunning radio series (with lots and lots
of anecdotes about the cast) plus a detailed analysis of the 1,690 episodes
in log format that includes each installment's continuity number, broadcast
date, time and network, director, writer, editor, announcer and (in many
cases) cast members, sponsor, episode title and synopsis of the episode.
Perhaps the $65 fee McFarland is asking appears pricey but the incredible
wealth of data on America's most enduring radio detective feature must be
considered.  Authors, by the way, receive precious little of those retail
fees, never enough to cover the expenses of the research that goes into
demanding projects like this one.

McFarland is taking orders for the book now and currently anticipates
shipping within four weeks.   Contact the publisher toll free Monday-Friday
at 800-253-2187 or order online at [removed].  I trust this new
volume will fill a void that has existed much too long on the shelves of
anyone who loved radio detectives and crime-oriented drama.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 14:05:41 -0400
From: Allen Wilcox <aawjca@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  another Lucy and OTR connection

While Lucy was an unknown at RKO in 1941 she costarred
in a movie with Edgar Bergen in "Look Who's Laughing".
It also stared Fibber McGee & Molly (Jim and Marion
Jordan) and The Great Gildersleve (Hal Perry. Here is
a link at yahoo for the movie.
Allen

[ADMINISTRIVIA: [removed] the URL. How about the Internet Movie Database:

[removed]

--cfs3]

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 15:55:22 -0400
From: <welsa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Radio origin

[removed] lists radio as a word coined by Marconi and in Latin it
means:  I shine.

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 15:55:29 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  5-2 births/deaths

May 2nd births

05-02-1892 - Bruno Wick - Krefeld, Germany - d. 11-1979
actor: Ming the Merciless "Flash Gordon"; Mr. Fowler "The Goldbergs"
05-02-1902 - Brian Aherne - King's Norton, England - d. 2-10-1986
actor: Simon Templar "The Saint"
05-02-1902 - Erin O'Brien-Moore - Los Angeles, CA - d. 5-3-1979
actress: Elsa Banning "Big Sister"
05-02-1903 - Sylvan Levin - Baltimore, MD - d. 8-10-1996
conductor: "Sinfonietta"; "Brownstone Theatre"; "Let's Go to the Opera"
05-02-1904 - J. Anthony Hughes - NYC - d. 2-11-1970
actor: Bob Drake "Betty and Bob"
05-02-1907 - Pinky Lee - St. Paul, MN - d. 4-3-1993
comedian: "Hoagy Carmichel Show"; "Carefree Carnival"

May 2nd deaths

01-30-1914 - Hugh Marlowe - Philadelphia, PA - d. 5-2-1982
actor: Ellery Queen "Advs. of Ellery Queen"; Jim Curtis "Brenda Curtis"
03-20-1918 - Jack Barry - Lindenhurst, NY - d. 5-2-1984
actor: "It's the Barrys"
10-28-1895 - Herb Butterfield - RI - d. 5-2-1957
actor: Clarence Wellman "Halls of Ivy"; "Hunter Glenn "One Man's Family"
--
Ron Sayles
For a complete list:
[removed]

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 18:51:29 -0400
From: Alan/Linda Bell <alanlinda43@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Unsolved mysteries in OTR

3. What did Jack Benny  ever do with his favorite car, the Maxwell?

Aahh, the amazing resurrection of the [removed] As I recall, he had
it turned over to the government for scrap during WWII, but years
after the war, it just showed up again in the show as if nothing had
happened.
Alan

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 18:51:51 -0400
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Benny's Maxwell

Deric M. writes:

What did Jack Benny  ever do with his favorite car, the Maxwell?

Well, I've got an even better mystery for you.  Due to public pressure, Jack
donated his Maxwell to the World War II scrap drive.  Then in a subsequent
show, you can hear planes flying overhead, followed by a plane sputtering and
wheezing its way across the sky.  Everyone knew that the Maxwell had been
reborn.

But Jack had his Maxwell again after the war.  I have not yet found (but give
me [removed] should know this by next year for 39 Forever, Volume 2) the show
where the Maxwell reappears, and how it is explained.

--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 19:55:38 -0400
From: "david rogers" <david_rogers@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio 7 announcers

"Sunday 5-2-04

A.  Mike Biels talks about the style of 1920s radio announcers and hear
sound examples."

I have recently been listening a lot to the Radio 7 "Listen Again" section
and I have been noticing the comments of the announcers.  Often the first
two sentences going into the show or at the end of it are really quite a
funny response to the show itself.  In particular for the last couple of
weeks I have been listening to a reading of "The Growing Pains of Adrian
Mole" and the female radio announcer in the morning is really good.  If you
want to save the shows it is worth doing with her comments included.

Love as always, David Rogers

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 19:56:19 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Price of Fear

Deric M asked:

Here is a question of personal interest.  Does anybody know how many
episodes of "the price of fear" were made and are in circulation.

To my knowledge there were only 20 episodes made: 8 in 1973, 6 in 1974, and
I also show 6 from 1983, but I don't know if those are repeats, etc.

1973

1. Remains To Be Seen (9/01/73)
2. William and Mary by Roald Dahl (9/8/73)
3. Cat's Cradle
from The Squaw by Bram Stoker
When a kittens' head is accidentally crushed by a brash film producer its
mother takes some medieval revenge. (BBC Collection) (9/15/73)
4. Meeting in Athens (9/22/73)
5. The Man Who Hated Scenes (9/29/73)
6. Lot 132 by Elizabeth Morgan (0/00/73)
7. The Waxwork by AM Burrage (0/00/73)
8. Fish by Rene Basilico (0/00/73)
9. Soul Music by William Ingram

1974

1. Come As You Are by Bill Ingram
When Vincent Price attends a party a phantom encounter with a guest gives
fancy dress a whole new meaning. (BBC Collection) (4/06/74)
2. Specialty of the House by Stanley Ellin
An exclusive restaurant with a very rare dish on the [removed] one to leave a
nasty taste in the mouth. (BBC Collection) (4/13/74)
3. The Ninth Removal from a story by R Chetwynd-Hayes.
The death of a promiscuous young girl provides all the ingredients for a
classic murder [removed] does it? (BBC Collection) (4/20/74)
4. Blind Man's Bluff by William Ingram
5. An Eye for An Eye
6. Never Gamble With a Loser

1983

1. Goody Two Shoes (5/30/83)
2. To My Dear, Dear Saladin (6/06/83)
3. The Family Album (6/13/83)
4. Out of the Mouths (6/20/83)
5. Not Wanted On Voyage (6/27/83)
6. Is There Anybody There? (7/04/83)

Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 21:20:20 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Record Your Tapes on Your Computer

   The system I use is very easy.  I have a copy of Music Match
([removed]) that works fine in my Win98 machine.  You
simply run a male/male cord (forget the technical name, but RatShak has
it for a couple of bucks) from the cassette phone jack to the pc "mic
in" jack.  You can listen to the program while its recording with your
pc speakers.  Its only takes a few minutes to config Music Match to your
preferences.  I've used it for a couple of years with no problems, other
than finding some bad tapes.
   Joe

--
Visit my slightly updated (1/1/04) homepage:
[removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 21:20:30 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  This week in radio history 2-8 May

 From Those Were The Days --

5/5

1935 - The program, Rhythm at Eight, made its debut. The star of the
show was 24-year-old Ethel Merman. Though Merman would become a legend
years later, she didn't fare so well on radio. Her show was taken off
the air after 13 weeks and Miss Merman returned to her first love,
Broadway.

5/6

1937 - A student of history, a broadcaster or anyone interested in news
coverage, will remember this day and the words of NBC's Herbert
Morrison. "Oh, the humanity!" Morrison's emotion-filled historic
broadcast of the explosion of the dirigible, Hindenburg at Lakehurst,
NJ, became the first recorded coast-to-coast broadcast as it was carried
on both the NBC Red and NBC Blue networks from New York City.

5/8

1959 - The final broadcast of One Man's Family was heard on NBC after
being on the air 27 years. The show had completed 3,256 episodes since
its beginning in 1932.

Joe

--
Visit my slightly updated (1/1/04) homepage:
[removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 21:20:55 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Jack's Maxwell

   Deric asked --

 > 3. What did Jack Benny  ever do with his favorite car, the Maxwell?

   I'm sure Laura can give a much more detailed answer, but for the most
part it seemed to have come and gone and returned again.
   Around 1942 it was donated to a scrap metal drive, but after the war
it suddenly reappeared.  (Rejected?)  :)
   And the vehicle itself seemed to change over time.  On the radio it
was a open touring car, 1920s vintage (offically I think a 1922 model)
but in publicity stills it changed from a four door touring car to a two
seater round.
   In a early Chevy sponsored show Jack brought a new Chevy, which
disappeared when he changed sponsor's to Jell-O.
   Joe

--
Visit my slightly updated (1/1/04) homepage:
[removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 23:27:26 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Mayor od Doodyville

Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 13:49:24 -0400
From: "Arthur Funk" <Art-Funk@[removed];

In Digest 148 A. Joseph Ross, [removed], asked who was mayor before Mr.
Bluster. I don't have a clue but I can tell you that the mayor of the town
in which Big Jon & Sparkie lived was Mr. Plumpfront (for whatever that
information is worth).
 
I remember Mayor Plumpfront.  I remember that after Big Jon and Sparkie moved from 
Cincinnati to Stamford, CT, Mayor Plumpfront used to come up every week to tell Sparkie 
what happened in the long-running movie serial, which apparently wasn't playing in Stamford, 
of General Comet of the Universe Patrol.

But it's rather interesting that nobody remembers that Dilly Dally was mayor of Doodyville 
before Mr. Bluster.  Now that all the puppets (except Howdy) are in private hands, having 
been auctioned off through Leland's a couple of years ago, a fan has prepared a registry of all 
puppets used in the American, Canadian, and Cuban Howdy Doody shows and, as far as 
possible, their present whereabouts and condition.  This apparently is something that 
collectors do, so if anything shows up on E-Bay, its authenticity can be checked.

So anyway, I was approached last year by the guy doing this, and I gave him about five 
pages of information from my trivia-filled memory.  The fact that Dilly Dally was Doodyville's 
previous mayor was among the tidbits.  And it turned out that nobody else could verify this -- 
not even Eddie Kean, who wrote the show at the time.  Finally, some TV Guide program 
notes were found that verified Dilly having been mayor, and someone else's memory was 
jogged, and he remembered it.

I guess Dilly wasn't a very memorable mayor.  All he did was proclaim things occasionally 
(wearing a more adult hat than his usual baseball cap for the occasion).  Bluster as mayor 
was a great program idea because it generated all sorts of great story lines.

But in this group of fans, isn't there anyone out there who remembers Dilly Dally being 
mayor?

-- A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed] 15 Court Square, Suite 210 lawyer@[removed] Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 May 2004 09:53:53 -0400 From: Mike Thompson <mthomp86@[removed]; To: [removed]@[removed] Subject: Re: As I Remember Lucille Ball
She was a second level radio and movie actress thru
the forties and not a
real star until tv and the lucy series came along in
the early fifties.

The movie part is true, her daughter Lucie Arnaz has
often said that Lucy would have been known as "Queen
of the B's" (the B movies--typically low budget,
second-half-of-a-double-feature fare--of the '30s and
'40s) if "I Love Lucy" hadn't come along. I'm not so
sure about the radio part, though. CBS must've thought
highly enough of "My Favorite Husband" if they wanted
to adapt it to television. Maybe, Gregg, do you know
if the radio show was ever a hit?

Even though her friends
may have long called her lucy, it was probably the
mid fifties berore the
public started thinking of her as lucy and not
lucille ball.

This is true too. Actually, a lot of her friends
called her Lucille in her pre-TV days too. I read a
quote from Desi Arnaz once saying he called her 'Lucy'
because nobody else did; it was like his own name for
her. I've noticed in some of the episodes of "My
Favorite Husband" that whenever the announcer, Bob
LeMond, is talking to Lucy (like during Jello
commercials, or at the end of the show when she's
making a special announcement or something), he always
calls her 'Lucille.' In fact, to this day, some of her
friends, such as Carole Cook, still refer to her as
'Lucille' when giving interviews about her (although
it should be noted that many of her friends/former
colleagues call her 'Lucy' too).

Mike

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #152
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