Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #357
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 11/18/2005 2:53 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 357
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Amos And Andy Music Hall              [ "Read G. Burgan" <rburgan@chartermi ]
  Home-Made Crystal Sets                [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
  Re: Crystal Radio                     [ Vince Long <vlongbsh@[removed]; ]
  Rinso White jingle                    [ RBB <oldradio@[removed]; ]
  Ralph Edwards RIP                     [ RBB <oldradio@[removed]; ]
  the future of OTR conventions         [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  Truth or Consequences                 [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
  11-18 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Truth or Consequences - Regardless    [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
  Tarzan Play Dates                     [ "jljonz" <jjonz44@[removed]; ]
  Wyllis Cooper                         [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
  Theremin and XM Radios                [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
  Weekend in Hollywood                  [ "Laura Leff" <president@[removed] ]
  Bob Hastings Interview on SyFyPortal  [ seandd@[removed] ]
  Televised Radio?                      [ Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed] ]
  Old Time Stars in New Superman Movie  [ seandd@[removed] ]
  JUBILEE SHOWS                         [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]

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

Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 20:59:59 -0500
From: "Read G. Burgan" <rburgan@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Amos And Andy Music Hall

On March 24, 1975, I recorded an interview with Sam Pierce who was the
producer of the Amos & Andy program for many years.  The interview was
recorded at the Voice of America studios in [removed] where Sam was employed at
the time.  Since there has been an on-going thread on the Music Hall
program, let me share the "raw" transcript that I made of that portion of
the interview.  A few years ago I incorporated the larger interview into an
article on Edgar Bergen in RADIO WORLD newspaper.

Freeman Gosden was the brains of the Amos & Andy Show.  They were going to
do this music hall -- now we did the half hour show in front of an
audience -- but they wanted to do the music hall a series where it wouldn't
tie Freeman and his partner Charlie up to much (Charlie Correll).  They
asked me if there was any way we could do a show without laughter and still
have it play.  And I said I didn't think so.
Well, we did a series of fifteen minute five times a week shows.  We pre
taped five shows with a cast, and we played the first one on the air, CBS.
And we got a call from the head of CBS, Bill Paley, who said, "That's a
terrible show!"
Well, wasn't a terrible show.  They just missed the audience.  So I said,
"I'll tell you what I'll do.  If I can put laughter in the show that you
will buy, Mr. Paley, to the point that you believe there's an audience, will
you go for it?"  And he said, "No!  I don't believe any of that trick
stuff."
Now this was before there had been any laughter added to any shows.  This
was the beginning.  I said, "Let's just see what we can do.  Maybe we can
get an audience and we'll see how the show plays."
I took the next show and got a marvelous editor, Jack Laddie, who deserves
all the credit for that show as far as putting laughs in-- and we spent the
whole night adding laugh tracks that we took from old Jack Benny shows.  And
the laughter came from those shows, and we rolled it in -- we developed a
whole new technique of rolling in laughter in an editing room with three
tape machines.
We played that on the air the next night and Mr. Paley called and said,
"Well you got an audience and the show is now right!"  There was the
difference.  And here was a man who had good ears, you know.  After all, he
was the head of the Columbia Broadcasting System.  From there on out, the
Amos and Andy Show -- that particular one -- never, ever had an audience.
The client would call and say, "Listen, we've got some people coming out who
want to see a show.  Can you get us tickets?"  And we'd have to say, "I'm
sorry.  The tickets are all gone for this whole week.  We just can't get
any."  We never had an audience on any of those fifteen minute show.  Yet
you can play them now, and they're full of laughter.  The boys were such
radio people, that they had learned how to work with or without anything.
They could make the laughs there.  And they did. Just a cast sitting around
a table.
The guests many times were close friends of Freeman and Charlie Amos & Andy.
The way we did that -- Freeman & Charlie would work one day a week on five
shows for the week.  They would come in to the studio.  They'd read the
lines with the cast and tape it.
When it came to the guest part, I would read the guest to Freeman and
Charlie, and they would react as Amos and Andy to the guest.  Then I would
take portable equipment and an engineer and go to wherever the guest was.
At a studio shooting a picture, at his home -- wherever they were.
And we had guests like Jimmy Stewart and Jack Benny.  We were not fooling
around with our guests, they were top people.  And then I would play Amos &
Andy to them, and they would they would read back against my Amos & Andy.
Then I would go back and take my voice out of the original track tape, and
put the boys' voices in against the star they were working against.  We
developed a system where it took about one full day's work to do one fifteen
minute show, just to get that inner cut and the laughs in.  It kept two of
us pretty busy -- the editor and myself, the producer.  (Sam Pierce)

Read Burgan

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

Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 22:16:04 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Home-Made Crystal Sets
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Wayne Johnson, speaking of creating a crystal set radio for some youths,
noted,

Long story short ... we made one for about $6 out of a large pizza box.
Radio shack had the wire but forget getting the diode from them.  They
had no diode, no earplug and no variable capacitor.  Good thing that I
had some in my "junk drawer" at home.

Well ... many crystal sets didn't use a variable capacitor.  The tuning
was done with variable inductance, usually employing an air coil wrapped
around a cylinder, "tapped" by a conductive wiper.  The late
science-fiction author and radio engineer, George O. Smith, once opined
that Quaker Oats made their fortune by creating an oatmeal box with
perfect dimensions to wrap wire around for a crystal-set coil.  Tinfoil
sheets separated by glass would form a fixed capacitor.

As far as the diode is concerned, during World War II, many GIs made
"razor blade radios," by using a cat's whisker probe on a razor blade.
Natural oxidation caused "sensitive spots" that would act like a diode.
As with a galena crystal, one had to move the cat whisker around a bit to
find a sensitive spot.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:42:23 -0500
From: Vince Long <vlongbsh@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Crystal Radio

Yep, these are part of OTR history.  I've made quite a few with my
students and they are always surpised when they find out they can hear a
radio station on a device without batteries.

There's an intriguing design for one at:
[removed]
where you can build your own variable capacitor and even the earphone
out of everyday junk.  The diode is still required but these and other
parts are readily available at:
[removed]

Vince

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:42:51 -0500
From: RBB <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Rinso White jingle

Bob Slate asked about Rinso with Solium and the jingle.
The happy little washday song and whistling like "bob white"
was the jingle version, as I remember it.  The tympani drums
were used to emphasize the "new and improved" Rinso with
(boom, boom, boom) Solium and it was advertised without the
familiar jingle.

Also, The Kingfish joined in the jingle singing with a basso profundo
voice going to a deeper, and deeper range on the last line of the jingle
lyrics.  Audience applause followed.

Say, what exactly *is* Solium anyway?  A special ingredient from the
Sun? Ah, just another one of those ad agency copy gimmicks, eh?  It's a
great selling word, nonetheless. Carpe diem!

=Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:43:01 -0500
From: RBB <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Ralph Edwards RIP

Notice in today's newspaper that "This Is Your Life" and "Truth or
Consequences" host / producer Ralph Edwards died at age 92
of heart failure.   He had quite a career and did a marvelous job
raising funds for needy projects with the radio shows.  RIP, Ralph,
and thanks for the great memories!

=Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:43:14 -0500
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  the future of OTR conventions

Hi Everybody,

over the last week or so there been posting regarding what shape should a
OTR convention look like today and in the future.  I believe we need to
consider a major factor with most of the OTR convention is the cost of
bringing in guest.  I keep a list on file showing where many of our
celebrities live in the USA, and many of them live still in California.
Thus convention like REPS, FOTR and Cincinnati needed to adapt to this
factor.  Both REPS and FOTR realize on local personalities to fill out the
program.  Thus if a TV, a film star, or a someone doing new radio live near
by it make sense to use them.  SPERDVAC has a major advantage over REPS and
FOTR because they do not   have to have a large travel budget to bring in
guest compare to other major OTR conventions.  I can recall the days that
SPERDVAC convention dinner would have  on a Saturday night between 60 to 80
people from the Golden Days of radio just for dinner.  Many of the would not
have to work for the week end on stage or panels, they could just enjoy a
meal and a good show.  Take care,

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:43:36 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Truth or Consequences

Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 17:31:24 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];

Missing a question on truth or Consequences usually put the
contestant in an awkward situation, the "consequence" being to
perform some amusing stunt.  Once, though, I heard a lady give the
correct answer. She was given a modest fee for a prize, and left
the program. 
 
A couple of times on the TV show, a contestant answered the question correctly, and each 
time Bob Barker said that he had just gotten a signal from the booth that he had asked the 
wrong question.  The contestant didn't answer the next question.  

The questions themselves were generally nonsensical riddles.  One I remember was, "What 
do an elephant and a clam have in common?"  Answer: "Neither can ride a bicycle."  
Another was, "What is the similarity between a girl preparing to go to the beach and a man 
doing his income taxes?"  Answer: "They both take off as much as the law will allow."

Eventually, they stopped bothering to ask the questions and just went to the consequence.

-- A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed] 15 Court Square, Suite 210 Fax [removed] Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:43:44 -0500 From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed]; Subject: 11-18 births/deaths November 18th births 11-18-1836 - William S. Gilbert - London, England - d. 5-29-1911 composer: (Gilbert and Sullivan) "The Railroad Hour" 11-18-1860 - Jan Ignace Paderewski - Kurilovka. Poland - d. 6-21-1941 concert pianist, statesman: "Paderewski's Eightieth Birthday Tribute" 11-18-1888 - Frances Marion - San Francisco, CA - d. 5-12-1973 screen writer: "Lux Radio Theatre" 11-18-1899 - Eugene Ormandy - Budapest, Hungary - d. 3-12-1985 conductor: "Roxy's Gang"; "Phildelphia Orchestra" 11-18-1900 - Don Quinn - Grand Rapids, MI - d. 12-30-1967 writer: "Fibber McGee and Molly"; "Halls of Ivy" 11-18-1901 - Dr. George Gallup - Jefferson, IA - d. 7-26-1984 statistician: "Living 1948" 11-18-1908 - Imogene Coca - Philadelphia, PA - d. 6-2-2001 comedienne: "Big Show" 11-18-1909 - Johnny Mercer - Savannah, GA - d. 6-25-1976 singer: "Camel Caravan"; "Johnny Mercer's Music Shop"; "Dinah Shore Show" 11-18-1912 - Arthur Peterson - Mandan, ND - d. 10-31-1996 actor: Reverend John Rutledge "The Guiding Light"; "World's Great Novels" 11-18-1919 - Georgia Carroll - Bloomington Grove, TX singer: (Wife of Kay Kyser) "Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge" 11-18-1926 - Dorothy Collins - Windsor, Ontario, Canada - d. 7-21-1994 singer: "Your Hit Parade" 11-18-1928 - Mickey Mouse - Hollywood, CA cartoon character: "Mickey Mouse Theatre of the Air" 11-18-1945 - Glenn Walken - Queens, NY actor: (Brother of Christopher) Michael Bauer "The Guiding Light" November 18th deaths 03-30-1902 - Ted Heath - Wandsworth, London, England - d. 11-18-1969 bandleader: "Ted Heath and His Orchestra" 05-29-1924 - Bob Corley - Macon, GA - d. 11-18-1971 actor: Beulah "Beulah" 06-14-1929 - Cy Coleman - New York, NY - d. 11-18-2004 jazz pianist, composer: "Cy Coleman at the Piano"; "Voices of Vista" 07-06-1910 - Dorothy Kirsten - Montclair, NJ - d. 11-18-1992 singer: "Keepsakes"; "Kraft Music Hall"; "Light Up Time" 07-11-1894 - Walter Wanger - San Francisco, CA - d. 11-18-1968 film producer: "Information, Please"; "Hollywood Fights Back"; "Lux Radio Theatre" 07-14-1880 - Donald Meek - Glasgow, Scotland - d. 11-18-1946 actor: "Lux Radio Theatre" 09-06-1888 - Joseph P. Kennedy - East Boston, MA - d. 11-18-1969 ambassador to Great Britain: "Ambassador Joseph Kennedy" 10-07-1888 - Henry Wallace - Adair County, IA - d. 11-18-1965 vice president: "Free World Theatre" 10-15-1900 - Fritz Feld - Berlin, Germany - d. 11-18-1993 actor: "NBC Uinversity Theatre"; "Nightbeat"; "Advs. of the Saint" xx-xx-1919 - Walter McGraw - d. 11-18-1978 director: "Believe It or Not"; "The Chase" -- Ron Sayles Milwaukee, Wisconsin ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:44:17 -0500 From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed]; To: [removed]@[removed] Subject: Truth or Consequences - Regardless Ken Pieltic wrote:
I remember hearing another broadcast where a gentleman contestant gave
the correct answer, but somehow had to pay the consequences  regardless.

I remember watching the syndicated version when I was a kid in the 1960's.
On the rare occasions the contestant got the question right Ralph Edwards
would just say "Two Part Question" and ask another one.  If the contestant
got that one right Ralph woudl just say "Three Part Question" and ask
another one.  I don't recall any time the contestant "won" and didn't have
to face the consequences.

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 11:21:45 -0500
From: "jljonz" <jjonz44@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Tarzan Play Dates

I have been researching the play dates for the original 1932-1933 Tarzan
series. Some where, some how, some misconceptions about when it acturally
aired has been thoroughly propogated.  Most websites and logs indicate
incorrectly a NY origin. In reality  NY only aired 97 of the 286 episodes.
Also, in NY the series started as a 3 day a week program.  Someone then took
the actual start date (which was not in NY) and applied the 3 day a week dates
to the episodes. Hence the confusing and incorrect dating on these Tarzan
episodes.

 Tarzan actually first aired in LA and to much fan fare. In excess of  three
thousand people including many celebraties were in attendance at the first
broadcast on KNX.  In the original sydication 286 shows were produced. The
first 130 were titled "Tarzan of the Apes" and the remaining episodes were
called "Return of Tarzan". 77 of the first 130 are in circulation today. The
show originated in Los Angeles on 09/12/32 on KNX and played 5 days a week at
7:45pm. On
11/28/32 the show switched to KFWB and still played 5 days per week but at
7:15pm. On Monday 03/13/34 the show switched to 3 days per week but continued
to air at 7:15. It continued to play 3 days per week on KFWB at 7:15 through
the end of the series which was 03/09/34.

Note 1: The show did not air in NY (and Washington DC) until 01/16/33. Here it
ran as a 3 day a week on WOR at 7:45pm until 04/21/33. After these 42 episodes
aired there was a 2 month break then the show rusumed on 06/19/33 (WOR 5:45pm)
and ran as a 5 day a week for another 55 episodes.

Note 2: In Chicago the show probably premiered on 09/12/32 (same as LA). It
appears that the entire run (130 episodes) of the first series "Tarzan of the
Apes" aired. It ran on WBBM at 5:15pm 5 days a week. The first 26 episode
dates can not be confirmed because the Chicago Tribune did not carry the
complete daily WBBM schedule until 10/18/1932.

jj

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 12:01:05 -0500
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Wyllis Cooper

An article on the Quiet Please website
([removed]) describes Wyllis
Coopoer's first (only?) series on television, a six episode series
called "Volume One (No's 1 - 6)". The descriptions of the episodes are
very evocative. No dates are given, but since the article is from
September 1949, the show obviously precedes that date. I suppose it's
too much to hope that kinescopes of this show survive? Does anybody
know if the scripts exist? Also, do scripts exist for the 14 Quiet
Please episodes that are missing and were not repeated?

Kermyt

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 12:26:14 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Theremin and XM Radios

Folks;

   I realize this posting is a little off-topic (and I promise to send myself
a nasty note about that as soon as I'm done here), but the theremin (a
musical instrument that uses the capacitance of the human body as the
electronic "bow") has come up here quite a few times now. I was sent by Andy
Danyo, one of the producers of XM Satellite Radio's "The Bob Edwards Show," a
short video of Edwards playing the theremin for the band One Ring Zero at
last month's Third Coast Audio Festival in Chicago. For those interested in
seeing it, I posted it to the Edwards Show Discussion Forum in the "Personal
Appearances" forum at:

[removed]

   ...in the message, "Mr. Bob Edwards Performs in Chicago." No account is
required to read this forum, although posting require a free account.

   And if you're looking for an _amazing_ deal on XM radios, you should
register and read the messages posted in the "Equipment/Service Deals" forum
(requires registered users to keep the search engine spiders out). With XM's
Family and Friends promotion, the Audiovox XM radio is *free* with six-month
service commitment, XM2Go portable XM radios are now *under* a hundred bucks,
and many more great deals!

         Charlie

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 13:42:18 -0500
From: "Laura Leff" <president@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Weekend in Hollywood

I love to see these kinds of things. Where did you see/get this video?

Actually, I got it from a private collector and dealer.  I don't know if he
took it directly off 16mm or had an intermediate source.  He also sent me a
BREATHTAKINGLY PRISTINE copy of Jack's short "Broadway Romeo".  Gotta
transfer all this to DVD for our video library one of these days.

[removed]'m going through a big push to move my E-mail off of AOL.  So please
direct any E-mails to me at president@[removed].

--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 16:07:15 -0500
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bob Hastings Interview on [removed]

Friends of Old Time Radio stalwart Bob Hastings is interviewed by Michael
Simpson of [removed] as a result of his frequent appearances on classic
radio science fiction series X Minus One.

Here's hoping Mr. Hastings will be back in Newark next October where he
belongs!

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 16:48:41 -0500
From: Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed];
To: OTRDIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Televised Radio?
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Have been aware of but never seen Imus in the Morning on MSNBC.  What caught
my attention today  while channel surfing was a statue of the Lone Ranger.
The set has a western theme, so I'm not sure if it has a particular
connection to the show?  They kept panning over it and then I noticed a sign
for Wrangler [?] behind it.  Maybe it was product placement or something?

  Now I'm wondering if there is/have been other instances of televised radio
(with an OTR theme.)

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Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 16:49:02 -0500
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Old Time Stars in New Superman Movie

There are some old time stars in the upcoming new Superman movie, including
FOTR 2005 Guest Noell Neil.

Details follow.

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 16:49:21 -0500
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  JUBILEE SHOWS
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Many thanks to the Jazzman and his friend with the  logs for the Jubilee AFRS
Shows from Hollywood in 1945-46.
    I have now identified the very show I have been  searching for these last
two decades!
    It is show number 186, that's #186 and I am almost  without breath as I
type this.
    Now, can anyone tell me, off list, if this show  exists and how I might
get to hear it again.
    I feel like Lamont Cranston having just uncovered a  great secret with
the help of friends in the invisible world of the  Internet.
    I await further word.
                Michael  C. Gwynne (Wearing a cape)

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--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #357
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