------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 413
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Trash or treasure ? [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
Amos 'n Andy song [ Richard Pratz <[removed]@[removed]; ]
Super Necrology [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
Re: Norman and Himan (and Artie!) [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
renegade Indians [ Dave Parker <dave@[removed] ]
Tonto [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
Re: Jerry Orbach [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
I was a [removed] [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
Kemo Sabe [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
New Years Weekend Special [ Rod Gowen <rgowen@[removed] ]
Commie Shows [ "Philip Railsback" <philiprailsback ]
Missing OTR Characters [ "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed] ]
Re: Worst radio show [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 19:29:33 -0500
From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Trash or treasure ?
Dr. Michael Biel agrees with James Nixon that the Hartz Mountain
Canaries program was one of the the worst ever radio program but adds
that Charles K. Field's long-running series, "Cheerio" was also "Sappy,
syrupy poetry, old timey songs, wheezy pump organ music, and those DAMN
BIRDS." He continues his worst list by describing the then popular
"Tony Wons Scrapbook" as filled with " a sappy, syrupy voice, but a
very thin syrup." Then the good Doctor, with a twinkle in his eye,
malevolently concludes: "Maybe you could drown the Cheerio birds in the
syrup, or throw those Wons scrapbooks at them."
My gracious, sir!
I have long subscribed to the adage that "One man's trash is another
man's treasure" so I was not surprised when I've heard OTR experts
(recently) relegating "The Lone Ranger", One Man's Family", "The
Shadow" or even "Amos 'n Andy" to the category of worst radio series.
Although these shows are not everyone's cup of tea, they certainly held
their own in their time slot with thousands (maybe millions) of
delighted listeners throughout the years. Generally speaking, the
bottom line for radio broadcasting throughout history was "Can this
show make money?" meaning "Will this show grab and hold listeners?" So
in 2004 to label a long running show of the 30s or 40s as "the worst"
seems to be neither fair nor logical.
If backed into a corner and forced to nominate my "Worst" shows, I
would grudgingly name "Diamond Dramas", "Pinto Pete", and "K-9
Returns." But I would also be not surprised if that same trio of
programs would appear on another person's "Best" shows list. And who's
to say who's really right?
Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 19:30:48 -0500
From: Richard Pratz <[removed]@[removed];
To: "OTR (Plain Text Only)" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Amos 'n Andy song
For Christmas, I received a CD of Billy Murray (1877-1954) recordings. "The
Denver Nightingale," as he was billed, sold more records than anyone else
between 1910 and 1920, leaving a greater body of comedy and novelty
recordings than any other artist in the history of the medium. He
legitimized the acoustical sound process, which employed recording horns
rather than the electronic microphone, and his technical virtuosity and
innate sense of aesthetic correctness has enabled his work to transcend the
limitations of its time. The CD Billy Murray Anthology consists of 30 tunes
he recorded between 1903 and 1940. One of them he recorded in 1930 is an
up-tempo duet. Most of his songs he performs alone, but the one I'm writing
about is a duet with Walter Scanlan and is entitled simply "Amos 'n Andy."
During his long recording career, Murray commented on many fads and social
trends. The humorous verses and asides of this particular song focus on the
huge following that the Amos 'n Andy radio show had acquired at the outset
of the 30s. I thought some of you OTR fans might get a chuckle out of the
lyrics - - -
(First skit, spoken over telephone) Hello? Hello?
Hello, this is Dr. Brown speaking.
Oh hello Doc. Yes? Yes?
Your wife has just presented you with a bouncing baby boy.
Gosh, that's great Doc. Oh boy, I'll say I'm happy.
You have reason to be. You can come over to the hospital right away.
What? Right now?
Why of course.
Oh, I can't come over there now Doc.
No? Well, what's the matter?
Why I'm just listening in on the radio to Amos 'n Andy.
[removed] 'n Andy again!
(Music-duet) There's a very funny pair. Every night they're on the air
and fans are gathered everywhere a radio is handy.
In homes or at a grocery store, people listen in and roar,
they laugh until their sides are sore at Amos 'n Andy.
Amos 'n Andy, they're always in a stew.
Bad luck seems to follow them no matter what they do.
The boys are always trying, but they never save a bean.
If Kingfish doesn't get it, then it's spent on Madam Queen.
We laugh at all their troubles, but we hope they'll all end right.
We wonder what Amos 'n Andy will do tomorrow night?
(A second spoken courtroom skit here with lots of puns, that ends when the
judge asks the accused "Where were you last night when this thing happened?"
He of course replies, "Why I was listening in to Amos 'n Andy!" The judge
says, "So was I! Prisoner discharged!")
(Music-duet) Amos 'n Andy, although they're never seen,
They've become more famous than the team of pork and beans!
When you step on the gas or at a light you fail to stop,
You hear that certain whistle and up jumps a traffic cop!
His mind ain't on his business, or the ticket that he'll write,
I wonder what Amos 'n Andy will do tomorrow night?
(A 3rd spoken skit here. Phone rings. "There goes your telephone." "That
isn't my phone, it's my alarm clock. I always set it so I don't miss Amos 'n
Andy! Laughs")
(Musical reprise) I wonder what Amos 'n Andy will do tomorrow night.
It's 3 minutes and 3 seconds of a delightful ditty. I would recommend the
Bill Murray CD to one and all lovers of old tunes. I have no connection with
the company. It is Archeophone Records, 2244 Jeffery Dr., St. Joseph,
Illinois, 61873 (2002). Archeophone 5501. Billy Murray Anthology. The Denver
Nightingale, recordings 1903-1940.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
Rich
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 19:42:58 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Super Necrology
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X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
For anybody compiling OTR-related year-end necrologies, I'd like to point out
that we lost fivr
luminaries with connections to Superman spanning OTR, TV, comic books, and
motion pictures.
For the record they are Christopher Reeve and Marlon Brando from the movies;
Julius Schwartz
who edited many a Superman comic book; air personality Danny Dark who provided
the Man of
Steel's voice in various TV cartoons such as "SuperFriends"; and, of course,
Jackson Beck.
Derek Tague
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*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 21:05:00 -0500
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Norman and Himan (and Artie!)
Mike Martini mentioned that 2005 will be a big year for Norman Corwin and
Himan Brown, both turning 95.
Add Artie Shaw to that group, born 5/23/10.
-Irene
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 23:44:47 -0500
From: Dave Parker <dave@[removed];
To: OLD TIME RADIO <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: renegade Indians
Re Phillip Railsback's comments about the Indian woman who felt "kemo
sabay" was a demeaning racial slur--I have an interesting tale re
Indians-upset-by-the Lone Ranger.
Back in the early days of the broadcasts, it wasn't unusual for the
producers to get letters from Indians - angry at the way the show
sometimes pictured them
Wanting to do the right thing "someone" on the production staff
devised a fool-proof [removed] was simply this ---------
From that point on, all Indians shown as "on the warpath" or
otherwise shown harassing settlers, soldiers, young ranchers, etc
would be called --RENEGADE INDIANS.
And can you believe-- no "renegade Indians" ever wrote letters to the
producers - or anyone else. Ray Meurer the Masked Man's legal counsel
shared that bit of Ranger lore with me back in 1953. Holy smokes -
that was more than 50 years ago! Time move plenty fast kemo sabay.
As Phillip said "Context is everything"
hi yo Silver
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 23:46:11 -0500
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Tonto
"Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed]@[removed]; recalled:
I remember vaguely, a bunch of years ago, a joke that was going
around about either the Lone Ranger shooting Tonto or vice versa,
because he had finally learned what Kimo Sabe actually meant.
I remember that phrase from a novelty song of, perhaps, the 60's. In
my very fallible memory I associate the Hank Williams "Poor Old
Callija" tune with the phrase, leading me to suspect that it might
have been a Homer and Jethro parody. But it's been a long time.
I found the following claim as to the origin of the term online
(please forgive the TV references).
Kemo Sabe - Indian phrase meaning "Faithful Friend" or "Trusty
Scout" used by the North American Indian Tonto (Jay Silverheels), to
describe his close friend John Reid [removed] "The Lone Ranger" (Clayton
Moore/John Hart) on the western adventure THE LONE
RANGER/ABC/1949-57. The word "Kemo Sabe" was actually inspired by
James Jewell, the director of the original Lone Ranger radio series
that debuted on January 30, 1933. It was derived from the name of a
boys camp called "Kee-Mo-Sah-Bee" established in 1911 at Mullet Lake
in Michigan that was owned by Jewell's father-in-law, Charles W.
Yeager. During the 1930s "Lone Ranger Camps" were held at this
popular North Michigan campground. The camp closed in 1941. See also
- LANGUAGES: "Tonto" [removed]
There was also a claim that the Lone Ranger program dissed Native
Americans by having slyly given the LR's sidekick a name that means
"fool" in Spanish. Of course, Tonto wasn't Spanish nor was Spanish
the language of she who named him; I'm sure George Trendle or whoever
came up with it did not know Tonto meant anything in any language.
There was never any question that Tonto was a heroic figure in the
stories.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:13:54 -0500
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Jerry Orbach
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
In a message dated 12/29/04 6:42:15 PM Central Standard Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
10-20-1935 - Jerry Orbach - NYC - d. 12-28-2004
actor: "CBS Mystery Theatre"
One of the biographies I saw of Orbach today mentioned his mother being a
radio singer. Anyone know anything about her? Do any recordings of her
performances still exist?
Dixon
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:14:11 -0500
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: I was a [removed]
It occurs to me that the support by talented actors and networks for the
lame "I Was a Communist for the FBI" can be attributed to one factor: fear.
To wit, fear of the various Communist-hunting agencies that picked apart all
media for years. Had I been an actor with a career to protect, or a network
or advertiser who didn't wish to fall under the suspicion of Senators Nixon
or McCarthy, I'd probably have signed up to work on the show, rotten as it
may have been, for nothing.
M Kinsler
512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
[removed]~mkinsler1
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:14:40 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Kemo Sabe
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 12:09:02 -0500
From: skallisjr@[removed]
I demur. To newcomers to OTR, the phrase translations may not be
known. "Kemo sabe" was translated as "faithful friend" and "trusty
scout." But the point is that both The Lone Ranger and Tonto
addressed each other by that title.
Perhaps originally, but by the late 40s or early 50s on the radio version, and always on the
TV version, Kemo Sabe was what Tonto called the Lone Ranger. Period.
In the 1960s, there was a joke going around to the effect that the Lone Ranger and Tonto
split up when the LR found out what Kemo Sabe meant. This was soon followed by the
story in which the LR and Tonto are surrounded by hostile Indians, the LR says, "It looks like
we're done for, Tonto," and Tonto replies, "What you mean 'We,' White man?"
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210
lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:08:41 -0500
From: Rod Gowen
<rgowen@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: New Years Weekend Special
Golden Hours Radio
Portland, Oregon
Heard on Oregon Public Broadcasting's TV [removed] in Oregon
and on the internet at:
[removed]
click on the WRAIN/golden Hours Radio link.
We will be broadcasting 65 hours of special radio drama
and music starting at
2:00 PM on 12/31/04 and running until
07:00 AM on 01/03/05.
The program will contain episodes of the Mutual Radio Theater, the NPr
Radio Mystery theater (CBS Radio Mystery Theater) and Country Music Time
in 2 hour blocks.
There will be a few special items dropped in as well.
Why not tune in and listen for awhile?
Rod Gowen
OTR Editor
Golden Hours Radio
Portland, Oregon
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:09:28 -0500
From: "Philip Railsback"
<philiprailsback@[removed];
To:
[removed]@[removed]
Subject: Commie Shows
I don't believe I ever heard any broadcasts of "I Was a Commie . . ." but I
did see the movie with Frank Lovejoy when I was a kid. I remember eating up
every word of it, as I did the later TV series, "I Led Three Lives," with
Richard Carlson.
Whoops. I got these shows mixed up. The hidden printing press story I
mentioned was on "I Led Three Lives". It couldn't have been on the TV
version of "I Was a Communist for the FBI" because there wasn't one.
- Philip
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:11:39 -0500
From: "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Missing OTR Characters
The speculation on whatever happened to Gildersleeve's wife is very
interesting. Putting Mr. Keen on the case is a stroke of genius.
It's made me wonder if there are any other OTR characters missing.
I'm refering to characters like the Cunninghams' older son on Happy Days (I
digress to TV here) who appears in early episodes and then is never heard
from again.
Or maybe like Vera, the wife of Norm the barfly on Cheers (TV reference
again). She's refered to often but never seen.
Luigi's mama is refered to in every episode, but alas, never gets to come to
America.
Can anyone come up with similar characters in OTR?
Jim Yellen
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:21:38 -0500
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Worst radio show
At 10:47 AM 12/29/2004, you wrote:
I'm sort of surprised that nobody has mentioned Fr. Coughlin's tirades from
the thirties as one of the worst shows ever. When it comes to drama, though,
This comment raises the question mentioned before by how one defines
"worst." Obviously, the writer comments by defining "worst" in cultural
terms. I believe most have been defining "worst" based more upon production
values.
As much as I despise people such as Fr. Coughlin, I would suspect his show
would not be considered the "worst" at the time it was broadcast in the
terms it has been defined in previous discussions. In matter of fact,
Coughlin's program was well done in terms of production for its type of
program. And he obviously raised lots and lots of money. He was also
immensely popular until he decided to take on persons who were much more
powerful than he. So is he "worst" because of what he said? There were
obviously many with similar feelings whose nerves he apparently touched
(unfortunately so). But the times were different.
I would find it very difficult to label programs worst based upon cultural
values because these values are always shifting. What was considered "ok"
then is not always "ok" now as has been shown in the Amos 'n' Andy
discussions. But this certainly does not make them the worst shows.
Jim Widner
[removed]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #413
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