Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #310
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 8/13/2003 3:40 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 310
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Rose Marie?Phil Harris                [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
  Roma Wines                            [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
  Hair                                  [ "William Schell" <bschell@[removed] ]
  War Of The Worlds & Mars, August 27,  [ martyd@[removed] ]
  The Shadow Theme                      [ rscherago@[removed] ]
  Yesterday USA                         [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  Jack Armstrong                        [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  Roma                                  [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
  Suspense and music                    [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
  Shemp                                 [ Steve Salaba <philmfan@[removed] ]
  Petrillo                              [ William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; ]
  Suspense:Till Death Do Us Part        [ "Scott Eberbach" <saeberbach@earthl ]
  Re: Shemp Howard                      [ Ed Foster <erfoster@[removed]; ]
  Mutual Coverage Of Dec. 7th           [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
  Radiola & Mark 56 LP's                [ Musiciantoo47@[removed] ]
  Re: Ernie Kovacs                      [ "Candy Jens" <candyj@[removed]; ]
  German radio in WWII                  [ Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed]; ]
  Bill Murtough, Photographer           [ Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed] ]
  converting RealAudio files to WAV or  [ "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:37:22 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

 From Those Were The Days --

1937 - Comedian Red Skelton got his first taste of network radio as he
appeared on the Rudy Vallee Show on NBC.

Joe

--
Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:39:22 -0400
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Rose Marie?Phil Harris
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It's me again, gang:

      I just wanted to share a couple anecdotes about a couple of folks
listed in my buddy Ron Sayles's birthday list for this week.
I spoke last week via the "Don Ameche" with Rose Marie. I was trying to
acquire her services for this year's FOTR convention here in New Jersey. She
graciously bowed out stating that she couldn't be away from her home in
California for extended periods. I want to take this opportunity to wish her
the most joyous of birthdays.
     According to her autobio "Hold the Roses," she was born on the Feast of
the Assumption, August 15th (as reflected in Ron's list). I do heartily
recommend her book. Rose Marie has a vivid memory of working with Al Jolson,
Dick Powell, and some of the other greats of that era. Early in the
narrative, she talks of extraneous child labour laws that prevented her from
doing any dancing while she sang on various vaudeville house stages in New
York City. She was only allowed  sing while standing at a microphone but was
prevented from tapping her feet, an involuntary movement done so as to keep
time with whatever song she was singing, lest such action were to be
interpreted as being "dancing."
      On the flip-side of Ron's list, I do remember the passing of one of my
all-time favourites Phil Harris eight years ago yesterday (08/11). August
11th, 1995 was a Saturday. Unfortunately, Phil and his impeccable timing
failed him as he died two days after Jerry Garcia and one day prior to Mickey
Mantle. The following Monday, I video-taped and watched all of the extant
entertainment-news programs at the time, including "Entertainment Tonight,"
"CNN's Showbiz Today," and "E! News Daily" only to find absolutely no mention
of him. I wasn't expecting full-blown stories, just some passing reference on
the order of:

"1940s-era bandleader/ comedian Phil Harris, rememebered for his radio work
with Jack Benny  has died at the age of 91. A later generation of fans might
remember him as the voice of Baloo the Bear in Disney's 'Jungle Book.' He is
survived by his wife, Twentieth Century-Fox glamour queen Alice Faye."

      Was that asking much?
       It was nice (according to Prof. Biel's reports here) that "[removed]"
dedicated about ten minutes to the recent passing of Bob Hope. However, in
1989, they dedicated the entire show to the passing of Lucille Ball. Times
have changed
       The day  following the Phil Harris snub, I swore off "Entertainment
Tonight"  of which I had been a loyal viewer since its debut in 1981. They
can keep all their fluffy coverage of supermodels and inane trends.  "[removed]"
did serve a purpose at one time. Let's face it, if it weren't for Leonard
Maltin conducting side-interviews while doing his bit interviewing older
celebs, we wouldn't have his fantastic book, "The Great American Broadcast."
But since the venerated "Entertainment Tonight" [it still has great theme
song, I'll concede} decided to marginalise my demographic and tastes (I was
32 at the time), I 've decided to marginalise them. So there!

Ethereally,

Derek Tague

<derek@[removed];

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:39:35 -0400
From: "Don  Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Roma Wines

Really appreciated Kermyt's research into history of Roma Wine. Have always
hoped to find some Roma advertising (tin signs and the like) but am still
looking. Early in
the collecting of otr, when I first heard Truman Bradley say "Now, the Roma
Wine Company of Fresno California [removed]" I got goose bumps. Still
do!
And if Michael Gwynne is out [removed] have lost your email address and I
have the tape you [removed] contact.

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:39:46 -0400
From: "William Schell" <bschell@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Hair

Even in early radio broadcasts jokes are made about Jack Benny's toupee.
Did he in fact wear one?  David Letterman also makes jokes of his "hair
piece" yet he doesn't wear one.
Bill
Magalia, Ca

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:39:56 -0400
From: martyd@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  War Of The Worlds & Mars, August 27, 2003

I'm sure many of you have heard/read that the planet Mars will be the
closest to Earth on August 27, 2003 (at around 8pm) then it has been in
over 70,000 years.  None of us will be around for the next time it will be
this close.

I wonder if any stations will be broadcasting [removed] Wells, "War of The
Worlds" that night?  If it isn't being broadcast, I think that would be
the most apropos time to listen to it!

Marty Dzik

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:41:00 -0400
From: rscherago@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Shadow Theme

Bill Miles <bmiles@[removed]; asked:

I just heard a classical music selection this afternoon which had a section
that sure sounded like the theme music under the Shadow's opening remarks

The music is Camille Saint-Saens "Omphale's Spinning Wheel."

Bitte

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:41:16 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Yesterday USA

Hi Everybody,

here are some of the highlights that will be on Yesterday USA this week end
starting at [removed] PM on the West coast at [removed]

Friday 8-15-03

Frank Bresee will feature his interviews with Walter O,Keefe

Saturday 8-16-03

A.  at [removed] Larry Weide president RHAC will talk about his club.

B.  at [removed] Harry Bartell will be interview live

C.  replay of the Gassman and Dan Hefeley interview with Joan Benny

Sunday 8-17-03

replay of the interview with Glenn Ford son Peter, and Edgar Buchanan son
Buck talking about there dads.

Take care,

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:41:26 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Jack Armstrong

Hi Everybody,

I believe in the late 1970s there was a book put out about the story lines
of Jack Armstrong.  Does any recall who was the author, and is there any
copies out their?

Take care,

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:42:36 -0400
From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Roma

Hi all:
Jack recently posted the following.

Roma soared in the 1940s and 1950s and was the sponsor for the immensely
popular Radio Mystery series "Suspense" put out by the Columbia Broadcasting
Corporation. It was the key advertiser with"Suspense" from the mid 1940s to
the early 1950s (Autolite Sparkplugs held the contract prior).  TV signaled
the death of dramatic radio and Roma and "Suspense" parted ways.

This is not correct.  Roma was the first sponsor of Suspense, picking up the
contract in December of 1943.  It continued to sponsor Suspense until the
middle of 1947.  Autolite picked up sponsorship almost a year later in
September of 1948.  Roma was long gone from Radio's Outstanding Theater of
Thrills by the time television became popular.

Also order "the new adventures of Sherlock
Holmes" Which sponsored Petrie Wine from the late 1930s until the late
1940s.

This is also incorrect.  I know that in the late 1930's, Holmes was
sponsored by Bromo Quinine Tablets and by Clifford Craft Clothing in the
late 1940's.
RyanO

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:46:48 -0400
From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Suspense and music

	All this talk of Suspense reminded me of something, and I thought I'd
share it and see if anyone else feels the same way.  Suspense is one of my
favorite OTR shows (the others being Gunsmoke and Lum & Abner), and I love
the into theme music.  It's dark and a little spooky.  In the 40's they use
the same music at the end of the show as well.  However, sometime in the
early 50's (I think), the changed the end of show music to a rousing march,
which I find more than a little disconcerting.

	Like many of you, I listen to OTR when I go to bed.  Some nights, as
I'm drifting off at the end of a particularly good Suspense, it sounds like a
marching band has just started going through my bed room.  I'm not a big fan.
Why the switch?

-chris holm

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:47:10 -0400
From: Steve Salaba <philmfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Shemp

All this recent talk about the Shemp & the Stooges causes me to stop
lurking for a moment and speak up. I happen to have a t-shirt with his
picture on it and it says:

"Legalize Shemp"

I found it at this web site:

[removed]

Don't know if they still have this one, but they have lots of others.
--
Steve Salaba

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:47:33 -0400
From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Petrillo

As I promised, I checked with my friend, retired WBBM engineer Bill
Klink,  this morning at our weekly "ham" radio breakfast assembly and he
conffirmed that Caeser Patrillo was indeed WBBM's in house musical
director conducting their "in-house" staff [removed] remember hearing
his name on the air for many years. The musiician's union had a lot of
"clout' in those days. I think it had something to do with playing
phonograph records on the air which were recorded by union musicians, the
"lifeblood" of small stations. Incidently, local stations quite often fed
dance bands to the networks. One I recall was the dance band from
Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh which KDKA fed to the net.   Late in the
evening it was always fun to listen to the bands that local stations fed
to the networks from cities across the country. One summer when I was at
KNX, I fed the dance band from the Casino on Catalina Island nightly to
the CBS radio net. Cliff Johnson from Chicago was my announcer. Cliff
later conducted a morning network talk show with his wife and children on
CBS from his home in Chicago. We sure had  tough lives in those days.

BILL MURTOUGH

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 16:47:49 -0400
From: "Scott Eberbach" <saeberbach@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Suspense:Till Death Do Us Part

Hi All
In response to the thread about great Suspense shows before Roma Wines
started paying the bills. Till Death Do Us Part" (12/15/42) ranks as one of
my all time favorite Suspense shows. Peter Lorre is superb in the role of
the evil Dr. "Papa" [removed] when he realizes the his plan for the
*perfect* crime has gone seriously wrong! The narration by "The Man In
Black" at strategic times during the story is a nice touch as well. IMHO the
story, atmosphere, and the characters make for a very satisfying listening
experience.

I, of course, have other Suspense shows that are favorites. "The
Hitch-Hiker" from the same period of time. Not only do I love the story, but
I also like the introduction that Orson Welles gives before the story starts
and also the appeal for War Bonds at the close of the broadcast. The version
done in 1946 on The Mercury Theatre summer series may be a better version of
the story, yet, I have a fondness for the one done on Suspense.

The point in "The Diary Of Saphronia Winters" when Agnes Moorehead takes off
Ray Collins' head with an axe is difficult to [removed] if you
have a poor copy of the story. According to John Dunning the sound effect
was done by thrusting an ice-pick into a head of cabbage (also into Berne
Surrey's hand in the process.) A better sound effect IMHO would have been
the one used when Vincent Price lops off the heads of his wife and her lover
in "Present Tense"...another of my all-time favorites. Wasn't "Present
Tense" done on Escape before it appeared (and done better) on Suspense?

Scott

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 18:14:45 -0400
From: Ed Foster <erfoster@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Shemp Howard

Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; wrote

Although many  people recall his work in the Three
Stooges short films, Shemp Howard was a successful
character.  One of the many characters roles he played
was in one of the Thin Man movies (I forget which).  It
only lasted a few minutes, but  sticks in my mind all the
same.

A great resource for this sort of thing is [removed].
See [removed],+Shemp for a list of all Shemp
movies.   Shemp started with the Stooges then left to pursue a movie
career on his own before returning to the Stooges some years later.
You'll notice he was in the 1930 "Soup to Nuts" with Ted Healy, Moe,
and Larry

Anyway , IMDB does list "Another Thin Man" aka "Return of the Thin
Man" as one of the movies Shemp was in.  That must be the one you're
thinking of.

--
Ed Foster
erfoster@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 18:53:18 -0400
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Mutual Coverage Of Dec. 7th

Chris Chandler [removed]

Was just listening to the Mutual net broadcast of Franklin Roosevelt's 'Day
of Infamy' speech to Congress, and the subsequent House debate on the war
resolution.

I have asked before and never received an answer so I'll try again.  How can
I get a copy of this historically important broadcast?

George Aust

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 18:53:35 -0400
From: Musiciantoo47@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radiola & Mark 56 LP's
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Hi - I'm sure that the OTR fans here who have been pursuing the hobby for a
while are familiar with the "Radiola" and "Mark 56" record companies from the
'70's. I have a few of them myself. I am wondering if anyone out there knows
of
a place (other than ebay) online where I may be able to pick up a few more of
these records? Speaking of Ebay, I Did just receive a Radiola Double LP: "The
Amos 'N' Andy Story" which I managed to win. However, I would much rather
purchase things outright than to have to win an auction. Therefore, any help
is
greatly appreciated!
Thanx;
           Kenny.

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Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 22:20:39 -0400
From: "Candy Jens" <candyj@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Ernie Kovacs

WTTM probably did broadcast 24 hours a day back in '49, but I'm not
absolutely sure.  Hope someone can give you a better answer.  Some
well-known radio shows did remotes from the fair - What's my Line, for
example.

BTW, part of the former State Fairgrounds has been transformed into "Grounds
for Sculpture," 22 acres of parkland with outdoor sculptures and a lake.
Three of the Fair buildings are still there - two for exhibitions and one
for staff use.  Well worth a visit!

Candy Jens

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

Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 23:36:12 -0400
From: Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  German radio in WWII

 From Digest #305, Dominick asked.

My questions:
1) Is there any chance a significant quantity of this type of material
survives?

2) If such material did survive, would it be on wire and/or wax recordings?
I was under the
impression that wire recordings were not used much in the '40s, but I admit
I don't know a whole
lot about this aspect of OTR.

Thought someone else might touch on this. I can add to question #1 that
there are some significant archives that exist in the German Archives,
though very difficult to obtain. Several years ago I worked with a
documentary group via email who I provided some material to and in exchange
they sent me some material in German from the archives. At that time they
indicated that getting at it was difficult. That was backed up by another
German source I had made acquaintance with around that time.

Some of their material is in English - obviously the propaganda material
you asked about.

Regarding Question #2 I cannot speak to. I know the Germans were the
innovators of the reel tape recorder, but whether they archived on it at
that time, I doubt. I suspect they would have used similar archival
material that we over here used at that time.

Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 00:40:22 -0400
From: Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bill Murtough, Photographer
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Bill,

Reading your posts in the digest reminds me of the times when I was following
Joe Cohen around during rehearsal breaks from Mayor of the Town and we'd
encounter you in
the hallways and at Master Control in the foyer of the CBS KNX Columbia Square
Studios on Sunset and Gower, Hollywood. Of the many  topics  I remember you
and Joe's conversations were about was what you two fellows were doing re
your interest in photography.
 .To that end I'm wondering if you still have some of your old photographs you
might have taken relative to your working schedules, or did you just
concentrate on family photos and the like?  Weren't you involve into the
level of developing your own films?

Do you have old work photos you could share?

Conrad Binyon

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

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

Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 07:43:46 -0400
From: "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  converting RealAudio files to WAV or MP3

Several weeks ago someone asked about this subject, so I created a web page
with helpful information and links to free software to do the job. I don't
remember actually posting it here; in any case here is the address:

[removed]

Doug Leary
Seattle

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

Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 07:43:56 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

 From Those Were The Days --

1912 - St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia, PA was granted the first
experimental radio license by the [removed] Department of Commerce.

Joe

--
Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #310
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