Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #255
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 11/4/2008 9:34 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2008 : Issue 255
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  11-1 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Re: Martians land in upstate New Yor  [ <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  100 Years Ago                         [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  This week in radio history 2-8 Novem  [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Re: OTR history                       [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Studs Terkel dies                     [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
  Five "must-read" OTR Books            [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
  (Housekeeping [removed])                [ Wich2@[removed] ]
  CBS Radio News                        [ "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
  Why two microphones?                  [ etorch@[removed] ]
  Re: AFRS and Commercials              [ <georgewagner@[removed]; ]
  Wall Street Journal Five Best Books   [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
  Tarzan                                [ "Sammy Jones" <sjones69@[removed] ]

______________________________________________________________________

    ADMINISTRIVIA:

    The Digest delays will likely continue for a bit; no mail is
    being lost, but processing is being delayed due to some hardware
    issues. I have the replacement machine here, but have run into
    some migration issues. This not only affects the Digest, but my
    personal mail as well - replies to mail sent to me are also
    delayed.

    I'll be posting occasional status notes to the blog at
    [removed] to let you know how things are going.
    Hopefully, we can get back to a somewhat more normal schedule
    soonest. --cfs3

______________________________________________________________________


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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:02:14 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  11-1 births/deaths

November 1st births

11-01-1871 - Stephen Crane - Newark, NJ - d. 6-5-1900
author: Many of his works were adapted for radio
11-01-1879 - Merle Thorpe - Brimfield, IL - d. 10-31-1955
businessman: "How's Business"; "The New Business World"
11-01-1880 - Grantland Rice - Murfreesboro, TN  - d. 7-13-1954
sportscaster: "Sports Stories"
11-01-1904 - Ray Sinatra - Gergenti, Sicily - d. 11-1-1980
musical director: "The Bob Burns Show"; "Your Hit Parade"; "Mario
Lanza Show"
11-01-1908 - Felix Knight - Macon, GA - d. 6-18-1998
singer: "Schaefer Revue"; "American Album of Familiar Music"
11-01-1908 - Harry Ellis Dickson - Cambridge, MA - d. 3-29-2003
first violinist: "Boston Symphony Orchestra"; "Boston Symphony
Rehearsal"
11-01-1914 - Barry McKinley - Ft. Wayne, IN - 5-2-1990
baritone: "Dreams Come True"; "Radiotron Party"
11-01-1915 - Bob Garred - Walla Walla, WA - d. 12-10-1956
announcer: "The Stanford Hour"; "I Want a Divorce"
11-01-1915 - Michael Denison - Doncaster, England - d. 7-22-1998
actor: "The Robinsons"
11-01-1919 - John Secondari - Rome, Italy - d. 2-8-1975
novelist: "As Europe Sees the Marshall Plan"; "Prologue"
11-01-1921 - Harp McGuire - Tennessee - d. 10-21-1966
announcer: "T-Men"
11-01-1922 - George S. Irving - Springfield, MA
actor, singer: "Screen Guild Theatre"
11-01-1923 - Anne DeMarco - d. 7-27-2004
singer: (The DeMarco Sisters) "The Fred Allen Show"; "Texaco Star
Theatre"
11-01-1923 - Charles Dugdale - Lincoln, NE - d. 5-18-1985
actor: "Heartbeat Theatre"
11-01-1923 - Gordon R. Dickson - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - d.
1-31-2001
science fiction writer: "X-Minus One"; "Exploring Tomorrow"
11-01-1923 - Victoria de los Angeles - Barcelona, Spain - d. 1-15-2005
operatic soprano: "Metropolitan Opera"
11-01-1926 - Betsy Palmer - East Chicago, IL
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
11-01-1933 - Art Stamper - nr. Hindman, Knott County, KY - d. 1-23-2005
bluegrass fiddler: Performed with Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe's
Bluegrass Boys
11-01-1933 - Russ Butler - Boston, MA
host: VPR "Ella, Frank and Friends"; Vermont ETV; Songbook America"
11-01-1942 - Michael Zaslow - Inglewood, CA - d. 12-6-1998
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"

November 1st deaths

01-13-1895 - Campbell Arnoux - d. 11-1-1966
announcer: Uncle Billy "Uncle Billy"
01-27-1918 - Skitch Henderson - Birmingham, England - d. 11-1-2005
bandleader: "Philco Radio Time"; "Songs by Sinatra"
02-07-1908 - Bill Johnstone - Paisley, Scotland - d. 11-1-1996
actor: Lamont Cranston/Shadow "The Shadow"; Sam Young "Pepper Young's
Family"
02-08-1894 - King Vidor - Galveston, TX - d. 11-1-1982
film director: "Screen Director's Playhouse"; "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood"
02-23-1915 - Paul Tibbets - Quincy, IL - d. 11-1-2007
on 8-6-1945 dropped Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan: "Morning Edition"
03-23-1906 - Richard L. Evans - Salt Lake City, UT - d. 11-1-1971
announcer: "Music and the Spoken Word" (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
05-11-1911 - Phil Silvers - Brooklyn, NY - d. 11-1-1985
comedian: "Phil Silver's Show"; "Screen Guild Theatre"; "Suspense"
05-17-1890 - Philip James - Jersey City, NJ - d. 11-1-1975
conductor, composer: "Bamberger Little Symphony"; "Wellsprings of Music"
05-24-1883 - Elsa Maxwell - Keokuk, IA - d. 11-1-1963
society mistress: Roma Wine spokesperson for Suspense; "Texaco Star
Theatre"
06-22-1920 - Paul Frees - Chicago, IL - d. 11-1-1986
actor: Jethro Dumont/Green Lama "Green Lama"; Robert Aladdin "Mr.
Aladdin"
07-14-1898 - Pat C. Flick - Philadelphia, PA - d. 11-1-1955
actor: Pablo Ittheptiches "Fred Allen Show"
08-10-1913 - Noah Beery, Jr. - NYC - d. 11-1-1994
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
10-08-1951 - Jenny Boult - Warwickshire, England - d. 11-1-2005
writer: "Can't Help Dreaming"
10-14-1906 - Benita Hume - London, England - d. 11-1-1967
actor: Victoria Cromwell Hall "Halls of Ivy"; "General Electric Theatre"
10-30-1885 - Ezra Pound - Hailey, ID - d. 11-1-1972
poet and traitor: "Italian Propaganda Broadcast"
11-01-1904 - Ray Sinatra - Gergenti, Sicily - d. 11-1-1980
musical director: "The Bob Burns Show"; "Your Hit Parade"; "Mario
Lanza Show"
11-04-1911 - Dixie Lee Crosby - Harriman, TN - d. 11-1-1952
actor: (Wife of Bing) "Shell Chateau"; "Bing Crosby Show"
11-13-1932 - Buddy Killen - Florence, AL - d. 11-1-2006
bass player: "Grand Ole Opry"; "March of Dimes"
11-24-1888 - Dale Carnegie - Maryville, MO - d. 11-1-1955
author, lecturer: "How to Win Friends and Influence People"
12-23-1903 - Helen Troy - San Francisco, CA - d. 11-1-1942
actor: Telephone Operator "It Happened in Hollywood"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:02:21 -0400
From: <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Martians land in upstate New York

Bill Jaker reported that WSKG was going to do a live recreation of WOTW with
an audience and live music.  I found out this morning (also too late to
listen) that Ball State University in Indiana also did a live production with
an audience and live music Thursday night.  And while Bill says there will be
someone there who had heard the original, Ball State says there will be
someone at their production who had been in the CBS Building at the time of
the broadcast.

Bill also said:
There's been concern expressed here on the Digest and elsewhere about
some re-enactments turning campy, shifting the scene out of New Jersey
to the local area or just not getting it right."  I suppose that we could
put the 1988 NPR version in that category, since I don't think it was very
effective.  Doing a "re-creation" of how it was done in 1938 will not have
any effect, nor will just a minor update as NPR did in 1988.  But it CAN be
effective if the script is thrown out the window and a complete update to
modern style is done.

Last week I did a presentation at both FOTR and at the NYC branch of the
Assoc for Recorded Sound Collections about WOTW and MacLiesh's "Air Raid"
which had been broadcast by CBS three days before WOTW with some of the same
cast members.  In addition to playing some segments of "Air Raid" (one
generation away from the original 78 discs) and playing the middle break of
WOTW complete with the previously unheard 20 seconds of surface noise where a
station ID would have been inserted, I also discussed four other later
productions of WOTW which had updated and changed the location to that of
their local area to great effect.  They were Santiago, Chile in 1944, Braga,
Spain on Oct 30, 1988, WKBW Buffalo NY on Oct 30, 1968, and Quito, Ecuador on
Feb 12, 1949.  While there were some fright and outrage in the first three of
these, in Quito the outraged mob stormed the radio station and BURNED IT
DOWN, killing between 6 and 20 people.  You can look up info on the web on
these, but I played some segments of the WKBW broadcast that are not on their
website.  I have an aircheck of the 1969 repeat which I am not sure they even
know about.  One of my students had recorded it off the air in New Jersey, so
there is fading once in a while.  Here the update to the 1968 sound of The
Big KB is VERY effective, much more than any other I have heard.  I had a lot
of people ask me where the complete broadcast is available, and it isn't yet
until I can locate the tapes which got moved from my office in the past few
months.  I'll post here when I have found it and have it ready.

Michael Biel   mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:02:40 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  100 Years Ago

People born 100 years ago in November

11-01-1908 - Felix Knight - Macon, GA - d. 6-18-1998
singer: "Schaefer Revue"; "American Album of Familiar Music"
11-01-1908 - Harry Ellis Dickson - Cambridge, MA - d. 3-29-2003
first violinist: "Boston Symphony Orchestra"; "Boston Symphony
Rehearsal"
11-02-1908 - Bunny Berrigan - Hilbert, WI - d. 6-2-1942
bandleader: "Saturday Night Swing Club"; "Tim and Irene"
11-04-1908 - Colin Simpson - d. xx-xx-1983
documentary writer: Australian Broadcasting Commission
11-14-1908 - Joseph McCarthy - Appleton, WI - d. 5-2-1957
despotic senator: "Meet the Press"
11-18-1908 - Imogene Coca - Philadelphia, PA - d. 6-2-2001
comedienne: "Big Show"
11-20-1908 - Alistair Cooke - Manchester, England - d. 3-30-2004
host: "Transatlantic Quiz"; "Letter to America"; "Stage and Screen"
11-21-1908 - Mary Young Taylor - Star Lake, NY - d. 12-9-1973
commentator: (The First Lady of Radio) "Martha Deane Show";
11-23-1908 - Nelson Bond - Scranton, PA - d. 11-4-1006
writer: "Hot Copy"; "Suspense"; "Dr. Christian"
11-24-1908 - Worth Kramer - d. 7-19-1998
director: "Wings Over Jordan"
11-26-1908 - Lefty Gomez - Rodeo, CA - d. 2-17-1989
baseball pitcher: "Information Please"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:02:54 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  This week in radio history 2-8 November

 From Those Were The Days --

11/2

1931 - Myrt and Marge was heard for the first time -- on CBS. The
program centered on two chorus girls who competed for the same parts and
the same men. The creator and writer (Cliff Thomas wrote some) of the
series, Myrtle Vail, also played the role of Myrt; and the original
Marge was performed by Vail's daughter, Donna Fick. Three other
performers played the part when Donna died giving birth. Myrt and Marge
continued for 11 years.

11/5

1934 - The first broadcast of The Gumps was heard on CBS. Wilmer Walter
played Andy Gump, Agnes Moorehead was Gump's wife, Min, and Jackie Kelk
was son, Chester. Karo syrup and Pebico toothpaste/tooth powder sponsored.

1950 - "The greatest stars of our time on one big program" was the
introduction by actress Tallulah Bankhead, who opened the 90-minute Big
Show on NBC. It was a big show all right. The peacock saw red as losses
exceeded a million dollars in the three years the program was on the air.

11/7

1932 - CBS presented the first broadcast of Buck Rogers in the 25th
Century. Gale Gordon, Matt Crowley, Curtis Arnall, Carl Frank and John
Larkin played Buck in the serial over the years (1932-1947).

1937 - Dr. Christian debuted on CBS. Jean Hersholt played the part of
the kindly, elderly Dr. Christian who practiced on the air until 1954.
Laureen Tuttle, Kathleen Fitz, Helen Kleeb and Rosemary De Camp played
his nurse, Judy. The Dr. Christian theme song was Rainbow on the River.
Sponsors of the show included Vaseline (petroleum jelly, hair tonic and
lip ice).

1938 - The first broadcast of This Day is Ours was heard on CBS. Eleanor
McDonald, played by Joan Banks and later by Templeton Fox, had all kinds
of problems. Her child was kidnapped, she lost her memory, helped a
friend find a killer, etc. The soap opera ran for two years.

Joe

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:02:59 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: OTR history

   Joseph Ross wrote, quoting me --

 > > 1947 - "The one, the only Groucho" Marx appeared as quizmaster on
You Bet Your Life for the first time -- on ABC. George Fenneman was
Groucho's eternal straight man.

 > But George Fenneman wasn't on the early shows.  I don't know who the
announcer was on the earlier shows, but it wasn't Fenneman.

   According to Dunning, pg. 732, the first announcer was Jack Slattery,
but only briefly.  According to my calculations, this was about the
first five or six weeks of the show*.  YBYL began on 10/27/47 and
Fenneman took over by 12/2/47**.

* [removed]
**
[removed],+George&ArtistNum
ber=13968

number 65123

  Comparing five/six weeks to 13 years, then 13 years would be an
eternity.  :)

   Joe

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:05:02 -0400
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Studs Terkel dies

Studs Terkel Dies

     The author-radio host-actor-activist and Chicago
     symbol has died. "My epitaph? My epitaph will be
     'Curiosity did not kill this cat,'" he once said.

By Rick Kogan
Tribune staff reporter
3:44 PM CDT, October 31, 2008

Louis Terkel arrived here as a child from New York City
and in Chicago found not only a new name but a place
that perfectly matched--in its energy, its swagger, its
charms, its heart--his own personality. They made a
perfect and enduring pair.

Author-radio host-actor-activist and Chicago symbol
Louis "Studs" Terkel died today at his Chicago home at
age 96.

At his bedside was a copy of his latest book, "[removed]
Further Thoughts From a Lifetime of Listening,"
scheduled for a November release.

Complete obit at:

[removed],0,[removed]

[ADMINISTRIVIA: I've posted a Destination: Freedom episode featuring Studs on
the podcast; also check out the Bob Edwards Weekend forum at
[removed] for a podcast of his first appearance on The Bob
Edwards Show.  --cfs3]

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:09:12 -0400
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Five "must-read" OTR Books

Anthony Rudel, himself an author of an OTR book, writes an article  
for today's Wall Street Journal in which he picks the five most  
exceptional OTR books. Some are obvious choices; a couple others are  
debatable. Sad to relate, neither Cox, Grams, nor French gets a  
mention. To see Rudel's choices, check out:

[removed]

Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
<[removed]> 

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:09:22 -0400
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  (Housekeeping [removed])

Folks-

Sorry for the bloopers in my  FOTR wrap-up post. The spacing problems are due
to AOhell; but I can't blame the  typos on [removed]

It has been a very hectic month; hope the sentiment was  clear - even if the
delivery was a bit halting!

Best,
-Craig

5 Travel Deals!

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:09:30 -0400
From: "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  CBS Radio News

Jim Cox revels in a replaying of clips from the glorious past of
the CBS Radio World News Roundup. I would wager if I'd been
listening to the broadcast Thursday, I wouldn't have heard it.
The affiliate here cuts the program off after 5 minutes so they
can rejoin some talk show nut. (I'm guessing the reminiscence was
saved for the final five minutes.)

Speaking of the glory days of CBS News (and the Washington
bureau), if you haven't had a chance to read Roger Mudd's "The
Place to Be," get a copy from the library ... or get a discounted
copy somewhere. It's worth the price just to read about Eric
Sevreid.

Bob Cockrum

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:09:36 -0400
From: etorch@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Why two microphones?

Given the deserved celebration of the War of the Worlds--one of the most
famous pictures of Orson Welles shows him with both an RCA 44B AND a smaller
"8 ball" mike. I have always wondered whether the 8-ball was for a different
sound effect or was used to communicate with the control room?
Evan Torch, MD
Atlanta

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:21:31 -0400
From: <georgewagner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: AFRS and Commercials

     I still have trouble with this and I'll explain why:

     I was a month less than four years old when the War ended, but that
meant that I grew up listening to a LOT of War stories from veterans whose
memories were still comparatively fresh.

    What I gathered from those guys was that they very much liked reading the
"home-front" advertizements in tattered old LIFE magazines and in watching
Hollywood movies featuring Thanksgiving meal and Christmas Eve/Day scenes.

    Why? Because it made them even more determined to finish the job at hand
and get back home *TO* all that good stuff!

     Why would radio commercials be any different?

     Sincerely,

     George Wagner
     georgewagner@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:21:45 -0400
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Wall Street Journal Five Best Books on Old Time
 Radio

The Wall Street Journal's weekly "Five Best" book list features the five
favorite books on the Golden Age of Radio by Anthony Rudel, author of "Hello
Everybody: The Dawn of American Radio."

Our old friend John Dunning's Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio makes the list,
as well as a couple of other books I wasn't aware of.  Interesting reading.

[removed]

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 00:34:13 -0400
From: "Sammy Jones" <sjones69@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Tarzan

Richard Campagne posted:

I'm looking for two stories that I believe were done during 1932/34?
Tarzan 1) The Diamond of Asher and 2) The Fire of Thor

The best sounding version of Tarzan and the Diamonds of Asher was put out
very recently by the First Generation Radio Archives.  I don't think you'll
find a better sounding set out there!  They're also very nice people to do
business with.  I hope they get around to doing the Fires of Thor and the
original 1932 Tarzan serial.

Here's the link:  [removed] .

Standard disclaimer:  I am in no way affiliated with the First Generation
Radio [removed] a very happy customer of several years!

Sammy Jones

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #255
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