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The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2013 : Issue 99
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
War of the Worlds and Mercury record [ rand@[removed] ]
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Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 10:07:38 -0400
From: rand@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: War of the Worlds and Mercury recordings
If you've not seen it already, I recently found a 78 rpm lacquer set of
the "War of the Worlds" broadcast. The lacquer set came from the estate
of a reporter in Hollywood and has the complete show, including the
station break.
Mike Biel is comparing it to other versions of WoW that he knows of.
One thing I'm curious about is if there are any other circulating Mercury
Theater broadcasts anyone has seen that have originated from a 78 rpm set.
There's a good possibility that my set is a "live" copy made the night of
the broadcast at the same time as a set of 16" lacquers, rather than a
"dub" made from the 16" master. My set appears to have originated with
Mercury player Paul Stewart who apparently gave the set to Jimmy Star, a
reporter in Hollywood at some point.
I've seen some archived messages from this list from a few years ago,
noting that early Mercury broadcasts were recorded at Raymond Scott's
Universal Recorders on 16" discs. About the time of the WoW episode, CBS
was in transition, installing their own disc cutting equipment and that
WoW was recorded "in house".
If my set turns out to be a "live" original, it would appear that Mercury
(or CBS) simultaneously cut a second 78 rpm set. Was this a usual
practice for Mercury, perhaps cutting a 78 set for their own use while CBS
had a 16" set cut for the network?
I'm wondering if there are other instances of 78 rpm "live" originals from
the Mercury series that have been documented. If so, it might give some
clue on how my set originated; if not, it opens up some interesting
questions about why my set was made and if perhaps other 78 "live" lacquer
sets might be out there and just overlooked.
Randy
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End of [removed] Digest V2013 Issue #99
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