Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #161
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 6/1/2007 10:01 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2007 : Issue 161
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  How I got into OTR                    [ Brightstar2761@[removed] ]
  Interestyed in radio                  [ Russ Butler <songbook2@[removed]; ]
  when i started in OTR [removed]   [ Afanofoldradio@[removed] ]
  batten, barton                        [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
  When Jack Benny Turned 40?            [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
  The Big Book                          [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  Interest in OTR                       [ "Kirby, Tom" <Kirby@[removed]; ]
  Re: how I got interested in OTR       [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
  How did I get into radio?             [ <verotas@[removed]; ]
  Paul McCartney and OTR                [ <mleannah@[removed]; ]
  FRIENDS OF JAY HICKERSON              [ David Siegel <otrdsiegel@[removed] ]
  Burns & Allen                         [ "Dee" <deeatthedigitaldeli@earthlin ]
  6-2 births/deaths                     [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 00:51:35 -0400
From: Brightstar2761@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  How I got into OTR

I got started back when I was about 14 (am 39 now).  I was searching
for a hobby that no one else in my family was in to, and with the
acquisition of a tape of The Green Hornet Show "A Matter of
Evidence"  I was hooked.  It's been wonderful journey, and made even
sweeter because my parents are fortunate enough to remember listening
to these shows when they were kids themselves, and it's brought us
closer together.

Michael

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 00:52:26 -0400
From: Russ Butler <songbook2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Interestyed in radio

My experience started in Boston listening to the the family Philco radio
in the 1940's (I was born in 1933). I built a phono oscillator
transmitter with a turntable and 78rpm discs and had a short-lived onair
experience for almost a year in 1948-49.  I used to chase radio towers
in 1950 to find each station on the dial's location, then it was touring
their studios in the Boston area.  I sat in with the deejays and live
radio shows and learned the trade by watching.  Went into the Army and
AFRS, then a forty+ year career in radio and television, public and
commercial broadcasting.

It's been a great ride and I still do an Internet radio show. Now it is
lotsa fun with my music collection and I get to hear it all over again
doing the show. Anyone else do what I did or do?  Email off line,
please, and I'll get back to you after June 14th (my vacation that
starts tomorrow - I'm goin' salmon fishin'.) Thanks.

=Russ Butler songbook2@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 00:53:31 -0400
From: Afanofoldradio@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  when i started in OTR [removed]
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hi ron-i was also born in 1960 and my love of radio in general  started in
1970 when my dad, who was almost off every saturday night, would  listen to
NBC's "Monitor" over our then NBC station here in Springfield,  illinois WMAY
(now
ABC radio). I also got around that time the Longine watch  company's record
set of OTR shows clips with Jack Benny and Frank Knight, which  I still
[removed] first show I collected was a "Life of Riley" show that I got  in
Dec. of
'78 on an 8-track tape (do I show my age or what?) I found  that on a cassette
in 2002, so I like to think I have come full  [removed] collection I have
now started in march of 1984 with a "Fibber McGee  and Molly" ('I've Been
Framed") from 1940 and though my collction is only  around 2500+shows in 23+
years,
I also collect OTR stuff like records,  MP3's,CD's,movies with OTR shows on
them, "The Born Loser" comics when radio is  mentioned (check out the March
31st,2006 strip when his (TBL's) son ask  about old-time radio [i have that
one on
my wall proudly.] I also collect  reproduction radios with the cassette built
in the side ( I have 8 of those) and  4 antique radios (2 of which work) etc
[removed] OTR collecting is more than  just the shows, it is everything in
[removed] and by the way, I also am the  president and founder (may
1st,2003)
of a OTR club here in springfield, illinois  and my website is
[removed]    thanx for your ron
and GOD BLESS OLD-TIME RADIO!!!

ED KIENZLER SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 00:44:39 -0400
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  batten, barton

Batton, Barton, Durstin and [removed]

I think it was Fred Allen who described this corporate name as the sound of
a bowling ball bouncing down a flight of [removed]

What a brilliant man he was, clearly fascinated with the sound of words.
It's a comment worthy of Garrison Keillor or Mark Twain.

I don't know why I've never appreciated Mr Allen's shows.  Everything I've
read about Fred Allen
seems to indicate that he was very much an intellectual, and there's not
much room
for that sort of thing in commercial radio or television.

M Kinsler

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 01:25:36 -0400
From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  When Jack Benny Turned 40?

I don't remember this coming up before, but that maybe only because I'm
nearing [removed]

But last week, when doing some research through some old TV GUIDES from
the mid-to-late '50s,  I came across an ad, and "Closeup," on a SHOWER
OF STARS CBS variety special.

The highlighted subject:

Jack Benny throwing himself a huge party, promising to admit to turning
[removed]

The guests included the usual Benny cast, plus Van Johnson, Bob Crosby,
Paul  Douglas, and Andy Devine; plus Benny-vets Mel Blanc, Phil Harris,
and Frank Nelson.

Musical numbers included Jo Stafford singing, "Life Begins at 40."

What makes this even more intriguing is that it was in color--

Surely one of the first Jack Benny broadcast events to be so?

Any remembrances on any of this?

Best, Jim

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 08:21:57 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The Big Book

Frank McGurn from McHenry, Illinois asks: Notice the double Mc,
McGurn from McHenry.

Now, Ronald Sayles, how did you get to be the keeper of the big
book of
Births and Deaths, and why ?

I appointed myself. I have been doing this for several years,
starting on 3X5 cards. Then I got a computer. I transferred all of
the information to the computer. Then I got hooked up to the internet
and discovered Charlie's OTR Digest. In the beginning I did it for my
own information, but after discovering the OTR digest, I thought,
"Why keep all of this information to myself when I have such a
captive audience." It really is a labor of love, and since I went
"national" I have gotten all kinds of help from readers of the
digest, for which I want to take this opportunity to thank them all,
they have been invaluable. That, basically is the long and short of it.

Ron Sayles

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 09:40:23 -0400
From: "Kirby, Tom" <Kirby@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Interest in OTR

To start with, I'm going to be 50 this year. I don't remember OTR
when it was first running, since I would have been 5 the year that
it is generally accepted that the last of OTR went off the air.

My brother and I were TV addicts. We would spend all Saturday morning
watching the cartoons. We once whined and fussed because my mom had
the nerve to turn of "Flipper" just because the TV was on fire. 8^)

I can't name any one incident that incited my curiosity about OTR, but
I do know that it almost got short-circuited. When we were teenagers,
my brother and I saw an add for OTR cassette tapes from some direct
marketing firm. We gave my mom the money, and she ordered them using
her credit card. We were going to give them to our relatives, who did
remember OTR, as Christmas presents. They never arrived. I don't
remember
the name of the company, but it wasn't one of the small dealers who care
about the hobby. So, I didn't bother with OTR for a while after that.

Finally, it may have been one of those catalog of catalogs that caught
my eye, where I saw a Radio Spirits catalog. I got one, ordered some
things, and have been an avid listener ever since. I've had my beefs
with Radio Spirits, mostly from spamming by Media Bay for their audio
book division, but I'm satisfied with the products. I have ordered shows
from other sources that I've found out about from this list and OTR web
sites.

Anyway, that's my story.

-- Tom Kirby

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 09:40:32 -0400
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: how I got interested in OTR
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How did those of you who who are not of
such an "advanced" age get interested in radio?

When I was 12, a friend of mine answered a magazine ad, and ordered two
"Mercury Theatre" shows: "Dracula" (the premiere) and "The War of the
Worlds," both
of which blew my mind.  I started ordering my own from there and was
intrigued.

Dixon

 See what's free at

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 10:53:50 -0400
From: <verotas@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  How did I get into radio?

I think I was hooked on radio from the age of 7 or 8.  I'd drag my table
model Emerson under the blankets at night so my parents wouldn't know I was
listening well into the night.

Years later when on my own, I recall one night listening to "Milkman's
Matinee" on WNEW in New York and waking up to hear a very strange sounding
record.  I didn't catch the name, and just happened to leave the radio on
again.  Also again, just about the same time I woke up to hear the same
recording.  Eerie.  But I fell asleep and didn't get the name.  The third
night I figured it couldn't happen again, but it did, and this time I was
ready with pen and pencil.  The DJ identified it as "Little Rock Getaway" by
Les Paul and Mary Ford with their multilayer guitar arrangement.  It's
marvelous - one can play it at any speed and it still sounds great!

At the 100th anniversary of recorded sound shindig at the Edison National
Historic Site in West Orange NJ I found myself seated at lunch next to Les
Paul.  We discussed a lot of things, and he asked me which of his records I
liked the most.  I said I could name a lot of things from the Les Paul Trio
(on Decca) and all his great Capitol hits, but I said my favorite was "Little
Rock Getaway", followed by "Meet Mr. Callahan".  Les lit up like a Christmas
tree, and said "Getaway" was his favorite too!  Over the years I got to know
Les Paul fairly well (we lived two counties apart in northern NJ).

This paid off when I got him to come to his first FOTR convention at which I
played a trick on the audience by saying that we had someone in the audience
that night that had worked with "Sam and Henry" in Chicago.  People in THAT
group of course knew who they became, and I asked the visitor to come up and
say hello.  I started talking and then said, "Oh, I forgot to introduce you -
please tell the folks your name" (only one person I heard whisper to his
table who this surprise guest was).  Les said, "Les Paul", and the place went
nuts.  He regaled us with tales of how he stripped his mother's radio and his
dad's telephone to develop the first electric guitar, and much more.

My first job ever was a summer one when I was 14, in 1950.  A relatively new
local radio station in our home town of Morristown NJ needed someone to make
sense of their record collection.  I had already amassed a fairly large
collection of my own or inherited from my older brothers  Before the summer
was out, I was running the board in the studio and at remotes like the big
County Fair and at a weekly program interviewing folk at a local restaurant,
and then even some announcing although I still sounded like Dick Beal, but
didn't capitalize on that as I didn't have the smarts he has!

I found an RCA Oscillator and did my own DJ show so neighbors could listen
especially around Christmas time, until one day when using the Oscillator as
a sort of one-way intercom in rehearsals for a high school play, in which
some of our stagecraft lighting instructions and so on used somewhat raw
language.  One of our class said he heard us, driving home for dinner 10
miles away!  We shut down faster than a station shifting to ConElRad!  You
think radio stations shut down fast now?

It remained true that my voice was "too light" as the audition runners kindly
said.  I realized I was not going to get anywhere as a radio announcer (my
heroes), which was my life's goal.  Oh, to be another Dwight Weist  (whom I
got to know well years later).  Never would I sound like Westbrook van
Voorhis or Tony Marvin, which is what the station VPs wanted.  So I became a
news man, working my way up to News Director.  As anyone in that biz will
tell you, the pay is lousy so I switched over to PR and Marketing for the
rest of my career.  At various times, though, I had my own 4-hour weekend
program called "Sounds of Yesteryear" on north Jersey radio stations, so kept
my records, hand and mouth in.

Then came FOTR and several other OTR conventions in which I reveled, meeting
so many of my heroes and great radio folk to whom I had listened week after
week, never dreaming I would meet them years later in person.   And I mean
many, many wonderful folk, a lot of whom have been very kind to me when I
knew they didn't have to be, and many very helpful.

Since I did sort of bounce in and out of radio (even a stint in television
which I hated) I guess it's fair to say in a way that my 'broadcasting
career' ran over a half-century!   Loved every minute and still am!

Hello to all my old and new friends re this medium.  Bestus, Lee Munsick

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 15:00:25 -0400
From: <mleannah@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Paul McCartney and OTR

In an interview published in this week's New Yorker magazine, Paul McCartney
states when he was a boy his father rigged up a radio receiver and earphones
for him and his brother so they could listen as they went to sleep each
night. He says that listening to music and radio plays "did incredible things
to your imagination."

He goes on to say that some of the sonic games on the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band" LP were derived from his memories of listening to the
radio. He "conceived the idea of opening the album with the sound of a crowd
laughing when he recalled the excitement and mystery of hearing laughter from
an unseen studio audience in a radio show. 'You didn't know what made them
laugh. Did someone's pants fall down? What was it? That's what we were trying
to create. Putting in those things that got your imagination going.'"

Of course, I never had a reason to discourage my daughter's habit of
listening to my OTR tapes as she drifts off each night. Now my hopes for her
are sky high. Who knows what wonders and charms lurk in the imagination of a
young person listening to OTR in the dark of night?

Michael Leannah
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 16:03:52 -0400
From: David Siegel <otrdsiegel@[removed];
To: OTR DIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  FRIENDS  OF JAY HICKERSON

Jay's wife Karen asked me to advise friends of his that he is
currently recovering from  surgery to correct a blockage in his
intestine caused by a hernia. He should be home from the hospital
shortly but will need up   to four weeks to fully recover his strength.

      Karen knows that Jay has many friends in the OTR community
(which is why she feels they should know why he has not answered
incoming e-mails in the past week or so).  She has, nonetheless,
asked me to be certain to advise Jay's friends to refrain from phone
calls to their home for at least three to four [removed]  Those
wishing  to send messages to Jay are encouraged to do so via e-mail
to Karen at:
kbnhick@[removed]

    All indications suggest that Jay's recovery is coming along
smoothly and that he should be back on his feet ready to greet
attendees at this year's FOTR meeting with his usual
smile,  efficiency and enthusiasm.

Dave Siegel

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

Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 19:18:41 -0400
From: "Dee" <deeatthedigitaldeli@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Burns & Allen

Can anyone give me the episode number/date for the episode in which Gracie
is pouring boiling water into jars to freeze so the next time she needs
boiling water for a recipe all she has to do is thaw a jar?

Thx in advance.
Dee

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

Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2007 00:00:51 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  6-2 births/deaths

June 2nd births

06-02-1879 - Florence Edney - London, England - d. 11-24-1950
actor: Aunt Maizie "Amanda of Honeymoon Hill"
06-02-1884 - Frank Hummert - St. Louis, MO - d. 3-12-1966
producer: "Backstage Wife"; "American Album of Familiar Music"
06-02-1889 - Martha Wentworth - NYC - d. 3-8-1974
actor: Wintergreen Witch "Cinnamon Bear"; Nancy "Witch's Tale"
06-02-1896 - Katherine Bacon - Chesterfield, England - d. 1-30-1982
pianist: WOR New York
06-02-1900 - Charles Tazewell - d. 6-26-1972
writer: "The Columbia Workshop"; "Tom Mix"; "Mayor of the Town"
06-02-1901 - Lou Shoobe - d. 7-14-1989
bassist: "The Saturday Night Swing Club"
06-02-1902 - Jimmie Lunceford - Fulton, MO - d. 7-12-1947
bandeader: "Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra"
06-02-1904 - Johnny Weissmuller - Windber, PA - d. 1-20-1984
actor: Movie Tarzan and Jungle Jim
06-02-1908 - Ben Grauer - Staten Island, NY - d. 5-31-1977
announcer, emcee: "Walter Winchell"; "Information, Please"; "Boston
Symphony"
06-02-1909 - June MacCloy - Sturgis, MI - d. 5-5-2005
vocalist: "Griff Williams and Jimmy Walsh and Their Orchestra"
06-02-1909 - Martin Ashe - Bradford, IL - d. 4-15-1991
actor: "Grand Central Station"
06-02-1910 - Ward Bryon - NYC - d. 2-4-1996
announcer: "Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street"
06-02-1913 - Burt Farber - Brooklyn, NY - d. 8-27-2005
orchestra leader: "Curtain Time"
06-02-1913 - Nicholas Saunders - Kiev, Russia - d. 8-16-2006
actor: Sergeant Ross "Martin Kane, Private Eye"
06-02-1915 - Lionel Murton - London, England
Began career in radio with Montreal Repertory Company
06-02-1915 - Walter Tetley - NYC - d. 9-4-1975
actor: Julius Abbruzio "Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show"; LeRoy Forrester
"Great Gildersleeve"
06-02-1920 - Toni Gilman - Chicago, IL
actor: (Sister of Lucy Gilman) "Young Widder Brown"
06-02-1922 - Gil Stratton, Jr. - Brooklyn, NY
actor: "Billy Webster "Those Websters"; Jimmy "Life with Luigi";
Freddie "My Little Margie"
06-02-1928 - Bob Amsberry - Boring, OR - d. 11-27-1957
actor: KEX Portland, Oregon
06-02-1941 - Stacy Keach, Jr. - Savannah, GA
actor, narrator: "Twilight Zone"
06-02-1942 - Marie Cheatham - Oklahoma
actor" "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"

June 2nd deaths

01-24-1915 - Evie Juster - d. 6-2-1988
actor: "Amanda of Honeymoon Hill"; "Our Gal Sunday"
02-11-1908 - Philip Dunne - NYC - d. 6-2-1992
screenwriter, director: "Lux Radio Theatre"
02-18-1894 - Andres Segovia - Linares, Spain - d. 6-2-1987
classical guitarist: "The Magic Key"; "Theatre [removed]"; "Concert Hall"
03-05-1908 - Rex Harrison - Huyton, England - d. 6-2-1990
actor: Rex Saunders "Private Files of Rex Saunders"
03-13-1910 - Sammy Kaye - Lakewood, OH - d. 6-2-1987
bandleader: (Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye) "Sunday Serenade"
04-04-1897 - Erno Balogh - Budapest, Hungary - d. 6-2-1989
pianist: WEAF New York City
05-04-1886 - Earl Lee - Topeka, KS - d. 6-2-1955
actor: Fred Thompson "One Man's Family"
05-11-1899 - Forrest Lewis - Knightstown, IN - d. 6-2-1977
actor: Richard Q. Peavey "Great Gildersleeve"; Roy Delfeeno "Vic and
Sade"
05-29-1883 - Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe - Canada - d. 6-2-1943
doctor who attended Dionne quintuplets birth: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie
McCarthy Show"
06-03-1917 - Leo Gorcey - NYC - d. 6-2-1969
actor: (The Dead End Kids) "Texaco Star Playhouse"; "Blue Ribbon Town"
06-13-1905 - Doc Cheatham - Nashville, TN - d. 6-2-1997
jazz trumpeter: "Benny Goodman and His Sextet/Orchestra"; "Benny
Goodman Quintet"
06-19-1903 - Lou Gehrig - NYC - d. 6-2-1941
baseball iron man: "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-12-1886 - Jean Hersholt - Copenhagen, Denmark - d. 6-2-1956
actor: Dr. Paul Christian "Dr. Christian"
07-25-1900 - Al Pearce - San Francisco, CA - d. 6-2-1961
comedian: Elmer Blurt "Here Comes Elmer"; "Al Pearce Show"
08-13-1907 - Mabel Todd - Los Angeles, CA - d. 6-2-1977
vocalist: "The Al Pearce Show"; "Your Hollywood Parade"
10-05-1879 - John Erskine - NYC - d. 6-2-1951
writer: "Information Please"
11-02-1908 - Bunny Berrigan - Hilbert, WI - d. 6-2-1942
bandleader: "Saturday Night Swing Club"; "Tim and Irene"
11-16-1889 - George S. Kaufman - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 6-2-1961
panelist: "Information, Please"; "This Is Broadway"; "Who Said That?"
11-18-1908 - Imogene Coca - Philadelphia, PA - d. 6-2-2001
comedienne: "Big Show"
xx-xx-1898 - Felix Holt - d. 6-2-1954
writer: "Challenge of the Yukon"; "Cimarron Tavern"; "The One Ranger"

Ron Sayles

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #161
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