------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 160
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Huptmann Trial and WNEW [ "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed] ]
snapshot 3: British WWII radio scrip [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
Birth Dates for April 17 [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
OTR Pets And Animals [ lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed]; ]
Today in radio history 4/17 [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
More "Make Believe Ballroom" [ "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed] ]
MP3 size and quality issues. [ gad4@[removed] ]
MP3 vs cassettes - continued [ "Richard Sutherland" <rssuth@hotmai ]
Gay Characters [ "Allen Uebele" <auebele@[removed]; ]
Cincy. Convention [ "Shawn A. Wells" <swells@[removed] ]
San Francisco Radio in WW2 [ "Chuck" <yumacool@[removed]; ]
Re: Cincy's Wrong Week [ GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@ ]
Coventions of [removed] [ John Francis MacEachern <johnfmac@a ]
The Lone Ranger [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 14:50:28 -0400
From: "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Huptmann Trial and WNEW
<Dixon Hayes posted information about the WHN radio reporter, Attorney
Liebowitz recordings of the famous Lindbergh baby kidnapping [removed];>
Bernice Judis, the GM of a one year-old station, WNEW, decided to do a live
remote broadcast from the Flemington, NJ courthouse to cover the trial. An
announcer and an engineer were set up in the men's room, providing the only
news coverage from inside the building. A young, parttime announcer named
Martin Block was at the studio and in between bulletins, he suggested to
Miss Judis that he fill the gaps with recorded music played by the leading
bands. She agreed, and within a half hour he bought six records from the
corner music store and began, on February 3, 1935, what was to become "The
Make Believe Ballroom." Block was the first person to personalize the
records, inspiring Walter Winchell to coin the phrase "disc jockey."
Just earlier, Martin Block's audition for Miss Judis was reading straight
commercial copy, then she handed him a pencil to describe and he kept
talking for 20 minutes. He was hired, parttime, for $25 a week on WNEW which
was broadcasting originally at 1250 Kc, later to become the legendary
1130AM. ("Eleven-three-oh")
Incidentally, because of the increasing popularity of the recorded music
format by listeners, on October 23, 1939, WNEW was the first NYC station to
broadcast around the clock with Stan Shaw and "The Milkman's Matinee," an
overnight disc jockey show, and again, that program's title was attributed
to Walter Winchell. Martin Block started it all with just six records
during the Huptmann trial.
Russ Butler oldradio@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 14:50:43 -0400
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: snapshot 3: British WWII radio scripts
snapshot 3: --of an eight-year long book research project--British World
War II radio scripts
I am sitting in a BBC radio archive, going through reel after reel of
microfilm. It's late July of 1995. Earlier in the month I left behind
those three Soviet wartime radio plays in Moscow. This is a great treat
after the disappointment in Moscow. I'm finding scores and scores of
scripts: NIGHT SHIFTS --the story of women who work in the great Royal
Ordnance factories, filling bombs and shells. COOK'S TOURS OF THE LONDON
SUBWAYS, about a woman who comes to London unaware of how the blackout
has affected the city at night. The list goes on and on. Too bad there
are no tapes.
I learn that the papers of a couple of the most important BBC writers
are in the [removed] I also find out that a well-known American writer, John
Dickson Carr wrote for BBC radio during the war.
Coming soon: snapshot 4: The drunken American prof.
Howard Blue
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 15:54:50 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Birth Dates for April 17
If you were born on April 17th, you share your birthday with:
04-17-1898 - Howard Claney - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 4-1980
04-17-1905 - Arthur Lake - Corbin, KY - d. 1-10-1987
04-17-1918 - Anne Shirley - NYC
04-17-1918 - William Holden - O’Fallon, IL - d. 11-10-1981
04-17-1923 - Harry Reasoner - Dakota City, IA - d. 8-6-1991
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Make your day, listen to an Olde Tyme Radio Program
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 15:55:02 -0400
From: lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR Pets And Animals
I'd like to get a discussion going on the digest about
OTR Pets and Animals. Any one who'd like to jump in
and join me, list your favorite OTR Pet or Animal and
the show they started in. He we go!!
My favorite is Yukon King (dog) from Challenge of
The Yukon-Stg. Preston. Let us not forget is horse
Rex.
Enjoy!!! Lynn Wagar
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 17:13:10 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history 4/17
From Those Were The Days --
1933 - Backed by the On the Trail portion of the magnificent Grand
Canyon Suite, Johnny Roventini, pillbox hat and all, uttered the words
"Call for Philip Morris" for the first time on radio. The famous phrase
was said in perfect B flat pitch and tone to perfectly match the
accompanying music. This "Call for Philip Morris" phrase became one of
the most famous in all of advertising.
1935 - People gathered around to listen for the first time to what would
become the ultimate horror show on NBC, Lights Out.
Joe
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 17:26:01 -0400
From: "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: More "Make Believe Ballroom"
<<Adding to an earlier post about Martin Block>>
The six records that Martin Block purchased at The Libery Music Shop around
the corner from WNEW to play while waiting for the Hauptmann trial reports
were Clyde McCoy records. He played them on the radio back-to-back to make
it sound like a live broadcast from his "make-believe" studio with imaginary
crystal chandeliers. He also ad libbed introductions that made him seem
like he was chatting with McCoy, a Louisana bandleader. One of the records
Block played was brand new for McCoy and was to become his band's theme,
"Sugar Blues."
The program name "The Make Believe Ballroom" that made Martin Block a huge
success as a disc jockey was borrowed from Al Jarvis in Los Angeles. Al was
a Canadian and an announcer at KFWB (and Block was a junior assistant at the
Warner Brother's station in Hollywood) who had the idea of playing records
on the radio in the 1930's.
Jarvis read the trade newspapers, "Billboard and Variety," and was able to
give his listeners some information about each record he played. His six
hour show on KFWB was a local success called "The World's Largest Make
Believe Ballroom." Martin Block's similarly titled program made him the
nation's number one radio personality for a quarter of a century using a
virtually identical format.
After the Hauptmann trial ended, the makeshift show was retained on WNEW at
the request of thousands of listeners
and advertises lined up to sponsor the program.
Russ Butler oldradio@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 17:51:42 -0400
From: gad4@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: MP3 size and quality issues.
As much as I hate to get involved in another mp3 quality issue, since this
conversatino is started, I feel Ill add a few lines.
The 32/22 format is what most mp3s are recorded at. The reason this started
was two fold. One reason is that many believe the sounds above 11k are
negligable in otr. The other is that mp3 collecting started primarily
internet centered. In the early days of downloading when people used dialup,
people felt this was the "best" compromise between quality and download speed.
How much sound is above 11 k in a typical otr show, is debatable. To some,
the sounds above that range are negligable. To others, those highs that
might appear in some music segments and sound effects, make a big difference.
My reading indicate that 128/44 stereo (or 64/44 mono) is considered cd
quality. This gives you a frequency range of 22k. Some because they're
dissatisfied with the lower quality, have gone even higher. I do not know of
any evidence that justifies this. My personal ideal is the 64/44 mono (or
128/44 stereo) for high quality, or 32/22 if the source is low quality. This
leads to 50 HQ mono (25 stereo) shows per cd or 100 LQ mono (50 stereo)
shows per cd. It gives you a range of 22k for high quality and 11k for low
quality.
It is VERY RARE to see someone go below the 32/22 standard to "cram more on
a cd". Although I have found out that one EBAY dealer converts everything to
low quality real audio files to fit it on a fraction of the space.
One factor that I think is most responsible for low quality mp3s is the
source. Does the tape recording have a frequency range greater than the 11k?
Unfortunately, most mp3 collectors and encoders do not have access to high
quality material and collections to encode. It began as a grass roots
movement of people taking shows where they could find it. Also, technology
and procedures have advanced in time also. Now if someone has material
directoy off transcription disks or 1st generation cds, they *MIGHT* want to
try even higher. But you need to have sources *that good* before trying it.
The other is encoding techniques to make the mp3s better. Digest Charlie
suggests resampling to a */22 wave before converting to mp3. I believe his
reason is to remove some higher harmonics that could cause distortion.
Others have different techniques. One of the worst ways to ruin a mp3 is to
do cleanup that removes harmonics or adds distortion. This is not just true
of mp3s but of ANY tapes that come off of digitally remastered sources. Its
very possible that tapes from dealers are "cleaned up " so that while
there's no noise, the highs are missing or distortion added.
Cleaning up shows is an art. If youre not a good artist, practice first. Its
better to have an rough copy than to have one poorly filtered.
At the FOTR convention in October, I will be hosting a seminar on the topic
of mp3 encoding. Not that one needs this as a reason for attending FOTR, I
highly recommend you go regardless:)
There is also a discussion group about encoding techniques. If you would
like access to it, please let me know. The discussion is minimal but there
are plenty of messages and people willing to help you with encoding techniques.
But to summarize, to get higher quality mp3s out, whats needed are
1. people with the good quality tape collections to allow their tapes to be
encoded and
2. people willing to help convert material and get it into ciculation for
all to enjoy.
Once a decent mp3 is made, there is NO LONGER any sound decay.
Sincerely,
George
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 19:39:27 -0400
From: "Richard Sutherland" <rssuth@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: MP3 vs cassettes - continued
Personally, and since we've had this exact same comversation not long ago, I
think the old timers are full of it. The sound quality of an mp3 can be
tremendously good. It's also a whole lot cheaper to run a PC sound set-up
than to run a reel-to-reel one. I've found that casette tape copies off
reel-to-reel sound awful, while mp3 copies sound, generally, pretty damn
good. The other tremendous advantage of digital recording is that, once you
have the digital image, you can copy it a million more times without losing
one iota of quality.
I believe that old radio programs should be available to all and sundry
without charge. If those that spend hours and hours extracting the perfect
recording from tape feel the need to charge for that time, then I believe
they're not in the hobby for the right reaosns.
The worst trait, and many,many in our hobby share this, is that they sit on
recordings and don't share them. This is completely unfathomable to me.
Richard
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 21:02:50 -0400
From: "Allen Uebele" <auebele@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Gay Characters
Hi everyone,
I was wondering if anyone had any feedback on a paper I was thinking of
writing for a class in media. I am trying to substantiate any portrayal
of homosexuals in old-time-radio shows.
So far we have come up with two. First is the character "Ersel Twing"
from Bergen and McCarthy. Second, I found a reference in
[removed] of Rembrandt Watson "Candy's
sidekick was single, middle-aged, fashion photographer who loved opera".
Can anyone think of any other portrayals in OTR of effeminate males or
masculine females that could fit the stereotype of a homosexual? Of
course if there were non-stereotyped characters out there that would be
great too!
I would appreciate any feedback you folks have!
Allen Uebele
Milwaukee, WI
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 22:28:18 -0400
From: "Shawn A. Wells" <swells@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Cincy. Convention
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Greetings ! I would like to thank all of the folks who called and e-mailed me
about my absence from this years Cincy. Convention. I came down with a bad
case of the flu bug and just didn't have the energy to drive down.
Actually, my absence may have been a good thing. I would of had to show a few
friends how the game of pool is really played ! (** for Ted, Bob, Martin, and
Terry would of been the next victim :-)
Thanks
Shawn A. Wells
[removed] Sorry Charlie, it wasn't the dreaded [removed], maybe next time. :-)
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 23:14:39 -0400
From: "Chuck" <yumacool@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: San Francisco Radio in WW2
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I have been doing some research on the early World War II military campaign
on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island in the Philippines between
December, 1941, and early May, 1942. According to many books, American
soldiers were able to listen to San Francisco radio stations. These are my
questions (sorry if they sound naive, but I gotta ask):
1) Would they have had to listen by shortwave radio? If so, what would have
been typical brands and would they have had to use some sort of antenna in
order to listen to a radio station so far away? Would the reception vary in
quality?
2) Would they have been able to listen to a regular commercial AM radio
station? Would they have only been able to listen to broadcasts at night?
3) If they listened to shortwave radio, what kind of programming would they
have heard? Just news and music? How about dramatic programming?
4) What were the stations they could have listened to from San Francisco?
5) Could anyone with a radio set listen (as long as they had electricity or
batteries) or could listening only take place in select locations?
Thanks for your help on this. I know some knowledgable person on this list
must know the [removed]
Chuck
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 12:12:47 -0400
From: GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Cincy's Wrong Week
Dennis Crow just pointed out in an off-list
e-mail that at least some regular attendees were
afraid to fly to Cincinnati (or anywhere else)
due to the military situation in Iraq and the
possible threat of a retaliatory terrorist action
over here.
Since the Convention is merely a short
automobile ride for me (in Cincy OTR Club
Treasurer Ric Opp's car), I hadn't really given
much consideration to this concern, but upon
reflection it's obvious that Dennis' observation
has some validity.
Sincerely,
George Wagner
GWAGNEROLDTIMERADIO@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 12:13:24 -0400
From: John Francis MacEachern <johnfmac@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Coventions of [removed]
Hi All,
Reading the posts about the recent convention got me
'athinkin. This year is the 30th anniversary of the only
convention I ever attended. It was probably one of the
first ever, since by our standards OTR was only 11 years
past its era. It was held in Meriden Conn. in 1973, hosted
by a group called The Society of American Vintage Radio
Enthusiasts.
I was 14, new to the hobby, and attending was all I could
think of. I was already working, so I had saved up enough
money for the hotel room and the train ticket. To my total
disappointment, my parents said I was too young to travel by
myself. I was heartbroken. After some reflection and
knowing how hard I had worked for it, they said I could go,
they would take me. They even relented and let me rent my
own hotel room, next to theirs of course, but still, my
first time.
It was everything I expected and more, I had a fantastic
time. I was the youngest person there by many years, which
caused a lot of unwanted attention directed toward me,
however, It gave me unique access to all the important
people there, who all gave me considerable time to ask my
immature questions; they told me some great stories too.
The local TV station covering the event even interviewed me,
I made the 6:00 news!
The MC for the Saturday night big event was Will Jordan, the
impersonator. The special guests were Peter Donald from the
Fred Allen Show, Jack Pearl, Baron Munchausen and Raymond
Edward Johnson from Inner Sanctum. All were wonderful and
very funny too. My favorite memory from that event was the
performance by Mr. Johnson. He asked for the lights to be
turned off, then in the dark, he read a monologue, in
character, written by Arch Obler entitled "Steel" about an
eastern European steelworker during WWII. I was just so
impressed.
I tape recorded everything that evening, on my first little
Radio Shack cassette recorder. I still have the tape and
listen to it occasionally, it brings back wonderful
memories.
I'm wondering if any others on the list were there?
How about starting a thread concerning memorable conventions
of the past?
John Mac
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 12:13:46 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Lone Ranger
***Brace was probably away making a personal appearance as the Ranger
at a rodeo or state fair.
What did they do if Brace went on vacation? Or didn't anyone go on vacation
in those days?
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210 lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #160
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