------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2006 : Issue 356
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Joe Barbera [ wayne_johnson@[removed] ]
Re: Vic and Sade's theme music [ "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed]; ]
Parker Fennely and Gene Krupa on "Th [ "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed] ]
On the Podcast - Here It Now, the Pr [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
Jack Benny's timeslot [ "Bob Watson" <crw934@[removed]; ]
Jack Benny Time [ "Frank McGurn" <[removed]@sbcgloba ]
OTR Love Story [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
Greatest movie about radio [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Wodehouse and radio [ Briantaves1879@[removed] ]
CL? [ "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@bas ]
12-20 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
applause meter [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
#OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig [ charlie@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 11:35:44 -0500
From: wayne_johnson@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Joe Barbera
Maybe it's just me and my age and how and when I came to enjoy OTR. To me,
Joe Barbera will be missed as much for his entertainment that I experienced
as a child (I particularly enjoyed 'Johnny Quest') but even today for the
voices that Hanna-Barbera employed that I continue to recognize as I listen
to OTR.
Alan Reed, Mel Blanc, Bea Benadarat, and Jean Vanderpyl to name but four from
The Flintstones. It amazes me to listen to Life with Louigi or even a select
YTJD episode and hear Alan Reed's gravely voice and NOT hear
"Yabba-Dabba-Doo".
To Joe Barbera of Hanna-Barbera fame ... he kept a few of the voices going
just a little longer. Alan Reed will always be "Fred" to me.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 11:46:14 -0500
From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Vic and Sade's theme music
Hello, again --
Actually, Vic and Sade's theme song, Chanson Bohemienne, was written by
someone named J. B. Boldi in 1919 and described as a "Boston Waltz." It was
also published as a song called "My Love and the Lark." It's interesting to
compare its original, very suitable performance on organ with the highly
distorted and broadly caricatured arrangement for organ, piano, and bassoon
appearing in the last year or so of the show . . . running (I think) a
fitting parallel to the sad distortions of the show itself, once Rhymer
bowed to the pressures of the NBC execs to add extra speaking parts and a
studio audience.
Jan Bach
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 12:24:56 -0500
From: "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Parker Fennely and Gene Krupa on "The Golden
Age of Radio" and "A One Night Stand"
The latest "Golden Age of Radio" programs with Dick Bertel
and Ed Corcoran, and "A One Night Stand with the Big Bands"
with Arnold Dean can be heard at [removed].
Each week we feature three complete shows in MP3 format
for your listening pleasure or for downloading; two "Golden
Age of Radios" and one "One Night Stand." We present new
shows every week or so. The current three programs will be
available on line at least until the morning of 12/26/06.
Program 20 - November, 1971 - Parker Fennely
Parker Fennelly personified the crusty New England Yankee
in roles on radio, films and television. He played Titus Moody
on "Allen's Alley" on radio. His famous opening line there was
"Howdy Bub". In later years he became famous as the
Pepperidge Farm's television spokesman. Fennelly was also a
noted playwright.
Program 21 - December, 1971 - First OTR Convention
This program was recorded at the first Old-Time Radio Collectors'
Convention in New Haven, Connecticut. The convention's organizers,
Sal Traipani and Jay Hickerson, are featured, along with many of the
collectors and their favorite shows, including X Minus 1, Escape,
Suspense, Kate Smith Hour, and The Witch's Tale.
"A One Night Stand with the Big Bands" With Arnold Dean
Program 13 - July 1972 - Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was a famous and influential American jazz and
big band drummer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant
style. Krupa made his first recordings in 1927, with a band under
the leadership of banjoist Eddie Condon and "fixer" (and sometime
singer, who did not appear on the records), Red McKenzie: these
sides are now recognised as the first, and definitive, examples of
white "Chicago Style" jazz.
Krupa moved to New York City in 1929 and worked with the
band of Red Nichols. In 1934 he joined Benny Goodman's band,
where his featured drum work - especially on the hit "Sing, Sing,
Sing" - made him a national celebrity. In 1938 he left Goodman
to launch his own band and had several hits with singer Anita O'Day
and trumpeter Roy Eldridge. Krupa made a memorable cameo
appearance in the 1941 film Ball of Fire, in which he and his band
performed an extended versions of the hit Drum Boogie.
Many consider Krupa to be the most influential drummer of the
20th century, particularly with regard to the development of the
drum kit. Krupa's main influence began in the 1930s with his
collaboration with the Slingerland drum company, but he had
already made history in 1927 as the first kit drummer ever to
record using a bass drum pedal. His drum method was published
in 1938 and immediately became the standard text.
In the 1970's WTIC decided that there was a market in
the evening for long-form shows that could be packaged
and sold to sponsors. Two of those shows were "The
Golden Age of Radio" and "A One Night Stand with the
Big Bands."
Dick Bertel had interviewed radio collector-historian
Ed Corcoran several times on his radio and TV shows,
and thought a regular monthly show featuring interviews
with actors, writers, producers, engineers and musicians
from radio's early days might be interesting. "The Golden
Age of Radio" was first broadcast in April, 1970; Ed was
Dick's co-host. It lasted seven years. "The Golden Age
of Radio" can also be heard Saturday nights on Walden
Hughes's program on Radio Yesteryear.
Arnold Dean began his love affair with the big band
era in his pre-teen years and his decision to study
the clarinet was inspired by the style of Artie Shaw.
When he joined WTIC in 1965 he hosted a daily program
of big band music. In 1971, encouraged by the success
of his daily program and "The Golden Age of Radio"
series, he began monthly shows featuring interviews
with the band leaders, sidemen, agents, jazz reporters,
etc. who made major contributions to one of the great
eras of music history.
Bob Scherago
Webmaster
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 12:25:02 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: On the Podcast - Here It Now, the Premier Broadcast
Folks;
New on the Nostalgic Rumblings Blog Podcast at [removed]
I missed - I wanted to have this show posted on the fifteenth, as it was
the 56th anniversary of the program. On December 15, 1950, a new kind of
radio program took to the CBS airwaves, a program borrowed from the format of
a series of records released in 1948; a program whose importance is less its
own longevity, but more for the experience and experimentation it gave the
producers, Edward R. Murrow and Fred Friendly. Less than a year later, these
two would take this program to the CBS Television Network, where the show
renamed "See It Now" became part of both television history and folklore.
(The younger generation was introduced to that program and its staff through
the film, Good Night, and Good Luck.)
In listening to this particular program, the first in the series, I am
struck by how little things have really changed within my lifetime. Many of
the conversations the country was involved in then still resonate with us
today.
This program, along with thousands of others, is available for purchase in
high-quality audio CD from our good friends at Audio Classics at
[removed] - tell 'em Charlie sent'cha!
(I'm always looking for more Murrow on radio and television; if you have
anything you'd like to share with everyone on the list, drop me an email.
Also let me know what shows you'd like to see on the Podcast, currently
re-running the entire Jonothan Thomas and his Christmas on the Moon for
click-to-download or listen!)
Charlie
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 14:14:19 -0500
From: "Bob Watson" <crw934@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Jack Benny's timeslot
Keith Houdeshell inquired about the Jack Benny timeslot. I'm hope others
will ring in with more detailed info. But basically, movies and tv are
notorious for placing OTR in the wrong places. I remember that on the
Walton's, the family would be listening to shows from the 1940's when the
Waltons episode itself was set in the 1930's. And the perinneal favorite, A
Christmas Story, takes liberties with radio material as well. So, if a
movie or tv character is listening to a certain episode of a radio series,
it is more than likely an episode that is handy to play, rather than a means
of fixing a timeframe for that particular scene. But, on an odd note, the
'movie about a modern aircraft carier' is a movie titled The Final
Countdown. What's odd is that they seem to have gone to the trouble of
locating the Dec 7th, 1941 episode of Jack Benny. But the aircraft carrier
actually emerges in the past on Saturday night, Dec 6th. But when the crew
checks out the AM broadcast band and hears Jack's program, that IS the
actual Dec 7th, 1941 program they are listening [removed] FULL DAY BEFORE IT
WAS BROADCAST.
LOL
That always has annoyed me. LOL
Bob
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 14:17:19 -0500
From: "Frank McGurn" <[removed]@[removed];
To: "The Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Jack Benny Time
Keith Houdeshell asks about JB radio programs time. In the Central Time Zone
(Chicago) he was on from 6:00 to 6:30 PM in the East (New York) it was 7:00
to 7:30 Sunday night.
LA I don't know.
In 1990 Joan Benny, Jack & Mary's daughter, wrote a book "Sunday Nights At
Seven" referring to the time slot he had from 1934 until 1957. It is a very
interesting biography by some one who had first hand [removed]
The movie about the air craft carrier that went back in time to 1941. was
not [removed] Pearl Harbor was bombed early morning of 12/7/41, Hawaiian
time, not on the 6th.
In the Midwest we had the Chicago Bears Sunday football game interrupted
with a the first bulletin I heard about the bombing at around 1 or 2 PM in
the afternoon. Jack Benny, Great Gildersleeve , Charlie McCathy and the
Screen Guild Theater all were on the air at usual times, but had
interruptions on the latest about Pearl Harbor.
Frank McGurn
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:47:25 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR Love Story
On Tuesday, December 19, 2006, at 08:51 AM, Paul Adomites wrote:
Our local theater group is going to get to do TWO OTR performances
this year -- and one will be held on Sunday afternoon so we can
attract some senior citizens groups. We're excited. One will be the
weekend of Valentine's Day, so we'd like to do a love story. Can
anyone recommend a good one?
My favorite is from the Ft. Laramie series, an episode entitled "Never
the Twain" which aired 5-6-56. It's a retelling of the story of Romeo
and Juliet in a western setting script written by William N. Robson.
This time the star-crossed lovers are Lt. Seibert and an Indian
princess, the daughter of Spotted Tail, who is brought to Ft. Laramie
for medical help. It's a poignant and realistic treatment of lovers
from "warring families." As an additional footnote, the script has some
basis in historical fact, in that the Chief's daughter actually did
receive some medical attention at the fort, although the subsequent
romance was Robson's imagination, with a little help from Shakespeare.
(And mirroring the Bard, Robson does not provide a happy ending.)
Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
<[removed]>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:47:47 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Greatest movie about radio
I have just watched, for the fifth time, the greatest movie dealing
with radio that I have ever seen. Of course that is in my humble
opinion. "Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald." It is a 1988 Japanese release
the Japanese title being, "Rajio no jikan." It is the story of what
can and does happen when changes are made to the script just before
air time and while on the air. It truly is a hilarious movie. That
brings up the question, what is your favorite movie dealing with
radio? I don't mean movies that have radio stars in them, though that
may be the case, but movies that deal with the subject of radio.
Ron Sayles
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:49:45 -0500
From: Briantaves1879@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Wodehouse and radio
Gary in NH ([removed]@[removed]) wrote:
I am reading a biography of PG Wodehouse (Plumie to his coterie of
chummies)((the creator of Jeeves and Wooster)). During WWII Wodehouse was
interned in France and Germany. After his release (right before his 60th
birthday) he made a series of recordings for the Germans which were play
over short and long wave to America and to Great Britain. There was some
controversy at the time, but nothing ever came of it. I am wondering if
anything survived that one could listen to or if anyone has any knowledge of
the broadcasts.
I forwarded Gary's query to the foremost authority on Wodehouse, Tony Ring,
who told me:
- ---
I am not aware that all the recordings survive. One does, and is held in a
private collection. Not mine, I hasten to add. An extract from it was used by
the British Library for PGW's contribution to a CD 'The Spoken Word -
Writers' published in 2003, and now, I believe, sadly out of print. ISBN
0-7123-0516-5, NSA CD12.
- ---
Thanks, Tony. There is also a whole book specifically on Wodehouse during
WWII, Wodehouse at War, by Iain Sproat, which includes transcripts of the
humorous radio broadcasts.
I also discuss the wartime broadcasts in my book, [removed] Wodehouse and
Hollywood, published this year by McFarland.
([removed]) I explore
Wodehouse's relationship long relationship to film, radio, and television.
The first screen adaptation of one of his stories was in 1915, and he was
writing for radio by 1930. Over the years, there were a variety of Wodehouse
biographies, interviews, and adaptations for radio.
As I note in the book, my own vote for the best Wodehouse radio adaptation is
the 1980s BBC series, WHAT HO, JEEVES, with Richard Briers and Michael
Hordern, which are today are available on audiotape and CD.
Brian Taves
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:38:45 -0500
From: "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: CL?
Like most digesters I have been spending some time listening to Christmas
episodes of radio shows. One I heard today is from 12/24/46. Fibber McGee
and Molly. Fibber Fixes Broken Toys.
Fibber, as usual has been procrastinating on this project and he tells Molly
there is no rush, he has until the day before Christmas.
Molly: "I have a CL for you, today is the day before Christmas."
CL? Any ideas what CL means?
Ted
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:33:13 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 12-20 births/deaths
December 20th births
12-20-1889 - Ernest LaPrade - Memphis, TN - d. 4-20-1969
conductor: "Collier's Hour"; "Orchestra of the Nation"
12-20-1898 - Irene Dunne - Louisville, KY - d. 9-4-1990
actor: Susan Armstrong "Bright Star"; "Family Theatre"; "Hallmark
Hall of Fame"
12-20-1900 - Ted Fio Rito - Newark, NJ - d. 7-22-1971
bandleader: "Presenting Al Jolson"; "Wonder Show"; "Jack Haley Show"
12-20-1905 - Albert Dekker - Brooklyn, NY - d. 5-5-1968
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-20-1906 - Marion Talley - Nevada, MO - d. 1-3-1983
singer: "Ry-Krisp Presents Marion Talley"
12-20-1907 - Al Rinker - Tekoa, WA - d. 6-11-1982
singer (member of The Rhythm Boys) "Paul Whiteman Presents"
12-20-1914 - Patti Pickens - Macon, GA - d. 11-16-1995
singer: (Pickens Sisters) "The Pickens Sisters"; "The Magic Key"
12-20-1918 - Audrey Totter - Joliet, IL
actor: Millie Bronson "Meet Millie"; Bonnie "Bright Horizon"
12-20-1920 - Dennis Morgan - Prentice, WI - d. 9-7-1994
actor, singer: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "[removed] Steel Hour"; "Screen Guild
Theatre"
12-20-1923 - Charita Bauer - Newark, NJ - d. 2-28-1985
actor: Mary Aldrich, "Aldrich Family"; Bert Bauer, "The Guiding Light"
12-20-1931 - Mala Powers - San Francisco, CA
actor: "Stars Over Hollywood"
12-20-1952 - Jenny Agutter - Tounton, Somerset, England
actor: Alex Price "An American Werewolf in London"
December 20th deaths
01-28-1887 - Artur Rubinstein - Lodz, Poland - d. 12-20-1982
pianist: "Music America Loves Best"; "Telephone Hour"; "Concert Hall"
02-27-1902 - John Steinbeck - Salinas, CA - d. 12-20-1968
novelist: "Radio Hall of Fame"; "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen
Director's Playhouse"
05-09-1914 - Hank Snow - Liverpool, Novia Scotia, Canada - d. 12-20-1999
country singer: "Grand Ole Opry"
05-11-1912 - Foster Brooks - Louisville, KY - d. 12-20-2001
disc jockey: "Foster Brooks Show"; "Melody, Inc."; "Million Dollar
Ballroom"
05-14-1936 - Bobby Darin - NYC - d. 12-20-1973
singer: "The Bobby Darin Show"; "Cancer Crusade"; "Vocies of Vista"
06-12-1914 - William Lundigan - Syracuse, NY - d. 12-20-1975
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; announcer in early radio
07-11-1897 - Johnny Marvin - Butler, Oklahoma Territory - d. 12-20-1944
country singer: Had his own show on NBC
07-11-1909 - Irene Hervey - Venice, CA - d. 12-20-1998
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-21-1863 - C. Aubrey Smith - London, England - d. 12-20-1948
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-15-1901 - Ned Washington - Scranton, PA - d. 12-20-1976
songwriter: "Dick Aurandt Show"
08-21-1895 - Benny Davis - NYC - d. 12-20-1979
lyricist: "Benny Davis Stardust"
09-09-1900 - James Hilton - Leigh, Lancashire, England - d. 12-20-1954
host: "Hallmark Hall of Fame/Hallmark Playhouse"; "Ceiling Unlimited"
10-24-1904 - Moss Hart - The Bronx, NY - d. 12-20-1961
panelist: "Who Said That?"
Ron Sayles
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:33:56 -0500
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: applause meter
I have a contact who is looking for a vintage sound level meter. These are
the kinds of devices that were used to measure applause levels on shows
like "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" and "Queen for a Day".
It was always my impression that the applause meter used in Queen for a Day
was bogus, if only because it had this huge pointer that could scarcely have
been driven by a VU meter movement. I thought it looked strange when I
watched the show in the 1950's.
In retrospect, I would think that a true sound level meter driven by
microphones in the audience would not have provided the distinctive kind of
deflection necessary for a TV game show: if you look at a sound level meter
while listening to the sound it hears, the percieved and measured loudness
often seem quite different.
They might have had a special mechanism, though: TV game shows were having
problems with being fixed, and they didn't need that on Queen for a Day.
M Kinsler
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 02:12:02 -0500
From: charlie@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!
A weekly [removed]
For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
Network, the channel name is #OldRadio. We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
over nine years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
real-time OTR talk!
Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
it's always a good time!
For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
week and every week!
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #356
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