------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 91
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Up Dawson's Creek Without a Saddle [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
A Night of Old Time Radio in Atlanta [ "Scott L Lindquist" <potluckplayers ]
Please Forgive Off-Topic Request, bu [ Musiciantoo47@[removed] ]
The Lone Ranger [ Mort Greenberg <mgreenb300@[removed] ]
radio remakes [ michael chatterton <chat51@comcast. ]
cbs in berlin [ Frank Absher <fabsher@[removed]; ]
Adventures of Babe Ruth [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
Re:Cleaning up old material--unmaski [ [removed]@[removed] ]
Lone Ranger review [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
Re: Litigation over Material [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Restoration of OTR [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Senior Moment [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
Berlin correspondent [ "Jim Widner" <widnerj@[removed]; ]
Never Ending Humor [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
last nights lone ranger [ "Gary Young" <GYoung@[removed] ]
Atwater Kent price [ BH <radioguy@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 10:38:02 -0500
From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Up Dawson's Creek Without a Saddle
Hey all you KemoSabes:
I know I won't be the only one checking in on this topic, so away we
go!... I lost all hope for the new W-B treatmenty of "The Lone Ranger" during
the first line of discernible dialogue when a young ruffian hurls out the
epithet "b--ch" at a young Native American teenage girl whom he & his
companions are attacking. Without sounding prudish, I just don't think any
dramatization that carries the noble name of "The Lone Ranger" should contain
words like "a--," "b--ch," and "b----rd."
But what would you expect from the network that gives us "Dawson's
Creek?" Imagine if it had been on [removed]"Who Wants to Marry Joe
Texas-Ranger?" [Does 'he' really own the deed to a silver [removed] is he
just feeding the girls a line?].
And what's with the name "Luke Hartman?" Whatsamatter? "John Reid" is
too ordinary & not WB-focus-group-friendly?
A personal note to Anthony [removed], I'm way aheada [removed] I know the
first name "John" was a latter-day concoction that was never invoked in the
original radio series.
Yours in the ether--
That Derek
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 10:38:18 -0500
From: "Scott L Lindquist" <potluckplayers@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: A Night of Old Time Radio in Atlanta area
I would like to invite any Digest members, in the Atlanta metro area, to
come and see the Pot Luck Players old time radio show recreations at the
Kudzu Playhouse, 608 Holcomb Bridge Rd. Roswell, GA (The Kudzu Playhouse is
located near the corner of Holcomb Bridge and Alpharetta Highway next to the
Startime Entertainment complex.) We open this weekend on Sunday night at 7:00
pm, (performances at 7:00 pm, March 2, March 9, March 30, April 27)and will
be doing Flash Gordon (the original episode), Fibber McGee and Molly, and The
Bickersons. I hope to see some of you there. The tickets are $[removed] for
adults and $[removed] for students. You can call 770-594-1020 for reservations.
In May, we'll be launching our Midnight Mayhem in May Series (Friday nights
at 10:30 pm featuring The Shadow, The House in Cypress Canyon and more. We do
old time radio a little different by giving the audience the Walla Walla.
They love it as it makes them part of the show. Thanks, Scott Lindquist
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 10:38:40 -0500
From: Musiciantoo47@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Please Forgive Off-Topic Request, but this
is Important to me (-:
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
This is off topic Big Time, but is very important. Does anyone out there know
anyone who has a Hewlett-Packard Pavilion model XL753 computer? Due to a
stupid mistake on my part I have lost DISC 1 out of the Recovery Set. A new
set will cost me $40 and since I am on a fixed income, that will be hard on
me. If anyone could make me a copy of the disc I would be happy to
compensate.
Thanx to you all (-:
Kenny
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 11:50:43 -0500
From: Mort Greenberg <mgreenb300@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: The Lone Ranger
I'm aware that TV is not OTR, but the Lone Ranger is both OTR and TV!
[removed] could the WB Network have the nerve to try and create the early
years of The Lone Ranger with that disgusting, awful, amateurish,
denigrating 2-hour movie? Thank goodness it was cancelled! What a waste!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 12:01:17 -0500
From: michael chatterton <chat51@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: radio remakes
I REALLY ENJOY THIS PAGE OF INFOMATION ON OLD RADIO SHOWS,GRET JOB
AND THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SHARES THE STORYS OF THE PAST!
Inoticed there has been only a few improvements in the radio shows
that went to tv, frist one is the lone ranger,that was and still is a
classic ! next would be gunsmoke ,they did a very good job in the
transition of the radio scripts to tv and it didnt show up as hokey!
even in the lake 60's they used some radio scripts of gunsmoke and
brought them to television! i love the radio programs of gunsmoke a
little better though!
i wonder though why the green hornet and the shadow which were hit
radio shows and the shadow was a great pulp hero which was better than
the radio in some ways; but they never made it on the big screen or on
tv does anybody know? the reason i say this is the remake of the lone
ranger air in detroit,mi last night and it brought the other shows
seemed to left out ,why??
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 12:01:28 -0500
From: Frank Absher <fabsher@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: cbs in berlin
Berlin was the assignment of William "Bill" Shirer. At the beginning of 1940
he left for a few weeks' rest and was replaced by Mary Marvin Breckinridge.
Shirer then returned for the remainder of the year. In 1941, it was the
assignment of Howard K. Smith.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 12:18:13 -0500
From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Adventures of Babe Ruth
I think there is some confusion about this series. Let me add to it. Years
ago I had access to some l6" transcriptions from an old in-house VA Hospital
radio station. They were all WWII vintage and you can imagine the AFRS
treasure trove that existed! As soon as they found out I was interested they
destroyed them all! I still wake up weeping.
There were literally 100's of them, every conceivable title. Anyhow, I taped
as many as I could in the 3 days I had access. Two of the discs were titled
"Adventures of Babe Ruth" were l5m and were dated (printed) #7 4/14/50 and
#8 4/21/50. Jackson Beck is Babe Ruth and the Steve Martin character and
"Play Ball" opening appear. I don't think they are rebr of the earlier
series, they just don't sound like l930's productions, and I don't think
Jackson Beck was playing leads back then. Of course I could be very wrong,
but I am right about what the disc labels said. The #7 concerns a Chicago
hoodlum and #8 is about a hunting accident and loss of an eye. Each show is
promoted by the Navy.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 12:18:52 -0500
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:Cleaning up old material--unmasking
muffled voices
Here's a question regarding the use of Cool Edit Pro:
I have a cd of HGWT mp3's where the sound quality gets increasingly poor as
I wind my way through the series. The problem is that the sound gets
increasingly muffled to the point that it is not enjoyable to listen.
I've turned treble up all the way and bass all the way down to no avail.
Can this problem be cured through the use of this software product?
Gary Rothy
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 12:19:30 -0500
From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Lone Ranger review
Bryan Wright asked about the LR movie/pilot which premiered on WB last
might.
I was not impressed. The format leaves me cold - I believe they are
attempting to duplicate their tremendous (and IMO deserved) success with
their hit program Smallville, which tells the story of the young Clark Kent.
The rock music beds, way too long, and the outrageous restructuring of the
story don't work for me. I hope the series is not picked up.
In contrast, one of the reasons Smallville works for me is that the
producers have decided to stay fairly CLOSE to the original mythos (mostly
the deviations are the adding of a few characters), and the story takes
place in contemporary times. A little young people music doesn't bother me
here, but in the old west, sickening. The final music cut - a mod version of
the William Tell Overture finale, laughable.
What a contrast - in 2 days and on the same network - Smallville airs an
outstanding episode with Christopher Reeve, and the LR pilot lands with a
dull thud.
Joe Salerno
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 12:21:43 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Litigation over Material
On 2/27/03 10:57 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:
This brings up a possible question: Where there any law suits (or
threats to sue) by comedians in the early days of radio if/when someone
lifted something of theirs, even with a few changes? Or where the
routines "so old" that no one really knew who did it first?
The Marx Brothers were sued -- successfully -- in 1937 by a writer who
charged them with plagiarizing from an unsold audition script he had
written several years earlier about a Hollywood talent agency, and
broadcasting the material over KHJ in 1936 with no payment to him. The
writer presented copyright documents supporting his claim, and Groucho
and Chico were requred to pay damages. This is probably the material
heard in the mysterious "Hollywood Agents/Hotchkiss Packing Company"
recording -- suggesting that it is in fact a recording of an actual
broadcast and not simply an audition disc.
The stage comedian Flournoy Miller threatened to sue Correll and Gosden
in the spring of 1930, claiming they had performed material similar to a
routine he had performed on stage with his partner Aubrey Lyles. The
specific material in question -- a discussion over "multiplyin' an'
revidin'" a column of numbers -- was admittedly not written by Miller and
Lyles, but Miller claimed to have bought the routine from an unnamed
author several years earlier. Correll and Gosden broadcast their own
mathematical routine only once -- in an April 1928 episode of "Amos 'n'
Andy" -- but they performed variations of this material during their
theatrical tours in 1929 and 1930. The threat of a suit appears, however,
to have been a show-business publicity stunt, because I've found no
evidence that any litigation was actually filed. (This story has since
been exaggerated and inflated by "historians" who claim that Miller and
Lyles were the "true creators of Amos 'n' Andy," but few such scholars
seem to have done the research needed to track the story to its original
source.)
In the early 1920s, Fred Allen threatened to sue Al Jolson for lifting a
line from Allen's stage act about a man so deceptive he put salt in his
toupee so people would think he had dandruff, and using it in one of his
Winter Garden stage revues. Jolson claimed that he himself originated the
gag, even though Allen had registered the material with the N. V. A., but
"graciously" allowed Allen to continue using the line.
Comedian Richy Craig Jr -- a brilliant, unjustly forgotten talent of the
early 1930s -- made a running gag out of the regular theft of his
material by Milton Berle, and was responsible, in fact, for creating the
"Thief of Badgags" reputation that followed Berle to his grave.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 12:38:31 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Restoration of OTR
I watched a 50-minute documentary the other night entitled HISTORY OF SOUND.
This documentary was produced in 1998 and was produced and released on
home video through the History Channel.
For anyone (probably 95% of the people on this digest) who have never seen
an ascitate (sp?) disc, this is a wonderful documentary. It's an almost
hour-long documentary showing the peservation methods being used by the
Library of Congress to preserve historical recordings, and their clean-up
process. One of the technicians was taking a disc and using wet q-tip and
pressing the q-tip against the disc right near the needle to clean the sound
a little.
Every existing radio program (recording) exist because it was recorded and
preserved on some audio format (wire, reel, tape, disc) and this documentary
shows EXACTLY how these formats work, how they are transferred onto today's
formats, and preserved digitally (including wave). There are many mentions
about OTR, including a man in NY who was famous for recording radio
programs, and among the shelves, the documentary shows you various discs of
programs and musicians, which ones falling apart and which ones are in dire
need for repair. (The discs made of glass are pulled from the shelf, placed
on a wheeled cart, and moved across the room that way to prevent any damage
to the disc!)
This is a must-see for any OTR fan who wants to know EXACTLY how radio
programs were recorded during the twenties, thirties, forties, and how they
came to be what we enjoy today - including how one can use their home
computer to clean and restore these recordings. It's called HISTORY OF
SOUND and it was produced and released on home video by the History Channel.
My mother who works at a public library, brought it to my house for me to
watch so I am assuming some good public libraries or web-sites might still
have this video available for purchase or viewing. This is highly
recommended.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 12:41:17 -0500
From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Senior Moment
Humble apologies for my Adventures of Babe Ruth posting. Decided not to rely
on just my memory but to listen to the shows mentioned. Babe Ruth is not
played by Jackson
Beck. Beck is on the shows as a narrator/announcer. But I still maintain the
shows are not 1934. Could they be rebr of the 1943 series? Or were the
1943's just a rebr of the 1934's? Issues of monumental import!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 13:04:31 -0500
From: "Jim Widner" <widnerj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Berlin correspondent
Kathy asks:
who was the cbs correspondent in berlin, germany in the summer of
1940? any other info on him would also be appreciated.
Primary correspondent was William L. Shirer (until Dec. 1940). He left
in December fearing for his life as he became increasingly critical of
the Nazis in his broadcasts.
The other correspondent was Edwin Hartrich, who reported after Shirer
left and also shared reporting with him during 1940.
My news page has some background on Shirer, plus an article on some of
his exploits over there from an early Radio Guide (1938).
[removed]
You can also hear some of his reporting via streaming audio there.
Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 13:04:03 -0500
From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Never Ending Humor
On the routines that never lose their humor:
I used to do little talks on otr (very big at Pot-Luck suppers) and would
use these routines which always brought down the house:
Charlie McCarthy--talks about car accident with the car "all the way
between 5th and 8th."
Our Miss Brooks--Hurricane coming (Bombay, India)
Lum and Abner--The audition show for their 30m series in which Ben
is talking
long distance and running up a bill.
Vic and Sade--Davis boys sleeping upstairs.
Allen's Alley routine, 1/25/48 on child prodigies question
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 13:20:12 -0500
From: "Gary Young" <GYoung@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: last nights lone ranger
I am a lurker out there, but after watching last nights Lone Ranger I
have to comment. It wasn't very good. I would seem that with all the
technology they could have done better. It could have been cast better,
play different background music, take out the Peyote trip and given him
a better outfit. It was a very bad remake and that's a shame
Gary Young
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 14:40:42 -0500
From: BH <radioguy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Atwater Kent price
From: "George Coppen*" <gacoppen@[removed]; comments:
Another thing that George has implied is to replace the old parts with new
ones. Why would you even think of doing that? For safety reasons? When you
have an antique, you turn it on and play for a wee while not all day or
night and let it become all heated up. At least thats the way
most people I know that collect items that are 50, 60 or even 70
years old do things.
Playing an old radio without replacing the capacitors is asking
for trouble, even playing it for short periods. The capacitors in
a set this old are guaranteed to be defective. They become
electrically leaky (low internal resistance), if you don't
understand electronics then that probably doesn't mean anything to
you. If you leave these old capacitors in the set, one or more
will eventually short and take some other hard to or impossible to
replace component with it, like the power transformer. It is also
a safety issue as it could start a fire.
I collect and restore vintage sets and have around 150 sets
restored. The first thing a collector does, if they want to play
the sets, and most do, is restore the electronics by replacing all
the capacitors and any out of spec resistors or other components.
If you don't do that, then cut off the line cord, set it on the
shelf and look at it.
If one wants to maintain the original look of the chassis, and I
do this on most of the sets I restore, you take the guts out of
the old capacitors and put new capacitors in the old shell. On the
chassis I do this you cannot tell it from the original.
If you can obtain new parts that are ORIGINAL PARTS as old as the ones you
are replacing. thats another story.
That would be nice if you could find original parts that were
still good. New old stock capacitors will be just as defective as
the ones in the set, even though they have never been used.
Capacitors have limited shelf life, especially the old wax filled
capacitors like in these old sets. New modern mylar capacitors
will probably outlast anyone alive today.
Why would you purchase an old radio and put new parts in it? do that and
its not old any more.
It is still an old radio, that now is safe to play.
You can see examples of restored sets, including pictures of the
restored chassis at my web site at: [removed]
click on the Restoration Projects link.
Have you ever gone out to an antique car show and seen antique cars with
brand new 2003 parts on the cars?? Forget it, do that and its not an
antique any more.
Again, and I repeat ...this is only MY [removed]
There is a difference between vintage electronics and mechanics,
an old car with original parts may at worst break down and leave
you stranded, but it won't burn your house down.
Bill H.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #91
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