Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #224
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 6/18/2002 9:15 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2002 : Issue 224
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Bob Bailey                            [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
  Re: Suspense on NPR                   [ jhcollins@[removed] ]
  Buying recordable blank CDs           [ Eric J Cooper <ejcooper2002@[removed] ]
  Suspense on NPR                       [ Katherine Baer <KBaer@[removed]; ]
  Captain Marvel History and Radio que  [ Kelli Stanley <ks4color@[removed] ]
  Johnny Got His Gun                    [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
  Noel Blanc, Irony?                    [ "Ed Kindred" <kindred@[removed]; ]
  Re: CD query                          [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  Re: Anonymous Stars                   [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  Captain Marvel's Publisher            [ "jsouthard" <jsouthard@[removed]; ]
  "Baby Snooks"/"Funny Girl"            [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
  Suspense piece on NPR                 [ Ga6string@[removed] ]
  Re: RSI tapes                         [ Ga6string@[removed] ]
  Jack Benny & Waukegan                 [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  New Book On Radio                     [ "Read G. Burgan" <rgb@[removed] ]
  Re: Elvis & Captain Marvel            [ Taylor401306@[removed] ]
  Captain Marvels desmise.              [ gad4@[removed] ]
  Re: OTR themed TV?                    [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 15:32:46 -0400
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bob Bailey

Jim Widner wrote:

The tragedy was that Bob Bailey suffered a stroke around 1980 and dropped
from site. It turned out he went to live in Lancaster, CA in a convalescent
home.

I assume that was a typo and you meant 1970. When we went to visit him in
the early 1980s (I think it was 1982) he had already been in the
convalescent home for over 10 years.

I could look up the exact date of the visit but I remember we took him a
birthday cake for his 70th birthday and it turned out it was his 69th
birthday. That was the first contact he had had from the "outside world" and
when we told him that there were so many fans who remembered and loved him
as Johnny Dollar, he had tears in his eyes.

We spread the word about his location and condition to his radio actor
friends, who had long thought him dead, such as Virginia Gregg and they were
able to call him.

One of SPERDVAC's members lived in Lancaster and visited him weekly after
that and brought him candy, etc.

I'll never forget seeing this little man with white hair and blue eyes, half
paralyzed, in a wheelchair and thinking "Here is Johnny Dollar!"

Barbara

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 16:49:15 -0400
From: jhcollins@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Suspense on NPR

At 03:46 PM 6/18/2002, Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed]; wrote:

   Anyone else hear the short piece All Things Considered did on Suspense
last evening?

Yes, I was quite surprised that NPR would mention this on "All Things
Considered". It seemed more like a one-minute sound bite (mainly on how
Agnes Moorehead learned to scream) than a  report. Better than nothing, I
suppose. -John Collins

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 16:49:29 -0400
From: Eric J Cooper <ejcooper2002@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Buying recordable blank CDs

This is in answer to Joy Jackson's query about what kind of blanks CDs to
buy. As with anything else, the cheaper the brand , the worse the quality
(with few exceptions). There is one inexpensive brand I would recommend
and that is DYSAN. Otherwise, I have been using the "names" in the
business: Memorex, Sony, TDK etc.

Eric Cooper

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 16:49:49 -0400
From: Katherine Baer <KBaer@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Suspense on NPR

Hey, just wanted to let you know that Joe Mackey's "Today in Radio History"
was responsible for the segment on All Things Considered (6/17).  I started
subscribing to the OTR Digest last week and since NPR is always looking for
a good anniversary (and short segments as filler) I have been scanning that
particular listing.  Well, when I saw it was the 60th anniversary I
forwarded it on to an ATC producer and they went for it!

Thanks for the great information.

Katherine Baer
Broadcast Librarian
National Public Radio
202-513-2064
kbaer@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 16:50:18 -0400
From: Kelli Stanley <ks4color@[removed];
To: OldRadio Mailing Lists <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Captain Marvel History and Radio questions

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I was in the comics business for
several years and have been a hobbyist all my life--so I thought I'd
clear up some of the murky history of Captain Marvel and Superman.
The character was not owned by Stan Lee's Marvel Comics (famous for
Spider Man, X-Men, etc.), but by Fawcett Publishers.  In his heyday, the
Cap outsold the Man of Steel, and [removed] comics (the initials stand for
Detective Comics, their flagship title--they are now a part of the AOL
Time Warner group) immediately took Fawcett to court, claiming
infringement.  By the time the case was settled in the early '50s, the
superhero comic market was nearly dead (westerns, crime and horror mags
were the thing), and Fawcett folded quietly.  Even Supes had a hard time
surviving the '50s.
Flash forward to the early 70s.  The comic book title name "Captain
Marvel" had apparently not been renewed as a copyright, and the
relatively neophyte Marvel Comics group had created their own "Captain
Marvel" in the late '60s (no relation to Billy Batson's alter ego).  In
the early '70s, [removed], to expand their lineup, purchased the rights to
the old Fawcett characters (the *real* Captain Marvel) and the Quality
Comics Group characters (including Plastic Man), relaunched the Big Red
Cheese, as he's fondly known, and, because of the new Marvel Comics
character, could *not* call him Captain Marvel on the title's cover.
Hence, they issued a comic called "Shazam", which featured the Captain
Marvel of the '40s. You might remember the short-lived '70s Saturday
morning TV show, which featured a very modish Captain Marvel.  In the
comics, [removed] has used the character sparingly over the years, but he is
a part of their official universe, and, in my view, they've always been
careful to retain some of the innocence of the original creation.
Now, on to a radio question:
I'm fascinated by the Ghost Corps serial, and, if I get an opportunity,
plan to do some research on it.  But something shocked me--they've
mentioned the word "hell" twice, and I was wondering if this dates the
show to some sort of less stringent censorship era, rather like the
pre-Hays code films of the early '30s.  If anyone has any information on
radio censorship, when it took hold and what it covered, I'd dearly love
to know! :)  I've read about the "infamous" Mae West/Charlie McCarthy
drollery, but would like to find out more about what was specifically
verboten.
The Ghost Corps also strikes me as somewhat violent (they describe a
murdered man on a hook in the ceiling).  I imagine radio censors must
have had a very tough job--it's difficult to bleep the imagination! :)
All the best,
Kelli Stanley

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 17:47:54 -0400
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Johnny Got His Gun

In "Words at War," my book about World War II era radio, I discuss Arch
Oboler's adaptation of "Johnny Got His Gun" which stars James Cagney.
After its broadcast, Oboler backed away from association with the story.
Essentially, he was quite in favor of American intervention in the war.
He found that this story, of course, gave an interpretation which he did
not favor.

Howard Blue

For further information about the book see [removed]

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 17:50:12 -0400
From: "Ed Kindred" <kindred@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Noel Blanc, Irony?

By the way, "Noel Blanc" is French for "White
Christmas." Ironic, as Mel himself pointed out,
because the family is Jewish.

Maybe I am slow about the irony bit. The song White Christmas was written
by a Jewish Irving Berlin about a holiday named after
Y'shua ben Yosef whose mother Miriam and stepfather Yosef were both from
the House of David of the tribe of Judah born in
Bethlehem. It all seems Jewish to me.
Ed Kindred a goy who revels in his Jewish heritage

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 17:50:54 -0400
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: CD query

From: Bill Young <byoung@[removed];
In my experience, the primary difference between "regular" CDs and
music CDs is the cost.  That has been confirmed by some reviews
I've read on the web.

Which proves you can't believe everything you read on the web!  While
both types of CD-Rs can be used in computer drives, ONLY the "music"
types can be used in stand-alone CD recorders.  There is data on the
blank informing the machine whether it is authorized to be used on a
stand-alone.  The price difference between these two types is not
concerned with quality, but with royalties.  A small fee is tacked onto
the price of "music" CDs to compensate performers and record companies
who feel that they are losing billions of sales due to personal
recording.  What makes this most injust is that despite the RIAA's
crying that home recording takes money away from developing new artists,
most of the money is distributed to the established performers currently
selling the most.  Thus every time you buy a "music" CD-R you are
putting money in the pocket of Garth Brooks whether you like him or
not.  If you use a computer drive, make it a point to NEVER buy a
"music" type CD-R.

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 17:51:57 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Anonymous Stars

On 6/18/02 3:42 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

1)  Radio listeners in those original days were more attuned
to characters than to the actors playing them, and only a minority
of people were concerned with who played what.  I imagine that
for every fan of Amos'n'Andy who knew the names Correll and
Gosden, there were fifty A'n'A fans if not more who would simply
ask "Who??"  At least this is the impression I have about what
audiences expected to know in those days.

Given the huge amount of publicity material published about A&A during
1929-31, you'd think Correll and Gosden would have been household names.
But nevertheless, the "Mr. Fairfax" column in "Radio Guide" frequently
included questions from listeners wondering who Amos and Andy really were
-- and even more interesting, many of these listeners don't seem to have
believed that Amos, the Kingfish, Brother Crawford, Gwindell, and
Lightning were really all the same person. Bill Hay once mentioned that
the question he was asked most often by people he met outside the studio
was "do they *really* play all those characters?"

In fact, Bill Hay was the only performer on the original A&A to be
identified by his real name on the air, other than occasional guest
performers appearing late in the run. The names of Correll and Gosden
were never used in the entire fifteen-year run of the original series. It
wasn't until the early fifties, late in the run of the sitcom version,
that they finally got on-air credit. So unless you were in the habit of
reading the fan mags, you never would have known who A&A really were.

Interestingly, Correll and Gosden originally *wanted* to be anonymous,
because they were afraid the program would be a failure and didn't want
to be dragged down with it when it flopped. They went to considerable
lengths to conceal their real identities during the first months of "Sam
and Henry" -- even to the point of hiding their identities from
co-workers at WGN -- but too many sharp-eared listeners penetrated the
dialect and recognized their voices from their song-and-patter program.

Another good example of a program where the lead actor remained anonymous
for many years was "Superman" -- and one has to wonder what a child might
have thought, had he or she happened to tune in one morning on "The
Goldbergs," to hear the very recognizable voice of Clark Kent shrilly
promoting Duz and calling himself "Clayton Collyer."

Elizabeth

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 17:52:50 -0400
From: "jsouthard" <jsouthard@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Captain Marvel's Publisher

In the 123 OTR Digest, Lee  wrote that DC sued Marvel over Captain Marvel. I
am sorry but the original Captain Marvel was published by the Fawcett
Company. The two Fawcett brothers, I believe, settled the suit by dropping
all or most of their comics. A later Captain Marvel ( no relation to the
earlier Shazam character) was created by Stan Lee and Marvel comics in the
1960s. He was their first superhero and he took a back seat to Spiderman and
X-Men. DC tried to resurrect the original Cap by calling the comic Shazam,
and a short lived TV Show starring the great radio actor Les Tremayne.
In 1940, Republic Pictures failed to win the Superman character so they made
a deal with Fawcett and made a serial called :"The adventures of Captain
Marvel" with Tom Tyler as the Captain and Frank Caughlin as his alter ego
Billy Batson. It is a far superior serial to the two Columbia Superman
Serials of the late 40s. Personally I enjoyed Captain Marvel, Jr. drawn by
Mac Raboy.
John Southard

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 17:53:26 -0400
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  "Baby Snooks"/"Funny Girl"

          To the member who, sadly, never saw the movie
"Funny Girl", I can state categorically there was a
reference to "Baby Snooks" in  it.  For those who doubt,
it came when B. Streisand's Fanny  Brice is fighting
with the character played by Omar Sharif in her dressing
room.  Someone once told me that there was a shot of
Streisand coming offstage dressed as "Baby Snooks"
after an OTR performance.  I doubt that though, since it
probably would have required buying the copyright to the
OTR show.  I can say for sure I don't recall any of the
"Baby Snooks" material being performed  in "Funny Girl".

Kenneth Clarke

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 17:53:46 -0400
From: Ga6string@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Suspense piece on NPR

Charlie writes:

Anyone else hear the short piece All Things Considered did on Suspense
last evening?

Yes, I did. The piece was in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the
program. I was very confused when I heard it, and here's why: When it came
on, I was just getting back into my van after picking up my daughter from day
care. I'd been listening to a cassette tape episode of "The Whistler" on the
ride over to pick her up, but I'd popped the tape out when I got there. Then
when I got back in and turned the ignition, here comes the intro to
"Suspense" over the radio. I was bewildered for a minute!: "What happened to
'The Whistler'?" I wish the piece had been longer.

Speaking of "The Whistler," I saw the old Jack Nicholson film, "The Two
Jakes," on AMC not long ago -- it's a detective story set in California in
the '40s -- and the movie featured a long part of the Whistler intro playing
over the radio in Nicholson's car. Cool!

Bryan

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 17:54:19 -0400
From: Ga6string@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: RSI tapes

Tony writes, re: defective/damaged RSI tapes:

I did not call them because it was long past the 30 days before I knew,
so I figured it was not worth bothering since they would probably tell me I
was stuck.

As I've mentioned before, my customer service experiences with defective
product from Radio Spirits has been outstanding. (A tip: Call them. Do not
e-mail.) They've always replaced the defective product, regardless of how
much time had passed. Of course, this was before their recent relocation
(and, apparently, other changes) so I can't say what they'll do now.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but my last three RSI catalogs have
not featured single tapes for sale. Looks like they've abandoned that market,
yes?

Bryan

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 18:15:12 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Benny & Waukegan

Tom Barnett mentioned:

Similar to the wonderful celebration we have just seen in Waukegan, Ill
for Jack Benny. . . .

Not to be blasphemous, but I wonder if it were not for the long stint that
Jack Benny had on television if he would be the hero of Waukegan that he is
today?  As a fellow fan of otr, I would hope so, but I suspect the town's
worship is based more on his television personality (which didn't vary much
from his radio personality - except for his visual style).

I guess I would ask both Laura Leff and anyone who attend (ed) the
celebration there how much of the celebration is based upon his radio
career. Quite honestly, I wonder if I had not gotten interested in old time
radio just how aware of Jack Benny I would have been had it not been for
his television career around which I grew up.  So I wonder how many
Waukegan (ians?) are aware of Benny's radio career?

Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 21:37:21 -0400
From: "Read G. Burgan" <rgb@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  New Book On Radio

Howard Blue's forthcoming book, "Words at War" has received its first
critical comment. Here it is:

-"This may well be the best book on American radio ever written.  Blue
has captured the vividness of network radio in its golden era, meeting
the crises of war with intelligence as well as drama (and comedy); and
the now forgotten national tragedy of Cold War era crackdown on the very
creators of the best programs.  Radio has never recovered, and now we
know the reasons.

Paul Buhle
Brown University
author of "Popular Culture in America," "Radical Hollywood,"   etc

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 21:39:42 -0400
From: Taylor401306@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Elvis & Captain Marvel
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

In a message dated 6/18/02 3:41:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:

Those people who have recently posted their preference for Captain Marvel
over Superman may be interested to learn that Elvis Presley was a major
Captain Marvel fan. A ring that he gave to his cronies showed the "Shazam"
lightning bolt and was accompanied by the letters TCB, which stood for
"Taking Care of Business."

I've also heard that Elvis modeled his haircut after Captain Marvel, Jr.

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 21:39:04 -0400
From: gad4@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Captain Marvels desmise.

While I dont believe that Captain Marvel is a copy of Superman, I think
there is some evidence that certain executives in Faucett wanted it to be
that and that unfortunately didnt make it easy for faucett in the courts.
For example the cover of Whiz #2 seems very similar to Action #1, but then
again the amount of similar covers out there is numerous.  Keep in mind that
one thing dc had on their side is that Superma was the first super powered
super hero. So in that time period, perhaps all other super heroes, and that
whole genre, had come into being becuase of his presence. Im not saying it
justified a lawsuit, but I can see how corporate executives would try to
pull from the market anything similar to the genre which they created.
Captain Marvel did outsell Superman and that would be the one to go for.

When the ending took place, we're talking late 40s early 50s. We're starting
to enter the slow period of comic book sales. The golden age characters was
fading out due to lack of sales, and the silver age  hadnt come around yet.
Since comics sales were slowing, and faucett was considering dropping the
line anyway, it wasnt as big an issue as we would think it was. They were
anxious to get this lawsuit that was going on for years over with, and both
sides wanted to settle it.

Its interesting to consider how things would have developed if this had not
happened. Perhaps Faucett might have been able to keep the character going a
little longer.  If they didnt have the hassles of the lawsuit connected, its
possible that they could have kept it going. Superman and Batman (and maybe
wonder woman) were the only heroes who lived through the Fifties. However,
Faucett had published lots of other magazines, pulps, etc, so they did not
have to rely on keeping comics going.

If Faucett had kept the characters, we dont know how it would have evolved,
and we definately wouldnt have had the CCBeck revival that took place in the
70s. Its interesting that the handful of books from the 70s has brought the
character forefront to a whole new generation plus spawned a terrible live
action show which brought even more name recognition. Hopefully, dc comics
finds someone in the spirit of ccbeck to keep it going. So far, no one has
had his touch.

I didnt hear any more responses to the radio show question. Based upon the
ads that were quoted, it appears that at least a pilot was made. Unless
someone knows something different, I would assume that its either lost or
the disk is in the hands of some unknown collector who may or may not be
willing to release it.  My assumption is that its more likely in the hands
of someone in the comic field. Tony or some other comic folks might be able
to research this or fill us in better.

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

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 22:25:05 -0400
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: OTR themed TV?

Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; asked:
 > is W. Allen's "Radio Days" considered to be the best
 > or the greatest post-OTR-era film about OTR?

I recall it has having been a pleasant but not extraordinary movie. But
I'll add to the question by inquiring about tv series, also, involving
OTR. I didn't have cable when Remember WENN was on, but I really enjoyed
the _Homefront_ series, which partially involved OTR broadcasting. That
show also boasted the prettiest women on television (don't remember
about the men). I really hated to see that show go down so quickly.

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #224
*********************************************

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