------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 01 : Issue 136
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Re:TEN-SECOND DELAY BROADCASTS [Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Re: Network Backbone Hardware [LDunham509@[removed] ]
MOYLAN SISTERS/LONGEST RUNNING PERFO ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
Re: Till Death Do Us Part ["Gerald D. Wright" <gdwright@atdial]
Murrow Boys [Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed]; ]
Golden Radio Library [Joe Salerno <salernoj@[removed]; ]
Marian Seldes [Osborneam@[removed] ]
donald buka [leonardfass@[removed] (Leonard Fass]
Re: Great! Another Fan heard from. [[removed]@[removed] ]
Vinyl Memories ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
The Apple Tree [Cancilla Dominick <[removed]@buckc]
Re: Long-Running Roles [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
Suspense overated?! and Tooth Fairy ["Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self]
Radio show about Abe Lincoln ["mike" <n5pwp@[removed]; ]
Sign off lines [JackBenny@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 10:06:05 -0400
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:TEN-SECOND DELAY BROADCASTS
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
Does any one have any idea when the FCC started the ten-second
delay on all live broadcasting? All of the so-called "live"
shows today are on a ten-second delay before airing to beep out
any unwanted material, profanity, etc.
There is not now, nor was there ever, an FCC rule mandating a delay.
Stations taking phone calls on the air started doing this on their own
in the 1960s. There are many stations not using a delay--if they trust
their audience.
I appeared on many talk-shows during the seventies and eighties,
and they had a 7" reel recording at 16 ips to catch any errors.
Also I noticed the show would start 10seconds before the hour.
Owens L. Pomeroy
16 ips sure is an unusual speed! :-) Having only one recorder running
would not set up a delay. The tape would have to be looped over to a
second machine to play the tape for the delayed airing. Although
starting the program early is a sign that it is being delayed, if they
weren't taking phone calls from the outside there would be no real
reason for the delay, so a single recorder might just be making a check
of the program. There are other ways of doing a delay. There is a
digital machine which allows you to start the program on time and
gradually build up a delay thru pitch-shifting and digital delay.
Another way is to use a continuous loop tape cartridge machine with a
play head before an erase and record head. The delay will be as long as
the tape loop in the cartridge is.
The engineers need to be well trained on how to time their responses.
Back in 1970 at WNUR at Northwestern Univ. we had been having some
trouble with some of the speakers at rallies for the Chicago Seven we
were covering live, so I set up a dual recorder delay. The problem was,
when the obscenities came our engineer back at the studio cut off the
air delay for seven seconds and then restored it just in time to
broadcast the obscenity after seven seconds of silence!!!!! This
happened about three times! And it sure was noted on the complaint this
ultra-conservative sent to the FCC (he objected more to the politics of
the speakers rather than the obscenities--those were just a convenience
to help him make a complaint about the airing of the rallies. The FCC
realized this and did not penalize the station.)
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 17:34:42 -0400
From: LDunham509@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Network Backbone Hardware
In a message dated 05/02/2001 9:39:41 AM Central Daylight Time, Bill Murtough
writes:
Recently someone posted that the networks used shortwave broadcasting as
backups for the telco network. Not so! [removed];T. handled the transmission
of network programs and had plenty of spare lines for backup purposes.
I vaguely remember hearing in a broadcast course I took in college -- it's
been almost 30 years, so the memory is a bit hazy -- that the NBC Red and
Blue Networks used different physical networks, as if one would use [removed];T.
and the other was using another company like ITT or Western Union, or one was
on a telephone network and the other used a converted telegraph network. Can
anyone comment?
Larry Dunham
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 17:55:01 -0400
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: MOYLAN SISTERS/LONGEST RUNNING PERFORMER
In answer to the request about the longest running performance in
radio,how could you leave out Ann Elstner Matthews (Stella Dallas 1937-1956)
Gosden & Correll (A&A 1929-1954) Arthur Hughes (Just Plain Bill
1932-1957).
* ********************************************************************
The Moylan Sisters: They were quite unique as far as singers go. They were
two sisters who sang in - I kid - you not - three-part harmony. One of the
sisters had an unusual voice that could change pitch at will.
* ********************************************************************
As far as I know, the oldest radio station, would be KDKA in Pittsburg, PA,
dating back to the early 20's.
Owens L. Pomeroy
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 17:55:37 -0400
From: "Gerald D. Wright" <gdwright@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Till Death Do Us Part
Edwin asked:
Hi i have a difficult question there is a suspense episode called til
death
do us part and there is also a mysterious traveler episode 11/11/48 same
title are these shows the same script.
- -----------
I think "Till Death Do Us Part" might be the most popular title ever
used on radio shows. A quick search on this title from my collection of
radio logs found seventeen examples stretching from the Suspense show in
1942 to the Theater Five show of April 6, 1965, and even Gunsmoke got in
on the act.
Suspense - [removed]
Mysterious Traveler - [removed] [[removed]]
Whistler, The - [removed]
Silver Theater - [removed]
Sealed Book - [removed] [[removed]]
Inner Sanctum Mysteries - [removed]
Murder at Midnight - [removed]
Inner Sanctum Mysteries - [removed]
Whistler, The - [removed]
Mysterious Traveler - [removed]
Cabin B-13 - [removed]
Let George Do It - [removed]
Whistler, The - [removed]
Inner Sanctum Mysteries - [removed]
Gunsmoke - [removed]
Suspense - [removed]
Theater Five - [removed]
Not having listened to all these, the only thing definite is that the
Mysterious Traveler show of July 30, 1944 is the same story used on The
Sealed Book in 1945.
Of interest is that The Whistler and The Mysterious Traveler episodes of
July 30, 1944 were both titled "Till Death Do Us Part", now I'll have to
go searching for these two shows out of curiosity.
Gerry Wright
ZoneZebra Productions
San Francisco
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 17:56:49 -0400
From: Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Murrow Boys
In March Jim Widner made a brief mention of THE MURROW BOYS: PIONEERS ON
THE FRONT LINES OF BROADCAST JOURNALISM (Houghton Mifflin, 1996) by the
married couple Stanley Cloud and Lynne Olson.
It's possible to hear Dick Estell read this entire book (39 chapters)
aloud at [removed]
Broadcast journalism prior to 1950 is covered in chapter one through
chapter 27, and the last chapter brings the history to the mid-1990s.
One can easily skip from chapter to chapter with the dropdown.
DICK ESTELL: [removed]
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY on THE MURROW BOYS: "A lively colloquial history of
broadcast journalism that is so exciting one's impulse is to read it in
a single sitting."
Bhob @ FUSEBOX @ [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 17:57:19 -0400
From: Joe Salerno <salernoj@[removed];
To: OTR List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Golden Radio Library
Anybody heard of this? I recently acquired a tape of theirs, wondered if
they are still around. Alta-Vista found nada.
Joe Salerno
Video Works! Is it working for you?
PO Box 273405 - Houston TX 77277-3405 [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 17:59:16 -0400
From: Osborneam@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Marian Seldes
Did anyone else notice that Marian Seldes appeared in A&E's latest
Nero Wolfe endeavor, "Champagne for One" last Sunday? The concluding
part will be broadcast this Sunday.
Arlene Osborne
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 18:02:13 -0400
From: leonardfass@[removed] (Leonard Fass)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: donald buka
of let's pretend. did he also do animal voices?
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 18:02:15 -0400
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Great! Another Fan heard from.
Hi Harlan,
Phew - when I posted that query about Archie Andrews, I didn't expect you to
answer it yourself ! But I couldn't have asked for a more definitive
answer. It makes sense when put that way. Especially when you think how
many of the surviving OTR shows have adverts in them.
Now that you've answered that little conundrum - may I ask something else ?
Your message commented on how you were 13 when you were making the Archie
show. It set me wondering what life must have been like for you back then ?
Was the show just a job, the same as a paper route or working in a drug
store, or was it a major achievement that meant you couldn't walk down the
street without screaming girls wanting to speak to you ?? (I suspect it was
somewhere between the two !)
How did your week work - did you still go to school ? go out with your
friends ? I presume it must have had some effect, if nothing else because
of the money you were making. It must have been a lot for a teenager even
in those days.
I can only imagine what life must have been like then. I'm 37 and live in
the UK, so I only know about OTR days from listening to the shows. No first
hand experience or even second hand from relatives.
Paul
[ADMINISTRIVIA: FYI, Harlan is going to be incommunicado for a little while;
I'm certain he'll answer posed questions when he's got a little more time. So
don't worry that he's not answering immediately. --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 18:02:11 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Vinyl Memories
Bryan Wright, speaking of his OTR vinyl (LP) collection, points out,
... these LP's offer the highest-fidelity recordings available of OTR
shows (I've got a couple of "The Shadow" broadcasts on LP with stunningly
clean sound quality) and so may be of some use yet, even with the
takeover of cassettes and [removed];<
There was a The Shadow LP released in the late 1960s or early-to-mid
1970s that was _not_ an OTR show; it was recorded as a direct LP release.
I had that once. As I recall, it used the cast with Bret Morrison. The
shows were genuine; it was just that they hadn't been broadcast.
In the mid 1970's, with the OTR "revival," several record labels were
formed to re-issue OTR shows on 12" vinyl LP's for home use: Memorabilia,
Radiola, Mark 56, Nostalgia Lane, and Golden Age come to mind first.
Thousands of records were produced, but unfortunately, except for
Radiola, most rarely printed anything but the series title on their
LP'[removed];<
Sticking to my specialty, there were two Captain Midnight records
released, each with two 15-minute episodes. The first, which
unaccountably had Little Orphan Annie images on the back of the envelops,
had "Adventure #1" on the first side, and "Adventure #2" on the second.
As it happened, one was a late 1947 adventure, "Jewels of the Queen of
Sheba," and a late 1948 adventure, "The Return of Inan Shark." But you'd
never know it from the label or the envelope.
The second, which was labeled "From the Annals of the Secret Squadron,"
had two Skelly Oil shows, which were broadcast prior to the formation of
the Secret Squadron, which didn't come in until Ovaltine assumed
sponsorship.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 18:07:29 -0400
From: Cancilla Dominick <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: The Apple Tree
A couple of digests ago, someone mentioned that The Mercury Summer Theatre
had aired "The Apple Tree". Can anyone tell me if this is an adaptation
Daphne DuMaurier's short story? If so, I would be very interested in
information on getting a copy of it, as this is easily my favorite short
story.
While we're on the subject, I'd be very interested in hearing about OTR
versions of any of DuMaurier's other stories (I know of at least one
performance of Rebecca), or of Shirley Jackson's (I recall hearing one --
rather unfortunate -- version of "The Lottery").
Thanks!
--Dominick
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 20:24:07 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Long-Running Roles
Fritz Ritterspach wonders,
With that said, what about are favorite form of entertainment? Who has had
the longest-running roles in radio? Lets say the first five or, for the
astute, maybe the first ten? I suspect that Father and Mother Barbour on
"One Man's Family", plus Virginia "Ma Perkins" Payne are all right up there.
What do you think???
Here are as many 20+ year character runs as come to mind. In all cases
these are actors playing specific fictional characters, and not
announcers, MCs or other personalities appearing as themselves. (I'm
specifically leaving out people like Jack Benny, George Burns, and Gracie
Allen who played comedy versions of themselves rather than strictly
fictional characters. Also omitted are "house name" personalities like
Martha Deane who weren't real people, but who didn't appear in a
dramatized format)
32 years -- Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll (Amos/Kingfish, Andy
1928-60)
27 years -- J. Anthony Smythe (Father Barbour 1932-1959)
27 years -- Virginia Payne (Ma Perkins) 1933-1960
26 years -- Bernice Berwin (Hazel Barbour) 1933-1959
25 years -- Page Gilman (Jack Barbour) 1933-43, 1946-60
24 years -- Jim and Marian Jordan (Fibber McGee and Molly) 1935-59
23 years -- Minetta Ellen (Mother Barbour) 1932-1955
23 years -- Michael Raffetto (Paul Barbour) 1932-1955
23 years -- Arthur Hughes (Bill Davidson) 1932-55
22 years -- John Todd (Tonto) 1933-55
21 years -- Chet Lauck and Norris Goff (Lum and Abner) 1931-50, 1953-54
21 years -- Ernestine Wade (Sapphire Stevens) 1939-60
Special note should be made of Charita Bauer (Bert Bauer on "The Guiding
Light",) who played the same role for 34 years, beginning on radio in
1950 and continuing on television until December 1984. Another actor who
bridged the radio-TV gap for a long run would be Eddie Anderson, who
first appeared as Rochester in 1937 and made his final in-character
appearance on a Benny TV special in 1970.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 20:24:05 -0400
From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Suspense overated?! and Tooth Fairy update!
[removed] don't think so. Of course, I've only heard about 50
episodes in the little over a year that I've been collecting, but the
ones I've heard have ranged from quite good to stellar! At the
convention I bought about 60 more episodes, but I haven't started
listening to them yet. I have no doubt that they'll be great though.
A few days ago, I asked some questions about The Tooth Fairy. Nobody
seemed to have any answers, so I made some phone calls and got some info.
There were 325 episodes of this show done, and it was syndicated
starting in the early 70's and continuing to today. I can get reels from
the current syndicator for $[removed] each with about 15 [removed] minute episodes
per reel (I know *nothing* about [removed]'t this *expensive*?) I
have everything up to 166 which seems to be pretty common to find, as
I've seen several dealers selling them online. I certainly can't afford
over 300 dollars to complete my run, but I really want to hear them.
Does anyone have any of the remaining 159 episodes?
Rodney
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 21:29:16 -0400
From: "mike" <n5pwp@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Radio show about Abe Lincoln
I remember a show that told about Abe Lincoln's last days before he was
assasinated. I remember, vividly, him telling about a dream he had just days
before about coming downstairs in the White House and seeing a bunch of
mourners and a body lieing in state. I can't for the life of me remember
what the show was. Anyone else remember it?
thanks
__mike
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 10:06:53 -0400
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Sign off lines
"We're a little late folks. Good night."
--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #136
*******************************************
Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
including republication in any form.
If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
[removed]
For Help: [removed]@[removed]
To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]
For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]
To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]
To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]