------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2009 : Issue 171
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
SoundScriber and WLW JFK Days [ LBiel <[removed]@[removed]; ]
9-6 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Joan Alexander Memorial Service [ Doug Douglass <dougdouglass@[removed] ]
A flame about to be extinguished [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
Jack Benny: Between The New And The [ "Joe" <jpostove@[removed]; ]
Memories are made of this [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
9-7 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Bradley Kincaid To Be Feted [ Bill Knowlton <udmacon1@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 20:29:44 -0400
From: LBiel <[removed]@[removed];
To: "Bulletin Board, OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: SoundScriber and WLW JFK Days
Mike Martini described the SoundScriber logging recorder used by WLW to
record the JFK Assassination day of broadcasting recording being made
available by Neal Ellis. He mentioned that it used slow moving 2-inch
tape with a "rotating head (like on more recent VCRs)" Actually it is
more like the original Ampex Quadraplex videotape recorder, because the
heads move transversly across the tape at a right angle to the edge.
The two machines were developed at about the same time -- my asumption
is that SoundScriber copied the concept from the Ampex Quad VTR. Other
later videorecording systems use a helical head scanning system where
the heads move across the tape at a steep angle because the tape is
wrapped around a head-drum with the head wheel rotating horizontally
across the angled tape wrap.
Many other stations used this machine. In the late 70s I saw a bank of
four of them at WOR being used for WOR, WOR-FM, WOR-TV audio, and the
extra being the change-over machine so that one could be started before
a tape would be changed so there would be no gap in the recordings. I
think WABC also used them.
By the way, I have one of these machines and would love to be able to
try it out if there are other WLW tapes (or any others) that need
transferring.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 20:29:50 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 9-6 births/deaths
September 6th births
09-06-1881 - Charlie Dale - NYC - d. 11-16-1971
comedian: (Smith and Dale) "Al Jolson"; "Kate Smith"
09-06-1885 - Otto Kruger - Toledo, OH - d. 9-6-1974
actor: "Nobody's Children"
09-06-1888 - Joseph P. Kennedy - East Boston, MA - d. 11-18-1969
ambassador to Great Britain: "Ambassador Joseph Kennedy"
09-06-1889 - John Charles Thomas - Meyersdale, PA - d. 12-13-1960
singer: "John Charles Thomas Program"; "Westinghouse Program"
09-06-1889 - Louis Silvers - NYC - d. 3-26-1954
music director: "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-06-1894 - Billy Mills - Flint, MI - d. 10-20-1971
conductor: "Fibber McGee and Molly"; "Great Gildersleeve"; "Amos 'n'
Andy"
09-06-1899 - Billy Rose - NYC - d. 2-10-1966
creator-stager: "Jumbo Fire Chief Program"
09-06-1900 - Charles Kemper - Oklahoma Territory - d. 5-12-1950
actor: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
09-06-1901 - Joseph Vitale - NYC - d. 6-5-1994
actor: "Great Plays"; "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
09-06-1902 - Morgan Beatty - Little Rock, AR - d. 7-4-1975
newscaster: "News of the World"
09-06-1904 - Maxie Rosenbloom - NYC - d. 3-6-1976
light heavyweight boxing champion, actor: "Slapsie Maxie Show"
09-06-1904 - Mildred Baker - Atlanta, GA - d. unknown
actor: "Roses and Drums"; "Cavalcade of America"; "By Kathleen Norris"
09-06-1904 - Ted Royal Dewar - Skedee, Oklahoma Territory - d. 3-27-1981
orchestrator: "Wayne King and His Orchestra"; Ted Weems and His
Orchestra"
09-06-1908 - Paul Lavalle - Beacon, NY - d. 6-24-1997
conductor: "Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street"; "Dinah Shore
Show"
09-06-1909 - Michael Gordon - Baltimore, MD - d. 4-29-1993
film director: "Screen Director's Playhouse"
09-06-1911 - Eleazar Lipsky - d. 2-14-1993
district attorney, writer: "Indictment"
09-06-1914 - Ken Vogt - Wisconsin - d. 10-10-2002
disk jockey: WMIL; WFOX; WRIT Milwaukee, Wisconsin
09-06-1915 - Kleve Kirby - d. 3-5-1949
actor: John Murray "Today's Children"
09-06-1916 - Marie Green - Antrim, NH
vocalist: "Everything Goes"; "Hobby Lobby"; "Alec Templeton Time"
09-06-1917 - John Berry - The Bronx, NY - d. 11-29-1999
director: "Screen Director's Playhouse"
09-06-1918 - Jay Stewart - Summitville, IN - d. 9-17-1989
announcer: "Great Gildersleeve"; "Hollywood Barn Dance"; "Spotlight on
Music"
09-06-1919 - John Mitchum - Bridgeport, CT - d. 11-27-2001
actor: (Brother of Robert Mitchum) "This Is Your FBI"
09-06-1925 - Jimmy Reed - Dunleith, MS - d. 8-29-1976
blues singer, guitarist, harmonica playere: "One Night Stand"
09-06-1927 - Waring Jones - Minneapolis, MN - d. 1-10-2008
announcer: Armed Forces Radio
09-06-1930 - Bernard Jaffe - d. 8-2-1993
science writer: "Information, Please"
09-06-1934 - Jody McCrea - Los Angeles, CA - d. 4-4-2009
host" Armed Forces Radio Channel
09-06-1939 - Ray Barfield - Thomasville, GA
producer, host: "Shakespeare Scene by Scene"
September 6th deaths
01-22-1914 - Dick Willard - d. 9-6-2000
announcer, emcee: "The Strange Dr. Weird"; "Take it Easy Time"
02-07-1903 - Graeme Lorimer - Wyncote, PA - d. 9-6-1983
writer: "Maudie's Diary"
02-09-1914 - Ernest Tubb - Crisp, TX - d. 9-6-1984
singer: (The Texas Troubador) "Grand Ole Opry"
02-15-1910 - Vladimir Selinsky - Kiev, Russia - d. 9-6-1984
music: "The Doctor Fights"; "The FBI in Peace and War"; "The Electric
Theatre"
03-05-1881 - Toby Gremmer - Bainbridge, GA - d. 9-6-1981
actor: Hermit "The Hermit's Cave"
03-23-1910 - Akira Kurosawa, Tokyo, Japan - d. 9-6-1998
film director: NHK Tokyo, Japan
05-04-1886 - Shelton Brooks - Amesburg, Ontario - d. 9-6-1975
composer, author, pianist: "Cavalcade of Music"
06-27-1911 - Dr. Jay Morton - Hollywood, CA - d. 9-6-2003
Best know for the catchphrase "Look; up in the sky, etc." on "Superman"
07-04-1900 - Gertrude Lawrence - London, England - d. 9-6-1952
singer, actor: "Royal Gelatin Hour"; "Campbell Playhouse"; "Radio
Reader's Digest"
07-11-1914 - Tommy Bartlett - Milwaukee, WI - d. 9-6-1998
emcee: "Welcome Travlers"
07-18-1918 - Jane Frazee - Duluth, MN - d. 9-6-1985
vaudeville act with sister
09-06-1885 - Otto Kruger - Toledo, OH - d. 9-6-1974
actor: "Nobody's Children"
09-07-1908 - Max Kaminsky - Brockton, MA - d. 9-6-1994
jazz musician: :This Is Jazz"
09-26-1875 - Edmund Gwenn - Glamorgan, Wales - d. 9-6-1959
actor: Ebenezer Scrooge "Christmas Carol"; "Lux Radio Theatre
10-02-1909 - Alexander Raymond - New Rochelle - d. 9-6-1956
cartoonist: Created Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim
10-12-1935 - Luciano Pavarotti - Modena, Italy - d. 9-6-2007
tenor: "Metropolitan Opera"
11-14-1920 - Johnny Desmond - Detroit, MI - d. 9-6-1985
singer: "I Sustain the Wings"; "Philip Morris Frolics"; "Songs for Sale"
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 20:29:56 -0400
From: Doug Douglass <dougdouglass@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Joan Alexander Memorial Service
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X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
>From The New York Times - Sunday, September 6.
A Memorial Service for Joan Alexander Stanton will be held on Tuesday,
September 22nd at 10am at St. Thomas More Church, 65 East 89th Street, New
York City.
Doug Douglass
Hotmail. is up to 70% faster. Now good news travels really fast.
_HYGN_faster:082009
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 20:30:04 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: A flame about to be extinguished
As the capstone 15,762nd episode of The Guiding Light (the definite article
being carried over from radio, which no self-respecting modern reporter is
probably aware of) draws to its inevitable conclusion on Friday, Sept. 18,
we can expect lots of verbal (live and on tape) and published farewells to
that "longest-running drama in the history of broadcasting." Some of them
could be tear-jerkers for the nostalgia-minded. But I suspect more will
react as simply a means of doing business, and a necessary gallop off the
scene.
Few of these will elaborate on the program's humble beginnings in radio.
Alas, in some situations will that word even be mentioned? Creator Irna
Phillips, the granddame of daytime drama, may fail to draw proper respect,
too. It was she, a Jewish schoolteacher-writer, who -- inspired by a
Christian minister of her acquaintance -- developed the character of Rev.
Dr. John Ruthledge, a kindly cleric of a nonsectarian flock in the mythical
town of Five Points, Calif., the original protagonist of her
well-intentioned storyline. Ruthledge's mission was to demonstrate how to
live a good life through understanding and patience. "No matter how
difficult your problems may be," said he, "others have been faced with the
same obstacles, and with faith and determination and courage have managed to
overcome them."
When Phillips sold some of her narratives to Procter & Gamble to remain
solvent and pay some legal bills she had incurred, The Guiding Light and The
Road of Life each fetched $50,000 while a spinoff of Light, The Right to
Happiness, brought $75,000. She was hired as writer-consultant by P&G and
persisted in similar arrangements with myriad radio and TV washboard weepers
for decades.
Back to the present. Some who have closely followed the series in
contemporary times may be filled with angst, rage, hurt, disbelief and
despair. That won't be many if the falling ratings are to be believed. I'm
not in that group and never paid much attention to it then or now. But I do
recall my own sense of frustration when Perry Mason disappeared from the
airwaves at the end of 1955, the most gripping, spine-tingling daytime drama
I ever recall hearing, thanks to writer Irving Vendig's fabulous storylines.
I was also around on "the day drama died" Nov. 25, 1960, when the last of
those daily soap operas that had been airing for several decades vanished as
if they had never been there. The switchboards at CBS lit up like Christmas
trees, and thousands spewed their venom. It was like a death in the family
to millions across the nation.
The flame's about to go out on The Guiding Light after 72 years. As the
last throwback to daytime radio drama (it being the only one still airing
that was heard on radio), there is definitely something poignant there. I
wonder if some of those modern scribes will be able to capture that and
convey it to a public that includes people who still "remember when."
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 20:30:12 -0400
From: "Joe" <jpostove@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Jack Benny: Between The New And The Reruns
In Jim Cox's book "Say Goodnight Gracie" (a fantastic tome on the last years
of otr) he notes that Jack Benny's radio show was cancelled by CBS as of
5/22/55. However, as Jim writes this was not Benny's "last gasp" on radio;
his show was rerun on CBS from 10/28/56 until 6/22/58 (in his regular Sunday
night at 7 slot).
My question is what did CBS program in the Benny slot between 5/22/55 and
the return of reruns on 10/28/56? And I'm assuming that CBS continued to
program the 7-7:30pm slot on Sunday's after Jack's departure in 1958, so
does anyone know what was heard then, and for how long? I'm also curious as
to how long CBS continued to program that hallowed half hour.
OK, last question? Was the Jack Benny radio program ever syndicated
nationally?
Thanks, crew!
Joe Postove
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 20:37:11 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Memories are made of this
Being a baseball addict and living in a Triple A town, I'm there frequently
pulling for the local team. But I also do what lots of spectators do, and
that's head for the gates before the last pitch is thrown and the last out
is recorded. Usually I'm moving that way in the top of the 9th because
we've fielded a team with a stellar record the last couple of seasons. It's
been just like it used to be when we won year after year in the 1980s and
1990s in the old rambling stadium at the fairgrounds. Now we're at a more
"intimate" smaller, newer facility downtown.
I don't recall the last time I stuck around 'til the end, until one night
last week when my grandkids wanted to "run the bases" after the game. It's
one of those things you can do in Triple A that I think might get you
arrested in the Majors, where anybody who wants to goes down on the field
and runs just like those potential stars after the game.
That's when I heard it. Above the boisterous noise of a happy crowd, as we
were leaving, there it was again ... something carried over from the old
stadium that took me back to hundreds of nights when it was easy to get out
of the parking lot there and we frequently stayed to the game's end. On the
PA system we heard the familiar "Happy trails to you ... until we meet again
... happy trails to you ... keep smiling until [removed]" It was Roy and
Dale. And it brought smiles to our faces. Our heroes, whether wearing a
catcher's mitt or a six-gun holster, were rolled into one as that
unmistakable nostalgic tune wafted above the crowd. And for a few moments,
we basked in glories past.
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 20:37:19 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 9-7 births/deaths
September 7th births
09-07-1886 - Alan Devitt - d. 1-28-1955
actor: "Famous Jury Trial"; "The March of Time"
09-07-1888 - Alec Harford - London, England - d. 3-31-1955
actor: "Escape"; "NBC University Theatre"; "Romance"
09-07-1891 - Roscoe Karns - San Bernadino, CA - d. 2-6-1970
actor: "Hollywood Hotel"
09-07-1900 - Emerson Treacy - Philadelphia, PA - d. 1-10-1967
actor: Fred Thompson "One Man's Family"
09-07-1903 - Margaret Landon - Somers, WI - d. 12-4-1993
author: "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-07-1903 - Milton Brown - Stephenville, TX - d. 4-13-1936
singer: "The Musical Brownies"
09-07-1905 - Ivy Maude Baker Priest - Kimberly, UT - d. 6-23-1975
treasurer of the united states: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
09-07-1907 - Johnny McAfee - d. 10-18-1982
vocalist: (Harry James Band) "Chesterfield Time"
09-07-1908 - Max Kaminsky - Brockton, MA - d. 9-6-1994
jazz musician: :This Is Jazz"
09-07-1908 - Paul Brown - Norwalk, OH - d. 8-5-1991
football coach: "Greatest Sports Thrills"
09-07-1909 - Elia Kazan - Constantinople, Turkey - d. 9-28-2003
film director, actor: "Free Company"; "Philip Morris Playhouse"
09-07-1910 - Don Ried - d. 9-16-1996
vocalist: "The Jack Kirkwood Show"
09-07-1913 - Anthony Quayle - Ainsdale, England - d. 10-20-1989
actor: Guest Panelist "[removed]"
09-07-1918 - Al Christy - Kansas City, KS - d. 3-3-1995
started his career in radio
09-07-1919 - Louise Bennett - Kingston, Jamaica - d. 7-26-2006
poet, folklorist: commented on social matters as Aunty Roachy
09-07-1920 - Mende Brown - d. 2-2-2002
director: "The Affairs of Peter Salem"
09-07-1921 - Art Ferrante - NYC
pianist: (Ferrante and Teicher) "The Zero Hour"; "Hollywood Radio
Theatre"
09-07-1923 - Peter Lawford - London, England - d. 12-24-1984
actor: "Radio Reader's Digest"; "Suspense"
09-07-1927 - Don Messick - Buffalo, NY - d. 10-24-1997
actor: "Let George Do It"; "Horizons West"; "NBC University Theatre"
09-07-1930 - Sonny Rollins - Harlem, NY
jazz saxophonist: "White House Jazz Festival"
09-07-1936 - Buddy Holly - Lubbock, TX - d. 2-3-1959
singer: "Sunday Party"; "Buddy and Bob Show"
September 7th deaths
01-04-1896 - Everett Dirksen - Pekin, IL - d. 9-7-1969
[removed] senator: "Meet the Press"; "American Forum on the Air"
03-29-1919 - Robert Enders - Pennsylvania - d. 9-7-2007
producer: "Our Land Be Right"
05-04-1923 - Godfrey Quigley - Jerusalem - d. 9-7-1994
producer: "The Kennedys of Castleross"
05-18-1912 - John Campbell Crosby - Milwaukee, WI - d. 9-7-1991
radio critic: New York Herald Tribune
05-20-1934 - Ken Boyer - Liberty, MO - d. 9-7-1982
baseball player: "Tops in Sports"
05-29-1911 - Vivi Janiss - Nebraska - d. 9-7-1988
actor: (Married to John Larch) Kit Calvert "Aunt Mary"
06-06-1917 - Maria Montez - Barahona, Dominican Republic - d. 9-7-1951
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
06-20-1924 - Billie Lou Watt - St. Louis, MO - d. 9-7-2001
actor: "Land of the Free"; "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
07-29-1892 - Horace Braham - London, England - d. 9-7-1955
actor: Charles Lang "Wendy Warren and the News"; Ernest Benning "Big
Sister"
09-14-1918 - Mike Stokey - Shreveport, LA - d. 9-7-2003
announcer: "One Night Stand"
09-24-1900 - Ham Fisher - Wilkes-Barre, PA - d. 9-7-1955
cartoonist: (Creator of Joe Palooka) "Raleigh Room"; "Philco Radio Time"
09-26-1889 - Frank Crumit - Jackson, OH - d. 9-7-1943
singer, emcee: "Blackstone Plantation"; "Battle of the Sexes";
"Singing Sweethearts"
10-13-1900 - Georgia Backus - Columbus, OH - d. 9-7-1983
actor: Peg Riley "Life of Riley"; Portia Brent "Brenthouse"; Doris
Foster "A Date with Judy"
10-17-1893 - Spring Byington - Colorado Springs, CO - d. 9-7-1971
actor: Lily Ruskin "December Bride"
11-07-1906 - Red Ingle - Toledo, OH - d. 9-7-1965
vocalist: (Spike Jones and his City Slickers) "The Spike Jones Show"
11-27-1890 - Gladys Rice - Philadelphia, PA - d. 9-7-1983
singer: "Roxy's Gang"; "Lucky Strike Dance Orchestra"; "Voice of
Firestone"
12-17-1900 - Norman Cloutier - Hartford, CT - d. 9-7-1962
orchestra leader: "Cloutier Calling"; "Cosmopolitan Melodies"
12-20-1920 - Dennis Morgan - Prentice, WI - d. 9-7-1994
actor, singer: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "[removed] Steel Hour"; "Screen Guild
Theatre"
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 20:38:28 -0400
From: Bill Knowlton <udmacon1@[removed];
To: oldtime radio <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Bradley Kincaid To Be Feted
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Pioneer WLS National Barn Dance balladeer Bradley Kincaid will be honored with
a plaque in the Starr-Gennett "Walkway Of Stars" early Saturday evening, Sept.
12, in Richmond IN.
Richmond was the home of the Starr Piano Company and from 1914 to 1934
operated Gennett Records and various subsidiary labels that attracted scores
of black, jazz and pioneer country music artusts to its shedlike recording
studio.
also included in this stream were radio broadcasters from Chicago and
Cincinnati.
After his great introductory career at WLS, Bradley spent the next quarter
century going from one high power station to another selling his songbooks and
playing area venues until he felt that he'd totally worked the territory.
Bradley was heard over WTIC, Hartford, KDKA, Pittsburgh, WGY and WHAM
in upstate New York, WLW, and even over the NBC network from New York City.
At WBZ, Boston, he nicknamed his sideman Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones.
For awhile on the 40s Bradley was a member of the WSM Grand Ole Opry but left
when he felt that his authentic ballad singing was no longer appropriate to
the program.
Bradley retired in 1950 after purchasing WSWO in Springfield, Ohio and putting
it into the black. He lived into his mid nineties.
More information: [removed]
BILL KNOWLTON
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End of [removed] Digest V2009 Issue #171
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