Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #128
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 4/26/2001 10:39 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                      The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                         Volume 01 : Issue 128
                   A Part of the [removed]!
                           ISSN: 1533-9289


                           Today's Topics:

 Today in radio history               [Joe Mackey <wmackey@[removed]]
 Lawrence Dobkin                      ["Harry Machin, Jr." <harbev5@earthl]
 Dick Gilbert/ DICK GILBERT???        ["Ed Kindred" <kindred@[removed];  ]
 Re: Award Winners                    [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
 SUSPENSE                             [PURKASZ@[removed]                    ]
 Honolulu Bound                       [Steve Domingue <domingue@[removed];  ]
 Canned laughter?                     ["David  Jewett" <davidrj@[removed]]
 Re: The Swinging Years               [SSmith/MHanley <MarkVII@[removed]]
 Billy Idelson                        [danhughes@[removed]                 ]
 Swinging Years/Steve McGuffin        [Bill Beckett <wgrb@[removed];     ]
 Captain Midnight                     [Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];       ]
 Bill Idelson                         [Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];       ]
 $[removed] [removed] answer!        ["Ken Lanza" <klanza1@[removed]; ]
 Captain Midnight Story               ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
 Speed Gibson                         ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
 Re: The $64 Question                 [Joe Mackey <wmackey@[removed]]
 Radio Awards Response                [Trinapreston3@[removed]              ]
 Re: Speed Gibson cast                ["Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];     ]
 The $64 Question                     ["A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed].]
 Re: Speed Gibson                     [GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@]
 Re: Earth Abides                     [GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@]
 Technical Quality                    [William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];]

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 13:27:28 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <wmackey@[removed];
To: otr-otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

   From the AP--
   - In 1874: Radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi was born in Italy.
   Joe

--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 14:01:24 -0400
From: "Harry Machin, Jr." <harbev5@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Lawrence Dobkin

April 25, 2001
Did anyone see Larry Dobkin on the TV show
"Judging Amy" last night?  Even though it had been
50 years since I saw him (and John Dehner) in a
Hollywood restaurant, I recognized him right away.
Harry Machin, Jr.

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 14:39:07 -0400
From: "Ed Kindred" <kindred@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Dick Gilbert/ DICK GILBERT???

Bill Murtaugh's mentioning of Dick Gilbert brought pleasant memories of a
long gone youth. Back in the early 50's while I was a pearl diver at a root
beer stand I would listen to the spinnings of Dick Gilbert on a Mesa,
Arizona station (KTYL I think) when Mesa was a very small town and before
it became the largest unknown city in the US. The station faced the highway
between Tempe and Mesa and people would honk and wave at Dick as they drove
by on their way to water skiing in the Arizona desert lakes.  Dick had
excellent taste in music, occasionally played greetings from people he knew
in the industry (Russ Morgan etc.). Top 40 and Rock he was not.
Lets hear it for Ralph Marterie and other bands, Nat King Cole, Perry Como,
Jo Stafford, Peggy Lee, Toni Arden and a host of others who have faded from
our memories. This was back when high schoolers listened to msic and lyrics
and enjoyed broadway shows.  In just a few short years we went from That's
what I like about the South to Purple People Eaters to Kill the cops and
smack the bitch.  Oh yeah and back then the boys held the girls close when
they danced. Ya know us stodgy ol f__ts did have a good time even in Do Wah
Diddy.
So hoist a cup of Geritol to Lucky Lager Dance time, Music to Dawn and
whatever Burgemeister sponsored on KNBC.
The ol Desert Rat, Ed Kindred

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 15:25:34 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Award Winners

Dan Panke wonders,

I was wondering whether radio ever had awards given for Best Comedy Show,
Best Actor, etc. similar to the Academy Awards or TV awards.

Did the award process just happen with the advent of film?  If there was
awards, to what extent?  Best Sound Effects? Producer?

And if there was awards, is there a site that provides the 'winners' through
the year?

The closest thing to this was probably the Radio Guide Star of Stars
competition, conducted from 1934 to 1943 by Radio Guide (later Movie
Radio Guide) magazine. Awards were given in various categories, with
"Star of Stars" being the most prestigious -- the individual receiving
this honor was considered the top personality in radio for that year.
Winners received a gold medal, presented to them on their own programs by
a representative of the magazine.

What makes this contest interesting is that the awards were decided by
the readers of the magazine. Ballots were included in issues of the
magazine thruout the spring, and readers were encouraged to submit their
choices for each category. Running totals were published as ballots were
tabulated, and the winners were announced in June.

I don't believe a complete listing of Star of Stars winners has ever been
published, but as an example, here are the winners and closest
competitors for the 1934-35 season, as published in the 6/29/35 issue of
"Radio Guide":

Performer ("Star of Stars"):

1. Jack Benny
2. Lanny Ross
3. Eddie Cantor
4. Bing Crosby
5. Joe Penner
6. Fred Allen
7. Frank Parker
8. Will Rogers
9. Edgar Guest
10. Don Ameche

Team:

1. Amos 'n' Andy
2. George Burns and Gracie Allen
3. Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone
4. Myrt and Marge
5. Lum and Abner
6. Elsie Hitz and Nick Dawson
7. Mary Lou and Lanny Ross
8. Jesse Block and Eve Sully
9. Marian and Jim Jordan
10. The Easy Aces

Musical Program:

1. Maxwell House Show Boat
2. Rudy Vallee's Hour
3. Jack Benny's Program
4. Richard Himber's Studebaker Champions
5. Fred Waring's Program
6. WLS Barn Dance
7. Palmolive Beauty Box Theatre
8. Town Hall Tonight
9. Breakfast Club
10. Lombardoland

Dramatic Program:

1. One Man's Family
2. Lux Radio Theatre
3. March of Time
4. First Nighter
5. Dangerous Paradise
6. Today's Children
7. Red Davis
8. Mary Pickford Stock Company
9. Myrt and Marge
10. Death Valley Days

Orchestra:

1. Wayne King
2. Guy Lombardo
3. Richard Himber
4. Ben Bernie
5. Jan Garber
6. Kay Kyser
7. Don Bestor
8. Fred Waring
9. Rudy Vallee
10. Walter Blaufuss

Announcer:

1. James Wallington
2. Don Wilson
3. Harry Von Zell
4. Ted Husing
5. David Ross
6. Milton J. Cross
7. Phil Stewart
8. Don McNeill
9. Tiny Ruffner
10. Jean Paul King

A total of 209,388 ballots were cast by Radio Guide readers over the
course of the 1934-35 contest. What makes the contest most interesting is
the fact that it drew heavy participation from rural listeners -- a
segment of the audience totally ignored by the ratings services then in
use.


Elizabeth

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 15:25:38 -0400
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  SUSPENSE

    Does anyone have any of the so-called "Lost" shows of Suspense?
    It is maddening to have almost the entire collection to play for my kids
over the last three years and to still have some holes in the sequence of
events.
    If anyone is interested in the list of "Missing" shows I would be glad to
send it to them. There seem to be about 110 of them that I do not have.
    This is a very worthwhile show and need to be stored in its entirety for
future generations.
    The magic lives!!!
                        Gwynne

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 16:24:15 -0400
From: Steve Domingue <domingue@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Honolulu Bound

I recently heard of a radio program called "Honolulu Bound". It apparently
starred Phil Baker and the Andrews Sisters and premiered in 1939. Does
anyone have any more information about this show? More importantly, does
anyone know if it is available for download or purchase?

TIA

Steven Domingue

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 16:24:17 -0400
From: "David  Jewett" <davidrj@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Canned laughter?

Here's a question I've been wondering about for years, and have never found
a definitive [removed]

Did classic comedy radio shows use canned laughter?

The more I listen, the more suspicious I become.

And if the laughter wasn't canned, was it perhaps "juiced up"
electronically?

There are lots of clues. For example, you sometimes hear what seem like the
voices of children laughing wildly at jokes or comments that would certainly
be way over the heads of kids. As if the audience laughter doesn't fit the
content.

And sometimes the laughter just seems way to robust for the gag or line.

I'll bet Elizabeth knows the answer regarding Amos and Andy shows, and I'll
bet there are others who have information on this to contribute as well.
"Jughead" from "Archie" for example.

Dave J.
Vancouver, WA
USA

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:29:01 -0400
From: SSmith/MHanley <MarkVII@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: The Swinging Years

George Aust wrote:

I have not been able to locate Chuck Cecil over the internet but I know that he
is living in the San Fernando Valley and that his show is available in some
cities. I think Philadelphia is one of them and that
the station does webcast his show on Saturdays. However the time is not
convenient for me and is so saturated with advertising that its an effort to
listen to it. So I don't. I wish that he could land a show on a local station
because it really is a quality program.

The Swinging Years is airing in the [removed] area on Saturdays from 1 to 3 PM on KCSN
([removed] FM). This is the station at CalState Northridge, and reception can get a
little dicey if you're south of the Valley. They are streaming at [removed]
though.

This is the station that seems to have unceremoniously dumped Bob Lyons and
Barbara Sundays' long running (almost 27 years) OTR program "Don't Touch That
Dial" in favor of John and Larry Gassman's "Same Time, Same Station". I'm not
sure why.

Steve Smith

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:29:03 -0400
From: danhughes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Billy Idelson

Ted, I talked with Barbara Can't-Remember-Her-Last-Name at Cincinnati
this weekend (she's founder/owner of the Friends of Vic and Sade, and the
world's foremost authority on anything related to the show).

She told me that Billy is living in California, in his 80's, still in
good health but not doing conventions anymore.

And get this--she said that a couple of weeks ago, she was watching a TV
show called Will and Grace, and there was a scene where they were at an
opera.  And the older couple you could see being seated behind them were
Billy Idelson and his wife!

Ain't it grand!

---Dan

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:29:07 -0400
From: Bill Beckett <wgrb@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Swinging Years/Steve McGuffin

Steve, I tried to email you regarding the Swinging Years, but the mail
came back undeliverable.
Please contact me.    wgrb@[removed]

Thanks,    Bill

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:29:09 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Captain Midnight

Chris Holms asks:

Speaking of Captain Midnight,
<snip>
Can anyone (Mr. Kallis, perhaps?) recommend a source where I would
be able to get a few consecutive episodes, so that I can try out the show?

A shameless plug: You can get lots of info and listen to or download lots
of programs on Captain Midnight at my CM pages of Radio Days:

[removed]



Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:29:31 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bill Idelson

Ted Meland asks:
"Just curious--does anyone know if Billy Idelson is still living? He played
Rush on Vic and Sade for many years."

Funny you should mention: I was just talking to Barbara Schwartz of the Vic
and Sade Society about him. She mentioned that he is still around, though
where I am not sure. She would be the best source of info, but I don't have
her email address but I thought she read this digest.

Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:29:43 -0400
From: "Ken Lanza" <klanza1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  $[removed] [removed] answer!

FYI:
$[removed] in 1940 translates to $[removed]
in the year 2000!
regards,
Ken Lanza

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:32:03 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Captain Midnight Story

Chrish Holm observes,

Speaking of Captain Midnight, I've been reading chapters (in random
order) of Harmon's _The Great Radio Heroes_, and have been thoroughly
enjoying it.  Reading the 'Aces of the Airwaves' chapter, I've become
interested in Captain [removed];<

I recommend _The Great Radio Heroes_ as a really good nostalgia trip.
I've the revised edition as well as the original.  However, a cautionary
on his coverage of Captain Midnight: when he wrote it, Jim Harmon was
relying on memories some 60-odd years old.  My book wasn't available to
him before his book was locked up.  As a consequence, his coverage of the
program hasn't altered from the original edition.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:32:06 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Speed Gibson

Steve Prange asks, anent Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police
[and how innocent an International "Secret Police" was back in the late
1930s],

Is there, anywhere, a listing of who played who[m] in this radio
serial?<<

Dunning lists Howard McNear as Clint Barlow and John Gibson [!] as Barney
Dunlap.  There is no listing for the person who played the title
character (Dunning says "Unknown Actor").

If it turns out to be [Howard McNear who played] Clint Barlow, as I
believe, that gives me an interesting idea for a piece of fan fiction<<

Well, happy writing! :-)

Hearing the introduction to Sped Gibson (the drone of an aircraft with a
filtered radio voice saying, "ceiling zero ... ceiling zero ...") always
has me waiting for the inevitable aircraft crash as the silly pilot
blunders around in low visibility, though it never [removed]

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:32:08 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <wmackey@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: The $64 Question

Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 23:44:05 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
Subject:  The $64 Question

Now recall that 1940 dollars were worth a lot more than today, so $64 was a
respectable amount of money.

  According to [removed] inflation counter, $64
would be $[removed] today.
  BTW, this is a great site for figuring prices then and now, or as of
2000 anyway.
  Joe

--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 22:32:10 -0400
From: Trinapreston3@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio Awards Response

Dan I believe you can get help with part of your question about radio awards
at this
web address [removed].  I found this site last year when I asked the
same question similar to yours in Radio Digest last summer.  I never got a
response
to my question, but I never gave up looking.  I surfed and surfed web sites
until
one day by coincidence when I was looking through an old Radio Spirits
catalog I
saw a cassette collection of the radio show "Let's Pretend" and on the side
of the
box it said Let's Pretend won a Peabody Award for outstanding children's
program.
I looked it up at the Peabody Awards web site and that information was true.
I also
found out about other radio shows who received a Peabody award such as
Suspense
and Cavalcade Of America.  Currently the web site is having problems giving
out
information.  I had visit the site today to see if it was still in existence,
I see it is.
I am not sure if you will find anything on special effects, but I hope this
site can help
you with a few of your questions.

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

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 23:21:06 -0400
From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Speed Gibson cast

Hello again --

On Tuesday, April 24, Steve Prange asked:

Is there, anywhere, a listing of who played who in this radio serial
(Speed Gibson)?

I am intrugued as to what character was played by Howard McNear, who went
on
to be Floyd Lawson on Andy Griffith. If it turns out to be Clint Barlow,
as
I believe, that gives me an interesting idea for a piece of fan
[removed]

As in so many other cases, I believe that John Dunning's new Encyclopedia of
Old Time Radio has the last word on this subject, an exciting (and
informative, and very well researched) boy's serial from the late thirties,
which I would not know anything about at all, were it not for friend Ken
Piletic's having introduced me to the program. Yes, Howard McNear played
Clint Barlow throughout the entire series of 178 chapters and, to me at
least, showed himself to be so much more versatile a radio actor than the
'Andy's Barber' stereotype which he played in many different guises,
including Doc Adams on the radio version of Gunsmoke, the scientist who
intercepted radio signals from space on a science fiction show (I've
forgotten which), and so many others, including (I think) a Fibber McGee and
Molly episode.
The others who have been identified in the series include John Gibson as
Barney Dunlap, Hanley Stafford, Elliott Lewis, Sam Edwards, etc. and an
unknown actor playing the boy Speed Gibson (If John Gibson played Barney
Dunlap, could Barney Dunlap play Speed Gibson?).

Jan Bach

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

Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 07:03:56 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The $64 Question

Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 23:44:05 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];

One gag was having Jack Benny on one show.  He answered the question for
a dollar, but didn't want to risk losing it on a "double or nothing" bet.

Years later, Jack Benny appeared as a contestant on te $64,000 Question.
That show began with the $64 question and doubled from there.  Jack
answered the $64 question and then quit.  He even made them give him the
money right away.

I first came across the expression "The $64 Question" in a Superboy comic
book, where Lana Lang asks Clark "the $64 Question," whether or not he is
Superboy.

So when "The $64,000 Question" came along, I was quite sure that the name
was taken from the "$64 Question" expression.


 A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                        [removed]
 15 Court Square                     lawyer@[removed]
 Boston, MA 02108-2503      [removed]~lawyer/

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

Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 07:03:58 -0400
From: GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Speed Gibson

     Howard McNear played Speed's uncle.
     John Gibson, who always sounded like Ed "Archie
Gardner's twin brother, played the sidekick. A decade
later Gibson portrayed Ethelbert on CASEY, CRIME
PHOTOGRAPHER.
     But who played Speed himself? That name is still
unknown, although there seems to be at least a
tentative agreement that he was also "Jerry" of "Jerry
of the Circus" and "Jerry at Fairoaks" as well as the
child co-lead of THE CINNAMON BEAR.
     A newspaper PHOTOGRAPH of the actor exists, but
no name!

    And who played villainous Octopus with his
wonderful Russian-French-something else accent? Gale
Gordon's been suggested, and even insisted on, but
that doesn't sound quite right to my ears.

    George Wagner
    GWAGNEROLDTIMERADIO@[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 07:04:00 -0400
From: GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Earth Abides

     EARTH ABIDES was dramatized on ESCAPE, in two
weekly installments.
     Apart from the impossibility of fairly treating
George R. Stewart's magnificent science-fiction/
disaster novel in even 50 or 60 minutes, let alone the
25 or 30 windows given most novels, this is excellent
radio. (I first read EARTH ABIDES in high school
around 1956 or 1957, but didn't hear the ESCAPE
version until the very early 1980s.)

    p. s. Any fan of Stephen King's THE STAND will
greatly enjoy both the ESCAPE version of EARTH ABIDES
and the novel itself.

    George Wagner
    GWAGNEROLDTIMERADIO@[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 12:29:46 -0400
From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Technical Quality

There has been much concern about audio quality of old time radio
recordings so here are some facts. Studio audio equipment was good up to
about 10,000 cycles at the best. Remote lines were equalized up to about
8000 KC. At the new WOV (owned by the Bulova group) we maintained a line
to the transmitter in Kearny, [removed] that was reasonably flat to 10,000
cycles, a rarity. Remote and network lines had the tendency to lose high
frequencies in proportion to the physical length of the line. Even though
the lines took a roundabout route through a number of "test boards"
(exchanges), the billing was by the miles of the direct distance between
the remote point and the studio destination. It was per mile per month,
with a minum of half a month for one time broadcasts. At WOV I had some
inexpensive RCA equalizers with which I could flatten out my local lines
to 13,000 cycles. When queried by my local (Bell System)  contact as to a
my broadcast of the City symphony orchestra from Madison Square Garden
the previous Saturday, I told him that I got the line up to 13,000
cycles. He didn't beleive me so I told him to come on over and I would
show him how it was done. (He didn't accept my offer).

As I recall, lateral recordings,which most transcription services used,
(Langworth for one) were only good to about 8500 cycles. However, World
and Associated used the vertical system (the stylus vibrated up and down)
which was known commercially as "Wide Range). An ERPI (Electrical
Research Products) installation was quite impressive, obviously designed
by a "purist". At WHN we used Associated Transcription Service. They used
known dance bands under fictitous names, which had the same initials. For
example, Glen Grey became George Gregory.

It required two engineers to handle a program, one to cue up the discs,
the other to operate the console. Vertical transcriptions were easy to
cue. The engineer could spin it in untill he heard the audio, and then
back it up a turn. The equipment was so massive that the motors were
controlled by mercury relays.

Radio broadcasting was a lot more interesting than now. Engineers and
announcers were always well groomed, business suits and ties. No duck
bill caps and jeans. Our day might take us to exclusive night spots,
churches, and formal dinners I will always remember one night at the
Waldorf Grand Ballroom when Herbert Hoover was seated with a group on the
stage. He fell asleep, and nodded forward, causing his "dicky"' ( formal
stiff dress shirt) to bulge out making it look like he had a big set of
"boobs". None of his cohorts bothered to waken him. At these events there
might be as many as five engineers representing other stations and
networks. There was always a table for us to have dinner. This all ended
with the advent of Television as TV people would show up in plaid shirts
and dungarees. The end of an era.

So much for "Old Time Radio" for today.

Bill Murtough

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #128
*******************************************

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]