------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 48
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
ADMINISTRIVIA: Another [removed] [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
Re: Shades of Wally Baloo [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
Re: Rio Directories [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
Boston Broadcaster Dead at 87 [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
Radio Directors [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
Soap series name [ passage@[removed] ]
OTR in New England for Bryant [ "vegan" <vegan@[removed]; ]
JELL-O [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
Love of Old Time Radio [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Art Gilmore [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
Program that prints file names from [ "William Brown" <billb@[removed] ]
Dirty disc [ Ga6string@[removed] ]
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
Greenstreet [ Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed] ]
UK SHOWS ON US RADIO [ grayghost@[removed] ]
Radio on History Channel [ KENPILETIC@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 00:00:00 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: ADMINISTRIVIA: Another [removed]
Folks;
[removed] already. Seems like only yesterday it was [removed]
The first issue of the OTR Digest was released in September, 1994. {Gad,
my hair was mostly black way back [removed] ;) What a long, strange road
it's been; I want to take this (really late) opportunity to wish everyone a
happy, joyous, and prosperous year. May your 2002 be even better in every
way than 2001!
As always, the dawning of a new year gives us the opportunity for
reflections on the past, and thoughts on the future. So allow me to take a
few minutes for reflections on the past, and thoughts on the future, to
address some issues which have come up. over the past few months. Let me
remind you quickly that I am always available; if you have any questions,
or comments, or complaints, send them directly to me and I'll do everything
I can to address them.
First, rejections; although I can understand how frustrating they can be
to receive, please understand that the filters are only there to make the
Digest as readable as possible. The server is _never_ making a personal
attack, and is not trying to insult you. The goal is _always_ to increase
all subscribers' enjoyment {remember that the vast majority of subscribers
are readers, not posters}. If you get a rejection, and you don't understand
the reason for it, please contact me directly so I can explain it and tell
you how to avoid it in the future. AOL users, my apologies that AOL has
made it so difficult for you to send a plain-text email. I am seriously
considering changing the method of distribution for the OTR Digest which
would allow web pages (HTML-based email)...but this _will_ cause problems
for some email clients (including the one from Microsoft) which are damaged
and do not properly interpret the multipart/digest MIME type. (*sigh*) The
problem is, then, do I allow web pages and alienate _many_ readers, or
prohibit web pages and inconvenience some posters? So far, I have just
maintained the status quo requiring posts to be in plain text format.
Yep, the server rejects HTML-based email, and nope, again it isn't
anything personal. AOL users in particular have one devil of a time sending
plain text, I know, and it isn't the user's fault but rather AOL's. More
and more "newbies" (people new to email, and the Internet) are sending
HTML-based email to the list server and receiving rejection notices. In
_most_ email applications (excluding AOL, of course) it's relatively simple
to change a setting to send plain text (even on a per-message basis), but
these same applications make it difficult to find, and tend to default to
sending web pages instead of text.
There _is_ a way for the OTR Digest to accept HTML-based email, but it
will require a change to the type of Digest the server sends out. There is
a standard version of a message digest that compliant applications will
split into separate messages, allowing one to be text, one to be a web
page, and even accommodate attachments like photographs. But the most
common email applications among those new to the Internet inexplicably do
NOT properly handle this MIME type (multipart/digest), instead dropping the
entire issue to a text file which has all of the problems of allowing
HTML-based email onto the existing OTR Digest.
(*sigh*) So we have a real problem; either the list requires plain text,
or changes to a standard format that a certain large Washington company
refuses to support.
There is a third option, though, and this is one we are currently
testing. The server itself can theoretically convert HTML-based email to
plain text. Of course, it's likely to look _nothing_ like the sender
intended, and it causes the load average of the server to spike every time
it processes one of these messages. This is a concern, since if the testing
phase works out, and this email is filtered on the server end, people will
_stop_ sending plain text (since they won't realize it's a problem) and so
the load averages of the machine could eventually spiral out of control.
[removed] mean I will have to either "beef up," or completely replace,
the existing server with a more powerful machine.
What is the solution? I honestly don't [removed] do _not_ want to reject
any email, I can't send out the standard digest format that would allow it,
and it's expensive (in processing power terms) to filter it. For now, I
will continue testing the filtering method, and will continue to reject
multipart/alternative or text/html email, and see if we can find some happy
medium that won't add additional costs to the Digest. If you have a
solution I haven't thought of yet, please let me know.
Speaking of costs, so far I've been able to "hold the line" and avoid
adding banner ads to the OTR Digest, thanks to your voluntary contributions
for which I thank you. (Remember, no payment is _ever_ required to receive
the Digest or visit The Nostalgia Pages.) I will be blunt and tell you I
can't guarantee this will continue, but if ads _are_ added at any time this
year, they will be discreet and priced so that the smaller dealer can
afford them, not just some large conglomerate.
If you ever have a problem, or a question about the Digest, or a
complaint, PLEASE feel free to contact me directly. I'm usually around
(although it may take me days to get back to you depending on the mail and
my other workload) and happily accept email from subscribers dealing with
_any_ issue on the Digest, or even just a "hello!' if you have a spare
minute. There's even an ICQ contact form on The Nostalgia Pages {
[removed] on the sidebar} which will send a page to me
directly if I'm on-line.
A _really_ quick note about subscriptions, though; sending mail directly
to me asking to be removed from the list is NOT the most efficient way of
handling it. This is a firmly opt-IN mailing list, to which you need to
confirm subscription to make sure you _really_ want to receive the list.
And this means YOU control your subscription to the OTR Digest; you can, at
any time, temporarily or permanently, remove yourself from the distribution
list with one email to the mailing list server. The addresses are in EVERY
ISSUE, not only in the "footer" at the bottom of every message (we've
worked really hard to make that footer as small as [removed] of you
who remember the "disclamer" that used to be at the bottom can appreciate
our efforts), but also in the special List-*: header fields at the _top_ of
every message. Some email clients "hide" these standard header fields, but
if you display full headers in your client, you'll be able to see and
hopefully click on them. (And you can always use the web-based form on The
Nostalgia Pages to control your subscription.)
I know it's repetitive, but if you have any comments or questions about
the OTR Digest, please drop me email and ask. If you are only commenting on
something, you may not get much more than an acknowledgement that I've
received your email (things can get busy), and if you ask a question it may
take a few days for me to get back to you, but I do my best to handle
everything that comes across my virtual desk.
So with great thanks to those who have contributed to the maintenance of
the server (if you contributed and haven't yet heard from me personally, my
apologies and promise that you _will_ as soon as that pesky programming is
completed), and wishes to everyone for the greatest New Year ever (at least
the greatest eleven months!), I close this note. May your 2002 be the best
year yet!
Charlie
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 00:30:37 -0500
From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Shades of Wally Baloo
A few evenings ago on the NBC nightly news, a reporter was doing a stand up
in front of the White House. As she talked about some basic (maybe budget)
story, you could hear the sounds of sirens in the background getting louder
and louder. Almost to the point of drowning her out.
She just continued doing her very neutral story. It reminded me so much of
the Bob and Ray routine of Wally Baloo doing an on the street interview of
a guy who raised cranberries and while the interview goes on, you can hear
the sound of a bank robbery going on across the street.
I realize that the siren I heard during the news show might have just been
an ambulance rushing someone to the hospital, but it brought back the Bob
and Ray routine and I had to smile while watching this reporter, thinking
that maybe a major news story was happening a few feet away, but her job
was to report on this budget meeting. Maybe you had to be there. :-)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 09:15:53 -0500
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Rio Directories
At 12:35 AM -0500 2/7/02, "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; wrote:
I believe all recent MP3 players will read directories. Some will break the
shows out into a single list. Others (Rio Volt 250 for example) display the
structure of directories and subdirectories and let you navigate through
Allow me to correct my statement that my new Rio Volt would not read
directories
copied to disk as Mac folders. I tried again, this time avoiding
burning the disk as a Mac Extended OS/PC hybrid ([removed], burning as a
regular NON-extended [larger disk segments] Mac OS/pc hybrid) and
being careful to use more pc-like file names (the Mac doesn't care if
you use spaces and special characters in your file names). One or the
other of these measures allowed the Rio to see the [removed]
firmware patch I mentioned apparently is for the Rio Volt 250; the
status of firmware upgrades for the RV SP90 is unclear (clicking the
link brings up a single page of cryptic code). Check:
[removed]
[ADMINISTRIVIA: The Rio is reading the PC format, not the Mac format. The
Toast application for the Macintosh has a special MP3 disc "format," which is
really just a stock PC format with auto-renamed filenames for most MP3
players. --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 09:16:42 -0500
From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Boston Broadcaster Dead at 87
One of the most popular post-war radio hosts in the Boston/New England area
was
BOB CLAYTON, who passed away Monday, 2/4/02, due to complications of a
recent surgery. He was 87 years of age.
He worked for 30 years at Boston's WHDH radio and hosted the top daily local
program, "Boston Ballroom" which was a showcase of music and new records,
most loved by the young set for nearly 3 [removed] He featured weekly shows
with area high school students voting on their music preferances. Each local
school would appear at least once evry year and would be highlighted on that
program. An equally successful version of the show was seen on Boston's
Channel 5 from 1957 to 1963.
Bob was an attorney who found his new profession as a broadcaster after
having served in WW II. He retired from broadcasting in the mid 70's and
began practicing law again on Cape Cod. He had been a longtime resident of
West Hyannisport. He wife had passed away in 2000. He leaves a son and
duaghter in law, and two grandsons anbd numerous other relatives. There
will be no funeral. A memorial will
be held at a yet unannounced date.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the Hospice of Cape Cod, in
Yarmouth
Port, MA.
Tom Heathwood - Heritage Radio - Boston 2/7/02
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 09:20:33 -0500
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radio Directors
Mary Jane Higby charms the readers of her memoirs with all sorts of
fascinating details of what it was like to play in both daytime and
nighttime dramas in the golden age. Her insights about various
personalities behind the microphone are priceless.
Speaking of east coast directors, as this forum has, she reports that
many of these directors worked on a freelance basis and often tended to
be sympathetic to actors' plights. Some would permit an exception when
an actor needed to be in two places at once--rehearsing the shows they
personally directed while appearing on a live program elsewhere, for
instance, by letting them be exempt or by allowing a substitute during
rehearsal. She cites Ernest Ricca as one who did so. Meanwhile, working
in the all-business Hummert regime, Richard Leonard refused such
requests. "God alone knows what he dreamed about at night," she averred.
There was one Hummert director whom she would never have dared ask for an
exception (called a conflict)--Martha Atwell. Although described as a
kind, generous, warmhearted person, "she had the stoniest face I had ever
seen." Smiling rarely, Atwell invariably appeared to Higby as "someone
whose feet hurt."
She describes a taping session for the recorded serial Linda's First
Love. Atwell was waiting when Higby arrived, seated at a table, script
and stopwatch in hand. While the cast included some of the most
"frolicsome madcaps in radio" ([removed] Karl Swenson, Arline Blackburn, Andre
Baruch), they sat in a silent solemn row before her. Higby said, "I
could only conclude that someone had died or been fired, so I joined the
row of mourners."
At the precise second set for rehearsal, Atwell clicked her watch and
Baruch began the narration. The first reading of a soap opera (according
to many in the business) was normally pure camp. This one was
tension-filled. When it was over, she recalled smiling at her friends.
None smiled back. She went to fetch a glass of water but Atwell turned
her script back and was reading with the rapidity of a machine gun,
barking out cuts. It went so fast that Higby missed a few of them but
felt she could pick them up during the next rehearsal or the dress.
Atwell went into the control booth. Momentarily, when they were ready to
start through it again, she whispered to Swenson: "The dress? Already?"
He replied, "There is no dress. This is the show."
After that taping, sinking weakly into her chair, Higby was startled to
find Atwell bounding from the booth, picking up a second script and--with
a click of her watch--they were off again. They made five 15-minute
recordings in three hours. "Any other director would have taken a
minimum of five hours," Higby wrote. "When it was over, Martha dropped
her watch in her bag and left the cast of Linda's First Love for NBC and
Young Widder Brown."
One wonders: Under those conditions, how did THEY spell relief?
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 15:13:13 -0500
From: passage@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Soap series name
Hi All,
Does anyone know the name of a radio soap opera that had 2
characters named Poppa David and Chichi in the cast?
Frank
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 15:13:25 -0500
From: "vegan" <vegan@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR in New England for Bryant
This is for Bryant the 12 yr old OTR fan who can't get reception of shows in
his area. If he has a computer at home he can access "Theater of the Mind"
hosted by Bill Sabis from the University at Gainesville Florida on Sunday
nights from 8-10 PM Eastern on WUFT [removed] Their internet site is
[removed]. They have a Trivia Question and if you call 1-352-392-8989
before 9:20 PM with the correct answer, they will announce your name. They
get callers from all over including [removed] D. Florida
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 15:13:44 -0500
From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: JELL-O
Tony Baechler's post on JELL-O saluted the gelatin dessert on its 100th
birthday. Actually, JELL-O was first marketed on a very small scale in
1897, which would make it 105 years old.
The best rendition of the famous commercial, in my view, is the one sung by
Henry Aldrich and his pal Homer at the beginning of "The Aldrich Family."
That tune is so memorable that I never fail to think of it when I see a
package of JELL-O. The website Tony referred you to reminds us that some
form of JELL-O is consumed in 72% of American homes! Early radio surely
must have influenced that statistic.
Dennis Crow
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 15:14:19 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Love of Old Time Radio
I was born in 1936 and we did not get our first television set until 1950. I
was well rooted in radio. Although my family did abandon radio for television
we still listened to the Jack Benny Program every Sunday night.
I joined the Navy in 1954 so I only had four years of television exposure
before entering my adult years. When I was discharged in 1957 radio as I knew
and loved was pretty well gone. I missed it very much.
Then in the late '60s while browsing the record shop I saw some albums of Old
Time Radio programs, Superman, Captain Midnight, Tom Mix and others. I
purchased them all, rushed home, put them on the turntable and listened. They
brought back a flood of memories and I am not ashamed to admit tears came to
my eyes and lump to my throat. I had discovered something that I thought was
lost forever.
I also discovered that the University station here in Milwaukee was
re-broadcasting Old Time Radio programs. I was in hog heaven. I did not
realize how much I missed the radio of my youth until listening to this
program. I was bound and determined to get as many Old Time Radio programs as
I possibly could.
Today my collection numbers about 24,000 programs. Small by some standards,
large by others. I don't ever want to get every program available because once
I do that I have nothing more to Look forward to.
I have met some of the nicest people because of my love for Old Time Radio.
This OTR Digest attests to that. The OTR Digest is just wonderful, full of
such giving people. If, God forbid, I ever stopped collecting Old Time Radio
programs I would still want to keep in contact with the people that do.
I just wanted everybody to know how I feel about Old Time Radio and this forum
was the best way that I knew of.
Thanks for listening,
--
Ron Sayles
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 15:15:18 -0500
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Art Gilmore
There's a television station in our market that is, I believe,
unaffiliated with any network that screens old black-and-white western
movies six afternoons a week. You know the kind, those starring Roy
Rogers, Gene Autry, Randolph Scott and a host of others whom many on this
list used to see at the Saturday matinee. Most of these features were
designed for about an hour of action. Together with commercial
interruptions today that means most of them occupy no more than 70 or 75
minutes of their allotted 90-minute designation (as noted by the
newspaper).
In tuning in some of these infrequently I've observed that the station
fills the remaining minutes of the hour-and-a-half with filmed shorts
which were probably also shown in movie houses decades ago. While these
sometimes include comedy routines that are repeated again and again, the
station is on a kick right now showing "So You Want to Quit Smoking."
It's obviously designed as an educational piece from about the 1940s.
This is offered two or three times weekly and has been going on for
months. All of the dramatic action is by the bidding of a narrator.
There are no other speaking roles and the characters do what the narrator
explains. When the credits appear at the launch, Art Gilmore's name is
there in large print as the narrator. Remember him?
He was the guy who earned announcing credits in radio on such series as
Amos 'n' Andy, Dr. Christian, Jonathan Trimble Esquire, Meet Me at
Parky's, Murder and Mr. Malone, Red Ryder, The Sears Radio Theater and
Stars Over Hollywood, and on television's early dramatic marathon,
Climax! The last I saw of him (at a SPERDVAC convention a year or two
ago) he looked fit as a fiddle. Here's hoping he remains in good health.
His distinctive voice is easily one of the most identifiable in
broadcasting and obviously he's been a viable institution in
entertainment emanating from the west coast for a very long time.
Despite the repetition (and a less-than-captivating topic to nonsmokers,
especially), it's a treat to hear him again . . . and again . . . and
again . . . and
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 15:17:01 -0500
From: "William Brown" <billb@[removed];
To: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Program that prints file names from mp3 cd
disc.
Approved: ctrn4eeWlc
Does anyone know of a program I can use to print out a list of mp3 programs
on a cd disc?
Bill Brown
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 15:29:52 -0500
From: Ga6string@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Dirty disc
Hi all,
This is somewhat off-topic, but since we talk often of OTR media, I hope
you'll indulge me. One of my OTR CDs has gotten some very stubborn, sticky
adhesive "goo" on it, and I don't know the best way to clean it without
damaging the disc. Suggestions?
Thanks,
Bryan
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 15:49:28 -0500
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
Attention Tom Corbett fans! Here's your chance to see two of the original
cast members, Frankie Thomas (Tom Corbett) and Jan Merlin (Roger Manning)
recreating the roles they played both on radio and TV. I received this email
from Jan Merlin:
--
We are going to do a radio recreation of a TOM CORBETT SPACE CADET show at
the WILLIAMSBURG FILM FESTIVAL in Virginia - Feb 28 thry Mar 2, [removed]
Fi fans from the [removed] site and others will be in [removed]
are also selling our books, Frank writes SHERLOCK HOLMES stories and I
will bring my satirical novel about film makers in Brazil, SHOOTING
MONTEZUMA, loosely based on a film made by John Huston, Kirk Douglas, and
Bud Westmore in which I took part.
Wish you could be there for this event! Don't Blow Your Jets!
--
If you missed the big cast reunion a few years ago at FOTR, where three
other cast members, Al Markim (Cadet Astro), Ed Bryce (Captain Strong) and
Jackson Beck, joined Frankie and Jan, don't miss this one.
Spaceman's luck!
Barbara
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 16:41:32 -0500
From: Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Greenstreet
Caroline Minuscule wrote:
Mr. Bartell, may I ask what your relationship with Greenstreet was? Did you
get along at all or did he keep himself to himself? As a theatre actor, was
he as good as the radio 'pros' in getting his performance down 'the first
time'?
Mr. Greenstreet, shall we say, was somewhat reserved. He sat at his table
and talked to his microphone and the rest of the cast stood at their
microphones. He was never rude or officious that I can recalls but he was
not the type to whom you might say" Let's have a drink after the show."
The answer to your second question is "no",
Harry Bartell
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 16:41:49 -0500
From: grayghost@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: UK SHOWS ON US RADIO
I was just curious if the favourite shows that I remeber here are available
and playing still anywhere in the States. I know reading somewhere that
your Commercial-free radio system, National Public Radio did air for years
such shows as Around the Horn, with a very young Peter Sellers, Red Dwarf,
Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy. Are they still doing it?
Gray Ghost
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 17:22:10 -0500
From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radio on History Channel
Hi Gang - February 7, 2002 - Thursday - 4 PM cst
This is after the fact, and I wish somebody would have posted it
sooner. - On Tuesday, February 4, The History Channel broadcast
an excellent documentary about radio. It was part of the series
"Modern Marvels" and was produced in 1997.
This one hour program covers a complete overview of radio both from
the technical side and from the talent side. Among the commentators
are Tom Lewis, Casey Kasem, Norman Corwin, Steve Allen, Larry King,
and Parley Baer.
It starts with Maxwell's discovery of Electromagnetic Waves and ends
with "Talk Radio". Everything in between is covered. There are clips
of "Jones and Hare", "Fibber McGee", FDR, "Bergen & McCarthy",
Bob Hope, and many more.
I was fortunate in that I had my vcr taping on Tuesday night, because
I was not home and I just played the tape this morning. It's a keeper.
The History Channel repeats many of its broadcasts, and it is likely
that this episode of "Modern Marvels" will be shown again. When it
airs again, hopefully someone will post the schedule ahead of time.
Keep an eye open for the re-play. It's worth watching.
Happy Taping -- Ken Piletic - Streamwood, Illinois
kenpiletic@[removed]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #48
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