------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 214
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Rebels on the Air [ marklambert@[removed] ]
Re: "Jungle Jim" on radio too? [ "Arthur Lortie" <alortie@[removed]; ]
Re: 24-Hour Operation [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Kind Words, and The New 'Crutchfiled [ "[removed]" <swells@[removed]; ]
re I Love to Singa [ John Henley <jhenley@[removed] ]
Lone Ranger Transcriptions [ Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed]; ]
Re: The Future of Tape [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
The Golden Age of Radio Moves Again! [ Kubelski@[removed] ]
Teds Letter [ gad4@[removed] ]
Distinctive Voices [ "jsouthard" <jsouthard@[removed]; ]
WLW [ William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; ]
Bert Wilson [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 10:20:44 -0400
From: marklambert@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Rebels on the Air
I've just read a couple reviews (one on [removed]) of a book entitled "Rebels
on the Air: An Alternative History of Radio in America," by Jesse Walker (an
editor at Reason magazine). Before I buy the book, I was just curious if
anyone around this list has read it and what your opinion is of it. Thanks!
--Mark
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 11:07:32 -0400
From: "Arthur Lortie" <alortie@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: "Jungle Jim" on radio too?
Herb Harrison sez:
I remember going to see "Jungle Jim" 'B' movies as a kid in Baltimore on
Saturday afternoons. The admission price was 14 cents.
Was there a radio show too? I had no [removed] I (later) thought it was a
movie series created just to extend the career of Johnny [removed] after his
'Tarzan' run ended!
JUNGLE JIM [Bradley] was created by artist Alex Raymond and writer Don Moore
[a former All-Story editor who handled, among others, Edgar Rice Burroughs].
It debuted as a topper to the same creative team's Flash Gordon on
01/07/1934, but eventually became a stand-alone Sunday strip. When Raymond
went into the service, artist Austin Briggs took over both Flash and Jim.
When Briggs departed, Mac Raboy took over Flash and Paul Norris took over
Jim. Moore, except for brief interludes by King Features staff writers,
wrote the entire series until it's demise on 08/08/1954.
The radio series was created at the end of the first Flash Gordon radio
series. Flash and Dale crash into the jungle where they marry [with Jim in
attendence] and then trot happily off into the sunset -- resurrected in a
revamped series the following week. But Jungle Jim took over their first
time slot. There's an episode guide at
[removed] It ran from 11/02/1935 to
07/31/1954, an incredible 981 shows [with Matt Crowley as Jim].
In films, there was a 12-chapter serial in 1937 with Grant Withers. More
popular were the 16 movies starring Johnny Weissmuller from 1948 to 1955.
[Those produced after the strip itself were cancelled had the title
character referred to as "Johnny", for Weissmuller].
There was also a 26-episode syndicated TV show in 1955 also starring
Weissmuller.
The strips were repackaged in two Big Little Books, serialized in David
MacKay's Ace Comics in the 40's. More recently they were reprinted in b&w by
Pioneer Comics and in color by Tony Raiola.
Jungle Jim also had original comic book stories published by Standard
[1949-51], Dell [1953-59] and Charlton [1969-70] -- with one of the Dell
titles being reprinted by King in 1967.
[Believe it or not, I just had this file open for a project I'm working on
and figured I'd share the info]
Arthur Lortie
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 19:07:04 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: 24-Hour Operation
In addition to the 24-hour-operation stations already mentioned (a list
which expanded considerably during the war years, to accomodate "swing
shift" defense workers), note should be made of the very *first* US
station to maintain a round-the-clock operating schedule: KGFJ in Los
Angeles, which began round-the-clock operation in 1927, and remained on
this schedule thru the 1930s. It was the *only* 24-hour station in the US
for much of this period, and even though it was running only 100 watts,
the fact that it was the only station on the air round-the-clock led to
reception reports from all over the country.
KGFJ was owned by a young man in his twenties by the name of Benjamin
McGlasnahan, who made a good living running this station thru the
Depression era. Most of the station's schedule was taken up by phonograph
records, paid broadcasts by assorted storefront religionists and fringe
politicians, and program-length transcribed advertisements for
weight-loss scams, laxatives, and other dubious merchandise -- the
ancestor of today's infomercials. Despite the shoddy programming, the
novelty of a round-the-clock station managed to attract a lot of
attention, and KGFJ was very popular with insomniacs and late-night DX
enthusiasts.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 19:07:29 -0400
From: "[removed]" <swells@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Kind Words, and The New 'Crutchfiled' Catalog
Greetings!
I would like to thank all those who had so many kind words to say about
me. I very much appreciate it.
Anyway, on to a new [removed] recently got in the new Crutchfield
catalog and there is a ton of new items available. ( for those that may not
know what Crutchfield is, it's a Audio/Video company that specializes in car
stereo's, home stereo's, and about anything electronic [removed] )
I was looking over the catalog when I noticed a large selection of car
stereo CD players that will also play CD/mp3's. There is literally dozens of
models available. About two years ago, I bought the Aiwa AM-FM CD and CD/mp3
car stereo, and I love it. It plays about anything, including CD-RW discs.
Kenwood has also came out with a new product, it a hard drive for your car,
no kidding. I guess this thing records signals from radio and stores them
for future playback, or you can hook it into your computer and transfer
material to it.
On the note of mp3 bitrates; this is an excerpt from the Crutchfield
catalog: " The higher the bitrate of an mp3 file, the more musical
information the file it will contain, and the closer to CD-quality it will
sound. Bitrates can range from 32-320kbps. A bit rate of 128kbps is
considered a good compromise between sound quality and file size.'
Bear in mind that those are not my words, but are taken from the
catalog. I know people get confused about all these various bitrates, etc.
So I will try to make since of it for you. Normal CD audio (not mp3) is
44,100khz 16 bit sound. The 'bitrate' is something associated with mp3's. If
we take Crutchfield's example then the mp3 of that would look like this:
44,100 16 bit 128kbps. They, and others, claim that this is NEAR CD quality.
So if we accept this a true, then why not 'kick it up a little' so we get
either CD quality, or so close you can't tell the difference. That is why I
use the 44,100 16 bit 192kbps as a standard. Now using that high rate, you
can't get 100's of shows per CD, just about 7 hours worth is all, but still,
that is saving a ton of space. There is a new mp3 codec available now called
mp3pro, which puts some added information into the mp3 file so that it can
be reconstructed to form the original uncompressed .wav file.
Anyway, I hope this helps. The usual disclaimer applies about the mentioning
of Crutchfield ( I don't own nor do I work for them, I just thought I would
pass the info. on)
Thanks
Shawn
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 19:08:23 -0400
From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re I Love to Singa
Martin Grams passed on a query:
I am looking for a vintage warner bros. vitaphone cartoon called JACK RABBIT
AND OWL JOLSON IN I LOVE TO [removed] anyone has any information as
where I can find this video, please contact me at xensargo@[removed]
Wanted to let any interested persons know that I located
the cartoon as part of an MGM/UA release in its "Cartoon
Moviestars" series, the volume titled "Porky!" The tape
itself is out-of-print but Amazon shows 7 used copies for
sale.
I've emailed the original seeker.
John Henley
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 19:09:06 -0400
From: Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lone Ranger Transcriptions
Recently I was told, by a collector who should know, that as many as
three versions of some 1940's Lone Ranger shows were made---East and West
coast versions and a syndication [removed] the syndicated show had an
extra minute or so of narration/dialogue. Can anyone confirm or deny this
assertion?
Incidentally, I urge all 'serious' collectors to listen carefully to
any duplicate shows they may pick up through a lending library, such as
SPERDVAC, or as part of a purchase of a boxed set. From time to time I've
found that the apparent duplicate is a second version made for the 'other'
coast. This can get complicated. Occasionally the first fifteen minutes
of a show will differ while the second half is the same--indicating the
tape/CD in your possession contains one half of a show from the East coast
version and the other half from the West coast.
Finally, Ted Davenport's comments about collecting in Digest #212
were right on target, in my estimation. I began by taping shows from WAMU's
Big Broadcast, used those shows as trade bait, and then started to delve
into OTR club lending libraries. Nothing gives me more pleasure than
upgrading a show I already have with a better recording or finding that a
program I taped off the air years ago sounds brighter than copies currently
making the rounds.
Tom van der Voort
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 19:09:28 -0400
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: The Future of Tape
"Paul M. Thompson" <beachcomber@[removed]; wrote:
> Bravo to Ted [removed] I will also remain committed to [removed]
And where will you find the tapes and equipment? Circuit City, for one,
seems to be clearing out all tape players and supplies. The salesman
explained that tape players were obsolete. Maybe so, but I still haven't
found an mp3 recorder that will permit me to, for example, record an
interview.
What is the future of tape technology? Should we expect the end of
consumer tape players, leaving only a small and expensive niche market?
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 19:09:50 -0400
From: Kubelski@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Golden Age of Radio Moves Again!
Having reported last week that Max Schmid's Golden Age of Radio program on
WBAI in New York City is moving to 9:00 [removed] and extended to two hours, I
feel it is my repsonsibility to further report that the schedule has been
changed again. Mr. Schmid announced on Sunday that the program has been
moved after a single week in the new spot to 7:00 [removed] for two hours, ending
at 9:00 [removed]
This coming Sunday he is pre-empted and the new schedule starts on the 22nd.
Just in time for me to be away at the REPS show.
Max - play soap operas and game shows that week.
Sean Dougherty
Kubelski@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 19:10:37 -0400
From: gad4@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Teds Letter
This appears to be one of those topics, that the more you talk, the more
enemies one's [removed] and its easy to make them on both sides also ;). I
hope you'll allow me to share a few random thoughts of mine, which of
course, are subject to change.
Having corresponded with Ted in the past, I have developed a respect for
him. In reading his letter on mp3s, even though we collect different
formats, I have to say that it is probably the finest letter written in
this tread. It throws away some myths of both sides. Many times both sides
are biasing their answer over money- even when they dont come out and say
it. Ted's letter does not appear biased by $$$ but from the heart of a
collector and I respect that greatly.
I share Ted's concerns about quality. I remember when I got my first video
tape player in the late 70s, I recorded mainly at the 6 hour speed. At that
time, it was all I could afford. In retrospect, I regret it. Not because
the quality of those shows looked bad in 1979, but because magnetic tape
deteriorates. And what looked nice back then, doesnt anymore. Also, the
multigeneration tapes I traded for had the same effect. Each copy that was
made of a tape sounded and looked worse. It was important that, if one had a
dub, to have it in high quality and low generation.
They say this is not true for digital mediums though. They say that every
copy of a program is as good as an original. They also say that the
bandwidth on a cd is greater than that of [removed] even reel to reel. And that
with each copy of a cd, the quality doesnt lesson, nor does it lose quality
in time. Once one good digital original is made, that show is done, and no
one anymore has to worry about quality.
To say that mp3s is the absolute highest quality format, of course would not
be accurate. Nor can I say it about cassettes. I view mp3s as the digital
equivilent of cassettes. Just as cassettes are the lesser format to reels,
so mp3s is the lesser format to audio cds. Im not saying mp3s or cassettes
are terrible. Ive heard good mp3s and bad mp3s, Ive heard good cassettes and
bad cassettes, I even have good reels and I have terrible reels. A lot of
that has to do with the quality of the original and the work and the
equipment of the encoder.
I also have to agree with Ted that someone sitting at a computer downloading
mp3s is no hero to the hobby. Just as I'd have to say someone who borrows
cassettes from a club or buys cassettes/mp3s from a dealer isnt a hero
either. I'm not saying it's wrong- just not making them a hero.
I dont think that anyone would argue that some of the real heroes of the otr
hobby are the folks Ted is describing, who have saved transcription disks
from being destroyed and helped get the best analog copies out to many. Im
sure those days that Ted is describing in the 70s were great days and those
who have had a part of those formative years, have something very much to be
proud of. Also, we cant forget folks like Hal Stone and the rest who have
made these fine shows for us. If it wasnt for these people, we'd all be
sitting here having nothing to listen to, and we cant forget what they've
done.
While its impossible to compare to the work of Ted and many of the other
preservers, I hope it wouldnt be out of place to acknowledge some who are
"paying the price" in their own way. Unlike the crowds who are downloading
for free, there are also many people doing the job of encoding these shows
into the digital format. One friend has converted the entire run of
Gildersleeve. Another person I know has converted the entire run of Fibber
McGee. Another has recently told me he has completed almost the entire run
of Family Theater. Another has converted hundreds of Goldbergs episodes and
the list goes on. These folks have unselfishly spent hundreds of hours of
their time, and spent money buying originals for the purpose of sharing
their love with others and preserving these in a digital format that can be
easily shared. While I don't believe it's wrong to put the work in for
retail, these folks do it as a gift to all radio collectors. And when
someone downloads an mp3 for free, these folks are the folks kind enough to
pay for it and share it. When someone buys a mp3 disk on ebay. They're not
paying for the work of making the mp3 which is given to them for free.
They're merely paying for the dealer's copying expenses. I hope that many
who are now enjoying the work of these folks will remember who they came
from and, in time, give back to others as they have recieved.
I realize that many who encode are not as experienced as the tape folks, but
keep in mind, that the current digital movement is only about 3 years old.
During the first three years of making magnetic tape copies, Im sure there
were lots of mistakes also. We're still learning. Many of us share notes
among each other in groups so that we can compare notes and make better
quality digital copies. Shawn has spoken to many of us also, and I greatly
admire his dedication to quality, and Im sure others do also. I may disagree
him on some issues, but I hope I have the honor of calling him a friend.
Many folks do work hard so that they can do the best they can based upon
their knowledge and source material. Please give us a chance.
I do thank Ted for his letter. I do respect the work he and many others have
done. And the last thing I want to do is do somethign that would be
displeasing to those who have given us so much. Yet at the same time, I
believe that the digital format has a way of preserving their work to a
greater way than ever before. With the mp3 medium, it allows more people to
be affected by the good that they have done. It puts it in a format that
will not deteriorate with time. And when our days here are over and money
will mean nothing, hopefully the work that they have done can continue to
bring joy to more people than ever before through many mediums. I hope in
time that barriers will be broken down and that all will able to support the
golden age of radio together.
Sincerely,
George
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 19:10:58 -0400
From: "jsouthard" <jsouthard@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Distinctive Voices
I have been catching up on a week of posts. The distinctive voice thread is
interesting. I want to nominate two more: Gerald Mohr and Frank Lovejoy. I
was listening to a Lux Theater version of "The Treasure of the Sierra
Madre" with Humphrey Bogart & Walter Huston. They were the only actors
listed but I am sure Dobb's (Bogart) partner was Frank Lovejoy and the
stranger was Gerald Mohr.
I am interested in knowing Shawn Wells web site .
John Southard
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 19:11:30 -0400
From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: WLW
I bow to the corrections to my postings. However let me explain. They are
not based on published information but to my own memories, which even at
my age (86) are usually fairly accurate. I was born and raised in a
Cleveland suburb in 1916. We got our first radio set (custom made) in
1924 and I became a radio "nut", listening on headphones. Anyone else
remember B. A. Rolfe and his Lucky Strike Dance Orchestra, Harry Horlick
and his A & P Gypsies ( once introduced by my late friend, Frank Knight
as the A & G Pipsies). The Atwater-Kent program (a concert orchestra) was
another favorite. They along with Crosley and Philco, were early radio
set manufacturers. Another favorite was Harry Reiser and his Cliquot Club
Eskimos, a banjo group. My dad was a conductor on an electric railway
line. A chap, who worked for the line maintaining the cars, was a radio
enthisiast and built our first one tube (WD-11) receiver. One stormy day
it took a direct lightning hit and pulverized the one tuber (also scared
the hell out of my mother). It was replaced by a used three tuber with a
sloping panel, and cone speaker. About 1931 my mother bought a new
Crosley console radio with an electro-dynamic speaker and I was hooked.
However, when I started high school I Became interested in theater
lighting and joined a local little theater as lighting director (a very
young Louis VanRooten was our star actor). During the summer following my
Junior year I was accepted into a Western Reserve University graduate
class in stagecraft at the Cleveland Playhouse.
In 1935 I started a summer job running the sound system at an amusement
park, now known as Sea World. This meant that I needed a winter job. At
the end of the first summer I was hired by a Cleveland sound company
which led to a nightime job doing dance band remotes for wired radio
company. One was from a small club, "Freddy's> The small band vocalist
was Perry Como. The amusement park had a WTAM "wire" in the ballroom to
broadcast their bands, so I became friendly with their engineers and
announcers (Tom Lewis and Jim Backus were two of the announcers).
At the end of the second summer I helped my sister, who was visiting from
New Jersey, drive back East. While there I went in town to have lunch
with a friend who was an announcer at WHN. He introduced me to their
chief engineer. About a week later on a Saturday morning I had a call
from that gentleman asking me to come and see him immediately. By that
afternoon I was on the engineering staff at WHN.
I worked in New York at WHN, WMCA, WOV. WNBC in New Brittain, CT., WMAS
in Springfield, MA., and CBS, both New York and Hollywood. During the War
I worked for the Signal Corps, field testing development Radar equipment.
I retired from CBS in the fall of 1981. A number of years after my wife
died I moved to Florida. A couple of years later I met a retired
schoolteacher turned author and lecturerer. We married and we live in
her home on the banks of the St. Lucie River, part of the navigable
waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Broadcast
engineers always end up with a good life!
I may have posted this before, but such is life!
BIll Murtough
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 19:11:48 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Bert Wilson
My Mother was a Cubs fan and I was raised a Cubs fan. To see the name Bert
Wilson brought back a flood of memories. Wasn't his famous phrase, "it's a
beautiful day at the ball park?" He said that rain or shine. My mother was
born in September 1908 and she passed away in 1995. What that means is in her
lifetime she saw the Cubs as world series winners just one time and she was
less than one month old when that happened. The last the time the Cubs were
World Champions was in 1908.
I switched allegiances when the Braves moved to Milwaukee and now I am totally
disenchanted with baseball. But I do have many fond memories of WIND, Bert
Wilson and the Cubs in the 40s and early 50s. If a recording of Bert Wilson
turns up I would be most interested.
As Bob Hope sang, "Thanks for the Memory."
--
Ron Sayles
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #214
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