Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #34
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 1/29/2002 8:14 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2002 : Issue 34
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  open reel VSS cd-data or audio        [ "dick wamser" <snapp@[removed]; ]
  Cincy con guests                      [ "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self ]
  Eyes open, [removed]                     [ Bob Fergusson <operator99@[removed]; ]
  re: Internet as boon to OTR           [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Recalling "Beat the Band"             [ Grbmd@[removed] ]
  Richard's "Mystery Man"               [ "David H. Buswell" <dbuswell@rivnet ]
  Hearst and Paley                      [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Glenn Miller Broadcast                [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
  new OTR Cincy web page                [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  "Free to the Next Caller!"            [ Wich2@[removed] ]
  tunnels                               [ CORDBUFF@[removed] ]
  Looking for help with a trivia quest  [ Wboenig@[removed] ]
  Ellery Queen's plea                   [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Fw: Old Time Products                 [ "vegan" <vegan@[removed]; ]
  Fw: SciFi Classic                     [ "vegan" <vegan@[removed]; ]
  Two o'Clock Eastern Wartime           [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Julius La Rosa                        [ "ejcooper2001" <ejcooper2001@[removed] ]
  Astrid Lindgren                       [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Old and New FM band                   [ "ejcooper2001" <ejcooper2001@[removed] ]
  Re: Radio Spirits move                [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
  Fm band shift                         [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  Beat the Band                         [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 19:11:50 -0500
From: "dick wamser" <snapp@[removed];
To: "otr" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: open reel VSS cd-data or audio

Hello folks: I must say that I'm a tick behind on reading OTR digests.  I
was veryinterested in the thread of open reel VSS cd; either audio or data
cd.

I agree with those who say that open reel tape is superior to other material
in that, even if a portion of a reel is defective, all you lose is that
part. If it is a four-track tape, you may have a difficult time.  But, if an
audio or data cd bites the dust, you're done for big time.

Digital recording is capable of doing a right smart number of nice
things--like slowing up fast recordings or speeding up slow ones.  I, like
so many others, are converting to cd because I can't find any open reel
machines anywhere.  I have 4.  My main work horse is 35 years old.  Another
one just blew its power transformer, so it's gone.  The third has one blade
of its three-blade plastic cooling fan missing.  Haven't figured out what to
do about that one yet.  The fourth one is in great shape.  I keep it as a
last resort; running it about an hour a month just to keep it limber.

Unless I've missed it altogether, perhaps we can discuss finding and keeping
these old fellows humming and turning.  Yall have a nice day.  OK?

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 19:12:04 -0500
From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Cincy con guests

Bob Burchette tells me that this year's special guests at the convention
are:

Hal Stone, Bob Hastings, Rosemary Rice, Peg Lynch, Tyler McVey and Esther
Geddys.

We all know good ol' Hal, and I've met all of the other attendees (though
I'm not quite memorable enough to expect them to remember me!) and can
tell you they're all very kind people, and are a pleasure to talk to.

As they used to say, "Be there, or be square!"

rodney.

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 19:12:14 -0500
From: Bob Fergusson <operator99@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Eyes open, [removed]

Well, I too am of the age where as a kid I listened to the radio, and it
was with the eyes open but usually looking directly at the radio. I
think it was just a way to keep myself focused on the program - after
all it wasn't background music, you did have to pay attention to follow
the story. I can remember lying on the floor in our living room, elbows
bent with my hands supporting my chin and seeing that old brown grill
cloth move just ever so slightly when there were loud gunshots or the
hoofbeats of the mighty horse Silver came galloping through.

Come to think of it, I think I'll cover my PC speakers in old brown
grill cloth for listening to OTR MP3's. :-)

Bob Fergusson

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 20:36:37 -0500
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re: Internet as boon to OTR

This is a subject that has been of interest to me for some time. I have
written a couple of articles for different publications regarding this
subject.

I agree with those who feel that the peak of otr was during the seventies
mostly because of the boon in nostalgia that occurred then. Radio drama was
coming back in force with CBS Radio Mystery Theater, General Mills
Adventure Radio Theater, Sears Radio Theater, and Zero Hour among others.
Some of this was through the leadership of Himan Brown, but the key thing
was that these were sponsored programs in some cases. There were companies
willing to take a risk, and a risk it was due to the gap in time that
existed since companies spent dollars to completely advertise and support a
radio drama such as General Mills and Sears did.

This created a fever among fans such that many began to connect with each
other. There was an increase in clubs and conventions and the possibility
of radio drama returning looked promising.

The Internet on the other hand created a whole different climate. What the
Internet has done is bring in a new generation of listeners, but not from a
return to radio drama perspective, but rather an interest in the old shows.
Whereas the seventies might have created fans who were more than collectors
but wanted to see radio drama return (partly due to the technology of the
time), the Internet generation is interested in the shows that exist but
there seems to be little interest (for the most part) in creating a new
culture of audio drama.

There also seems to be a culture of grabbing all that is free via
electronic trading and I suspect the end result is going to be in a
downturn in the independent vendor and the marketing of higher quality
restorations except for organizations such as First Generation Archives. We
see that Radio Spirits is hurting, we know that as soon as something is
released by those who spend the money to produce excellent quality copies,
they appear on the net free for those who want to take the time to download
mp3 versions of them.

I recall Ted Davenport speaking of holding back on copies of Fu Manchu that
he purchased until he had enough subscribers to cover his cost of buying
the discs and restoring them. He admitted that had he released them sooner,
they would have been on the net free for download and he would never have
recouped his cost.  Even First Generation Archives has to cover their cost
by subscription and cost of borrowing from their library. But what will
happen as people convert them to mp3 and make them available free?

I for one will continue to archive only analog or restored digitized
non-compressed copies. I do collect mp3's only because they are easier for
me to listen to since much of my collection is on reel tape. But having
visited [removed] off an on, I am constantly amazed at the attitude
of some on that forum who feel they are owed free copies of the material.

Sorry for the editorializing, but while I love the Internet and how it has
helped bring OTR to a whole new audience, I still find it to be an
instigator of the demise of another element of the hobby.


Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 20:36:33 -0500
From: Grbmd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Recalling "Beat the Band"

In a message dated 1/28/02 2:02:35 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:

Beat the Band was a funky show where listeners' questions were selected
 in the hopes of stumping the band. If a
 listener's question was chosen, he or she received $10.

 The questions were posed as riddles: What song title tells you what
 Cinderella might have [removed]

Joe Mackey's post reminded me of when singer Hildegarde hosted that show.
One Q&A with song title stands out in my mind for some reason, even though it
was broadcast almost 60 years ago:

Q:  A salesman of women's products knocks on the door of a home, and Red
Skelton opens the door.  What does the salesman ask?

A:  "Lady in Red"[?]  As I recall, someone in the band did know the answer.

Spence

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 20:36:23 -0500
From: "David H. Buswell" <dbuswell@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Richard's "Mystery Man"

I believe the gentleman alluded to by Richard Pratt is Warren Hull.

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 20:36:20 -0500
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Hearst and Paley

In an earlier digest, Bill Murtough sez:

Actually publisher Randolph Hearst was not sore at Arthur but had a bug up
his fanny against
Mr. Paley, due to Paley having married a former lady friend of Hearst.

Just so it is clear here, the "lady friend" that Paley married was Dorothy
Hart Hearst and she was previously married to John Randolph Hearst, [removed]'s
son. She was not married to [removed] as the comment seems to imply. [removed] was
known as Jack Hearst and never as Randolph, so the confusion could be made.

Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 20:37:53 -0500
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Glenn Miller Broadcast

John Sellards asked if anyone knew if the Dec. 25 1940 Chesterfield
Glenn Miller broadcast exists.
I can only answer that while it may exist it hasn't been released. Two
numbers from that show have been released on Magic Dawe 86 CD entitled
"Yesterthoughts". The two tunes are "Falling Leaves" and "Dig It".
If you have other songs from that broadcast, I for one would be very
interested in obtaining a copy. You may email me off list if you wish.

George Aust

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 20:47:50 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: new OTR Cincy web page

Due to a few requests, my little sister created a web page with info about
the Cincinnati OTR convention.

http://[removed]

Virginia posted this up on the web for interested parties.

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 21:13:04 -0500
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "Free to the Next Caller!"

Folks-
As part of some house cleaning, I'm getting rid of several SPERDVAC
"RADIOGRAMS". They date from 1993 to the today, though not all issues are
present. Also, they are FAR from mint: pages missing, hiliting/penmarks, etc.
BUT, they are available to the first person to contact me off-list, offering
to cover [removed]
Best,
Craig Wichman

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 21:19:35 -0500
From: CORDBUFF@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: tunnels

Here in Seattle at least one major tunnel has radio repeaters in it so you
wont miss a thing.

Marc

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 22:07:03 -0500
From: Wboenig@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Looking for help with a trivia question

A long time ago I remember being presented with a trivia question for which I
never received a complete answer.  The challenge was to name at least five
OTR shows that regularly began with the ringing of a telephone.  The only two
I could think of were Duffy's Tavern and Candy Matson.  Would any other
readers be so kind as to provide names of other series that fit this
description?  Thanks.

Wayne Boenig

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 22:07:14 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Ellery Queen's plea

I posted this query some time ago and was able to gather some information,
so in hopes that a second query with the additional info might give a lead,
I'm reposting again.

In 1957 the BBC broadcast a six weeks summer series based on six of the
earliest Queen short stories.
Does anyone know of a broadcast log of titles and airdates?
Since they were adaptations of original Queen stories, plots should be
relatively easy to add once I know the titles.  Or perhaps someone out there
knows of a reference guide (published or on the web) listing BBC broadcasts
that might prove valuable?

Other query:
During the 1960s, Ellery Queen was offered in multiple syndication packages
of one-minute mysteries.  Most of these episodes seem to have survived.

On Ellery Queen's Minute Mysteries, each episode opening with "Ellery
Queen's Minute [removed] is Ellery Queen with the case I call [removed]"
followed by the official title.

What I've been able to piece together: At least 520 mini mysteries were
issued on reel-to-reel put out by Creative Marketing and Communications
Corp. in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Up to four boxed sets were issued (four
syndication packages), each containing 130 episodes each.  Originally
released in 7 ‡ ips Mono, not Stereo.
Set # 1 had 129 minute mysteries, from episodes 1 to 129.
Set # 2 had 130 minute mysteries, from episodes 130 to 259.
Set # 3 had 131 minute mysteries, from episodes 260 to 390.
Set # 3 was issued September 1966.
Set # 4 had 130 minute mysteries, from episodes 391 to 520.
Set # 4 was dated for release in February of 1967.
Bill Owens (of Buxton & Owens) played Ellery in the one minute mysteries.
Does anyone out there have ALL 520 episodes?

If anyone has any leads, or has the episodes described, please contact me so
we can solve this little [removed]
Martin Grams, Jr.

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 23:29:48 -0500
From: "vegan" <vegan@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Fw: Old Time Products

Walden Hughes inquired about any sources for old time [removed] should try
these two sites:1 [removed]   for products still available
and 2. [removed]  for reproductions of things from
1910,20,30,40,50,[removed] Dezendorf-Florida

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 23:30:18 -0500
From: "vegan" <vegan@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Fw: SciFi Classic

Does anyone know if the SciFi Classic "The Day The Earth Stood Still" or the
original story "Farewell to the Master" were ever done on radio? There is an
exceptional web site [removed] that I have
written to with this same question but never received an [removed] this site
are the scripts for four versions-"TDTESS","TDTESSII"(sequel by Ray
Bradbury),"Farewell to the Master" (original) and" FTTM" [removed]
scripts seem to have been written in such a way that they would be easily
adapted to radio format as may well have been the intention and perhaps the
[removed] anyone out there tell me if this was ever done and if so,a source
for recordings?Rob Dezendorf-Florida

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 23:30:53 -0500
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Two o'Clock Eastern Wartime

Dick Backus wrote:

I just finished reading John Dunning's "Two O'clock Eastern War Time",
which I [removed]
Were any of the radio plays which "Jordan" wrote for the big week ever
really written or produced? (Boer War, Battery Wagner, etc.) If so, can
anyone supply a reference to them?

When I wrote a review of the book soon after it came out, I heard from
Dunning and those were strictly from the imagination of Mr. Dunning.
However, they were based upon somewhat similar experiences from real radio.
While I didn't hear this from Mr. Dunning, the black actor series spoken of
in the book bears a loose resemblance to the series "Destination Freedom" a
black civil rights drama from the late forties.

Dunning really brings radio alive in that book, doesn't he? I'd love to see
it made into a film.

Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 23:31:14 -0500
From: "ejcooper2001" <ejcooper2001@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Julius La Rosa

On the A&E cable network BIOGRAPHY of Arthur Godfrey, Julius LaRosa is
interviewed and gives the reason for his departure from Arthur Godfrey Time
as agent trouble (between his agent and Godfrey). Andy Rooney (a Godfrey
writer back then) says that LaRosa came back stage immediately after the
incident and asks the rhetorical question, "was I just fired?"

Eric Cooper

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 23:31:28 -0500
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Astrid Lindgren

Sorry to hear about Ms. Lindgren. I recall her Pippi Longstocking stories.
Does anyone know if they were ever on radio?  I know there were films, but
cannot recall radio versions.

Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 23:31:40 -0500
From: "ejcooper2001" <ejcooper2001@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Old and New FM band

The original FM band was at various frequencies around 42 Megacycles. RCA
eventually bought all rights to the FM transmission system from it's
inventor Edwin Armstrong and got the FCC to ove it to between 88-108
Megacycles to make room for that other medium (you know the one with the big
ugly glass picture tube)

Eric Cooper

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

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 23:32:28 -0500
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Radio Spirits move

In a message dated 1/28/02 7:27:58 PM, Ryan Osentowski writes:

I wonder if anyone has experienced something like this recently.  I called
Radio Spirits two days after Christmas to place an order.  They told me they
were in the process of moving and had to take inventory.

***Radio Spirits is in the process of moving their offices and warehouses
from Illinois to the East Coast and things are, at the moment, pretty
chaotic.  I haven't even been able to obtain some cassettes from RSI's
catalog that I need to finish some RSI historical booklets because the entire
contents of their warehouse was in transit.  Stock was expected to be
arriving in their new East Coast warehouses late last week or early this
week.  I'm waiting too, and I work for the company (as a freelancer).

Ryan, please be patient.  This is not a normal situation, but everyone at RSI
is really trying their best.  All the old staff employees will be out of jobs
in just a couple weeks (and many have already left for new jobs so the old
offices are undermanned at this time resulting in crushing workloads for
those remaining).  A new staff will soon be in place in RSI's new East Coast
offices. --Anthony Tollin

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

Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 00:01:16 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Fm band shift

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 11:20:29 -0500
From: "Robert  J.  McKee" <mckee137@[removed];

At that time FM broadcasting was in the 30 - 50 MHz band and that move
to 88 - 108 MHz was a nip in the bud for a service that had hardly
gotten started.  Mostly as a simulcast with AM broadcasters.

I've never heard just why the FM band was shifted, or at least what
justification was given by the FCC.  Since David Sarnoff considered FM a
threat to his empire, I've long thought that the reason for the shift was
that Sarnoff used whatever clout he had to hit FM.

Perhaps some of our historians can enlighten us.

--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
 15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 10:09:30 -0500
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Beat the Band

Joe Mackey gave a wonderful description from "Those Were the Days" of
"Beat the Band" which was an enjoyable little program.  It should be
noted that Perry Como was nowhere near a star.  He was just one of the
singers in the Ted Weems band.  He wasn't even the most popular of the
band members, Elmo Tanner and Country Washburn (not Washington) were the
real personality favorites.  Also note that Hildegarde was not in the
program during the Garry Moore-Ted Weems era.  She replaced them in the
second run of the program around 1943.

The program originated in Chicago, and at the Northwestern University
collection we had a large set of the original discs.  They stood out in
my mind because all of the 1940 programs of this series were recorded on
lacquer blanks made by RCA Victor, whereas none of the other discs in
the collection were.  I never could figure out why they set this brand
of discs aside for use apparently only for this series.  I've mentioned
these recordings before in the context that when the band went on the
road in the spring of 1940 you could easily hear the difference in the
telephone line quality as the band got further and further away from
Chicago over a period of several weeks.

But leaving technology and returning to program content, there is an
interesting disclosure seen in the wartime Hildegard run of the series.
We had discs for both the East and West coast versions of the program
for several weeks, and in these programs we can hear that some of the
same questions were used on BOTH VERSIONS of the program!!!!!  I mean,
how much evidence do you need before you yell "FIX!!!!!"?  No wonder the
broadcasting industry thought they were doing nothing wrong when the
quiz show scandal broke in the late 50s!!!  They had ALWAYS fixed the
quizzes!!!  If the band didn't know the answer the first time they heard
the question, how could they NOT know it when they heard it again three
hours later??  They were not THAT stoned!!

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #34
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