------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 245
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Two things about Bendix [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
Today in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Jeff Chandler [ "Lois Culver" <loiseula@[removed] ]
WHO'S ON FIRST [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
MANHATTAN TOWER [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
Don't worry, we'll think of a title [ Ivan G Shreve Jr <iscreve@[removed] ]
Hoagy Carmichael & Ole Buttermilk Sk [ leemunsick@[removed] ]
Rosemary Clooney [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
YUL BRYNNER [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
Re: Who's on First [ Grbmd@[removed] ]
Gordon Jenkins' "Seven Dreams" [ "David H. Buswell" <dbuswell@rivnet ]
Hoahies or Grinders [ "jsouthard" <jsouthard@[removed]; ]
Elliott & Cathy Lewis [ leemunsick@[removed] ]
OTR and culture [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK SCHEDULE [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
39 Steps and Ida Lupino [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
Re: Tzena, Tzena, Tzena [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Abbott & Costello "Who`s on First" [ Rfmalone@[removed] ]
RE: Braille CD Labels [ "Steven C. Thoburn" <scthoburn@adel ]
Collecting Lone Ranger OTR [ "Ron Curtis" <rcurtis4@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 10:40:53 -0400
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Two things about Bendix
Sorta off-subject, [removed]
Randy Collins stoked some memories in his post about the lady who has the
Bendix radio:
Our family bought a 12" Bendix television set in 1949, I think. We were the
only family on the block to have this luxury, which cost around $200 (a
huge amount of money for a poor family at that time). The set worked well,
without repairs, until my mother traded it in on a "huge" 17" RCA in 1956.
Seems to me that the early TV manufacturing was similar to the later craze
for "CB" radio: As soon as it became popular, everybody and his brother set
up factories to produce the [removed] most of whom subsequently went bust.
Question for OTR's: When RADIO became popular in the early 1920's were
there suddenly dozens of manufacturers producing their own "revolutionary"
sets?
By the way - If Randy wants to get the Bendix radio working again, he might
consider the following:
> The problem is probably a burnt-out tube. There are sites on the WEB
that specialize in vacuum tubes.
> Sears' repair service is another possibility: they're really good at
working on old stuff (although the repair cost would probably be more than
the original price of the radio.
(Note: I have no connection with Sears, other than as a customer of their
Repair Service.)
Herb Harrison
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 10:41:01 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history
From Those Were The Days --
1921 - Documents were signed forming the Radio Corporation of America,
better known as RCA. RCA soon rivaled its main competitor, General
Electric (GE).
Joe
--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 12:07:52 -0400
From: "Lois Culver" <loiseula@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Jeff Chandler
Agreeing with Bill Murtough about how well-liked Jeff Chandler was. He was
another "hanger-on" at Nickodell's Restaurant, along with the rest of us
radio people. I had just returned from living in Japan for two years, and
he could not get enough of picking my brains about Japan. He was
fascinated. (And it didnt hurt my feelings to have this handsome man showing
me such attention, even if it was just about where I had been!) We were all
devastated by his untimely death - such a loss!
Lois Culver
KWLK Radio (Mutual) Longview, WA 1941-44
KFI Radio (NBC) Los Angeles CA 1945-47, 50-53
Widow of Howard Culver, actor
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 12:26:37 -0400
From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: WHO'S ON FIRST
Found a few routines on the Web -- all of them include a center field
reference.
Costello: The left fielders name?
Abbot: Why
C: Because.
A: Oh, he's center field.
[removed]
A DATE WITH SINATRA
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 12:27:00 -0400
From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: MANHATTAN TOWER
Jenkins moved to the Capitol label he re-recorded Manhattan Towers for
them in 1956. I don't know who narrated it but it could have been
Elliott Lewis again.
It was, and this new version was made into a TV special. The original
was released in 1945. Gordy tells the story of MT on one of my specials.
[removed]
A DATE WITH SINATRA
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 12:27:37 -0400
From: Ivan G Shreve Jr <iscreve@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Mailing List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Don't worry, we'll think of a title
Kenneth Clarke mused:
True enough, but what might the title of the episode be? Considering
that all (or most) of the "Dragnet" episodes began with "The Big ______",
what would an appropriate (and imaginative) title have been?
How about "The Big One-Cent Sale"?
Ivan
--
"You're pretty high and far out. What kind of kick are you on, son?" -- Jack
Webb (as Joe Friday), DRAGNET
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 12:43:20 -0400
From: leemunsick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Hoagy Carmichael & Ole Buttermilk Sky
Hoagy Carmichael in the role of "Hi Linnett" introduced "Ole Buttermilk
Sky" in the 1946 film "Canyon Passage".
This film's cast included radio's Brian Donlevy, Jay Silverheels and
Sheldon Leonard (Jack Benny's perennial "Psst! Hey bud!", which set up
Jack's famous line, "I'm thinking! I'm Thinking!"). Also appearing were
Halliwell Hobbes, Andy Devine, Lloyd Bridges, and Ward Bond. Oh yes, there
were also two people named Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews.
Hoagy was a prolific composer, with over 50 hit songs to his credit. He
wrote "Star Dust" (that's the correct name) for an Indiana college reunion,
as an quick-beat song. Later it was slowed down. In the latter version it
is credited as being the most-recorded song of all time.
Hoagy appeared on many radio programs, running the same list of
guest-bookings as another even more prolific Hollywood songster, Johnny
Mercer, who wrote over 1,000 songs! Carmichael had a few television
entries, on one of which he was the emcee.
He was in about a dozen movies from 1937 through 1963. He was often just
an uncredited piano player, more often just played Hoagy
Carmichael. Perhaps his best known role was as "Cricket" in "To Have and
Have Not". This gave him an opportunity to noodle around several of his
songs, and feature "Hong Kong Blues".
This Humphrey Bogart version of "Casablanca" was the film debut of Lauren
Bacall. In his listing for "Have/Not", Leonard Maltin tells us that a very
young Andy Williams was hired to dub Bacall's singing! That fell through,
and we do hear the future Mrs. Bogart [removed] that famous lesson in
osculation. Maltin also refers to this movie as an adaptation of Ernest
Hemingway's "worst novel", a designation I personally would append to the
highly over-rated short story "The Old Man and the Sea".
"To Have and Have Not" and "Canyon Passage" both included film actor Dan
Seymour in their casts. This is the frequently seen oily villain type, not
the future host of "We the People" and advertising guru of the same name.
Right now it's over 90 degrees in Virginia, where last week it ran to 100
or more while my friends in Florida hadn't seen 90. I'm waiting to be "In
the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening", a hit prepared by Mercer and
Carmichael together, and warbled by a young fella named Harry Lillis Crosby.
Lee Munsick, jus' tryin' to cool off!
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 13:45:52 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
May 23, 1928, Maysville, Kentucky - June 29- 2002, Los Angeles, California
Rosemary Clooney, who was very popular during my high school years (1950-1954)
died Saturday June 29th of lung cancer. She had such hits as "Come on-a My
House", "This Ole House", Half as Much", "Hey There", "Botch-a-Me" and "Mambo
Italiano."
She got here start with her younger sister Betty in 1945 at WLW in Cincinnati
singing on such programs as "Moon River" and "On the Sunny Side". She and
Betty toured for three years with the Tony Pastor orchestra which at the time
was regularly broadcast from Philadelphia from 1946 to 1948. Betty quit, but
Rosemary continued on as a solo.
In 1949 she headed for New York and Columbia records. Her boss, Mitch Miller
asked her to record "Come on-a My House", she refused. On the threat of being
fired she relented. It became her first big hit.
>From there she starred in four movie musicals, "The Stars Are Singing," "Here
Come the Girls (with Bob Hope). a western spoof "Red Garters" and "White
Christmas" (with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye).
She had her own show, oddly enough called the "Rosemary Clooney Show" from
1953 to 1955. She ended the decade with a midday show at CBS with Bing Crosby.
Not surprisingly her obituary made no mention of her radio work, yet that is
the medium in which she got started.
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Make your day just a little better,
Listen to an Old Time Radio Program.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 14:05:00 -0400
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: YUL BRYNNER
Ron:
You attempt to grasp the ungraspable. Yul Brynner was the original con
man as regards his life. He was the bane of most PR guys at the studio
because his ideas were better than theirs.
Marlon Brando once confided to a friend of mine that the idea of creating
an exotic history was in keeping with the great tradition of show biz,
especially as he, Marlon, hailed from the rather banal Midwestern City of
Omaha and that he got the idea from Yul Brynner's well know penchant for
invention.
Brynner masked much of his life in mystery and in outright lies designed
to tease the gullible, and it was not until the publication of a biography by
his son in 1989 that many of the details of Brynner's early life became
clear(er). He often claimed to be a half-Swiss, half-Japanese named Taidje
Khan, born on the island of Sakhalin; in reality he was the son of Boris
Bryner, a Swiss-Mongolian engineer and inventor, and Marousia Blagavidova,
the daughter of a Russian doctor. He was born in their hometown of
Vladivostok on 7 July 1915, and named Yul after his grandfather Jules Bryner.
When Yul's father abandoned the family, his mother took Yul and his sister
Vera to Harbin, China, where they attended a school run by the YMCA. In 1934,
Yul's mother took her children to Paris. Her son was sent to the exclusive
Lycée Moncelle, but his attendance was spotty. He dropped out and became a
musician, playing guitar in the nightclubs among the Russian gypsies who gave
him his first real sense of family.
He met luminaries such as Jean Cocteau and became an apprentice at the
Theatre des Mathurins. He worked as a trapeze artists with the famed Cirque
d'Hiver company. He traveled to the U. S. in 1941 to study with acting
teacher Michael Chekhov and toured the country with Chekhov's theatrical
troupe. That same year he debuted in New York as Fabian in Twelfth Night
(billed as Youl Bryner). After working in a very early TV series, "Mr. Jones
and His Neighbors," he played on Broadway in Lute Song, with 'Mary Martin,'
winning awards and mild acclaim. He and his wife, actress Virginia Gilmore,
starred in the first TV talk show, "Mr. and Mrs." Brynner then joined CBS as
a television director.
He made his film debut in Port of New York (1949). Two years later, Mary
Martin recommended him for the part he would always be known for, the King in
Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I. Brynner became an immediate
sensation in the role, repeating it for film and winning the Oscar for Best
Actor. For the next two decades, he maintained a starring film career despite
exotic nature of his persona, performing in a wide range of roles from
Egyptian Pharaohs to Western gunfighters, almost all with the same shaven
head and indefinable accent. In the 1970s, he returned to the role that had
made him a star, and spent most of the rest of his life touring the world in
The King and I.
When he developed lung cancer in the mid-1980s, he left a powerful public
service announcement denouncing smoking as the cause, for broadcast after his
death. The cancer and its complications, after a long illness, ended his
life. But he remains one of the most fascinating, unusual, and beloved stars
of his time.
<A HREF="[removed],+Michael+C.">
Michael C. Gwynne</A>
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 15:22:07 -0400
From: Grbmd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Who's on First
I have a CD with various baseball-related songs and other items. One track
is Abbot and Costello doing their WOF routine.
In this version, they give the names of the left fielder (Why) and center
fielder (Because) but not the right fielder.
I don't know the program, but it was done before an audience. The CD notes
say it is circa 1945. In the routine Bud says that Bucky Harris is manager
of the Yankees, so that is a date clue.
Spence
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 15:22:22 -0400
From: "David H. Buswell" <dbuswell@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Gordon Jenkins' "Seven Dreams"
There have been several posts regarding Jenkins and his "Manhattan Towers"
narrated by Eliott Lewis. Jenkins was indeed an imaginative and talented
artist. In the late 40s or early 50s he recorded another of his longer
compositions called "Seven Dreams." While I was a student at the University
of Illinois in 1953, we adapted the work for a competitive amateur stage
production and won first place. Does anyone else remember "Seven Dreams?"
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 15:43:38 -0400
From: "jsouthard" <jsouthard@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Hoahies or Grinders
How we often go out on tangents, such as from Hoagy Carmichael to Hoggie,
Subway (subs), or Grinder sandwiches. When I was raised in Massachusetts in
the 1940s, they were called "Guinea Grinders." Today nobody calls grinders
by that name as "guinea' was a perjorative term for Italians along with
"wop." We also called milkshakes "frappe" Anybody know why?
John Southard
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 17:42:03 -0400
From: leemunsick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Elliott & Cathy Lewis
Harry Bartell is correct in correcting me re the female voice on "Manhattan
Tower" and my assuming that it was Elliott Lewis's wife. I found a couple
of sources for details on the Internet and picked up the name I used, which
was Beverly Mahr. I thought at the time that while a familiar name, it
wasn't Elliott's wife. But then I gave in "to higher authority" - the Web!
And that, dear friends, makes an a** out of me, as the old saying goes in
part.
Lee Munsick from Appomattox, Chagrinia
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 18:44:20 -0400
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR and culture
I enjoyed David Rogers comments about culture and how the media depictions
teach us about the culture at a particular time.
One of the hardest things to do is to accept that 'the good old days' or
whatever one calls them were merely a snapshot in time and already the seeds
of the next change were waiting to sprout. (That's awful. No wonder I'm
not a writer).
I know that my attachment to OTR has a special component that provides me
with basic comfort because I was born in 1938 and radio was a big part of my
life during those formative years after WWII when life seemed less
complicated. But it's not all about nostalgia.
Now as an adult I actually appreciate OTR even more because now I have
critical skills that I didn't as a youngster and my appreciation goes
beyond the entertainment value. I've been pleased to discover that the
quality of OTR could be quite high, that my attachment and loyalty were not
misplaced. And, most importantly, OTR was a great spur to imagination.
Often today when I'm working at the computer and have my TV on I realize
that I don't have to watch because so much of TV doesn't require that
attention. In fact it makes the telling of the story longer, requiring
breaks and transitions for example. TV requires an hour to tell a story
that OTR radio did in half an hour. Much of TV is radio with pictures that
are often not as good as the pictures I can draw with my own mind. (I'm
still a fan of a lot of TV though. This is not TV bashing in general)
And radio allowed people to work because of their talent. They didn't have
to be good looking and thin for example.
However, things do change. And values do change. I enjoy the programs
from the past, both radio and TV, and remember when they were made and how
they accurately represented their time. Watching women mop their kitchen
floors in dresses and high heels particularly amuses me. But that
doesn't interfere with my ability to enjoy 'then' now.
Irene
IreneTH@[removed]
[removed] I loved Henry Aldrich. Also, Corliss Archer, A Date With Judy,
Archie, Our Miss Brooks -- all those programs that reflected teenage life.
I still enjoy those programs all these years later even though they reflect
a reality difficult to imagine now.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 18:44:33 -0400
From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK SCHEDULE
Here's the lineup for this weeks shows at The Olde Tyme Radio Network at:
[removed]. All playable in high qaulity streaming audio.
New shows every Sunday.
SAME TIME, SAME STATION with Jerry Haendiges
1. INHERITANCE - 7/4/54 "Proclaim Liberty"
2. THE QUIZ KIDS - 7/4/48 Celebrating Independence Day
3. CALLING ALL CARS 7/4/34 "July 4th - 1934"
4. LIFE WITH LUIGI 7/3/49 "The Fourth of July Parade"
HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE with Tom Heathwood.
1. DR, CHRISTIAN - CBS - December, 1950 "Tony's Parcel"
2. GUEST: JACK GALE - broadcaster/historian/author/voice-over producer -
talks with Tom about those great old years of local and network broadcasting.
Some
nice clips of his "cast" including bits from WMEX- Boston.
Enjoy - Have a Great Holiday !! Tom & Jerry
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 18:44:46 -0400
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 39 Steps and Ida Lupino
FYI: The DVD of the 1935 film includes the full broadcast of the 1937 Lux
Radio broadcast with Ida Lupino and Robert Montgomery. Perhaps this will
become a new trend of 'special features' that are included with DVDs.
Irene
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 00:51:29 -0400
From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Tzena, Tzena, Tzena
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
it's not an accurate translation of the Hebrew, and the actual
translation is more interesting. The actual words are more like
"Go out, Go out, Go out, daughters, and see the soldiers in the
village. Don't be afraid of the men of the army."
I wonder if those original Hebrew words were written by the same
songwriter who wrote the WW II song "You Can't Say No To A Soldier"?
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 00:51:43 -0400
From: Rfmalone@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Abbott & Costello "Who`s on First"
Abbott & Costello appeared as guests on The Andrews Sisters broadcast
11/28/45
Here is the Team Roster:
!st. base: Who
2nd base: What
3rd base: I Don`t Know
Shortstop: I Don`t Give a Darn
Rt Field: Naturally
Center Field: Because
Left Field: Why
Pitcher: Tomorrow
Catcher: Today
OTR Dealers probably have tape in a Andrews Sisters Collection
Richard
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 00:52:45 -0400
From: "Steven C. Thoburn" <scthoburn@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: Braille CD Labels
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/mixed
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
I am enclosing a link to a site which offers some software which allows
you to use a computer program to control a CD changer through a small device
connected to a serial port. The author of the article uses it with a sony
300-Disc CD changer. I know this is not a "labeling" solution, per se, but
if disc safety and access is a primary concern, then what could be better
than having your player serve as your storage unit? You put this disc into
the player and never touch it again. Many of these units can be
"daisy-chained" to additional players to allow for collections larger than
the capacity of one player. With some voice-recognition software on your
computer it would be possible to say "Glenn Miller, The Jazz Collector
Edition", or any album title, and have your music start right up. Of
course, this will cost a teensy bit more than the labels [removed]
[removed]~shaavist/slink/
Good Luck,
Steve
[server removed an attachment of type application/octet-stream which had a
name of Computer Controlled CD [removed]]
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 00:53:01 -0400
From: "Ron Curtis" <rcurtis4@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Collecting Lone Ranger OTR
I recently purchased a log book of Lone Ranger OTR programs. I was
surprised at the number of episodes that were created. I'm wondering if
anyone is selling a complete set of Lone Ranger programs? I've seen sets of
up to about a thousand episodes. I understand many more than that exists.
While on this subject, how do most OTR collectors develop their collection?
Is it by specializing in a few titles, such as the Lone Ranger, or collect a
wide spectrum of titles? Just wondering ...
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #245
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