Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #209
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 6/7/2002 4:10 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2002 : Issue 209
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  OTR and The Simpsons                  [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
  Re: mp3's and stuff                   [ "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self ]
  Re: ClearChannel                      [ "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self ]
  Waukegan Online Diary                 [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
  RE: 7PM Radio Hour                    [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
  Re: Sustaining Program                [ bryanh362@[removed] ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Distinctive Voices                    [ Backus2@[removed] ]
  Right and Wrong                       [ "[removed]" <swells@[removed]; ]
  Simpsons and OTR                      [ Serialous@[removed] ]
  listings                              [ Frank Absher <fabsher@[removed]; ]
  Theme Restaurants                     [ "Arte" <arte@[removed]; ]
  Radio Theme Restaurants               [ Bhob <bhob2@[removed]; ]
  Re: OTR restaurant, Simpsons          [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
  Re: OTR Voicetracking                 [ Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed]; ]
  A' n' A references on "the Simpsons"  [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
  Hamburgers                            [ "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed] ]

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 10:46:05 -0400
From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR and The Simpsons

Hello All,

Another OTR reference in THE SIMPSONS is in the episode where tycoon Mr.
Burns is trying to improve his public image.  His assistant Smithers tells
Burns that he has booked him on radio's hippest show.  "Don McNeil's
Breakfast Club?" Burns asks.  The show is actually a Howard Stern type
program.

George

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 10:47:23 -0400
From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: mp3's and stuff

Oddly enough, just last night I was talking to someone who was telling me
about a full run of a certain program that's just been released.  The
show only ran for one season, and according to him (the person and show
aren't important) only 3 or 4 episodes have been circulating.  He just
got cleaned up CD copies, which I understand were done by a dealer that
many of us know and buy from, that came direct from transcriptions.
Today, during my lunch at work, I decided to do some checking, and
[removed] more than 2 months after these shows were quietly released in
the public, there are already 5 collections on ebay, and all 39 episodes
on the newsgroups.  Even if the mp3 collectors probably wouldn't buy from
this dealer, [removed] can be sure they won't now.  This is the second
time this person has gotten burned in a year by releasing new shows.  I
hope it doesn't discourage him from doing it in the future.

rodney.

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 10:47:28 -0400
From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: ClearChannel

"Clear Channel" is an interesting name for an ownership octopus, isn't
it?  I doubt they own even one clear channel outlet in all their
monopoly.

ClearChannel Communications is a disgusting monster that happens to own
over 60% of the radio stations in this country, thereby homogonizing them
into one blanket mass of the same old stuff over and over again.  Having
many friends that play in Rock bands, I've seen ClearChannel's blatent
attempts to bully them as well as independant radio stations into doing
whatever they want.  Even open threats, like "I suggest you call us back
pronto, or I will be forced to make things very hard for you in this
city."  I have one friend who's band is now completely banned from
playing any venues that ClearChannel books shows for, simply because they
were unable to play a show that opened up less than 12 hours in advance.

Sorry to rant, and to be off-topic, but people really need to know what's
happening to radio today.  SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL INDEPENDANT RADIO STATIONS!
 Even if they don't play OTR, at least they're probably not accepting
bribes to dictate what music they play.

rodney.

Past Tense Productions
Carrying Old Radio related films, and Hal Roach shorts, for $7 per tape.

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 10:49:01 -0400
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Waukegan Online Diary

I'd send this to my membership list, but AOL over the Web won't let me do
that.  [removed] pass along the word that anyone interested in the latest
information on Waukegan can check our Web site at [removed].  I will
try to keep it up to date with the daily happenings and where you can access
media coverage of the events.

Just got an interview request from the Chicago Sun-Times, so keep an eye
there as well.

--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 10:50:17 -0400
From: BryanH362@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RE: 7PM Radio Hour
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Elizabeth McLeod writes in regard to Amos N Andy leaving the 5 times a week
15 minute spot at 7PM:

listening patterns had changed substantially
since the program was at its peak in the early thirties. Overall radio
listening at the 7pm hour had been declining steadily since the
mid-thirties,

Elizabeth indicated that the networks evening program schedule began  to
reflect this change . That is very well true.  Shows cheaper to produce
started showing up in the  7pm slot . Well that is in the Eastern Time Zone .
For all time zones west 7pm WAS prime time radio. Until this day 7PM is the
start of prime time TV in the midwest  (6PM on Sunday).
I remember a study on radio advertising done in the 40s that touched upon the
issue of the time zone differential in network radio. Sponsors wondered if
they could expect to loose a sizable portion of the western audience when the
program hit the airwaves at 6:30 PM in the pacific time zone or if western
audiences had a different listening pattern. To answer the query the study
included  a graph indicating  peak  listening times in each time zone. I wish
I could recall what each was but I can't .  I do recall that the program
"Spotlight Bands"
was mentioned and the study was sure that even the most musically inclined
swinger would find the 6:30 PM (Pacific Time ) airing  of this program to be
too early to truly enjoy.
I don't know if I would agree with that . I find the 9:30 PM (Eastern time)
airing to be too late. Jut my opinion.

-Bryan

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 10:50:11 -0400
From: bryanh362@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Sustaining Program

Elizabeth McLeod Writes:

Many
stations used part of this early-evening spread for local time, spotting
paid transcription features instead of sustaining network shows.

I have often noticed that stations were often likely to refuse the lower
budget network sustaining shows  in favor of airing commercial transcription
features. It makes me wonder how often the networks went through the trouble
of producing a sustaining feature that no station was carrying anyway?
My understanding is that for the most part the stations were not required to
carry most sustaining programs. Apparently there were a few sustaining shows
that were so prestigious that the networks often did  initiate  a must carry
rule.
I can't recall off hand which shows those were. The Mercury Theater on the
air with Oson Welles was certainly not one of those must carry sustaining
shows. People would be surprised to learn how many CBS stations did not carry
"War of the Worlds"  that fateful evening. The sponsored LUX Radio Theater
airing the following evening on CBS was carried on a much more extensive
network of CBS stations.

-Bryan

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 10:50:23 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

  From Those Were The Days --

1945 - The NBC program The Adventures of Topper was heard for the first
time.

1955 - Lux Radio Theatre air for the final time. The program had aired
for 21 years.

  Joe

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

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 11:02:15 -0400
From: Backus2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Distinctive Voices

   David Rogers nominated Englishmen Peter Sellers, Kenneth Williams and
Jimmie Clitheroe. To that I would like to add Frank Muir. The epitome of the
gentle,  "plummy" English voice.
   Does anyone know a source of good quality reproductions of "My Word" and
"My Music"?
                                                         Dick Backus

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 11:15:01 -0400
From: "[removed]" <swells@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Right and Wrong

Harry:
    I don't believe there is a right or wrong in this issue, just various
opinions. However, I will say that some of the those post left me in a daze
as well. For instance, one gentleman commented that collectors/dealers
should make a poor quality verion of whatever show and make it available for
free, and then make a higher quality show and sell that. My question would
be, who would want the poor quality show to begin with if you knew that a
better one existed? Wouldn't that be like going to McDonalds and asking for
a cheeseburger and the teller says, " I have one that dropped on the floor
and was kicked around for a while, you can have it for free, or we will sell
you a good one."
    Some proclaim that all OTR should be free, well, I think cable [removed]
should be free but Time Warner Cable sends me a bill each month.

    On to a better subject: A good friend sent me a copy of Steve Allen
hosting a old [removed] special titled, "Remeber the Golden Days of Radio" ( or
something along those lines ) Anyway, I would imagine that many of you have
seen this, but if not I would highly recommend it. There is a short film
segment of an Amos & Andy sound check ( I thought of you Elizabeth when I
saw it) that is very good, along with many, many other segments, skits,
introductions of many radio personalities, etc.

Shawn

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 11:44:14 -0400
From: Serialous@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Simpsons and OTR

Another reference was an episode when the adults passed a curfew on the
children, so the children decided to read the police rogue's gallery on the
radio. It was listened to on an Crosley-esque radio and the animation made it
feel like an episode of Witches Tale, Inner Sanctum, Lights Out, and the
gamut.

Michael Nella

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 12:43:49 -0400
From: Frank Absher <fabsher@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  listings

I note in local radio station program listings from the early 30s that some
are followed by a network identifier and others by "CC." What does CC stand
for?

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 12:44:27 -0400
From: "Arte" <arte@[removed];
To: "OldRadio Mailing List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Theme Restaurants

I can appreciate HK's disappointment concerning Fibber
McGee's Restaurant.
Quite a few years ago we went to Stillwater, OK, to a place
called "Eskimo Joe's."
Near as I could tell, my wife & daughter were the only two
Eskimos to ever eat there.

The used to be a diner in Oklahoma City with a
non-OTR-associated name. (I don't remember the name, but
it's not there any more anyway.) The walls were covered with
nostalgic pictures of movie and radio stars from the 40's &
50's. They had quite a display of antique radios on shelves
all around the place. They even had a working Philco TV with
the gymbol screen. (I hope I spelled that right -- er --
"correctly," Mr. Bartel.) For background music, they played
OTR comedy shows or else they played tapes of 50's TV shows
on the old Philco. I remember sitting there an extra hour or
two watching Milton Berle.

Arte
[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 13:37:38 -0400
From: Bhob <bhob2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio Theme Restaurants

What were the radio shows that emanated from the Little Theater on 44th
Street? What was the history of BREAKFAST AT SARDI'S? What other
restaurants in the New York area were sites for radio broadcasts during
the 1940s?

Re radio-themed restaurants:

There were and are many Duffy's Taverns around the USA. Here's one from
the 1940s: [removed]

JOE FRANKLIN'S: Radio memorabilia and broadcasts are featured at Joe
Franklin's Memory Lane Bar and Restaurant (45th Street and 8th Avenue,
NYC): [removed]
Review: [removed]
Joe Franklin's is a Riese Restaurant:
[removed]

Arlene Francis doing LUNCHEON AT SARDI'S:
[removed]

History of SARDI'S (234 W. 44th):
[removed]@Generic__BookView

Sardi's restaurant opened on March 5, 1927. For Vincent Sardi
(Melchiorre Pio Vincenza Sardi) and his wife, Eugenia "Jenny" Pallera
Sardi, immigrants from Italy, this was their second restaurant. They had
originally, in 1921, opened a restaurant at 146 West 44th Street called
the Little Restaurant (named for the Winthrop Ames' Little Theater next
door, now the new Helen Hayes Theater). It lasted until 1926. A year
later they opened their new restaurant, Sardi's, that stands today in
the same spot at 234 West 44th Street in which it opened in 1927. A
group of columnists and press agents began meeting at Sardi's every day
for lunch. They were dubbed the Cheese Club. A member of this club,
press agent Irving Hoffman, brought Alex Gard to meet this Cheese Club.
Gard, born Alexis Kremoff in Kazan, Russia, had fled Russia after the
Revolution and went to Bulgaria, France and, finally, to the United
States. He had drawn caricatures of his commanding officers in the
Russian Imperial Naval Academy and had had the occasional caricature
published in Le Matin in France during his stay in that country. At
Sardi's, he drew caricatures of the Cheese Club, which Vincent Sardi put
on the walls of Sardi's restaurant, thus beginning the long tradition
that continues until today. Vincent Sardi wanted to imitate a Paris
restaurant, Zelli's, that placed caricatures on the walls of the
restaurant. Sardi and Gard signed a contract that provided a meal a day
in Sardi's for Alex Gard in return for his caricatures. It was
stipulated that Sardi could not complain about the caricatures and Gard
could not complain about the food. The first caricature under this
agreement was bandleader and comedian, Ted Healy (the man who brought
the Three Stooges together). Sardi's restaurant soon became a theatrical
landmark famous for the caricatures of its prominent patrons primarily
actors, directors, producers and others connected to the stage. In 1947
the senior Sardis retired and their son Vincent Sardi, Jr. took the
helm. The following year Alex Gard died, but the position of house
caricaturist was maintained as a Sardi's [removed];<

Bhob @ FUSEBOX VINTAGE NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS @
[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 14:57:24 -0400
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: OTR restaurant, Simpsons

Derek Tague asked:
 >did there ever exist somewhere in this country a theme-restaurant or
 >saloon  dedicated to OTR.

I've never been there but in Nashville there was within recent years an
OTR-themed McDonald's, of all things, near Opryland. The emphasis was,
of course, on the early days of popular "country" music.

* **********

As to the Simpsons, there was an episode within the last year wherein
the grandfather (played, I believe, by Julie Kavner) takes Bart on a
cross-country jaunt and, along the way, introduces him to OTR with a
tape of an old Itchy and Scratchy radio comedy show. There were some
lines about it being even funnier without the pictures, but I don't
remember the details.

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 17:13:16 -0400
From: Harlan Zinck <buster@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: OTR Voicetracking

Voice tracking is really nothing new, though today there is a certain
deceptiveness about it that wasn't there in earlier days. Early uses of
this format were designed to cover vacations and illness or simply to offer
local stations a professionally produced and infinitely variable disk
jockey show that could be used in conjunction with local advertising.

In addition to the Bob & Ray voice tracks that Elizabeth described in
yesterday's posting, the Archives also has a series of disks from Martin
Block's "Make Believe Ballroom" disk jockey program, dating from around
1940. These 16" vinyl syndication disks originally came with detailed cue
sheets and would be used in conjunction with the station's library of
records and local commercial spots to create a full program. I don't have
these disks myself at the present - Karl Pearson is transferring them for
us - but I believe they also include commercial spots for a bread company;
this would not be the case in later syndication packages hosted by
bandleaders like Tommy Dorsey and Ralph Flanagan, as built-in advertising
would date the programs too quickly. (A smart syndicator wanted to make
sure his programs could be played in various sized markets for *years*, not
just a few months.)

Bing Crosby used a combination of pre-recorded introductions and records to
create his five-a-week morning series for Minute Maid orange juice in the
early 1950s. We have well over 60 of these from ABC network lacquers with
Crosby, announcer Ken Carpenter, and occasionally Gary Crosby as a guest,
but the disks contain the voice tracks only and none of the musical
selections. We hope one day to re-assemble the shows, *if* we can gain
access to the probably 250+ commercial recordings necessary to do so - a
big project, to say the least.

Finally, I just finished transferring a series of audition programs
produced by Frederick Ziv in about 1952 that demonstrate the way in which
the voice track format could be sold in variety of ways. "The Ginger Rogers
Show" and "Hour of Stars" on the disks were both syndicated five-a-week
disk jockey programs, with the latter hosted by Rogers, Tony Martin, Dick
Powell, and Peggy Lee. The concept was simple: each host would pre-record a
variety of scripted introductory announcements, designed to work in
conjunction with scripts provided for the use of local announcers. Stations
would subscribe to one of a number of variations: they could purchase the
daily 15-minute "Ginger Rogers Show," "Tony Martin Show," "Dick Powell
Show" or "Peggy Lee Show," or the daily "Hour of Stars" - a full hour in
length - with all four hosts. The "Hour of Stars" used a different
introductory fanfare than the individual shows, but the same voice tracks
as the 15-minute versions. Thus, with a clever production team and only
about a day's worth of work (and pay) on the part of any of the
personalities involved, Ziv could package literally hundreds of programs
that could be leased to large and small stations throughout the country for
years.

There is a difference between these earlier syndication examples and the
modern version of voice tracking, though: having heard a number of earlier
shows, I don't believe the syndicator ever seriously tried to give the
impression that a famous personality was hosting a local show. (It would
take a pretty gullible person to believe that Tommy Dorsey was actually
sitting in the studio of a 100-watt station in the mid-west, playing
records just for the good people of a farming community in Ohio.) But
modern-day voice tracking tries to give *exactly* this impression, and
that's deceptive part.

Of course, there is one thing that has remained constant throughout all of
this. It is cheaper to pay talent *once* then reuse their recordings over
and over than it is to hire and pay talent to perform day after day. And
make no mistake about it; none of this type of programming would have ever
existed if it didn't reap sizeable financial rewards. The Ziv announcer in
the audition program for "Hour of Stars," mentioned above, states again and
again throughout the show just how many advertisements local stations can
sell and insert in the show - a total, in fact, of *fifteen minutes* worth
of advertising in a *one hour* program.

Some things haven't changed much in 50 years, have they?

Harlan

Harlan Zinck
First Generation Radio Archives
[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 17:14:12 -0400
From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  A' n' A references on "the Simpsons"

Jell-O Again!

    Eliz. McLoud said she collected latter-day references to "A.'n'A." I never
thought I'd ever add on to one of Liz's postings but here goes:
In a different episode of "The Simpsons,"  Homer is watching a reel of old
1950s TV commercials for his favourite brand of beer, "Duff." At the end of
one ad, a voice-over indicates that "Duff" is a "proud sponsor of 'The Amos
'n' Andy Show.'" This was probably a veiled reference to Blatz Beer.  I'm not
sure of the episode, but I think it was one that involved Homer & his
drinking-buddy Barney taking a tour of the Duff Beer factory.
   The only other "A 'n' A" modern-day reference I can think of was circa
1990, at the time when the film "Driving Miss Daisy" came under fire by some
African-Americans, who felt Morgan Freeman's character
acted too subservient to Jessica Tandy's; this led some pundit to refer to
"Driving Miss Daisy" as "Amos 'n' Tandy."

   For anybody going to Waukegan this week-end, have a great time!

Yours in the ether,

Derek Tague

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

Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 17:32:35 -0400
From: "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Hamburgers

Say, maybe "The Wallace Wimple" hamburger could be the "Wimpy" hamburger
served in the UK, [removed]!  But, Wimpy was the Popeye character, so
that doesn't jibe.  What happened to the White
Tower hamburgers?  White Castle is still around.

Russ Butler

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #209
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