------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 01 : Issue 111
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
I've Got My [Electryc] Eye On You ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
Awful Recordings ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
Re: OTR Recordings [Cnorth6311@[removed] ]
MAGIC ISLAND ["Ian Grieve" <ian@[removed]]
Vinton Hayworth [William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];]
Re: Sound quality [Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
The Canadian Website [Al Girard <agirard@[removed]]
Re: surface noise [Jean-Henri Duteau <jeand@telusplane]
CBC Web site [Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
CANADIAN RADIO: A SOURCE ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
Scariest ["Jimidene Murphey" <jimimark@[removed]]
Happy Hank [ajhubin@[removed] ]
Happy Hank & Jolly Joe [KENPILETIC@[removed] ]
'Horatio Hornblower' [Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed];]
currently on some public radio stati [leonardfass@[removed] (Leonard Fass]
RE: Where's that Canadian website?? ["Lee, Steve (DEOC)" <slee@[removed].]
Canadian OTR ["jacques boudreault" <jackb67@hotma]
Martin Vane-Hunt [BABA35@[removed] ]
The Great Radio heroes -- revised Ed ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
Canadian OTR [removed] and NIGHTFAL ["Jeff Geddes" <jeffg@[removed];]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 21:07:54 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: I've Got My [Electryc] Eye On You
Michael Biel, speaking of the "dressing Race," notes,
I'm getting some weird vibes from these descriptions. Is there a
generation of former kids out there who were tramutized by the idea that
some dirty old man was watching them get dressed thru their radio--or
else they became the hippie generation who didn't care who watched them
get dressed or undressed!!!
Actually, I suspect that if kids got weirded out on any concept, I rather
expect it wouldn't be because they thought some dirty old man was
watching them in states of undressed; rather, that anyone could see
_anything_ in their bedrooms. As kids of that age would be more likely
to be concerned about lack of overall privacy rather than modesty.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 21:17:03 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Awful Recordings
Joe Salerno, speaking of Elizabeth McLeod's observation about the
degradation of analog audio in contrast to digital (MP3), notes,
I've heard a lot of digital degradation - low rate MP3 encoding, noise
reduction, digital is in some ways much WORSE for sound quality, it
doesn't take nearly as long to ruin a recording as it did in analog days
when it could take a number of generations. Now it only takes [removed];<
Depending upon the equipment, it could happen in one generation with
analog, too. Likewise, good analog can keep pretty high quality through
several generations. The _potential_ for undegraded generations on
digital is greater than for analog; but just because the potential is
there doesn't mean it will be used correctly.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 21:17:39 -0400
From: Cnorth6311@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: OTR Recordings
Like Stephen I also bought a bunch of the Mark 56 recordings and I too found
them to be clear as crystal. I still have them and listen to them
occasionally. I believe at one time I recorded them off onto cassette which
have long since disappeared.
Charlie
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 21:17:53 -0400
From: "Ian Grieve" <ian@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: MAGIC ISLAND
As a newcomer to otr, I have been enjoying the hobby and have wanted to
'spread the word'. My family was my first target and my son 14 has been
enjoying Magic Island from 1936 (or 1935 on some logs).
Not much seems to be known about the series, there is even uncertainty about
the number of episodes, I have 128 and Jerry mentions a 129 and 130, but
nobody else seems to know of those episodes at all. I admit that I have
listened to the end of episode 128 and it doesn't seem to end the series and
it makes sense that there may have been more episodes planned but not made.
I am hoping that the learned people on the digest may be able to throw more
light on the subject. One day when the Australian dollar looks healthy
against the US dollar I will order Mr Dunnings fine book of reference to
assist me in issues like this.
Oh and by the way, because we are a day ahead of you guys, the April 1st
issue arrived to me on April 2nd and I took one look at it and e-mailed to
my home to 'sort out later', I then forgot about it until the next issue
arrived explaining the joke. So the joke was on me but also on the
perpetrator. You will have to send out April 1st jokes a day earlier to
catch me. But I now have a decoder, which I never had the opportunity to
own before. Thanks.
Ian
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 21:54:02 -0400
From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Vinton Hayworth
I remember the distinguished Vinton Hayworth very well. He and Betty
Garde were regulars on "Phillip Morris Playhouse" which was one of my
assignments for the last two years it was on radio. Eccentric Charlie
Martin ( and good friend) was the director. I would be delighted when
Alice Frost would be a cast member as we would have lunch together. This
would irritate the rest of the cast (actors were very clanish). She and
another close friend , Joseph Curtin, were "Mr. and Mrs. North". Joe
later became my insurance agent, hooking up with his family insurance
business in Boston. I last saw him when we had breakfast together the
morning after I had broadcast JFK's final campaign speech from Faneuil
Hall in Boston. I last saw Alice at a SPERDVAC convention a number of
years ago.
By the way, I do not remember the fountain at WLW when I visited the
transmitter in the early thirties. However, I do recall hearing the audio
as we walked along the transmission line to the tower. The line was about
ten inches in diameter. I was in my late teens and so was not familiar
with the technical end of radio so didn't think about it then. However
years later I questioned the phenomena. There must have been some
rectification, due to the high power.
The final tubes in 50 kw transmitters were water cooled in those
days.(Yes, I know WLW was 500 KW).
When I was at WHN (1936, 1937) we had a line to WLW ("The WLW Line") so
that we could feed Red Barber's sports program to them after he moved to
New York.
Bill Murtough
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 21:54:29 -0400
From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Sound quality
Would any of you like to be, for a better word, a beta tester?
I'm working on cleaning up some children's records. Very simple. Just
removing the pops and clicks.
My question is, does the sound that results sound better or worse than the
original?
I have two mp3 files that are just under 3 megs in size. Running time under
2 minutes. I'd like a few of you to volunteer to listen to each file and
tell me if removing the surface noise of the disc improves the sound or
should I just leave it alone.
Please email me and I'll email you back the files. Thanks for your help on
this.
Fred
For the best in Old Time Radio Shows [removed]
New e-commerce page [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 21:58:06 -0400
From: Al Girard <agirard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Canadian Website
The website is at [removed]
--
[removed] -Visit my Unofficial Fibber McGee and Molly home Page
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 22:34:38 -0400
From: Jean-Henri Duteau <jeand@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: surface noise
At 05:32 PM 4/8/01 -0400, you wrote:
> > While digital formats promise to eliminate the problem of
> > multi-generation degradation,
>
>Sorry but I can't agree here.
>
>I've heard a lot of digital degradation - low rate MP3 encoding, noise
>reduction, digital is in some ways much WORSE for sound quality, it doesn't
>take nearly as long to ruin a recording as it did in analog days when it
>could take a number of generations. Now it only takes one.
You didn't understand what Elizabeth said.
If I have a pristine analog recording and I take great care in recording it
digitally, I will now suffer ZERO degradation by making copies of it and
handing it out. There will be no difference between my copy and your copy
of it even if you receive a copy of a copy of a copy of a [removed]
Whereas with analog recordings, that is not the case.
Jean
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 23:16:16 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: CBC Web site
Mike Ogden asks:
Does anybody know the site that I'm talking about? (No, it's NOT Scenario
Productions.) I believe they stated somewhere at the site that they had been
authorized by the CBC to make these programs available in this fashion. I
just need to determine if this is a real thing or simply too good to be
true. If the latter's the case, then I must just have been having a
pre-Christmas hallucination (while visions of sugarplums and shows from the
vaults danced round my head?).
Most likely it is [removed] This site rotates complete episodes of
material from Canadian Radio under the categories of Drama, Comedy, Music,
Documentary, Time Tunnel and others. They have clips and complete episodes
in Real Audio format.
This site could be found by looking in my links database using the search
key "Canadian" at Radio Days:
[removed]
[removed] can be found at [removed]
Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 10:22:41 -0400
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: CANADIAN RADIO: A SOURCE
In answer to Michael Ogden's inquiry, there is an excellent book on the
History of Canadian Radio from the early Twenties (preceding USA Radio), up
to the late 1970's, called "From Coast To Coast" ; A Personal History of
Radio In Canada, written by noted Canadian Radio personality, Sandy Stewart,
& published by CBC Enterprises/Les Enterprises Radio-Canada, in 1985. There
are stories about the early pioneering programs and performers who migrated
to the USA ; Lorne Greene, Leslie Neilson, William Shaftner, James Doolin
(Scotty of Star Trek), and Wayne and Schuster a very funny comedy team on
radio, that made the American debut on the Ed Sullivan TV Show.
It also relates how the Canadian Broadcasters would have special programs
in the 1920's to lure American listeners, such as Foster Hewitt's "Saturday
Night Hockey Games." The first chapter, called
"How God Created The CBC (with a little help from his friends) is worth the
price of the book. One good thing about Canadian Radio, is they are still
producing radio drama, comedy, variety, quiz, and documentary shows seven
days a week, 365 days a year. I strongly advise anyone with a powerful
radio receiver with short-wave bands or if you are a ham radio operator, to
tune in to Canadian Radio if you want to really relive OUR HEYDAY. This
book is a must for any OTR Library.
Owens Pomeroy
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 10:22:43 -0400
From: "Jimidene Murphey" <jimimark@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Scariest
I am the college English teacher who uses "Sorry, Wrong Number" in my
classes, and the students have no idea that anything merely audio could be
so riveting and spellbinding. Great idea about turning off the lights!
Scariest - ah, but there are so many. Suspense's "Donovan's Brain" is akin
to "Sorry, Wrong Number" in its dramatic, psychotic, sanity-to-insanity
element. From my previous postings, some of you can probably tell I am an
Orson Welles fan, and think it was unfair of the world to accept TV so
readily because Welles was just BORN for radio.
Most terrifying (not to be confused with scary) is, hands down, Escape's
"Leinegen vs. the Ants" and "Three Skeleton Key." Escape could do some
pretty hefty terror. William Conrad, along with Welles, was also a radio
man; never liked him on TV.
Some scary thought-provoking, but not necessarily OTR, stuff is some Ray
Bradbury. "The Veldt," "The Ravine," and "The Fox in the Forest" sure make
for some great compositions. Students don't know there was science fiction
before George Lucas and Spielberg.
Because scary, suspenseful stories are by far my favorite, I'm anxious to
see what some of you choose. I'd be interested in swapping someday if you'
ll contact me personally.
Jimidene Murphey
jimimark@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 10:22:44 -0400
From: ajhubin@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Happy Hank
For what it's worth, Sies has this entry on Happy Hank:
"CW vcl [removed] by an otherwise unidentified performer
(WNAX, Yankton, SD and WHO, Des Moines, IA, 1939)."
He also gives:
"Happy Hank's Round Up. CW mus. prg. (WTMJ, Milwaukee,
WI, 1939)."
"vcl [removed]" stands for vocal music program. CW stands
for Country Western.
Al Hubin
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 10:22:46 -0400
From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Happy Hank & Jolly Joe
Hi Gang - April 9, 2001 - Monday - 8 AM cdt
In issue 109, Rich Samuels answered the "Happy Hank" question.
I was going to comment about the "dressing contest", but I couldn't
remember whether it was "Happy Hank" or "Jolly Joe" (Joe Kelly),
who preceeded Hank. Both were on WLS and sponsored by Cocoa Wheats. It is
possible that they both might have had dressing contests,
but I'm sure that Rich is correct in that "Happy Hank" certainly did.
Rich went on to ask who portrayed Happy Hank. I believe it was
the late Win Strahke. Both Win and "Hank" played the guitar, and their
voices are very similar. About a dozen years ago I tried to find out
whether Win and Hank were one and the same person.
Studs Terkel, who was a long-time personal friend of Win might know.
I had planned to ask Studs at one of his book signings, but I forgot to ask.
Until I learn otherwise, I remain reasonably sure that Win Strahke was
"Happy Hank". Did "Happy Henry" of the 1920's play the guitar?
See you in Cincinnati (?) -- Ken Piletic, Streamwood, Illinois
kenpiletic@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 11:25:56 -0400
From: Tom van der Voort <evan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: 'Horatio Hornblower'
Recently I came across a 52 episode run of 'Horatio Hornblower', a
series produced in Britain by Sidney Torch for Radio Luxembourg and staring
Michael Redgrave. The only problem was the programs had been drastically
edited. At least 25 percent of each broadcast was missing. I know this to
be the case because I earlier had access to some complete episodes from the
SPERDVAC library.
Do any of our resident experts know the story behind the abridgement?
I suspect the culprit is a syndicator who wanted the shows to fit into a
25 minute time slot with commercials.
Tom van der Voort
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 12:15:08 -0400
From: leonardfass@[removed] (Leonard Fass)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: currently on some public radio stations
scott simon repaying daniel pinkwater by appearing on the latter's
program, "chinwag theater". this week they read "blue moose" which atc
ran as a christmas special several times. scott will be on again next
week.
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 15:46:48 -0400
From: "Lee, Steve (DEOC)" <slee@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: Where's that Canadian website???
Michael Ogden inquired "Where's that Canadian website???"
Here are two sites Michael. I sure one of them is the one you are thinking
about. The other is an interesting OTR/CBC site.
[removed]
[removed]
Steven Lee
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 15:46:50 -0400
From: "jacques boudreault" <jackb67@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Canadian OTR
In response to a request for vintage Canadian radio programs, I believe this
is the site that one of our members is referring to:
[removed]
In the "Ottawa Computes" issue of March 2001, reference is made to a David
Marsden "who, in 1977 set up Canada's first alternative radio station, CFNY,
in the middle of a field in Brampton, Ontario." In this same article, it
states that the station was referred to as "The Spirit of Radio" (catchy
isn't it?). For Canadian OTR, you need the RealPlayer plugin and go to
Preservatory, a channel that puts about 20 archived CBC programs online a
month. They represent drama, concerts and other programs from CBC radio
from the past 70 years. These programs run for 30 days before they are
replaced. Hope this is what you are looking for.
Jacques Boudreault
Ottawa, Ontario
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 16:27:37 -0400
From: BABA35@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Martin Vane-Hunt
Can any one tell me how to contact Martin Vane-Hunt, an MP3 outlet in Canada
who used the name "OTR Archives" in his business. Apparently, he has changed
his web site address. Please reply offline.
Thanks!
Stan Hunter
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 19:03:27 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Great Radio heroes -- revised Edition
I just received a copy of Jim Harmon's The Great Radio Heries, revised
and updated. His book has several features the original didn't have,
including a few gentle modifications to adjust for 2001 sensitivities.
It is very much like the first edition, with some welcome additions.
It has photographs. Not an earth-shattering addition, but it's kinda
nice to see Bret Morrison in Shadow garb, Curley Bradley in Tom Mix
regalia, and J Scott Smart as The Fat Man, among many others.
Monochrome, and integrated with the text. Very nice.
It has a separate chapter on radio comedians as "heroes," including The
Great Gildersleeve, Fibber McGee & Molly, Jack Benny, and Amos 'n' Andy.
It also has a chapter on American Indian heroes, including straight Arrow
and Little Beaver, but not Tonto.
Finally, and best, it has an index. It's _so_ much easier using that
than trying to recall where something was in the first edition.
On my one specialty, though, I notice that there was no significant
change in the Captain Midnight coverage. Jim Harmon indicated to me that
my book appeared too late for any corrections, and without access to the
scripts, there was no practical way to gather that much data on the
shows, specifically the Ovaltine programs that comprise the bulk of the
show's history.
The book is an even better nostalgia trip than the first edition, and I
recommend it as such. But I still observe that it's not something I
would recommend as a reference text. That being said, it's certainly an
excellent volume for those who would like a good glimpse into those
thrilling days of yesteryear.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 21:02:21 -0400
From: "Jeff Geddes" <jeffg@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Canadian OTR [removed] and NIGHTFALL
Hi all!
Well, I don't know about the website that was discussed with the CBC radio
shows available in their entirety, but I do have another site you might want
to check out.
Recently I put up a Canadian OTR Homepage at with [removed], but they
rudely decided to discontinue the FREE MEMBERSHIP option, so I moved my site
to [removed]
My old site used to have about a dozen soundclips from old Canadian radio
shows, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet with my new site. But it
does have all the other things the old one had, with the addition of a few
extra goodies. It is still in the making, but check it out anyway. There is
a good listing of Books on Canadian OTR, where to order Canadian OTR, and
where to order Canadian NTR (including Nightfall, Midnight Cab, etc.)
check it out at
[removed]
Now about [removed] someone was inquiring where they could purchase
cassettes of this show.
Well, it is pretty easy to find NIGHTFALL shows within this OTR community,
because they have been copied and traded ever since the series came out on
CBC then on NPR. However, cassettes of the series can be purchased at
[removed] (just put in NIGHTFALL in the search option)
Again, they are very easy to locate within the OTR community, but I would
always suggest buying the cassettes first, since they are an "New" Time Radio
series, and are under strict copyright [removed] ;)
Hope that [removed] any specific questions I didn't answer? E-mail me :)
jeff
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #111
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