------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2005 : Issue 76
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Transplanted Castle [ "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@charter. ]
Destination Freedom tapes donated [ Art Chimes <achimes@[removed]; ]
Wilbur Hatch [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
3-9 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Songs By Morton Downey [ <cooldown3@[removed]; ]
Re: radio comedian documentary [ "Rodney W Bowcock" <[removed]@ ]
Listening as a kid / XM [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
Ed Bonner [ Zharold138@[removed] ]
listening to OTR [ Michael Berger <intercom1@attglobal ]
my mom was on,about1930? [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
I Love a Mystery: Thanks! [ "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@charter ]
#OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig [ charlie@[removed] ]
OTR on the Twilight Zone [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
"Excelsior!" [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
satellite merger? [ "Louie Johnson" <ljohnson@[removed]; ]
XM Radio [ StuartLubin@[removed] (Stuart Lubin ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 13:54:25 -0500
From: "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Transplanted Castle
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Hello -- The I Love a Mystery story of the "Transplanted Castle" is also known
as
"The Fear that Creeps like a Cat". Under that title, yours truly produced a
1990s cassette album of three 90 min. cassettes with all twenty quarter hour
episodes for $[removed] It starred original ILAM cast members, Les Tremayne as
Jack and Frank Bresee as Reggie, with talented new-comer Tony Clay as Doc.
(All the comments I received said Tony sounded like the perfect blend of
Barton Yarborough and Jim Boles.) Les played a number of parts on the
original shows, including the villain in the Mutual version of this same
story. Frank played small boys in the Hollywood series, and I like to think
he may have been the telegraph delivery boy in this story in its initial
airing. Also on board were Jack Lester "Sky King" in Les' old role of villain
Cooper,
Art Hern, former "Ikky" on Captain Midnight, and Lone Ranger narrator, Fred
Foy, as our announcer. My rights to sell these albums have run out, per
agreement with the Carlton E. Morse estate, but Frank Bresee bought up a
number of them and can resell his personal property.
I can tell you where to contact Frank if you don't know.
About listening to radio -- when I was a boy I could listen to the radio
and do something else at the same time. I could read a comic book or even a
real book like a Sherlock Holmes and follow both the radio episode of the Lone
Ranger or Mr. Keen and the material I was reading. I'm not sure I could do
that today. Of course, you could also listen to the radio and do work, like
cleaning up your room or washing dishes. I still do that. I often put on a
tape or an MP3 and listen while I clean up after breakfast for my wife,
Barbara. Lately, I have been going through a huge collection of Sergeant
Preston I bought on MP3. Barbara used to laugh at the show, finding King a
bit too smart for a dog to be believable. But the other day she listened to
several episodes as she did the taxes. She said the stories did not engage
her intellectual faculties enough to keep her from doing the math, but did
provide some mild diversion. I think that was the way it was back in the old
days too.
I am currently editing the third volume of "It's That Time Again -- New
Stories of Old Time Radio" for BearManor. The deadline is April 30, and I am
hoping all the writers get their stories in on time.
-- Jim Harmon
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 13:55:21 -0500
From: Art Chimes <achimes@[removed];
To: otr <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Destination Freedom tapes donated
Note this news release from The Museum of Broadcast Communications in
Chicago. "Destination Freedom" was an extraordinary series, if the
handful of episodes I've heard are any indication.
It was the most notably - maybe the only - high-profile OTR series
devoted to serious issues of concern to African Americans at that time.
Even more unusual is that the program actually used black employees on
both sides of the microphone.
John Dunning's novel "Two O'Clock, Eastern Wartime," centers in part
around the production of a similar program at a New Jersey radion
station. Dunning acknowledges in an author's note that he was inspired by
"Destination Freedom."
_ ______________________
Historic African-American Radio Collection Donated to
The Museum of Broadcast Communications
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 4, 2005
Chicago -- Destination Freedom, a groundbreaking radio drama series
depicting the struggle for civil rights in America, has been donated to
The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC). The series created by
pioneer radio writer Richard Durham was heard on WMAQ Radio from June 27,
1948 to August of 1950, and was sponsored initially by the Chicago
Defender and then by the Chicago Urban League.
The series pre-dated the high profile struggle for civil rights in
America. "Richard Durham was a very talented writer who worked at a major
market radio station at a time when few blacks could be found on station
payrolls," said Bruce DuMont, founder and president of the MBC. "Durham’s
programs stand the test of time and the MBC will now digitize these
programs and create online lesson plans that will introduce Durham to a
wider audience and a new generation." DuMont added.
The donation of ninety-one program tapes was made my Clarice Durham, the
late Mr. Durham’s wife of 42 years. "My son, Mark and I commend The
Museum of Broadcast Communications for recognizing the groundbreaking
importance of the Destination Freedom radio dramas," Durham said. "My
husband's aim was to tell real life stories of African Americans that
would show their heroic strength and dignity and counteract the
stereotypical portrayals commonly presented on the radio at that time,"
Durham added. Richard Durham died on April 27, 1984.
The full text of this press release is at
[removed]]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 14:01:45 -0500
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Wilbur Hatch
Thanks for all your feedback on composer Wilbur
Hatch. I was a bit mistaken however. I meant to
say that I heard his name listed in the credits of
"The Whistler" programs I listed to and not "Yours
Truly, Johnny Dollar". That's what comes of listening
to two separate OTR programs in one night--one after
the other! LOL
What was the name again of the PBS series about
OTR?
Another OTR Fan,
Kenneth Clarke
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 14:10:32 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 3-9 births/deaths
March 9th births
03-09-1893 - Ara Gerald - Sydney, Australia - d. 4-2-1957
actress: Countess Florenza "Our Gal Sunday"
03-09-1902 - Robert St. John - Chicago, IL - d. 2-6-2003
newscaster: 1943-46, NBC, weekdays at 10 [removed]
03-09-1902 - Will Geer - Franfort, IN - d. 4-22-1978
actor: Penny "Bright Horizon"
03-09-1914 - Fred Clark - Lincoln, CA - d. 12-5-1968
actor: "This Is Your FBI"; "Amos 'n' Andy Show"
03-09-1918 - Marguerite Chapman - Chatham, NY - d. 8-30-1999
actress: "Family Theatre"; "Silver Theatre"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
03-09-1926 - Irene Pappas - Chiliomodion, Greece
actress: Greek Radio
03-09-1934 - Joyce Van Patten - Queens, NY
actress: Daisy "Reg'lar Fellers"
03-09-1935 - Keely Smith - Norfolk, VA
singer: "Guard Session"; "Here's to Veterans"
March 9th deaths
01-07-1913 - Shirley Ross - Omaha, NE - d. 3-9-1975
actress, singer: "Raleigh and Kool Cigarette Program with Tommy
Dorsey"; "Bob Burns Show"
01-20-1896 - George Burns - NYC - d. 3-9-1996
comedian: "The Adventures of Gracie"; "The George Burns and Gracie
Allen Show"
03-15-1883 - Ernie Hare - Norfolk, VA - d. 3-9-1939
singer: (The Happiness Boys)
04-28-1892 - Joseph Dunninger - NYC - d. 3-9-1975
mentalist: (Master Mind of Mental Mystery) "Dunninger Show"
06-11-1900 - Lawrence Spivak - Brooklyn, NY - d. 3-9-1994
moderator, panelist: "Meet the Press"
07-08-1917 - Faye Emerson - Elizabeth, NJ - d. 3-9-1983
actress: "My Silent Partner"
07-16-1907 - Ned Calmer - Chicago, IL - d. 3-9-1986
news analyst: "World News Roundup"
08-23-1913 - Bob Crosby - Spokane, WA - d. 3-9-1993
bandleader, singer: "Camel Caravan"; "Bob Crosby Show"; "Jack Benny
Program"
10-09-1915 - Edward Andrews - Griffin, GA - d. 3-9-1985
actor: Nat "Amanda of Honeymoon Hill"
11-17-1918 - Paul Crabtree - Pulaski, VA - d. 3-9-1979
actor: David Naughton "Claudia and David"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 14:50:15 -0500
From: <cooldown3@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Songs By Morton Downey
Hi All,
While speaking about music shows which played music from earlier timers one
might look at "Music By Morton Downey" I have 4 eps of it and all of the
music seems to be early americana.
By The way, was Morton Downey related to Sheridan Downey who ran for office
in California?
Cheers,
PAtrick
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 14:53:32 -0500
From: "Rodney W Bowcock" <[removed]@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: radio comedian documentary
Hi there,
I'd be interested in getting a copy of this documentary. I can offer a
copy of the "Good Old Days Of Radio" dinner show, or cash.
Thanks!
Rodney Bowcock
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 15:39:59 -0500
From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Listening as a kid / XM
--Listening to OTR
Like many of you, I grew up listening to OTR - but I'm only 30. I grew up
in the DC area, and my family listened to the Big Broadcast on WAMU every
Sunday night (thanks to streaming audio, I still listen even though I'm stuck
here in Mid-Michigan). The 7:00pm broadcast would usually be starting around
the time we finished dinner, so we would have it on while we prepared for the
new week - for me that would include finishing any last minute homework and
getting my stuff ready for school. It would still be on when I went to bed
and I would get to listen as I fell asleep.
--XM radio
I love XM radio because the radio around here is so terrible. All of it is
seriously corporate (aside from the public radio outlets). I'm young and
like a lot of the new rock/rap/electronic music that's being produced today,
but I don't even get to hear that. If it's not top-40 pop or country, it's
not on.
Even when I was a kid, radio sounded different. When we would travel to
the beach or to Montana, the radio stations sounded really different than
they did at home. Now, when I travel, the dial sounds the same no matter
where I am in the country, there is no more regional difference. So I might
as well go satellite and get to hear music I like any where in the country.
The OTR channel isn't great - the shows are mangled to fit with modern
commercial slots - but it isn't terrible either. You'll get to hear the more
popular shows (for example: Gunsmoke or Lone Ranger), but you rarely get to
hear some of the less popular ones (for example: Fort Laramie). It's ok if
you're traveling, but to be honest, I don't listen to it that much.
I love the music channels, including the modern rock, punk, rap, blues,
bluegrass, 1940s, and electronic. Like Charlie, I like the BBC world
service, but am at work way too early to catch Bob Edwards on XMPR. One of
the comedy channels does play Bob & Ray fairly often, so I'll check in there,
plus the 'left' political channel picks up a lot of Air America Programming.
-chris holm
[disclaimer: I'm an employee of Delphi, which manufactures consumer radios
for XM & Automobile OEM hardware for XM and Sirius. Not at my plant though,
we make steering components.]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 16:51:01 -0500
From: Zharold138@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Ed Bonner
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Hi Anybody,
I'm looking for any information on a St. Louis D. J. from the fifty's era by
the name of Ed Bonner who was , I believe, on KXOK. He also had a son who was
in the radio business. I would like to get any information on the late Ed
Bonner or his son.
Till Next Time,Harold Zeigler
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 20:29:37 -0500
From: Michael Berger <intercom1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: listening to OTR
There's a marvelous Stan Freberg skit that's still
bouncing around on CDs or Mp3 files in which an old
lady is asked by a young girl [actually Stan's
daughter] to describe listening to radio.
Well, she said, we used to sit around the living room
and look at the furniture, or just stare off into
[removed]
Wow, says the little girl, talk about your radical
ideas!
Well, says I, that's exactly what I did as a kid
listening in my room to my daily diet of Terry & the
Pirates, Captain Midnight and Tom Mix. Wondering what
it would be like to see it on TV - actors standing on
a stage, or real scenes like the movies, or what?
My parents never forbade me to listen to any show,
just put a 9pm deadline, and I remember hearing one
Gangbusters in which they 'reported' criminals still
at large followed by the squad car sirens, gunshots,
etc. Didn't sleep much that night.
What little religious learning I got came from the
Sunday program The Eternal Light; classical music from
the Met and occasional San Francisco Symphony
broadcasts, and drama from the US Steel Hour. We also
enjoyed many local shows never heard elsewhere - Max
Baer's Sunday brunch interviews from the Cliff House,
Dean Maddox and his often amusing streetside
interviews and the local equivalent of Don McNeil -
the KFRC Breakfast Gang.
Michael Berger
PS - Our one inside giggle was listening occasionally
to One Man's Family [located in our home city, San
Francisco]. The Barber family lived in a well to do
neighborhood called Sea Cliff, but on the show, I
never heard fog horns - which was a constant
background sound to our daily lives, especially from
June through August.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 21:47:22 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: my mom was on,about1930?
Received this request for help this evening; although it's likely this
program doesn't exist, if anyone can [removed]
From: WAYOUNT552@[removed]
Subject: my mom was on,about1930?
To: webmaster@[removed]
I'm trying to find a soundtrack of my mom ,when she was very young she
was on a radio show in Benton, Arkansas,in about the 1930''s,she played the
[removed] passed away in 1995,and I really need this info,if anyone can help
me ??????????????????????????????????????????I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE
[removed]
THANK YOU.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 23:36:51 -0500
From: "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: I Love a Mystery: Thanks!
Thanks to James Herman and John L. Woodruff for providing me with the
answer to my question about I Love a Mystery. How sad that no tape of "The
Case of the Transplanted Castle" exists.
Still, I am very grateful for the information. Thanks to both of you for
taking the time to write.
Mike Leannah
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2005 08:29:43 -0500
From: charlie@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!
A weekly [removed]
For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
Network, the channel name is #OldRadio. We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
over six years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
real-time OTR talk!
Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
it's always a good time!
For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
week and every week!
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2005 08:30:16 -0500
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR on the Twilight Zone
"We take things for granted today that we called impossible just a
few years ago," says a fellow resident of the boarding house where Ed
Lindsey (Dean Jagger) lives, as portrayed in an old Twilight Zone
show tonight on the Sci-Fi Channel. Ed has found an antique radio
that magically picks up all the old radio shows, already fading bits
of nostalgia when this episode was made in the 60's. Unfortunately
for the other tenants, and for their view of Ed's sanity, the old
console plays Old Time Radio only for him.
How unlikely it seemed to us in the 60's that we'd ever be able to
hear those shows again, as Rod Serling comments at the end,
"...through a strange and wonderful machine called a radio." We
couldn't have imagined that most of those wistfully remembered shows
- and ones we'd missed the first time around - would someday be
available to us once again by way of a strange and wonderful machine
called a computer. How do you like living in the Twilight Zone?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2005 08:42:00 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "Excelsior!"
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Nik Kierniesky
Gettysburg writes about the new book "Excelsior, You Fathead!: The Art
and Enigma of Jean Shepherd":
"Excelsior, You Fathead," finally came out and I just received my copy from
Amazon a few days ago.
<snip>
Those interested in him will find this a good
read. I have no vested interest in this book except to justify my misspent
youth listening to him late a night in lieu of homework and sleep.
I, too, am enjoying my copy, which I just bought last week for half-price at
NYC's venerable Strand Book Store. My copy came with paperwork that
said that the official release date is sometime later this month (either
March 25th or 28th--I don;t have the book in front of me) from its
publisher, Applause Books. I'm sure it has already surfaced in better
bookstores.
My question about Shep is this: was he solely heard over powerhouse
WOR-AM out of NYC, or was he simulcast on other stations? It's
amazing how he acquired such a loyal fan base and later cult following
if, indeed, he was only heard exclusively un the New York metroplitan
area.
"Flick Lives!"
Derek Tague
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Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2005 10:44:31 -0500
From: "Louie Johnson" <ljohnson@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: satellite merger?
Jim Widner wrote:
it will be like what is happening in cable
television and radio with corporate entities such as Clear Channel.
Corporate entities such as Clear Channel already own large blocks of stock
in XM; they leave their fingerprints everywhere.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2005 11:14:27 -0500
From: StuartLubin@[removed] (Stuart Lubin)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: XM Radio
To add my two cents to the comments about XM Radio, I first have to tell
you that I am neither associated with it or subscribed to it. But I am
a fervent fan of a contemporary group who performs radio drama on XM,
"New Frequency". I do not have XM because I can see this group perform
monthly before a live audience in the Los Angeles area.
The group primarily writes its own new radio drama, but from time to
time, they perform re-creations of OTR. And they do a credible,
professional, and talented job. It is amazing that they do radio so
well, since they are primarily young people who were not around during
the golden age of radio. Under the energetic leadership of
creator-producer-director Matt Johnson, the group has performed OTR
re-creations at the past two SPERDVAC conventions. They also have given
live performances, at the midnight hour, on the only OTR radio program
currently broadcasting regularly in Southern California, Barbara and
Bobb's "Don't Touch That Dial" (heard streaming on the net:
[removed]). If the time ever comes that I cannot see "New Frequency"
perform live, I will subscribe to XM Radio.
Stuart Lubin
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #76
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