------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 493
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Re: Young People [ "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed]; ]
BBC 7 [ "Sandra Skuse" <sskuse@[removed]; ]
Re: Young Members [ Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed] ]
Re: Bartell and Bailey (again) [ "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self ]
Questions [ Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed] ]
Young Members [ Jenriet659@[removed] ]
"Young Members"?? [ Roger Lorette <roger@[removed]; ]
getting in to the hobby [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
The Return of The Curmudgeon [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
Re: developing an affinity for OTR [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
YTJD formulaic? [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
Happy Holidays [ "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed] ]
Lone Ranger / Shadow questions [ otrdigest@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 19:46:52 -0500
From: "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Young People
>From Ron Sayles:
My question is to those young people who did not grow up with radio as us
"old-timers" did. How did you first get interested, what happened to make
you love, or at least like Old Time Radio?
Well, I know there are younger "young people" than myself, but since OTR
"officially" died on my 3rd birthday, I guess I qualify to answer.
My mother talked about radio a lot, of course. Then, for her birthday one
year, I bought her the 2-disc Longines Symphonette record album narrated by
Jack Benny and Frank Knight. Of course, I listened too, and got a lot of
laughs out of the Allen's Alley routine (anybody have the broadcast date for
that "favorite cure for a cold" bit?), and enjoyed the news clippings and
commercials, etc. (Who wouldn't, especially with what was passing for
entertainment on TV in the early 70's?)
Of course, hearing all those catch-phrases in Warner Bros. cartoons created
a desire to learn about their origin.
When I moved to [removed] after college, to begin a career, it wasn't long before
I stumbled across the KNX Drama Hour, and "Dragnet." Finally getting to
hear something I'd been told about when watching the latter day reruns on
TV, was a big thrill. Finally, when researching my book on the show, I went
to the MWOTRC for assistance and the people there were so delightful - and
the material so interesting - that I couldn't resist joining.
Michael
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 21:04:45 -0500
From: "Sandra Skuse" <sskuse@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: BBC 7
On 17 December 2002, David Rogers wrote:
For those looking for BBC7 you may want to try this link
which works on my computer:
[removed]*/ev7/live24/bbc7/[removed]
Well, unfortunately that link doesn't work on mine.
However, here's a link that should work for everyone:
[removed]
Sandra Skuse
Jimmy Clitheroe: The Kid Himself
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 21:05:02 -0500
From: Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Young Members
I'm not sure what you consider "young"
but I'm 34, and the golden age of radio was long since passed when I
was born.
My first taste was from records my Dad had of The Lone Ranger and Green
Hornet -
we we Detroiters, and they were both native sons -
and from there, I found cassettes and records at the library of
Superman, Abbot and Costello,
as well as some Lux shows of classic movies I liked.
Once I moved to Los Angeles, the whole OTR world opened when I found
the Drama hour on every night, and learned that so much more existed.
Dimension X and X-1, The Six Shooter, Tales of the Texas Rangers,
Gunsmoke,
Suspense, Escape, Have Gun Will Travel, Jack Benny, Burns&Allen, Phil
Harris,
Phil Marlowe, Night Beat and more were introduced to me an hour at a
time.
Finally the internet explosion and mp3 downloads gave me all I can
handle and more,
including, finallly, unlimited access to the wonderful world of Jean
Shepherd and a different
kind of radio.
rob
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 21:59:35 -0500
From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Bartell and Bailey (again)
For Harry Bartell represents a fantastic link to
our great CBS past, as well as other avenues. Perhaps one day, Harry
might
take time to write a paragraph or two about his time with Mr. Bailey.
That
would be a wonderful treat.
I too don't know why Mr Bartell is reluctant to speak of Bob Bailey.
Bailey is one of my favorite OTR actors, and the star of what is easily
one of my top 3 favorite shows. However, I don't have to understand, and
I don't think any of us need to. I wasn't there, and I certainly don't
know much about Mr. Bailey. If Harry is uncomfortable with telling us
about Bob Bailey as a person, then so be it. I don't understand it, but
I respect it.
Rodney Bowcock
Past Tense Productions
"Classic movies and TV for $7"
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 22:51:37 -0500
From: Harry Bartell <bartell@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Questions
Mike Ray has written:
However, I still remain puzzled by Harry's difficulty in speaking about or
even mentioning the name Bob Bailey as you see from his most recent
[removed]"I can't very well knock Johnny Dollar. I did the show well over
50 times and that many checks have a tendency to cast a rosy glow over the
scripts. But, in the cold hard perspective of 50 years later, the show was
formulaic, carried by the personality of the leading character.".
Please let me get something straight. The reference to Johnny Dollar was to
the writing of the scripts by Jack Johnstone and credited the star, Bob
Bailey with the show's success. My reluctance to discuss Bob on the Digest
has applied only to his personal life which I think should remain private.
Bob was my friend, he was very helpful to me in writing, I worked with him a
great deal on Johnny Dollar and Let George Do It among others, and most
importantly I liked him as a human being. I have made reference in the past
to the fact that his life had many tragic elements and I see little value in
publicizing them.
On a different note, I am flattered no end by Mike's nominating me to
Kennedy Center Honors. I couldn't possibly accept though because at this
point I don't have a [removed] The wonderful people in this group have
elevated me to a status that isn't really true-- in large part I think,
because I am still here. While I appreciate all of your kind comments more
than I can say, I still have to consider the real picture: an actor
struggling to survive.
And I think this is as good a time as any to wish each of you a wonderful
Holiday Season.
Harry Bartell
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 00:13:29 -0500
From: Jenriet659@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Young Members
Lurker here!
My question is to those young people who did not grow up with radio as us
"old-timers" did. How did you first get interested, what happened to make you
love, or at least like Old Time Radio?
I discovered Old Time Radio in 1976. My high school ran a special 3 day
program called "Focus on the Arts" and we kids enjoyed 3 days of no classes.
We loved it!! We were required to sign up for various programs and I signed
up to listen to a very young Chuck Schaden relate his love for Old Time
Radio. He played clips of shows and of course told some great stories. I
started to listen to his radio show and soon I was hooked. I still have
every Nostalgia Digest that he has published since the fall of 1976.
I collected and listened to shows actively for the next 10 years but soon my
interest started to wane. It was unfortunate that I never discovered the
wonderful network of traders and vendors that existed 15-20 years ago.
The internet and mp3 players brought OTR back to life as I discovered this
list and many of the wonderful authors and vendors that provide such history
and entertainment to us all. I really enjoy reading this E Mail each and
every night. I wish you all a very happy holiday season!
John Enrietto
jenriet659@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 00:42:59 -0500
From: Roger Lorette <roger@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "Young Members"??
Ron Sayles [removed]
My question is to those young people who did not grow up with radio
as us "old-timers" did. How did you first get interested, what
happened to make you love, or at least like Old Time Radio?
I think "youngER" members might have been a better [removed] I'm not trying
to split hairs here. Like many others who are mostly "lurkers" I'm jumping
in here as I see this as a chance to contribute in some small way.
So, in answer to Ron's [removed] guess at 50 I'm a youngER OTR fan since
being born in 1952 Old Time Radio was long gone by the time I discovered
radio in ANY form. Actually, when I started listening to radio it was mainly
to hear the latest Beatle's song. The nearest I got to Old Time Radio as a
child was to watch the Jack Benny Show, The Burns & Allen Show and The Red
Skelton Show on TV. I loved every one of these shows in their TV form and at
the time was oblivious to the fact that they used to run on radio. Likewise
for the TV versions of Gunsmoke, Dragnet, Have Gun Will Travel and Our Miss
Brooks among many others. For me it was TV. I also enjoyed radio very much
in my teens but listened for the Top 40 tunes like most others my age. I
liked it so much in fact that I got a job as a radio "disk jockey" in 1973
and enjoyed working in the trade until 1989.
I can thank the Internet for my discovery of Old Time Radio Shows. By 1998 I
was an "old hand" at using the Internet and was already into collecting music
in MP3 form. I had a collection of many hundreds of songs encompassing
nearly every tune that I liked while growing up. This was long before anyone
had ever even "thought" of the word NAPSTER! Anyway, after collecting all
that music I was getting a little bored with just accumulating until I came
across one web site that had a couple of the old Burns & Allen radio shows in
MP3 form. Well, let me tell you I couldn't get that download started fast
enough because by this point in my life and through my years in radio I
certainly knew about the radio shows from that era but I had never heard any
except for maybe the odd short clip from the Shadow or the Inner Sanctum from
a TV documentary or some such thing when they mentioned radio from the Golden
Age. I enjoyed these first shows more than I can say here and without making
any kind of conscious effort I suddenly stopped accumulating music MP3s and
started scanning any source I could for OTR material. The last time I
actually counted the shows I have was about 2 years ago and the collection
numbered about 8,000 shows. I suspect the collection has about doubled since
then as I still "accumulate" daily as much as I [removed] know I'll never get
to listen to them all even after I retire.
I do try as best I can to share what I have and to spread the joy. To this
end I created the web site [removed] where currently there are more
than 5,000 shows online in Real Audio format for anyone to enjoy at anytime
of the night or day. Hal, you're invited to drop by and listen to a few of
your Archie shows. I believe you mentioned in the digest a long while back
that you didn't actually have any of your [removed] I suspect that is not
the case now. The site always has been and always will be 100% free to all
OTR fans.
And that's my 2 cents for now.
Roger Lorette
Toronto, Canada (not very [removed] erotic either)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 10:33:02 -0500
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: getting in to the hobby
Hi Everybody, Ron ask the list how did we youngsters got in to the hobby. I
am 36 years old and after losing my sight around 9 years old the radio
became part of my life especially talk radio. One Friday night around 1976
Ray Bream a legend in LA late night talk radio took the night off, and Bill
Balance had Frank Bresee as a guest. The first highlight they played was
Jack Armstrong where Jack and Billy are caught in a snow slide on a
mountain. Around 1 AM Bret Morsesen came in the studio and talk about the
Shadow. I had a hard time getting to sleep that night. Thus later that day
my dad took me to a record store and bought me two 8 track tapes one being
the Shadow, and the other being Superman. I also help that my parents
remember radio. My dad born in 1931, and my mom in 1939. Thus around 1977 I
started to listen to Bobb Lynes on KPFK. Bobb had two shows then one at 11
PM on Tuesday, and the other on Wednesday at 2 PM on Wednesday. I heard
both shows a grate deal. Allot of time I would hear Bobb show on Wednesday
riding home on my school bus with my transistor. I was able to learn more
about the history of radio when I red Dunning book in the late 1970s. This
help me to develop a strong interested of the history, radio, movie
personalities, politics of the 1930s, and 1940s. I join SPERDVAC in 1979.
I been bless to go to 19 of the radio conventions. I have met many of the
people who entertained America during the 1940s. In 1985 I was going
through the process of applying to different colleges. Stanford ask people
to write an essay base upon the question who did you want to spend the day
with and why. I decided to write my essay on Carlton E. Morse. I later got
the chance that year to have a long lunch with Carlton and heard many
stories. In 1990 Ray Bream had Kitty Kallen as a guest on the radio. I
called in to ask her about working on the 'Danny Kaye radio show, and told
her she was my second favorite singer behind Doris Day. Both she and her
husband Budd Granoff realize I had radio shows that Kitty appeared on, and
they wanted my telephone off the air. That was the beginning of me
having a special friendship with both of them, and help explain why Kitty is
my second mom. Kitty best friend is Nancy Sinatra the mom of all of Frank
kids and that led me to put together the radio collection for the sinatra
family. Now 26 years later I am now Frank Bresee producer on Friday now on
Yesterday USA. The guy who keep me up most the night 26 years ago. I feel
very bless to have this hobby, to to me some wonderful people, and wonderful
optuneties in life. Merry Christmas to all,
Walden Hughes
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 10:37:56 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Return of The Curmudgeon
Folks;
The Curmudgeon has come out of his semi-retirement to comment on the
National Public Radio co-production of, "I'd Rather Eat Pants," written by
Peter Ackerman and airing on NPR's Morning Edition this week.
Since Modern Audio Drama (MAD) isn't really on-tpic for this list, I am
not running the column in these pages, and instead point you to the website
at:
[removed]
Please feel free to send any comments you might have privately to The
[removed] be sure to let me know if you think the review is too subtle.
Charlie
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 10:38:37 -0500
From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: developing an affinity for OTR
Ron Sayles asked how people who didn't grow up with
old-time radio became interested in the medium. In my
case, it began in 1978 at the University of Notre Dame
bookstore. I was down there with my family on vacation
and bought a tape of the Green Hornet episode "The
Boathouse Mystery." I don't remember if I knew at the
time that the Green Hornet had been broadcast locally
from Detroit, so that may or may not have been a
factor. However, the date given for the episode (which
I have since learned is wrong; the correct date is
1945) was 1938-- the year my Dad was born. So I bought
it, it part at least, to get a sense of what 1938 was
like.
Within a year or two, my uncle had directed my
attention to a Canadian radio station that aired OTR
shows on Sunday nights from 8 [removed] to 10 [removed] (or
maybe 7 to 9). These often included the Green Hornet
and the Shadow, two of my early favorites.
Eventually, I began buying the Radio Reruns tapes as I
found them. I don't remember if that began after my
initial Green Hornet purchase or after I began
listening to the radio broadcasts. But, whatever the
case, I've been buying and listening to OTR ever
since.
Now, why I like OTR is a bit harder to put into words.
I suppose it's the imaginativeness of the medium. Your
mind supplies the character and scene descriptions, so
each listener has a different interpretation of, say,
what Britt Reid looks like, the layout of the Daily
Sentinel office and what sort of mask the Hornet wore.
And each interpretation is valid.
On a related note, someone mentioned recently about
audiotaping movies. I actually did that a couple of
times with TV shows when I was a kid (not that I had
any other options; there were no VCRs back then. At
least not for the average person). My intent was to
create a quasi radio program out of a favorite TV
show. It sort of worked. Being familiar with the
episode I could picture the scenes in my mind as I
listened to the tape, but it wasn't quite the same as
a program intended for radio in the first place. So
that experiment didn't last long.
I suppose I also like OTR because of a certain
affinity I seem to have with certain aspects of a
bygone era (though my interest in OTR may have spawned
that affinity for all I know). I mean, while I own two
computers and a Smith Corona PWP word processor, and
just recently purchased an Alpha Smart lap top word
processor; I also own 10 manual typewriters (with two
more on the way) a stereo with phonograph player (33,
45 AND 78 RPMs), and a candlestick-style phone.
I also have many videotapes and DVDs, but I think I
have even more OTR episodes. If not, I'd say it's a
close tie. I like television, but there are times when
I prefer simply listening to OTR and letting my mind
fill in the blanks.
I could probably say more, but it's late and I'm
tired.
Be seeing you.
Rick.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 10:39:53 -0500
From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: YTJD formulaic?
Hello Harry:
I have often wondered why so many people address you in the third person, as
if you aren't reading the same digests as the rest of us. Let me add to the
others who thank you for your column. I find it very informative. But let
me respectfully disagree with your assertion that Johnny Dollar was
formulaic. I am admittedly biased in favor of Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar
and the five-part shows are my favorite in the otr genre. I will admit that
the rest of the half-hour series in it's entirety was nothing more than
standard private detective radio fiction. I include the Bailey half-hour
programs in these, since most of them were written by Jack Johnstone.
However, I found that the five-part shows explored elements that other
detective shows never touched. John Daweson (aka E. Jack Newman) and Les
Crutchfield wrote the majority of the five-part serials and added much depth
to the characters and story. You can certainly find your share of vanilla
murder mysteries in the serial run such stories as "The Crystal Lake
Matter," "The Phantom Chase Matter," and "The Picture Postcard Matter."
That's all right with me since I love a good vanilla murder mystery.
However, more often than not, the mysteries were spiced up with the flare of
Jack Johnstone's comical wit and the strained human conflict that John
Daweson brought to his stories. In "The Broderick Matter," not one body
ever falls. Johnny spends his time tracking a girl across the country to
pay off an insurance claim from an old newspaper vender. The climax is very
touching and showed that good ol' Johnny had a sensitive side.
Incidentally, you were in that story Mr. Bartell, in part 1. In "The Forbes
Matter," Johnny discovers a young office clerk embezzling funds from his
company to finance his crush on a Broadway actress. These stories were
exceptions to the rule of suspense, but they were a refreshing touch. It
was often the case that the listener could tell who the guilty party was
five minutes after the story began, but the interest comes in as we watch
Johnny put the puzzle together to prove his case. "The Chi-Bono Matter", by
Les Crutchfield, is the perfect illustration of this, as we watch Johnny
fail in his attempt to build a case against his suspect until a
glow-in-the-dark necktie clinches it for him.
Ultimately, good drama, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder and
everyone has their own preferences. I'm glad we have a forum such as this
where we can come together and discuss these things for an appreciative
audience. Keep up the good work and I'll continue to enjoy your offerings.
Sincerely,
RyanO
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 10:39:02 -0500
From: "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Happy Holidays
Best wishes to the list for the holiday season. We all have something to be
particularly thankful for this time of year. I'm blessed to be home for
Christmas recuperating from a successful liver surgery - no cancer. Now I
can listen to all of those OTR tapes I've received from list members, and,
you know, I may get to like this relaxing-while-healing lifestyle. Happy
New Year and thanks to Charlie and everyone who keep this OTR Digest alive
and [removed]
= Russ Butler oldradio@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 10:40:08 -0500
From: otrdigest@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lone Ranger / Shadow questions
1. There is an episode of The Lone Ranger that is
credited as 431110 (1686) Haunted Ranch. It is indeed
about a haunted ranch. The official log gives episode
1686 from 43-11-10 as Human Contraband. It also does
not list an episode matching Haunted Ranch. What
episode number is Haunted Ranch?
2. The Shadow "The Man Who Dreamed Too Much" 11-19-44
is credited in logs as a re-creation. Does anyone know
who re-created it and when?
Andrew Steinberg
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #493
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