Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #77
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 3/8/2001 3:10 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                      The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                         Volume 01 : Issue 77
                   A Part of the [removed]!
                           ISSN: 1533-9289


                           Today's Topics:

 re Nick Lucas                        [John Henley <jhenley@[removed]]
 fond memories of OTR in Alaska       [MoondanceFF@[removed]                ]
 OTR LOGS/PREMIUMS                    ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
 ARE OTR REFERENCE  BOOKS REALLY ACCU ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
 Fu Manchu plots?                     [Gordon R Payton <thescifiguy@[removed]]
 Re: TV *as* Radio                    [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
 Goon Show                            ["jim terra" <nickcharles4@[removed]]
 Today in Radio History--sorta        [Joe Mackey <wmackey@[removed]]
 Re:  Bob Weiskopf                    [GOpp@[removed]                       ]
 Yehudi                               ["Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed]]
 Who's dat?                           ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
 Literacy and OTR                     ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
 Re: atomic bomb documentary          [StevenL751@[removed]                 ]
 Otis Ferguson                        ["Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm]
 Atom Bomb Documentary                ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
 Progress Marches On --               ["Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@]
 Re: atomic bomb documentary          [Alan Bell <bella@[removed];]
 Bob Dylan, [removed] Marshall             [Jeff Elliott <je@[removed];      ]

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 18:01:44 -0500
From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  re Nick Lucas

Per Rob Spencer,
I know that both Nick Lucas and Smith Ballew were very active on radio in
the early-to-mid-Thirties, Ballew taking over the Shell Chateau show for a
time after Jolson left.  I realize that not a lot is available from this
era, but I would very much like to acquire whatever is available featuring
these two singers.

I have no solid info as to available radio appearances
by Lucas, but there's a newly-issued CD by him,
"Nick Lucas - the Crooning Troubador" which I found
via a quick search on Amazon.  No info as to the age
or source of the recordings, but it appears to have been
released only this past January.

A web search on "Nick Lucas" turned up a handful of
pages, all dealing primarily with the Nick Lucas Special
guitar (see below).

As an acoustic guitarist with a deep interest in older
styles of playing, I can tell you that Nick Lucas' name
resonates deeply in the guitar world.  Many know him
as the singer who introduced "Tiptoe Through the Tulips"
and "Bye Bye Blackbird," but he is also credited as the
first guitar player to have instrumental solos on
record, "Picking the Guitar"/"Teasing the Frets", issued
in 1922.  (It was strictly pop music; that same year,
a black country guitarist named Sylvester Weaver issued
"Guitar Rag", still a standard, and I don't know which of
those came first.)
1930s re-recordings of "Picking" and "Teasing" are
available on a Yazoo CD entitled "Pioneers of the Jazz
Guitar."
The Gibson company issued a "Nick Lucas Special" guitar
in the late 20s that became a widely-used classic, surprisingly
adopted with enthusiasm by rural guitarists, and you'll
still see those guitars being used by players who employ
vintage instruments.
As to the man himself, his career continued on into the 1970s -
he shot some scenes for the Redford version of "Great Gatsby"
as a party entertainer, but I believe those scenes were not used.
He passed away July 28, 1982, at age 84.

I hope this has not been too far off topic.

John Henley
jhenley@[removed]
ph  (512) 495-4112
fax (512) 495-4296

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 18:01:46 -0500
From: MoondanceFF@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  fond memories of OTR in Alaska

In a message dated 3/6/01 6:35:33 PM, Owens writes:

With "the magic and power" of OTR, we could be whomever we wanted to be,
travel wherever we wanted to go all in "our mind's eye," thanks to those
wonderful radio programs. Do any of you share this enthusiasm and love
affair
I had with the medium?

Greetings, all! I'm a new memebr of the list & wanted to say hello, and
introduce myself: I'm a screenwriter & have only recently begun to write
radio plays. Several years ago, I produced 2 radio programs for the blind, at
Rocky Mountain Reading Services, here in Boulder, Colorado. I'm also the
founder & director of the Moondance International Film Festival, which has
inaugurated  a new competition category this year: RADIO PLAYS. I hope if any
of you OTR listers write for radio, you'll check out Moondance at
[removed]

In regard to Owens' comments, yes, I do fondly recall my childhood growing up
in the "wilds" of Fairbanks, Alaska (1949-54) before it was a state, & pre-TV
(thank God). I was an avid listener to a program I've forgotten the name of,
but was something about a WATER COMMISSIONER & Mr. Gildersleeves, if I
remember correctly. Also another one with Baby Snooks. I "knew" what Baby
Snooks was wearing on the program, and the faces she made. I feared weekly
for the safety of Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, and his faithful husky.

I never for a minute imagined actors in a studio with a table full of sound
effects devices. I was sure it was real life, mysteriously recorded for the
listeners. Later, I would learn radio producing & how to make those sound
effects, with crinkling cellophane for fire, or squishing a box of corn
starch for footsteps in the snow, & etc.

My parents wouldn't let me listen to The Shadow, as it was too "scary" for
me, they thought. Weekends were often spent with my step-father, glued to the
radio, listening to baseball games from Chicago, and oh, how we could "see"
the field, feel the hot sun, follow the ball & base-runner, after the crack
of the bat. We were a part of the cheering, hot dog-eating crowd, all the way
up in Alaska, listening on a short-wave radio.

Cheers!--Elizabeth

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 17:51:24 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR LOGS/PREMIUMS

       If anyone on this list likes to know just what day their fave radio
program aired, The GRB of MD, as a fund-raising effort for their OTR Museum
Exhibit, can now  offer the following logs to you as a gift in return for a
small  donation to help keep alive "the spirit of Old Time Radio."

  VIC & SADE  THE WHISTLER  FIBBER McGEE & MOLLIE  LUX RADIO THEATER
  SUSPENSE  GUN SMOKE  CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATRE  SHADOW OF FU MANCHU
      GREEN HORNET  SHERLOCK HOLMES  THE SHADOW  YOU ARE THERE

       We also offer the following (authorized) premiums:

      CAPT. MIDNIGHT SECRET SQUADRON KIT  AMOS & ANDY CUT OUTS
    SGT. PRESTON TRADING CARDS  POSTER OF BRACE BEAMER ON SILVER
                1936 EDITION OF PINE RIDGE NEWS

     If interested, please email the address above for further details.

Owens Pomeroy

"Those who choose to forget the past, should be condemned to repeat it!"

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 17:51:22 -0500
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  ARE OTR REFERENCE  BOOKS REALLY ACCURATE?

     Since I have been a member of this list, I have noticed a number of
replies to posting (my own included) quoting passages from reference books
written over the years.  But - can we rely on these?

     Case in point:  I have before me as I write this, hre reference books
on OTR (whose authors shall remain anonymous), giving three different dates
as to length of program, stars, network, sponsor, etc., Either they were
inaccurate in their research or did not bother to do any before putting it
down on paper, because all three give different answers to the same subject.

     These books were obviously written by people who were not in the
industry - but - only had  "head" knowledge of OTR.  There are some very
good book written by radio people like Fred Foy (Meantime, Back At The Ranch
Arthur Anderson (Let's Pretend), Bob Mott (Radio SFX) Bob Elliott & Ray
Goulding (The Bob and Ray Show) Mary Jane Higby (Tune In Tomorrow) George
Burns (Becuse I Love Her, That's Why), Bob Hope (They Got Me Covered),
Milton Berle ([removed] I Love You).  There are some exceptions to this list.
Martin Gramms, who I know did a lot of research in each of his books, and
Ray Barfield, who teaches drama at Clemson University,  (Radio Broadcasting
In America) who did a most unusual thing.  He let the listeners, and the
participants write the book by using answers from questionnaires sent out
all across the country (I got one, did you?)  I must add Elizabeth McCloud
to this list.  She is without a doubt the #1 authority about the medium of
OTR!

     Of all people. who am I to critisize?  I have probably been corrected
more than anyone else on the list. (Could be I read from a book that wasn't
acurate)

  What I am trying to say is - who are we to believe when reading about
these programs, broadcasters, dates, etc., in order  to get an acurate
answer.  Most of the people who could answer the questions we have, are no
longer here, so I guess we will have to keep reading the new books that will
no doubt be published in the future, and hope they are accurate. This topic
will probably open a can of worms, but that is what this forum is for, isn't
it?

                             -  30  -
Owens Pomeroy

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 17:51:20 -0500
From: Gordon R Payton <thescifiguy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Fu Manchu plots?

Can anyone provide me with one to two sentence plot synopsis' of the Fu
Manchu books by Sax Rohmer? I'm trying to figure out which books match up
with which episodes of the recently discovered discs of Fu Manchu that
Ted Davenport acquired.
I DON'T need the plots for:
The Insidious Doctor Fu Manchu
The Hand of Fu Manchu
The Return of Doctor Fu Manchu
The Drums of Fu Manchu
Mask of Fu Manchu
President Fu Manchu
Re-enter Fu Manchu
The Trail of Fu Manchu

I DO need plots for:
The Daughter of Fu Manchu
The Bride of Fu Manchu
and any others.

I have no idea how many books may have been written. I've visited the Fu
Manchu Movies website, but it doesn't indicate if any of the movies were
actually based on Sax Rohmer's books or just the concept. Amazon,
Borders, and the Barnes and Noble websites list some of the books, but
plot descriptions aren't available for most of them. Apparently, the
stories are being reissued in volumes containing 3 Fu Manchu stories in
each and they are up to a 4th volume, with a 5th due for imminent
release. Unfortunately, I can't even seem to get a list of what stories
are in each volume. My local county library has been no help either.

Any info that anyone can provide can be sent directly to me at
thescifiguy@[removed]

Thanks,
Gordon

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 20:48:21 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: TV *as* Radio

Owens Pomeroy suggests,

 The generation that was raised during the 60's and 70's was often
referred to as the "boob tube" generation and did not have the opportunity
to really use their imagination and explore the "theater of the mind," as so
many of us on this digest list did.

While I don't presume to speak for the entire Boob Tube Generation, let
me say a few words in defense of those of us raised during the 60s and
70s. Having spent a great deal of my childhood "watching TV", I don't
feel that my imagination was in any way stunted by the experience. Any
medium that in a single week of viewing exposed a child to personalities
ranging from Mr. Spock to Arnold the Pig couldn't help but stimulate the
imagination -- and I think that if those of you who were kids fifty years
ago actually *ask* those of us who were kids thirty years ago, you'll
find that our experiences really weren't all that different. We all
fantasized, we all visualized, we all made up our own little interior
worlds, whether we grew up with radio or with TV. TV offered us pictures
to go with the sounds -- but that didn't mean we *had* to think in terms
of those images alone.

Think for a moment about how *you* watch TV. How much time do you
actually spend peering intently at the screen? Not much, I'll bet. You
read a magazine, look at the newspaper, or lie back and rest your eyes.
The only time you really pay close attention to the screen is when the
audio alone doesn't provide the clues you need to follow the plot. You
may be "watching TV," but what you are really doing is "listening to TV."

TV writers know this, and prepare their programs accordingly. Think about
how most TV programs are nothing more than "illustrated radio." Just
about every series takes place on a standardized set -- living room with
a couch in the middle, a table in a coffee shop, an office -- that
requires no elaborate visuals. The visuals are rarely necessary to follow
the action. All the plot, all the motivation, is carried forward
exclusively thru dialogue. Close your eyes, and you may as well be
listening to a radio program -- and in essence, for much of the time you
are "viewing," this is exactly what you are doing. Television gives you a
set of images, it's true -- but that doesn't mean you *have* to take
them.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 20:48:23 -0500
From: "jim terra" <nickcharles4@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Goon Show

Does anyone know if there is any station still playing the Goon Show or I'm
Sorry I'll Read That Again Again??  Both from the BBC.

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 20:48:27 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <wmackey@[removed];
To: otr-otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in Radio History--sorta

   From AP, Today in history--

  - In 1926: The first successful trans-Atlantic radio-telephone
conversation took place, between New York and London.
   Joe

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

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 21:41:27 -0500
From: GOpp@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:  Bob Weiskopf

Bob Weiskopf died Feb. 20, 2001 at his home in [removed] at age 86.
In 1940, he sold some jokes to Bob Hope for his radio program. From there,
he began writing steadily for The Eddie Cantor Show then Rudy Vallee's
Sealtest Program. Sorry, but it was TV from then on

No, it wasn't.  In 1942, Bob left Hollywood (where he had briefly been my
dad's roommate) for New York, where he spent the rest of the decade
writing Fred Allen's radio program. Perhaps you were under the same
misapprehension as Bob's draft board, which Bob asked for a two-week
extension in 1942, so that he'd be able to write Allen's last two shows
of the season. The draft board summarily rejected Bob's extension
request, explaining, "Everyone knows that Fred Allen writes all of his
own material!"

Bob will be sorely missed.

- Gregg Oppenheimer
[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 21:41:28 -0500
From: "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Yehudi

Cab Calloway made a wonderful record of it [removed]

Best,
Shiffy
check out my website: [removed]

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 21:58:55 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Who's dat?

David Phaneuf asks,

I just went to that website and they have pictures of actors doing the
show.  In one of the pictures is one named Jack Bivans.  Isn't that
"Chuck Ramsay" of Captain Midnight?

One of the actors.  Other Chuck Ramsays were Billy Rose (not _that_ one)
and Johnny Coons.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 21:58:53 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Literacy and OTR

Steven Kostelecky, speaking of the slow demise of OTR as we know it,
notes,

For me, it seems pretty obvious that a decline in literacy in our
culture helped the decline in radio in this country.

Well, I think that's putting the cart before the horse.  I'm one who
witnessed the rise of television as a kid.  Back then, TV was an exciting
medium.  Prior to TV, there were two main entertainment media: radio and
motion pictures.  As a rule, movies were a once-a-week affair; and most
films were monochrome in those days (color films were significantly more
expensive to produce).  Radio, of course, was a nightly (and for kids,
afternoonly) event.

Now imagine having something that, to our perspective back then, combined
the accessibility of radio with the visual input of movies.  Not to
mention old films -- kinda a "movies on tap" for many families.

I suspect a case might be made that a decline in OTR might have
contributed in some of the decline in literacy, but hardly vice versa.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 22:39:58 -0500
From: StevenL751@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: atomic bomb documentary

In a message dated 03/07/2001 6:17:46 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:


Tonight I'm going through some wires in my possession that I'd not yet
heard.  One is a rather well produced documentary about the development of
the atomic bomb.   I'm sure that the "Bob" who's often interacting with the
commentator is Bob Hope.  The opening announcements of the show were not
recorded on the wire & I don't have the time to run it down to the end.


The show is probably THE QUICK AND THE DEAD, a series of four 30-minute shows
telling the story of atomic energy.  It aired weekly on NBC between 7/27/50
and 8/17/50, and apparently was later repeated.  Bob Hope was the host and
Helen Hayes and Paul Lukas also appeared in the cast.  Part 1 is called "The
Origins of Atomic Energy", part 2 is "The Use of the Atomic Bomb", part 3 is
"The Development of the Hydrogen Bomb" and part 4 is "The Peaceful Uses of
Atomic Energy".  I don't recall what my source of the show was but I've had
it in my collection for years.

Steve Lewis

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

Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 10:21:05 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Otis Ferguson

Does anyone know anything about critic Otis Ferguson and his radio series
during the late 1930s?  I understand he interviewed Hollywood stars (famous
and newcomers) and was wondering if he had a regular series during 1938, and
what the name of his program was.
Thanks!
mmargrajr@[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 10:21:07 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Atom Bomb Documentary

Art Shifrin, commenting on wire recordings of broadcasts, notes,

One is a rather well produced documentary about the development of the
atomic bomb.   I'm sure that the "Bob" who's often interacting with the
commentator is Bob Hope.  <<

I heard that when first broadcast.  It was indeed Bob Hope.  I remember
only a couple of  lines from it, more or less.  It said, approximately,
"I'm holding two pieces of metal, one in each hand.  If I tap them
together, there would be an atomic explosion."

Nice drama, but it would have required him to hold a hemisphere of nearly
12 pounds of uranium 235 in each hand, and to slam them together with
extreme rapidity.  Hardly "tapping" them together.

I heard that in my youth, and it would be interesting to review it again.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 10:21:10 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Progress Marches On --

Neil Crowley, reflecting on the demise of art forms, notes,

Back to Walt Appel's meditation on things past and passing. Later this
century, when virtual reality kills television, I wonder if the OTT group
will dream of resurrection or allow the  tube to rest peacefully with the
stereopticon, radio, talking movies and all the other honorable dead. <<

Sara Barnhart, the great stage actress of her day, decided to perform in
a silent film because, as she put it, "It is my one chance at
immortality."  Well, immortality is a long time, but she had the right
idea.  Recording a performance in any medium is a way to extend its
availability for an indefinite time in the future.  The advent of
videotape has resulted in the surfacing of some films that some folk were
dead and buried.  Discovery of OTR disks has resulted in making programs
available for posterity.  Having been recorded, it's likely to be
preserved by someone: true of any medium.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 14:31:30 -0500
From: Alan Bell <bella@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: atomic bomb documentary

"Art Shifrin" wrote
One is a rather well produced documentary about the development of
the atomic bomb.   I'm sure that the "Bob" who's often interacting with the
commentator is Bob Hope.

Funny you should have mentioned this. I just happened to be leafing
through Dunning last night and came across that very show. It was a
documentary series called "The Quick and the Dead" that ran from July
6 through Aug 17, 1950 on NBC. Here is the entire text of the
description:

"This was a fast paced, controversial show, written in common terms
and making print in both major national news magazines. It ran across
seven weeks with some repeats. Among those interviewed were the crew
members of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic
bomb." (p. 558)

Bob Hope  appeared as "taxpayer". Also in the cast were Helen Hayes
as Dr. Luis Meitner and Paul Lukas as Einstein.

I wondered if that program existed on tape, because it sounds like it
would be a fascinating document of the era.
--
Alan Bell
Grandville, MI
bella@[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 14:31:33 -0500
From: Jeff Elliott <je@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bob Dylan, [removed] Marshall

>From the March 8 SF Chronicle:

"'Positively Fourth Street,' which is to be published this
[removed] Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Richard and Mimi [removed]
book contains some delicious vignettes that round out its main story: Dylan
took his name not from Welsh poet Dylan Thomas but from 'Gunsmoke' hero
Matt Dillon."

Oh, my stars. While we thought he was writing songs about the alienation of
youth, he was actually using metaphors for his wistful love for Miss Kitty.
Now when I listen to Dylan I'll feel watchful -- and a little lonely.

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #77
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