Please Note

The 36 audio bites that were used in this talk can be obtained by contacting David Groce at [email protected]

1 1 Golden Age of Radio in the Era of MP3, Satellite and Internet Radio Lyncean Group February 23, 2011 David Groce

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2 Want questions and comments. I will ask questions too? Philco cathedral radio 11 tubes Orson Welles: perhaps, most creative "War of the Worlds" CBS Mercury Theater night before Halloween 1938 10/30/1938 (1931 - 1962): most popular singer Frank (1939 - 1960s) longest lasting to today to some most popular female singer? "OTR" is "Old-Time Radio" used a lot so will be talking about "OTR content and some technology" More tech from Bob Hanock Golden Age of Radio± 1900s: sheet music, 3-min records, piano, singing, dancing, other 1920s to 1930s: local live radio, start of live network radio 1930s to : local radio, national live & transcribed radio 1950s to 1960: car radio, transistor radio; start of talk radio 1962: last national radio shows; live news, talk & sports, music 1962 to 1974: OTR late night 1974 to 1982: CBS Mystery Theater; PBS radio 1980s to 1990s: political talk radio 2000 on: OTR comeback 3

3 other: reading and more personal pursuits Variety programs always had danceable music 1920: WWJ in Detroit and KDKA in Pittsburgh (mostly crystal sets) 1922: 1st drama with music and sound effects mid 1920s: amplifying vacuum tubes revolutionized radio; more later from Bob Hancock Big change in national radio: live to transcribed Last programs, Sep 30, 1962: and Truly, Johnny Dollar failed resurgence: CBS 7 nights/week Andy Russell, Dinah Shore, Dick Clark , , Dorothy Collins Jan 23, 1947: Andy Russell & Dinah Shore Sept 9, 1943: Sinatra on AFRS

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4 1935 to 1957 (very popular) . Big Budget: major sponsor, stars, live orchestra TV only after 1957. 82 available shows. First #1: I Love You for Sentimental Reasons Who is pix? Dorothy Collins Hit Parade disk. No commercials on AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Services) until late in WWII. Second #1: Sunday, Monday or Always Some said could buy positions on the Hit Parade? You Bet Your Life Nov 1, 1949: Secret Word "Clock"

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5 Ad lib!! 15 min recorded for each couple; edited to 5 min. Sponsor insisted that be recorded & screened! Radio: 1947 to 1956; TV: 1950 to 1960. 131 avail radio episodes. Usher and Soda Fountain Girl won $115 from $20 start; $100 for "Clock;" missed $1,500 question First panel quiz prog 1938: "Information Please" with $2 used, $5 more if missed "Info Pls Almanacs" Music Availability: 1906 to 1958 - 181 programs - 8,679 shows - Madhattan Room - Nov 16, 1937 at the Hotel Pennsylvania in 1935 to 1944 - 73 shows 1938 Sing, Sing, Sing - Andrews Sisters - Artie Shaw - Bing Crosby - Burl Ives - - Dinah Shore - Doris Day Frank Sinatra - - Harry James - Judy Garland - Kate Smith - - Lauritz Melchior - - Les Paul - Mario Lanza - - - Red Foley Roy Rogers - Rudy Vallee - + a zillion others Basin Street - Breakfast Club - Charlie & Orchestra (Nazi Prop) Show - Coke Time - Cowboy Church - GI Jive Kraft Music Hall - Metropolitan Opera - National Barn Dance Racist Music "It's History" - Voice of Firestone - WPA Concerts 6

6 Benny Goodman 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert "Sing, Sing, Sing" 12:08 Gene Krupa on drums 12-inch 78 rpm record (1950) 6 min per side Charlie and his Orchestra latest home music hits like Tokyo Rose and satire What is MP3? MP3 acronym for Mpeg-1 Audio Layer 3 Mpeg is Moving Pictures Experts Group A lossy compression algorithm That reduces the initial amount of audio data so that it still sounds good for most listeners! It is known as perceptual coding of psychoacoustic models It allows 50 or more hours

on a single CD disk.7

7 Why MP3? OTR audio is low-fidelity Early recording and transcription equipment Telephone lines for distribution AFRS recordings only source for some OTR Over-air (AM radio) recording & artifacts MP3 is low-fi depending on bit rate AM radio quality: 32,000 bits/sec OTR MP3: 24k, 32k, 64k MP3: 50± hours per disk CD: 80 min per disk

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8 Transcription: 12 to 16 inch disks; eventually from 6 min to 15 min per side; 33 1/3 rpm mid 1930s: 16-in aluminum (glass WWII) disks; bare or coated with cellulose nitrate lacquer "acetates" tried constant velocity, vertical grooves, inside to outside (cut ribbon out of way) Reel-to-reel tape recordings: 1947 (Bing Crosby was first to use) Over-air artifacts: sound adjustment, record needle stuck in track, static, distant station interference, scratched record (periodic pops) Alan Ladd Box 13 "go anywhere, do anything" Claude Shannon: The Mathematical Theory of Communication; my copy where? Sampling rate (digitation) at 2x highest frequency desired will reproduce Telephone quality: 64,000 bits/sec; FM quality: 96,000 bits/sec Drag Net Jack Webb as "Sargent Joe Friday" Dec 21, 1950: 22 Rifle for Xmas

Dragnet Sound to begin9 with click.

9 Dumm Dee Dum Dum Dumm Dee Dum Dum wheee (Walter Schumann) and "Just the facts, Ma'am" recognized part of our culture Episode played near Xmas many times; parents & NRA upset with Friday's lectures on guns 1949 to 1957; reruns after 1957. TV: 1951 to 1970. 3 movies + 1 spoof movie and 1 TV movie. 380 available episodes. Jack Webb: Pat Novak 1946; Jack Webb Show 1947; Jeff Regan 1948; Johnny Modero 1947; Pete Kelley 1951 Fatima LONG CIGARETTES, competitor used "King Size" Audio Components of a Radio Show Sound and Only Sound (dead-air: a program killer) Sound components: Actors (audition or established program) day 1: Individual script read day 2: Group script read day 3: Dress rehearsal day 4: Live performance(s) (E and W feeds) Transcriptions came later (even later sound editing) Sound effects (1 to 4) Live and recorded Announcers & narrators (1 to 4) Commercials: Live, transcription or local (music gaps) Bumper music Background music Live audience (much later recorded) 10

10 YOUR IMAGINATION. No dramatic or pregnant pauses. could get away with a little. On TV, Jack Benny, Johnny Carson, others could do it. Some day 2 & 3 recorded: food & drink, raucous, foul-mouthed, jokes, changes Dress rehearsal with music, sound effects, commercials, audience sometimes Foley pit for sounds; Many sound effects by voice - union disputes Jack Webb introduced two announcers plus himself as the narrator Type music tells popularity of show & $: organ: low; big orchestra: high Introductions to Some Interesting Shows The Black Museum - Orson Welles - Bedsheet - 1951 Dangerous Assignment - The Nazi & The Physicist - May 24, 1950 Dimension X - The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury - 1950 Escape - Man Who Stole The Bible - May 5, 1950 The Green Hornet - Torpedo on Wheels - Nov 14, 1942 Gunsmoke - The Impostor - Jul 24, 1960 Hall of Fantasy - The Tell Tale Heart - Jun 1, 1953 Harry Lime (3rd Man) - Orson Welles - Blue Caribou - Jul 18, 1952 Have Gun Will Travel - Winchester Quarantine - Feb 22, 1959 Inner Sanctum - Lonely Sleep - Sep 9, 1949 Lights Out - Valse Trieste - Mar 30, 1938 The Saint - Vincent Price - The Corpse Said Ouch - Aug 6, 1950 Suspense - Vincent Price - Three Skeleton Key - Nov 11, 1956 Whistler - Fatal Error - May 7, 1949 X Minus One - Mars is Heaven - May 8, 1955 11

11 Dim X, Martian Chronicles: Jan 1999! Hall of Fantasy: Tell Tale Heart Edgar Allan Poe 1843 Zither music on Harry Lime William Conrad narrator "Escape" and Matt Dillon on "Gunsmoke" 500+ episodes Orson Welles 350 radio programs; 3 roles Vincent Price 120 programs + movies & TV John Dehner, universal bad guy on GS; in 5 of above programs; Was good guy Paladin, on Have Gun (TV 1st Richard Boone) 360+ programs; 30+ series to movies Whistler whistle 37 notes by a woman, Dorothy Roberts, weekly for 13 years Sports Availability: 1934 to 1960 - 9 collections - 400+ events

Bill Stern Sports Newsreel - Joe Louis - Dec 7, 1945 1937 to 1956 - 606 total shows

World Series G3 - NY Giants vs. NY Yankees - Oct 8, 1937 Joe Louis vs. Max Baer - Sep 24, 1935 Army vs. Notre Dame - Nov 9, 1946 Wilt Chamberlin - scoring 100 points - 1960 Seabiscuit - Mar 5, 1938 - Nov 1, 1938 - Mar 2, 1940 Indianapolis 500 - May 30, 1950 Kentucky Derby - 38 runnings Programs & Interviews - Babe Ruth - Casey Stengel - Dizzy Dean - Hank Aaron - Joe DiMaggio - Lou Gehrig -

Jesse Owens (Berlin Olympics)12

12 Bill Stern: most famous national sports announcer: biggest games, newsreels, radio 15-min weekly program sponsored by Colgate Shave Cream with a BARBERSHOP quartet Yankees 5 to 1 over the Giants @ the Polo Grounds; Joe Louis by TKO in 4th round Army-Notre Dame "Game of the Century 0 to 0 @Yankee Stadium Seabiscuit: May 1933—May 1947 Indie 500: Jonnie Parsons (138 laps rain) Offenhauser Engine (all 33 did, too) Public-Domain OTR Availability

Our Collection (2004+) Show Episodes Disks 33,000 episodes Lone Ranger 1,365 15 560 MP3 CD disks World War II Collection 1,224 9 83 weeks (24/7) Superman 1,164 6 Divas of Old Time Radio 984 14 Suspense 940 19 Our source: Jack Benny 939 13 Jon in Lenexa, Kansas Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar 746 7 www.otrcat.com Fibber McGee & Molly 733 7 $5 per 50± hrs Lux Radio Theater 686 15

Your MP3 data disk (use iTunes or windows media player): 118 episodes (includes all played in this presentation) 1.8 days (24/7) Date code: 391123

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13 WW II collection: news, AFRS, Home front prog, commercials, announcements, speeches FDR, Churchill, Hitler Gag: Fibber McGee's hall closet Lux Radio Theater: The Premier Radio Show hour-long dramas from movies with original stars e.g. Knute Rockne, All American with , Pat O'Brian and Faye Raye introduced by Cecil B. d'Mille 391123: Captain Midnight Westerns Availability: 1923 to 1960 - 59 Shows - 5,270 episodes

Texas Rangers - Blood Trail - Jan 20, 1952 1950 to 1952 - 92 episodes

Cisco Kid (and Pancho) - 1942 to 1958 (without singing!) Gene Autry (plus Melody Ranch) - 1940 to 1956 Red Ryder - 1942 to 1951 - RR BB gun $2.95 Roy Rogers & Dale Evans - 1944 to 1955 Sgt Preston of the Yukon - 1938 to 1955 Six Shooter - - 1953 to 1954 Tom Mix - 1941 to 1950 Wild Bill Hickok - 1951 to 1956 Will Rogers - 1923 to 1947 14

14 A Texas Dragnet Trigger and Buttermilk Yukon King Gunsmoke to TV, Wm Conrad, short & chubby NG for TV; TV: James Arness a Marshall Dillon and Dennis Weaver as Chester 15

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Gunsmoke to TV, Wm Conrad, short & chubby NG for TV; TV: James Arness a Marshall Dillon and Dennis Weaver as Chester Radio & TV: 1,100+ shows Soap Operas Availability: 1930 to 1960 - 39 shows - 2,303 episodes

Mary Noble, Backstage Wife - Episode # 4132 1935 to 1959

Cecil & Sally - 1930 to 1933 Guiding Light - 1937 to 1956 (to 2009 on TV) Life of Mary Southern - 1934 to 1938 Ma Perkins - 1933 to 1956 One Man's Family - 1932 to 1959 Pepper Young's Family - 1932-1959 Romance of Helen Trent - 1933 to 1960 Vic & Sade - 1932 to 1946 Young Dr Malone - 1932 to 1946 Young Widder Brown - 1938 to 1956 16

16 5 per week at 15 min; played live and few recorded Approximate number of TOTAL episodes Difficult to determine total #s of episodes and even harder for # available Speciality Shows

Lonesome Gal - Jean King - 1949 show 1947 to 1955

The Undecided Molecule - in rhyme - Jul, 17, 1945 Norman Corwin (writer) with: Robt Benchley, Carmen Dragon, Norman Lloyd, Groucho Marx, Vincent Price, Carl Reiner, Sylvia Sidney and Keenan Wynn Complete Days - 1939 Poland - Dec 7, 1941 - 1944 D-Day - Nagasaki Mr President - Edward Arnold - 1947 to 1953 - 75 episodes Adventures in Research - Living in an Atomic Age - Science Mag You are There - I Can Hear It Now - March of Time - CBS World News American Portraits - Biography on Sound - Vox Pop interviews Commercials - Air Checks - Religious Collection - Wax Cylinders 17

17 Lonesome Gal: weekly syndication approx. 15 min; customized for each town (300 of) Fat commercial Bing Crosby on Kraft Music Hall OTR Comeback MP3: internet, Amazon, eBay, www.otrcat.com CDs: From MP3 Transcription disks Remastered Satellite radio: Sirius & XM: 6 channels each Internet radio: 120 active stations New radio drama material: UK, Canada, USA? iPhone apps: 20; iPad apps: 3 18

18 Transcription disks: buy, sell, trade Remastered: Bing Crosby's GE Show on CBS 15 min 5x week songs only 7 CDs 7 to 9 hrs (have 84 full shows 21 hrs + 52 more-Chesterfield Show 30 min) $5 Satellite channels same programming? www.shoutcast.com OTR Categories at www.otrcat.com

Categories Shows Episodes Categories Shows Episodes Adventure 84 6,091 Personality 161 12,320 British 27 1,642 Quiz 28 1,124 Children 29 2,338 Rare 198 3,471 Comedy 196 13,447 Science Fiction 25 1,026 Detective 173 11,277 Serials 50 3,932 Drama 191 11,239 Soaps 39 2,303 Historical 76 5,513 South African 12 396 Holiday 20 1,471 Sports 8 396 Music 181 8,679 Westerns 59 5,270 Mystery-Horror 98 7,216 World War II 48 3,137 totals 1,703 102,288

Note: Some Shows may be in two or more categories. 19

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