Presentation

Please Note
The 36 audio bites that
were used in this talk can
be obtained by contacting
David Groce at
[email protected]
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Golden Age of Radio
in the Era of MP3,
Satellite and Internet Radio
Lyncean Group
February 23, 2011
David Groce
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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
Bing Crosby (1931 - 1962): most popular singer
Frank Sinatra (1939 - 1960s) longest lasting to today
to some Dinah Shore 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 net work radio
1930s to 1950s: 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
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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: Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
failed resurgence: CBS 7 nights/week
Your Hit Parade
Andy Russell, Dinah Shore, Dick Clark
Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Dorothy Collins
Jan 23, 1947: Andy Russell & Dinah Shore
Sept 9, 1943: Sinatra on AFRS
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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
Groucho Marx
Nov 1, 1949: Secret Word "Clock"
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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 if used,
$5 more if missed "Info Pls Almanacs"
Music
Availability: 1906 to 1958 - 181 programs - 8,679 shows
Benny Goodman - Madhattan Room - Nov 16, 1937
at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City
1935 to 1944 - 73 shows 1938 Sing, Sing, Sing
Al Jolson - Andrews Sisters - Artie Shaw - Bing Crosby
Bob Hope - Burl Ives - Danny Kaye - Dinah Shore - Doris Day
Frank Sinatra - Fred Astaire - Harry James - Johnny Mercer
Judy Garland - Kate Smith - Kay Kyser - Lauritz Melchior
Glenn Miller - Lena Horne - Les Paul - Mario Lanza
Paul Whiteman - Peggy Lee - Perry Como - Red Foley
Roy Rogers - Rudy Vallee - Tommy Dorsey + a zillion others
Basin Street - Breakfast Club - Charlie & Orchestra (Nazi Prop)
Chesterfield 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
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Benny Goodman 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz 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.
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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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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 begin
with click.
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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 Blues 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)
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YOUR IMAGINATION. No dramatic or pregnant pauses. Jack Benny 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 - 11May 8, 1955
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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)
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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+)
33,000 episodes
560 MP3 CD disks
83 weeks (24/7)
Our source:
Jon in Lenexa, Kansas
www.otrcat.com
$5 per 50± hrs
Show
Episodes
Disks
Lone Ranger
1,365
15
World War II Collection
1,224
9
Superman
1,164
6
Divas of Old Time Radio
984
14
Suspense
940
19
Jack Benny
939
13
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
746
7
Fibber McGee & Molly
733
7
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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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 Ronald Reagan, 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 - James Stewart - 1953 to 1954
Tom Mix - 1941 to 1950
Wild Bill Hickok - 1951 to 1956
Will Rogers - 1923 to 1947 14
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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
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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 16- 1938 to 1956
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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 Cor win (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 inter views
Commercials - Air Checks - Religious
Collection - Wax Cylinders
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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
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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.
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