Diary of an Old-Time Radio Fan (1984-1992)

Back around 1993, when I was publishing a fanzine about old-time radio (OTR) called Tune In, I had toyed with the idea of filling up an issue with stuff I had written about OTR over the years, prior to starting the fanzine in August 1992.  This would be a way of showing in "real time" how my interest in OTR had developed.  In the end, however, I decided not to publish it because I thought the resulting "diary" was too boring to inflict on others. But recently I decided that the "diary" might have slight historical interest given that what I wrote below is nearly as long-ago now as the Golden Age of Radio itself was when I first discovered it.  I have left the piece basically unchanged below, which shows how it would have appeared in Tune In had I published it there, as originally intended.

INTRODUCTION

The following is the "diary of a beginning fan" -- myself, obviously.  Some entries were in my journal, but most originate from letters I wrote to a friend during 1987 to 1991.  From these writings, one can see, I think, an evolution taking place. Not only in the growth of my collection, but how my views expanded as well.  Mine is not an interesting story, nor a unique one, but merely what I lived, or how I got here.  I have corrected a few spelling errors, but for the most part what you're reading is what I originally wrote.  I have added some comments for clarification, and these modern additions are anything found within these brackets: [ ].  

I have obviously changed my opinions on certain subjects over the years, and no longer agree with some of the things I declare below.  For example, I think that 1950s radio shows, at least the ones I've heard, are not only often superior to radio shows of previous decades, but superior to many of the 1950s TV programs they were competing against.  Additionally, I also now believe that television had a LOT to do with the demise of radio plays, considering that the companies who produced such plays abandoned them for the medium of television.  They made a conscious decision to do one or the other, and they CHOSE television.

I also apologize for the repetition of certain phrases, beginning so many sentences with "It's funny, but..." or "That'd be cool if..."; I could've edited such verbal garbage out, but decided to leave it in.  

So, here we go...the diary of a beginning OTR fan...

11-28-1984 [recently turned 14 yrs old]: "I like to ....listen to the weird radio programs -- Inner Sanctum, Hall of Fantasy, X Minus 1, Suspense! -- remember these?"

11-4-1985 [a week before turning 15 years old]:  "I have an incurable love for radio shows. As a child, just entering the teen years, I first learnt of them.  One day, at Meijer, not long after, I discovered a whole bunch of them on a large, twisting, metal rack and bought two (both of THE SHADOW) over the next couple of months.  I played the tapes a lot, and wanted to get more, but we rarely go to Meijer.  Then I discovered the joy of my own radio.  I found children's programs and educational radio shows (fictional stories) on some obscure FM channel [probably WDTR-FM 90.9].  I started toying with it.  One night, I turned the channel to (94 FM?? 93??) and it hit me.  Over the soundwaves it flew.  A SHADOW adventure. I rushed to my family and told them.  HO-HUM, said they. But after that, I listened.  At 8-8:30? to 9:00 [pm] was Make Believe Ballroom, a show highlighting music of the thirties and forties.  After that, an hour or 2 half-hours of radio shows ("The Golden Age of Radio") and a half-hour by the station.  It was great!"

[Update from 2025: The station on which I heard "The Golden Age of Radio Theatre," hosted by Victor Ives, was CKJY 93.9 FM, a Canadian station that had a big band format from 1982 to 1985.]

12-24-1987 [17 yrs old]:  "I got quite a wicked collection of radio shows now ....  I hope I get a Shadow radio show tape cassette [for Christmas].

12-19-1988 [18 yrs old]: "Even a love and mindless worship of Marvel is better than an undying loyalty to... (ack!)...RADIO!!  (This, of course, excludes things like old radio programs, which a liking for are a plus to any person's character!)" 

12-25-88:  [What I got for Christmas]: "...a collection of six radio show tapes with 2 episodes per tape: The Shadow, The Green Hornet, Alfred Hitchcock, Sherlock Holmes, Arch Oboler's "Lights Out," and an hour-long dramatization of George Orwell's "1984."  Now I have SEVEN episodes of The Shadow on tape cassette!!"

2-5-1989: "I have some radio shows that I didn't give you in this here box, because I knew you wouldn't want 'em.  They include: 3 more Buck Rogers episodes, 2 Tarzan episodes, 2 Sherlock Holmes episodes, and an Alfred Hitchcock NBC Playhouse adaptation of "Vertigo" or something. [If only such a show existed! Actually, it was of "Spellbound."] There's a LIGHTS OUT! at K-Mart that I don't have, but I'm not in the mood to go rushing off after it right now (besides, its night out and I don't have any money to spare).  But I'll probably get some more radio shows and record 'em with these blank tapes...."

4-10-89:  "I might get an Arch Oboler's LIGHTS OUT radio show tape they have up there [at K-Mart]! D'ya ever buy radio shows albums at yer local record store?  They never have the ones ya want, but "Little Orphan Annie" & "Amos N' Andy" are well-stocked.  Oh, well."

4-26-89: "I'll go transcribe "All in Vain" for ya & then  we'll talk.  (By the way, John thinks "All Or Nothing" is a better title.  What's your opinion?  The tale was inspired by "Revolt of the Worms," a radio show..."  [My short story "All in Vain" appeared in TUNE IN #4.]

5-14-89: "Hey, when am I ever gonna get a radio show of you making a fool of yourself trying to imitate Orson Welles??  I've had it w/making tapes, Kathy's stereo doesn't have a hook-in for microphones, anyway.  I'll reveal to you now what the nine hour old thing in the B.P. [Big Package] is: Radio Shows (not of me, but old-time real radio shows).  Each side of the tape is marked & that's how you listen to them, first side one, then side two, then side three, etc. because they connect, sometimes a side will be continued on another side even if it's another tape.  So listen to 'em in consecutive order on a boring day.  I hope it makes ya feel as if yer back in time, in the golden age of radio.  I included an old radio adaptation of "1984" from 1949 [NBC UNIVERSITY THEATER], but listen to it, it's good.  I've read the book "1984" & in some parts (especially at the end) the radio adaptation is better than the book.  My favorite radio show I've included is a Hermit's Cave called "Hanson's Ghost" (I think).  Its so stupid, its good.  Everything is so dramatic, its funny, especially the servant.  I love how he laughs.  He's such a degenerate.  Its funny because at the beginning when the doctor's telling his story to the couple he says to Hanson "I won't stand here & listen to such BALDERDASH!" and you expect him to say "BULLSHIT!" instead of "BALDERDASH!" (At least I did.)  Two other good stories (which are good, not stupid) are both Arch Oboler tales: "Bathysphere" & "Revolt of the Worms."  I only have a few more radio shows I didn't give you: three short segments of Buck Rogers, two Tarzan episodes, two Sherlock Holmes adventures, & one Alfred Hitchcock radio drama.  I haven't listened to them rilly yet, but I doubt you'd want 'em.  Besides those, you now (or will) have all the radio shows I have!  If I get some more at the store, I might send you 'em, but I doubt I'll get any.  The last time I went & got a radio show by myself at the store (excepting for the moment "Revolt of the Worms," which was on tape at K-Mart) was back when I was 16 or so, when I bought those two albums featuring "Hanson's Ghost," an Arch Oboler, an Inner Sanctum, and the cult classic "Four Fingers and a Thumb" (which is rilly a pretty good story with a guy who talks like Yosemite Sam & an old geezer who's unforgettable line is: "And don't everybody despise the yellow devils!" & "Why, if it was thought ya looked on Chinamen as equals, you'd just have to pack up & get out of town!")  The story's so dumb, its funny.  Hope you enjoy the shows (the radio shows), they're my favorite part of the B.P."

5-15-89: "On the Oscars show, when Jeff Goldblum & Geena Davis (stars of "The Fly") came on to announce nominations for Best Documentary, the orchestra burst into a spirited rendition of The Green Hornet theme ("Flight of the Bumblebee") in their honor."

5-19-89:  "I'm listening to the Green Hornet tape you sent me.  I love the Green Hornet radio show.  Well, now its 5:40; I've listened to 2 Green Hornets & now I'm on my 2nd Shadow story.  My room is stuffy; usually I shut my door listening to the stereo, but not today, or I guess the rest of the summer.  I mean, they don't shut the door in the TV room; I don't have to shut it listening to a radio show in my bedroom.  God, I love listening to these radio shows.  They're so cool & dramatic.  Is everybody into these kinds of things or am I just weird? I'm willing to bet if you asked every 18 year old in Michigan who Lamont Cranston was, I bet I'd be the only one Who Knows (besides The Shadow, of course!). Well, its now 9 in the evening. I'm listening to my Sherlock Holmes radio shows.  Next time I go to Trenton Record Store (prolly this Monday) I'll check to see if they've any radio shows on tape or vinyl."

12-11-89 [a month after I turned 19 years old]:  "Y'know what rilly makes me mad?! Lately, I've been trying to find old-time radio shows on the radio & I can't find any!! It makes me mad that, back when "The Golden Age of Radio" (hour-long show featuring either one hour-length old radio show or two 1/2-hr. ones) followed by a 1/2-hr. old radio show broadcast came on 93? FM back when I was like 13 or something, I only ended up RECORDING two old radio shows off it (holding my tape recorder against the radio's speaker; I didn't have a stereo back then), a Fibber McGee & Molly and that Hall of Fantasy episode, "The Night The Fog Came."  After that, I would just LISTEN to the episodes each night instead of recording them!  I was such a fool!! Think how many radio shows I'd have if I'd have if I'd have recorded 'em!!  ARGH! I heard great shows like that Suspense classic "Sorry, Wrong Number" & I wouldn't RECORD it!! or that "Tell-Tale Heart" adaptation [on THE WEIRD CIRCLE]!! or that "Archie" radio show! ARGH! And I remember "Life of Riley" would come on AM 1270 at 11:00pm & I would just LISTEN to it & not record it! ARGH! So, I'm depressed about that.  But I wish I had a second chance!! I wish I could find old radio shows on the radio again!  About a year ago I found one playing on an AM station, like Saturdays at 7 evening [probably on CKLW-AM], but I can't find it now.  And all the new radio shows I find (12:15am, weekdays, WWJ-AM has "Mystery Theater" which starts with the creaking door of "Inner Sanctum," but has E.G. Marshall narrate boring stories and at 7pm Sunday FM 92? which is also stupid & too intellectual/trendy/New Yorkish for me, thanx.) As you can probably tell, I've been listening to my radio show tapes again & getting depressed.  Like, a few years ago, Meijer, Musicland, K-Mart, B. Dalton, Harmony House, etc., even that D & C place in downtown Trenton had radio show tapes & now they don't!! Why does this have to happen to me?! I didn't know they'd disappear!! I thot they'd be around forever!! Have you seen any radio show (old ones) records at any of those record fairs you go to? ... Well, its now almost midnite. I think I might as well record those E.G. Marshall mystery "radio shows" since that's the only radio show that comes on (trust me, I spent practically all of today & most of last week SEARCHING the airwaves desperately for old radio shows! I think the strain is going to kill me; I'm so frustrated & depressed--I have to record SOMETHING!!) ... As you can tell, this radio show thing is driving me crazy.  Now, if I want to hear any more, say, Shadow episodes, I'll have to buy them instead of just taping them off the radio.  That sucks."

12-16-89: "Anyway, I was sitting there & I saw a salespaper from Meijer & since it was at Meijer that I bought my first AND second and maybe even THIRD old radio show tape cassettes (I think my first two were Shadows, bought within weeks of each other, "Death From The Deep" (my first) & "The Shadow's Revenge" (my 2nd), & I think my third was the Suspense show "Hitchhiker."  I also remember seeing "Sorry Wrong #" at Meijer & wanting to get it (they had a whole spinning rack of old radio show tapes), but not having enough money! Anyway...), I decided to flip thru the Meijer ads to see if they had old radio show tapes.  Well, surprise, surprise, they had those big COMEDY, MYSTERY, etc. radio things that hold SIX tapes, all for only $14.95 (& each tape is either a long one hour or two 1/2 hr. shows!).  Of course, I already have the MYSTERY set, & I'd rather pick & choose, than have to get it in a set.  Y'notice how the company that puts 'em out has been packaging & repackaging 'em to find the right audience?  First they had the RADIO RERUNS series where each tape was a 1/2 hr. show, then they tried the BLOCKBUSTER series where each tape ran an HOUR, now they're marketing these 6-tape (read: 6 HOURS!) RADIO SETS! Y'know, someday I'd like to have a HUMONGOUS collection of old-time radio shows, just tons & tons of 'em!  If/When I ever get that Adventures In Cassettes catalogue, I'll compare their prices to the RADIO SETS at Meijer.  Y'know, they're all (RADIO RERUNS, BLOCKBUSTER, RADIO SETS, ADVENTURES IN CASSETTES) put out by one company, METACOM." 

12-18-89:  "Remember how you said your machine was eating all those RADIO SHOW tapes I sent? Well, I'm making all-new ones for ya, including a few I left off last time. Thus, with this "revised series," you'll have EVERY old-time radio show that I have!! Hopefully I'll be getting more when (if?) I get that catalogue in the mail."

12-28-89: "I got the ADVENTURES IN CASSETTES catalogue today, but it was pretty disappointing. Most of the stuff was comedy. Here, let me give you a run-down of what they got these days (keeping in mind that these guys are responsible for ALL the old radio show tapes you ever see in a store!): 11 (1/2 hr. ea.) Abbott & Costello tapes, 7 "the Bickersons" tapes, 9 "Baby Snooks" tapes, 7 Burns & Allen tapes, 8 "Lum & Abner" tapes, 8 Charlie McCarthy tapes, 20 Jack Benny tapes, 9 Fibber McGee and Molly tapes, 8 Great Gildersleeve tapes, 3 Life of Riley tapes, 4 Will Rogers tapes, 2 Eddie Cantor tapes, 2 W.C.Fields tapes, 2 Red Skelton tapes, and one tape each of Aldrich Family, Marx Brothers, Ozzie & Harriet, Our Miss Brooks, Laurel & Hardy, Golden Days of Radio, Fred Allen, & "Bing Crosby X-Mas" respectively.  And that's just COMEDY! (What? no Amos N' Andy?!) The following tapes are also 1/2 hr. each: 13 Sherlock Holmes tapes, 3 "BOX 13" tapes, 4 Lights Out tapes (3 of which I don't have), 2 Hopalong Cassidy, 14 Lone Ranger, 10 Gangbusters, & 8 "Cape Cod Radio Mystery Theatre" (which is a new radio show & the length of each episode of that series varies).  And also 1/2 hr. ea. (and selling for $3.98 ea.) are Orson Welles & Mercury Theatre adaptation of DRACULA, parts 1 & 2 (2 tapes), Academy Award theatre "The Maltese Falcon," 50 Radio Commercials, 50 Radio Commercials Part II, Pearl Harbor attacked, U.S. Declares War on Germany & Italy (these two are from actual old radio news broadcasts), Best of "5 Minute Mysteries," Gunsmoke, Dragnet, War of the Worlds Parts 1 & 2, Nightbeat, The Whistler, Mr. Keen:Tracer of Lost Persons, Escape, & 4 Green Hornet tapes (1 of which, "The Boathouse Mystery" (12/25/45) I don't have.  It calls it the "best of the series.") And that's it, except for the big 6-tape/6-hr. RADIO SETS.  One such set, called THRILLER, has a tape on it that on Side A has an episode of THE HAUNTING HOUR titled "Bird of Death" & on Side B is a HALL OF FANTASY titled "Crawling Thing."  Too bad ya can't buy 'em without the set they come with!  Anyway, they also have junk like these subliminal tapes & junk like that, self-help tapes, y'know.  Did you notice something missing?  I sure did.  Immediately I was like "Where the SHADOW?!".  And when I looked to see the RADIO SET that I once got a Shadow tape with, I saw that now all the 5 other tapes in that MYSTERY set are the same except THE SHADOW tape has now been replaced by "CAPE COD MYSTERY THEATRE"! I began to think maybe they lost the rights now that DC's publishing the Shadow comic now or something until I realized the catalogue also didn't have any SUSPENSE or INNER SANCTUM tapes!!! How can ya explain that?? Well, I figured I wasn't gonna order from such a measly selection as theirs so about an hour ago I looked in the back of a recent EQMM in the classified ads & found the following: "OLDTIME radio programs. Mysteries, adventure, suspense, science-fiction, comedies. Classic tapes. Free catalogue. Carl D. Froelich, Heritage Farm, New Freedom, PA 17349."  So now I'm sending off for his catalogue which sounds a lot, lot better!"

12-29-89: "I was looking through an old (1983) Archie Adventure comic [SHIELD/STEEL STERLING #2] & one of the people in the letter pg. [George Wagner] mentioned that they had on cassette an episode of the Black Hood's (old Archie Adventure superhero that I like) old radio show from the 40s! I'd love to hear it, but here I'm having trouble getting a copy of "Sorry, Wrong #," one of the most famous radio episodes of all!! I hope Froelich's catalogue is good; I should've sent off for it years ago (& I could've, since I had a subscription to EQMM back in May 1984 & he had an ad in their classifieds back then!) I'm such an idiot, that's exactly what I should've done.  If I had done that back in 1984, I could've had a huge collection of cool radio shows by now, I'm such an idiot!! I have no idea why I didn't do that, since I've always had a hard time getting radio show tapes at stores.  Well, no more worries!! Hopefully Froelich's catalogue will have lots of Shadows, Green Hornets, Suspenses, Hall of Fantasys, etc."

1-6-90: "Wow! Was just able to tape an old-time radio show off the radio last nite! This Canadian radio station (FM) I occasionally listen to which all night plays punk rock/dance trax/international/odd musik all night long [Night Lines on CBC Stereo, hosted by David Wisdom] -- well, last nite around 12:30am I happened to turn to it & the guy was saying that they were gonna play an old radio show by Orson Welles, one I didn't have [THIS IS MY BEST: "Heart of Darkness"], so I immediately got a tape to record it even tho' they didn't get around to playing until 3am! But I taped it & now I have another radio show! (I've copied it for you so you can have all the radio shows I have, & it's in this package). The DJ said that the reason the quality is rough is because back then they didn't have recorded tape so they recorded the shows live with acetate discs! (Y'know, vinyl?) So the only reason "War of the Worlds," "Sorry, Wrong #", "the Shadow," & "The Green Hornet" EXIST is because they were recorded as they were broadcast on a lil' record surviving in some vault somewhere! Wow..."

1-8-90: "I got Froelich's catalogue today; its pretty decent.  ... So, anyway, I'm gonna order some from him; they come in sets of like 6 or 7 (1/2 hr.) shows.  There's two kinds of sets: one kind (there's only 34 of these) is an ASSORTMENT set w/6 or 7 different series--like, say, MYSTERY ASSORTMENT Vol. One and the 6 or 7 shows would be a random episode each of SHERLOCK HOLMES, SHADOW, NICK CARTER, GANGBUSTERS, DRAGNET, ESCAPE, and THIS IS YOUR F.B.I.  Those are the dumb sets.  The other kinds of sets are the straight series sets.  Say, ya have a set called AMOS N' ANDY Vol. One.  That set would include 6 or 7 episodes of AMOS N' ANDY.  AMOS N' ANDY Vol. TWO would have 6 or 7 DIFFERENT Amos N' Andy episodes.  (In other words, there aren't any repeats.  You could buy AMOS N' ANDY Vols. 1-6 & get 36 DIFFERENT episodes of Amos N'   Andy.  Follow me??).  But you have to buy 'em in sets, you can't pick & choose.  Fortunately, I don't have any (or at least, MOST) of the episodes in sets I want (For instance, THE SHADOW RETURNS set has the episode "The Shadow's Revenge" in it, but I'm not gonna let that stop me from getting the set, 'cos I want the 5 episodes I DON'T have!).  And there are 176 of those kind of SERIES sets.  Each set costs $13.95 or 3 sets for $36.00, but there's specials where you can buy 1 set of your choice for $7.95 (my choice was THE GREEN HORNET set!).  Pretty cool, eh? I shoulda sent off for this years ago!!"

1-11-90: "...I sent off for the shows from Froelich (try to guess which sets I ordered!).  I'm holding off on sending your package until I get the radio shows from Froelich so I can tape 'em for you. ... Did you know Mel Blanc had his own radio show in the '40s?  (Well, he DID!)  I betcha the death of radio really hurt his career.  Even tho' he had the animation work to fall back on, he could've been really big had radio still been big.  Oh, I spent all my money now.  I'm broke. ...Remember how before when I made tapes of old radio shows for you I (stupidly) mixed them all together?  Well, NO MORE!  I'm making up a new set for you & it's gonna be pretty ORGANIZED! Although, I'm gonna have to buy some good tapes (blank).  I was re-playing a LIGHTS OUT! Vol. 2 tape I made for you & my stereo ATE IT! I guess I can see what you mean... Well, don't worry, I'll get some good tape for ya!  ...  Oh, big news!  Y'know how I sometimes listen to WWJ-AM at mid-nite on weekdays for MYSTERY THEATER (hour-long NEW radio show)?  Well, yesterday I turned to it & some comedy series (that was vaguely familiar to me) was on!  Well, wouldn't you know, at that time now (hopefully it comes on every weekday, but I dunno yet) is an hour-long show called "WHEN RADIO WAS," & is similiar to "THE GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO" series of yore.  For the 2nd half-hour [actually, final 15-minutes] they've been playing continuing episodes of a mystery (old-time radio) serial ["I Love A Mystery"], but that should reach its conclusion in a few days.  So, the upshot of all this is is I have a SECOND CHANCE!  I can record radio shows off the radio!  This means you'll prolly be getting a lot of radio show tapes in The Package I've Yet To Send."

1-14-90:  "Oh, it said that tomorrow is the final installment of the "I Love A Mystery" serial, so starting Tuesday I can record 2 (instead of just one) radio shows per weekday!  That's cool.  It's like my dream come true!    Its AWESOME!"

1-24-90:  "Its cool now that I have a radio show to record Monday thru Friday, even if they do play a lotta comedy (I've been recording 'em all, though).  Oh, did I tell you this?: About a week or so ago they played an Amos N' Andy (which I recorded) & they said the continuation of that episode they'd broadcast in a later show.  Well, a few days later, I tuned into When Radio Was & the guy said they were gonna play a radio show, but he only said one series (See, they play -- every time I've listened at least -- one 1/2 hr. radio show first & then after that 1 15-min. radio show, okay?). Well, I recorded it & it only lasted 15 min! and the guy was all "Well, that's it for When Radio Was..." etc and at the end of each show they say what was going on during the years the two shows they played were done? Well, the guy then goes "Tonight we heard Amos N' Andy and whatever (the 15-min. radio show).  Amos N' Andy was broadcast in 1944..." blah blah blah.  And I know I didn't miss it! 'Cos I had been listening to the station for 1/2 hr. before When Radio Was came on that night & a few minutes after it went off.  Anyway (gee, I didn't think this story'd take so long!!!) I get the feeling the station (WWJ-AM) didn't play the Amos N' Andy because they prolly got complaints after they played it before (the time I heard & recorded it).  ANYWAY!  I hope they play some Fibber McGee & Mollys, if they have to play comedy.  Oh, today I turned on WGN at 6:30/even. & I just happened to see that they play episodes of the Fibber McGee & Molly TV series at that time!  But the TV series is dumb, nothing like the radio series.  The radio show they did in front of a live audience so they HAD to be funny or else they'd get booed & they'd often flub their lines & start laughing, like on The Carol Burnett Show.  But the TV series, on the other hand, is incredibly dumb, polished (no mistakes), unfunny, and has a laugh track."

1-25-90:  "Right now recording a Shadow episode (1940) off "When Radio Was."  Its cool how they've been playing one Shadow per week and the 3 (counting this one) are all ones I don't have.  Thus, my Shadow count comes to TEN episodes now (not counting the 13 episodes I'll be getting soon--hopefully!--from Froelich).  I'm also right now filling out a request for Ed Cole's catalogue; he had an ad in a Summer 1988 Comic Buyer's Guide for "THOUSANDS OF OLD-TIME RADIO SHOWS"--whoops, got the actual ad here now, actually the ad read: "OLD-TIME RADIO SHOWS. OVER 10,000 ON CASSETTES OR REELS."  Sounds good to me.  One thing I'd particularly like to hear are the earliest episodes of The Shadow--like, the first one he appeared in as a narrator (the voice originally hosted a Street & Smith mystery show, but the voice proved so popular they dropped the host thing & made him the star of the show, fighting crooks), and the first one where the show was called "THE SHADOW" and introduced him as a crimefighter, having full-length adventures.  Hopefully Cole's catalogue'll have those (do they still exist??!).  I was asking my mom today if she remembers listening to radio shows when she was young (my dad was born in 1929 & my mom was born in 1932).  Well, my mom said she didn't listen to radio shows much when she was young, she said my dad's family did.  She just remembered there being The Shadow, Inner Sanctum, Fibber McGee & Molly, and Amos N' Andy on the radio (and she's terrible at less immortal ones: she couldn't remember "Duffy's Tavern" (1940-1952 series!) or "The Great Gildersleeve" (1941-1953, probably longer)).  She doesn't remember any episodes or anything. ... About these radio shows: Its funny how some of these I've been recording I thot would be dumb & they turn out to be cool.  Like, at first when they started playing "Bill Stern's Sports Newsreel" I thot, "Oh, I won't record this; its probably dumb," but I'd record it anyway just in case & I'd love it!  Or a recent example is "Lum & Abner" which I thot would be stupid, as its always classified under "Comedy," but it turns out (to ME, anyway) its pretty great, as its a "comedy" WITHOUT jokes, a laugh track, punchlines, or anything, yet it can really be funny at times.  So, I've learned my lesson & I'm just gonna record EVERYTHING "When Radio Was" plays.  I don't know whether I'll send you everything I record, but maybe I will, I dunno."

2-1-90:  "Finally got the tapes from Froelich in the mail.  Sound quality varies from tape to tape.  One Shadow tape is very professional; but another, you can tell when the tape is being stopped & stuff; kinda reminds me of buying a bootleg [record]. But actually I'm pleased.  There were two Orson Welles Shadow episodes on one of the tapes, bring[ing] my number of Welles Shadows to 7 episodes.  They should have a thing you could buy, like,  THE  COMPLETE  ORSON  WELLES SHADOWS or something!  I don't think I'll buy any more radio shows from anybody anymore though & just record 'em off When Radio Was for free.  The only reason I ordered these tapes from Froelich was back when I thot old-time radio shows didn't come on anymore.  Isn't it strange how Fate stepped in & just when I  started  complaining  about there being no radio shows on the radio a month or so ago, then all of a sudden When Radio Was comes on.  I wonder...! (dramatic organ music)"

2-5-90:  "A special on Orson Welles comes on TNT from 8pm-10pm tonight & I'm gonna record it.  ... I hope they mention his radio work.  It occurs to me that this TV obsession is absurd; a show like Dobie Gillis is on for a few seasons & they give it a reunion 20 yrs. later like its some grand cultural event, while RADIO shows that lasted from, like, the '30s to the '50s (such as Fibber McGee, The Shadow, The Green Hornet, etc.) are shoved aside & forgotten by our TV-obsessed society.  Its hard to believe that CBS was the home of Inner Sanctum years ago and NBC that of Screen Directors Playhouse, Duffy's Tavern, and Bill Stern's Colgate Sports Newsreel.  Would they even acknowledge that now?!?  Y'know, its strange how people automatically assumed that TV made radio obsolete.  But that's ignorant; TV didn't make movies, novels, or comics obsolete, did it?  People still attend plays don't they?!  Well, then, why should radio shows be shoved aside merely because TV also exists?  Radio shows are a totally different form & many radio shows (like The Shadow & Bill Stern) simply don't have the impact they do on a screen as they do on the airwaves.  Even though they've made radio shows available for so long, I think some blame must be put on radio show aficianados, some of whom only like it because it's "nostalgic."  But radio shows don't have to be 30 years/40 years/50 yrs. old to be good!  I don't understand why somebody doesn't revive The Shadow, The Green Hornet, and Inner Sanctum on radio again!! I would listen to 'em! (as long as they were as good as the old ones). ...my letter to Ed Cole returned [in the mail] unopened w/a thing saying "Out of Business" where his name is! ... I'm not real sure I want to get any more sets from Froelich.  They might play 'em on "When Radio Was."  I could probably order his set of "The Goon Show"; they wouldn't play that."

2-7-90:  "Right now I'm recording "When Radio Was" & I have the sneaking suspicion that this one's only gonna be 15 min. long again!  I tune in & CBS News was on, so I get my tape ready & at 12:06 it finally comes on & they only said one name, not two like they normally do for what they play (i.e. they must've had Amos N' Andy again for the 1/2 hr. show, WWJ won't play it & so we only get to hear the 2nd show, the 15 min. one).  They should know better than to do Amos N' Andy.  Why don't they play Inner Sanctum, Suspense, The Green Hornet, Life of Riley even? (I haven't heard these 4 series on "When Radio Was" yet.)... It's funny how that now I have 24 SHADOW episodes on tape, but that I HAVEN'T YET really LISTENED to 14 of them yet!... Whoops! my fears were unfounded. This was a reg. 1/2 hr./15 min. episode [of "When Radio Was"].  They didn't censor anything.  But if they play an Amos N' Andy one of these days on this show, I'll be surprised."  

3-11-90:  "I listened to 3 Shadows today on a tape I never  got around to listening to before, but I've about 11 Shadows I STILL haven't listened to..."

3-26-90: "NOSTALGIA" IS THE DEATH KNELL OF RADIO SHOWS [essay]

     I can't characterize myself as some sort of expert on radio shows.  I only have a few on cassette.  But I don't have to have heard every crappy old-time radio show to know that unless radio shows are rescued from the nostalgia cult, they'll remain dead.

     The nostalgia cult are, of course, the people who continue to perpetrate the myth that radio shows belong in the past.  The logos to their fanzines, conventions, and catalogues all contain the imposing picture of an old radio.  Well, I listen to radio shows on a stereo, not some primitive, obsolete one-speaker relic of a forgotten age.  There is absolutely no reason to look upon those old-time radios with longing any more than one would wish to drive a Model T back and forth to work.  A stereo amplifies one's enjoyment of a radio show, especially if the show is produced for stereo.  Yet, rather than taking a step forward, radio show fans obsessed with the overrated past have taken a step backward, at the expense of the medium's growth.

     This nostalgia mentality has kept radio shows from taking their rightful place next to television, film, books, stage, and modern radio (music and talk programs) as a legitimate and very much alive form of communication and, in some cases, art (like television, radio shows are sorely lacking in the latter).  Today people want to have better quality with compact discs, laserdiscs, and HDTV, but the radio show cult deliriously keep pushing old staticky shows on the public in the naive hope they'll catch on.  This ignorant strategy has led exactly nowhere.  Today's public will not get excited about old "Life of Riley" episodes playing late at night on some boring AM station.  What they want is something new, relevant, current!

     Unfortunately, the new radio shows being done today are, if anything, worse than the old radio shows.  They're unoriginal in their format, direction, and stories, and they're just plain boring.  One would have assumed that there'd have been this incredible progression from 1940 to 1990, but on the contrary, radio shows have become more uninspired instead of less so.  Movies progressed tremendously from THE GREEN BERETS to FULL METAL JACKET, as did books far earlier, from ROBINSON CRUSOE to ULYSSES.  But radio shows haven't progressed, become more sophisticated, more avant-garde, more artistic, more daring.  They stopped dead around 1960 and have remained in the clutches of the cult ever since.

     Instead of pushing for new and better radio shows, so-called radio show fans have persistently tried to resurrect the old shows on today's airwaves.  This is just plain stupid.  Broadcasting old radio shows in the '90s is counterproductive because the shows don't connect to today's audience; the sound quality is awful, the episodes are corny and boring to today's MTV-bred listener, and most of the shows have absolutely no merit other than the historical aspect.  Sure, some people love 78 RPM records, but they are a tiny cult, smaller than Deadheads.  Emphasis on the past only reinforces the public's perception that radio shows are old hat.  People still listen to the radio today as much as ever, tuning into music shows and talk shows and sports events on a daily basis.  They'd also listen to new radio shows if they were exciting and modern.  Who wants to listen to some crackly old '40s comedy with punchlines only historians can appreciate?  The emphasis on nostalgia by the wad of so-called radio show fans in this country denies the basic power of the medium and the artistic potential of radio shows.

     My gut feeling is that most people who call themselves radio show fans care very little for the medium as an artform and only desire to be taken back to the "good old days," when women were deemed inferior, "foreigners" were shamelessly stereotyped, and blacks were ridiculed, humiliated, and legislated against.  This mentality is certain death for any artform, especially when the majority of the programs so beloved to the tiny cult are worthless junk.

     Even if far too little of them demonstrate it, radio shows are an artform, as good as any other.  So why do so many people insist that television "killed" radio shows?  Today in 1990, more people listen to National Public Radio's morning news than watch "The Today Show."  Radio talk shows are credited for getting the public outraged at the Congressional pay raise.  Top Forty FM radio is a necessity of living for many of today's young people.  Why do people still go to concerts or plays, can't they just watch TV instead?  Why read a book, can't they just stare at a screen instead?  Obviously the public isn't as shallow as many people believe and are far from "glued to the TV."  It was, in fact, the runaway success of the stage production of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA that forced the movies and TV to follow with their own versions.  The recent Rolling Stones tour was the highest-grossing concert tour in American history, even if their videos were shown several times a day on MTV.  There are more comic book series being produced today (around 800 a month) than ever before, even with the competition of TV, movies, and video games.  Obviously, this "TV killed radio shows" excuse, when logically examined, falls flat on its face before the evidence.  The truth of the matter is that radio shows being done during the '50s just weren't that great.  So, instead of trying to be more experimental, more daring, more relevant, and more "now," radio shows threw in the towel, embraced the cult, and is quietly preparing itself for extinction.

     Old radio shows don't matter to most people; they like to keep up with what's new.  So, instead of trying to preserve and keep alive these random 10,000 crappy old radio shows, why don't those who call themselves radio show fans start acting like true fans?  Any true fan of the medium would be appalled that radio shows have been (ironically, BY those who claim to be fans) aligned with the old and hackneyed.  A true fan would spend his energy on trying to revive the medium with new shows that speak to today's audience (and not just yuppies)!

     The main thing that new radio shows have to do if they want to survive is to appeal to the younger generation.  A lot of young people listen to the radio constantly; if there was a COOL radio show on the air, they'd listen to it.  The BATMAN movie was popular there for a while; why didn't someone produce a new Batman radio series with an ultra-modern edge, to cash in on that?

     One good way to kill the nostalgia perception people have of radio shows and to produce artistic radio shows at the same time would be to bring back "Screen Director's Playhouse" and let the episode's director actually produce and direct the radio show as if it were a movie.  Could you imagine "Do The Right Thing" as a radio show?  It'd be modern and grab people's attention!  Remember when those people were protesting movie theaters that showed "Last Temptation of Christ"?  Well, what if Martin Scorcese had directed a radio show version for this revitalized "Screen Director's Playhouse"?  That'd certainly grab the public's attention, the media would jump on the story, and every radio in the country would be tuning in to hear "Temptation" on "Screen Director's Playhouse"!  This sort of radio show would have more artistic merit than the fluff that most so-called radio show fans praise.  It's inspiring to think what sort of radio shows could be produced in the hands of a great artist.

     Actually, though, nostalgic radio show fans would probably hate to hear a Scorcese or Spike Lee radio show because it wouldn't be "old" (i.e. stilted, corny, typical, old-fashioned) enough for them.  This is like not wanting to change one's underwear; such a position is obviously self-destructive.  For radio shows to grow and survive, they must appeal to a new generation bred on music videos, arcades, soft porn, and slasher films.  Why on God's green earth would one of these people go listen to some corny old Jack Benny show or some boring new episode of the positively retarded CBS MYSTERY THEATER?  But!  They would listen to a "Do The Right Thing" radio show adaptation or maybe a "Batman" series or a ton of other hip, happening things that easily could become radio shows or a radio series.  If hyped with some imagination (teaser ads on TV, magazine ads, media coverage), these new happening radio shows could take over the airwaves and spark a new golden age of radio!

     There's absolutely nothing wrong with loving old radio shows.  I do, too.  But radio show fans (as opposed to mere "old-time radio show fans") had better wake up and start pushing for new and better radio shows if they're serious about radio shows not going the way of the dinosaur.  Radio shows still have to explore all that they can be, and they haven't done that yet.  Hopefully, someday, they will.       

4-19-90:  "I have this one mini-catalogue I got in the mail   a few months ago [an OTR flyer sent to addresses on Ed Cole's mailing list], I toldja about, a combined mail-order from 3 different OLD-TIME RADIO companies just listing a few of their latest releases (nothing interesting, most kinda obscure), but I'd LOVE to get one of their catalogues.  One of the companies, Audio Classics, says: "We have released our new ...catalog.  More than 20,000 programs are listed in its 200 plus pages."  (200 plus pages!! - is this for real?!)  "We have also included a complete index so you can find just the right program in only a few seconds.  This large catalog is yours for only $7.50 plus $3.50 P & H.  A certificate worth $10.00 in tapes is included. Order yours today."  It's like, "Wow!"  Maybe I should order it.  From looking at this sample of their latest releases, every episode's date & title is given. They'd probably have TONS of Shadows.  I should order it! ... Can it be?? Surely they can't mean they have the actual REHEARSALS on tape, too?!  What would a REHEARSAL radio show sound like?!?  This is too weird to think about.  I've got to get that catalogue!!  Can you imagine if they had the VERY FIRST Green Hornet or Shadow & had listings for all of 'em, actor's names, dates, titles, & REHEARSALS, too??  Needless to say, they most likely have every HALL OF FANTASY episode (it came out in 1953, I think) & probably lots of its rehearsals, too.  Now then... where the heck  am I gonna get 10 bucks?!?" 

4-26-90:  "Wow!  Y'know how usually I only read the "A" section of the [DETROIT] NEWS?  Well, the paper came at around 10min to 6pm & I sat down to read, but for some reason I decided to check out the "Accent" (entertainment) section.  I just happened to browse over the "ON THE RADIO" guide therein & I just happened to notice that at 6pm there was something called RADIO CLASSICS on WDTR-FM, and at 6 it would be an episode of "The Green Hornet," & at 7 it would be "This Is Your F.B.I."!  So its lucky I noticed that a few minutes before it came on!!!  They've never played a Hornet on "When Radio Was"!  So now I wonder if, like, RADIO CLASSICS comes on every night, or just every Thursday, or what."

5-3-90:  "Wow, just as I was about to write my anger at something I saw on TV, all of a sudden on WDTR, they play an episode of THE BLACK MUSEUM ('50s crime anthology narrated by Orson Welles).  Fortunately I got a tape out & am recording it now.  I wonder if they'll play another Green Hornet tonight, like they did at 6pm last Thursday?? .... Wow, it's now 5:50pm & I just looked in the Radio Guide in the newspaper (which came a few minutes ago) and at 6pm on WDTR it says, as it did last week, "CLASSIC RADIO THEATRE: The Green Hornet"!! That's kick-butt!! (excuse my strong language!) I hope its one I don't already have!  I hope this means the Hornet comes on every week at this time!! - Yup, its now 6:01pm & I'm listening to (and RECORDING, of course!!) the Green Hornet they're playing!  Yes, its one I DON'T have (its called "Revenge of Milicom" or something).  This now makes my Green Hornet collection stand at 12 episodes!!  I wonder how long they've been playing these Hornets on WDTR anyway...!  To think they could've been playing 'em for months now & I only found out last week.  Well, I'm glad I just found out.  I know you probably think I'm nutty, getting all excited about some radio show, but I just like 'em a lot, that's all.  Ironically, back when you first recorded for me "A Matter of Evidence," back in 1986, or 1987, I didn't care for The Hornet & didn't really listen to the episode.  Back then, I just liked THE SHADOW and HALL OF FANTASY-type shows, but I thot the Hornet was boring.  Now, of course, I know better! A lot of Hornets are even more exciting than some Shadows.  In fact, I think they're both cool.  And its so cool now that I can record both of 'em off the radio. (SHADOWs on Wednesday on "When Radio Was"; GREEN HORNETs on Thursdays on WDTR.)  This is the set-up I was DREAMING about back last winter!!"

5-11-90:  "Here's what WDTR plays in the way of old radio shows (that I'm aware of!  I just know these by happening to turn it on & discovering them!  The only one actually listed each week in the newspaper's RADIO GUIDE is The Green Hornet.):

          MONDAY - 12:30pm: JACK BENNY SHOW 

          TUESDAY  -  Noon: THE LONE RANGER 

                    2:30pm: THE HIDDEN TRUTH

                             (detective/crime series) 

                    3:30pm: THE BURNS & ALLEN SHOW

          WEDNESDAY - 10am: anthology show, don't know name,   

                            heard an adaptation of "The 

                            Outcasts of Poker Flat" on it.

                      11am: BERGEN & McCARTHY SHOW

                   12:30pm: HARRY LIME (THE THIRD MAN)

          THURSDAY  -  2pm: THE BLACK MUSEUM

                       6pm: THE GREEN HORNET

                       7pm: THIS IS YOUR F.B.I.

          FRIDAY - 11:30pm: THE ABBOTT & COSTELLO SHOW

[Update from 2025: I believe that I meant to write 11:30am above, not pm.]

I counted all of my radio shows so far & the number comes to 145 (more or less) SHOWS!!!  (This time last year I only had 35 shows!) ....  There was some kind of "controversy" about WDTR a few months ago.  It seems they were having talk shows or whatever that were religious or something & inappropriate for a school station (which is what WDTR is; it has no commercials).  They were criticized for having things, I guess, talking about astrology, supernatural stuff, etc, so they had to change some stuff, which is probably why they're playing these radio shows now, to fill in the gaps [of stuff they yanked off the air]."

5-16-90: "BLACK MUSEUM didn't come on at 2 today like it has for the past 2 weeks.  In fact, there's been some thunderstorms lately & I suspect it knocked WDTR off the air at times this week, because, like, on Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday, I'd try to tune it in, but there was nothing there. Sure hope the Hornet comes on at 6, though. ... Well, its now 6pm & "Community News" is on WDTR, not the Green Hornet (it wasn't listed in the paper either).  So I guess WDTR has changed the times on all their programs which means I'll have to listen to WDTR from 8:30am - 8:30pm again for a week, just to find out when things (like the Hornet..??) are on now."

5-19-90:  "Its 8pm right now & I'm listening to the episode of the Hermit's Cave ("Hanson's Ghost") that I bought on  an LP (the other side has INNER SANCUM) way back when I was, like, 15 or so.  Its funny, you can tell the guy who plays "Dr. Thorndike" in the show's beginning plays the dead spirit at the show's conclusion.  (And did you notice that, in "Four Fingers and a Thumb," the "Chinese" guy who gets his hand cut off is played by the same guy who plays "old Dan"?)  Anyway, its funny, the announcer, in his "commercial" at the end of "Hanson's Ghost" says:

         "After all, these shortages are never as bad 

         as you think they'll be.  You're still eating

         and wearing shoes and clothing, aren't you,

         in spite of what you've heard.  Well, the chances 

         are you'll not freeze either."

 

It's like, sure, if you can afford a radio, you probably can eat, afford clothes, etc.  But that doesn't mean that there are no homeless, poor, etc!  What an idiot that guy must be.  That's like saying "This talk about poor education is nonsense.  After all, you graduated, can read and write, etc.  There's the proof our education system has no problems!" Its now 8:40 pm. At the end of WDTR's day of broadcasting they give their address & invite comments & suggestions, so maybe one of these days I'll write them & tell 'em to start playing The Green Hornet again!  Its funny, these "scary" radio shows are so cheap & trashy but they're so cool.  In "Revenge For Milicom," the Hornet & Kato go into a dark museum, a guard hears them, the Hornet goes "Let's get out of here, Kato," we hear their footsteps running off while the guard goes "Stop! Stop!" & immediately starts firing his gun at these unseen prowlers running away in the dark room (the Hornet & Kato)!  Its like these cops are so loose with their guns, its hilarious.  Anyway, the shows are so cool, better than the dull movies of the '40s.  .... I just wish I was in control of a TV or radio station!!"

5-20-90:  "Have you noticed that a certain low-voiced guy keeps appearing in almost every Green Hornet?  Here's the ones he's in so far of the ones I have:

"A Pair of Nylons" he plays SPIKE

"A Soldier & His Dog" he plays JOHN VINTON

"George Haven's Secret" he plays GEORGE HAVEN

"What Price Glamour?" he plays RODNEY RIDGE

"Check and Doublecheck" he plays CLIFF CLIFFORD

"The Hornet Does It" he plays "SOCKS" HARRIS

"Revenge For Milicom" he plays DR. KINGSTON

    [He also plays the overweight villian in "A Man of Many Words."]" 

5-21-90:  "In this "Old Radio Shows:New Releases" catalogue I got, the company [BRC Productions] lists about 200-plus Jack Benny episodes they just got & one of 'em is as follows:  "THE JACK BENNY SHOW, 3/28/43, Orson Welles subs for Jack"!  That sounds intriguing; hope they play it on "When Radio Was"!  Its funny, on Friday I showed Brandon that Batman/Hornet [1960s TV] show (just the beginning of it, I mean) because he wondered what the Hornet looked like.  Well, when he saw how the Hornet looked, he seemed less than impressed!  Its funny: he thinks Tom Baker is so cool as Dr. Who, even tho he wears "reg. clothes," but because the Hornet is a "crimefighter," Brandon probably thinks he should wear a cape and tights instead of "reg. clothes."  Actually, the Green Hornet is probably one of the most "realistic" crimefighters around, certainly more realistic than Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Hulk, Capt. Marvel, etc."

5-22-90:  "Get this:...Art Fleming just said that this is the 100th edition of "When Radio Was." .... Its now 10pm & I'm listening to a Green Hornet, "The Boathouse Mystery."  It turns out that that low-voiced guy is in this one, too;   he plays Mr. Richmond."

5-23-90:  "...I just recorded off "When Radio Was" an episode of the series THE WEIRD CIRCLE.  Well, the episode was an adaptation of "The Tell-Tale Heart" & guess what?  It was the same one I heard back on "The Golden Age of Radio" back when I was around 12 years old!!  .... Anyway, I heard this "Tell-Tale Heart" episode & I was like "WOW!" & because of that episode [back when I was 12 or 13] I got into Poe & also tried to write a short story ("Cuts Like A Knife") using the same "voice in the brain" technique as the show used.  Well, WRW tonight played that episode & so I now have it on tape; everything's come full circle (or should that be "weird circle"?). .... "But I make my living by my wits & four trained fingers & a thumb!" (I love that radio show!  Here's some of my favorite quotes from it:)

     1.) "I'm gonna kill you and love it!!"

     2.) "And don't every decent white man in County Fawley despise the yellow devils!"

     3.) "That's a trick I learned in Chiner!"

     4.) "Now destiny time is here!"/"Keep out of this Chinese!"

     5.) "Aw for God's sake, stop that and try to be a man!"

Heh, heh what a cool show.  Its funny, but when I first got these two LPs, I didn't really care about 'em, but when I started listening to 'em in 1988, I loved 'em!  Y'know, at the beginning the announcer says "The Witch's Tale: Weird, blood-chilling tales told by old Nancy, the witch of Salem..." Well, I don't know about you, but I find "Four Fingers and a Thumb" far more hilarious than scary!  I can't imagine even a 5 year-old being "scared" by it."

5-24-90: "...if you're keeping count, this brings my # of SHADOW episodes with the word "death" in the title to eleven!"

5-25-90:  "Below is a copy of my (typed) letter I'm sending to WDTR:

WDTR Program Director:

     At the end of each broadcasting day, WDTR invites comments from the listeners.  Well, my comment is "What happened to THE GREEN HORNET?".  For the last few weeks WDTR had been playing THE GREEN HORNET radio show at 6pm on Thursdays.  But lately, the Hornet has disappeared, and this week was replaced by a boring, half-hour long instrumental!  The old radio shows WDTR had been playing was my only reason for tuning in each day and now WDTR has yanked them off the air without explanation!

     But my favorite show you played was THE GREEN HORNET.  I'm writing this in the hope that someone at WDTR will see to it that THE GREEN HORNET returns to the airwaves (he was, after all, created in Detroit), if not at 6pm on Thursdays, then some other time slot, but bring back THE GREEN HORNET!!

                                            Yours sincerely,

                                               ROB IMES

Actually, my real letter is double-spaced & is a lot more impressive looking than the above.  Hmmm... I should've said "were" not "was" for "had been playing was my only reason."  Oh well!  Wouldn't that be cool if other old radio fans & Hornet fans wrote in complaining, too?  Its quite possible.  For the past few Thursdays, in the Detroit News' "on the radio" guide, WDTR's playing of THE GREEN HORNET was the first item.  In fact, it was one of only 2 WDTR old shows that were listed in the guide ("This is Your F.B.I.," erroneously called in the paper "THE F.B.I.," was also occasionally listed, just a few entries below the Hornet's lead slot).  Oh & the reason I didn't say "Bring back The Shadow, too & other programs you didn't play, like Inner Sanctum, etc." is because that sounds A.) too nutty & B.) too unreasonable.  Its not unreasonable to say "Bring back the GREEN HORNET! You used to play it, but lately you haven't."  Its unreasonable to say, however, "Bring back the GREEN HORNET (which you used to play).  And gee, while you're at it, could you play this list of old radio show series you never played in the first place...?" 

6-9-90:  "Its now 2am...& I'm going to write a letter to Art Fleming, the host of "When Radio Was."  On today's "When Radio Was," he said if anybody had any requests for what they should play, they could write him c/o this certain address, so I got it & will request that -- in addition to playing episodes of SUSPENSE, THE GREEN HORNET, INNER SANCTUM, THE HALL OF FANTASY, QUIET PLEASE, THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER, X MINUS ONE, THE STRANGE DR. WEIRD, CHANDU THE MAGICIAN, THE WITCH'S TALE, and THE HERMIT'S CAVE (hopefully they won't think I'm some kinda crackpot!!) -- they answer some questions I have about The Shadow... particularly... does the first episode still exist?  If it does, I'll recommend that they play it! .... Y'know, I get the feeling there are far more cool radio shows available than TV shows.  THE SHADOW, THE GREEN HORNET, LIGHTS OUT, SUSPENSE, INNER SANCTUM, they lasted longer than ANY cool TV series has lasted (with the sole exception of Dr. Who!....) Some of the most famous radio show series .... lasted from the '30s to the '50s!!  I challenge you to name one TV show started in the 1970s that is still going strong w/brand new episodes today in 1990 (besides Meet The Press or something)!  They're all either cancelled and/or into rerun syndication or they're a news/talk show or a soap opera.  (Whoops! Forgot SNL!)  Well, you get the idea, there aren't any FICTION shows from the '70s around still, that's what I mean.  Like, Mork N' Mindy isn't still being done, or V.  They don't have staying power or they're cancelled too quickly.... I can't imagine a SHADOW TV series lasting 5 years, much less 20!  Also, there are more radio series of a cool nature.  ... By popular demand, here's my Top 10 radio show list:

  1.) THE SHADOW (Orson Welles) ("Power of the Mind" Shadow-Margo Lane team)

  2.) THE GREEN HORNET (1930s-early '40s) (Al Hodge) (the ones that say "not even the G-Men can reach" instead of "who try to destroy our America"!)

  3.) THE SHADOW (Bill Johnstone-Agnes Moorehead)

  4.) THE GREEN HORNET (1940s) ("who try to destroy our America")

  5.) THE WITCH'S TALE (opinion based on a single episode, "Four Fingers and a Thumb")

  6.) QUIET PLEASE (opinion based on "The Thing on the Forbalboard")

  7.) THE HERMIT'S CAVE (opinion based on "Hanson's Ghost")

  8.) HALL OF FANTASY/INNER SANCTUM (Tie)

  9.) LIGHTS OUT!/THE STRANGE DR. WEIRD (Tie)

 10.) LUM N' ABNER/BILL STERN (Tie)

In fact, LUM N' ABNER may even rank higher, possibly #4. Its a TERRIFIC series.  Its hilarious, actually.  I think you'd like it, if you'd listen to it. .... I think LIGHTS OUT! and QUIET PLEASE are the only "scary" radio shows which could REMOTELY be seen as "high-brow" (i.e. they're well-written!).

6-11-90:  "Below is a copy of the letter I'm writing Art Fleming: 

   

Dear Mr. Fleming,

     On a recent "When Radio Was," you invited the audience to suggest old radio shows for "When Radio Was."  I would love to hear more episodes of QUIET PLEASE, THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER, THE WEIRD CIRCLE, THE STRANGE DR. WEIRD, and CHANDU THE MAGICIAN.  Some shows I've never heard played on "When Radio Was" -- shows like SUSPENSE, SPACE PATROL, TOM CORBETT-SPACE CADET, THE GREEN HORNET, THE HALL OF FANTASY, ARCHIE ANDREWS, INNER SANCTUM, THE LIFE OF RILEY, and X MINUS ONE.  I would like to hear episodes of these shows on future installments of "When Radio Was."

     I own a record with an episode of THE WITCH'S TALE and of THE HERMIT'S CAVE and I wonder if there are many episodes of those two series still in existence.  (The episode of THE HERMIT'S CAVE I have is the 406th episode of the series, so surely a lot of those episodes survived?)  "When Radio Was" should play some episodes of these two entertaining shows.  Also, Orson Welles guest-starred on the 3/28/43 episode of THE JACK BENNY SHOW; I'd like to hear that.

     And now, to my major request.  I'm a big fan of THE SHADOW radio shows, although I've only heard about 30 of them.  I've read that the show was originally a crime anthology series HOSTED by a voice called The Shadow, but soon after the show became about The Shadow's adventures.  Is this true?  If the very first episode of THE SHADOW is still in existence, I think that would be fascinating to hear.  If any VERY early episodes of THE SHADOW are available, by all means play them!

     Keep up the good work and please consider my suggestions.

                                            Yours sincerely, 

                                               ROB IMES.

God, I really ought to get this AUDIO CLASSICS catalogue: "More than 20,000 programs are listed in its 200-plus pages, we have also included a complete index so you can find just the right program in only a few seconds."  God, I oughtta get that.  Problem is,  I don't got eleven bucks.  I just got one dollar to my name.  ... God, I wonder if I'll EVER hear a super early episode of THE SHADOW, pre-1937?  I hope my letter to Art Fleming (which I'm mailing tomorrow, now that its typed up) does some good.  I do have a 1933 CHANDU episode, but its hard to understand what's going on, as its in the middle of a serial."

6-12-90:  "Its weird how like during TWO WEEKS in March [or] so I STOPPED recording WRW just 'cos I didn't feel like it!  But then I tuned in one time in the middle of it & they were playing some scary show, but I didn't record it!  And then another time they played an Orson Welles SHADOW (I didn't hear it from the beginning) & I didn't record it & felt awful, so after that, I got on the ball & started recording them again."  [Actually, I haven't recorded WRW regularly in years now, because of the unsatisfactory reception and the uninspiring show selections.] 

6-13-90:  "& now to Walter Winchell's Journal.  I recorded this off WRW & its like a news-type program, Winchell reading the news.  Yet he says some pretty strange stuff.  I'll write down for ya here the weirdest segment:

- The Walter Winchell War-Monger Department.  For the edification of Mr & Mrs Rip Van Winkle, from border to border and coast to coast.  Los Angeles.  Attention Toledo, Ohio.  A few weeks ago I reported that one Kenneth Eggart of Toledo was alledgedly one of the agitators of a strike against a defense plant on the West coast.  And that this very same Eggart was a Communist troublemaker.  Eggart demanded a copy of Winchell's remarks and threatened to sue me for my so-called malicious lie about him, etc etc.  The Dies Congressional Committee sends me the following information -- that Kenneth Eggart alias Eggarts or Ekert was issued a passport to go to Russia on Nov 3, 1932, and that the files of the State Dept also reveal that the passage to Russia of this Communist-inspired strike agitator was paid for by the Communist Party.

- Washington, D.C.  On Wednesday next week, the Dies Committee will start hearings on Communistic activities in Washington, D.C.  Mr Dies says he will thoroughly discredit the American Peace Mobilization outfit which has been picketing the White House.  Mr Dies says he will expose that group as being a Communist Party line, not a picket line.  Washington.  Last Sunday night, ladies and gentlemen, I reported exclusively that government agents would arrest a certain rabble-rouser who had allegedly sent threatening letters to prominent Americans.  His initials for the time being are D.S.  a,b,c, D.S.  He really does the dirty laundry for many big-name Nazi-lovers in the United States.  He and his files containing many letters from his supporters and backers has been seized.  Congratulations, Mr Government Man!

- Jersey City, New Jersey.  A few months ago I reported the PECULIAR activities of a Major in the United States Army Intelligence Service.  His name is Major John E. Kelly of 14 Brinkerhopp Street, Jersey City.  I said at the time that he was associating with some very STRANGE people for a member of Army Intelligence because I knew he was not spying on them in the interests of his America.  This is to report further, ladies and gentlemen, on Major John E. Kelly, U.S.A., and a dear, dear pal of the Nazis!  On May 16th, 1941, the United States Army dropped Major John E. Kelly of Jersey City. [This episode, by the way, is from 5-18-41.]

Pretty funny, eh?  Wish I had some more episodes of WALTER WINCHELL'S JOURNAL.  I'd hate to have been around back then, you couldn't do anything w/out being accused of being a Communist.  It's like "So what if I was a Communist?  Don't we have plurality of belief in this country?"  But they wouldn't listen, they'd just throw you in the slammer for being "unAmerican"!"

 

6-16-90:  "These [1960s] Marvel cartoons are so interesting.  Y'know, they could've done Marvel radio shows back then, too, just by using the same actors who voiced the cartoons.  In fact, they could do Marvel cartoons & radio shows today!  ... I especially like the voice of the guy who plays Thor in these old Marvel cartoons; he'd be great in a radio show, too.  I was thinking, somebody should do a book or a PBS documentary called "Who Knows What Evil Lurks: THE SHADOW ON THE AIR," documenting the history of the show, how it came to be, & interviews w/the actors who were in the shows.  That'd be cool.  (Oh, and a "The Green Hornet on the air" wouldn't hurt either!)  I can't believe how IGNORED radio shows are.  .... Its strange how TV coverage focuses on TV.  For example, a TV show like Entertainment Tonight will do a report on "The Return of Dobie Gillis" or "Return to Green Acres," but they'll treat something about a long-running radio show (say, Fibber McGee & Molly, which ran from the '30s to the '50s) as something obscure & esoteric, despite the fact that it's one of the most famous radio shows of all time!  Ah, I've said all this before & then some.  It just makes me mad.  I hate this TV dominance.  Why can't there be cool radio shows today, in addition to TV shows?? By the way, what did you think of my radio show article in the 80-page letter? .... Oh, I forgot to mention one thing during my radio show tirade above: what brought it on was that there was a PBS documentary on the guy that did the voice for Elroy Jetson, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, etc.  [2025 update: The voice actor Daws Butler.]  The show was an hour long but the part devoted to the guy's early career in radio was given about 30 seconds.  The guy said "After a year working in radio, I was given parts in some of the top radio programs of the day: The Whistler, Suspense..." & that's it.  Then his career in TV gets the rest of the show's devotion.  It drives me crazy, they act like "Oh, who cares about some old radio show; that's ancient history!" COSBY is deified while THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE is unknown, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND is remembered while DUFFY'S TAVERN is spat upon, THE FALL GUY dominates the airwaves [at least it did in reruns on a local TV station back when I wrote this] while THE GREEN HORNET is on some dusty shelf, abandoned & forgotten."

6-21-90:  "Hey, guess what?  In today's (actually Wednesday's) Detroit News there was an article about...Walter Winchell!  Its funny, the article starts out saying that, if you were born after 1955, you probably don't know who Walter Winchell is!!  Needless to say, I was pretty amused by that!  I'll prolly send you the article.  Hmmm... I wonder if Art Fleming got my letter.  Wouldn't that be great if he said on the air "I got a request to play the early Shadows, so now every Wednesday we'll be playing The Shadow episodes in chronilogical order!!"  Yeah, that'd be swell!  Wish I had some kind of book on these radio shows like THE SHADOW.  I wonder where I could get one.  Probably at a radio show convention.  I hate how I really know next to nothing about the show."

6-25-90:  "So, anyway, I went to the library & signed out this book called RADIO'S GOLDEN AGE [by Frank Buxton & Bill Owen].  Quotes from reviews (they don't say who said 'em, so I'm suspicious!) on the inner sleeve call the book a must-have, etc, etc; actually its pretty disappointing not nearly as good as it could've been.... "Hall of Fantasy" isn't listed..."

7-2-90:  "Hey, guess what I did yesterday?  I wrote a script for a Shadow radio show!  Actually it isn't finished yet.  I've basically got all of it done, the whole real story, beginning, middle, end: I just have to add some extra scenes (like 2 or 3) to make the show last about 25 minutes long.  Cool, huh?? [This script, after I added the scenes, was the same script I printed in TUNE IN #2 for "The Ghoul."].... Next time I go to a record store I'm going to try to get two records: "Omphale's Spinning Wheel" of Saint-Saens and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee"!  I wonder if they'll be hard to find?? ....I think it would be cool to hear the Shadow theme on a real record, in fact, I can't even imagine what it would sound like!!  Of course, the Green Hornet show always gave more room for the music than the Shadow show ever did!  When I played "Disaster Rides The Rails" for Brandon, after a bit he was all "does this show have any talking or is it all music?!"!  Hmmm... I just thot... the Shadow was for Mutual, yet I know Welles was a CBS prodigy... that's strange.  Oh, also, on that Welles documentary I taped off TNT it says Welles played the Shadow for a year.  Yet some books say Welles played the Shadow from 1937 to 1939 (this contradicts a show I taped off WRW w/Bill Johnstone & Agnes Moorehead which WRW said came from Oct 1938).  Also, WRW played an Oct 1939 Shadow & said it starred Johnstone & Moorehead.  Yet Moorehead also played Margot when Welles was playing the Shadow.  So did she really still play Margot Lane a whole YEAR after Welles had left the Shadow for better things?  The popular perception is that Welles left the Shadow after his "War of the Worlds" broadcast which thrust him into the limelight.... But that 1938 Johnstone SHADOW I have is from Oct 16, '38 while "War of the Worlds" was from Oct 30. '38!  So obviously Welles quit playing the Shadow way BEFORE he did "War of the Worlds."  .... My hunch is that it was then [early July, 1938] that Welles dropped the Shadow role.  .... I wish I had that radio show catalogue w/200-plus pages, maybe it'd have all the info on when Welles played the Shadow!  Its weird, you'd think if any radio series deserved to be written about, classified, organized, and redistributed to the public in tape form it'd be the complete run of THE MERCURY THEATER ON THE AIR, yet I've only ONE episode (take a guess) of it on tape & know very little about how many they did, when it ended, etc, etc!"

7-4-90:  "Also yesterday I got a catalogue from RADIO SPIRITS, the company at the same address as "When Radio Was" (presumably because of my letter).  Gee, that's what I get for spelling their city wrong.  Art Fleming said "Schiller Park, IL" so I wrote down "Shiller Park, IL" on my envelope.  So guess how they've got my name on this here mailing label?: "Rob James"!  Gee, maybe I should make my "I"s look less like "J"s.  .... Well, this here catalogue isn't in any particular order.... no Hall of Fantasys.... I'm not gonna order any of these; I'd rather wait to get that one 200-plus page catalogue where they have the dates of the shows & have rehearsals, etc."

7-7-90:  "Shadow came on WRW last nite, so I guess it'll be coming on Fridays from now on instead of Wednesdays (smart move since the only weekday kids can stay up to midnite on & still get up on time tomorrow is FRIDAY, since they don't have to get up for anything special on SATURDAY!  Wednesday was a bad day since school kids couldn't stay up to hear it & still get up in time for school on Thursday.)  .... Y'know, I can't get over that LIGHTS OUT, AGAIN thing (actually a better title would've been LIGHTS OUT, NOW!); it says here [in the RADIO SPIRITS catalogue] that that [an episode titled "The Box"] came on April 30, 1989!  Now I was very much aware of LIGHTS OUT! back then (I made yer RADIO CLASSICS tapes in my very first B.P. in January, 1989), but I don't remember any airing of a show called LIGHTS OUT, AGAIN.  This shows you how inept radio's advertising campaigns are; they shoulda announced the airing of this new LIGHTS OUT! show all over the news -- I'm sure the news agencies would've given the show some free publicity, if they can have items about a guy with the largest CHARLIE'S ANGELS memorabilia collection, the return of GREEN ACRES, and a duck that had a six-pack ring around its neck!! (They always have items like these at the close of news shows.)  I never listened to the radio before MTV came around because there was no guide for radio like there is for TV.  We need a radio guide and promotional campaigns for radio shows!!!! Why is it I am the only person speaking out (well, to YOU anyway) about this??!!  No wonder there's no radio shows around today, people wouldn't know they were on!!  (If I didn't know a LIGHTS OUT! revival was on, believe me, your average person would not know it was on either!!) .... It's weird how there was a radio revival around 1959-1961, so you had new episodes of SUSPENSE, GUNSMOKE, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, MACABRA, THEATER FIVE, etc & the replaying of old ones like THE SHADOW, THE GREEN HORNET, and LIGHTS OUT (actually they tried to revive LIGHTS OUT! back then, too).  I'm sure if you had some (what Dave Sim calls) "cagey" people in charge of radio, they'd revive radio shows & bring on a second Golden Age of radio!  (You say it can't happen?  Did you know that we are living in right now what has been called the TRUE Golden Age of comics, 1980-1990? and beyond?)  (The 1940s-1970s are nothing compared to today, in respect to comics, since the best of those decades are being repackaged in quality book form & the new comics are better than they've ever been.)  As Rick Marshall said in a 1979 [Comics] Journal interview (tho' he was talking about the decline of comic strips):

     ...You don't see any effort being made on their behalf

     to revive them, like phony publicity or real innovation.

     They just let them wither and die.  [SECRET AGENT] CORRIGAN

     is one strip.  Heck, when the Bond thing was big, they could 

     have come out with major promotion on that.  Now that we're

     in the age of the barbarian to an extent, King Features could

     be doing a major push on PRINCE VALIANT, maybe adding 

     barbarian elements to the story.  But you don't see this.

     It's not suggested, and if it is suggested at all, it is  

     immediately rejected by the syndicate people, because they 

     don't want to rock the boat. 

  

Newspaper strips appear in NEWSPAPERS, so it'd be easy to build up interest (thru publicity) for strips.  CBS, I know, is still a major RADIO broadcasting company; surely they could whip up interest in a CBS radio show, advertising it on CBS-TV, an item on CBS News, whatever!! (It isn't as unlikely as you think: ABC News always has a plug for NIGHTLINE, if you want to check it out.)  It just occurs to me that amid this hoopla over DICK TRACY, where even the crummy '60s cartoons have been reissued on tape & syndicated on TV and the '30s TRACY flicks have been in heavy rotation on the Family Channel, I realize that I haven't heard anything about a DICK TRACY radio show revival (TRACY had a radio serial series -- 15-min. each weekday -- back in the '30s & later a 1/2-hr. series) on radio.  Why not play the old shows?!  Why doesn't WRW even?!? [They soon did.]  Are the people involved in radio so ignorant that they don't realize an enormous chance to make money when they see it?!!

     I mean, Good Lord! talk about stupidity!  In a period of 12 months we've had BATMAN, TMNT, ROBOCOP II, & DICK TRACY and the radio execs don't do a thing!!  When Mel Blanc died, they could've gotten some publicity by re-broadcasting in chronilogical order (there aren't that many) every episode of The Mel Blanc Show.  Jessica Tandy starred in the old radio series OF HUMAN BONDAGE; when DRIVING MISS DAISY came out & became big, they could've rebroadcast!   But No-o-o!

     ... The only recent radio show to get any publicity was the 50th anniversary remake of The War of the Worlds broadcast (making a remake of that episode is stupid in my opinion; how could you beat a classic like the original episode W/OUT Welles??!)  ....Why can't these big-name stations revive their classic radio shows of the past; they have no problem reviving their old TV shows w/the likes of RETURN TO MAYBERRY, RETURN TO GREEN ACRES, THE BRADYS, RETURN TO GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, RETURN OF DOBIE GILLIS, etc, etc!  (Although it must be acknowledged that a lot of their old shows are now on INDEPENDENT stations: THE NEW LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, THE NEW TWILIGHT ZONE, STAR TREK:TNG.)  Arg, this whole business is all screwed up!!  I just don't understand why I hear no announcement on the news of a DICK TRACY radio show rerun thing: is it happening & nobody knows OR is it NOT happening & that's why the news doesn't mention it??  I could be missing an episode of LIGHTS OUT, AGAIN right now & not even know it!"

7-10-90:  "Was just listening to the first 1/2 of "Dance of the Devil Dolls."  I like "Hall of Fantasy" a lot, but you can tell that its "later" Golden Age (i.e. the 1950s).  I think stuff from the 1940s like Inner Sanctum, Suspense, the Mysterious Traveler, etc, are a lot more intriguing to me for some reason.  In fact, listening to these "Hall of Fantasy"s, they sound kind of modern in a way, a bit like CBS MYSTERY THEATER (that crappy show "WRW" replaced, 'member?), only a whole lot better, of course.  I just don't see why, out of thousands of hours of radio programming on the air, somebody doesn't do a new radio show series like "Hall of Fantasy."  Wouldn't that be great if there was a radio station that just broadcasted old radio shows (& some new, cool ones) & nothing else.  Look at TV: if we can have channels like "American Movie Classics" & "The Nostalgia Channel," surely radio can do no less!!!?!"

7-12-90:  "Its 10:15am & WDTR is playing THE MIND'S EYE, this is like Part 3 (of 6) of DRACULA or something.  Its not like a show, but kind of an educational thing, or for people too lazy to read!"

7-14-90:  "This morning at a bit past 7am I again went skimming thru all the radio stations (AM & FM) seeing if any of 'em was playing a radio show.  Of course, none were. ....

George Will's column two days ago was about Walter Winchell.  "And if that name strikes a bell," Will wrote, "you are getting on."  I guess I'm getting on.  Oh & y'know how I was raving about the FCC.  Well, front page Friday we hear that the FCC is expanding its censorus scope: instead of channels not being able to show shows "inappropriate for children" from 6am to 8pm, now they can't show shows "inappropriate for children" PERIOD around the clock!  (This doesn't include Cable TV.)  I told my brother about this & he said "I'm glad.  It'll mark the end of network television."  They said in the paper that, in the past, the FCC got onto a radio station that played a radio play dealing with homosexuality, before 8pm....  Oh, I've figured out my "TOP EIGHT" Hall of Fantasy list.  #1 would have to be "Night the Fog Came."  Its funny, when I recorded that off the radio [with a tape recorder, when I was 13, holding my recorder up to the radio's speaker], it kinda bored me.  I remember trying to suppress my yawns (I guess 10pm was late for me back then).  My favorite line in that episode is "Run!  Run for your lives!!".... Wish I had more episodes!!"

7-16-90:  4:30am -  OK, OK, if I was the head of a radio station right now, this very minute, here are the radio shows I would consider playing on my station & the reasons why:

LUX RADIO THEATER, SCREEN GUILD THEATER, SCREEN DIRECTOR'S PLAYHOUSE  (radio adaptations of movies, plus famous stars.)

THE MERCURY THEATER ON THE AIR, THE COLUMBIA WORKSHOP, CBS RADIO WORKSHOP  (superb adaptations of literature, plays, etc.)

THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE & HARRIET (the TV show currently plays on The Disney Channel)

THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW (the TV show is on WGN; their movies are on Ch. 7 [WXYZ-TV])

FATHER KNOWS BEST (the TV show is on The Family Channel and Ch. 50.)

SHERLOCK HOLMES (the TV show is on Ch. 56 [PBS])

PERRY MASON (the TV show is on WTBS and Ch. 50)

TRUE STORY THEATER (the magazine is still popular)

THE GUIDING LIGHT (a TV soap opera has the same name)

CANDID MICROPHONE (the TV version is still popular)

LASSIE (the TV version plays on Nickelodeon)

GUNSMOKE (the TV version plays on The Family Channel)

DICK TRACY (everything else of DICK TRACY has been reissued, why not the radio show?)

BOLD VENTURE, THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND, DRAGNET, HARRY LIME, THE BOB HOPE SHOW (star appeal)

THE LONE RANGER, THE GREEN HORNET, CHALLENGE OF THE YUKON (Detroit radio stations should be proud of Detroit's accomplishments and history)

THE SHADOW (we'll prolly get a SHADOW movie later this decade, so why not get ready now??)

Of course, if I were really in control, I'd play stuff that wouldn't be sure-bets for success (like "Hall of Fantasy")!"

8-4-90: "....Though recently during Dr. Who taping I did take advantage of my dad's presence & asked him about radio shows & old comic strips, but basically wasn't told anything I didn't already know."

9-22-90:  "Recently on there they played the TZ [Twilight Zone] adaptation of the SUSPENSE episode "Hitchhiker."  Its funny: since I bought that SUSPENSE episode on tape when I was around 13 & didn't see the TZ episode 'til I was around 14 or so, I was like "Arg!  They ruined the radio episode!"  Anyway, when I saw it again, on Thursday, I had the exact same reaction.  It makes me appreciate the SUSPENSE episode (which was written by Lucille Fletcher, by the way, or so the TZ credits said) that much more.  One new thing I noticed: the TZ episode used the same music that the SUSPENSE episode did.  I wonder if that music was written especially for "The Hitchhiker.""

10-20-90:  "I am pretty tired , but it's hard to sleep knowing that in the morn I'll be mailing that check for the $11.00 catalogue!  I can't wait to get it!  I keep on thinking: will it be good or will it be disappointing?  I can't sleep with such an unresolved question running 'round my head!  How shall I get thru the next few weeks, waiting for the catalogue to get here?  The suspense is killing me!

.... I heard on the radio (in Kathy's car) yesterday a song (about 5-min. long) that sounded a bit like "Flight of the Bumblebee," but it was different in places.  I kept thinking "What is it? What is it?"  Finally at the end, the DJ said "That was Rimsky-Korsakov's FLIGHT OF THE GNAT!"  I didn't know there was a GNAT song, too!  One day I'd like to get an album with those "Flight of the ____" songs on it; I wonder how many he did??" 

10-22-90:  "I was wondering about reel-to-reel machines as that Radio Show Catalogue sells stuff in reels as well as cassettes & it looks cheaper to get 'em in reels.... What do you think?"

11-1-90:  "On the reverse side of this here letter you'll find that "List of [movie] Serials" thing I xeroxed out of that book in the library. .... He said in the book that the serial "The Green Hornet Strikes Agian" was very faithful to the radio show!  (That must be a first.)"

11-2-90:  "12:50am or so -- recording DR. TIM, DETECTIVE.  For some reason, I really like this series!  The music is vaguely reminiscent of The Green Hornet's music.  The shows are pretty campy & funny.  Art Fleming said it was a rare, short-lived series (it only lasted 13 weeks!!), maybe I'll collect 'em!  Its funny how shows I didn't think I'd like (Lum & Abner, Dr. Tim, Detective, Bill Stern's Colgate Newsreel, etc) turn out to be to my taste.  Can't wait to get that catalogue! .... I figure I'll be getting it pretty soon -- prolly in time for me to give you the details on what it has in this very letter!  When did I mail it?  almost 2 weeks now?  Shouldn't take that long!"

11-7-90:  "Last nite on WRW they played an episode of "You Bet Your Life" the game show hosted by Groucho Marx.  I didn't record it, but now I wish I had, it was pretty good actually.  It makes today's TV game shows look ridiculous.  Today's game shows are primarily concerned w/the game, while Groucho seemed more interested in the people playing the game than the game itself!.... Well, I listened to "Werewolf of Hamilton Mansion" (Bret Morrison) & now I'm listening to "Murders In Wax" (Orson Welles).  "Murders In Wax" has my favorite Margo (I think it's "Margo," not "Margot," but yer guess is as good as mine!!).  Yeah, I know what you mean: I've revised my opinions, Welles is definitely the best!!  Here are the Top Five things I'm gonna be interested in checking out when (IF??!) I get that 200-plus pg. catalogue, in order of enthusiasm:

1.) THE SHADOW (pre-Welles!!) (please god, please god)

2.) THE HALL OF FANTASY

3.) THE SHADOW (Welles)

4.) QUIET PLEASE

5.) LUM & ABNER and LIGHTS OUT (tie)

By the way, your remarks about Shreevie cracked me up, they cracked me!"

11-13-90 [recently turned 20 years old]:: "By the time you read this, of course, I'll prolly already have received that 200-plus pg. catalogue & may've ordered stuff from it.... If somebody did new episodes of The Shadow on the radio, they could do an episode with... the marriage of Lamont Cranston and Margo Lane! .... Y'know, one thing I like about these Orson Welles SHADOWs (I'm listening to "Message from the Hills" as I write this) is that it seems so much more a team effort.  Everybody gets in to it, acting melodramatic & all.... there was a lot of talented people doing stuff (notice the repeated appearence of "Burke of the CLASSIC." In "Night Without End," an early Johnstone episode, the voice of the radio commentator near the beginning of the show sounds Wellesian.  Hey, notice that the character Larry Johnson in "The Man Who Lived Twice" (THE STRANGE DR WEIRD) sounds like... Desi Arnez!"

12-3-90: "...if  it doesn't come tomorrow, I may phone them just to ask them if they sent it out [the 200-plus pg. $11.00 catalogue I ordered on 10-20-90]. Hopefully nothing went wrong!"

12-4-90:  "4 pm - Mail just came.  No AUDIO CLASSICS catalogue.  Called AUDIO CLASSICS, but line was busy.  I'll try again in a bit.

7:30 pm - Just got off the phone w/Audio Classics!  I think the guy said my catalogue was prolly delayed.  But I asked him some questions.  Here are the questions I asked: 

1.) Do you have THE HALL OF FANTASY?  

2.) Do you have any pre-Welles SHADOWs; do they exist?  

3.)  What are "rehearsals"?  

Here are the answers:  

3.) "Rehearsals" are the rehearsals, obviously.  They sound just like the broadcast, but sometimes don't have music.  

2.)  Yes, they exist, I think he said.  Also, Welles' early SHADOWS still exist.  But, unfortunately he doesn't got 'em!  He knows a guy that has Welles' early SHADOWs, but he can't offer 'em.  Argh!  

1.)  Offhand, he said they must have (in the catalogue) around 40 or 50 HALL OF FANTASYs!!  Hope that Audio Classics guy wrote my address down.  I think he said he'd send a catalogue or something, but I can't remember, I was thinking up my questions to ask!!  Well, anyway, now that I know what they got, my curiosity is cured (for a while anyway).  Maybe the catalogue'll get here next week.  

[Believe it or not, I never did get the catalogue, or anything else, from Audio Classics, despite having paid eleven dollars.  To this day, I still don't know what I should do.  I've called them several times, and written twice requesting a refund, but still I've received nothing.  And I ordered it more than two years ago.]

 

2-5-1991: "There was a show on CBC [TV], a retrospective of "The Wayne & Shuster Show" (comedy).  I watched about an hour of it & there was a narrator for one story called "The Brown Pumpernickel" & it was narrated by the same guy who narrates the old '60s Thor/Cap/Iron Man/Subby/Hulk cartoons (they didn't show his face, it was just his voice, narrating some scenes)."

4-19-91:  "You ask in yer letter "Are you gonna order any from that other place if you don't hear from AUDIO CLASSICS soon?"  I don't know!  I don't know what I should do.  I mean, I did send off eleven bucks to AUDIO CLASSICS.  If they don't have any more catalogues & wanna give me a refund, fine, -- but who knows if that'll ever get here!  I don't think I'll order from Froelich again, though; I wasn't too crazy about the sound quality or the way he presented 'em (any old order: Welles, Johnstone, & Morrison episodes all on one SHADOW tape, for example).  In fact, that's the reason I sent off for AUDIO CLASSICS; he presented 'em in chronilogical order w/good documentation (listing rehearsals, etc)."

5-9-91:  "Oh...get this: one of WRW's trivia questions a few nights ago was... "Here's a trivia question sent in by Joe Shmoe of Idiot, Nebraska... Joe's question is "Who clouded men's minds so they cannot see him"?  Well, I'll have the answer at the end of our show... but now..." Duh!  I wonder who it could be....  on WRW some nites back they played a LIGHTS OUT! that Art Fleming said starred... William Shatner!  I almost couldn't believe it when he said that ("a very young William Shatner" is what he actually said).  Well, there was basically only a guy & a girl in this one except for, like, 3 elevator controllers who only had like 1 line each (like "Which floor?").  Well, that meant that the main guy had to have been William Shatner.  The only problem is... he didn't sound anything like Shatner (to me, anyway).  He sounded like all those faceless LIGHTS OUT! narrators. ("What big eyes you have Mr Spider," "Why they were crazy, that's it, crazy, darn fool..." etc.)  I wonder if it really was Shatner..."

5-14-91:  "They're playing NIGHTBEAT on WRW, but I'm recording it anyway.  I don't know why.  One thing I hate about these old radio shows is how melodramatic & corny they can be.  Take NIGHTBEAT for example.  I can't find that Froelich catalogue right now, but that's where I first heard of it.  The listing described the show as an early '50s crime drama starring Frank Lovejoy as a newspaperman on the "nightbeat."  The description sounded pretty cool to me: I pictured the show as dark, film noir, w/jazz music, women like in that INNER SANCTUM "Only The Dead Die Twice," brutal fist fights in alleys where our hero always gets his butt kicked & a bloody nose, beatniks, get the idea? Well, I was pretty disappointed when I heard it; it's just a routine DRAGNET-type show, indistinguishable from other crime radio shows.  And Frank Lovejoy seems so dull, Hollywoodish, and over 40 or something, like Joe Friday.  I was hoping he'd be moodier, often disillusioned, cynical, flawed, etc.  So many of these old radio shows are so black/white, good guy/bad guy, with easy answers & simple solutions.  Maybe there ISN'T a radio show like the one I imagined NIGHTBEAT would be like.  (Maybe I should write a few scripts for that imagined show...)"

5-21-91:  "Recording a LIGHTS OUT! off WRW; last nite I recorded a MEL BLANC SHOW. .... Christ, this LIGHTS OUT! has a guy babbling incoherently to himself again, like in "Spider."  Sort of reminiscent of this letter I'm writing to you, no doubt!" 

2-13-1992 [21 years old]:  listened to radio shows

2-13/14/15-92:  found out about SPERDVAC when calling Jim Harmon 

                (saw his ad in CLASSIC IMAGES)

2-17-92:  mailed out thing to Froelich  [asking for info 

          about Hall of Fantasy & OTR fanzines, clubs]

2-19-92:  got thing from Froelich  [merely telling me he had HoF for 

          sale, no info about clubs, fanzines, or HoF info; mailed 

          out to get Hall of Fantasy Vol. 2 set from Froelich]

2-21-92:  listened to radio shows

2-22-92:  listened to short-wave radio

3-3-92:   Got Hall of Fantasy Vol. 2 set from Froelich.

3-6-92:   Got [sample] SPERDVAC newsletter [w/information 

          about their club]

3-12-92: "Listening to radio shows, mailed out my SPERDVAC membership 

          yesterday.  Can't wait to get their catalogue.   

          11:10pm:...found a new radio show, on AM-Radio, around 100. 

          Focus on the Family (religious) "Tillie" radio drama; part    

          2 tommorrow. (Show repeated at 5am, too.) About abortion." 

[ And that was when things started to pick up.  Around four months after the above entry, I printed TUNE IN #1.]