Please Note

The 36 audio bites that were used in this talk can be obtained by contacting

David Groce atgroce@alumni.caltech.edu

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Lyncean GroupFebruary 23, 2011

David Groce

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Golden Age of Radioin the Era of MP3,

Satellite and Internet Radio

Want questions and comments. I will ask questions too? Philco cathedral radio 11 tubesOrson Welles: perhaps, most creative "War of the Worlds" CBS Mercury Theaternight before Halloween 1938 10/30/1938Bing Crosby (1931 - 1962): most popular singer Frank Sinatra (1939 - 1960s) longest lasting to todayto some Dinah Shore most popular female singer?"OTR" is "Old-Time Radio" used a lotso will be talking about "OTR content and some technology" More tech from Bob Hanock

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Golden Age of Radio±1900s: sheet music, 3-min records, piano, singing, dancing, other

1920s to 1930s: local live radio, start of live network radio

1930s to 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 comeback3

other: reading and more personal pursuitsVariety programs always had danceable music1920: WWJ in Detroit and KDKA in Pittsburgh (mostly crystal sets)1922: 1st drama with music and sound effectsmid 1920s: amplifying vacuum tubes revolutionized radio; more later from Bob HancockBig change in national radio: live to transcribedLast programs, Sep 30, 1962: Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollarfailed resurgence: CBS 7 nights/week

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Your Hit ParadeJan 23, 1947: Andy Russell & Dinah Shore

Andy Russell, Dinah Shore, Dick ClarkFrank Sinatra, Doris Day, Dorothy Collins

Sept 9, 1943: Sinatra on AFRS

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1935 to 1957 (very popular) . Big Budget: major sponsor, stars, live orchestraTV only after 1957. 82 available shows.First #1: I Love You for Sentimental ReasonsWho is pix? Dorothy Collins Hit Parade disk.No commercials on AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Services) until late in WWII.Second #1: Sunday, Monday or AlwaysSome said could buy positions on the Hit Parade?

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You Bet Your Life Groucho MarxNov 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 questionFirst panel quiz prog 1938: "Information Please" with $2 if used, $5 more if missed "Info Pls Almanacs"

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MusicBenny Goodman - Madhattan Room - Nov 16, 1937at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City1935 to 1944 - 73 shows

Availability: 1906 to 1958 - 181 programs - 8,679 shows

Al Jolson - Andrews Sisters - Artie Shaw - Bing CrosbyBob Hope - Burl Ives - Danny Kaye - Dinah Shore - Doris DayFrank Sinatra - Fred Astaire - Harry James - Johnny MercerJudy Garland - Kate Smith - Kay Kyser - Lauritz MelchiorGlenn Miller - Lena Horne - Les Paul - Mario LanzaPaul Whiteman - Peggy Lee - Perry Como - Red FoleyRoy Rogers - Rudy Vallee - Tommy Dorsey + a zillion others

Chesterfield Show - Coke Time - Cowboy Church - GI JiveKraft Music Hall - Metropolitan Opera - National Barn DanceRacist Music "It's History" - Voice of Firestone - WPA Concerts

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1938 Sing, Sing, Sing

Basin Street - Breakfast Club - Charlie & Orchestra (Nazi Prop)

Benny Goodman 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert "Sing, Sing, Sing" 12:08Gene Krupa on drums 12-inch 78 rpm record (1950) 6 min per sideCharlie and his Orchestra latest home music hits like Tokyo Rose and satire

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What is MP3?

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MP3 acronym for Mpeg-1 Audio Layer 3

A lossy compression algorithm

It is known as perceptual codingof psychoacoustic models

That reduces the initial amount of audio dataso that it still sounds good for most listeners!

It allows 50 or more hourson a single CD disk.

Mpeg is Moving Pictures Experts Group

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Why MP3?

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OTR audio is low-fidelityEarly recording and transcription equipmentTelephone lines for distributionAFRS recordings only source for some OTROver-air (AM radio) recording & artifacts

MP3: 50± hours per diskCD: 80 min per disk

MP3 is low-fi depending on bit rateAM radio quality: 32,000 bits/secOTR MP3: 24k, 32k, 64k

Transcription: 12 to 16 inch disks; eventually from 6 min to 15 min per side; 33 1/3 rpmmid 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 reproduceTelephone quality: 64,000 bits/sec; FM quality: 96,000 bits/sec

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Drag Net Jack Webb as "Sargent Joe Friday" Dec 21, 1950: 22 Rifle for Xmas

9Dragnet Sound to begin with click.

Dumm Dee Dum Dum Dumm Dee Dum Dum wheee (Walter Schumann)and "Just the facts, Ma'am" recognized part of our cultureEpisode played near Xmas many times; parents & NRA upset with Friday's lectures on guns1949 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 1951Fatima LONG CIGARETTES, competitor used "King Size"

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Audio Components of a Radio ShowSound and Only Sound Sound components:

Actors (audition or established program)day 1: Individual script readday 2: Group script readday 3: Dress rehearsalday 4: Live performance(s) (E and W feeds)

Transcriptions came later (even later sound editing)Sound effects (1 to 4) Live and recordedAnnouncers & narrators (1 to 4)Commercials: Live, transcription or local (music gaps) Bumper musicBackground musicLive audience (much later recorded)

(dead-air: a program killer)

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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, changesDress rehearsal with music, sound effects, commercials, audience sometimesFoley pit for sounds; Many sound effects by voice - union disputesJack Webb introduced two announcers plus himself as the narratorType music tells popularity of show & $: organ: low; big orchestra: high

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Introductions to Some Interesting ShowsThe Black Museum - Orson Welles - Bedsheet - 1951Dangerous Assignment - The Nazi & The Physicist - May 24, 1950Dimension X - The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury - 1950Escape - Man Who Stole The Bible - May 5, 1950The Green Hornet - Torpedo on Wheels - Nov 14, 1942Gunsmoke - The Impostor - Jul 24, 1960Hall of Fantasy - The Tell Tale Heart - Jun 1, 1953Harry Lime (3rd Man) - Orson Welles - Blue Caribou - Jul 18, 1952Have Gun Will Travel - Winchester Quarantine - Feb 22, 1959Inner Sanctum - Lonely Sleep - Sep 9, 1949Lights Out - Valse Trieste - Mar 30, 1938The Saint - Vincent Price - The Corpse Said Ouch - Aug 6, 1950Suspense - Vincent Price - Three Skeleton Key - Nov 11, 1956Whistler - Fatal Error - May 7, 1949X Minus One - Mars is Heaven - May 8, 1955

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Dim X, Martian Chronicles: Jan 1999! Hall of Fantasy: Tell Tale Heart Edgar Allan Poe 1843Zither music on Harry LimeWilliam Conrad narrator "Escape" and Matt Dillon on "Gunsmoke" 500+ episodesOrson Welles 350 radio programs; 3 roles Vincent Price 120 programs + movies & TVJohn Dehner, universal bad guy on GS; in 5 of above programs; Was good guyPaladin, on Have Gun (TV 1st Richard Boone) 360+ programs; 30+ series to moviesWhistler whistle 37 notes by a woman, Dorothy Roberts, weekly for 13 years

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Sports Availability: 1934 to 1960 - 9 collections - 400+ events

Bill Stern Sports Newsreel - Joe Louis - Dec 7, 19451937 to 1956 - 606 total shows

World Series G3 - NY Giants vs. NY Yankees - Oct 8, 1937Joe Louis vs. Max Baer - Sep 24, 1935Army vs. Notre Dame - Nov 9, 1946Wilt Chamberlin - scoring 100 points - 1960Seabiscuit - Mar 5, 1938 - Nov 1, 1938 - Mar 2, 1940Indianapolis 500 - May 30, 1950Kentucky Derby - 38 runningsPrograms & Interviews - Babe Ruth - Casey Stengel - Dizzy Dean - Hank Aaron - Joe DiMaggio - Lou Gehrig - Jesse Owens (Berlin Olympics)12

Bill Stern: most famous national sports announcer: biggest games, newsreels, radio15-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 roundArmy-Notre Dame "Game of the Century 0 to 0 @Yankee StadiumSeabiscuit: May 1933—May 1947Indie 500: Jonnie Parsons (138 laps rain) Offenhauser Engine (all 33 did, too)

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Public-Domain OTR AvailabilityOur Collection (2004+)

33,000 episodes560 MP3 CD disks83 weeks (24/7)

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Our source:Jon in Lenexa, Kansaswww.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

WW II collection: news, AFRS, Home front prog, commercials, announcements, speeches FDR, Churchill, HitlerGag: Fibber McGee's hall closetLux Radio Theater: The Premier Radio Show hour-long dramas from movies with original starse.g. Knute Rockne, All American with Ronald Reagan, Pat O'Brian and Faye Raye introduced by Cecil B. d'Mille391123: Captain Midnight

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Westerns Availability: 1923 to 1960 - 59 Shows - 5,270 episodes

Texas Rangers - Blood Trail - Jan 20, 19521950 to 1952 - 92 episodes

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

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A Texas DragnetTrigger and ButtermilkYukon KingGunsmoke 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 ChesterRadio & TV: 1,100+ shows

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Soap Operas Availability: 1930 to 1960 - 39 shows - 2,303 episodes

Mary Noble, Backstage Wife - Episode # 41321935 to 1959

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

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5 per week at 15 min; played live and few recordedApproximate number of TOTAL episodesDifficult to determine total #s of episodesand even harder for # available

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Speciality Shows

Lonesome Gal - Jean King - 1949 show1947 to 1955

The Undecided Molecule - in rhyme - Jul, 17, 1945Norman Corwin (writer) with: Robt Benchley, Carmen Dragon, Norman Lloyd, Groucho Marx, Vincent Price, Carl Reiner, Sylvia Sidney and Keenan Wynn

Complete Days - 1939 Poland - Dec 7, 1941 - 1944 D-Day - NagasakiMr President - Edward Arnold - 1947 to 1953 - 75 episodesAdventures in Research - Living in an Atomic Age - Science MagYou are There - I Can Hear It Now - March of Time - CBS World NewsAmerican Portraits - Biography on Sound - Vox Pop interviewsCommercials - 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

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OTR Comeback

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MP3: internet, Amazon, eBay, www.otrcat.com

CDs:From MP3Transcription disksRemastered

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

Transcription disks: buy, sell, tradeRemastered: 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) $5Satellite channels same programming?www.shoutcast.com

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Categories Shows Episodes

Personality 161 12,320

Quiz 28 1,124

Rare 198 3,471

Science Fiction 25 1,026

Serials 50 3,932

Soaps 39 2,303

South African 12 396

Sports 8 396

Westerns 59 5,270

World War II 48 3,137

totals 1,703 102,288

Categories Shows Episodes

Adventure 84 6,091

British 27 1,642

Children 29 2,338

Comedy 196 13,447

Detective 173 11,277

Drama 191 11,239

Historical 76 5,513

Holiday 20 1,471

Music 181 8,679

Mystery-Horror 98 7,216

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

OTR Categories at www.otrcat.com

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