June 26, 2009
Gracie Fields was a well-loved English-Italian actress and comedienne who first gained fame on stage and screen in her home country. During World War II, because of her Italian citizenship, she chose to live in the United States since she would have been detained in Britain. She spent the War years entertaining the troops and appearing here in the US.
Originally broadcast on NBC as a summer replacement series for “Charlie McCarthy”, here’s an episode of the seldom heard “Gracie Fields” program of July 9, 1944. In this episode, Jack Carson banters with Gracie about getting her started on a career in Hollywood and they do a sketch about an American boy calling on a British girl for a date. Along with Gracie Fields and guest Jack Carson, we hear Lou Bring and His Orchestra and announcer Bill Goodwin.
The show was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription.
Here’s another disc of a fun little morning program I ran into, featuring the “Whistle Man”, Jack Berch in what they bill as “The Shortest Fifteen Minutes in Radio!”. Sponsored by Prudential Insurance, the show ran on NBC daily and is a mix of songs and banter and includes a trio made up of Charles Magnante, Tony Mottola, and George Schackle and announcer Eddie Dunne.
The show of August 29, 1947 starts out with a great crack-up by the announcer. Songs include “It’s a Good Day”, “Apple Blossom Wedding”, and the trio’s version of Raymond Scott’s tune “Power House”.
Our mp3 was digitized directly from an original lacquer line check from an unknown NBC local station. This appears to be a previously lost episode of the series.
Here’s another one of those original line checks from 1947-48 I keep running into. In this one, the August 28, 1947 edition of the “Kraft Music Hall” featuring Nelson Eddy with Nadine Carter, pianist Leonard Pennario and announcer Ken Carpenter. Nelson kicks off the show with “The Ranger Song”, and we hear “Smiling Through”, “The Floral Dance” and other tunes. All that great music makes you want to go out and stock up on Kraft Cheese Spreads and Kraft Prepared Mustard, doesn’t it?
Transferred from an original lacquer line check recorded at an unknown local NBC station. My apologies for the skip I couldn’t work around in “I’ll See You Again” in the second half of the show.
Well, here’s some swinging music for you hep cats out there. In episode 3 of the Office of Price Stabilization series “Stars for Defense”, we hear guest Dick Haymes with Four Hits and a Miss backed by Sonny Burke and his Orchestra.
In between the reminders on how you can control inflation as we fight the Korean War, Haymes sings “I Want to Be Happy”, his latest record “No Other Love But Yours”, and “September Song”.
Transferred from original Allied Record vinyl transcription; matrix number D-88803. Many thanks to Michael Utz for donating this transcription to the collection.
Paul Dubov and Tony Barrett return for another episode in our continuing series on the blog of “The Adventures of Frank Race”, a noir insurance detective show recorded circa 1949.
Program 34 in the series, “The Adventure of the Undecided Bride”, starts off, as many evenings do, with Race trying to enjoy the a relaxed evening at home after a fancy meal at the Waldorf. But, his sidekick cab driver Mark interrupts the evening by opening the window. Gunshots ensue.
Our show was transferred from an original Bruce Eels and Associates red vinyl transcription, matrix numbers UR-154813 AU-5 and UR-154814 URAU-5.
June 22, 2009
Filed under:
drama — randsesotericotr @ 1:25 pm
Although some late era old time radio shows can sound a bit stale, with the stock music library cues and sound effects and scripts that seem to have been written on autopilot, I do have a fondness for “The FBI in Peace and War”. If nothing else, the show had some good actors that try to inject some interesting personality into the parade of criminals heard each week.
In this post, we hear program 323 in the series as it was broadcast on AFRTS, “Out of Retirement”. The story concerns a con-man that tries to con a con-man.
The show was digitized from an original AFRTS vinyl microgroove transcription. The flip side features an episode of “Police Blotter” heard a few weeks back on the blog. There’s no date on the matrix, so I’m unsure of the original CBS broadcast date.
Update: In the comments, sharp-eyed listener Dean noticed that this episode is listed in the series log at otrsite.com with a broadcast date of 1957-03-03.
I’ve only got a few more shows in the unusual little syndicated music series “Choose a Song Partner” featuring cheery Beryl Vaughn giving song clues to Don Moreland who sings the songs to the organ accompaniment of Adele Scott. Program 8 in the series features “Stardust”, “Shine On, Harvest Moon”, and other tunes.
The series was produced and syndicated by Eugenia Price Productions in the late 1940s and was sponsored by Formfit Life Bras and Life Girdles. Our mp3 was directly transferred from a Columbia vinyl transcription, matrix number YTC 4632.
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updates — randsesotericotr @ 1:21 pm
A big thanks goes out this week to Tom in Texas for his generous donation to the blog. Hope you continue enjoying the shows!
Filed under:
drama — randsesotericotr @ 1:20 pm
“American Novels” was part of NBC’s “University of the Air”, a series originating in Chicago that dramatized famous books for classroom use. In this post, we hear the program of August 8, 1947, an adaptation of the Bret Harte short story, “The Luck of Roaring Camp”. Despite the educational intent, the show is a very entertaining and well done little drama.
The show was transferred from an original lacquer line check from an unknown local NBC station and includes the NBC chimes.
Here’s the last program I have in the series, “Front Page Drama”, syndicated by Hearst Newspapers and featuring true stories adapted from their “American Weekly” magazine newspaper supplement.
So, here’s program 149 in the series, “The Removal Man”, originally broadcast the week of February 29, 1936. The story concerns an inventive assassin who figures out an unusual way to kill his victims.
The show was transferred from original RCA Victrolac transcription, matrix MS99605. On the flip side is an episode of “Jungle Jim”, previously heard on the blog.
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