rand’s esoteric otr

Do you have a problem with your temper?

Perhaps you can pick up a few tips from Fibber McGee in program 85 of the “Fibber McGee and Molly” series from the Armed Forces Radio Service, originally broadcast December 26, 1944 on NBC.

The show features Jim and Marian Jordan, Arthur Q. Bryan, Billy Mills and His Orchestra, Harlow Wilcox, the King’s Men.  Our transfer is directly from a vinyl AFRS Navy Department transcription.  The program date is from the matrix and was verified by Goldin and a log of the series of otrsite.com.

A very special thanks to listener Michael Utz for donating this disc to my collection.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [ 30:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (198)

Now let’s turn back the clock to World War II with another entry in the Armed Forces Radio Network variety series, “Mail Call”, that brought the top stars from movies and radio to perform for the troops.

This is a pretty amazing little half-hour program.  Program 93 features hostess Paulette Goddard introducing W.C. Fields, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd with Edgar Bergen, Virginia O’Brien, Borrah Minnevitch and the Harmonica Rascals and the King Sisters.  The announcer for the show is Don Wilson.

The program is dedicated to armed forces personnel from the State of Kentucky, so there’s something of a Kentucky Derby theme going on, at least in the program’s opening and first number by the orchestra, “Kentucky”.  The King Sisters sing the War themed tune, “Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet” and the Harmonica Rascals do a wonderful arrangement of “Brazil”.  (I’m a fan of the Harmonicats, so this was a real treat.)

The highlight of the show is the sketch with W.C. Fields and Edgar Bergen.  They’re in rare form, with Fields and Bergen tossing in adlibs as Fields gets lost in the script.

The show was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription.  According to the log of the series at otrsite.com, it was recorded May 24, 1944.

By the way - do you recognize the theme the orchestra plays after the intro of Paulette Goddard?  It would turn up years later as a main theme used on “The Big Show“.  Was this some kind of stock cue in the music score library at NBC?

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [ 30:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (220)

Broadcast from 1942 to 1951 on Mutual, then CBS, and finally, NBC, “It Pays to Be Ignorant” was a parody of quiz shows that featured panelists of experts - it’s a natural followup to our posts in recent weeks of the “Quiz Kids” and “Twenty Questions”.  In this case, our “experts” are a group of regulars always ready for a quick one-liner or really bad pun.

In this post, program 88 in the series as broadcast on AFRS, originally heard on CBS on December 21, 1945.  The first question during opening is “Why does the subway have to raise the fare?” and the first question during the main body of the show is “What is the color of the Little Red Schoolhouse?”.  The show features host Tom Howard, George Shelton, Lulu McConnell, Harry McNaughton, and announcer Ken Roberts.  I think this particular episode might not be in common circulation among collectors.

Frank, a listener to the blog who has had a long  career in radio, remembered seeing “It Pays to Be Ignorant” and other shows live when he worked in the mailroom at Mutual.  Now that was an employee perk!

The show was transferred from original AFRS vinyl transcription.  Date is from the transcription matrix.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [ 30:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (207)

Now we bring you a disc that isn’t a radio broadcast, but is a bit of obscure radio-related memorabilia.

“Forbidden Broadcast” is a comedy record made by nightclub performer Ray Bourbon sometime in the 1930s.  Ray got his start in vaudeville, was a bit player in silent movies at Paramount and was friends with Rudolph Valentino and William Boyd, and made a name for himself with his outrageous improvised comedy.  He was also a sexually ambiguous “drag queen” that wasn’t afraid to do gay humor at a time when homosexuality was illegal and gay clubs were regularly raided by police.

Ray’s career would extend from the 1920s until his death in 1971 in prison.  He was convicted of the murder of the owner of the Pet-A-Zoo, a business in Big Springs, Texas.  When Ray left his dogs with the owner, Roy Blount, and couldn’t pay the bill, Blount sold the animals for medical research.  But, during Ray’s storied life, he appeared on stage with such stars as Mae West and helped composers Chet Forrest and Robert Wright and actor Robert Taylor get started in the business.  Even Robert Mitchum, when he was breaking into the business, wrote songs for Ray’s nightclub act to pick up a few dollars in the 1940s.  Ray travelled all over the US and Europe, performing well into his 70s.

Despite Ray’s reputation as a “smutty” comedian, his material is rather tame and coy today and he did appear on radio a few times.  In May 1933, his San Francisco revue “Boys Will Be Girls”, was carried live on the radio - and, in a twist that made headlines at the time, the show was raided by the police and the raid was carried live on the station.  I’ve also found documentation on program schedules that Ray appeared on radio three times in December 1938 on Los Angeles radio station KTMR in a 15 minute show.  Ray was regularly working in Los Angeles nightclubs during this period and may have bought the time to promote his stage act.

Researching Ray’s life and work and collecting his recordings and other memorabilia has been another one of my hobbies over the past decade.  I was lucky enough to obtain the original typed manuscript of Ray’s incomplete memoirs that he was working on when he was in prison in Texas.  If you’d like to learn more about Ray’s very strange life, check out my website on this unique performer.  Also, sixties underground cartoonist Skip Williamson had a fascinating blog post a few months ago on working as a publicist for one of Ray’s productions.

“Forbidden Broadcast” is one of over 150 recordings Ray made from the 1930s to the 1960s.  He was a true “do it yourself” artist, contracting to have 78s and lps produced and selling them at his shows and via mail order.  Some were sold “under the counter” at record shops and the discs are well known to “party record” collectors today.

So, in this post, give a listen to “Forbidden Broadcast” by Ray Bourbon, originally released on Western Record Company Bourbana, matrix number WR-716-A.

My sincere thanks to collector Sara Hassan for providing a tape copy of this 78 used as the basis for this mp3 file.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [ 3:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (294)

I recently obtained a few rare episodes of this rare comedy-variety series with the Incomprable Hildegarde.  In this post, we give a spin to program 17 in the series as it was heard on the Armed Forces Radio Network.  The show was originally broadcast as “The Raleigh Room” on May 15, 1945 on NBC.

Hildegarde’s first song on the show is “Who?”.  Patsy Kelly tries to get a date with Xavier Cugat and Clifton Webb gives her some advice, putting in a few plugs for his new movie, “Laura”.  Hildegarde and Cugat sing “Take It Easy”, with lyrics making fun of Patsy’s man-chasing.  In the cast are Hildegarde, Patsy Kelly, guests Xavier Cugat and Clifton Webb, and Harry Sosnik and His Orchestra.

The show was transferred from original AFRS vinyl transcription, matrix numbers HD5-MM-7476-1 and HD5-MM-7477-1, probably pressed by RCA.  Date is also on the transcription matrix.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [ 30:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (212)

Once in a while when going through old transcriptions, you find a little gem - something that surprises you and has an interesting backstory.

We pay another visit to Ronald Coleman hosting the late 1940s syndicated Ziv series, “Favorite Story”, this week presenting a story that was originally a radio play.  It’s Program 61 in the series, “Inside a Kid’s Head”, the favorite story of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

The play was written by Jerome Lawrence Schwartz and Robert Edwin Lee.  In fact, it was the first play they wrote together after forming a partnership in 1942.  “The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama” notes that a few years later, they would become two of the founders of Armed Forces Radio, creating programs for the network such as “Mail Call” and producing programming for events like V-J Day.  After the War, they continued working together, writing for the stage.  You might have heard of one of their more successful little plays - “Inherit the Wind”.

“Inside a Kid’s Head” is an imagatnitive and fun little tour through the life of a ten year old boy.  The cast includes many old time radio favorites such as Hans Conreid.

The show was transferred from an original Ziv red vinyl transcription set.  The show may be previously uncirculated or uncommon among otr collectors.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [ 27:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (261)

Note:  This program contains racial stereotyping themes that may be offensive to some listeners.

We continue our look this week at “Pick and Pat”, a rare comedy variety show broadcast on CBS and featuring blackface comedians Pick Padgett and Pat Malone.  Despite a radio career on all the major networks that spanned from the early 1930s to the mid 40s, only a handful of their shows survive.  These shows, unheard since their original broadcast, are drawn from a set of airchecks recorded for the producer of the show, Frank Macmahon.

Unfortunately, many of the shows in this set are missing sides.  In this post, we hear parts 1 and 3 of the show of March 21, 1938.  Pick and Pat do a short opening routine with one of them dissing the other for being so dumb.  Tenor Edward Roecker sings “There’s a Goldmine In the Sky”.  In part 3 of the program, Edward Roecker sings “I Got Plenty of Nothin’” and Pick and Pat’s last segment has them staging a melodrama titled “Be a Gentleman” or “Never Hit a Lady With Your Hat On”.  During the show, we get to hear commercials for the sponsor, Dill’s Best and Model tobacco.  Also, the company that recorded the aircheck captured the last couple of minutes of the previous program on the station and the one following “Pick and Pat”, “Lux Radio Theater”.

The show was transferred from an original WABC aircheck laquer recorded by the Advertiser’s Recording Service, New York.  The file has been run through click reduction software to improve the sound, but it’s still a little rough in places - the lacquer on these one of a kind discs is deteriorating and cracking.

Another note of interest - this week’s episode of Mad Men included a scene where the main character in the show donned blackface, creating some interesting discussion on the topic.  Also, a blogger at Slate discusses how we should look at the work of artists who worked in blackface at some point in their career.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [ 22:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (194)

Note:  This program contains racial stereotyping themes that may be offensive to some listeners.

This week, I’m starting a series of posts of “Pick and Pat”, a rare variety show featuring two blackface performers.  These programs, unheard since they were originally broadcast, come from a series of aircheck lacquers I recently obtained.  Except for one program, the shows are incomplete.  I’m still working on transferring and restoring the discs, so I’m not sure how many I will be able to offer here since the discs are in bad shape and starting to deteriorate.

The episode of May 31, 1937 includes routines where Pat plays the harmonica and the pair do a sketch playing Indians selling the island of Manhattan.  The latter includes some jokes about the stock market crash and Depression and, with two Irish vaudeville comedians in Blackface playing Native Americans, considerable cognitive dissonance about race that might make your head explode if you try to analyze it too much.  The show features music by vocalist Edward Roecker and an orchestra led by Benny Krueger, including “That Old Gang of Mine” with a recitation.  The series was sponsored by the U.S. Tobacco Company to promote Model and Dill’s Best pipe tobaccos.

According to Dunning’s “Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio”, Pick Padgett and Pat Malone were Irishmen who teamed up in 1929 as Molasses and January and worked regularly under that name on the “Maxell House Show Boat” program.  They were heard on radio in their own series on NBC from 1934-35, CBS from 1935-39, Mutual in 1944 and ABC in 1945.  You can see a picture of Pick and Pat and read an interview with Pick Padget from the St. Petersburg, Florida Evening Independent of June 16, 1933.

These discs were made for the producer of the program, Frank MacMahon, and each show was recorded on 16″ lacquers in three parts.  In the case of this particular episode, the second disc is missing, so you’ll hear a fade-out in the middle of the show before we continue with the third part.  The discs also preserved a bit of the shows on the air that evening before and after “Pick and Pat”; this set includes the last minute or so of the “Ted Weems” show, a special announcement by the WABC announcer on how to get tickets for the program, and, at the end, the WABC station id and opening of “Lux Radio Theater”.

The show was transferred directly from an original WABC lacquer aircheck made by the National Recording Company, New York.  The file has been run through click reduction software to improve the sound.  Note that the sound levels vary during the show.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [ 25:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (234)

Now, let’s turn to some classic old time radio comedy with the “George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” in a program originally broadcast December 26, 1944 on CBS and distributed as program 62 in the series by the Armed Forces Radio Network.

In this episode, Gracie’s concerned because their show is moving to Mondays - the night that “high class” dramas like “Lux Radio Theater” are broadcast.  So, of course, she has to hire an acting coach for George and convince him to take up drama.  The show features Bill Goodwin, Jimmy Cash, Mel Blanc and Felix Mills and his Orchestra.  According to Goldin, this was the last show of the series with Goodwin and Cash.

The program was transferred from an original AFRS Navy Department transcription and appears to be uncommon among otr collectors.  The program date is from the transcription matrix.

A special tip of the hat to blog listener Michael Utz who donated the disc to my collection.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [ 30:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (253)

I’m in a rather lighthearted mood this week, so here’s some more comedy, this time with a World War II theme.

“Mail Call” was one of the comedy-variety series produced by Armed Forces Radio and featuring some of the top talent from Hollywood and radio.  Program 58 in the series, recorded September 30, 1943 and released in November of that year, is hosted by actor Lionel Barrymore and features Harlow Wilcox with the announcing duties, taking a break from shilling Johnson’s Wax on “Fibber McGee and Molly”.  Skinnay Ennis and the OTC Band kick off the show with “This is the Army, Mr. Jones” and Georgia Gibbs sings “Shoo Shoo Baby”.  Dennis Day offers a seldom-heard War-themed tune and then we hear  Fanny Brice and Hanley Stafford in a “Baby Snooks” sketch.

The program was transferred from an original War Department Armed Forces Radio vinyl transcription.  Apologies for the digital artifacts in the file - the click reduction had to work overtime on this very scratched disc.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [ 30:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (221)