Episodes
Saturday Jun 09, 2012
Lanny Ross - October 30, 1957 - excerpt
Saturday Jun 09, 2012
Saturday Jun 09, 2012
Lanny Ross was a singer who had a long career on radio, nightclubs and in films. His better known films include the 1939 animated feature "Gulliver's Travels" and "Stage Door Canteen" from 1943. On radio, he appeared with Annette Hanshow on the "Maxell House Show Boat". By the late 50s, Ross was hosting a morning program weekdays on WCBS in New York at 9:05 am each morning. He would spin records and perform songs live in the studio. In this 20 minute excerpt of his show from October 30, 1957, Lanny Ross is celebrating his 25th anniversary in radio and several song-pluggers from music publishers stop by and give him a cake and greetings on the anniversary. The program includes live and recorded commercials for Bromo Quinine cold tablets, Pepperidge Farm (featuring Titus Moody), Libby's and Petrie Wine. You can read a wire story about Ross's anniversary at the Google News archives. The show was transferred from an original 10.5" full-track reel to reel tape running at 7.5 inches per second, probably recorded directly off the sound board in the studio. This one was a mess to deal with - the tape, which came from the estate of a WCBS engineer, was covered in mold. I had to discard the tape box and give the tape itself a thorough cleaning before attempting a transfer. There's no picture, since the tape only included a brief handwritten notation of "Lanny Ross Anniversary".
Thursday May 03, 2012
Sheboygan Red Skins versus Oshkosh All-Stars - March 17, 1946 - excerpt
Thursday May 03, 2012
Thursday May 03, 2012
Next up on the blog, an aircheck of a National Basketball League game between the Sheboygan Red Skins and the Oshkosh All-Stars heard on March 17, 1946. The recording features the last ten minutes of the game recorded from WHBL, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and includes a commercial for Friendly Finance with various locations throughout Wisconsin. You can read an article about the game from the Milwaukee Sentinel here. The National Basketball League was formed in 1937 and would merge with the Basketball Association of America in 1949 to become the National Basketball Association. The NBL was concentrated in the midwest and the league featured corporate sponsored teams. The League is also notable for helping to break down racial barriers in sports, adding African-American players during the 1942-43 season. I've not researched otr era sports recordings in depth, but have an impression that recordings of professional basketball are fairly rare. This mp3 was dubbed directly from a home recorded 10" unlabeled lacquer that ran at 33.3 rpm. In the next post, we hear a little something from the other side of the disc.
Monday Jan 17, 2011
Buckeye Barn Dance - December 4, 1948
Monday Jan 17, 2011
Monday Jan 17, 2011
A few weeks back, I posted two fifteen minute country music shows with the Georgia Crackers from April 29 and April 30, 1949. This is the last show in my collection featuring the group.
"Buckeye Barn Dance" was a half-hour country music show originating at WHKC in Columbus Ohio and sponsored by the Glick Furniture Company. In the episode of December 4, 1948, the first song is "Steel Guitar Rag" and the Glick Furniture Company advertises the fine selection of Philco radios they have at the store along with a "Dream Home" decorated by them that was open for tours at the time. The show was transferred from a original set of single-sided lacquer transcriptions and sounds as if it might be an aircheck. It is previously uncirculated.Tuesday Dec 14, 2010
Down Our Street - January 21, 1948 - Goodfellows
Tuesday Dec 14, 2010
Tuesday Dec 14, 2010
At this time of year, I like to feature some of the Christmas related shows I've obtained over the last few months. "Down Our Street" was a local program produced by WXYZ in Detroit featuring stories about people in the local area. This particular episode is a short drama about the inspiration for a local charity group, the Goodfellows, that occurred after a newspaper boy was robbed on Christmas.
The transcription is dated January 21, 1948, but I think the date might be wrong. This was part of a group of transcriptions I obtained that included discs of local shows from around the country from the same time period that, I think, were part of some type of competition. Another disc in this set is another episode of "Down Our Street" that also carries the same date - you can listen to it in this post on the blog. The show was transferred from an original WXYZ, Detroit/ABC lacquer transcription. The show appears to be previously lost.Sunday Nov 14, 2010
Famous American Authors - circa 1947-48
Sunday Nov 14, 2010
Sunday Nov 14, 2010
Awhile back I obtained a curious group of discs, all containing local programming from around the country originally broadcast in late 1947 and early 1948. I think these might have been submitted to some type of competition, based on some notes I found on the disc sleeves.
From that group, here's "Famous American Authors", a program produced by WSUI in Iowa City. This episode dramatized the life of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. It's an interesting glimpse into the wide range of shows, including drama, that were commonly heard on local radio many years ago. WSUI, founded in 1919 by the University of Iowa, is still around and is the oldest surviving educational radio station west of the Mississippi. The show was digitized from an original lacquer transcription from WSUI. Correction, 11/15/2010 - In my haste to put together the post, I typed the name of the subject incorrectly in my original version of the post - it's on Oliver Wendell Holmes, not Longfellow...Sunday Nov 07, 2010
Georgia Crackers - April 30, 1949
Sunday Nov 07, 2010
Sunday Nov 07, 2010
A few weeks back, we heard a quarter-hour of country music from the Georgia Crackers on their Mutual network show that originated at WHKC in Columbus, Ohio.
Here's the other episode I have in the series, broadcast a day after the last program I posted. The show of April 30, 1949 has "Cimarron" as the fist tune. The show appears to be an aircheck and was transferred from an original lacquer created by Anderson Custom Recordings, Columbus, Ohio. The show is previously uncirculated. Later, I'll post a half-hour "barn dance" type of show featuring the group that came from the same batch of discs.Monday Oct 04, 2010
The Jack Web Show - April 10, 1946
Monday Oct 04, 2010
Monday Oct 04, 2010
This show is floating around in mp3 format, but I've made a fresh transfer of it from an original 70s era early generation reel to reel tape of the program. If you've not heard it before, you're in for a surprise. It's a sketch comedy show. And, yes, it features _that_ Jack Webb. Originating in San Francisco and possibly carried on ABC's Pacific network, "The Jack Web Show" from April 10, 1946 includes sketches such as "Facts on Parade" and a private-eye spoof called "The Razor". If you like this transfer, let me know and I can post the other existing episode of the series in the blog dubbed from the same tape.
Thursday Sep 09, 2010
Georgia Crackers - April 29, 1949
Thursday Sep 09, 2010
Thursday Sep 09, 2010
Once in a while, I turn up a nice little local or regional show featuring performers that were well known at the time in a particular area or with a certain audience, but are almost forgotten today. Such is the case with "The Georgia Crackers", a quarter-hour hillbilly music show that originated at WHKC in Columbus, Ohio and was carried on the Mutual network. I have a disc containing two shows from the series and another disc set containing a half-hour program featuring the Georgia Crackers.
The program of April 29, 1949 features a composition by a member of the group, "Baby Doll", as the first tune. The show is sustained. According to this website, the group recorded a few sides for RCA Victor and were featured on a number of Mutual hillbilly shows. One member of the Georgia Crackers, Al Myers, is in the Ohio Fingestyle Guitar Club Hall of Fame. Our show was transferred from an original Anderson Custom Recordings, Columbus, Ohio, lacquer transcription aircheck. I'll post the other shows I have with the Georgia Crackers in the next few weeks on the blog.Friday Jun 18, 2010
WEEI Job Center - January 11, 1948
Friday Jun 18, 2010
Friday Jun 18, 2010
Now another one of my local radio oddities. I've posted several local shows over the past few months that originated in 1947-48 and seemed to be grouped together for some type of competition.
"WEEI Job Center" was a local program from a Boston station that announced jobs available for returning vets. The show also includes an interview with a guest who discusses psychometric testing of job applications. It was broadcast January 11, 1948 from 10:30 am to 11:00 am and, unfortunately, only the first half of the program survives. This obscure little bit of history was transferred from an original WEEI lacquer.Monday Apr 12, 2010
Kansas Farm Report - circa 1947
Monday Apr 12, 2010
Monday Apr 12, 2010
And now for another one of those mysterious "throw away" transcriptions. This one isn't labeled, so I have no idea who the announcer is or the station where it originated. But, based on the contents, I think it may be from late 1947 or early 1948. (Google News has an article from January 1948 on the Congressional subcommittee that was discussing rationing, referred to in the program). It's a transcribed farm report from what sounds like a Kansas station with original commercials for Staley's hog feed. The topics on the show include discussions in Washington on rationing and appearances by the local announcer at a meeting of an egg co-op. The disc was probably recorded so the show could be played later at the station - the announcer would likely be traveling or appearing at the egg co-op meeting when the broadcast occurred. Farm-oriented reports like this used to be very common on radio when family farms were much more a part of the landscape, especially in the south and midwestern states. You almost never hear a transcription of one of these local shows since there was no reason to record them at the time. The program was transferred from an original single-sided 16" lacquer transcription with no label.