Episodes
Saturday Apr 29, 2017
This is Your FBI - November 21, 1952
Saturday Apr 29, 2017
Saturday Apr 29, 2017
Here’s the last episode in my collection from a set of 15 inches per second dubbing masters used for syndication of this classic old time radio series in the early 1970s.
“The Swamp Killer”, originally heard November 21, 1952, is an exciting little story about a couple doing field work in Florida Everglades encounter an escaped convict impersonating a military guard. There’s some great sound effects work in this episode, creating the atmosphere of the swamp.
This appears to be another broadcast the series that isn’t circulating among old time radio collectors.
Our program was transferred from an original full-track quarter-inch reel to reel tape running at 15 inches per second, captured at 24 bit/96 kHz from a ten inch reel.
Saturday Apr 15, 2017
This is Your FBI - August 29, 1952 - syndication version
Saturday Apr 15, 2017
Saturday Apr 15, 2017
Here’s the next to last installment in our collection of a half-dozen episodes of the early 1950s crime drama, “This is Your FBI”. These are syndication versions of the shows distributed in the early 1970s, transferred from the 15 inches per second dubbing masters used to create the lp records or tapes sent to stations. You can read more about these tapes in my original blog post about them.
“The Traveling Swindle” was originally broadcast on August 29, 1952. The story concerns a couple of crooks that run a swindle where they pretend to be IRS agents, examining the business’s books, and telling the owner they can “settle” with them for minor problems they’ve found. You’ll recognize “Gunsmoke” regular Parley Baer as one of the crooks. This appears to be another episode of the series not commonly circulating among collectors.
Our mp3 was transferred from a 10” reel to reel dubbing master running at 15 inches per second, captured at 24 bit/96 kHz. There’s a few dropouts in the first few minutes of the show.
Saturday Mar 25, 2017
This Is Your FBI - August 15, 1952 - syndication version
Saturday Mar 25, 2017
Saturday Mar 25, 2017
Here’s another in our series of a half-dozen programs in the series “This Is Your FBI”, dubbed from early 1970s syndication masters. Normally, later syndication versions of old time radio programs wouldn’t be of much interest to collectors, but I’m posting these because of the incredible sound. When producing the syndicated version, the producers took out the original 50s era master tapes and dubbed them to create the dubbing master heard in this post. The commercials are omitted, but the program is otherwise as it was originally broadcast.
Our episode this week is “The Dime-A-Dance Stick-Up”, originally broadcast August 15, 1952. The story concerns a woman, working in a dance hall, who gets mixed up with a man injured in a bank job.
I think this might be a program in the series not circulating among collectors.
Our mp3 was transferred from an original full-track quarter-inch reel to reel tape running at 15 inches per second, captured at 24 bit/96 kHz from a ten inch reel. The programs were edited for this 1970s syndication run at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles.
Saturday Mar 04, 2017
This Is Your FBI - October 12, 1951 - Tropical Frame-Up - Syndication Version
Saturday Mar 04, 2017
Saturday Mar 04, 2017
We continue our look this week at the crime drama “This is Your FBI” in some early 70s syndication versions. Usually, these aren’t of much interest to old time radio collectors since the shows had commercials omitted, but I’m posting about a half-dozen I found because of the remarkable sound. The programs were dubbed from sub-masters created to cut syndication discs or tapes of the program.
This week’s entry is “The Tropical Frame-Up”, originally broadcast October 12, 1951. The plot deals with a group of hijackers who do a double-cross against a member of the gang who wants to retire to a banana plantation in “Boca Grande”, supposedly an island near Cuba. You’ll recognize old time radio favorite William Conrad in the cast.
Blog listener Randy Watts found an ad for this syndicated version of the series that dates from 1974, about the time of the old time radio “nostalgia boom”. You can see a jpeg of it by clicking here.
Watts also found this blurb about the revival of the series i the August 18, 1975 issue of “Broadcasting” magazine, page 20, column 2:
Revival. O'Connor Creative Services, Hollywood, announces it has rights to radio syndication of 104-episode series of This Is Your FBI, originally produced from 1945 to 1953. Each episode is half-hour, is based on actual FBI cases, and produced with cooperation of that agency.
Our mp3 was dubbed at 24 bit/96 kHz from an original 15 inches per second reel to reel full track tape assembled at Gold Star Studios. It appears to be a direct copy of the original 1951 tape master of the show, giving us a high fidelity version of the program that reveals amazing range and detail that even FM listeners during the original series run wouldn’t have available.
Thursday Feb 09, 2017
This Is Your FBI - September 28, 1951 - syndication version
Thursday Feb 09, 2017
Thursday Feb 09, 2017
Here’s another episode of “This Is Your FBI”, taken from a group of tape syndication masters I obtained a few months ago. For more information on the series and this set of tapes, see my original post that started off this series of posts.
Our program this week is “The Harvest”, originally broadcast September 28, 1951 on ABC and sponsored by the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Two drifters hold up a bank messenger and hide to among a group of migrant farm workers. Your narrator is William Woodson and the cast features Stacy Harris, Alice Backes, Tony Barrett, Ted de Corsia, Sam Edwards, Wally Maher, Victor Rodman, and Harry Rosenthal, according to Goldin. In this syndication version, the commercials are omitted.
Our mp3 was transferred from a 10” reel to reel tape dubbing master running at 15 inches per second. The sound, as other shows in this group of tapes, is quite remarkable, dubbed from the original 50s tape masters of the series for this 1970s syndication run of the show.
Thursday Jan 26, 2017
This is Your FBI - August 10, 1951 - Syndication version
Thursday Jan 26, 2017
Thursday Jan 26, 2017
Several old time radio programs were syndicated to local stations in the 1970s as part of the “nostalgia boom” that included the revival of nightly radio drama on the “CBS Radio Mystery Theater” and a similar series on Mutual, along with commercial releases of original old time radio shows on lp records, cassettes, and even 8-tracks.
Usually, these syndication versions, with the commercials removed and other alterations, aren’t much interest to collectors, but I’m posting a half-dozen episodes of “This Is Your FBI” that I obtained a few months ago.
What sets these apart is that they’re the actual 15 inches per second master tapes used to create vinyl discs or 7 1/2 inches per second tapes for syndication to local stations - they were dubbed from the original broadcast masters and have absolutely remarkable sound.
In this post, you’ll hear “The Adopted Thief”, originally broadcast on August 10, 1951 on ABC and sponsored by the Equitable Life Assurance Society. The commercials are omitted and generic openings and closings are heard in this version of the program. The episode deals with a man running a scam on a woman, convincing her that he is the son she gave up for adoption many years ago. Stacy Harris played FBI agent Jim Taylor; the announcer is Larry Keating and the narrator is William Woodson.
Over 400 episodes of “This is Your FBI” were produced between 1945 and 1953; producer Jerry Devine was given cooperation for the show by J. Edgar Hoover and the dramas were based on actual case files. Several familiar radio regulars from this period, like William Conrad, pop up in roles in various episodes.
This group of six tapes were something of a mystery when I first got them a few months ago, based just on the labeling. After I listened to them, I figured out these were versions of the programs prepared for syndication, likely in the early 1970s.
The engineer probably made a dub of each master tape, then spliced on a generic opening and closing to each show. Oddly, each opening and closing was done with a tape stock different from the body of the program - when I dubbed them to digital, the opening and closing segments of the tapes suffered from sticky shed, while the body of the program was just fine.
It would have been too complicated to remove the openings and closings and bake them since the segments were fairly short, so I just let it ride, carefully cleaning the tape machine after each segment. There was also a thin paper leader spliced before and after each opening and closing, and for a commercial break in the middle of the show - of course, all these splices came loose, so I had to prep each tape by reworking the splices.
In other words, these tapes were a good reminder of why I usually don’t deal with tapes.
These syndicated versions of “This is Your FBI” were prepared at the famous Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles where some of the major rock groups of the sixties and seventies, such as the Beach Boys, recorded their hits and classic albums.
The sound is pretty amazing, far better than what a listener would have even heard on FM when the shows were originally broadcast. For example, if you listen carefully, you can hear things like room reverberation in the studio when they set off prop guns and other loud live sound effects during the show. At times, the use of sound effects is layered to create atmosphere, similar to “Gunsmoke” - the sound quality adds much to the enjoyment of these programs.
I haven’t found any definite information about this 70s syndicated run of the series. I’m not sure if these were used as masters to press the show up on vinyl or for dubbing to 7 1/2 ips tape for distribution to local stations. Has anyone run into the tapes or disc used to syndicate the show
Our program was transferred from an original full-track quarter-inch reel to reel tape running at 15 inches per second, captured at 24 bit/96 kHz from a ten inch reel. The labels indicate the tape is a "Dubbing Master". I believe this may be a program in the series not commonly in circulation among collectors. I have five other episodes from this set of tapes I’ll be posting in the coming weeks.