rand's esoteric otr

Lost Suspense

Important Note:  This page is out of date!

"Suspense" researcher Joseph Webb has put together a constantly updated spreadsheet online that outlines missing episodes of the series and possible Armed Forces Radio Service numbers for those shows.  I would also highly recommend his "Suspense Collector's Companion" for anyone collecting the series. - Oct 2018

 

Do you have a lost episode of Suspense?

 

If you have some AFRS discs in your collection or attic, you just might! Armed Forces Radio rebroadcast many network programs during radio's "Golden Age", including that "outstanding theater of thrills", "Suspense".  In some cases, the original network or affiliate acetates of particular shows are lost and AFRS discs, pressed and shipped to AFRS stations around the world, are the only source for missing network radio programs. Part of the trick in finding one of the lost episodes is to know what to look for. AFRS numbered each disc or disc set in a series they released sequentially.

 

So, the following list of missing episodes of "Suspense" was compiled using logs of the series, my own AFRS "Suspense" discs, and mentions of AFRS program numbers in the RadioGOLDindex. I simply made a spreadsheet of the "Suspense" episodes in chronological order, dropping in AFRS program numbers where known and filling in the missing gaps. The list should tell you the program number that will be stamped on the label of the AFRS discs for the missing "Suspense" shows.

 

The earliest AFRS "Suspense" disc in my collection is program 8, "Sorry Wrong Number", broadcast May 25, 1943. That would make the start of the series likely with the CBS broadcast of March 6, 1943. Episodes broadcast on CBS before that date probably won't be on AFRS "Suspense" discs, but could turn up on the "Mystery Playhouse" series, which was a kind of anthology program pulling from several mystery and detective shows. Generally, the labels of AFRS discs list only the series name and the episode number. 

 

The episode numbers usually do not match the program number of the original network series, since AFRS might start running a program after it had been on the network for some time.  So, ARFS episode "1" of a series might be from a few weeks in or in the middle of the network run. Practically all AFRS discs of radio shows from the 1940s and early 50s include the original broadcast date of the show in the vinyl trail-off of the disc.  You have to look carefully, but you should see the date in the format "mm-dd-yy". In the list below are the likely numbers for AFRS "Suspense" discs containing missing shows. Note that because of differences in the CBS and AFRS schedules, where "Suspense" might be preempted on either network, the numbers might be off by a few numbers (probably no more that three to five).

 

The list includes the probable AFRS program number, original CBS broadcast date, episode title and star.

 

107 - 6/14/45 The Burning Court -- Clifton Webb

113 - 7/26/45 Fury And Sound -- Norman Lloyd

137 - 1/10/46 This Was A Hero -- Phillip Terry

141 - 2/7/46 Too Little To Live On -- George Murphy

144 - 2/28/46 The Keenest Edge -- Richard Greene

156 - 5/23/46 Spoils For The Victor -- Dane Clark

197 - 3/20/47 The Waxworks -- Claude Rains

198 - 3/27/47 Trial By Jury -- Nancy Kelly

 

The numbers for the following shows may be off a bit more - I haven't found any existing examples listed for AFRS discs in the 1947 period and, in January 1948, "Suspense" went to a one hour format. I'm not sure how AFRS handled this. They may have run the series in a one hour slot, divided the show into half-hour segments or even taken it off the schedule.

 

214 - 7/17/47 Beyond Good And Evil -- Vincent Price

237 - 12/18/47 Wet Saturday -- Boris Karloff

244 - 1/31/48 A Bet With Death -- Lee Bowman (one hour program)

259 - 7/8/48 The Last Chance -- Cary Grant (first show that went back to 30 min format)

 

With the following shows, I'm fairly certain about the episode numbers since some examples during this time period of AFRS discs are listed with episode numbers as a guide.

 

330 - 6/15/50 Deadline -- Broderick Crawford

334 - 9/7/50 The Tip -- Ida Lupino

370 - 5/24/51 Fresh Air And Murder -- Jeff Chandler

386 - 11/5/51 Trials Of Thomas Shaw -- Joseph Cotton

387 - 11/12/51 Mission Of The Betta -- John Hodiak

388 - 11/19/51 The Embezzler -- John Lund

389 - 11/26/51 Misfortune In Pearls -- Frank Lovejoy

 

According to the log at otrsite.com, the 10/13/51 episode of "Suspense" was originally recorded with Howard Duff in the lead role. Because of Duff's supposed Communist sympathies, the show was quickly re-recorded with a different star and Duff's version was never broadcast, making that version one of the missing episodes. If you have AFRS "Suspense" program number 390 in your collection, give it a spin to see if AFRS accidentally used the Duff version. (AFRS discs were prepared weeks in advance of AFRS broadcast and some have turned up that used the rehearsal versions of shows, so this is worth checking for.  Howard Duff, btw, was often heard as a staff announcer on program openings in the early days of AFRS.)

 

390 - 10/13/51 A Murderous Revision - Howard Duff

 

These are a bit more uncertain in episode numbers; again, I wasn't able to dig up AFRS episode numbers in program listings as a guide for this period of the show.

 

394 - 12/24/51 The Night Before Christmas -- Greer Garson

419 - 9/15/52 Sorry, Wrong Number -- Agnes Moorehead

515 - 1/6/55 Murder Aboard The Alphabet -- William Conrad

548 - 8/23/55 Beetle And Mr. Bottle -- Eric Snowden

564 - 1/3/56 The Eavesdropper -- Lawrence Dobkin

580 - 4/24/56 A Case Of Nerves -- Parley Baer

 

These last two may have two possible numbers. I found a listing for a show at the Goldin index that should have been in the 500 range, but was listed in the 800 range. This could be a misprint on Goldin's part, so I'm including both possible numbers.

 

575/875 - 8/1/56 Massacre At Little Big Horn -- Stacy Harris

630/930 - 9/15/57 Night On Red Mountain -- Richard Crenna

 

updated 10/25/2008

War of the Worlds - Paul Stewart lacquer set update

A few months ago, I posted a lacquer 78 rpm lacquer set of the famous Mercury Theatre on the Air broadcast of "War of the Worlds" on my blog.

Since my original post, I've dived into researching the background on the set, surviving copies of the broadcast.  Seth Winner recently examined the set and determined that it's a dub.  Since they're green label Presto blanks, this would put the set created soon after the original broadcast.

Seth has been examining three copies of the "War of the Worlds" broadcast for a restoration.  One set is a 78 rpm dub, probably made from the same "master" 78 set as mine, that appears to be the Orson Welles copy missing from the Lilly Library set.  Another is a 16" dub set created for NBC, probably in the late 40s or early 50s.

Read the rest of this entry »

How Not to Ship a Transcription

Today's sad arrival in the mail and the packaging it came in. Please shed a tear for my broken invitation to the NY World's Fair.

Believe it or not, after several years of receiving radio transcriptions and records by mail, this is only the second one I've received that was broken or damaged in transit.

If you're wanting to ship a transcription, keep in mind that many of these discs are both larger than modern vinyl records (and more suseptable to bending when placed in shipping bins) and made of composite plastics that break when they are bent.

The best way to ship a transcription is to place the disc between two or four pieces of cardboard, as this seller did, but to take the additional step of putting that "sandwich" in a larger box, surrounded by packing material.

This particular broadcast is listed at Goldin's website, but I haven't seen a transfer circulating among collectors.  Here's hoping the one listed at Goldin still exists, unbroken, and can be transferred in the future.

 

Strike It Rich - unknown date

In this post, the first half of an episode of the daytime game show “Strike It Rich” heard on NBC from 1950 to 1957.

“Strike It Rich” was a controversial program - the premise is that people went on the show with their hard-luck stories and tried to win money for something they needed.  This episode includes a Fayetteville, NC 81st Airborne soldier, Pvt. George Motz, back from Korea wanting to win money to buy cigarettes for his pals and an anonymous student nurse from Murfreesboro, Tennessee wanting to use her winnings to buy gifts for patients in a hospital.  Commercials are for Colgate-Palmolive products and your host is Warren Hull.

Based on the contents, including a reference to the Battle of Inchon, the show probably dates from 1951 or ’52.

It’s only the first half of the program, probably recorded from the network line by a local station for time-shifting.  Despite being on the air for several years, very few episodes of “Strike It Rich” survive, so I doubt this one is in circulation.

There’s no picture for this entry - it’s just an unlabeled 16” Audiodisc laquer.  The other side sounds like some kind of speech given at a local women’s club.

 

Interview by Joe Web - 11-20-2016

Over the weekend, I got to meet old time radio researcher Joe Webb.  Joe interviewed me about my radio transcription collection and the blog.  Here's his post about the interview on the Old Time Radio Researchers group on Facebook:

"Today I had the pleasure of interviewing transcription disc collector and expert Randy Riddle. This is an unrehearsed discussion in a shopping mall food court. Randy did not know my questions beforehand for the expected 20 minute discussion which turned into almost 50 minutes. There are two copies of the mp3 files for download; one of the files is at 48kps and the other is 128kps. http://pc.cd/IWzotalK so choose whatever size file you prefer. You can hear the mall starting to come to life in the background. Randy's blog site is http://randsesotericotr.podbean.com/ and some of the shows mentioned are at http://randsesotericotr.podbean.com/e/war-of-the-worlds-an…/ and http://randsesotericotr.podbean.com/e/suspense-pgm-365-the…/ and http://randsesotericotr.podbean.com/e/police-reporter-pgm-3/"

About

About the Transfers

Transferring a transcription disc is a bit more involved than recording a more modern lp record to digital. The records themselves are 16" across (rather than 12", like an lp) and require a turntable with an arm long enough to accommodate the disc.  I used to own a Gates turntable with a 16" Rek-O-Cut arm originally made for radio stations in the 1950s.  The table was hefty and an interesting conversation piece, but had a lot of rumble and required some tweaking to get decent results. For all the transfers you'll hear on the blog, I'm using a Transcriptor II turntable from KAB.  It's a modern stock Vestax BDT-2600 that's been modified with a longer arm.  The BDT-2600 is a good mid-priced audiophile belt-drive table, so it's capable of very good audio reproduction. Next, after you've got the right turntable, you need to reproduce the transcriptions with the original equalization curves.  Records, due to their very nature, produce scratch and distortion, so, when they're recorded, an equalization curve is used to emphasize and demphasize certain frequencies to minimize noise.  The RIAA, in the 1950s when they were a standards body and not hunting down music pirates, developed the curve that we still use on records today. Before the 1950s, however, it was "anything goes".  Record manufacturers had their own curves for 78 recordings, each with advantages and disadvantages.  To reproduce 78s or broadcast recordings from the pre-lp RIAA curve era, you need a parametric equalizer that can reproduce the curve used when the disc was made.  The most common are called "NAB", developed by the National Association of Broadcasters, and Orthacoustic, developed by RCA, but there are others and some discs, such as those from the Armed Forces Radio Service, include segments with different eq curves. For equalization, I use a vintage 1970s SAE parametric equalizer on the signal as it is recorded to an audio cd, which I use as my "master" digital copy to create mp3 files for the site. Oh, and lets not forget needles.  Transcriptions were recorded before the lp era and use a wide groove, similar to those used for 78s, so they require a larger needle to properly ride the groove.  There were variances in how discs were cut over time and some have damage, so you need to find the right size of stylus that best fits the groove and reproduces the least amount of surface noise.  Currently, I have over a half-dozen different styli in my arsenal, with some used for discs with different types of groove damage or odd discs (such as metal based recordings or vertically recorded material) that were only used for brief periods. I use a mix of Grado and Stanton 500 series carts on my turntable; the Stanton can track a little heavier and is useful for warped discs. After a master is made on audio cd, the material is ripped at full quality to a computer and I use Audacity for minor editing - taking out "skips" or "stuck" grooves, joining sides, trimming the beginning and end of shows, and sometimes minimizing more aggravating pops and ticks.  I don't do much filtering on the files - often digital filters can introduce their own problems to the audio - but do use click reduction on some records if they're heavily scratched. A full quality .wav file of the edited versions of the shows is donated to the Old Time Radio Researchers group for their collections, with many of their shows available at archive.org. For the blog, the files are reduced to 32 kHz mp3 files - this bumps down the quality a bit, but allows for a balance between download times and available server space for the blog. Transferring one 15 minute show (one side of a 16" transcription) to digital, editing it, and prepping it for the site can take about an hour, particularly if you have to play with different styli, do speed adjustments on the turntable before recording, or have to heavily edit because of skips or stuck grooves. And that's how the shows are resurrected for streaming through the ether of the Internet...

Speed Correction

Speed correction of old radio shows

Old Time Radio programs come to us from a variety of sources - dubbed directly from original transcriptions or copies of tapes made many years ago. One of the more frustrating aspects of listening to these shows is that often the speed of the program is incorrect.  In some cases, the original transcription disc may have been recorded slightly off-speed, but more often tape copies of these shows done on cassette recorders or cheaper reel to reel decks can vary widely in quality. Some collectors attempt to speed correct shows and may think that simply stretching out the running time to exactly 15 or 30 minutes will do the job.  It's a bit more complicated than that. Practically all of the AFRS transcriptions in my collection run over their allotted time - if you have a thirty minute show, it generally runs anywhere from 30:10 to 30:40.  I think they were covering themselves if some of the local turntables were off-speed or to give a buffer if the local staff mis-timed something on their schedule. Syndicated shows can be all over the place.  In "Nonsense and Melody", those shows run run as long as 14:40, but many come in at just shy of 14 minutes. One early thirties syndicated show I have, "The Two Daffodils", runs anywhere from 10:40 to 11:45. The series I dubbed called "Your Home Front Reporter" was recorded directly from the CBS line.  It's fairly easy to set the correct speed of it since it's mostly music.  It usually runs 24:40, but can go up to 24:50.  The first program in the series runs 30:23.  (So, that recording might be an audition that wasn't actually broadcast or perhaps it did run this long and they just faded the end on the network.) The only shows that I've run into that have a fairly accurate time are NBC line recordings that include the system cue and the chimes - those should usually run 14:50/29:50 from the cue to the chimes.  I've got one soap that has almost 15 seconds of silence from the end of the program until we hear the chimes, so if you don't have the chimes, the show running time can still vary quite a bit. Your best bet, when you have the original transcription, is to start with the turntable running at proper speed and then to adjust it (if needed) based on the musical content of the show and/or comparing voices to known correct speed recordings of performers.  My sense of pitch of pretty good, but I'll still use a guitar tuner to double-check musical content. The speed of transcriptions in my collection is pretty consistent, but you'll run into one now and again that's a little too fast or too slow - I have a few examples of a government syndicated show called "Let's Go to Town" and one episode was recorded and released running slightly too slow, but others are "spot on".  Proper speed is a big problem with OTR since most shows in circulation were dubbed from transcriptions to tape many years ago.  Even professional releases come from these tapes that might not have been correctly dubbed - I've got a professionally released audio CD set of Jack Benny shows from one well-known OTR supplier that was digitally remastered, but a couple of the shows are dubbed waaaay too slow - poor Jack, Mary, Don and Dennis all sound like they're imitating Tallulah Bankhead with a bad cold.

Tagging OTR

Thoughts on tagging OTR MP3 files

Collectors of Old Time Radio shows in MP3 format have different ways of managing their files.  The usual convention for naming MP3 files by the OTR community is to use a filename that includes the show title, date (year-month-day) and episode title.  In my mind, this method has several limitations if you have a large collection of shows and makes it difficult to browse shows on a portable mp3 player or a media-management device, such as the Playstation 3. I use iTunes to manage my MP3 library and have found it more useful in many ways to take a different approach with filenames and use the MP3 tags for information about the show.  So, for what it's worth, here's my method of naming and tagging OTR MP3 files for use in iTunes and on portable media players or in software such as Windows Media Center.  (Note that I use iTunes for tagging my mp3 files, but you could use pretty much an modern mp3 management software to do the same thing.) First off, understand that you can edit the MP3 tags in iTunes itself - just click on the song name, artist or album and enter the info you want. What's interesting is that, in the default settings, you can have iTunes "manage your music library". What this means is that iTunes automatically changes the name of the MP3 file based on the Song Name tag; in addition, it automatically creates folders based on the Artist tag and, within those, folders based on the Album tag. So, in it's simplest form, my MP3 tags look like this:

• Song Name: 1934-03-04 116 Duel in the Graveyard
• Artist: Jack Benny Show
• Album: Jack Benny Show (The Chevrolet Show)

For genre, I use OTR-genre (such as OTR-Comedy, OTR-Variety, etc) and for the Composer tag, I use the name of the network, Syndicator or individual radio station (NBC, Cardinal Syndication, etc.) What this allows me to do is a) keep neat folders and subfolders of OTR series that are grouped together and b) to do sorting of shows by date, series, genre or network when viewing my library in iTunes itself. I based this scheme on the idea that the tags have a broader meaning beyond their use with songs. There are some details to the system to make it work and conventions I use. In the Jack Benny show example, you see the date, program number in the series, and title of the show: 1934-03-04 116 Duel in the Graveyard Another example might use the guest if there's no name for the episode: 1949-06-03 Guest Mrs Lou Gehrig If I know the decade of the show, the entry looks like this: 195x-xx-xx Dumb Luck For a syndicated show, I'll use the year it was first syndicated: 1931-xx-xx 04 Arriving in England With most shows, the Artist and Album are the same. However, I use the album field to distinguish "sub series" within a larger one. Some examples:

• Amos N' Andy (CBS Sitcom)
• Amos N' Andy (NBC Serial)
• Amos N' Andy (Syndicated Serial)
• Amos N' Andy (Commercial Recordings)
• Jack Benny Show (The Grape Nuts Program)
• Jack Benny Show (The Jello Program)
• The Goon Show (Series 04)

On the Composer field, I use a convention so I can spot airchecks, with the network name followed by a dash and the station name (such as "CBS-WXXX"). I work for Duke, and I started using iTunes heavily when they gave all the Freshmen and many of the staff iPods. I have about 1300 MP3 files in iTunes using this format that I've assembled over the past few years. It makes everything really organized and easy to sort, even if you're not using iTunes, but it can be a real bear to enter the info. iTunes does let you change several MP3 files at once, so you can put in a Series Name/Artist or other field on many files at the same time, but you have to do the Song Name/Epsiode Date and Title individually. The end result of all this tedious work is that I can bring up iTunes, click on a column and all my shows will sort by date, series name, genre or network. Or, if I go into the iTunes folder, my shows are neatly arranged into a series folder, a series subfolder and then with individual episodes arranged by date based on the MP3 file title. In some cases, if I have the time and info, I put a plot synopsis and names of performers and other info in the Comments field. iTunes does have a search function, but doesn't search comments - if it did, and I had all the info there, I could bring up all the shows I have by a particular performer. So, for what's its worth, that's the system I use.

archive.org

rand's Favorites at archive.org

Here's a running list of unusual old time radio programs I've run into at archive.org.  I'll update it periodically. Fibber McGee and Molly - Flying Saucer Lands in McGee's Yard From March 28, 1950, we hear how the UFO craze even had an influence on your favorite old time radio shows. link to mp3 Judy and Jane - March 3, 1942 Judy and Jane was a soap opera heard in the 1930s and later syndicated via transcriptions.  In this episode, marijuana cigarettes are being sold at the high school!  It's rare to hear drug references in OTR; I was surprised to find this program. link to mp3 The Hartz Mountain Radio Canaries - December 12, 1944 I have some 78s featuring the Hartz Mountain Radio Canaries and never thought there was a surviving episode of the series, which ran on Mutual throughout the 40s.  One 78 included a sleeve with a shot of the program on the air - indeed, they brought in little wooden cages into the studio to chirp as the musicians played.  Can you imagine what kind of job this was for the announcer in a studio full of screaming canaries? My cat really found this show fascinating. link to mp3 The Haunted House of Song I'm not sure what to say about this interesting concept in vocal music... link to mp3 Rajput, Hindu Secret Service - Jasmine Tower Murder Anyone know anything about this series?  The file is dated 1930 and it appears to be syndicated. link to mp3 Roosevelt for President During FDR's 1944 reelection bid, the Democratic Party staged a slick one-hour program heard on all four networks to promote their candidate.  The show featured musical numbers, testimonials, and many major movie and radio stars of the day.  The Republicans weren't amused, as you can imagine. link to mp3 Yiddish Melodies in Swing "Your old favorite Yiddish folks songs sizzle in the manner of modern Yiddish swing!" link to mp3 Suspense - The TV Series There's a series of DVD box sets that has been released of the live, early 1950s version of "Suspense" broadcast on CBS television.  If you'd like to see some samples, a few episodes have been uploaded to archive.org. These aren't seen too often since they were broadcast live and are only preserved on kinescopes.  It's too bad CBS didn't arrange to make "Suspense" a filmed tv show - it might have gone on to have the fame on tv that "Twilight Zone" did later. Murder at the Mardi Gras Originally broadcast in 1950, the show features George Reeves before he found fame as tv's "Superman" and Jack Klugman early in his career.  Includes the original Autolite commercials. http://www.archive.org/details/Suspense-MurderAtTheMardiGras The Cask of Amontillado From 1949, this episode features Bela Lugosi and includes Ray Walston in the cast; complete with the original Autolight commercials. http://www.archive.org/details/Suspense-CaskOfAmontillado Vic and Sade - Television show A very rare kinescope of one of the few television versions made of the old time radio classic series "Vic and Sade"; in the comments, someone dates this to 1957. http://www.archive.org/details/VicAndSade Glimpses of 1930's German Television Someone with a home movie camera shot some clips of various tv shows on German television, giving us a rare peek at what a viewer would have seen at the time.  The sequence of clips is a bit surreal, since we have no info on the shows themselves. http://www.archive.org/details/GlimpsesOf1930sGermanliveTelevision Jack Benny's 1956 New Year's TV Show In the main sketch in the show, about 15 minutes into the program, Jack recreates a New Year's sketch he originally performed on radio with the cast reading from scripts and gathered around mics. http://www.archive.org/details/Jack_Benny_News_Years_Day_1956

Transcription Info

Types of transcriptions and radio recordings

Recordings of shows from radio's "Golden Age" survive in many different forms.  Having an original transcription disc of a show doesn't always mean that it has pristine sound quality. Besides the condition of the disc, there's also the origin of the recording to think about.  Here's an outline of the different types of radio transcriptions you'll hear on the blog and floating among old time radio collectors. Reference or Master Recording "Reference Recording" was a term used by NBC, but would generically apply to instantaneous master lacquer discs or master tapes of shows made directly at a network facility, recording studio, or radio station.  The discs were created by the network or station as a record of the show and are usually of very high quality, with some approaching high fidelity range.  Some were produced as a record of a broadcast for legal purposes; others may have been made as a master to press vinyl discs for syndication or for direct playback on the air for a program that was "transcribed".

• Dennis Day Show - January 8, 1947 (NBC Reference Recording)
• Night Beat - May 19, 1949 - Ted Carter Murder Case - Audition No. 1 (NBC Reference Recording)

Sponsor or Talent Disc These were generated usually, but not always, as dubs from a reference recording of a show.  Some are 16" lacquers, while others might be a series of 12" lacquers dubbed at 78 rpm so they could be played on home audio equipment.  I've also found a few that were 16" vinyl discs especially pressed for a sponsor.  The quality can be quite good, but they might have been subject to more "shuffling around" and damage over time.

• Your Home Front Reporter - Pgm 1 - May 10, 1943 (Vinyl discs pressed for a sponsor)
• Americans at Work - Sept. 29, 1942, WCFL, Chicago (Set of 78 rpm lacquers made for talent)

Syndication and "Extension Spotting" Discs These are usually pressed on vinyl or shellac from a master disc made in the studio.  Again, the quality can be quite good, but since they were used for broadcast and passed from station to station, they condition can vary greatly.  Some were used for syndication of shows while others were network shows that were pressed on vinyl for broadcast on additional stations not on the originating network.  Many were pressed by RCA Victor and Columbia.

• Adventures of Dick Cole - Pgm 24, circa 1946 (Red vinyl syndication discs, possibly pressed by Decca)
• Jungle Jim - Pgm 13 - January 25, 1936 (Vinyl syndication discs, pressed by RCA)
• The Two Daffodils, Pgm 2080 (Shellac syndication disc, pressed by Columbia)
• Ports of Call - Pgm 33, New Zealand (Shellac blue syndication disc, pressed by Columbia)
• Nonsense and Melody - Pgm 16 (Shellac syndication disc)
• Lum N’ Abner, Accidentally Yours - July, 1947 (Vinyl syndication disc, pressed by RCA)
• Hoosier Hot Shots Alka-Seltzer Show - Pgm 51 (Vinyl extension spotting disc, pressed by RCA)

Line Check Lacquers of network shows turn up that were recorded by an individual station from the actual network line feeding the station.  This was done, literally, as a "line check" in some cases, but more often so that the station could broadcast the show at a different time.  I've run into several line check lacquers that date from summer months when Daylight Savings Time was in effect. Line checks can vary.  The networks were feed to stations through high-quality telephone lines and there may be reduced frequency range or odd an odd "buzz" or "whine" on the line, depending on where the station was in the chain.

• Joyce Jordan MD – July 3, 1947 (lacquer line check from unknown NBC station)
• Kraft Music Hall - July 3, 1947 (lacquer line check from unknown NBC station)

Air Check These lacquers or tapes were literally dubbed "off the air" and show what the show would have sounded like to a typical listener.  In this case, you're getting any problems with the network line in addition to problems introduced by the radio station, transmitter, and receiving conditions.  They can also include local IDs and commercials.  The recordings were sometimes produced for talent involved in the shows by independent companies or for advertisers or the network as a check on how shows were being run on the network.  Some shows were recorded by listeners on home disc, wire, or tape equipment.

• Bing Crosby Show - March 12, 1953 (lacquer air check of KCBS, San Francisco)
• Pick and Pat - August 8, 1938 (lacquer air check of WEAF, New York)
• Smile-A-While, Aug 3, 1951 (wire recording air check of WLS, Chicago)

Armed Forces Radio Discs The Armed Forces Radio Network wasn't a "network" in the traditional sense.  Set up to serve military personnel during World War II, it couldn't use telephone lines to connect stations.  Instead, AFRS had access to network lines where they made their own recordings of shows or obtained original discs or tapes directly from the networks.  Then, they edited out commercials and current events references by dubbing them to another master disc or tape.  The shows were pressed on vinyl and the transcription discs sent out to AFRS stations, ships and other venues. AFRS versions of shows, which are sometimes the only surviving copies of some individual programs, can vary a great deal in quality.  Many are dubs of original line checks, since the shows had to be edited, and can sometimes sound tinny or muddled, depending on how the equipment was set up and the quality of the network line.  In addition, the discs were often pressed on cheaper grades of thin vinyl and have been tossed around over the years, showing a great deal of surface noise. On occasion, a rehearsal recording of a network show will turn up on an AFRS disc, such as the "Rocky Jordan" example below.

• The Whistler, AFRS Pgm 211, Jan 27, 1952 - Borrowed Byline
• Suspense - Sorry, Wrong Number, Feb 24, 1944, AFRS Pgm 41
• Rocky Jordan - AFRTS Pgm 7, The Nile Runs High (rehearsal recording)