Episodes
Friday Jun 18, 2010
Early radio shows retreived from films
Friday Jun 18, 2010
Friday Jun 18, 2010
I would be amiss if I didn't direct your attention to a fascinating article that's just appeared in the Albany "Times Union". An archivist, working with a tinkerer, has retreived twenty hours of radio programs broadcast over WGY in the 1929 to 1931 period. The broadcasts were recorded by an early sound-on-film process. The archives website is here, but there's no mention of the find that I can see. update, 6.19.2010 Mike Biel posted a couple of YouTube videos to the OTRR mailing list on the device used to play the recordings. You can view them here and here. He noted that the museum is looking for funding to improve or rebuild the device since the recordings have a great deal of wow and flutter, making the musical segments very difficult to listen to.
Sunday Jun 13, 2010
Thanks and more on Police Reporter
Sunday Jun 13, 2010
Sunday Jun 13, 2010
A big "thank you" goes out to some very generous folks who donated to the blog this week - Charles in the UK, Barbara, and an anonymous donor. Hope you continue enjoying the programs! More info keeps popping up on "The Police Reporter". Dee from Digital Deli logged the series from the Los Angeles Times. The show started on February 10, 1936 at 8:15 pm and ran five days a week through March 2nd - only 18 episodes.
Friday May 21, 2010
Some thanks and notes on Police Reporter
Friday May 21, 2010
Friday May 21, 2010
A tip of the hat goes out to Dave in Michigan for his generous donation to the blog this week and to Michael Utz who sent some interesting transcriptions my way for the collection. I'm working on the discs over the next week or so and they should turn up on the blog soon. I didn't get notifications about the different comments from the blog until today, so I missed several of the comments, particularly about "Police Reporter". Bob noted that the December 1933 reference to "Police Reporter" in the New York Times radio program grid for WEAF probably refers to that night's episode of "The First Nighter", which was called "Police Reporter". So, that would make the February and March 1936 listings in the LA Times for KGPJ the earliest possible references to the show so far in newspapers. It's hard to tell when the show was recorded and first broadcast until more info turns up. Some of the discs in my set have dates from 1935, so, for now, I'm calling that as the earliest date the show was syndicated, but I suspect it might be earlier. Dr. OTR notes the similarities of the show to "Calling All Cars", which started up in 1933 and was produced in Hollywood. Radio Release, Limited, which produced "Police Reporter" was also headquartered in Hollywood, so perhaps there was some overlap with writers or actors on the two series. Dr. OTR also wonders how I find these discs. Well, this set turned up on ebay. Sometimes I find discs there and, in some cases, I have collectors or individuals that have run into discs in estates contact me after finding my blog. But, if you've got an old relative that used to work in radio, I'd be happy to rummage around your attic to see what might turn up. :)
Monday May 03, 2010
A big shout out...
Monday May 03, 2010
Monday May 03, 2010
I'd like to give a big thanks to some folks that are helping "behind the scenes" in getting new shows for my collection - my deepest appreciation to Joe Webb, Doug Hopkinson, Michael Utz, Rick Payne and Jim Blackson for sending me discs and helping me ferret out some shows over the past few months.
Thursday Apr 22, 2010
A thank you, some notes and another question ...
Thursday Apr 22, 2010
Thursday Apr 22, 2010
A big thanks go out to Richard this week for his generous donation to the blog. Hope you continue enjoying the shows! I'm posting a bit early this week since the next week's going to be a busy one with the end of the semester at Duke University, where I have my "day job". With the response to my question last week about posting some material I have on reel to reel and lp and not directly from transcriptions, I'm posting a couple of "test" shows this week to see if you think it's a valuable addition to the mix of things at the site. For those of you in central NC, do you know of someone that works on electronics? I've got a Teax X-1000R reel to reel deck that, I think, needs a new motor. I know where I can get the motor, I just don't trust myself to install it. (Don't worry - I have a backup Teax X30R deck that I'm using right now, but it doesn't take 10" reel like the big one that needs a repair.)
Monday Apr 19, 2010
Thanks...and a question...
Monday Apr 19, 2010
Monday Apr 19, 2010
A big shout out this week to blog listener John for his generous donation to the blog - many thanks! Well, it's that time of year again when the end of school has me stretched a little thin. Sorry if I'm a little brief with my comments this week, but I think we've got a couple of interesting obscurities for you. I've also got a question I'm mulling over and would like your feedback on. In addition to the many transcriptions in my collection, I also have some very rare lps and reel to reel tapes of public domain old time radio shows, some of which aren't in common circulation today in digital form. I've been working on transferring many of these for my own amusement and for sharing with the Old Time Radio Researchers group. Of course, they're not direct from the original transcriptions, but the sound quality on them can be pretty remarkable, only one or two generations away from the original. So, would you be interested in some posts of a few of the more rare or unusual shows here?
Monday Apr 12, 2010
Running behind a bit this week...
Monday Apr 12, 2010
Monday Apr 12, 2010
I usually get the posts up on the blog over the weekend, but I'm running a bit behind. My apologies to those of you that make the blog a part of your weekly routine. I've been pulling together some new transfers of discs I obtained recently and had to do some shuffling of files around - I've pretty much filled up the desktop I use for all my old time radio audio work. And, at the same time, the mouse died on the thing, so I was trying to figure that one out. It's so much simpler when you're dealing with analogue. A few days ago, I finished transferring a complete set of "The Sealed Book" - many thanks to blog listener Thom for working out a trade with me to obtain them. You can look for the show to run in the blog later this year. Also keep an eye out for a couple of fun NBC promotional discs I won at an auction. They're 78s sent to advertisers about some of the "behind the scenes" work at the network. Now, on the with the shows!
Friday Mar 12, 2010
New shows and browser issues
Friday Mar 12, 2010
Friday Mar 12, 2010
Someone pointed out to me that Opera is showing some strange code with the blog. If you're using Opera, you might want to try another browser if you're having problems with the site - I've not been able to figure out why the blog doesn't display correctly there. I've been doing some trading and have been active with some auctions recently, so I should have some interesting new shows coming up soon. Stay tuned!
Tuesday Mar 02, 2010
This week's thank you
Tuesday Mar 02, 2010
Tuesday Mar 02, 2010
A tip of the hat goes out this week to Michael B for his generous donation to the blog. I recently got some episodes of a series I've been looking for on original transcription discs - "Five Minute Mysteries". Look for it in the blog in coming weeks. Now, on with the shows...
Friday Jan 29, 2010
This week's thanks
Friday Jan 29, 2010
Friday Jan 29, 2010
A tip of the hat goes out to Mark in the UK this week for his generous donation to the blog! Now, on with the shows...