Episodes
Saturday May 27, 2017
Wade Lane’s Home Folks - Pgm 34
Saturday May 27, 2017
Saturday May 27, 2017
Finally, we’ve come to the end of our run of “Wade Lane’s Home Folks”. Won’t you miss our deep voiced home invader, letting himself in to sit a spell in your living room?
The opening theme of program 34 is rather upbeat, which is a little disconcerting for this nightmare-inducing show. Wade starts off the episode talking about someone alternating eating pickles and cake, looking for his paper in the front yard, and giving us his rendition of the obscure song “Know a Lovely Garden”. It’s a fitting surrealistic end to this creepy little slice of Old Time Radio.
Our mp3 was transferred from an original sixteen-inch Mertens and Price, Inc. transcription, matrix number B5746.
Saturday May 20, 2017
Wade Lane’s Home Folks - Pgm 33
Saturday May 20, 2017
Saturday May 20, 2017
There’s a strange man in your house, rambling on about something. Don’t call the cops - it’s just time for “Wade Lane’s Home Folks”.
In program 33, Wade starts off the show with the creepy laugh of his, talking about two kids that had been to the circus, leading into the obsucure 1918 song, “Dear Little Boy of Mine”. There’s no violin in this episode, just an overactive organ with a thyroid condition accompanying Wade.
Our mp3 was transferred from an original sixteen-inch Mertens and Price, Inc. transcription, matrix number B5745.
Sigh. Will we ever run out of shows from this dreadful series?
Saturday May 13, 2017
Wade Lane’s Home Folks - Pgm 28
Saturday May 13, 2017
Saturday May 13, 2017
Who’s that opening your front door, making you think someone is breaking in to rob or kill you? Oh, it’s just time for “Wade Lane’s Home Folks”.
In program 28, Wade kicks off the show talking about daydreaming and sings the obscure song “To Be Near You”. Once again, Wade is accompanied by both an organ and violin in this episode.
I have daydreams about never hearing this series again.
Our mp3 was transferred from an original sixteen-inch Mertens and Price, Inc. transcription, matrix number B5339.
Saturday May 06, 2017
Wade Lane’s Home Folks - Pgm 27
Saturday May 06, 2017
Saturday May 06, 2017
Looks like it’s time once again for “Wade Lane’s Home Folks” to sneak up behind you and invade your space. You should really lock your door so this guy won’t walk in on you like that.
In program 27, Wade starts off telling us about his neighbors, a couple who argue at four in the morning about how to furnish their new home. That leads us into our first song, “My Blue Heaven”. Wade’s joined by both a piano and violin in this show.
Our mp3 was transferred from an original sixteen-inch Mertens and Price, Inc. transcription.
Saturday Apr 29, 2017
Wade Lane’s Home Folks - Pgm 20
Saturday Apr 29, 2017
Saturday Apr 29, 2017
Why, someone’s creeping into our house and singing. It must be time for “Wade Lane’s Home Folks”.
In program 14, Wade kicks off the show chattering on about what makes a home and sings “Wanderer”. His main story is about being homesick. (This show makes me homesick for “Suspense” or Jack Benny…)
Our mp3 was transferred from an original sixteen-inch Mertens and Price, Inc. transcription.
Saturday Apr 22, 2017
Wade Lane’s Home Folks - Pgm 19
Saturday Apr 22, 2017
Saturday Apr 22, 2017
Let’s visit again with everyone’s favorite uninvited pest in “Wade Lane’s Home Folks”.
In program 19, Lane starts off the show saying that the though the unlocked door on your home was meant for him. His first song is “When Mother Played the Organ (And Daddy Sang a Hymn)”. The main story is about Lane wandering through the forest with a friend when he found the initials of lovers carved on a tree.
Our mp3 was transferred from an original sixteen inch shellac transcription, matrix number B5221. The show was recorded in the Hollywood studios of Recordings, Inc. and probably pressed by Allied. It was produced by Mertens and Price, 1240 South Main Street, Los Angeles.
We’ve only got five more episodes of this series to wade through, no pun intended.
Saturday Apr 08, 2017
Wade Lane’s Home Folks - Pgm 13
Saturday Apr 08, 2017
Saturday Apr 08, 2017
Believe it or not, I’ve actually gotten messages from folks wanting to hear more episodes of “Wade Lane’s Home Folks”.
Well, I guess if I could stand it enough to dub it to digital, you can stand it enough to listen to it.
In program 13, Wade Lane has just come from a tea party with a bunch of liftle girls playing in his front yard. (Today, that would get him on an FBI watch list.) That leads to the first song - I haven’t been able to identify it, but it starts out “Little women like you have made me realize what affection can do …”
By the way, a Google search on that phrase prompted the search engine to respond:
- “Did you mean: "little women like you make me realize what infection can do" song”
Oh, Google, you really don’t want to go there.
Our mp3 was transferred from an original sixteen inch shellac transcription, matrix number B5146. The show was recorded in the Hollywood studios of Recordings, Inc. and probably pressed by Allied. It was produced by Mertens and Price, 1240 South Main Street, Los Angeles.
Thursday Feb 09, 2017
Wade Lane’s Home Folks - Pgm 14
Thursday Feb 09, 2017
Thursday Feb 09, 2017
I’m not sure whether to praise or curse collector David Lennick for selling me a half-dozen discs of this show.
“Wade Lane’s Home Folks” was a syndicated program, probably originating from the 1930s and produced by Mertens and Price, South Main Street, Los Angeles. The discs I obtained date from the 1940s when it was still being run at least on some stations in Canada. I did some Google searching and didn't turn up much about the series outside of US copyright entries for the show from 1938 and listings for it on local radio stations starting in that year and running through the mid-40s.
I found one reference to Wade Lane on page 7 of the January 30, 1943 edition of “Billboard” magazine in the Radio Talent - Hollywood column:
“WADE LANE, heard over KNX as Your Singing Neighbor, recently marked the 10th anniversary of his first KNX-CBS program. First job on Columbia was with Raymond Paige’s California Melodies.”
The concept of "Wade Lane's Home Folks" is a bit like “Singin’ Sam”, if Singin’ Sam was on lithium and liked to invade your home with slightly creepy sentimental stories. Wade starts off each show wandering into your house, uninvited, and proceeds to warble old songs in a deep bass voice that makes Vaughn Monroe sound like a boy soprano. Then he rambles on about some experience he had with his neighbors related to the songs he’s singing. He probably shows up in their dark living rooms univited, too.
Program 14 in the series starts off with Wade singing “Throw Another Log on the Fire” and deals with a story about a young couple, a knife, and domestic violence. The shows don’t have titles, but I affectionally call this episode “The Cut Up”.
I told you it was creepy. Listen to show late at night in the dark and it will give you more chills than “Lights Out!”
As you listen, just remember it’s only fifteen minutes of your life you’ll never get back.
Our mp3 was transferred from an original sixteen inch shellac transcription, matrix number B5147. The show was recorded in the Hollywood studios of Recordings, Inc. My guess is that it was pressed by Allied.
It’s too bad this show wasn’t more well-known. Bob and Ray would have had a field day with it.
I’ve got around a dozen of these things. Do you really want to hear more of them?