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34th Annual Friends of Old Time Radio Convention

Posted by Robert on June 28, 2009 at 8:18pm
The 34th Annual Friends of Old Time Radio Convention (www.fotr.net) will take place October 22-25 2009 at the Holiday Inn North in Newark, NJ. the four day event features live recreations of classic old time radio programs with all-star casts as well as memorabilia, music, panel discussions, autographs and historical presentations. The convention is a great way to meet and show appreciation for the veterans who made old time radio great as well as get to know some of the younger actors who are working to keep the tradition alive.
The invited guest list looks great so far. I know everyone will enjoy seeing the great Simon Jones ("Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy") again. He will be fresh off a Broadway production of "Blithe Spirit" with Angela Lansbury. U.S. OTR veteran Herb Ellis rejoins us for the first time since 1992! Herb was a major presence on Dragnet as well as countless other great West Coast OTR shows. Shirley Mitchell (Lelia Ransom on Gildersleeve), Rosemary Rice (Betty on "Archie"), comedian and New York area television host Chuck McCann, WXYZ veteran Elaine Hyman ("The Lone Ranger"), Laugh-in announcer Bill Owen and Glorida McMillan (Harriet Conklin on Our Miss Brooks) are also back for more. Another great returning guest is Richard Herd of Theater Five and who gained fame later with numerous television roles such as Admiral Paris on Star Trek, and Willhelm on Seinfeld. When he was last at FOTR in 1999, he not only acted and spoke on panels, he also volunteered on sound effects. The guest list changes frequently, so keep checking the website for updates.
Thursday - Sunday programs include an afternoon program that consists of a recreation, panel discussions and delaer rooms. The evening program features a buffet dinner in which there is at least one special guest at each table and all-star recreations. It's a great way to socialize with the stars as well as see them perform. On Sunday, there is a buffet breakfast and panel with remaining guests.
Shows scheduled for recreation this year include The Life of Riley, The Great Gildersleeve, The Saint, It Pays to be Ignorant, Easy Aces and Quiet Please.
Full information on the convention including room rates (historically low right now at $65/AAA) and the cost of the convention itself will publish on www.fotr.net shortly.
Please contact Sean Dougherty, publicity coordinator, at 201-739-2541 or SeanDD@optonline.net or @doughertysean on Twitter for more information.
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Radio Downloader

Posted by Robert on February 20, 2009 at 8:13pm
Radio Downloader is NerdoftheHerd.com's utility for downloading radio station content.

Radio Downloader brings Podcast-like abilities to stream downloading, as well as handling Podcasts RSS feeds. This gives you the convenience of being able to subscribe to regular downloads of your favorite programs, which you can then listen to on your PC or mp3 player.

Allows you to download radio programs made available from BBC iPlayer. The show list also has shows on it that will be broadcast in the future. Allows you to download files made available as attachments to RSS feeds.

One of the best features of the program is the schedule function. Select a program like Afternoon Play, Book At Bedtime, Saturday Play and so on, click on the subscribe button and it will automatically download the show for you daily automatically. Best of all it goes ahead and converts to mp3 format for you. And it's FREE.

It is simple to use.

Download here NerdoftheHerd.com

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KABL RADIO (old time radio music)

Posted by Robert on February 14, 2009 at 7:17am
"It was the month of May 1959 when the soothing sounds of KABL Music first echoed throughout the Bay Area. KABL, named for San Francisco's cable cars, was a bold departure from other radio stations of that era. KABL serenaded San Francisco with lush, beautiful music, very few commercials, and rich-voiced announcers who wooed the Bay Area with poetic paeans. This gentle KABL sound soon swept the area. Listeners responded to its elegant charm and sophisticated whimsy. In fact, the impact was so great that KABL became a hallmark of Bay Area radio. You can read more about the origins of this beloved station in Don Keyes' wonderful memoir, "The Miracle By the Bay...KABL" Now, through the magic of modern technology, we are bringing back fifty years of KABL Music — from 101 Strings to Sinatra, from Montovani to Dean Martin, from the best of the big bands to Tony Bennett, it's America's Best Music!" (from KABL Web Site) You can tune-in to the station from the Nostalgia Radio widget on the main page of TimesPast. If in the mood for some old time radio music, give KABL a listen.
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Forgotten Movie Downloads (Some Rare)

Posted by Robert on February 9, 2009 at 6:12pm
Here is a link to an interesting web site where you can directly download some interesting movies. Below is a quote from web site and a sample download I found of a great Gary Cooper movie. "A Special collection of films the original studios, for whatever reason haven't released to DVD or in some cases, any video format for that matter. Music royalties, subject matter, eh who knows. Here are some of the good ones with more to be added. Rare TV Movies are now included!!"
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DOWNLOAD NOW!! "BRIGHT LEAF" (1950) 110 minutes Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal INFO: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042285/
Once, magnate Major Singleton ran the Royles out of the Kingsmont tobacco country for daring to make lowly cigarettes. Now in 1894, Brant Royle, last of his name, is back. Forceful and macho, Brant intends to re-establish his family no matter what it takes. Two lovely women have waited for him: bordello keeper Sonia, with love; Singleton's daughter Margaret, with hatred and desire. As automation rears its head, the struggle attains an epic quality. Will Royle Cigarettes flood the market? Will Brant pick the wrong woman?
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Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy Of A Controversy

Posted by Robert on February 5, 2009 at 9:30pm
. Amos 'n' Andy was a situation comedy based on stereotypes of African-Americans and popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s. The show began as one of the first radio comedy serials, written and voiced by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll and originating from station WMAQ in Chicago, Illinois. After the series was first broadcast in 1928, it grew in popularity and became a huge influence on the radio serials that followed. The program ran on radio as a nightly serial from 1928 until 1943, as a weekly situation comedy from 1943 until 1955, and as a nightly disc-jockey program from 1954 until 1960. A television adaptation ran on CBS-TV from 1951 until 1953, and continued in syndicated reruns from 1954 until 1966.
On the Radio
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Radio Interview
Video thumbnail. Click to play Download Amos 'n' Andy Interview
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Movies For the Blind

Posted by Robert on January 2, 2009 at 9:43am
. Here is a web site I ran across that does public domain content produced with audio descriptions that can be listen to like an audio book. You can download, listen, or subscribe to by rss or Itunes. Perhaps you know someone visually impaired who might enjoy these productions. They are really well done and anyone might enjoy. The web site and archives can be found here. All free.
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On the Air - The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - Get it for $22.50 - was $75.00

Posted by Robert on November 23, 2008 at 9:00pm

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I do not know for how long, but right now On the Air - The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio can be had for $22.50, regularly $75.00, from Oxford University Press. It is on my Christmas list. Description "Now long out of print, John Dunning's Tune in Yesterday was the definitive one-volume reference on old-time radio broadcasting. Now, in On the Air , Dunning has completely rethought this classic work, reorganizing the material and doubling its coverage, to provide a richer and more informative account of radio's golden age. Here are some 1,500 radio shows presented in alphabetical order. The great programs of the '30s, '40s, and '50s are all here--Amos 'n' Andy, Fibber McGee and Molly, The Lone Ranger, Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour , and The March of Time , to name only a few. For each, Dunning provides a complete broadcast history, with the timeslot, the network, and the name of the show's advertisers. He also lists major cast members, announcers, producers, directors, writers, and sound effects people--even the show's theme song. There are also umbrella entries, such as "News Broadcasts," which features an engaging essay on radio news, with capsule biographies of major broadcasters, such as Lowell Thomas and Edward R. Murrow. Equally important, Dunning provides a fascinating account of each program, taking us behind the scenes to capture the feel of the performance, such as the ghastly sounds of Lights Out (a horror drama where heads rolled and bones crunched), and providing engrossing biographies of the main people involved in the show. A wonderful read for everyone who loves old-time radio, On the Air is a must purchase for all radio hobbyists and anyone interested in 20th-century American history. It is an essential reference work for libraries and radio stations." Get if from Oxford University Press
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A Prairie Home Companion - The News from Lake Wobegon

Posted by Robert on November 17, 2008 at 6:30pm
Featured on left side of TimesPast Main Page is podcast segments of shows for listening or downloading. Below is a clip of highlights and some show descriptions. Visit web site to listen to the full segments of all the shows and their archives.
November 1, 2008 This week on A Prairie Home Companion we're back in St. Paul at the Fitzgerald Theater, with hard-driving string band Pert' Near Sandstone, Rich Dworsky and The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, and The Royal Academy of Radio Acting; Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Tom Keith. Join us this week, before the snow flies. November 8, 2008 Coming to you this week from the Fitzgerald Theater, we've got Dobro daredevil Jerry Douglas with grand champion fiddler Luke Bulla, singers Jearlyn Steele, Kari Shaw, Andra Suchy, Joanna Jahn, the Royal Academy of Radio Acting; Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Tom Keith, Rich Dworsky and The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, and much more. Join us this week for a post-election live broadcast performance. November 15, 2008 This week on A Prairie Home Companion, we've stumbled into grace with very special guest, Emmylou Harris and her notorious Nashville band. Also with us, live from the Fitzgerald Theater, bluesman Spider John Koerner, The Royal Academy of Radio Acting: Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Tom Keith, The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band with sole man Pat Donohue, and our happy host, an escapee from the silent generation, Garrison Keillor. THIS WEEK'S SHOW
Kristin Andreassen Kristin Andreassen
November 22, 2008

This week on A Prairie Home Companion, live from the Fitzgerald Theater, we've got the inimitable singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and percussive dancer Kristin Andreassen. Also with us, The Royal Academy of Radio Actors; Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Tom Keith, The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band with maestro Richard Dworsky, and much more.

http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/
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Books About the Golden Age of Radio

Posted by Robert on November 6, 2008 at 6:22am
1. Sound and Fury By Francis Chase Jr. Harper, 1942 Francis Chase Jr. wrote his "informal history of broadcasting" at a time when broadcasting meant one thing: radio. With our lives now bombarded by television, satellite radio, the Internet and cellphones, it is difficult to imagine the technological breakthrough that radio represented and how it transfixed listeners. "Sound and Fury" beautifully captures the significance of radio's arrival and conveys a deep appreciation for the creative geniuses -- Fred Allen, Jack Benny and countless others -- whose radio shows were a watershed of American entertainment. Chase is astute in his appraisals of the earliest radio pioneers, and he wisely perceives that President Roosevelt's "fireside chats" in the 1930s heralded a serious new role for a medium that had once been thought strictly meant for diversion. The people Chase writes about, many of whom have been forgotten, and the conversational narrative style of the book, almost make it seem that you are listening to a great radio show. 2. A Tower in Babel By Erik Barnouw Oxford, 1966 The first of the three volumes in Erik Barnouw's towering "A History of Broadcasting in the United States" takes the reader back to the late-19th century, when scientists experimented with technology that would allow them to send sound electrically through the air. His descriptions of the earliest efforts of Guglielmo Marconi, Reginald Fessenden and other inventors bring those brilliant men to life and clearly explain the complex science involved. Though it has been used as a textbook, "A Tower in Babel" is also a model of historical storytelling and provides a fine underpinning of modern broadcasting. 3. Raised on Radio By Gerald Nachman Pantheon, 1998 Gerald Nachman was hooked on radio from an early age, and his love of the medium comes through on every page of "Raised on Radio." He describes the book as "a kind of memoir in that many of the shows within these pages were more real to me than my own life." Each chapter is devoted to a particular type of show -- the chapter called "Saddle Sore" discusses western dramas like "The Lone Ranger," while "Nesting Instincts" deals with domestic comedies. "Fibber McGee and Molly," he tells us, "seamlessly blended vaudeville high jinks with radio's cozier atmospherics." In addition to conjuring what it was like to sit at home and feel riveted by the stories emanating from the big box that dominated the living room, Nachman interviews many of the old radio writers and performers, who only enhance the sense that there was a certain magic in that vanished time. 4. Crosley By Rusty McClure Clerisy, 2006 Crosley is a highly recognized name in Cincinnati, not just because the Reds baseball team used to play at Crosley Field but also because two brothers, Powel and Lewis Crosley, built a radio business that helped spawn an entire national industry. Powel was the inventor, Lewis the businessman; together they made fortunes early in the 20th century selling auto parts and manufacturing radios. In the 1920s, the Crosleys started a small radio station, WLW, in Cincinnati -- and that's when the story turns fascinating. The book relates how a single company, and a city not located on either coast, could play a central role in radio's development. In 1934, calculating that if stations had stronger signals, then the Crosleys could build radios that were less expensive but still received broadcasts, the brothers were temporarily given permission to turn WLW into a 500,000-watt powerhouse. Author Rusty McClure, writing with David Stern and Michael A. Banks, excels in placing the brothers' pioneering accomplishments within the context of U.S. society in the 1920s and '30s, and the book sheds welcome light on the lives of two important but underappreciated figures of American business. 5. On the Air By John Dunning Oxford, 1998 John Dunning's "encyclopedia of old-time radio" is an invaluable resource about the performers, shows, sponsors, history and influence of the medium. We start alphabetically with "The A&P Gypsies" ("exotic music with a nomadic motif; one of radio's earliest, most distinctive programs") and end in "Zorro" country, finding along the way engagingly written entries that reflect a savviness about the shows themselves and their significance to audiences at the time. And Dunning is thorough: The entries include vital information about when and where shows were broadcast, who starred in them, who led the orchestra and other details that any radio fanatic will relish. Essays spread throughout this dense volume provide a commanding overview of the complexities of an entire industry at the height of its influence. From Wall Street Journal
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YouTube has moved to put full-length television shows on its site for the first time.

Posted by Robert on October 15, 2008 at 6:15am

At a time when much of the television news revolves around the analog to digital change and reality television hijinks, YouTube has made some news of its own. The Google-owned video Web site has moved to put full-length television shows on its site for the first time.

Historically, YouTube has hosted a bewildering and attractive variety of video clips, the vast majority of which have been less than ten minutes in length. YouTube announced on Friday that it had finalized a deal with CBS to offer shows such as Star Trek, MacGyver, Beverly Hills 90210, and The Young and the Restless.

In some ways this new offering is more of a change in length and legality than an abrupt left turn. There have been small segments of television shows on YouTube almost since the beginning, but these also adhered more or less to the ten-minute time limit and were not sanctioned by the owners of the content. Often, such segments were removed after the copyright owner complained about their inclusion on the site. That will no longer be the case, at least for the content covered by the deal with CBS.

YouTube also said that it was in negotiation with other providers of lengthier content, specifically mentioning other television networks. This announcement follows on the heels of the introduction of their TheaterView product, which is aimed at the provision of a higher quality online viewing experience. It is not too far a stretch of the imagination to assume that these two new services are somehow related.

The new services also put YouTube head to head with Hulu, competing directly for the full-length television show viewer. Hulu currently has more of this sort of content than YouTube, but YouTube has the lion’s share of the Web video audience. It is estimated that YouTube has 100 times the viewers that Hulu has. With viewership being the key number in this marketplace, and with a business plan that now includes full-length television content, YouTube (and Google) are positioned to make a serious run at their competition. . (From BLORGE)

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Hercule Poirot in Halloween Party

Posted by Robert on October 11, 2008 at 6:25am
. When a little girl claims to have witnessed a murder at a Halloween party, her news is ignored as the fanciful rambling of an imaginative child - that is, until the little girl turns up dead! Hercule Poirot must unmask a murderer amongst the things that go bump in the night.
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Pop Out Player

Posted by Robert on October 5, 2008 at 10:11pm
TIP: If you want to listen to a members play list, while you browse, do not forget about the pop out button 11032205257?profile=original on the player by volume control. Pretty neat.
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calfkiller cowboys podcast

Posted by Robert on September 30, 2008 at 9:52pm
I am rounding up and posting westerns in a new podcast called calfkiller cowboys. All the content will be available by rss feed and can be subscribed to on iTunes or any rss feed reader. I had done a lot of selections in the past on the original calfkiller OTR podcast and had several request to single out the westerns. You can visit the page here calfkiller cowboys. It is still under constructrion, but the feeds are ready to subscribe to, and all the content there now and in the future will be iPod, Zune, ect. ready, or available for direct download. Robert
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Blog post about Old Time Radio TimesPast

Posted by Robert on September 27, 2008 at 11:10am
Here is an email received from NING Hi! My name is Nick, and I'm a community advocate at Ning. I edit the Ning blog (blog.ning.com), and I wanted to let you know that we recently featured your network. We try to feature as many active and unique networks as possible. We also write about upcoming releases and share tips and tricks to help Network Creators get the most out of their networks. You can read the featured blog post about your network here: http://blog.ning.com/2008/09/get-nostalgic-for-old-time-radio.html I hope you enjoy it! Thanks, Nick
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"War of the Worlds" By H.G. Wells by actors from Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation

Posted by Robert on September 13, 2008 at 10:52pm
"War of the Worlds" By H.G. Wells, adapted by Howard Koch, starring Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, Wil Wheaton, Meagan Fay, Jerry Hardin, Dwight Schultz, Armin Shimerman, Tom Virtue, and John de Lancie. Join actors from Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation as they recreate this classic radio thriller. The breathless pace and convincing details make it clear why the 1938 broadcast of an "eyewitness report" of an invasion from Mars caused a nationwide panic in 1938. Originally performed by Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre of the Air, WAR OF THE WORLDS is truly the mother of all space invasions, offering a rare combination of chills, thrills and great literature. Includes an interview with Dr. David Stevenson, professor of Planetary Science at CalTech. The Links are in the share box on main page left bottom. It is in two parts.
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