Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Radio Days

I’ve finished reading What Really Happened by Brett Halliday so Michael Shayne was on my mind when I spotted these radio collections at Walgreen’s. For only a buck how could you go wrong? I didn’t because the two episodes featured: “The Case of the Crooked Wheel” and “The Case of the Wandering Fingerprints” are entertaining mysteries that I’m enjoying during my morning commute. The Shayne series came to radio in 1944 starring Wally Maher. Rising film star, Jeff Chandler assumed the role in 1950. The other collection, Casey, Crime Photographer starred Staats Cottsworth as a “Morning Express” photographer who loved to play detective. Equally entertaining as the Shayne set but unfortunately this collection only contains two episodes also.

So I’ve started searching the web for more old time radio and came across Radio Lovers. This site contains Ellery Queen, Philip Marlowe, Adventures of, Richard Diamond Police Detective and Voyage of the Scarlet Queen to name a few of the more well-known in the mystery genre. There’s also a sci-fi superhero section that contains Batman and Buck Rogers. If you like old programming, swing by.

Btw, have you listened to Charles Gramlich’s "Thief of Eyes" over at Fear on Demand? If you haven’t then you’re missing an incredible marriage of words and voice. Glen Hallstrom does a masterful job of reading this poetic piece. I’m looking forward to the next offering from Sidney Williams.

14 comments:

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

David - I'm an old time radio addict myself. You can find loads on the net - I recommend That Man Hammer, the SAINT with Vincent Price and the sIX shooteR. Many of these can be found as podcasts. Just GOOGLE old time radio podcasts.

I'm currently listening to the old Shadow podcast.

Sidney said...

Thanks for the plug for Fear on Demand. I'm a big fan of OTR also.

Charles Gramlich said...

When you listen to those old shows, like The shadow, you can really hear how they were presented differently than in writing.

Thanks for the kind words on "Thief of Eyes."

David Cranmer said...

Archavist, These shows are so wonderfully descriptive that it's like a crash course in pulp 101.

Sidney, I'm a big fan of what you are doing and I linked to it on our BTAP page.

Charles, "Thief of Eyes" and "Whiskey, Guns, and Sin" was the greatest one-two punch in recent memory.

Chris said...

Hey David, I have some extra copies of a couple of the full-cast L'Amour audio dramatizations. I'd be happy to send some to you—I think you expressed interest in the past. Send me an e-mail at cjones@harbornet.com with a forwarding address if you're interested.

Randy Johnson said...

I agree with you on Charles' two punch. Great stuff.
If you haven't been to these sites, I recommend OTR.net and Radio Tales of The Strange & Fantastic. I have links on mt blog.

mybillcrider said...

Check out this blog, David: http://www.escape-suspense.com/

David Cranmer said...

Chris, standby for an e-mail...

Randy, Thanks for the links. There's a wealth of sites that should keep me busy for awhile.

Bill, I just checked it out and I see they have quite a collection with lots of biographical info... something this history nut will enjoy. Thanks.

Cullen Gallagher said...

I've always been curious about OTR, and all these comments have given me loads of helpful information. Thank everyone!

Sarah Hina said...

Thanks for the links, David. I'm particularly interested in Charles's piece and will go check it out.

David Cranmer said...

Cullen, Lots of good suggestions here that I'm already following up on.

Sarah, You will not be disappointed.

Anonymous said...

One site for most things OTR, with incredible collections of shows you can download free, ishttp://www.archive.org/index.php.On the main page, click audio, then radio programs, then OTR and have a blast. I'm working on downloading the whole Gunsmoke series now.

David Cranmer said...

Brian, Thanks for the tip and I will check it out. This past week I've been immersed in the mysteries from the 40s and 50s. I can't get enough of the descriptive phrases they use. I'm sitting in front of my laptop with a pen and paper taking notes.

Smokestack Jones said...

Hi David,

It's me Glen Hallstrom. First off, thanks for the kind words for "Thief of Eyes." It was a pleasure working with Sydney and Chrles's work was truly a beautiful thing to voice.

As for OTR, I'm also a fan, although my taste veers more towards comedy, but when I get tired of Jack Benny, I loves me some action, mystery and suspense.

Of late, my addiction of choice has been "The Adventures of Harry Lime." Orson Welles's voice and some really tight, suspensful scripts are a pleasure to listen to.

-SJ