From Those Were the Days:

1938 - Stella Dallas was presented for the first time on the NBC Red Radio network. The serial was “the true to life story of mother love and sacrifice.” Stella Dallas continued to do this and so much more until 1955.

1944 - CBS Radio saluted America’s war doctors with The Doctor Fights, presented for the first time this day.
10:22:12 PM    comment []  trackback []  

A prince among dealers

Last week, I noticed that Terry Salomonson had some new CDs for purchase at his website, the Audio Classics Archive. I called him to place an order for some Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis broadcasts, and I enjoyed a nice 45-minute chat with him as a result.

In talking with the many folks in The Hobby, it’s not unusual that the subject of OTR dealers crops from time to time, and in those conversations I have never heard a disparaging word about Terry. He’s a great conversationalist, not to mention a genial, pleasant, A-1 stand-up guy. The CDs that I have purchased from him in the past (of which there have been many) are the crème de la crème of quality, and the introductory deal to joining Audio Classics Archive can’t be beat, I’m telling ya. He’s also a walking encyclopedia on those wonderful programs that originated from WXYZ in Detroit during Radio’s Golden Age—The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet and Challenge of the Yukon. In fact, during our conversation he mentioned that his brand-spanking-new Lone Ranger log is out (the price is $30.00, a mere bag of shells for what is literally a 300-page tome) and so I ordered one of those as well. I even gave him a slight nudge (Terry would argue that it was more of an arm-twisting) toward releasing a few more Phil Harris-Alice Faye shows, of which he has the original transcription discs—many of them have not been heard in years.

So if you get a free moment or two, why not skate on over and check out his site—he’s got some very nice—and also rare—stuff, plus several logs from the programs discussed here at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear can be found there as well.

And while I’m on the subject of dealers, the First Generation Radio Archives have just released their latest Premier Collection—a ten-CD set containing twenty broadcasts of radio’s The Cisco Kid. Fully restored and remastered, the shows originate from 1953 and some of them feature the one-and-only Mel Blanc filling in for the ailing Harry Lang—which answers the question I had previously about when Blanc appeared on the series. The collection is available only until June 14th, so if you’re interested, snap it up while you can.
10:20:02 PM    comment []  trackback []