Radio America

Abbott & Costello were one of the greatest comedy teams in the history of show business. They mastered the straightman/clown relationship, creating a magical chemistry that would take them from the burlesque stage to radio to broadway to film and finally, to television Born William Alexander Abbott on October 6, 1897 in Asbury Park, N.J., Bud became one of the most sought after and polished straightmen on the burlesque circuit. It was here that he met his future partner, Louis Francis Cristillo, born on March 6, 1906 in Paterson, N.J. Their official teaming was in 1936. Although they became a popular booking commodity on the burlesque wheel, it wasn't until they appeared on the KATE SMITH RADIO HOUR, performing what would soon become known as their classic signature skit, "Who's On First," that Bud Abbott & Lou Costello were hurled to stardom, and to Hollywood. Signed to Universal in 1939, Abbott & Costello reigned as the new "Kings Of Comedy," producing a solid decade of box office hits as: "Buck Privates;" "In The Navy;" "Hold That Ghost;" "Naughty Nineties;" "Time Of Their Lives;" and their 1948 monster classic, "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein." Today, that film remains a favorite among fans, as well as an international cult masterpiece. Bud and Lou's style and brand of comedy helped lift the morale of the American public during World War II. Eager to lend their time to the war effort, the boys funded (out-of-pocket) a cross-country tour to help raise much needed funds on behalf of the War Bond Drive. Everywhere they appeared there were sell-out audiences. They were honored on the steps of New York's City Hall by Mayor Furiello LaGuardia for raising a record-breaking 89 million in just three days

Address to the American People on Civil Rights. Oval Office, Washington, DC.

clickhere Visit the Radio America Store web site.Buy your 50 mp3 for &5.00 Perry Mason on the Radio Since his film experience with Hollywood turned out to be so embarrassing it may come as a surprise that Gardner agreed to put his hero on radio. Although his compadres advised him to aim for a nighttime, prime time slot for Mason, Gardner sold the radio rights to Procter & Gamble, the kingpins of soap, who decided to put the series on during the day. (It was these daytime radio programs, usually funded by detergent companies, that gave rise to the name "soap opera.") The Perry Mason radio series premiered on a few stations in October 1943 and in three months was playing five days a week on stations all across the country. Gardner considered the show a kind of continuing advertisement for his books, in the same way that the Ellery Queen radio show promoted the popular detective books of the same name. But when he sat down and tried to write scripts for the episodes, he failed miserably. "As a soaper, I stunk," he said at the time. He admitted his strengths were in narrative writing and not scripting. When the sponsors brought in another writer to punch up the Mason character, Gardner felt his control of the show (he had "veto rights") slipping away. He came to dislike the show's writing, the plots, the production, even the ads. And he must have been qualified to judge. He monitored the program every day, taking notes--not many of which were complimentary.

Affordable Web Hosting $5.99 A month Death Valley Days was a long-running American radio and television anthology about true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. It was created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman and ran on radio until 1945. It ran from 1952 to 1975 as a syndicated television show. The 558 television stories, which had different actors, were introduced by a host. The longest-running was "The Old Ranger" from 1952-1965, played by Stanley Andrews. The hosts following were actors Ronald Reagan, Robert Taylor, John Payne, Dale Robertson and Merle Haggard. During his time as host, Reagan also frequently appeared in the program as a performer. It has been rerun under other names and with other hosts, since the hosting segment at the beginning and the end could be easily reshot with another performer with no effect on the story. Alternate hosts and titles have included Frontier Adventure (Dale Robertson), The Pioneers (Will Rogers, Jr.), Trails West (Ray Milland), Western Star Theatre (Rory Calhoun) and Call of the West (John Payne). The last title was also often applied to the series' memorable, haunting theme music. Under the Death Valley Days title, the program was invariably sponsored by Pacific Coast Borax Company, which during the program's run changed its name to U.S. Borax Company following a merger. Advertisements for the company's best-known products, 20 Mule Team Borax, a laundry additive, and Boraxo, a powdered hand soap, were often done by the program's host. Death Valley was the scene of much of the company's borax mining operations. The "20-Mule Team Borax" consumer products division of U.S. Borax was eventually bought out by the Dial Corporation, which as of 2006 still manufactures and markets them. U.S. Borax continued to mine and refine the borates and maintained Dial as one of its customers. In 2006, Rio Tinto, the parent company of U.S. Borax. Inc., decided to merge USB with two of its other holdings, Dampier Salt and Luzenac Talc, to form Rio Tinto Minerals and has moved its corporate headquarters to Denver, Colorado. Death Valley Days is, judging from sheer number of episodes broadcast, by far the most successful syndicated television Western, the most successful television Western ever in the half-hour format, and arguably the most successful syndication of any genre in the history of the U.S. television market (Baywatch had a larger international market among U.S.-produced syndicated programs.)

clickhere Visit the Radio America Store web site.Buy your 50 mp3 for &5.00 In 1934-36, Berle was heard regularly on The Rudy Vallee Hour, and he got much publicity as a regular on The Gillette Original Community Sing, a Sunday night comedy-variety program broadcast on CBS from September 6, 1936 to August 29, 1937. In 1939, he was the host of Stop Me If You've Heard This One with panelists spontaneously finishing jokes sent in by listeners. Three Ring Time, a comedy-variety show sponsored by Ballantine Ale was followed by a 1943 program sponsored by Campbell's Soups. The audience participation show Let Yourself Go (1944-45) could best be described as slapstick radio with studio audience members acting out long suppressed urges (often directed at host Berle). Kiss and Make Up, on CBS in 1946, featured the problems of contestants decided by a jury from the studio audience with Berle as the Judge. He also made guest appearances on many comedy-variety radio programs during the 1930s and 1940s. Scripted by Hal Block and Martin Ragaway, The Milton Berle Show brought Berle together with Arnold Stang, later a familiar face as Berle's TV sidekick. Others in the cast were Pert Kelton, Mary Schipp, Jack Albertson, Arthur Q. Bryan, Ed Begley, vocalist Dick Forney and announcer Frank Gallop. The Ray Bloch Orchestra provided the music for the series. Sponsored by Philip Morris, it aired on NBC from March 11, 1947, until April 13, 1948. His last radio series was The Texaco Star Theater, which began September 22, 1948 on ABC and continued until June 15, 1949, with Berle heading the cast of Stang, Kelton and Gallop, along with Charles Irving, Kay Armen and double-talk specialist Al Kelly. It employed top comedy writers (Nat Hiken, brothers Danny and Neil Simon, Aaron Ruben), and Berle later recalled this series as "the best radio show I ever did... a hell of a funny variety show." It served as a springboard for Berle's rise as television's first major star.