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September 22, 2023
2 new products and 5 featured products from Radio Archives this week!
All new and featured products are discounted the first week.
Featured: previously released
Volume 1
When those who celebrate the Golden Age of Hollywood reflect back on the halcyon days of the early 1930s, one particular nightspot comes immediately to mind: the Cocoanut Grove at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel. This lavishly appointed club, part of the massive 23-acre Ambassador resort that also included four restaurants, a bowling alley, a billiard room, and even a movie theater, was decorated in Moroccan style and featured full-sized palm trees reportedly salvaged from Rudolph Valentino's "The Sheik." In addition to the decor, which also offered a night sky filled with stars (thanks to about 1000 small light bulbs), an elevated stage, and both dining and dancing room for several hundred patrons, customers came for the smooth musical entertainment provided by a series of dance orchestras and their popular vocalists - many of whom would later go on to star careers in radio, recordings, and the film industry.
Thanks to the foresight of Abe Frank, the manager of both the hotel and the Grove, in the mid-1920s the Ambassador had been equipped with a small radio studio, allowing the orchestras to be enjoyed well outside the confines of the nightclub. From the late 1920s well into the 1960s, live remote broadcasts from the Cocoanut Grove were a popular feature of nighttime radio, allowing millions of people to enjoy and even dance to the music they would otherwise be unable to afford to hear in person. These broadcasts, aired live nightly for two full hours, only increased the reputation of the Grove as "the place to be" when it came to top notch West Coast entertainment.
From the beginning, the Cocoanut Grove's glamorous atmosphere attracted the top names in Hollywood for dining, dancing, and mingling between tables. This celebrity connection was always well-publicized by the Ambassador - and for very good reason: tourists coming to Los Angeles for a vacation wanted to see the stars and there was no place where the stars came out quite so regularly as the Ambassador Hotel. On an average evening, it was not at all uncommon to see such well-known celebrities as Joan Crawford, Jack Oakie, or Jean Harlow coming to see Bing Crosby or Russ Columbo sing with Gus Arnheim's Orchestra or dance to Jimmie Grier's band as they accompanied popular tenor Donald Novis or The Three Ambassadors (Martin Sperzel, Jack Smith, and Al Teeter). Even though there was a nationwide depression, Hollywood stars and executives still needed to be entertained -- and the Cocoanut Grove was usually their first choice.
In this collection, Radio Archives offers you the chance to hear what an evening at the Cocoanut Grove was like from 1931 thru 1934, complete with many of the musical talents that so frequently filled the floor with dancers. Thanks to Transco (The Transcription Company of America), which chose to pre-record and syndicate one hundred or so quarter-hour shows in the style of the live remote broadcasts of the time, we can here experience four of the Grove's top orchestra leaders of the early 1930s: Gus Arnheim, Jimmie Grier, Phil Harris, and Ted Fio Rito. Their smooth and melodic performances, epitomizing the "West Coast Style" that would soon become prevalent in popular recordings and motion pictures, is matched by vocal performances by Loyce Whiteman, Leah Ray, Dave Marshall, Harry Barris, Dick Webster, Jean Schock, and many others.
An impressive feature of this collection, particularly for those who associate the 1930s with scratchy old 78 RPM recordings, is the amazing audio quality of these restored syndicated broadcasts. Working with a series of beautiful 16" shellac Transco originals, these full and rich electrical recordings have required very little digital restoration to make them sound as if they were recorded just yesterday, rather than well over seventy years ago.
Aside from the obvious rarity of these now impossible-to-find recordings, another benefit is the extended length accorded to most of the musical selections they contain. Where most commercially released 78s of the period ran just a little under three minutes per ten-inch side, requiring the musicians to edit their arrangements to fit, a great many of these programs offer numbers running four full minutes or more - just as they would have sounded if you had been lucky enough to dance to them at the Cocoanut Grove.
So, put on your tuxedo or evening gown, slip on your dancing shoes, and spend a few hours dancing to the infectious rhythms of the Cocoanut Grove Ambassadors. It's a trip through time that we know you'll want to take again and again.
Featured: previously released
Volume 54
Radio Preservation has always been at the core of Radio Archives. This exciting series is derived from our massive collection of thirty thousand radio shows from 16" transcription discs.
This 20 hour collection includes shows from the classic days of Radio. You'll find rare and obscure as well as mainstream radio shows from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s in the Radio Archives Treasures sets.
These shows have all been restored with state-of-the-art CEDAR technology - the audio processing system used by major recording companies to restore older recordings. We expect the shows to be the best sounding copies available anywhere. Radio Archives Treasures are restored to sparkling digital quality.
Volume 54 includes shows from these series.
Blondie, Calling All Cars, The Bob and Ray Show, Your Hit Parade, Walter Gibson Interview, Crime and Peter Chambers, Boris Karloff Show, Word Detective with Basil Rathbone, Behind The Mike, Chevrolet Musical Moments, Front Line Theatre, The Anderson Family, A Day in the Life of Dennis Day, The Robin Hood Show, Comedy Stars of Broadway, The Ford Theatre, Men at Sea, The Meredith Willson Show, The Corsican Brothers, Horatio Hornblower, Safari, Town and Country Time, and The Lux Radio Theatre.
Featured: previously released
Horror in Gold
by Will Murray and Lester Dent writing as Kenneth Robeson
Read by Michael McConnohie
It began with an uncanny encounter on busy Seventh Avenue. Two men pass each other in the street, walking along calmly one minute—struck down the next by a horrific fate.
All over Manhattan, soundless detonations cut down prince and pauper alike. No one is safe. Great buildings are reduced to ruin. Banks are demolished. The authorities stand helpless.
Only one man, Doc Savage—scientist, adventurer and superman—can penetrate the eerie enigma that threatens to bring the mightiest city on earth to its knees. But when The Alchemist decrees that the Man of Bronze must surrender unconditionally to save New York, will Doc be snuffed out next?
From the besieged canyons of New York to the rugged coast of Alaska, Doc Savage and his men race to resolve the riddle that brings grisly doom to ordinary citizens—and threatens the economic recovery of a Depression-besieged world.
Michael McConnohie once again gives a commanding performance reading this enthralling thriller.
5 hours - MP3 regular price $9.99
Featured: previously released
Devil's Pawnbroker
by Emile C. Tepperman writing as Grant Stockbridge
Read by Nick Santa Maria
Deep-hidden in evil, Satan's Suicide Club sat in council — and men died. What dreadful force drove these men, leaders of society with everything to live for, to end their lives at the behest of that sinister being who sardonically called himself Professor Mephisto? And why did men and women suffer the tortures of the damned rather than defy this mysterious being? Richard Wentworth once more assumes the cloak of the Spider to free these lost ones from a living hell and a disgraceful death — and steps into the jaws of a devil's trap that casts his life among the lives in pawn!
In a letter to a Spider fan, Author Norvell W. Page once wrote, “Think of me as Wentworth, if you will. The line between us is not too distinct.”
A transplanted Virginian, Norvell. W. Page took Spider readers on a roller-coaster ride of wild action and fevered emotion unlike anything ever published. Once he got going, he painted a portrait of a tortured superhero, one more emblematic of the 21st century than of the Great Depression. For Richard Wentworth saw himself as a man on a holy mission, a self-appointed messiah with a martyr complex.
Norvell W. Page’s mark on the Spider as a messiah like figure would remain, even in his absence, while other authors, such as Emile C. Tepperman, thrust Wentworth into adventure after adventure. Although each writer brought his own style to the tales, all had to work with the madness and panicked pacing Page had infused into the character for all time.
Nick Santa Maria again takes on the dual role of Richard Wentworth, aka the Spider, Master of Men, for this powerful story. Devil's Pawnbroker. Originally published in The Spider magazine, May, 1937.
Radio Archives Pulp Classics
From 1934 to 1939 America thrilled to the adventures of Secret Agent X — the "man of a thousand faces" — as he battled futuristic weapons and mad scientists. The true identity of Secret Agent X was never revealed. He used his mastery of disguise to work undercover for the U.S. government. With his aide, newspaper reporter Betty Dale, and his secretive government handler K-9, he battled weird and fantastical threats to America for forty-one amazing issues. Secret Agent X returns in these vintage pulp tales, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format.
Radio Archives Pulp Classics
Total Pulp Experience. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine.
A steely-eyed private dick with an unshaven jaw of granite... a gat of dull gun-metal gray sags heavily under his armpit... he works the seamy underbelly of the city, coming up against squinty-eyed thugs, weasels who value human life less than the coins jingling in their pocket, and red-lipped bimbos with hot breath, wide eyes and long silky legs. The stories are hard, gritty and action-packed. They fairly scream, "pulp!" This was what Private Detective Stories offered beginning with its first issue in June of 1937. It came from the same publisher who brought you Blazing Western, Candid Detective, The Lone Ranger Magazine, Speed Adventure Stories and Speed Mystery. In all, 134 issues were published until the magazine closed in June of 1949. Private Detective Stories returns in these vintage pulp tales, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format.
Featured: previously released
Radio Archives Pulp Classics
Total Pulp Experience. These exciting pulp adventures have been beautifully reformatted for easy reading as an eBook and features every story, every editorial, and every column of the original pulp magazine. As a special bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction especially for this series of eBooks.
Another epic exploit of America’s best-loved pulp-fiction character of the 1930s and 1940s: The Spider — Master of Men! Richard Wentworth — the dread Spider, nemesis of the Underworld, lone wolf anti-crime crusader who always fights in that grim no-man’s land between Law and lawless — returns in vintage pulp tales of the Spider, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format.
Radio Archives Pulp Classics line of eBooks are of the highest quality and feature the great Pulp Fiction stories of the 1930s-1950s. All eBooks produced by Radio Archives are available in ePub and Mobi formats for the ultimate in compatibility. If you have a Kindle, the Mobi version is what you want. New Kindle's use ePub. If you have an iPad/iPhone, Android, or Nook, then the ePub version is what you want.
The Bargain Basement is where you find all the discounted Audio CDs including everything featured in this newsletter.
Comments From Our Customers!
Russ Gifford writes:
The Best of the Big Bands, Volume 2. More Wonderful Times! The second volume of this carried on the good feelings I got from the first set. Both sets are so crisp and clear they are a joy! And the interactions with the band leaders, and the breathless announcements welcoming you to the programs make them feel special - because they are. A surprise for me was the ending session with Guy Lombardo - what a Great set of performances! Again, terrific! Thank you!
If you'd like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We'd love to hear from you!
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Audio CD ordering information
We offer Audio CDs of all of our Old Time Radio sets and Pulp Audiobooks. To order click here for the Audio CD Order Form or by voicemail at 800-886-0551. All discounted Audio CDs are in the Bargain Basement.
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The Radio Archives Newsletter is emailed every Friday morning. The products in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you'll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it's the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, or the excitement of our pulp audiobooks and pulp eBooks, you'll find 2,300 intriguing products at RadioArchives.com.
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