Old time radio like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin mixed with a mess of other genres at any given moment.
dave
dave
Any fans of old time radio?
- Thread starter Rusty Blade
- Start date
My first post on here. I'm a minor member of The Old Time Radio Researchers, there are thousands of classic old time radio shows of all varieties available to listen to and to download (for free!). My favorite is The Great Gildersleeve. The two best sites in my opinion are otrrlibrary.org and radioechoes.com. OTRR also has a Facebook page which has a lot of info on old time radio and updated collections.
I bought a bunch of comedies a while back. I transfer a disc at a time to my phone and listen to them on my way to and from work. I've been listening to Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, The Great Gildersleeve, Mel Blanc's Fix-it shop, Amos and Andy... By my reconning I've got a few years left before I run through all of them. The biggest problem I have is with the quality of the recordings. Some you can't even make out what is being said. Also, some have many repeats so instead of 100 episodes you end up with 70 or so. But those sponsored commercials seem to be effective even 70 years later!
I grew up in the 1940's listening to such shows as: Superman, The lone Ranger, This Is Your FBI, and many more. The imagination , triggered by listening to these shows, was much better than any television, IMHO. The past few years I download these shows onto my MP3 and listen on a tiny Bluetooth audio amp with speaker as I lay in bed at night. Makes for a restful sleep.
I was born in the 1960's so I had the CBS Radio Mystery Theater and the Sears Playhouse to listen to (CBS had a much better program). But my parents had an album of some old shows and I got into them on record at the public library. Listened to a lot of Mercury Theater, Sherlock Holmes. Nowadays, I listen to them on my commute. I also really like that the BBC hasn't stopped making these and there are some really good BBC radio shows out there.
I was born in 1969, so didn't listen to any classic old time radio growing up, but within the last 5 years or so have bought a bunch of old tube type radios, and stream programs in the evenings. Old Time radio is a great app for android and has a huge collection of material. The writing makes you realize how poor so much contemporary entertainment is. Lots of amazing content from the golden age of radio that is completely relevant today, even though its 70-80 years old. Also, CBS did a whole series of classic radio in the mid 70's that is very good, and has obviously better audio quality than the old stuff.
I agree it's entertaining, but relevent?
Try playing an episode of Amos n' Andy to the young'ns to-day....
No surer way to induce a heart attack in a Millennial!
Obviously some content fails the relevent test. But the mystery/ detective and horror shows many times seem like they could have been made last year. The comedy programs are very different from most of todays comedy. The classic comedy can be very funny, and without using foul language and bathroom humor.
My favorites in the comedy are the variety shows like Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Red Skelton, etc. The absolute best part is the ad libs when the audience is going crazy and you know there's some shenanigans on stage. And of course, Benny's show was the Seinfeld of the OTR era.
A familiar story: John Rose's Vintage Radio Home
I really love the Sci-Fi end of old shows, but 'Our Miss Brooks' is terrific!!
Nice! Thanks for the link, will peruse later when I have more time
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
I really enjoy Audible and they preserved some of the old Radio shows, I bought "Powder river" up to season 10 years and it's a western Dramatized bunch of talented folks who walk you through life in a western setting with some of the great people of the time and new technology and interesting characters.
When I was a kid in the late 70s we lived in Belgium. No TV so I listed all the time to AFN Radio (American Forces Network). They always played the old time radio shows. I loved them. You’ve sparked my interest now. I’m gonna have to go find them on the net. Thanks 
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
I came late to the game of old time radio. My first listen was in the late 1970's on WCCO, they ran CBS RMT (radio mystery theatre) Later found it when I bought a vehicle with satellite radio. Then discovered all the shows on Archive.org.
Some of my favorites are, Our Miss Brooks, The Whistler, Suspense, Johnny Dollar, Tales of Gregory Hood, Gunsmoke, it goes on and on. In fact, my forum name comes from an old time radio show.
And yes, I agree, Bob Bailey was the best Johnny Dollar. Let George Do It was good too.
Some of my favorites are, Our Miss Brooks, The Whistler, Suspense, Johnny Dollar, Tales of Gregory Hood, Gunsmoke, it goes on and on. In fact, my forum name comes from an old time radio show.
And yes, I agree, Bob Bailey was the best Johnny Dollar. Let George Do It was good too.
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
Tons of them. All free and downloadableYou’ve sparked my interest now. I’m gonna have to go find them on the net. Thanks
I sometimes listen to old reruns of CBS mystery theatre? I think it was called. It was on in the 1970's. Edward G Marshall maybe was the old actor that hosted it.
Used to listen to it at nights in the summer, and on Friday nights during the skool year.
Used to listen to it at nights in the summer, and on Friday nights during the skool year.
I am weird. When it comes to music, I have no problem. When it comes to paying attention (things like sports, classic radio stories, audio books), my mind drifts and I have no idea what has happened. I have to see the man running for a first down, I have to read the words. For most things I need the visual stimuli. Not sure why I don’t need it for music.
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
They are available on Archive.org but also on this site that gives a nice episode by episode synopsis and lets you listen as well. Episode Guide | CBS Radio Mystery Theater - https://www.cbsrmt.com/synopsis.html/1974
E.G. Marshall E. G. Marshall - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._G._Marshall "During his life, he chose not to reveal what "E. G." stood for, telling most people it stood for "Everybody's Guess,"
