Old time radio shows, where to find? (1 Viewer)

[smithb]

Finding out that many classic TV shows came form old radio shows, I thought it might be nice to listen to some of these on the way to work. Assuming that what is available is probably in the public domain, where would one go to download them to try out. Otherwise, if anyone has recommendations of CD compilations of old radio shows that could be useful as well.

Edit: I guess I should have done a google search before posting. I found this site: www.oldtimeradiofans.com/ to investigate. If anyone has any other suggestions, it would still be appreciated.

 

[jamoon2006]

I'm a huge OTR fan. Try Radio Spirits (www.radiospirits.com) and Nostalgia Ventures (nostalgiaventures.com). Both have a great variety of dramas and comedies.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

You can download literally thousands of them from www.archive.org.

Use "Radio Programs" for the media type, and you'll be kept busy for years. (There are 2,045 categories right now.)

You can easily search for specific programs, too. For example, doing a search for "Jack Benny" with "Radio Programs" for the media will bring you to hundreds of episodes of his radio program for downloading. These aren't illegal bootlegs, either. Archive.org is a very reputable website.

 

[BobSchneider]

Wow joe thanks for the great tip. Looks like I going to get my Dragnet on for free

 

[Regulus]

You can find CDs of Radio Shows at CRACKER BARREL Stores, however I must warn you, they are probably OVERPRICED!

 

[David_B_K]

I have ordered several programs from OTR Cat-www.otrcat.com/
He has lots of shows in MP3 format at good prices.

 

[Sumnernor]

I am a big classical music fan in part due to two radio programs: "The Lone Ranger" and "the Green Hornet" done by station WXYZ in Detroit. Does anyone have any background on how the music was chosen for these 2 programs?

 

[smithb]

Thanks all for the options. I'm excited to burn some to a CD and try them out during my morning commute.

 

[David_B_K]

Posted by Sumnernor: I am a big classical music fan in part due to two radio programs: "The Lone Ranger" and "the Green Hornet" done by station WXYZ in Detroit. Does anyone have any background on how the music was chosen for these 2 programs?

I would think it was simply a case of the music being in public domain, and most movie music imitated the great classics, anyway. I can still remember hearing on The Lone Ranger TV series music I know well. If there is a scene in which they are building suspense, the opening of the "Un Bal" movement of Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique is frequently heard. If the Lone Ranger jumped off the rocks onto the bad guy, a portion of The Flying Dutchman overture was the usual choice. I imagine Flight of the Bumblebee was chosen because of the similarity of the music to the sound of a buzzing insect.

Posted by smithb: Thanks all for the options. I'm excited to burn some to a CD and try them out during my morning commute.

Before my wife retired a few years ago, we frequently would listen to radio broadcasts during our commute. we listened to a lot of Orson Welles & the Mercury Theatre, Welles' Lives of Harry Lime, Phillip Marlowe, Suspense, etc. Good stuff. Enjoy your commute.

 

[David Von Pein]

Some of my favorites:

http://youtube.com/view_play_list?p=869A14179152A076

http://youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9DA5E30A3D5560F5

http://youtube.com/view_play_list?p=CDF072E944CFCB51

 

[The Obsolete Man]

If anyone has Sirius/XM Satellite radio, they have the Radio Classics channel, which is all OTR.

That's where I first developed a taste for OTR.

 

[Charles Ellis]

A link for some free MP3 downloads of radio shows:
http://154.ca/otr/archive.shtml

 

[Sumnernor]

Originally Posted by David_B_K




I would think it was simply a case of the music being in public domain, and most movie music imitated the great classics, anyway. I can still remember hearing on The Lone Ranger TV series music I know well. If there is a scene in which they are building suspense, the opening of the "Un Bal" movement of Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique is frequently heard. If the Lone Ranger jumped off the rocks onto the bad guy, a portion of The Flying Dutchman overture was the usual choice. I imagine Flight of the Bumblebee was chosen because of the similarity of the music to the sound of a buzzing insect.

Movie music has nothing to do with it. This is radio. The "Theme" of the Lone Ranger was the William Tell Overture and that of the Green Hornet is the "Flight of the Bumblebee of Rimsky-Korsakov. Somewhere I have an almost complete list of the GH music. For example Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony & Francesca da Rimini or Gliere's Symphony No 3 "Ilja Mourametz", Stravinsky Firebird; Wagner's Tanhäuser. However "just" discovered about 7 years ago is "The Suite From the Middle Ages" by Glazinov - hardly a war horse! The program was done in the circa early 50's with early LPs and 78s. Someone must have known his music! If it was done in the current CD era - it might been easier.. Another issue which I don't care about is the copyright issues

 

[HappyJoe]

http://www.zombiepodcast.com I came across this site about six months ago. These guys created a modern day radio show with real voice actors, quality sound effects, and a good old fashioned horror story. I was hooked after listening to Chapter 1 and blew through all the other episodes in like 2 days. It's about 3 off duty soldiers at the beginning of an apocalypse. They find a few survivors and try to hold up in an apartment building only to learn that there are vicious creatures roaming what's left of the earth. There's also a play on the human element and SO easy to get involved with the characters. The writer/director is a veteran of Iraq and he's very dedicated to this show. I don't want to spoil it but there's some really neat stuff happening in this show and there's so much mystery surrounding the story it leaves alot to the imagination. It's like listening to a movie that you can't see. It's free to download off iTunes and Zune, or stream it straight off the website.