Bob and Ray WOR 135 September 14, 1973
BNRToast
These files are hosted at the Internet Archive - https://archive.org/details/bobandraytoaster. Please go to that site. Mary Backstage - Not staying for free. Friday, September 14, 1973 A second file has been added to this dates show. This edited Friday episode has what some Bob and Ray fans especially enjoy, station breaks and pleasent chatter with the news staff. Bob and Ray were often breaking each other up in these weeks. The Mary Backstayge episode introduces us to the Brown Paper Bag. Firesign Theater fans may be especially interested. Hop into your Dodge Coronett and head off onto the freeway, which is already in progress. 0:00 - Intro, opening the mail, the Danish cheese contest. 1:20 - Wally Ballou (Bob) from Kendallville, Indiana, with a report on hay fever. Ballou interviews Kendallville director of public health Dr. Otto Schimmelpfennig (Ray) on ragweed control, and his efforts to produce a bumper crop. 4:40 - Artie Shaw plays 'Begin The Beguine', from 1938. 7:55 - Bob and Ray discuss 78 RPM records and their prices. Ray mentions that they were around seventy cents in the late thirties or early forties; seventy cents in 1940 would be about $2.05 in 1973 dollars, or $11.40 in 2016. 10:15 - An interesting discussion of musical artists using pseudonyms for recording radio transcriptions, such as Bob Crosby using the name 'Bert Castle' when recording music for radio play. 11:45 - Lonnie Donegan, from 1961, performs 'Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight?' 14:15 - Introduction to an (edited out) book review of 'Bang The Drum Slowly' by Mark Harris. 14:30 - Fern Ock Veek: Sickly Whale Oil Processor, brought to you by The Burnside Corporation, the story of an Eskimo co-ed from UCLA who now resides in Alaska. In today's episode, Fern (Ray) is still charged with the murder of Heron Muldoon, the Walloon harpoon tycoon, and receives a jailhouse visit from her fiancé, Officer Wishmiller of The Alaska State Highway Patrol (Bob). She remains confident, despite the overwhelming evidence against her. At 18:50, we learn some insider show-biz info on T. Wilson Messy. 19:25 - Bob and Ray receive a phone call from a first-time caller about oysters, and regret not having the standard five-second delay. 23:50 - Edited discussions of singer Sarah Vaughan, the lifting of blackouts on local football games and its effect on Connecticut motels, newsman Henry Gladstone's return from vacation, and what's coming up in the second hour of the show. 26:05 - After an edited-out recording of the classic 'Smoke Rings' by Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra, an informative discussion of the band and the origin of its name. Originally named 'The Orange Blossoms', the Detroit orchestra changed its name in 1929 after an eight-month stint at the luxurious Casa Loma Hotel (originally built as the mansion of Sir Henry Pellatt), located in 'The Annex' district of Toronto, Canada. 27:00 - In today's Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife, the gang is in England staying at Moorswind, Lord Brandeshire's castle. After receiving the bill, they learn that they must deliver a brown paper bag to Pepe Le Coco in Casablanca, Morocco (as opposed to Pepe Le Moko in Algeria, as played by Charles Boyer in the 1938 film 'Algiers', and first satirized by Pepe Le Pew in the 1945 cartoon 'Odor-able Kitty'). Their final instructions for the brown paper bag are to "take it to the Casbah" in Casablanca. Although the Boyer movie makes us think of 'the Casbah' as being a district of Algiers, a casbah (modern anglicized spelling 'kasbah') is an older, maze-like, and often fortified area in many North African cities, including Casablanca. 31:50 - A discussion of telephone answering machine messages, followed by The Bob and Ray Mystery Quiz Call. Bob makes the call, gets an answering machine, and has a long, involved conversation with the recorded message (Ray). 36:50 - Friends drop by to enjoy The Bob and Ray Smorgasbord Table, and discuss the price of a slice of pizza. 38:15 - Margaret Whiting sings 'Moonlight In Vermont', backed by Billy Butterfield's Orchestra, a million-seller from 1943. 41:25 - After a wine commercial, we hear the Friday 'closing the door' ceremony, followed by the 'Goodbye' closing theme. Episode annotation by Harry Wilson
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.
Chapters
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