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Besides posting book reviews, once in a while I will be posting articles on the subject of pulps. I hope we can generate more interest for the Blog. If you would like to share an article on the pulps, you can send me a message in the Comments of a post.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Radio Archives

 
November 28, 2014 - Black Friday Edition
 
15th Anniversary Celebration!
Radio Archives is celebrating 15 years of creating great products and we're commemorating this anniversary with a number of superior offers and once a year discounts till January 1st!
The Bargain Basement has a wide selection of Old Time Radio & Audiobook audio CDs - Pulps - Books and lots more at great prices. More than 50 discounted items, supplies limited. Check back often as new items are added every day.
 
 
Throughout the 1940s, network radio was a powerhouse, dominating home entertainment. But, by the mid-1950s, things had changed; television had rapidly taken the place of radio and, in most American homes, people who used to faithfully listen to their radio favorites were now gathering around their TV sets to watch their favorite shows.

Many stars and shows made the transition to television, proving just as popular on the tube as they had been on the radio, but others - for a variety of reasons - didn't make the switch. The comedy team behind one extremely popular show, in fact, made the decision NOT to go to television - and, by 1953, they assumed they were on the verge of a well-earned retirement.

Jim and Marion Jordan had been the stars of Fibber McGee and Molly for nearly twenty years. The series had been a ratings grabber almost from the start, entertaining millions of listeners from that familiar address at 79 Wistful Vista. At the urging of Johnson's Wax, their long-time sponsor, they had actually filmed a TV pilot, but both were dissatisfied with the results. Fact was, after twenty years in radio - and a decade or so of vaudeville before that - the Jordan's, weren't particularly interested in putting on make-up, memorizing lines, and sweating under hot lights in a TV studio.

Their network, however, had other ideas - and so, in the fall of 1953, The Fibber McGee and Molly Show was reborn as a fifteen-minute daily series on NBC Radio. Starring Jim and Marion, along with co-stars Bill Thompson, Arthur Q. Bryan, and a host of talented radio veterans, the prerecorded show began airing twice a day five times a week - once in the early afternoon and once in the early evening. The result was three more seasons of hilarious entertainment, heard by a surprisingly large listening audience that enjoyed the antics of Fibber and Molly thru the spring of 1956.

Despite being prerecorded, once episodes of this new series were aired, the shows went into a vault at NBC Hollywood seemingly never to be heard again. Luckily, a few years ago, RadioArchives.com unearthed almost the entire run of the series - almost 480 episodes - on the original NBC transcription discs, the same recordings used to air the shows originally in the 1950s. 
 
Two and a half years ago when we released Volume 14, we thought that there were no more episodes to be found, and we're excited to be offering Fibber McGee and Molly: The Lost Episodes, Volume 15 featuring thirty-one more broadcasts, just as originally aired from November 1953 to January of 1954.
 
We are always thrilled when more episodes are located. These thirty-one shows predate Volume 1, in fact the last show on Volume 15 was broadcast one day before the first show on Volume 1. If you want to refer to Volume 15 as Volume 0, that is ok with us.

The thirty-one shows in Fibber McGee and Molly: The Lost Episodes, Volume 15 haven't been heard since they originally aired over sixty years ago - and they're just as delightful and entertaining now as they were way back then. If you've been collecting these long-lost shows in the earlier sets released by RadioArchives.com, you'll want to get this latest collection to enjoy with your whole family.
 
8 hours - $11.99 Download / $23.98 Audio CDs
 
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Twins Judy and Jimmy Barton crawled into their attic one December day and found a passageway to a place called Maybeland. They looked in all the dusty corners for any sign of the silver star that always sat atop their Christmas tree. Their search crossed the path of little Paddy O'Cinnamon, "The Cinnamon Bear," who had shoe-button eyes and a ferocious growl. He showed them a small hole through which the Crazy Quilt dragon had absconded with their star and invited Judy and Jimmy to pursue the rascal. Paddy would function as a guide and they'd chase the dragon throughout Maybeland. Paddy magically "de-grew" the twins so they'd fit through the attic tunnel, fired up a miniature airplane powered by soda pop, and flew the Barton kids into a startling and wondrous adventure.
 
So begins "The Cinnamon Bear," a delightful, one-of-a-kind children's series produced in 1937 by TRANSCO, the Transcription Company of America. Intended to be heard between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the series features twenty-six fifteen-minute cliffhanger installments. The program immediately hooks children because suspenseful fun is always present as each episode concludes with yet another obstacle for Paddy and the twins to overcome. The dragon eventually joins up with the trio but remains unpredictable and mischievous. Named "Crazy Quilt," he succumbs time and time again to his obsession with the shiny silver star.

"The Cinnamon Bear" is, arguably, the best holiday series ever developed for radio. Containing all of the elements of a classic children's fantasy, combined with radio's unique ability to create vivid mental images in the minds of its listeners, it continues to delight both young and old. And now, for the first time, you can hear and enjoy "The Complete Cinnamon Bear" -- including all twenty-six original and unedited shows, the original 1937 promotional recording, and all of the songs from the series as transferred from an original set of 78 RPM recordings. Each of the programs has been digitally transferred directly from a set of original 16" broadcast transcriptions and painstakingly restored for outstanding audio fidelity - truly the best-sounding version of the series that has ever been released. It's yet another triumph for Paddy and his band of travelers as, after well over seventy years, they once again carry on their magical search for the silver star.
 
7 hours - $10.49 Download / $20.98 Audio CDs
 
 
Special 50% discount Offer
"Get this and get it straight: crime is a sucker's road, and those who travel it end up in the gutter, the prison, or the grave..." 

Philip Marlowe's first regular weekly series, The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, premiered over NBC Radio June 17, 1947 as a summer replacement for The Bob Hope Show, and starred actor Van Heflin as Chandler's famous creation. The author wasn't particularly thrilled with either Heflin or the series, remarking to his contemporary, Erle Stanley Gardner (creator of Perry Mason), "It was thoroughly flat." The Marlowe character would then return to the airwaves on September 26, 1948 in a series for CBS with radio veteran Gerald Mohr as the titular sleuth.

Mohr was an accomplished performer whose impressive acting range in radio covered both drama and comedy, and he clearly made the role of Marlowe his own; a brash, forceful tough-guy who could let fly with the occasional wisecrack. Although the series was not considered a prestige show, it was fortunate to have experienced professionals at the helm - such as producer-director Norman MacDonnell and music director Richard Aurandt. The scripts were tough, gritty and focused on hard-hitting "blood-and-thunder" action, with scribes like Gene Leavitt, Robert Mitchell, Mel Dinelli and Kathleen Hite contributing much of the program's dramatic content. The supporting players for Marlowe were also first-rate, showcasing many of the distinguished actors and actresses from Hollywood's Radio Row, including Lawrence Dobkin, Jeff Corey, Betty Lou Gerson, Lillian Buyeff, Junius Matthews and Harry Bartell, to name but a few. Roy Rowan capably handled the show's announcing chores. Fortunately for radio fans, many episodes of the series have survived today — including the twenty broadcasts in this second collection of restored and remastered programs from Radio Archives.
 
Specially priced until December 4th. 10 hours - $7.49 Download / $14.99 Audio CDs
 
 
Special 50% discount Offer
"Lux presents Hollywood!"

Old-time radio enthusiasts are in near unanimous agreement that, during its heyday, "The Lux Radio Theatre" (1934-55) was radio’s most important dramatic hour. The series commanded the crème de la crème of Hollywood’s silver screen stars, the biggest budgets, the best writing, directing and sound effects, and no less than Hollywood’s foremost film director, Cecil B. DeMille, as the program’s master of ceremonies.

"The Lux Radio Theatre" premiered on the Blue Network October 14, 1934 with a production of "Seventh Heaven" starring Miriam Hopkins, but switched to CBS Radio on July 29, 1935 for what would become a nearly twenty-year run on Monday nights at 9:00 PM. (It would switch to NBC - and a Tuesday night berth - in its final season beginning in the fall of 1954.) The show was originally designed to be an anthology of the Broadway stage, but the ratings and critical acclaim remained rather tepid because of the competition required to lure big-name stars visiting the East Coast to appear on the program. Many celebrities preferred to visit the Rudy Vallee or Al Jolson variety hours, where they would have a considerably lighter workload of singing or yukking it up with the host.

As "The Lux Radio Theatre" neared the end of its lengthy radio run, some anonymous bean-counter guesstimated that, over the course of the series, Lux had gone through 52,000 pages of scripts, 496 stars (Fred MacMurray and Loretta Young made the most appearances, with 26 and 25, respectively), 1,467 supporting players, 18,667 music cues and 22,667 special effects. Naturally, for the ten programs included in this collection, this is just the tip of the iceberg. But the listener of today certainly won’t be disappointed with the fine audio quality and first-class star lineup brought to you in this newly restored and remastered showcase by Radio Archives.
 
Specially priced until December 4th. 10 hours - $7.49 Download / $14.99 Audio CDs
by Will Murray and Lester Dent writing as Kenneth Robeson
Read by Michael McConnohie.
 
 
The Doc Savage series has always been famous for its colorful villains. The list is long. The Sargasso Ogre. The Squeaking Goblin.The Vanisher. John Sunlight. And many others.

Add The Whistling Wraith to that Honor Roll of Evil.

The weird mystery began when King Goz the First of the Balkan state of Merida arrived at the White House for a state dinner. His limousine pulls up, the chauffeur opens the door, but no one steps forth. A search of the car interior shows no sign of the vanished ruler. Yet eyewitnesses, including the driver, all swear he had been seated in back just seconds before!

Where did Goz go?

The F.B.I. and Secret Service are baffled. The call goes out to the greatest scientist and solver of mysteries in the nation—Doc Savage! But once he gets on the case, the Man of Bronze discovers that the trail of clues leads to a corpse impaled by the missing king’s own ceremonial sword. To deepen the enigma, another dead man is found in Doc Savage’s office safe––after it was invaded by a ghostly figure who looks exactly like Old King Fausto, a Meridan monarch buried alive centuries ago. And this new corpse has been slain by the same royal sword!

Who or what is this eerie apparition who can walk through sold objects, whistling the “Death March of King Fausto” as he laughs at bullets fired at him? Is he really the spirit of King Fausto? If so, why has he emerged from his royal tomb? What is his connection with the missing Goz?

The mystery is deep, the suspects are many, and the action and suspense are plentiful as Doc Savage and his men tackle the most maddening mystery of their colorful careers. It’s a puzzle with too many pieces and a problem that taxes resources of the mighty Man of Bronze to the utmost.

Michael McConnohie reads The Whistling Wraith with mysterioso aplomb.

10 hours - $19.99 Download / $39.98 Audio CDs
 
 
Will Murray's Pulp Classics #55
by Norvell W. Page writing as Grant Stockbridge
Read by Nick Santa Maria. Liner Notes by Will Murray
 
 
Ripped from the March, 1934 issue of the magazine, Citadel of Hell was the sixth Spider novel Novell W. Page penned, and one of his early tours de force. It opens with a wild car chase through the canyons of Manhattan that leads to the first of several running battles in which Richard Wentworth, both in and out of his Spider disguise, takes on Red Mask and his Food Destroyers as they bring New York City to its knees through a vicious campaign of arson and starvation.

This is the novel that introduced the Depression-era character of Tito Caliepi, the hunchbacked street-corner violinist disguise that over the next year or so of the series metamorphosed into the twisted, fearsome figure of the Spider who terrorized the underworld for ten unrelenting years.

So if you’ve never listened to a Spider audiobook––even if you have––and you’re looking to jump aboard, we highly recommend Citadel of Hell, one of the great fast-moving Spider novels of 1934.

For this special occasion, we told voice actor Nick Santa Maria to crank it up and give it his all. And he sure does! This exciting audiobook also includes two short stories, “Killer’s Knout” by Anson Hatch and G. T. Fleming Roberts’ “The Standing Corpse.”

 
Whether you buy physical audiobooks, or simply download them, Citadel of Hell is an unforgettable excursion into the righteous madness that was the Spider, Master of Men!
 
Specially priced until December 4th. 6 hours - $5.99 Download / $11.99 Audio CDs

Check out our Facebook Audiobook page!
Join Will Murray, Robert Weinberg, Radio Archives, the Authors and Voice Actors discussing all the new audiobooks. Take a look and leave a comment.
 
 
 
 
New Will Murray's Pulp Classics eBooks
 
The best of timeless Pulp now available as cutting edge eBooks! Will Murray's Pulp Classics brings the greatest heroes, awesome action, and two fisted thrills to your eReader! Presenting Pulp Icons such as the Spider and G-8 and His Battle Aces as well as wonderfully obscure characters like the Octopus and Captain Satan. Will Murray's Pulp Classics brings you the best of yesterday's Pulp today!
 
New York was virtually throttled in the grip of the new Czar of Crime. The time was ripe for his final, crushing stroke, for Blinky McQuade was helpless in a murder frame; Richard Wentworth was being shadowed constantly by anxious police — and the Spider was blindly stumbling into the neatest death-trap the “Devil” had ever laid! 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. $2.99.
 
 
Dusty Ayres and his Battle Birds #23 October 1934 The Screaming Eye
This is the fourth issue in the Dusty Ayres series. One minute those Yank ships were zooming up toward that crimson plane. The next, they were tumbling earthward, shattered wrecks — their pilots dead! What was the strange green ray that had destroyed them? Death stalks America as Dusty Ayres sets out to hunt the most gigantic weapon of doom ever launched against the world! Captain Dusty Ayres, ace pilot for the U.S. Air Defense flies in the Silver Flash, an advanced craft of his own design. With his two pals Curly Brooks and Biff Bolton, they battle some of the most diabolical mad scientists and their weirdest inventions. These exciting stories took over the Battle Birds magazine from June 1934 through the July/August issue of 1935, changing the magazine name to Dusty Ayres and his Battle Birds. And now Dusty Ayres and his Battle Birds is back, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.

Invisible, secret, deadly, the masked empire wielded its dread power of darkness throughout the nation. Havoc and ruin followed the terror-torn thousands who fled the country to escape the Thirteenth Darkness. America, faced with certain disaster, placed her chance of survival in one man’s capable hands — and prayed that the warrior gods might smile once more upon the miracle man of her Secret Service — Jimmy Christopher!Jimmy Christopher, clean-cut, square-jawed and clear-eyed, was the star of the most audacious pulp magazines ever conceived — Operator #5. Savage would-be conquerors, creepy cults, weird weather-controllers and famine-creating menaces to our mid-western breadbasket... these were but a few of the fiendish horrors that Jimmy Christopher was forced to confront. Operator #5 returns in vintage pulp tales, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format.
As a special Bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction especially for this series of Operator #5 eBooks. $1.49.
 
 
All eBooks produced by Radio Archives are available in ePub, Mobi, and PDF formats for the ultimate in compatibility. When you upgrade to a new eReader, you can transfer your eBooks to your new device without the need to purchase anything new.
 
 
Doc Savage Double Novel ReprintsBooks by Will MurrayLost Radio Scripts bookDoc Savage Audiobooks
by Will Murray and Lester Dent, writing as Kenneth Robeson, cover illustration by Joe DeVito
 
When William Harper Littlejohn unearths a shadowy figure transfixed in ice, the renowned archeologist understands that he has made the most momentous discovery of his brilliant career. For inscribed over the frozen form is this chilling warning:
 
“IF I STILL LIVED, MANKIND WOULD TREMBLE!”
 
Who is this monster? Why does his name strike terror into the hearts of brave men? Can even Doc Savage control him once he breaks free of his icy tomb?
 
From the Gobi Desert to war-torn Free China, the Man of Bronze and his fighting crew battle a threat so terrifying that it could change the course of human history…. Softcover $24.95
 
by Will Murray, cover illustration by Joe DeVito
 
Doc Savage vs. King Kong!
 
Eighty years ago in February, 1933 the Street & Smith company released the first issue of Doc Savage Magazine, introducing one of the most popular and influential pulp superheroes ever to hit the American scene. Doc Savage was the greatest adventurer and scientist of his era, and while his magazine ended in 1949, he influenced the creators of Superman, Batman, Star Trek, The Man from UNCLE and the Marvel Universe—to name only a few.
 
While that first issue of Doc Savage was fresh on Depression newsstands, RKO Radio Pictures released one of the most important fantasy films of all time. Everyone knows the story of how King Kong was discovered on Skull Island and hauled back to New York in chains, only to perish tragically atop the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Empire State Building.
 
As it happened, that was where Doc Savage had his world headquarters. For decades, fans have wondered: Where was Doc the day Kong fell?
 
On the eightieth anniversary of these fictional giants, Altus Press is proud to release the first authorized clash between The Man of Bronze and the Eighth Wonder of the World—Doc Savage: Skull Island. Written by Will Murray in collaboration with Joe DeVito, creator of KONG: King of Skull Island, Doc Savage: Skull Island is a new pulp epic. Softcover $12.47
 
 
The pulp era’s greatest superman returns in two thrill-packed novels by William G. Bogart and Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, Monk Mayfair’s inheritance of a vast Canadian estate leads the Man of Bronze and his Iron Men to Canada where they are captured by the master criminal called Lucky Napoleon in “Bequest of Evil”! Then, in a rare solo adventure, Doc Savage is summoned to investigate the bizarre enigma of “The Thing That Pursued.” This deluxe pulp reprint showcases the classic pulp cover by Emery Clarke, the original interior illustrations by Paul Orban and historical commentary by Will Murray, author of fifteen Doc Savage novels. Double Novel Reprint $14.95
 
The Shadow
The Shadow Double Novel Reprints
“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow demonstrates that “crime does not pay” in two macabre mysteries by Walter B. Gibson writing as “Maxwell Grant.” First, discovery of the theft of “Treasures of Death” brings fatal consequences, but The Shadow knows that this is only the prelude to a greater supercrime! Then, the greatest crooks in the world pass through “The Yellow Door,” until the Man in Black teams with G-Man Vic Marquette to uncover the deadly secrets of the sinister portal! This instant collector’s item showcases both classic color pulp covers by George Rozen and the original interior illustrations by Tom Lovell with original commentary by popular culture historian Will Murray. Double Novel Reprint $14.95



 
The Spider
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Comments From Our Customers!
 
Clay Aberts writes:
I just wanted to say thank your for great products delivering great stories from days gone but not forgotten. I have purchased a few of your pulp magazines and audiobooks through Amazon and iTunes. I find a quality that honors the days when these stories were new and hot off the rack. Your audiobook stories are well done with just the right drama and inflection from the reader and help one to slip into that studio in the minds eye and see the action as it happens. Please keep up the great work and I look forward to the next adventure.
 
Bobby Roy writes:
I bought some of Your AWESOME 1930s Cocoanut Grove Ambassadors CDs Around a year ago. I LOVE My CDs and would LOVE more of these Wonderful recordings! Thank You so much and GOD Bless You Always.
 
C. Southworth writes:
Jimmy Christopher is on the side of good - and we're lucky to have him! Averting disaster is his stock in trade, and he accomplishes the impossible on a daily basis. The keen incisive mind of a detective par excellence, the nimble fingers of a master of sleight of hand, and the deadly skills of a world-class fencer are brought to bear on those who would do America harm. In this thrilling tale, learn of the sinister plot of The Darkness, as a terrorist legion threatens to choke out America's hope and confidence. Gasp in astonishment as Manhattan shuts down completely! Grip the edge of your seat as you hear the President's speech interrupted by a fear-monger's announcement of terror! Learn in grim silence of the horrors which await us all on the Thirteenth Darkness! 
A fast-paced, well-written tale of action and adventure awaits you as you glimpse the future as seen through the lens of the past. Be there for each exciting chapter of Operator #5 -- The Masked Invasion!
 
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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