In Breaking Walls episode 88, we spotlight the 1945-46 season of The Jack Benny Program. This season introduced characters like telephone operators Gertrude and Mabel, press agent Steve Bradley, hot dog vendor Mr. Kitzel, and Ronald and Benita Colman. This season featured guest appearances from Ingrid Bergman, Isaac Stern, Van Johnson, Ray Milland, Peter Lorre, Louella Parsons, Fred Allen, Ed Sullivan and others. It also was the season in which Dennis Day returned from the Navy and one of the most ingenious marketing campaigns in entertainment history took place: The “I Can’t Stand Jack Benny” Contest.

Highlights:

• Jack’s slipping ratings

• Problems with General Foods

• Jack changes sponsors

• The War ends and a new season begins

• Mabel Flapsaddle & Gertrude Gearshift

• Steve Bradley and his big ideas

• $10,000 and $646,000

• Jack gets robbed

• The Contest

• Mail pours in

• The Colmans can’t stand Jack Benny

• Jack’s ratings soar

• Christmas of 1945 & The Rose Bowl

• Fred Allen and the end of the Contest

• Isaac Stern

• Palm Springs

• Van Jackson

• Ed Sullivan and the end of the season

• King for a Day

The WallBreakers:

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The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• Sunday Nights at Seven - by Jack and Joan Benny

• On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning

• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-1953 - by Jim Ramsburg

• As well as articles from Radio Life on January 27th and February 3rd, 1946

On the interview front:

•Jack Benny, Ezra Stone, Kate Smith, Don Wilson, Eliott Lewis, Phil Harris, Frank Nelson and Dennis Day were with Chuck Schaden. Chuck’s interviews from an over 39-year career can be listened to for free at SpeakingofRadio.com

• Vincent Price and Mel Blanc were with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. The full interviews can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org

• Dennis Day was also with John Dunning for his 1980s 71KNUS Radio program from Denver. Some of his interviews can be found at OTRRLibrary.org

• And Finally Jack Benny, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Frank Nelson, Don Wilson and Mel Blanc were also with Jack Carney for his early 1980s Comedy Program. Much of this audio was originally taken from a 1972 PBS Documentary on Great Radio Comedians. Thank you Goodmond Danielson for supplying me with the audio.

Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Love in Bloom by Bing Crosby

• It’s Been a Long, Long, Time by the Harry James Orchestra

• Chickery Chick by Sammy Kaye with Billy Williams & Nancy Norman

• Manhattan Serenade by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra with Jo Stafford

• It Might as Well Be Spring by Larry Stephens

• Danny Boy by Dennis Day

• Along the Navajo Trail by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters

WallBreakers Links:

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Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

This episode was originally released on 1/1/2019. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

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In Breaking Walls episode 87, we spotlight some New Year’s Day radio programming from the Golden Age of radio, specifically beginning in 1946 after the end of World War II and television's post-war rise.

Highlights:

• Skelton

• Casey Crime Photographer and the Invasion of TV

• Radio City Playhouse and Our Miss Brooks

• The Railroad Hour and NBC’s Monday Night of Music

• Memories from the 1939-40 World’s Fair

• On Stage with Mr. and Mrs. Radio

• The Greatest Western

• Radio Drama’s Demise

The WallBreakers:

thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning

• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-1953 - by Jim Ramsburg

• And Edison Research’s June 2018 Podcast Consumer Statistics www.podcastinsights.com/podcast-statistics/

On the interview front:

• John Gibson, Tony Marvin and Jan Miner were with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. The full interviews can be heard at GoldenAge-WTIC.org

• Jack Benny, Harriet Nelson, Elliott Lewis, Eve Arden, and Parley Baer were with Chuck Schaden. His interviews from an over 39-year career can be listened to at SpeakingofRadio.com

• Elliott Lewis, E. Jack Neuman, and Eve Arden were with John Dunning for his 1980s 71K Newstalk Radio program from Denver. Some of his interviews can be found at OTRRLibrary.org

• Al Lewis was with SPERDVAC’s Larry Gassman in 1998. For more information, please go to SPERDVAC.com

• And Norman Macdonnell, Bill Conrad, and WIlliam N. Robson were interviewed for a 5-part audio documentary on Gunsmoke in the early 1970s.

Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Voodoo Dreams, and Pyramid of the Sun by Les Baxter

• Exotique Bossa Nova by Martin Denny

• I’ll Be Seeing You, by Harry James

• Auld Lang Syne by the Manhattan Strings

• And Catch a Falling Star by Perry Como

Hey everyone, James Scully here. I've got a new webinar on Monday June 16th at 7PM that I'm very excited about on the story behind the CBS Talent Raids of the late 1940s and how it altered the radio landscape just as the TV era began. Here's a link for tickets and more info and if you can't make it live, don't worry I'll be emailing everyone who registers a video of it once it's over — https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-cbs-talent-raids-part-1-the-post-war-radio-era-webinar-tickets-1389789390479?aff=oddtdtcreator

Here's an overview of the webinar below:

In the fall of 1948, three of the four major radio networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — were funneling their soaring radio profits into the burgeoning television side of their businesses. And because all individual U.S. citizens were taxed 77% on all income over $70k (roughly $907k today), big stars of the day like Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, and Freeman Gosden had the idea to incorporate their popular shows as businesses in order to qualify for significant breaks under capital gains tax laws. What happened when the parent company of NBC, the nation's #1 network at the time, refused to make this deal? It's time to uncover how a smart bet by CBS helped it overtake its main rival during the golden age of radio and early television.

Join James Scully — Radio historian and producer/host of Breaking Walls, the docu-podcast on the history of U.S. network radio broadcasting for a two-part series that explores the events surrounding the CBS Talent Raids of 1948, and the many men and women who benefited from this monumental period in entertainment.

In Part One: Post-War Radio Era, we'll focus on how a tax code and the country's top comedian helped shift Network superiority from NBC to CBS right as the TV era began, including:

• An overview of the radio and TV networks in the late 1940s, from how the radio industry grew from wireless telegraphy in the 1910s to one of the largest businesses in the United States

• A look at the biggest stars of the day and their programs like Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Eve Arden, and Lucille Ball

• Some of the big news stories of that era, including why the United States experienced so much labor turmoil as the baby boomer era began following the end of World War II

• A play-by-play of the CBS Talent Raid, including why CBS head William S. Paley happily agreed to these capital gains deals when NBC's David Sarnoff was vehemently opposed; and which yet unknown stars benefited the most

• How and why this deal changed the balance of power in the entertainment industry leading into the Television era

Afterward, I’ll do a Q&A — any and all questions are welcomed and encouraged!

Can't attend live? Not to worry! I'll be recording the event and sending the video out to all guests who register so you can watch it later. See you (virtually) there!

Part 2 on the early Television era will be presented at a later date.

This episode was originally released on 12/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

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In Breaking Walls episode 86, we spotlight what was on the air over the US’ major radio networks during December of 1945.

Highlights:

• The First Peacetime Holiday Season in Five Years Begins

• Radio’s Three Main Production Hubs

• Macabees

• Frank Nelson, Lurene Tuttle, and Mandel Kramer

• I Can’t Stand Jack Benny

• Soap Operas and Kid’s Shows

• NBC Dominates Sunday and Tuesday Nights

• Falling Mid-Week Ratings Open the Door for CBS

• Victory Bonds and Bing’s Strike

• Christmas Draws Closer

• Fibber, Molly, Red and Christmas Day

• Dinah Shore and Groucho return Christmas Gifts

• I Still Can’t Stand Jack Benny

• New Year’s Eve

• What Comes Next

The WallBreakers:

thewallbreakers.com

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To support the show:

patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning

• Christmas 1945: The Greatest Celebration in American History - by Matthew Litt

• Network Radio Ratings, 1932-1953 - by Jim Ramsburg

• The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio - by Christopher H. Sterling

And several articles from:

• The New York Times

• Broadcasting Magazine

• Radio Daily

The Interviews

Chuck Schaden was with:

Mel Blanc

Himan Brown

Phil Harris

Danny Kaye

Barbara Luddy

Mercedes McCambridge

Shirley Mitchell

Frank Nelson

Olan Soule

Larry Stevens

Lurene Tuttle

Don Wilson

All of Chuck’s Interviews can be found at SpeakingofRadio.com

Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran were with:

Jackson Beck

Edgar Bergen

Mel Blanc

Staats Cotsworth

Howard Duff

Jim Jordan

Mandel Kramer

Jan Miner

All of their interviews for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio can be found at GoldenAge-WTIC.org

SPERDVAC was with

Harry Bartel

Jack Johnstone

For more information please go to SPERDVAC.com

• Jo Stafford was with Matthew Feinstein for Jo Stafford’s “Ballad of the Blues”

• Fran Carlon was with Westinghouse for their 1970 50th Anniversary Production

• Bing Crosby was interviewed for Same Time, Same Station in 1972.

Selected music featured in today’s episode was

• Kay Starr’s The Man With The Bag

• Nancy Wilson’s What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

• Bing Crosby’s White Christmas and I’ll Be Home For Christmas

The clip of CBS’ Cimarron Tavern came courtesy of Jerry Haendiges. Visit his site at OTRsite.com. I’ve been visiting since 2002. Thank you Jerry.

I’d also like to thank Walden Hughes and John and Larry Gassman. Listen to their shows on the Yesterday USA radio network.

This episode was originally released on 11/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

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In Breaking Walls episode 85, we spotlight the radio career of Frank Sinatra. We’ll find out how a brash, skinny kid from Hoboken, New Jersey became one of the most popular and influential music artists of the 20th century, selling more than 150 million records worldwide, winning an academy award for Best Supporting Actor, and using radio to launch it all.

Highlights:

• How Sinatra’s Difficult Birth Affected The Rest of His Life

• Growing Up In Hoboken

• Not Interested in School, Interested in Singing

• WAAT, WNEW, WOR and the Rustic Cabin

• The Hoboken Four

• Early Hustling

• Harry James and Tommy Dorsey

• Sinatra’s Popularity Explodes

• Going Solo

• Success on CBS during World War II

• Marriage, Infidelity… and more infidelity

• The Havana Conference

• Problems with Sponsorship

• The Decline Begins

• Ava

• Losing His Voice

• Bottoming Out

• The Slow Rise

• Maggio and an Oscar

• Rocky Fortune

• A Reborn Sinatra

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers




The reading material used in tonight’s episode was:

• The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio by John Dunning

• Why Sinatra Matters by Pete Hamill

• Frank: The Voice by James Kaplan

• The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio - by Christopher H. Sterling

Lots and Lots of interviews in today’s episode:

• Frank Sinatra was with: Walter Cronkite in 1965; Johnny Carson in 1976; Arlene Francis in the early 1980s; and Larry King in 1988

• Nancy Sinatra was with: Walter Cronkite in 1965 and Larry King in 1995

• Chuck Schaden interviewed Ken Carpenter And Carroll Carroll. Both of these conversations were recorded on February 17th, 1975. To listen to many complete interviews Chuck conducted throughout his career, please go to SpeakingofRadio.com

• Bob Eberly was with Arnold Dean. Hear that full interview and many others at Goldenage-WTIC.org

• Jo Stafford was with Matthew Feinstein for Jo Stafford’s “Ballad of the Blues”

• Gary Moore and Andre Baruch spoke to Westinghouse in 1970.

• Les Tremayne and Jack Brown were featured from their 1986 history of radio called “Please Stand By”

This episode was originally released on 10/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes beginning with this episode on the birth of radio.

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In Breaking Walls Episode 84, it’s the Simple Art of Macabre, to your ears from the mouths of some of the best who ever produced radio’s stuff of nightmares.

Highlights:

• Why Do We Like To Be Scared?


• What pre-dated the radio horror program in the United States of America?


• The Witch’s Tale
• Cooper, Oboler, and Lights Out


• Orson Welles, Himan Brown, and Bill Spier


• Macabre Programming during World War II


• How Transcription Advanced the radio mystery program


• Escape, The Saint, and Vincent Price


• ABC and The Clock


• Quiet Please and Crime Classics


• The Decline of the American audio drama in the 1950s


• Attempts at horror revivals


• Where we are today

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning

• The Witch's Tale: Stories of Gothic Horror from the Golden Age of Radio - by Alonzo Dean Cole

• The CBS Radio Mystery Theater Handbook by Martin Grams Jr’s and Gordon Payton

• Forecast: Is there a Sponsor in a House by Martin Grams Jr.

• The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio - by Christopher H. Sterling

• Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran’s Golden Age of Radio programs can be found at goldenage-wtic.org

• John Dunning’s Interviews can be found through the Old-Time Radio Researcher’s Library at OTRRLibrary.org.

• Chuck Schaden’s interviews can be found at his site, SpeakingofRadio.com




Selected Music featured in today’s Episode was:

• Seance on a Wet Afternoon composed by John Barry and rerecorded by Nic Raine

* I’ve Got You Under My Skin - by Frank Sinatra

This episode was originally released on 9/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes beginning with this episode on the birth of radio.

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In Breaking Walls Episode 83, we focus the radio industry of the 1930s and 40s—especially on the career of David Sarnoff, as RCA’s network, NBC begins to lose its grip on the top spot in the broadcasting industry while they introduce Television. We’ll also focus on the introduction of new talent to the industry, and the CBS talent raids of 1948-1949.

Highlights:

• David Sarnoff announces the birth of TV at The 1939 World’s Fair


• Edwin Howard Armstrong Invents FM


• Television Experiments in the 1920s and 1930s


• Sarnoff and Armstrong’s Crumbling Friendship

• How World War II Stopped Television’s Commercial Expansion


• William S. Paley’s Plan to make CBS the #1 Network


• The Rise of Arthur Godfrey


• Sarnoff’s Court Battles


• The Death of Edwin Howard Armstrong


• The CBS Talent Raids of 1948-49


• Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis


• The Simple Art of Macabre


The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• The General: David Sarnoff & The Rise of the Communications Industry - by Kenneth Bilby

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning

• Empire: William S. Paley & The Making of CBS - by Lewis J. 


• The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio - by Christopher H. Sterling

• The Network - by Scott Wooley

• As well as an article on Martin & Lewis from the August 2018 issue of SPERDVAC’s Radiogram, by Michael Hayde



Selected Music featured in today’s Episode was:

• Mr. Lucky, by Si Zentner

• Begin the Beguine, by Artie Shaw and His Orchestra

• Seance on a Wet Afternoon, arranged by John Barry

This episode was originally released on 8/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

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In Breaking Walls episode 82 we focus on the state of the radio broadcasting industry in the late 1930s and early 1940s, as Broadcasting booms while the world goes to War. 

Highlights:

• Early days at NBC’s Radio City in New York

• How Press Associations caused NBC and CBS to launch a news service

• The Birth of the Mutual Broadcasting System and their Struggles

• NBC Red and NBC Blue

• The FCC and US Justice Department Get Involved with Radio

• The Murrow Boys and Encroaching War in Europe

• The War Comes Home

• NBC sells The Blue Network

• Norman Corwin and His World War II Work

• Bing Crosby, Philco Radios, and Network Transcription

• The Talent Raids of 1949

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• The General: David Sarnoff & The Rise of the Communications Industry - by Kenneth Bilby

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio - by John Dunning

• Beating The Odds: The Untold Story Behind the Rise of ABC - by Leonard H. Goldenson with Marvin J. Wolf

• Empire: William S. Paley & The Making of CBS - by Lewis J. Paper

• The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio - by Christopher H. Sterling

As well as four articles from the archives of TIME Magazine:

• HAPPY BIRTHDAY MBS - September 15, 1941

• Old Law v. New Thing - January 12, 1942

• Black & Blue - January 11, 1943

• Network Without Ulcers - April 21, 1947

Norman Corwin was with Chuck Schaden on August 8th, 1976. You can stream this interview and many others for free on Chuck’s site, Speakingofradio.com

Selected Music featured in today’s Episode was:

• Rudy Vallee - Brother Can You Spare A Dime

• Jaqueline Schwab - The Minstrel Boy & The Battle Cry for Freedom

• Bing Crosby - Blues in the Night & Don’t Fence Me in with The Andrews Sisters

This episode was originally released on 7/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

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In Breaking Walls episode 81, we spotlight the life and career of one of the twentieth century’s most famous comedians, Fred Allen. Amongst other comedians and entertainers, almost no one was beloved as much as him. His comedic feud with Jack Benny was legendary, as were his battles with network executives and sponsors.

Highlights:

• John Sullivan is Born in Boston

• What growing up in Boston with his aunt was like

• How his job at the Boston Public library began his career in show business

• Learning to Juggle and Early Amateur Performances

• Harry LaToy and how Johnny Sullivan became Fred St. James

• Freddie James: The World’s Worst Juggler

• Becoming Fred Allen and going on Broadway

• Allen’s Radio Birth—Bath Towels, Laxatives, and Mayonnaise

• Town Hall Tonight is Born

• Jack Benny—The Feud of the Century

• Mr. Ramshaw— an Eagle on the loose

• Changing networks

• Texaco and Problems with NBC

• King for a Day

• Bowing out gracefully

• Fred Allen: Memoirist

• What’s my Line?

• Final Days

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

• Treadmill to Oblivion & Much Ado About Me … both by Fred Allen

Selected Music featured in today’s Episode was:

• Swingin’ on a Star by Bing Crosby

• Over There recorded live by George M. Cohan

• Auld Lang Syne by Guy Lombardo

This episode was originally released on 6/1/2018. While new episodes of Breaking Walls are on hiatus I'll be going back and posting the older episodes.

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Question? What do starlets Marlene Dietrich, Kay Thompson, Margaret Sullivan, and Loretta Young have in common? How about writers and directors Norman Corwin, Helen Deutsch, and Bill Spier. How about Danny Kaye, Mel Allen, Gerald Mohr, Elliot Lewis, Byron Kane, Lurene Tuttle, Paula Winslowe, Joseph Kearns, and Arthur Q. Bryan?

Answer: They guest-starred, grew, or launched their careers on CBS’s Forecast!

Forecast was a summer replacement series for the Lux Radio Theatre which ran for two seasons in 1940 and 1941. It ushered in an era of show pilots for public viewing and helped give rise to countless actors, writers, and directors, as well as two huge shows: Suspense & Duffy’s Tavern. On Breaking Walls Episode 80, we present an in-depth look at Forecast featuring interviews, insights, and episode moments.

Highlights:

• Why would Forecast have come to the airwaves in the first place?

• Hear CBS head William S. Paley’s insights on programming

• How Alfred Hitchcock helped launch the famed mystery show, Suspense

• Bill Spier: Music critic, turned producer and director of mystery

• How Elliott Lewis got his start on Forecast

• Mel Allen & Duffy’s Tavern: Where the Elite Meet To Eat

• Norman Corwin’s Two pieces for Forecast that helped catapult his career

• How radio actor Byron Kane got his first role on Forecast

• Jim Backus & the Class of 1941

* Hopalong Cassidy

• The Country Lawyer: One of the most experimental radio broadcasts of its time

• An all african-american jubilee to close Forecast

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

Featured in today’s episode were interviews with:

• Bill Spier and Mel Allen for Dick Bertel & Ed Corcoran’s WTIC Golden Age of Radio program, who’s episodes can be found at GoldenAge-Wtic.org

• Elliott Lewis and Byron Kane, for the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety, and Comedy, which can be found at SPERDVAC.com

• and Jim Backus and Norman Corwin with Chuck Schaden, who’s interviews can be streamed for free at SpeakingofRadio.com. Norman Corwin was also interviewed by Michael James Kacey for his DVD The Poet Laureate of Radio: An Interview with Norman Corwin, which you can pick up on Amazon.

Selected Music featured in today’s Episode was:

• My Blue Heaven by Glenn Miller

• Begin the Beguine & Stardust by Artie Shaw

• Alcolba Azul, by Elliot Goldenthal

The Battle Cry for Freedom by Jaqueline Schwab for the Civil War, by Ken Burns

Falling played by Michael Silvermann

• Catch a Falling Star, by Perry Como