Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

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:

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• Join The Party


https://www.multitude.productions


• Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

https://twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

• The Fireside Mystery Theatre

https://www.firesidemysterytheatre.com

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

I’d also like to thank Walden Hughes and John and Larry Gassman. Listen to their shows on the Yesterday USA radio network, and if you’re going to be in California this November, SPERDVAC - The Society To Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy—will be having their next convention this coming November 1st through 3rd at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 3131 Bristol St. in Costa Mesa, CA.

For more information, please go to SPERDVAC.com

A Special Thank you to:

Ron Baron

Ryan Kramer

Christian Neuhaus

Aimee Pavy

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

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

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

https://twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

• The Fireside Mystery Theatre

https://www.firesidemysterytheatre.com

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

I’d like to especially thank Larry and John Gassman as well as Walden Hughes for continued help and support. They host a program on the Yesterday USA Radio Network, which you can visit at http://www.yesterdayusa.com. The three gentleman are also members of SPERDVAC - The Society To Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy.

They’re having their next convention this coming November 1st through 3rd at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 3131 Bristol St. in Costa Mesa, CA for more information, please go to SPERDVAC.com

A Special Thank you to:

Ron Baron

Ryan Kramer

Christian Neuhaus

Aimee Pavy

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

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 WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

https://twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

• The Fireside Mystery Theatre

https://www.firesidemysterytheatre.com

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

A Special Thank you to:

Ron Baron

Ryan Kramer

Christian Neuhaus

Aimee Pavy

Rebecca Shield

My final thank you is to you the audience. Since December 1st, 2017 monthly downloads/streams are up 1500%. I am very grateful.

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

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.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

https://twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

• The Fireside Mystery Theatre

https://www.firesidemysterytheatre.com

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

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

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

A Special Thank you to:

Ryan Kramer

Christian Neuhaus

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 79, we present a detailed look at Orson Welles’ radio career through the end of 1941.

Highlights:

• Beginnings in Illinois and China — How they helped shape Orson

• The Todd Seminary School — His first exposure to theater and Radio

• Connections and Early Breaks — How his mentor Roger Hill, Thornton Wilder, Alexander Woollcott, and Katharine Cornell helped Orson get to Broadway

• Orson meets John Houseman and Archibald MacLeish, and first appears on the March of Time

• 1935-1937 — From the March of Time to the Columbia Workshop, and how Irvin Reis taught Orson how to create for radio

• How the US Government shaped the opportunity for Orson to write, direct, and star in Les Misérables on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1937


• The Shadow Knows! — Agnes Moorehead and Orson Welles’ one season on The Shadow

• The birth of the Mercury Theater on the Air as First Person singular.

• How it’s success led to the most infamous night in radio in October of 1938

• Mainstream success with Campbell’s Soups

• Orson goes to Hollywood, and signs the greatest autonomous film contract in history at 24

• Citizen Kane — How William Randolph Hearst and RKO shaped the film

• Lady Esther Presents — Orson comes back to radio in the autumn of 1941

• Pearl Harbor Day and collaborating with Norman Corwin

• Joseph Cotton introduces Orson to Rita Hayworth

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

• Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

https://twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

• The Fireside Mystery Theatre

https://www.firesidemysterytheatre.com

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• Citizen Welles: A Biography of Orson Welles by Frank Brady

• This is Orson Welles by Welles and Peter Bogdanovich

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

• Discovering Orson Welles by Jonathan Rosenbaum

Other materials included:

• http://www.wellesnet.com - an incredibly comprehensive website on Orson’s career

• Orson Welles on the Air, 1938-1946 at https://orsonwelles.indiana.edu

• The Radio Preservation Task Force also has a great Facebook group headed by Josh Shepperd

Selected Interviews in this episode were:

• Orson Welles with Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson, and Huw Wheldon,

• Agnes Moorehead and Alan Reed were with radio Hall of Fame Member Chuck Schaden, who interviewed over 200 members of the radio community during his 39 year career. Chuck’s interviews can be streamed for free at SpeakingofRadio.com.

• William Robson was with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio in January of 1976 and Kenny Delmare was with John Dunning in 1983. Those interviews can be found at the Old Time Radio Researcher’s Group at Otrrlibrary.org

• William Herz was with Walden Hughes and John and Larry Gassman in 2013 for their program on the Yesterday USA Radio Network, which you can visit at http://www.yesterdayusa.com.

A Special Thank you to:

Christian Neuhaus

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 78, in honor of Major League’s Baseball’s opening day, we present stories, recollections, and in-game sounds from some of baseball’s most memorable moments and people.

Highlights:

• Hear what Jackie Robinson’s Major League Baseball debut on April 15th, 1947 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, NY sounded like

• NY Daily News Columnist Ben Gross recalls the first World Series radio broadcast on WJZ in 1921

• Dizzy Dean and the famed Gas House Gang’s 1930s rivalry with the New York Giants

• Red Barber, Mel Allen and the growth of baseball’s radio broadcasting industry

• Hear Babe Ruth on the radio

• Hear Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech from July 4th, 1939

• Sounds from the 1939 World Series

• Who did Joe McCarthy think was better, Joe Dimaggio or Ted Williams?

• Sounds from the New York Yankees, New York Giants, and Brooklyn Dodgers

• Bing Crosby calls a Yankee game with Mel Allen

• How a dispute between Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley and NYC Park’s Commissioner Robert Moses caused both the Dodgers and Giants to move to California in 1957

• Jackie Robinson interviews Satchel Paige in 1960

• Phil Rizzuto calls Roger Maris’ 61st home run on October 1, 1961

• Jackie Robinson’s last public appearance in 1972

The WallBreakers:

thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

•Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

The reading material for today’s episode was:

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

• and countless reference websites for the history of Baseball

Music featured in today’s Episode Included:

• Did you See Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball? By Woodrow Buddy Johnson & Count Basie

• Swing into Spring by Benny Goodman

• There Used to be A Ballpark by Frank Sinatra

• Wanted by Perry Como

• The First Baseball Game by Nat King Cole

A Special Thank you to:

Christian Neuhaus

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 77 we pick up our story on the history of American radio broadcasting, as a few ramshackle radio stations become large national networks, giving rise to an entire generation of entertainment giants during the roaring 1920s.

Highlights:

• July 2, 1921— Jack Dempsey defends his heavyweight boxing title in front of 80,000 fans as RCA broadcasts the event Closed Circuit to over 300,000 fans. Its the first broadcast of its kind.

• The Radio Craze begins as almost 600 stations sign on in 1922

• Herbert Hoover tries to better organize the radio dial and put small stations out of business

• AT&T’s attempt to monopolize radio broadcasting

• The formation of the National Broadcasting Company

• The Radio Act of 1927

• William S. Paley buys The Columbia Broadcasting System and turns it into a 2nd major network

• Rudy Vallee becomes radio’s first mega-star

• Chicago becomes radio’s 2nd capital

• Hollywood's radio recording rise in the late 1930s

• The Mutual Broadcasting System is formed—The Shadow debuts

• War, once again, comes to Europe

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

•Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

https://twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

The reading material for today’s episode was:

• The Rise of Radio, From Marconi through The Golden Age by Alfred Balk

• Inventing American Broadcasting 1899-1922 by Susan J. Douglas

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

• A Pictorial History of Radio’s First 75 Years by B. Eric Rhoads

• Hello Everybody! The Dawn of American Radio by Anthony Rudel &

• The Network by Scott Woolley

Featured on today’s show were interviews conducted by Dick Bertel and the late Ed Corcoran and numerous others for Westinghouse, CBS, and NBC.

Harold Arlin’s was interviewed by author J. Fred McDonald for his book Don’t Touch That Dial.

A Special Thank you to:

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 76, we pick up our story on the history of American dramatic radio after the sinking of the Titanic in April of 1912.

The time between 1912 and 1922 saw three competing interests battle for control of the wireless airwaves as wireless telegraphy transitioned into radio broadcasting. These three interests were big private business, individual HAM radio operators, and the US Government.

Highlights:

• How the Titanic’s Sinking changed Guglielmo Marconi’s business

• The Radio Act of 1912 - What it portended

• Charles Herrold and KCBS San Francisco

• Lee Deforest sells out to AT&T

• Edwin Howard Armstrong invents regeneration, and later the superheterodyne receiver

• War comes to Europe

• The Navy takes over wireless

• How World War I caused radio technology to boom

• AT&T, Westinghouse, General Electric, and the newly formed RCA make a deal

• David Sarnoff’s Rise to power

• KDKA and the birth of regular broadcasting

• Todays’ introduction music of Metamorphosis No. 2 was arranged for harp and vibraphone by David DePeters and played by Elizabeth Hainen. You can pick up her album, Home: Works for Solo Harp on iTunes and Amazon, and listen on Spotify and Pandora. Her website is ElizabethHainen.com and she is on youtube @Elizabethhainenharp

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsor The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

The reading material for today’s episode was:

Inventing American Broadcasting 1899-1922 by Susan J. Douglas

Empire of the Air by Tom Lewis

A Pictorial History of Radio’s First 75 Years by B. Eric Rhoads

Hello Everybody! The Dawn of American Radio by Anthony Rudel &

The Network by Scott Woolley

A Special Thank you to:

Rebecca Shield

and Nancy Pop who’s website is - http://www.nancympop.com

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 75 we go back in time to the beginning of radio to tell the story of how this medium began.

Highlights:

* Why the Blizzard of 1888 played such an important role in the need for wireless telegraphy

* Who Was Heinrich Hertz? What experiment made him the father of Hertzian Waves?

* What Oliver Lodge, Nikola Tesla, Alexander Graham Bell, and Amos DollBear have in common

* Guglielmo Marconi, father of radio?

* The benefits to wireless telegraphy

* David Sarnoff — His start between 1900 - 1906

* Why the press want to get involved

* Lee Deforest — Inventor, Fraud, or both?

* What incredibly important event happened in December of 1901 in New Foundland

* Why the American Government wanted to regulate wireless telegraphy

* Reginald Fessenden, Christmas Eve, Oh Holy Night, and Brant Rock

* The Titanic Disaster — How it changed wireless telegraphy forever

* The Radio Box Memo

* What’s next?

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Background information:

Prior to television, people tuned in to Radio to hear their favorite comedies, thrillers, westerns, high-adventure dramas, soap operas, kids shows, and melodramas, along with the talk, news, music, and sports that still dominate the airwaves.

Radio Drama on the major networks of NBC, CBS, and ABC mostly went out after the growth of television in the 1950s and the story of this industry isn’t widely known to the general american public.

Going forward, Breaking Walls will tell the story of this medium, which still influences our entertainment patters today. We’ll start at the beginning of radio and move through the rise of the networks, the growth of programming, how the great depression and world war II influenced the country, why radio declined during the growth of TV, what happened to its stars and the people who worked at the recording studios after radio drama went out in the late 1950s and early 1960s, why fans began collecting shows, how this helped save countless hours of broadcasts, and where we can go next.

A tremendous thank you to today’s cast:

Samantha De Gracia

Olga Lysenko

Justin Peele

Nancy Pop

Fernando Sanabria

William Schallert &

John Stephenson

Today's Sponsor:

http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

The interview clips in today’s open:

Chuck Schaden, who’s interviews can be found at http://www.speakingofradio.com and

Dick Bertel and the late Ed Corcoran’s Golden Age of Radio program that ran on Hartford, CT’s WTIC in the 1970s, who’s interviews can be found at http://otrrlibrary.org

The reading material for today’s episode was:

• Inventing American Broadcasting 1899-1922 by Susan J. Douglas

• Empire of the Air by Tom Lewis

• A Pictorial History of Radio’s First 75 Years by B. Eric Rhoads

• Hello Everybody! The Dawn of American Radio by Anthony Rudel &

• The Network by Scott Woolley

• Todays’ introduction music of Clair de lune was arranged for harp and vibraphone by David DePeters and played by Elizabeth Hainen. You can pick up her album, Home: Works for Solo Harp on iTunes and Amazon, and listen on Spotify and Pandora. Her website is ElizabethHainen.com and she is on youtube @Elizabethhainenharp

I’d also like to extend a tremendous thank you to Walden Hughes, and John and Larry Gassman, three old-time radio enthusiasts who host their own old-time radio program through the Yesterday USA Radio Network, which you can visit at http://www.yesterdayusa.com. They’ve put me in touch with many golden age enthusiasts, and given me access to a lot of reading and audio material.

That thank you also extends to the late Les Tremayne and late Jack Brown for their wonderful 1986 documentary series, Please Stand By: A History of Radio.

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

A Special Thank you to:

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

In Breaking Walls episode 74, we celebrate the WallBreakers’ 6th birthday with an anniversary extravaganza!

First, we’ll chat with the creator of the 1970s radio drama The Zero Hour, Mr. Jay M. Kholos.

Then, a portion of a recent conversation with the author of The Who Is Johnny Dollar Matter, Mr. John C. Abbott.

If you’ve been listening to this podcast, you know that for the past year I’ve been producing mini-documentaries on moments in American radio history. Episode 72 was on Yours Truly Johnny Dollar and the death of American dramatic radio on the Major Networks, and episode was on 73 on the attempted 1970s-1980s major network dramatic revival. If you haven’t heard episodes 72 or 73, I’d recommend going back and listening to them for story continuity.

And it’s along those lines that I’m proud to say the next episode of Breaking Walls, on February 15th, 2018 will be our 75th episode.

On this upcoming episode, Breaking Walls will take on a new long-term story arc: A chronological history of the American Radio Drama.

For anyone who doesn’t know what Radio Drama was… At one time, radio wasn’t just for talk and music. Prior to television people tuned into the radio to hear their favorite shows. In fact, many of the most popular shows on television in the 1950s were extensions of their radio versions.

This first episode of the documentary, episode 75 of Breaking Walls, will start at the beginning of radio in the late 19th century and work through the end of the first decade of the 20th century. Why those two points in time? Well… you’ll have to tune in to find out!

To support the show for as little as $1 per month and receive all kinds of BTS material, please go to patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Jay M. Kholos’ Hightlights:

• How Jay got his start in the advertising industry

• Why he’s got such an entrepreneurial spirit

• Where the idea to relaunch radio drama came from

• How nostalgia has influenced Jay’s creative endeavors

• Why you can’t make creative decisions by committee

• Where the inspiration for Orchard Street productions came from

• How Jay tabbed The Twilight Zone’s Rod Serling as the host of The Zero Hour

• A funny Rod Serling story involving an airplane

• Production highlights from Elliot Lewis and Patty Duke

• How AFTRA influenced Jay’s decision to make a distribution deal with The Mutual Broadcasting System

• Why Mutual’s Zero Hour was so disappointing

• Jay and Elliot Lewis’ Mutual Respect

• What’s next for Jay

As Jay mentioned, the Mizner Park Cultural Center in Boca Raton, Florida will be the site for his Orchard Street Production of Golda’s Balcony from May 2nd through the 13th of 2018. You can find out more information at http://miznerparkculturalcenter.com

Editor's Correction:

There are Old-Time Radio Conventions on the West Coast that feature actors who worked during in the Golden days of radio.

SPERDVAC http://sperdvac.com will have an old-time radio convention starting on Thursday 11-1-18 and runs all day Friday 11-2-18 and Saturday 11-3-18. This year will be at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 3131 Bristol Street, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.

The other big old time radio convention is produce by REPS go to http://www.repsonline.org

Collector, writer, and Old-Time Radio enthusiast Martin Grams runs a nostalgia convention in MD with old time radio panels and radio drama re-creations.

John C. Abbott’s Highlights:

• Growing up a baby boomer at the beginning of Television

• Thoughts on Bob Bailey as a Tragic Figure

• Why a show like Yours Truly Johnny Dollar was able to survive as long as it did

• John’s thoughts on Jack Johnstone

• Differences between radio drama preservation in New York and Hollywood

• Why John is revising his book, The Who Is Johnny Dollar Matter

• When the revised edition will hit book stores

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - http://jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/