Are you old enough to remember Fibber McGee and Molly,The Shadow, the Jack Benny Show, Suspense, Amos & Andy or The Life of Riley? These programs were truly theater of the mind because all the action took place not on some screen but in your imagination. All it took was the sound of a creaking door, hushed footsteps and heavy breathing to summon up the image of an intruder bent on evil deeds. Even if you aren't old enough to remember classic, old-time radio, it's something you can enjoy even now in the 21st Century. Some of these programs will sound very dated and more than a bit camp. But others hold up remarkably well. Much of The Bickersons, The Jack Benny Show, the Bob Hope Radio Program and Abbott and Costello are as funny today as they were 50 years ago. On the other hand, programs such as The Shadow, Suspense, and The Inner Sanctum may not seem at all scary today and, in fact, may generate more laughs than chills. Today's technology is giving old time radio a new life via CDs, DVDs, streaming audio and podcasts. I especially like the podcasts because they make old time radio programs totally portable. All you need to do is download a few programs, transfer them to your favorite MP3 player and take them with you while working out, driving to work, or just relaxing on your patio. How to listen free One of my favorites for free old-time radio is Old Time Radio Fan (www.otrfan.com). This site lets you listen to or download old-time detective stories, mystery shows and more. This includes classics like: -Sherlock Holmes -Nero Wolfe -Philip Marlowe -Sam Spade You get to pick the time and the show. Technically, it is on-demand streaming MP3. OTR Fan is organized around daily features of two or three different programs. This gives gives about an hour of Golden Age crime drama. The features are kept online for at least seven days on the recent features page. A second worthwhile site where you can listen to old time radio at no cost is Radio Lovers (www.radiolovers.com). It offers hundreds of old time radio shows in MP3 format. Like OTR Fan, this site is built around on-demand MP3 streaming but offers no download ability. However, one word of warning: I have tried to listen to programs on this site on several different occasions, and the connection always timed out before I could hear the chosen program. Old-time radio for sale If you'd like to collect old-time radio programs, there are several excellent sites that sell them at reasonable cost. One that I like is Your Radio Shows (www.yourradioshows.com). It offers old time radio programs on CD-ROM for as little as$1.99 each with free shipping. The site -boasts a large catalog of shows by category. For example, in the category Comedy, you will find programs such as: -Abbott & Costello -Amos and Andy -Archie Andews -Bob and Ray I also like The Vintage Library (www.vintagelibrary.com). It specializes in professionally remastered, collector sets on CD and cassette. These collector sets tend to range in price from $19.95 to $69.95, although many of the sets are on sale at reduced prices. Examples of these collectors sets are: -Adventures of Philip Marlowe, 3 hours on CD -Favorite Baseball Radio Shows (10 CDs) -Greatest Old Time Radio Shows -Inner Sanctum -Legends of Radio: The Shadow -Lights Out: Volumes 1 and 2 -And many others Listening to and collecting old-time radio programs is fun because it's totally theater of the mind. Unlike TV or electronic games, it requires you to create your own pictures. Plus, it serves as an educational yet entertaining look at a slice of American history in the '30s, '40s and early '50s. |
