Retro Radio Show

Taking trips back to the days when radio was young.

You Bet Your Life - Secret Word: Money 50-03-22

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March 23, 2008 02:01 PM PDT

Groucho Marx was born in 1890 as Julius Henry Marx. Along with his brothers he became a big Vaudeville hit as a singing act. Chico on piano, Harpo on the harp and Groucho singing Soprano. Over time they added some comedy. The joking around got bigger results andthe brothers would tell jokes in ethnic accents.

The ethnic personas they developed stem from the small Jewish community where they grew up. Wedged inbetween a tough Italian neighborhood and a tough Irish neighborhood, Chico would talk with an Italian accent to blend in, and convince others that he wasn't really Jewish. Harpo would speak with an Irish accent and wear a red wig. At some point, Harpo became the silent comedian. When the brothers began making films in the 1920's, Harpo's wig was changed to blonde since it showed up better.

Groucho did his act with a German accent, but as World War 1 began heating up, anti German feelings were on the rise. He found himself being booed off the stage. He dropped the accent and became the slick wise cracking member of the bunch. In his early days, he glued on his bushy moustache. He never actually had a moustache until later in life. One story tells that he grew tired of ripping off the moustache night after night, so before one performance he just used grease paint. He looked at himself in the mirror, and seeing something missing, added the matching bushy eyebrows. A comic icon that lasts even until today was born.

By 1932 Leonard (Chico) Marx and Julius (Groucho) Marx tried a brief shot at radio. The program was Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel. I don't think any copies of it exist. It had big hopes to compete with the Texaco program that had EdWinn as its host. There were two major elements to its downfall. One was a lawyer with the same name as Groucho's character, (Schyster I think it was, but I may be wrong) and was going to sue the show. The name was changed and in an episode Groucho was asked about the sudden and mysterious name change, his response was that he just got divorced and now he went back to his maiden name. Divorce was a huge social no no at that time. I'm sure there were likely other complex matters that caused the show's demise as well.

Always pushing the edge on what was considered socially acceptable, Groucho made 26 films over his career and in 1947, You Bet Your Life was launched. It lasted several years on radio and went to television until 1962.

The show was less about the game as it was a chance for Groucho to adlib with common everyday people. Critics claimed it was all scripted. In reality the script extended to a handful of questions for Groucho to ask to get conversation going, and a few possible gags to toss in. Groucho never new what the contestants might answer back and his reactions were pure adlib.

With all that said, enjoy today's show, featuring Groucho and his contestants. Will anyone say the magic word? Listen and find out.

Podcast Summary

Old time radio shows, twice weekly. Listen to classic comedy radio shows. Always family friendly. Always clean. Enjoy the same great entertainment that your grandparents did when they were your age, or younger.

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Classic Old Time Radio Comedy

You've just found the Retro Radio Podcast. The Internet's best kept secret supply of Old Time Radio Comedy.

Listen for free and share with your friends.
Always Family Friendly!
Always good clean fun.

Join Keith and his Robot Hosts as they take a trip in the time machine twice every week.

Retro. That means going on trips back in time to places we have never been before. If you are old enough to remember those golden days ofradio, then it's all nostalgic for you and you will enjoy those vintage comedy classics just as much.

Here at the Retro Radio Podcast, the focus is on those great comedy shows from radio's golden days, but if you have a request, send it in and if I can find it, in my collection of close to 5000 shows, I'll play it. Even if I don't have it, I can probably get it from other sources.

Frequently Asked Questions

"Where do you find these old radio shows?" The answer is easy, on the Internet.
"If I can get these shows on the Internet, then why do I need to get your podcast show?" Well, you don't, but many times the various archive pages that host old radio shows offer them in very low quality. It is not always the case, but they can have such low volume that you can't hear them unless your speakers are cranked way up and you lean in close. Sometimes there is noise, or the audio quality is too fast, too slow, or varies through the show. Before shows go out, they are run through a few filters to boost the gain. That evens out the volume and makes sure it can be heard well enough. If needed, I run some filters to adjust speeds that are too fast or slow and to remove static and hiss. If a show sounds noisy, it is probably because to cut it out would also chop out some of the good audio.
Robots? What's the deal with Robots? Well, it started for two reasons. First I couldn't find a good microphone, or a reliable place that was quiet enough to record without lots of background noise, or noise from my laptop's cooling fan. Secondly, they were handy. I am blind and use the computer with a text to speech program. My audio editor that I use for podcasting also has text to speech functionality. So It is more often easier for me to write up my scripts and let the robots handle the hosting. I do try to use voices that are easier to listen to, rather than ones that sound too clunky. I hope people come here more for the old time radio than to listen to me or the robots. I try to keep the introductions and comments to a minimum, but hopefully interesting.
Why is your web page all black? You might guess that I have a dark side to my personality. You would be largely mistaken. Sure, everyone has their moments, but mostly it is because I find that a dark background with white letters is easier on the eye when it comes to reading from computer screens. Another reason is that when I got my podomatic account set up, I had the help of teenagers to help me pick a template. I don't know why it is, but teenagers seem to like black a lot. I know that links can be hard to see, but being blind, I assume the podomatic people figured that into their template design.
I still don't like your colors. Can't you change it? In a word. No. Mine is a free account and after the initial grace period in getting set up, there are certain settings that are locked in. Unless I decide to go Pro.
Why don't you go Pro then? Sure, why don't you use my PayPal button? Get all your friends to use it and give me some monetary votes of confidence. With the right encouragement, I'd be happy to go pro.
"how did these shows get put on the Internet?" The quick and easy answer is, magic. In reality it all started with somebody back during the golden days of radio who had a desire to transcribe the program either on audio disk, wire or tape recordings. Either for personal enjoyment or because it was a special program, or because auditions or demos were being made to entice sponsers. Transcriptions were also made so the performers could just do one show and have the recorded transcription be played back so people across all the time zones could hear it at 7 PM where they lived, or whatever time the show might air. Sometimes it was for a sound check so performers and engineers could tell how everything was sounding, get audience responce, or see how things sounded in general.
Later, when radio as it used to be, was cancelled, fans collected all the recordings they could find. They traded them, and still do, at conventions, seminars and other meetings. Once computers came along and the Internet was developed for the public use, and broadband connections became more common, folks started converting those old records and tapes to digital files. Archive sites and forums for old time radio fans host places to upload shows so anybody can share and grow their collections.

So, take a few minutes out of your busy schedule and hop into my time machine. Enjoy a trip to a different time, to a different culture. Back when your parents were kids and your grandparents were young. Maybe even when they were not born yet, or at least younger than you are now.

Advertising Disclaimer

Original advertisements are left in for entertainment and nostalgic purposes only. Many are no longer available, smoking is bad for you and not nearly as pleasant as the ads make it appear. Contests are long over, so keep your box tops. Don't send in your quarters or dimes to addresses that likely don't exist anymore. Well, OK. If you want to send in your quarters or dimes just use my PayPal button located on this web page.

Information

Send me comments and requests. . I'd love to hear from you. You can check me out in other places on the web at:

Heltsley.net
-My personal web page.
Robot Comic
- A blog of clean jokes that my computer has been collecting. At the moment it is updated about every other day.

Support the Retro Radio Podcast

Please do leave comments to any show that you like, don't like or otherwise. It will help me know what to focus on for improvement. Did I mention? I also now have a PayPal button for donations. The shows are free and always will be, but I'm not too afraid to beg. Support the podcast by clicking and donating a little.

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