Today I have something a little different to offer. It's a multimedia blog post featuring the standard biographical/historical thing I do here, paired with an audio offering in podcast form via Mixcloud. That way royalties will be dispensed per-play to the writers of the music used in the program (or so I'm lead to believe).
I'm a big fan of what is now dubbed Old Time Radio. Obviously, like any medium, there's a lot to sift through, not all of it of the same quality. But when I'm lying awake nights, waiting for the veil of insomnia to part, or I am just not ready to sleep yet, I plug the earbuds of my iPod into my ears and listen to some good old-fashioned radio plays.
I first discovered the magic of OTR back in my middle school days, when I found my local hometown public library had episodes of The Shadow, packaged in what looked like those oversized vinyl videocassette cases. Since then I've grown to appreciate this artform from an era when folks actually had to pay attention to their entertainment to get something out of it. Now it seems everything is ADHD quick-cut together in music video fashion so that movies and television shows can be playing in the background while the consumer fiddles with their cell phone or plays video games. Perhaps the art of listening has taken a back burner to instant gratification and one-liner reference gags that seem popular these days vis-a-vis Family Guy and millennial comedy Netflix specials. Or, perhaps, I'm just a grumpy old man.
About The Show
Walk Softly, Peter Troy
There were, according to the scant information I could on this program, two Walk Softly, Peter Troys. One was an Australian production, and one a British production from South Africa. The Peter Troy you'll hear in this program is the latter. Sadly, as I've said, I couldn't find much in the way of information about the show. There is this page on the Times Past Old Time Radio website that features a blurb provided by someone named Pumamouse (as well as mp3 files of many of the episodes), who runs a Saint fan page full of information on The Saint radio program and the minutiae related to it.
Walk Softly, Peter Troy is set in London, and features a very Tony Randall-sounding Troy who, in a reversal of the popular roles, seems to actually be second in command in his private investigations. His name is stenciled on the glass inset on the office door, but he's usually finding himself guided onto the right track by his doting–and sassy–secretary Julie. The show is very much cut from the Mr. Lucky cloth. The soundtrack sounds positively Mancinian, the jokes are dry and the plots could easily have been Carter Brown paperback fodder.
It's definitely a Top Ten radio program for me.
This show features the episode "A Flight Of Fancy", originally broadcast March 28th, 1964. It follows Troy's exploits trying to bodyguard a scientist who's developed a super jet fuel.
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Fortunately there's a little more information on the Richard Diamond, Private Detective program, which seems to have had a long-lasting, if not somewhat convoluted shelf life. The life of a private eye, I guess. It ran from April 24, 1949, on NBC, until December of the following year. It moved to ABC radio in January of 1951, where it lasted just over five months, and then aired on CBS for a four month summer stint as a replacement for Amos 'n' Andy.
Much like Peter Troy above, the program focuses on a P.I. who is less hardboiled than your average Mike Shayne stereotype, and more prone to corny wordplay and even crooning to his girlfriend Helen at the end of each episode (played by Virginia Gregg).
The episode I've chosen for inclusion in this particular episode of Secret Basement Laboratory Radio, titled "The Van Dyke Seance Case" originally aired September 10th, 1949. Troy is charged with revealing a sham spiritualist who is conning a Mrs. Van Dyke with phony calls from beyond the grave to ingratiate himself and his conniving partner into the lady's jewelry box.
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| Virginia Gregg and Dick Powell (Helen Asher and Richard Diamond respectively) |
I've chosen this episode because it's one of my personal favorites from the series, and features one of my hands-down favorite back-and-forth moments when Diamond and his girlfriend attend a seance by Professor Leonardo, the fake medium, in the guise of two hillbilly yokels.
The Music
I've sandwiched three songs between the episodes as sort of an intermission. It beats hearing me chatter, anyway. All three were chosen because they fit the theme, atmosphere and aesthetic of the shows featured.
All three are also from the British stock music house KPM Library. Even if you've never heard of KPM, or have the vaguest notion of what library music is, odds are you've heard a lot of the production house's music, as the NFL has licensed scores of it (pun intended) for their highlight reel production work. Many compilations even exist with titles like Music From Superbowl (insert roman numeral here), or Music From the NFL. Many of the songs, at least the first two of this trio, were also used as background music for the likes of SpongeBob Squarepants and The Ren & Stimpy Show.
The first is a track from 1965 by Laurie Johnson, titled "Blood In The Gutter." It was taken from a KPM "brownsleeve" record. A plodding drumbeat dancing with a Dragnet-esque brass section and some jazzy rolling piano. Laurie Johnson went on to score the The Avengers television series (the Steed and Peel Avengers, not the Rogers and Stark one) and Jason King, as well as the 1974 cult Hammer Studios film Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter.
Secondly we have another NFL utilized tune called "The Unknown", by Ralph Dollimore. Dollimore was a British composer and pianist that worked with a number of the popular orchestral and big band jazz groups in London during the 1950s and 1960s (most notably, at least for me, Kenny Graham and his Afro-Cubists). His tune "Hit and Run" has been prolifically used (though uncredited, such is the fate of most stock music library musicians) in cartoons and television.Finally, we have a man who needs no introduction in my eyes, but for the general reader, I'll go ahead and give you a little info on the amazing Syd Dale. Dale has created (subjectively speaking) some of the most amazing instrumental music I've ever heard, and is easily one of my favorite musicians, library music or otherwise. If you've seen the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon, you've heard Syd Dale. If you're a fan of niche cinema purveyors Something Weird Video, you've heard Syd Dale. The iconic music in the promo that they preface each video with is Dale's track "The Hell Raisers".
The song featured in this episode of SBLR, "Man Trap," is from the 1968 KPM album Flamboyant Themes Volume Two. Dale was a self-taught composer and musician who studied big band music while working in a chocolate factory. Eventually he started working extensively with various library houses and eventually formed his own Amphonic Sounds production company. While "The Hell Raisers" is one of his most prominently recognizable tracks, Dale has left a huge mark on the world of entertainment and advertising, largely unknown to the generations of consumers who've undoubtedly hummed some of his jingles used on the BBC or prolifically sampled by pop and hip-hop producers.
Again, I want to point out that this was a trial run. I'm working on ironing out the wrinkles, and hopefully, should an episode two drop in the future, it'll be much more polished and professionally put together than this inaugural one was.
Enjoy!
Mad Doctor Josh
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