Retro Radio Podcast

Our summer series continues with the forgotten hits of 1960. They all made the charts but most languished in the bottom of the top 100.

Smiling Ed opens with a song, My Grandpa Is the Smartest man I Know. After a little joking around, Buster Browns friends present the story in the vane of King Arthur and his round table. It’s about Crispin, who was a growing young man who sought his mother’s wise advice. He’s a comfort to his diing grandmother. Today he faces the challenges of the tournament as he learns some deep family secrets. Join in for some knightly jousting excitement. Heralds, heros, and champions are all part of the midaeval adventure. The show closes with a good word on dressing correctly for the wet weather. The gang all take a row boat ride on the lake. Smiling Ed, Froggie, and the rest end up in a cave and even solve a bank robbry. And don’t forget to go to Sunday School and church tomorrow!

Audio is a little on the scratchy side, but OK. The voices of the people have spoken, and today we bring you the results of the rnkings. Playlist: * Lulu’s Back in Town, rank: 13 * And Then Some, rank: 3 * Every Little Moment, rank: 10 * Every Single Little Tingle inMy Heart, rank: 15 Paris in the Spring, rank: 8 * Down by the River Seine, is the featured new song of the week. * Let’s Sing it, rank: 11 * In a Little Gypsy Tearoom, rank: 4 * The Lady in Red, rank: 5 After a station break, the playlist continues.

A wealthy woman has been hospitalized for angina, but her nephew seems to consider it a matter of embarrassment to cover up. Being the ladie’s man, Kildare hits it off with Mrs Stanford’s assistant, while Gillispie has diagnosed another problem. The relationship between nephew and aunt is one where he’s just waiting for her to kick off, so he can inherit the family fortune. Superstitions arise in the form of a ouija board, and the belief that the angina is a fatal condition without a cure. Making a professional call, Kildare investigates matters at the family estate to see how things are at home. Meanwhile, Gillespie and nurse Parker battle it out, Kildare hardly makes it back to the hospital when news arrives that Mrs Stanford has had yet another heart attack. What’s the cause of the recurring heart attacks? Could it be ghosts that haunt the woman? Doctors Kildare and Gillespie are on hand to confront the family, and try to shed light on the superstitious myths. Will they catch someone trying to scare Mrs Stanford to death? Who is it, and why are they doing it?

Teeny stops in to tell about her new business, selling Valentine cards. Molly remembers the old days, the stylish look Fibber used to have, and compares it to his shabby, modern look. Old Timer visits for a quick joke. Billy Mills plays a tune. Down town, Fibber and Molly shop for a new suit, where they meet Mrs. Uppington. Next, Boomer stops in at the clothing store to register a complaint. After the commercial, the Kingsmen sing, Clementine. As Fibber picks out a hat, he is joined by Gildersleeve. In the ensuing fight, hats get mixed up, and a hat is swiped by mistake.

Miss Dimple has trouble in taking a phone call. The caller will be over to discuss a debt that is owed. To settle up, the man leaves Flywheel his car. When the car turns out to be a bus, Flywheel decides to put it to good use. Flywheel and Revelli start a tour bus, and offer tours of New York. As Revelli drives, Flywheel gives the corny tour guide puns. Time for the in tour entertainment. Hey where did Revelli get that piano from? He sings, Gorganzola. The tour goes downhill, and Revelli has a hard time driving. The two end up in court, and have to deal with reckless driving charges. The prosecuting attorney sounds like someone doing a Jack Benny impersonation. Despite the jokes and puns, they get off. Mainly due to the testimony of Mr Meekfellow, a henpecked man who finally stands up to his wife.

Our Miss Brooks – Mrs Davis Cookies. 490724. It’s that season of the year for Summer School, and Connie has a hard time dragging herself out of bed. Mrs Davis gets her moving with the promise of a new recipe for breakfast. The two gals review the details of Connie’s date with Mr Boynton, and analyze every tiny event. Mrs Davis offers advice on how to put the moves on Boynton. Then Walter Denton, the stomach with feet, offers his own methods to put the moves on the opposite sex, The basic plan is to be attentive to any sign of an illness, and play nursemaid on him. The problem is that her bashful boyfriend has a cast iron constitution. To stack the cards in her favor, Connie arms herself with plenty of those special cookies that Mrs Davis made, plus any other methods of food poisoning. Nothing says, “I love you,” more than making your sweetie get a monster of a belly ache. Connie tells in voiceover about all the food that she’s pushing down Boynton’s gullet. Doesn’t this guy ever get a belly ache? As it turns out, Mrs Davis cookies find their way to Macdugal the frog, and to Mr Conklin. Guess who Connie gets to be nursemaid to? Does it need to be said that Connies dreams are shattered? Still, the situations and reactions are priceless. Hope springs eternal when an urgent phone call comes in to report that Boynton is sick, and needs his loved ones around him. Is this Connie’s big chance to nurse her baby? Will Boynton finally realize that Connie is handy to have around? Listen and learn how it all turns out.

Vic, Sade, and Rush get ready to spend the evening of looking at the Razorscums photo album. An activity that the menfolk don’t particularly enjoy. An activity that would equate to watching a slide show, or home movie of a friend, or relatives Summer vacation trip. Thrilling, and invoking good memories to the friend, but boring for others who didn’t live through it. To make matters more boring, the Razorscums aren’t even coming over, but expect Sade to direct the viewing of the photos. As Vic and Rush tactfully try to avoid the ordeal, Sade does her best to build up their desire to enjoy the pictures. Sade has the album, and talks in great detail about the pictures, and the oblong heads of the Razorscum family, and other goofy relatives. Other family gossip and skeletons emerge as Sade describes the pictures. Vic marvels at Sades memory of names as he and Rush joke about the photos.

A letter arrives for Blackie from an old flame. Will the news make Mary jealous? Why is Ann asking for $5000? The story unfolds, and it sounds very familiar to me. I think a slightly different variation was done on Crime Club, but this story predates that one by at least a year. A gangster dies in prison, Ann Martin’s husband, and 3 of his gang converge to figure out which of the others knew where the missing loot from their last heist is hidden. Word is that Harry told only one of the others. Blackie can’t prevent the murder of Ann, but can he figure out which of the remaining 3 gang members might know where the money is located? The understanding is that the killer is the one who knows where the money is. At their hideout, Blackie confronts the gang, Esther, Bob, and Jack. Where were they at the time of the murder? ? Despite stories that seem to put each in the clear, Blackie thinks he knows who did it. Do you? Faraday has given Blackie a time limit to work under to claim the $5k for himself. Can he put the pressure on to make the killer squirm, and show their hand? Blackie may know who it is, but he still needs hard proof to take to the cops. Will the gang break down and stab each other in the back? Maybe they’ll work together to share the loot, and gun Blackie down? Will Blackie fall prey to their trap? Stand by to learn about one last card that Blackie hasn’t played on the table yet that seals the fate of the killer, and the money.

It’s time for the Robin Hood of the old West, the Cisco Kid and his sidekick Pancho. Ben and Smoky are the Hondo boys, a pair of brothers who terrorize the West. They ride through town, shooting out the lights, and through the windows of homes. Even the sheriff and deputy baracade their office. Elsewhere on the range, Cisco and Pancho tuck themselves in for a quiet peaceful night’s rest. Good luck, just then the sheriff’s son rides up to report that his dad has been gunned down, and now the Honcho boys are after him. The chivalrous Cisco beats them up, and chases them away. State troopers have been sent for to keep the peace, and deal with the outlaws, but will they arrive in time? Where did Jerry Newsome, the sheriff’s on ride off to? Cisco is worried that the boy is trying to take the law into his own hands. It may be the least of his troubles when the Hondo brothers and their whole gang are out for revenge, both on the sheriff’s family and on Cisco. Our heros ride right into a trap and are captured, but when gunshots break the night air, it’s not a posse, but the gang run away in fear anyway. Stand by for the action as the bad guys capture Jerry, are chased by Cisco, and go after grandpa Newsome. Where, o where are those troopers? With all the chasing and gunshooting, it’s hard to keep things straight without a scorecard.

This episode is sometimes titled, Confederate Money. two wanderers, after the Civil War ae hungery and in need of employment. They take on a job as tax collectors. A job that they got with the help of the Lone Ranger. They turn out to be good tax collectors, but get the idea to go criminal when they substitute their bankrole of confederate money for the real silver that they’ve been collecting. The tax agent wants them hauled into jail, but the Lone Ranger recognizes their underlying good character and gets them a second chance. After teaching them a little lesson to reinforce the negative aspects of going bad. Moral of the story: When the Lone Ranger lends you a hand, don’t screw it up.

An episode for parents, not your children. Homicide Detail. A woman with a 2 year old child have disappeared, and there’s no reason for it. It’s up to Joe Friday to find them. Stepping into the halls of the homicide detail, Joe learns that a fellow detective is about to marry off his daughter, Alice, to a nice accountant. As Ben Romero enters, he refreshes the case of the disappearance of just a couple days ago. What is the interesting part he has on Mrs Gorman? Ralph Kane is also missing from his printshop job. Joe describes mundane procedure in voiceover, as he returns to interview Mr Pierson who busies himself with feeding his cats. The checks flow over to neighbor, Thelma White, and the voiceover continues to describe more footwork. The crowd roars at the baseball game where Gorman is playing, but can he offer more insight on why his wife may have disappeared? Stepping into the relative calm of the locker room, the word of a possible scandal emerges. Weeks pass with nothing but blind leads. A break finally reveals a trace of the missing girl, but the blood stains aren’t hopeful. The only good news is that Kane and Mrs Gorman have been found, and are being staked out. Detectives converge on the suspects to question them on the missing Nancy. Why did they even take the child? Did the girl really run away? How will mom explain the blood stains? What about Kane’s side of the story? Will it serve to cause mom to crack? A suicide pact is behind the sad tale, but with ever changing stories, the police manage to get to the truth when Nancy is found.

Audio is good, but muffled a little. After a shooting in Los Angeles, Johnny Dollar is on the job to interview the girl who is being held as a material witness. Might there be a jealous lover who didn’t want Norma dating Alonzo? Johnny thinks Norma may know more than she’s letting on, but is she holding back on purpose? At the hotel lounge, Johnny talks to the bartender to get a feel for what went down. Meanwhile, the police check up on Norma’s story with her friends. Alonzo’s wife claims that there could be other enemies who would want her husband dead. The cops think they may have a man who had motive, and knew how to find his mark. The trail leads back to Mrs Chapman. Did she set a killer onto her husband? The mystery is baffling as Johnny and the cops think it over. When bodies of suspects show up, it changes the playing field for Johnny. Norma holds the key, but will another round of interviews with her turn up the answer?

Inspired by a piano concert, the McGee’s visit a music store. Fibber arranges for piano lessons. Gale Gordon is the store owner. Old Timer tells about former occupations, relatives, and his musical abilities. Not to be out done, Long Underwear McGee brags on himself. Billy Mills plays. As Fibber practices, Mrs. Uppington visits. She relates her own piano playing skills, and shows off a little. After Harlow delivers the commercial, and some line flubbing, a piano teacher stops in for a lesson. The Kingsmen sing, Old Rocking Chair. Fibber’s persistent practicing draws Gildersleeve over to complain about the noise. Fibber realizes that he needs to make a back payment on his piano, and phones the store, only to chat with Myrt. Tragedy strikes when the finance company sends a couple repo men to take the piano away. It’ll take more than a missing piano to stop the determined Fibber McGee. Trivia Alert: It was actually Molly who was the talented pianist of the family. It was her ability at the piano that won her the lion-share of their income in their early days on the radio.

A blind man finds a disturbing message, and when a friend read Dan Holiday’s ad in the paper, it’s the beginning of a new adventure. The investigation begins by checking at the front desk to see who the last people were who checked out the braille book. Dan takes his blind client along, and describes the events that unfold for him. The trail leads to a doctor who seems to have something to hide. Bluffing his way through, Dan returns to the first address he went to, and under the guise of a building inspector, he finds something fishy going on with a locked door in the house. Dan arranges a distraction and hits paydirt. He breaks into the house to find the blind woman who left the note in the library book. She tells a story of her oppressive nephew and being forced to sign a will. Suddenly Dan’s plan falls through, and he’s caught. The nephew is going to take Dan for a ride, if you know what I mean, and it looks like it’s going to be curtains for him. Then the blind man comes to the rescue. How can a blind guy get Dan out of this jam? Listen to find out.