I have The Lone Ranger to thank for my love affair with what’s known as “old time” radio (OTR). Radio shows from the 30s, 40s and 50s that featured such stars as Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Vincent Price, Bob Hope, Jack Webb, William Conrad and many others.
As a kid growing up in the late 1970s, we didn’t have all the entertainment choices that kids have today. There was no internet <gasp> which meant no streaming services (YouTube, Netflix, Disney Plus, etc.), no Spotify, no DVD players and no smartphones. We had prehistoric (by today’s standards) video game systems like the Atari 2600 and even that was out of my grasp thanks to being lower middle class. I don’t think we even had a VCR until the mid 80s. My main entertainment choices were television and books. Neither were viable options when you were told it was bedtime.
I managed to find another avenue of entertainment when I wasn’t sleepy and was forced to go to bed. I found it on the radio. My dad had given me one of his old transistor radios (along with the earpiece) and it was perfect. I could lay in bed with the radio under my pillow, the earpiece in place and listen to whatever was out there.
One night, I happened across a local college station playing old radio programs. That night, it was The Lone Ranger (they also ran The Shadow as well as a few others). I had always loved the television show and figured I would see what the radio version had to offer.
It was nothing short of magical and I loved it.
From then on, I was a fan of old-time radio programs. For me, it’s always been a ‘theatre of the mind’ where they give you the framework (description, sounds, music, etc.) and you assemble the scenes in your imagination. Sort of like an IKEA movie.
Old-time radio really is a feast for your ears. The dramatic organ music, the breathless exposition the characters use to set the scene, the sound effects as well as the baritone narrators, they all bring back such fond memories for me.
Way back when, the only way to catch an old radio show was to actually find a radio station that played them. We didn’t have the convenient media we do today. I remember finding a CD set of a bunch of old-time radio programs just in time for a long car trip and thought I had hit the lottery. My wife and I still talk about how fun that trip in our old, beat-up Ford Focus was to this day.
These days, it’s easy to find those long-forgotten shows of yesteryear. The Radio Classics station on Sirius XM is a must for any OTR fan. From Gunsmoke to Dragnet (yes, they were radio shows before television) to The Jack Benny Show and The Life of Riley, this station has it all. The phone app makes it all the more convenient when you want to listen outside of your car. If you don’t have satellite radio and are looking for some less expensive (free) avenues, YouTube and Spotify have you covered.
What are some of my favorite old radio programs and where can I find them, you ask?
Now that you mention it…
Nero Wolfe: Starring the great Sidney Greenstreet.
The Saint: A heroic Vincent Price as a modern day (for the time) Robin Hood.
The Shadow: While played by a few actors, my favorite is Orson Welles.
Pat Novak for Hire: A pre- Dragnet Jack Webb as a down on his luck private eye.
Sherlock Holmes: Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce reprise their movie roles.
The Jack Benny Show: Jack, Rochester, Dennis Day and the gang are hilarious.
Fibber McGee & Molly: Some great writing with hilarious delivery.
The Whistler: Before The Twilight Zone, these usually ended with a twist.
The Lone Ranger: The masked rider of the plains and his friend Tonto, of course.
The Green Hornet: The Lone Ranger’s descendant and Kato take on the underworld.
These are just a few of the many shows that I could recommend, and all (in my opinion) are a lot of fun.
In case it’s not obvious from the links above, an awesome resource for checking out some great old-time radio goodness is The Late Late Horrow Show channel over on YouTube. You can find hours and hours of fun there and you should check it out.
Over on Spotify (under podcasts) you can also find a lot of OTR shows. One of the standouts is Down These Mean Streets, which focuses on radio detectives.
Old-time radio not only takes you back to a simpler time but can also keep you company in the here and now. I’ll listen while writing or playing a video game or just sitting in the recliner and relaxing.
So, give some old-time radio a shot. Maybe you’ll fall in love (in a totally not weird way) too?
Until next time—
In a way it reminds me of how I discovered the
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy when the original BBC radio series was broadcast in the US in the early 1980s. Magical.