Grandpa's iPod » Grandpa's iPod

This is a pretty strange show, produced locally at WJR and hosted by Ron Gamble. Listeners send in song titles, which Jimmy Clark has to play on a Novachord [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novachord].  Harold Keene judges whether he’s played it well enough. If Jimmy is stumped and can’t play the song, the listener who sent it in wins a dollar. It includes a nice Wonder Bread commercial and a couple of “merry Christmas” messages from Colgate-Palmolive. I’m working on some other Christmas programs, which I hope to get posted in the next couple of days.

Hidden treasure! I didn’t know that I had any “Your Hit Parade” programs until recently. My grandpa didn’t put the show name on any of his index cards or on the records themselves–only the song names were listed, followed by “HP.” My mom told me what that meant just a few months ago. This is almost a complete show. The discs weren’t the on-air masters, just records he cut for himself. He missed the first couple of minutes of the show and cut out some of the commercials. Where he apparently just lifted the needle, I did a very slight fade-out/fade-in to make the transitions less jarring. The recording quality is pretty good except for pops at the end. The record is actually broken (cracked from rim to label) so I was amazed it turned out as well as it did. I didn’t do any noise reduction or restoration. Thanks to Mike Harron, I found the whole script for this show online [http://tobaccodocuments.org/atc/60233395.html?zoom=750&images_per_page=51&ocr_position=&start_page=149]. Here’s the rundown for the show: [http://lh5.ggpht.com/_e7GZRfZFfcY/TQQr-jsuUuI/AAAAAAAAEq4/_1Kq1XQd6Zs/s800/yhp_11-24-45.jpg] [http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3CKnirKkbemLT_rsUt66G22GqpYK9kYhPfajgeOS-XM?feat=embedwebsite] My recording starts during “Along the Navajo Trail,” so it’s missing any introductory material. Commercials no. 1, 2 and the closing commercial are all missing, but commercial no. 3 is included. The background music for the station break is there, but the actual station identification isn’t. I have a few more discs of “Your Hit Parade,” but I have a feeling that this might be the only complete show. I’m having to do some detective work on the site with the scripts to try to piece together what I have. I’ll post them all eventually, whether they’re complete programs or not. This show was recorded on three record sides. There are about 4 or 5 missing records that should have been interspersed with the shows I have. My mom tells me that when my grandpa was moving from Davisburg (Michigan) to Detroit he had his records in the back seat of his car. He was almost to his new house when a dog ran out in front of his car, causing him to slam on the brakes. The records slid off the seat and quite a few were broken. http://www.grandpasipod.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/40.55_HP_11-24-45.mp3

While the turkey was in the oven today, I was able to digitize a few more records. I should be able to keep these posts coming! Today I have Art Linkletter’s House Party from May 21, 1947. The Wikipedia entry [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Linkletter%27s_House_Party] for the program is rather sparse, but says that it was on CBS radio from 1945 to 1967, and on TV from 1952 to 1969. It’s a 30-minute show. I’m not going to say anything more about it except enjoy! :) [http://www.grandpasipod.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_e7GZRfZFfcY/TO8RWjZiUGI/AAAAAAAAEnQ/bPdztDMVMSY/s800/100_5190.JPG] [http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/P4iOl9FVvvAFJwjwHpH41wwv5aPW5BrFMdifWM85VZo?feat=embedwebsite]

Finally, I’m back with a real post. I want to apologize for the terse tone of my last post. I was really frustrated with not being able to get anything new recorded. I have so appreciated the emails and comments checking in on me and my gear. Ever since we started back to school (we homeschool our three kids) and fall sports got into full swing, my life has been a little crazy. Things are slowing down a bit now so I should have a little more time to spend on the records. I’ve also figured out a simpler way to digitize them, so hopefully that will help too. I don’t know much about today’s post. It’s an aircheck disc my grandpa made of Fats Waller. There are four songs: “I’m Crazy About My Baby,” “Spider and the Fly,” “After You’ve Gone,” and an instrumental of “Tea for Two.” I did a little research, and found a record called “Fats on the Air, Vol. 2″ on Amazon, which has a track that includes these same four songs. I wasn’t able to find much information about it, though; the record isn’t even listed in the discography on Fats Waller’s Wikipedia page.  But it appears that this record was released in the UK in 1963, and I’m pretty sure mine predates that. It’s an aluminum-based disc, which means it’s probably post-war, and records that are indexed around it are dated 1946 and 1947. My guess is that it was made in the mid to late 40s. I didn’t do any noise reduction on this so I could get it posted more quickly. It sounds pretty good until near the end, but even then it’s not too bad. [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_e7GZRfZFfcY/TOCAxqpxnmI/AAAAAAAAElU/IZ8x63xJLFg/s800/100_5076.JPG] [http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/z0lpGQqRlyP_3xBanFGnXg?feat=embedwebsite]

It’s been a while! Thanks to those of you who commented or emailed me to make sure everything was okay. I haven’t had any more mechanical or technical failures, just a lot of busy-ness. I wish I had more time to devote to this project–I could easily spend all day, every day on it. But I don’t think my kids or husband would appreciate that. This is another episode of A Bouquet for You. As I posted before [http://www.grandpasipod.com/?s=bouquet], this CBS program, hosted by Franklyn McCormick, takes letters from listeners requesting songs and sends a bouquet to those whose letters are used on the air. One selected letter-writer who is also having an anniversary receives a “golden gift” of “beautifully matched rings in 14 karat gold.” Caesar Patrillo, Louise King and Billy Leach sing. The orchestra isn’t credited. Songs include “Seems Like Old Times,” “Once in a While,” “Temptation,” “Peg of my Heart,” and “Little Gray Home in the West.” In loving memory of my grandma, Eleanor “Peg” Highfield.