Hi Randy:
Have you compared minute by minute to confirmed recordings of the broadcast previously
known/released? I have not done this, but I'm listening to your transcription and wondering if it's
a rehearsal recording? There seem to be slight pacing and word differences from my memory of the
broadcast, little things here and there. The sound quality of your transcriptions is better than any
commercial LP release that I own.
Thank you for posting this audio. The late Alison "The Night Bird" Steele on WNEW-FM used to
broadcast this recording every Halloween night. When I was a kid, I'd settle in with a bag of candy
and stay up late listening. When I was a teen, I'd cut the mischief short to be home by 11pm to hear
it.
By the way, another reason I theorize your disks may be a rehearsal is that the mic placement seems
to be different from the commercially-released LPs. There is a "room boom" behind everything, as if
the recording mic were near a wall or down near the floor, not the broadcast mic into which people
were talking. However, the fidelity of your disks may just show recording sound qualities not heard
on several-generation-removed versions.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Randy A. Riddle" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, May 26, 2014 6:35 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Contact at LoC or Packard on "War of the Worlds"
> Lou --
>
> I posted the set on my blog - scroll to the bottom of the post and you can
> listen or download the show.
>
> http://randsesotericotr.podbean.com/e/war-of-the-worlds-an-update-on-the-paul-stewart-lacquer-set/
>
> One of the missing bits is near the "blackened hand" section you mentioned.
>
>
> There's two bits of Welles dialogue missing from the common Mannheim Fox
> version, as well as one intriguing section - after the announcer reads
> bulletins, in all the other versions, he says "One moment please ladies and
> gentlemen … We take you to …". In my version, after he says "One moment
> please ladies and gentlemen", he goes "off mic" and says something to
> another actor before going back to the on-mic dialogue.
>
> It sounds minor, but is an interesting example of how the Mercury were
> trying to make the show sound like a breaking news event with a bit of
> confusion in the studio.
>
> When I got the disc, I didn't realize it was a "live" lacquer master and
> thought it was probably a dub - I played it once, transferring it to
> digital. The mp3 has the parts edited together, an NAB curve applied, and
> a very light once-over with scratch/pop removal software. It's not a full
> restoration, but was a way for me to get the show in a format where I could
> get comments on the lacquer set as I did some research on it.
>
> rand
>
>
> On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 5:17 PM, Lou Judson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> I would love to hear the missing bits! That is one radio program that I
>> committed to memory when still a teen... scratchy records and all!
>>
>> There was always something so bleak about the moments after the big drama,
>> when Orson is talking about the empty streets and the dogs with bits of
>> black flesh in their mouths, as the scratches predominate for a few
>> minutes...
>> <L>
>> Lou Judson - Intutive Audio
>> 415-883-2689
>>
>> Computer fan and hard drive spin is the new tape hiss. -- Dan Richardson
>>
>> On May 26, 2014, at 7:02 AM, Randy A. Riddle wrote:
>>
>> I'm getting back to a little research project I started last fall.
>>
>> Can someone recommend a contact at the Library of Congress or the Packard
>> Campus that I could talk/email with about the 16" transcription set in
>> their collection of "War of the Worlds"?
>>
>> http://lccn.loc.gov/00581021
>>
>>
>> Last year, I ran into a 78 rpm lacquer set of the broadcast that appear to
>> be a "live" master created the night of the broadcast, rather than a dub
>> created at a later point. I've been trying to document known surviving
>> transcriptions of "War of the Worlds" to see if my set might be useful for
>> a restoration of the program and to figure out something about the origins
>> of the set.
>>
>>
>> On the LoC's disc set, I'd like to find out if they know the origin of the
>> set (Was it donated by CBS? An individual? Another government agency?),
>> any information on the labels, and what brand of lacquers might have been
>> used.
>>
>
>
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