Hey, y’all! Hope you’re doing well this evening. We’re back on the air once again on your favorite radio station (that being datafruits.fm, of course; why would it be anything else?) and I’ve got some brand new programming this week for you all! Let’s get right into it.
Talkie Time - Danger, Dr. Danfield: Nola Jerrold Wants To Kill Her Husband / One Hundred Thousand Dollar Life Insurance Claim
i diagnose this motherfucker with Misogyny (tm)
See, here’s the thing. We’ve had a lot, and I mean a LOT, of stinkers on this program. Old time radio as a subgenere of auditory performance art is littered with a certain definition of trash; jingoistic jaunts into the War Front(tm), misogynistic chauvinists with PI licenses, some of the most laid-bare-blatant racist caricatures this side of a 1970s monster-of-the-week show, the list goes on.
But you have to be a special kind of trash for the OTRR to call you out on it.
The OTRR, for those who don’t know, are the guys who digitized nearly every single home-tape-recording of the radio shows that you hear on this program. They had to sit there, sort through the hisses and pops and audio irregularities, and listen line-by-line to every single second of these shows. (Yes, even Planet Man. One shudders to think).
This has nothing to do with anything (hell if that ain't the tagline for this entire program), but while trying to find a image gag for this episode I stumbled upon this absolute nonsense from a 2012 broadcast on Fox 2 in my home city of STL. I have no idea why searching the name of an old time radio program gets you a direct line to what looks like the newsroom at Channel 2 doing some live-action Filmcow shit, but I'm putting it here because some of you occasionally ask why i am Like This(tm) and I just wanna point out that I had shit like this on the five-o-clock news between the murder coverage growin' up and maaaaybe that's at least part of it.
From we-gotta-tame-these-savages xenophobia rampant in the Westerns and adventure programs of the day, to the you-listen-here-you-batty-dame-style women-hatin’ in the noir detective shows, they’ve had to sit through it all. I very much love these old-time-radio programs (enough to bring them to you all every week), but even I have my limits. These fine cats, however…they just tank through this shit for the love of the game, the era, and the medium, warts and all.
So if they’re tired of your shit, you’ve got some ‘splainin to do.
From the archive.org page that OTRR maintains:
“This series consistently featured some of the worst acting and writing of any detective show to reach the airwaves. The show had a formula with the crime usually being committed in the first third of the program, the good doctor solving it in the second third, and then pedantically explaining the solution to someone (usually his “pretty, young” secretary, Rusty) in the conclusion.”
“Dr. Daniel Danfield was an obnoxious unlicensed private investigator/criminal psychologist with an ego complex. Why Rusty would put up with this guy is beyond understanding. In this case, love is not only blind, but also deaf and dumb. But then, Rusty was no prize package either. In fact, the most complex person on the show is Dr. Dan Danfield’s pretty young secretary, Miss Rusty Fairfax.”
“Why does Dr. Dan always call her Miss Fairfax? Dr. Dan goes to extremes to keep her at arm’s length, but it’s obvious he’s just taunting her. After all, he’s a criminal psychologist, and the way he treats Rusty is criminal! She can flare up, but usually just slow simmers in her professionally feminine way. Too bad one of the bad guys wasn’t able to rub both of them out but these crooks were incredibly inept.”
“Unfortunately, the toughs, society-types in trouble and the necessary law enforcement officers in this series, are nearly as individual as furniture in a model home.”
–the Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Jesus, man. So yeah. Y’all are in for a treat tonight. We’ve got two fantastically named episodes for you this evening: “Nola Jerrod Wants To Kill Her Husband”, originally aired on September 15, 1946, and “One Hundred Thousand Dollar Life Insurance Policy”, originally aired on December 8, 1946.
The Jazz Program Gets Comfy With Windham Hill - George Winston’s Autumn (1980), Linus And Lucy: The Music Of Vince Guaraldi (1996) and Forest (1994)
some things (like my terrible taste in fashion) never change
A while back, I got myself a new hoodie – 3xl, zip front, and a certain sublabel of A&M Records plastered on the back – and we had a whole episode about it. This week, my super cozy hoodie and this program are having another moment.
It’s sweater weather, baby. The leaves are falling, cable tights are back in vogue, and I’m still on my fuckin’ bottomy bullshit. Time to break out my favorite dysphoria hoodie, pour myself a big mug of cocoa, and listen to some Windham Hill Records.
Windham Hill, for those of you who don’t know, was a sublabel of Herb Alpert’s own A&M Records which specialized in new-age soundscapes, downtempo neoclassical arrangements, and that general feeling of quiet, contemplative listening that falls between straight-ahead classical and newer, adult contemporary sounds. They eventually added a proper Windham Hill Jazz sublabel (I’m sure we’ll hear from them, in time), but as long-time listeners of this show know full well, we take a real open-ended approach to what we’re willing to call “jazz” around these parts.
Enter George Winston; self-proclaimed “rural folk” pianist turned triple-platinum recording artist thanks to an even combination of Alpert’s marketing genius and his own incredibly novel piano arrangements and business savvy; each platinum release he put out on Windham Hill was co-released by his own label, Dancing Cat.
Winston’s style of playing is incredibly unique, even compared to some of the other pianists we’ve played on this show, and a lot of that uniqueness came down to one specific influence of his; Vince Guaraldi:. Vince has actually appeared on this show during our Black Orpheus theme night, but most folk will likely know him as the main composer of the Peanuts animated adaptations, including the 1966 classic It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Tonight, we’ll hear two seasonal offerings from Winston to bookend the program; Autumn, released in 1980 via Windham Hill and Dancing Cat, and Forest, released in 1994 on Windham Hill and Dancing Cat. In between, we’ll get up and dance with the Great Pumpkin and Charlie Brown with Winston’s Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi, released in 1996 again via Windham and Dancing Cat.
aaaaaand that about covers this week’s show! Next week, we’ll be grabbin’ our cameras and goin’ guru.
If you’re reading this the day of, and you can make it in tonight, you should come hang out in the chat with us on Datafruits! We’ve got a good crowd of folks in the chat every week, and whether you have a suggestion for a future show or just want to hang out and chat with fellow jazz enjoyers, you’re welcome here with us.
You’re all amazing and don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not. Stay safe out there, and I’ll see you back again next week. Same time, same station: on datafruits dot fm..