Raised on Radio

by Nachman, Gerald

• ISBN13: 9780520223035
• ISBN10: 0520223039
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-08-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

In the late 1920s radio exploded almost overnight into being America's dominant entertainment, just as television would do twenty-five years later. Gerald Nachman, himself a product of the radio years, takes us back to the heyday of radio, bringing to life the great performers and shows, as well as the not-so-great and not-great-at-all. Nachman analyzes the many genres that radio exploited or invented, from the soap opera to the sitcom to the quiz show, zooming in to study closely key performers like Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and Fred Allen.Raised onRadiois a generous, instructive, and sinfully readable salute to an extraordinary American phenomenon.

Author Biography

Gerald Nachman has for thirty-eight years covered theater, movies, cabaret, and television for newspapers and magazines across the country

Table of Contents

Preface Background Music	vii
Introduction Bedtime Stories	3	(10)
Radio-Free America	13	(13)
Vaudio	26	(25)
The Anticomedian	51	(22)
Nesting Instincts	73	(22)
Treadmill to Posterity	95	(24)
Wise Guys Finish First	119	(20)
Jokes, Inc.	139	(13)
For Your Listening and Dancing Pleasure	152	(29)
The Children's Hour	181	(14)
Saddle Sore	195	(15)
Valued Families	210	(27)
No WASPs Need Apply	237	(20)
We'll Be Back Right after These Words	257	(14)
A Voice of Another Color	271	(25)
Radio Noir---Cops and Grave Robbers	296	(24)
Minds over Matter	320	(33)
Just Folks	353	(11)
The Soap Factory	364	(24)
The Royal Family	388	(10)
Meet the Press	398	(32)
Best Seats in the House	430	(30)
Crunch, Creak, Crash, Whoosh, Wham, and Whoo-oooo	460	(10)
The Unseen Audience	470	(15)
We're a Little Late, Folks, So Good Night	485	(18)
Acknowledgments	503	(2)
Interviews	505	(1)
Bibliography	506	(4)
Index	510	(26)
Photo Credits	536