The Shadow! The Lone Ranger! Little Orphan Annie! Captain Midnight! Sherlock Holmes! Sky King! Superman! The Green Hornet! I Love A Mystery! Jimmie Allan! Dick Tracey! Sergeant Preston! And Jack Armstrong! Return with me now to the exciting days of yesteryear, and the staticky pop of Radio Mystery and Adventure! Old time radio is addicting. All you have to do is listen to one adventure of any show, in a quiet room, with no distractions, and you are hooked. The suspense of the Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, The Black Museum, Suspense, the western drama of the Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, and Wagon Train, and the comedy of the eternal Goon Show, Fibber McGee and Molly, or Abbott and Costello, all come to life and suddenly, our imaginations turn on, and we are transported somewhere else.
For several years now, I have been a moderate collector of radio drama and comedies, until recently when I discovered a new set of radio plays. As Jim Harmon says in his book 'Radio Mystery and Adventure', when he first looked at writing a book on radio drama, there were no copies of any shows , anywhere, but a few years later, copies began to surface. Later even, more copies were available. If we fast forward to today, we find that the selection of radio dramas and comedies is quite extraordinary. It's almost as if the vaults of time opened up and released for this generations' edification, those great radio shows many of our parents and grandparents grew up on. With the technology that the internet and MP3 recordings brings, radio drama is only a click away. If you really want the 'old' technology, you can still purchase Compact Discs of radio drama, in MP3 form. Radio drama can be found on many sites on the internet, and the vast archives available now is mind boggling. Most of these sites utilize either Real Player or Windows Media Player, both of which are available on free download. Some of the sites that feature downloads include:
www.otr.com
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jaweb/index...
http://www.theradiolady.com/
www.rusc.com
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/nostalgia43/
http://www.otrcanada.com/
With his pioneering efforts to chronicle and save the history of radio drama and adventure, Jim Harmon has earned the respect of radio fans everywhere. His first book, which was published in 1967, was 'The Great Radio Heroes', and his follow up effort is 'Radio Mystery and Adventure'. Originally published in 1992 by McFarland, it has been reprinted and it is a true delight to read.
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