Foreword
The title of this book is Old Radio’s Top Ten, but it’s actually just a list of the performers that I consider to be the best of old time radio. There was no poll of thousands of Facebookers leading to the selection of these artists.
So the whole thing is merely a listing of my favorite shows and artists. Yours may be entirely different. I am no more qualified than anyone else to come up with a top ten list. But, in point of fact, I do have a small set of credentials that might give me a bit more insight than many listeners.
I was almost a part of old time radio. Born in the very early 1940s, I grew up on radio and wanted to be a part of it for as long as I can remember. In Boston, I attended Grahm Junior College to learn broadcasting and prepare for a radio career. But by 1965 when I landed my first radio gig, Old Time Radio was on life support.
There were a handful of live dramatic and variety shows still on the air, most notable was Arthur Godfrey whose daily program defied time by running right up into the mid 1970s. For most people however, radio jobs were restricted to being a disc jockey or a newsman. I tried my hand at both, with moderate success.
Though I never got to be a part of old time radio, I did have a job at an NBC affiliate and got to run the control board while the network show was running. I did the station breaks and local commercials. When working at a radio station that was part of the Mutual Radio Network, I was sometimes asked to do reports of stories from my area over the full network. Each time I did a report that was broadcast to over 500 stations all over the United States, I was thrilled and excited, because I was sure that Walter Cronkite or some big executive from radio or TV was going to call me and offer me a national job. That never happened!
So, those are my credentials for coming up with a top ten list. I was an avid listener to the last days of old time radio, and I was a minor part of it. Here then, in this little book, are my picks for the best radio performers.