This Was Radio [With CD]

This is a beautiful coffee table book on the Radio's Golden Age. The book provides a comprehensive historical overview of commercial radio from its infancy to the 1960s, when the radio was replaced by the television as the family's entertainment center. "This Was Radio" presents the history of Radio from the beginning with Marconi's production of the wireless telegraph sound system in 1895. The author reviews radio programming in the 1920's and the establishment of the great radio networks - the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and the Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS). The book includes a detail discussion of the variety of programs offered during the Golden Age of Radio (early 1930 until 1960). Specific chapters detail the radio personalities and their mysteries, adventure, horror, suspense, westerns, comedy, music, children's programs, daytime serials, panel, quiz and talk shows. The author also discusses the importance of radio during World War II and several unforgettable radio moments. The book comes with two compact discs that include excerpts such as Fibber McGee's Closet, Jack Benny's violin; Baby Snooks (Fanny Brice) takes a piano lesson from Daddy (Hanley Stafford); famous sign-offs and much, much more. You can hear the famous voices, the inventors, the network founders, the shows and the events that made up the Golden Years of Radio. The author, Ronald Lackmann, has written thirty-four books on various aspects of the entertainment industry, including "Remember Radio" and "Encyclopedia of American Radio." He is a former actor who worked on the radio in the 1950's and was the voice of several animated cartoon characters. Mr. Lackmann was also a secondary school and college Speech, Drama and English teacher. He was the host of "Education in Action". I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of radio and information on the personalities and programs that comprised Radio's Golden Age!

In the past, I have reviewed many a set of old-time radio show sets from Radio Spirits but only one or two books about that subject. I noticed in the Radio Spirits catalogue a book called "This Was Radio," became interested, got a copy, and was favorably impressed enough to want to tell you about it. Measuring about 14 1/4" long and 11 1/4" high, this attractive volume of only 57 pages (plus an index) gives a very nice introduction to what radio was all about in the pre-television days and provides plenty of pictures to let you know what the stars looked like. Now the important word is "introduction." I must make it clear that you will have to turn to other books for fuller details; but author Ronald Lackmann does what he set out to do very well. He gives you an outline, not a full history, of that phenomenon that was part of so many lives in my generation. The contents are divided like this. Chapter 1: The Beginning, 2: Mystery, adventure, horror, suspense, westerns, 3: Comedy, 4: Music programs, 5: Popular children's programming, 6: Daytime programming for the ladies, 7: Panel, quiz and talk shows, 8: Radio news brings World War II home, 9: Unforgettable radio moments, 10: The golden age of radio lives on. Just as important are the two CDs that accompany the text, letting you hear the actual sounds of many of the programs mentioned in the text and many important moments from our history such as the Hindenburg disaster and Churchill's "Finest Hour" speech. Among the less important but still memorable selections are the sketch that got Mae West banned from radio and the voices of Marilyn Monroe and Marlin Brando. But I must register a strong reprimand to whoever gave the first CD only two tracks and the second one only four. So while the book gives a complete list of the selections on the discs, you would have a very hard time locating any given one of them-which makes their classroom value nearly nil. Perhaps this can be remedied (although I doubt it) and replacement CDs sent to purchasers. Nevertheless, the discs are fine if you play them straight through; and the text and pictures are well worth the price.

As a teacher I am always in hot pursuit of books that can help add to a unit or to my personal library. This book tackles both! Full of wonderful photographs from the early days of radio, Lackman's book is a historical account of the glory days of Old Time Radio. The book also contains two narrated cds with excerpts from many comedy shows, drama, mystery and news broadcasts. Those are very helpful in introducing old time radio to my students. If there was ever a book with visual and audio recollections, this is the one to buy!

This has to be one of the best books on old radio I've ever seen. The collection of rare photographs was amazing and the audio selection was fantastic.