Soon after Duffy's Tavern premiered over the radio in 1941, Hollywood celebrities flocked to the microphone for a guest appearance and accepted what was rarely heard of in network broadcasting - celebrities were roasted in the form of insults that were praised by critics and raved by radio listeners. Duffy's Tavern was so popular it helped spawn a hit song, "Leave Us Face It," an attempted newspaper comic strip, a number of premiums and a U.S.O. Tour. Convicts at San Quentin voted it their favorite radio program. This book (700 plus pages) documents the entire history of the radio program, the 1945 motion-picture, the short-lived television program, the lawsuits, Ed Gardner's personal life, contract negotiations and much more

Rediffusion started operating a cable radio relay service in Malta in 1935. Over the following decades the company lead the development of broadcasting in the country, introducing regular Maltese language programmes in the years immediately after World War II and television in the early 1960s. Operating a veritable monopoly for almost forty years, Rediffusion's presence in Malta came to an end in 1975. The cable radio service they created lingered on until 1989 and Malta's national public broadcasting services still operate from buildings originally erected by Rediffusion. This is the first book in English exploring the history of broadcasting in Malta through the relics of Rediffusion memories. The perspective presented here offers an initial critical analysis of the unprocessed archival resources that have accidentally survived over the years. While it is relatively easy to recover a significant narrative to tell a history of the Rediffusion years in Malta from the primary sources that still exist, albeit rather limited and scattered, it is rather harder to delve much deeper into many of the specific aspects arising from any close study of these materials. It is therefore essential now, more than ever, to remember Rediffusion in Malta before the surviving memories perish or become odd ruins over which media archaeologists will ponder for many years to come.

In his alternately heart - breaking and hysterical New York Times bestselling memoir, Bishop shares the surreal experiences of writing his will with the bravado of a pulp novelist, taking chemo in a strip club, and (technically) the closest he ever got to achieving his lifelong dream of a threesome - when a physical therapist had to show his wife to bathe him in the shower during his weakened state. Whether recounting his search for the most aggressive form of treatment, how radiation treatment jeopardized his ability to (literally) walk down the aisle or even smile for his wedding photos, or recalling the time his wife inadvertently drugged him in a pool in Maui, Bishop's inimitable voice radiates through his story. Shrinkage reveals the resilience of the human spirit - and the power of laughter - during even the darkest times.

In "Speak Up ," radio icon Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo opens up for the first time about his humble beginnings and the long, hard road to finding purpose and achieving triumph. Drawing upon his strong family values and his unflinching work ethic, Piolin recounts his very personal and resilient story--how a once undocumented immigrant rose to become the voice of a generation and a symbol of hope. Through intimate, uplifting and engaging real-life accounts, Piolin shares profound inspiration, wisdom, and guidance for his legions of fans and listeners who are searching for their own paths to success and happiness.

An examination of how activists combine political advocacy and technical practice in their promotion of the emancipatory potential of local low-power FM radio. The United States ushered in a new era of small-scale broadcasting in 2000 when it began issuing low-power FM (LPFM) licenses for noncommercial radio stations around the country. Over the next decade, several hundred of these newly created low-wattage stations took to the airwaves. In Low Power to the People, Christina Dunbar-Hester describes the practices of an activist organization focused on LPFM during this era. Despite its origins as a pirate broadcasting collective, the group eventually shifted toward building and expanding regulatory access to new, licensed stations. These radio activists consciously cast radio as an alternative to digital utopianism, promoting an understanding of electronic media that emphasizes the local community rather than a global audience of Internet users. Dunbar-Hester focuses on how these radio activists impute emancipatory politics to the "old" medium of radio technology by promoting the idea that "microradio" broadcasting holds the potential to empower ordinary people at the local community level. The group's methods combine political advocacy with a rare commitment to hands-on technical work with radio hardware, although the activists' hands-on, inclusive ethos was hampered by persistent issues of race, class, and gender. Dunbar-Hester's study of activism around an "old" medium offers broader lessons about how political beliefs are expressed through engagement with specific technologies. It also offers insight into contemporary issues in media policy that is particularly timely as the FCC issues a new round of LPFM licenses.

James Earl Jones voicing Darth Vader in Star Wars had a set of pipes a radio news anchor in the 1970s might envy. CBS News legend Edward R. Murrow wrote in a style many radio news writers tried to copy. Their skills were honed over time. While few ever reach the stature of a Jones or Murrow, radio broadcasters rely on stations where they can develop these skills. In the seventies, one such place was WYEN-FM in Des Plaines, Illinois.

In The WYEN Experience, author Stew Cohen tells the story of this mom-and-pop radio station--106.7 on the dial--that opened in 1971 and was built on a genuine passion for radio. It flourished through the 1970s, stumbled in the early 1980s, and then sold to a new owner. He provides an insider's look into the happenings of this station that entertained thousands with its music and announcers--including Ed Walters, the driving force behind WYEN; the lives of many of the talented broadcasters who worked here; Cohen's personal coverage of some of the biggest stories of the time; and his interviews with some greats from the entertainment industry.

Cohen describes an era that lived with pay phones, typewriters, turntables, transistor radios, and boom boxes; in The WYEN Experience he brings to life to both the times and the radio station.

Let me say a few words about who should really take credit for this book and the two volumes that will soon follow it. It all began over twenty five years ago when I was looking for some way to enhance my radio show which I called Life in the Past Lane. At the time I was doing much the same thing that many others have done. I was simply replaying radio shows of the past and talking about them. I got to thinking about the many performers and technicians who made them and were still around at that time. Why not call them up, talk with them and then play the results on the air? To make a long story short, I developed a sort of Hollywood and New York underground and managed to get access to some hard to come by phone numbers. Much to my surprise, those folks were all more than willing to talk at length about their careers and their lives. It went so well that I decided to expand the project and include theatre, movies, early television and some fine musicians. The end result was that, over a two year span I was able to record over eighty extensive interviews with some of the people who made media history. Therefore-they are the ones who wrote this book. All I did was pull it together.

Hold old did Jack Benny claim to be? What was Blondie's last name? Cecil B. DeMille hosted what radio show? If you liked Mel Simons' The Old-Time Radio Trivia Book, you will LOVE The Old-Time Radio Trivia Book II. Once again, Mel has extracted the best of yesteryear and has delivered a book that will keep you engaged and amazed for hours. See how well you remember tidbits about the likes of Jack Benny, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor and other radio icons. Take the quizzes yourself and then see how well friends and family do. And while you're at it, you will enjoy classic photos of radio stars, many of them autographed to the author. Mel Simons is also a humorist, musician, radio personality and popular lecturer whose programs include The Golden Days of Radio, The Golden Days of Television, The Big Bands and The Great Entertainers. Mel, a regular on WBZ radio, lives in Boston.