CLAUDIA, DR. DEATH, DAN FOWLER, AND MORE! A CAST OF GREATS FROM RADIO ARCHIVES!
April 6, 2012
Soap operas popped up early as radio dramas initially became popular. Sponsored largely by soap companies, these shows aimed at a primary audience listening every day, scores of housewives across the country, ready to tune in every day just to see what happened next.
In 1947, Claudia debuted and was far more quiet and gentle and down-to-earth than its strife-ridden forbears. Claudia was the tale of Claudia and David Naughton, newlyweds, just beginning their married life. Young, enthusiastic, and very much in love, they weren’t suffering from any medical maladies or suspicions of infidelity. Instead, they were simply facing the many challenges of any new marriage – finding an apartment, getting used to each other’s quirks, and learning to live together on a daily basis.
With very few of the “tune in tomorrow” hooks that most soaps used to lure listeners back the next day, people returning to Claudia instead came back for the interesting, fully developed characters, the light-hearted banter between them, and the familiarity of their day-to-day situations. Rather than suffering with or feeling superior to them, the characters were, instead, simply the sort of people you enjoyed spending time with.
Radio Archives has restored the entire eighteen-month run of Claudia allowing you to enjoy the complete series on a day-by-day basis. Claudia, Volume 11 is one more piece of a program that will be collected in its entirety that will be a real treasure for radio enthusiasts to enjoy for many years to come. Get Claudia, Volume 11 on Audio CDs for $17.98 from Radio Archives!
Many shows from the classic age of Radio drama survive only as a handful of episodes or in some cases as pieces of episodes. Claudia, however, exists today in its entirety and is now being presented at the highest restored audio quality possible in multiple volumes by Radio Archives. This show stands out for other reasons, including being a rather unique soap opera.
Claudia was based on the literary works of Rose Franken, a writer, novelist, playwright, and theatrical director who had first written about the Naughton’s in the mid-1930s. After becoming a Broadway Play and two successful movies, the radio version tells the tale of Claudia and David Naughton, newlyweds, just beginning their married life. Young, enthusiastic, and very much in love, they weren’t suffering from any medical maladies or suspicions of infidelity. Instead, they were simply facing the many challenges of any new marriage – finding an apartment, getting used to each other’s quirks, and learning to live together every day.
Heard today, Claudia remains wonderful entertainment, notable for both its light-hearted tone and the believable interplay between its characters. As seen in this twelfth volume, Claudia matured over the run of the program into a unique mixture of enthusiasm, incompetence and over-confidence — deeply in love with her somewhat older husband David but frequently naive and too likely to trust her insecurities rather than her instincts. Truly a historic program for several reasons, radio enthusiasts will find much to enjoy in Claudia, Volume 12 from Radio Archives for only $17.98 on Audio CDs!
by Tommy Hancock
Following World War Two, The United States was seen as a protector of the world and a bringer of peace. Even though that proved to be true on the surface, there was still an underlying worry that spies and villains were out to threaten the prosperity that typified the late 1940s and early 1950s. This concern bordering on paranoia proved a fertile field for radio shows. New heroes arose almost daily it seemed, to combat the encroaching threat of evil forces on America. One such hero was Frank Race!
The Adventures of Frank Race, Volume 1 spotlights the escapades of Race, a former attorney turned action-seeking investigator after a stint in the O.S.S. during the Second World War. Hungry for excitement beyond the courtroom, Race week after week threw himself into new mysteries, usually focused on some sort of insurance fraud turned dangerous, and sleuthed his way to the solution. Accompanying Race on the cases was Mark Donovan, who began as a raucous New York City cab driver before eventually graduating to more or less be Race’s partner.
All of the aspects of a good pulpy tale are in each episode of The Adventures of Frank Race, Volume 1, but this show goes a bit farther than what’s typical. Race is most definitely two fisted and hard boiled when necessary, but he also brings with him a sophistication that few of his radio peers had. Edgy and dark when he had to be, Race also had the ability to blend in with higher society and be diplomatic and even suave when called for. His background in the O.S.S. was also more than just an interesting background piece. That aspect of the character made each tale feel as if it walked that fine line between detective mystery and spy story, adding tremendously to the level of excitement in each episode.
Excellent voice talent, interesting stories with at least one fistfight and twist in the plot somewhere along the way, and quirky music to set the mood makes The Adventures of Frank Race a blast to listen to. The blend of classic private detective with the rising fear of Evil threatening Good and a hint of James Bond that definitely shows up in Frank Race makes this an overall hoot for both collectors and casual fans to enjoy. And you can get The Adventures of Frank Race, Volume 1 today for $29.98 from Radio Archives!
Doctor Death is back for second clash with supernatural detective, Jimmy Holm, and his team. When a Zombi strangles a wealthy and influencial Egyptian in his New York apartment, Holm and Police Inspector Ricks knows it signals that Doctor Death is opening up a strange new front on his sworn war against modern man. Master of many forbidden sciences, servant of Satan, Death—in reality disgraced Yale psychologist Rance Mandarin—has assembled a legion of living dead and unclean elementals to do this wicked bidding. But Death wants more. Much more.
The trail of dead and undead alike leads to Egypt, land of a million mystical mysteries. There, lies the tomb of Anubis, the jackal-headed Lord of the Underworld. Thought to have been a god, in reality he was once a wizard. And in his sarcophagus rests the long-lost secret of reanimating an unstoppable new army to do Death’s bidding. For Doctor Death will not rest until he has resurrected all of Egypt’s entombed mummies!
Only Jimmy Holm and the strange alliance of power political leaders and Underworld kingpins known collectively as the Secret Twelve possess the will to stand against Death and his Undead things. But to win, Holm must ally himself with the mysterious Egyptian ruler known as Queen Charmion. Can she be trusted? More importantly, how do you defeat a human monster who can implant his soul in the body of any living person at will? Can anyone be trusted if they might be in reality…Doctor Death? Buy the second audiobook of one of our most popular titles for only $17.98 on Audio CDs from Radio Archives.
Much as I love Doc Savage, the Shadow, the Spider and the rest of their near-superhuman brethren, I have a special place reserved for Dan Fowler: G-Man. Maybe it’s because I grew up on those great black-and-white gangster movies from the 30’s and 40’s that studios like Warner Brothers, Monogram and Republic Pictures cranked out by the truckloads. One of the things that made these great gangster movies so much fun was that the cops could play as dirty as the crooks since there was no such thing as Miranda or firing warning shots or getting a warrant before kicking down a door. Back in those days, law enforcement was akin to open warfare. Being a big fan of those movies and of the old “The Untouchables” TV show with Robert Stack, listening to “Snatch!” was like revisiting an old friend.
Dan Fowler is given the job of combatting The Gray Gang, as vicious a bunch of mugs you never want to run across who have been terrorizing The Midwest. The gang’s latest activities have taken them near the part of that region where Dan was born and raised and where his father is still sheriff. With his partner, the resourceful Larry Kendall by his side, Dan sets out to smash The Gray Gang. His job is made more difficult due to The Gray Gang just having pulled off a kidnapping involving a child. It’s up to Dan to accomplish his task and get the child back safely.
Dan Fowler, G-Man In Snatch! Is a good change of pace if you’ve been listening to Radio Archives’ excellent series of audiobooks featuring masked crimefighters and want to switch up. Dan Fowler is a down-to-earth guy doing a down-to-earth job. There’s no bombastic, speech-making super villains here with doomsday devices trying to take over or destroy the world. But that doesn’t mean the story lacks any in suspense or excitement. The excellent voice work by Richard Epcar is just as hard-boiled, gritty and no-nonsense as the story he’s narrating. Another winner from Radio Archives that’s perfect for listening to on a slow Sunday afternoon. After listening to this one, I sincerely hope there’s more Dan Fowler on the way. Buy it today on Audio CDs for only $14.98.
1 cent Spider eBook!
For a limited time you can now download an exciting original Spider adventure for just one thin penny! Part of the Will Murray Pulp Classics line, The Spider #11, Prince of the Red Looters first saw print in 1934 and features his momentous battle with The Fly and his armies of crazed criminal killers. Their motto? Why “KILL THE SPIDER!” of course.
For those who have been unsure about digging into the wonderful world of pulps this is a perfect opportunity to give one of these fantastic yarns a real test run. With a full introduction to the Spider written by famed pulp historian and author Will Murray, The Spider #11 was written by one of pulp’s most respected authors, Norvell W. Page. Writing as Grant Stockbridge, Page’s stories included some of the most bizarre and fun takes on heroes and crime fighting in the history of escapist fiction.
Even today Page’s scenarios and his edge-of-the-seat writing style are still thrilling both new and old fans everywhere. For those who have never read one of these rollercoaster adventures, you are in for a thrill. If you already know how much fun a classic pulp is, make sure you download this bargain.
All eBooks produced by Radio Archives are available in ePub, Mobi, and PDF formats for the ultimate in compatibility. When you purchase this eBook from RadioArchives.com you receive all three formats in one ZIP file. When you upgrade to a new eReader, you can transfer your Spider novels to your new device without the need to purchase anything new. Use the PDF version when reading on your PC or Mac computer. If you have a Kindle, the Mobi version is what you want. If you have an iPad/iPhone, Android, Sony eReader or Nook, then the ePub version is what you want.
The best of timeless Pulp now available as cutting edge Ebooks! Will Murray’s Pulp Classics brings the greatest heroes, awesome action, and two fisted thrills to your E-Reader! Presenting Pulp Icons such as the Spider and Operator 5 as well as wonderfully obscure characters like Doctor Death and more, Will Murray’s Pulp Classics brings you the best of yesterday’s Pulp today!
Five new golden age Pulp tales exquisitely reformatted into visually stunning E-books!
Over New York’s Finest — the police organization without equal in the world — fell the blight of lunacy, sweeping on like wildfire until it had turned Manhattan into a chill, whimpering madhouse and released the helpless city’s wealth to a wild carnival of crooks and vandals! What was that incredible, unseen force which, in a split-second, could transform sane men into drooling maniacs? No human being could stand against that Mask of Madness, and yet Richard Wentworth, in the Spider’s strange vestments, took up the fight — to strike blow for blow against the merciless emperor of idiocy who had captured a metropolis by addling its brains! Another epic exploit of America’s best-loved pulp-fiction character of the 1930s and 1940s: The Spider — Master of Men! As a special Bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction: “Meet the Spider” especially for this series of eBooks.
In the name of Humanity, young Doctor Gilmuir bravely faced execution for a ghastly murder he didn’t commit! And Richard Wentworth, the only man who could save him, must first crush the slaves of the Man in the Red Mask — the master-killer whose nation-wide terror plague was calculated to monopolize all life-giving drugs! The Spider walks through thirty-six breathless, death-strewn hours! Another epic exploit of America’s best-loved pulp-fiction character of the 1930s and 1940s: The Spider — Master of Men! As a special Bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction: “Meet the Spider” especially for this series of eBooks.
Out of the blue it struck – that dread, mysterious force, dealing death, destruction and misery to millions. America found herself stripped of her strongest defenses as battleships, huge guns, skyscrapers, factories and transportation systems crumbled to dust before the voracious flame. No one could tell where it came from; where it would next strike; no one was safe from its hot, devouring maw. An entire nation stood crippled, paralyzed by panic as Operator 5, alone, fought to save America from the red ruin loosed upon it. As a special Bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction especially for this series of Operator #5 eBooks.
Follow the quest of Curtis Newton, wizardman of science, as he scours the worlds of tomorrow in the hunt for the greatest interplanetary outlaw of all time! A creeping menace invades the galaxy in a sweep of interplanetary conquest— and Captain Future meets his most powerful enemy… the Space Emperor!
Captain Future… the Ace of Space! Born and raised on the moon, Curt Newton survived the murder of his scientist parents to become the protector of the galaxy known as Captain Future. With his Futuremen, Grag the giant robot, Otho, the shape-shifting android and Simon Wright, the Living Brain, he patrols the solar system in the fastest space ship ever constructed, the Comet, pursuing human monsters and alien threats to Earth and her neighbor planets.
Curtis Newton, wizard of science, and his trio of Futuremen blaze a trail across the stars to forestall the coup of Dr. Zarro — leader of a legion of peril!
Captain Future… the Ace of Space! Born and raised on the moon, Curt Newton survived the murder of his scientist parents to become the protector of the galaxy known as Captain Future. With his Futuremen, Grag the giant robot, Otho, the shape-shifting android and Simon Wright, the Living Brain, he patrols the solar system in the fastest space ship ever constructed, the Comet, pursuing human monsters and alien threats to Earth and her neighbor planets.
When you purchase these beautifully reformatted eBooks from RadioArchives.com you receive all three formats in one ZIP file: PDF for PC or Mac computer; Mobi for Kindle and ePub for iPad/IPhone, Android, Sony eReader, and Nook. When you upgrade to a new eReader, you can transfer your eBook novels to your new device without the need to purchase anything new.
Find these legendary Pulp tales and more in Will Murray’s Pulp Classics, now available in the Kindle store and the Barnes and Noble Nook store! The best Pulp eBooks now available for only $2.99 each from Radio Archives!
Join the eBook Team!
Radio Archives is seeking motivated, excited people to add to our eBook staff! Will Murray’s Pulp Classics line of eBooks continues to rapidly grow and we are looking to add two people to read the stories and correct any errors before the eBooks are published.
If you have a love for classic Pulp tales as well as a good grasp of spelling, punctuation, capitalization and basic formatting, then you may be just the person we’re looking for! Send an email inquiry to Service@RadioArchives.com for more details!
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! The Shadow’s underworld agents Hawkeye and Cliff Marsland take center stage in two thrilling pulp novels by Walter Gibson writing as “Maxwell Grant.” First, what is the strange secret of “The Green Box” that is worth human life? The Shadow seeks the deadly secret in a masterpiece of misdirection that introduced aides Hawkeye and Tapper. Then, the Master of Darkness and his underworld operatives investigate “The Getaway Ring,” a racket that helps mobsters evade capture via a modern-day “underground railway.” BONUS: “The Crawling Death,” a lost thriller scripted by radio Shadow Bret Morrison! This instant collector’s item reprints the classic color cover paintings by George Rozen and Graves Gladney and the original interior illustrations by Tom Lovell and Edd Cartier, with historical articles by Anthony Tollin and Will Murray. Buy it today for $14.95.
TRIPLE NOVEL SPECIAL Tarzan’s influence on the Man of Bronze is examined in three action-packed adventures by Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, a giant “Dagger in the Sky” materializes from thin air and disappears after bizarre murders, leading Doc Savage to a South American war started by Earth’s wealthiest men. Then, the Man of Bronze is asked to locate an heiress who disappeared into the Brazilian jungles years earlier. Finally, while attempting to license one of Monk’s chemical inventions, Henry Jones comes into possession of “The Monkey Suit” that leads into a strange adventure, narrated in the first person. This triple-novel collector’s edition showcases the original color pulp covers by Emery Clarke and Walter Swenson, the classic interior illustrations by Paul Orban and Edd Cartier and historical commentary by Will Murray, writer of nine Doc Savage novels. Priced at only $14.95.
Pulp fiction’s legendary Master of Men returns in two classic novels from the Golden Age of Pulp Fiction, written by Norvell Page under the pseudonym of Grant Stockbridge. First, in “Overlord of the Damned” (October 1935), the Boss unleashes horrible death with his demonic acid guns… with a vat of the same deadly corrosive reserved for those who talk too much! With his beloved Nita van Sloan a hostage to a terrible doom, the Spider faces the soul-tearing prospect of planting the Spider seal on his friend Stanley Kirkpatrick, Commissioner of Police! Then, in “Dictator’s Death Merchants!” (July 1940), The jaws of death gape open when El Crocodilo feasts! With uncanny skill, he forestalls even the Spider’s best attempts to trap him. Striking without mercy, this menace from the past rises anew by demolishing a banking institution each night, in a mad scheme to take control of nothing less than all of America’s finances! This volume is available in two editions and features the original artwork from the October 1935 or the July 1940 edition of “The Spider” magazine. Both versions feature reformatted text and original interior illustrations to accompany each story. Available now for $14.95!
By John Olsen
Who is The Black Falcon? That’s what the underworld wonders, as it admires the audacity of this master criminal. That’s what the wealthy social class wonders, as it barricades itself seeking safety from the brutal kidnapper. And that’s what the New York police department wonders as it attempts to unmask the strange mastermind behind the high-profile kidnappings.
Even his evil minions don’t know his identity. Yet they readily accept his payments, packets of money banded along with a single black feather. The law receives taunting letters from the crime master, affixed with another of those black feathers.
The Black Falcon boasts of his ability of kidnap wealthy society members and return them at will. And he makes good upon his boasts! Who will be next? None other than Lamont Cranston! Yes, The Black Falcon has confirmed that Cranston is The Shadow, and determines to kidnap him. The Black Falcon means to eliminate the threat from the black-cloaked avenger!
Featured in this classic early story are underworld-agent Cliff Marsland, reporter Clyde Burke and long-time agent Harry Vincent, with Burbank and Rutledge Mann in brief appearances. And representing law and order are Commissioner Weston and Joe Cardona.
This story features the appearance of those unique rubber discs. The Shadow uses the concave suction cups to scale the sheer outside wall of a tall apartment house. These strange cups were a popular feature in the early Shadow novels.
In these early stories, The Shadow was apparently a bit of an inventor. In this one, Harry Vincent uses a wireless sending set, secreted in the rumble seat of his coupe. The equipment, it is mentioned, was The Shadow’s own invention.
Another feature of the early Shadow novels that disappeared after time was The Shadow’s “horror face.” It was suggested that the true face of The Shadow was so horribly disfigured that he always kept it hidden beneath the collar of his cloak and beneath his slouch hat. In later years, the horror face was discarded, but in this novel, however, The Shadow has his horror face, and reveals it to The Black Falcon in the exciting climax of the story.
Yes, this is The Shadow at his finest. It’s a thrilling early pulp novel and you can get it and another classic Shadow novel for $12.95 in The Shadow Volume 5 from Radio Archives!
Comments From Our Customers!
Bob Anderson:
I received your latest newsletter today. Over the years I have sent you many orders for audio productions. I have never been disappointed with the quality of your offerings or the speed with which they reached my mailbox. I’m thankful for what you’ve resurrected. I wish you could find more NIGHTBEAT. Keep up the good work; keep digging!
Barney McCasland:
I finished The Green Lama and really enjoyed both stories. As always, Michael McConnohie was great! He really is one of the best
narrators I’ve ever heard. Looking forward to many more audio pulp treats this year.
Guy Montgomery:
I’ve enjoyed all your pulp audio books, How about some more Doc Savage audiobooks.
If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, or if this newsletter has been sent to you in error, please reply to this e-mail with the subject line UNSUBSCRIBE and your name will immediately be removed from our mailing list.
