Night Transmissions is a 120 minute show featuring vintage radio shows. In this show... From Suspense; "Donovan's Brain". May the 5th and 12th of 1944 making. Three: From SF68, "Wanted In Surgery" (1968). Segment Four: From May the 31st of 1944, "The Orson Wells Radio Almanac", "Donovan's Brain" parody. Music:Music: Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts - The Queen And The Soldier (1999) Pete Seeger - Guantanamera (1962) The Eagles - Hotel California (1976)
More at http://www.nighttransmissions.com/
This is a 64 kbs version of a weekly program airing on KSOW 106.7 FM in Cottage Grove, OR. as part of the stations commitment to sustaining the tradition great radio theater. I will post a new show by Tuesday or Wednesday of each week. There is also a 128 bit version.
In the main, each episode consists of four approximately 30-minute long programs (not always, as sometimes I use a longer form show, so it may be 3 or fewer) and some filler to bring them in at 120 minutes. .
Broadcast Advisories
Use these programs in any way that suits you, commercial, non-commercial (well,don't sell it). Use them on your low power FM station or your AM station. Stream it on your internet station or stream. Whatever. Edit them if you want to, however you want to! I'm easy. In a few cases commercials have been left in but in those cases there is disclaimer stating that they are there for "historical perspective" only. I have edited out any underwriter spots that once existed. There is no comment about run times ( i.e. "It's Sunday night at 10 pm and this is Night Transmissions.") Also I have edited out any mention of the town I live in. In other words I have endeavored to make make these programs as "Evergreen" and global as possible. I would even consider making (at some point) shows that are tailored to some degree for specific locations. In most cases the mp3 file runs a little longer than 120 minutes. However, in all cases the main show comes in at under 120 minutes; anything in excess of 120 minutes is just music that can safely be faded out.
As of show 21 there are 30 second musical interludes at 30,60 and 90 minutes. with the last 5 to 10 minutes or so of the show uninterrupted music that can be faded out on without too much ado, Exact times will be in the mp3 comment tag
If you do broadcast or stream these I'd really be grateful if you dropped me a note.
This episode contains the following segments...
Segment One:
Is a rare thing, a two part story from Suspense; "Donovan's Brain". Based on the classic 1943 novel of the same title by Curt Siodmak. It aired on May the 5th and 12th of 1944 making it the first two-parter from Suspense.
The radio play stars Orson Wells in multiple roles. There is, I know, a good chance that you know the story. You may well have read the book or seen the 1953 movie with Lew Ayres and Nancy Davis ( now Nancy Reagan) but if you don't and haven't...
The story is set in Phoenix, Arizona where Doctor Patrick Cory is working to solve the problem of just how one can keep a brain alive in a jar. Things have not been going well when a millionaire named Donovan is involved in a plane crash near Cory's lab. The Doctor is called in to help. Being a misguided crazy kind of doctor, he removes Donovan's brain and attaches it to an apparatus intended to keep it alive and allow it to communicate.
Dr. Cory is determined to make his experiment work, everything else is just a distraction. He doesn't even notice when his wife disappears. Did she go to a movie? Did she go to her sister's? Could it somehow be Donovan's doing?
Donovan's Brain was produced and directed by William Spier. Featured in the cast were, Hans Conried, Jerry Hausner, John McIntire, and Jeannette Nolan.
In 1981, a release of this episode on LP won a Grammy for best Best Spoken Word, Drama, or Documentary.
Segment Three:
From South Africa we've got an episode of SF68 featuring Harlan Ellison's 1957 story, "Wanted In Surgery" which first saw publication in the American Science Fiction magazine, "Worlds of If" for August of that year.
"Wanted in Surgery" is set in a future where human surgeons only assist robots and surgery has become a purely mechanical thing, cut and dried, devoid of bedside manner or concern for the patient before or after the operation. The bottom line has become, the bottom line. Not too far off the mark is it? Just wait a few more years. The thing is, I'm not sure that this would be a bad thing entirely. There might be fewer mistakes. Don't get me wrong. I will not be among the first to sign up.
Segment Four:
You might have thought that we were done with "Donovan's Brain". But it turns out that this is not exactly the case. On May the 31st of 1944, just two weeks after starring in the "Suspense" production. Wells, on his own show, "The Orson Wells Radio Almanac" did an 11 minute "Donovan's Brain" parody. I thought it would be fun to include it in today's show; so I did.
Music:
Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts - The Queen And The Soldier (1999)
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