OLD-TIME RADIO’S 60 ALL-TIME FAVORITES

The pictures radio provides are so vivid! Comedy and crime predominate here; many reliables--“Jack Benny,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Shadow,” the incomparable “X Minus One,” etc.--are present. (Otherwise, we detect no rhyme nor reason to the selection.) Radio Spirits has done a superb job of restoration and packaging, which includes an informative booklet. Although one wishes that every selection began at the top of a side, the publishers could have not packed so much material on so few cassettes had they done so; the inconvenience is well worth it. Some of the old radio programs revived on these cassettes are pretty obscure. Neither are they all of great quality. However, they are, to this reviewer, equally fascinating and delightful. For even when the performances and scripting plummet to the level of today’s TV junk, the medium itself elevates them. Y.R. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/ JAN 02]