CLASSIC BOB & RAY, VOLUME ONE

For fans of radio’s golden age, Bob and Ray are a familiar duo whose radio program outlasted many others and was still broadcasting on NPR in the early 1980’s. The programs feature a repertoire of characters--reporter Wally Ballou, sportswriter Biff Burns, Harry and Mary Backstayge, and others are quickly familiar to listeners. Soap opera parodies, invented commercials (Einbinder Flypaper), and imitations of Senator Joe McCarthy and Arthur Godfrey are just a few elements that will delight new listeners, as well as those who remember the broadcasts and later appearances on television. Innovative and often improvisational, Elliott and Goulding are brilliant comedians whose work reflects their times and yet endures admirably. RadioArt, a nonprofit company that produced Bob & Ray for NPR, has collected and preserved dozens of shows in albums such as “Vintage Bob & Ray,” “Best of Bob & Ray” and “Classic Bob & Ray.” Remastered sound and introductions to the early shows make these collections impressive archives, not to mention good, clean fun for listening. R.F.W. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 98]