SPEAKING OF RADIO The Jack Benny Program

Interviewer Chuck Schaden succeeds in giving us a multi-sided picture of how these classic programs came to be, from advertising to skit-writing to rehearsal to broadcast. Schaden rerecorded his own questions for clarity when he compiled this collection. Otherwise, the voices are those of the retired radio players and writers themselves, many now deceased, including Benny. Each interviewee brings out a separate aspect of the broadcasts, and excerpts from the broadcasts follow as appropriate. The audio quality of the monaural radio excerpts isn’t perfect, but it’s perfectly understandable, with only an occasional hiss and pop. The radio highlights are, of course, hilarious. D.W. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 98]