CBS Radio Mystery Theater

I'd sit alone, and watch your light
My only friend, on teenage nights
and everything I had to know
I heard it on my radio

These lyrics from Queen's "Radio Ga Ga" describe my love affair with radio as a young teenager. For some reason (I can't imagine why) that love affair with radio has soured.

However, from 1978-1981, I tuned in, at 11:07 PM to WMOA of Marietta, Ohio to listen to the CBS Radio Mystery Theater. The late night radio drama left me drousy through my entire junior high school academic career. In the 1970s, a television in the bedroom was something very few children had, so radio and books were my only source of entertainment in my room.

The sound of a creaking door greeted listeners before the resonant voice of actor E.G. Marshall greeted listeners "Come in, welcome. I'm E.G. Marshall." What followed was often a tale of horror, mystery, drama, historical drama, and an occasional comedy. These stories were usually engaging and occasionally terrifying.

Scripts were usually original works of staff writers, but frequently included adaptations of famous writers such as Ambrose Bierce, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, and Henry James. Staff writers included Sam Dann, Ian Martin, Arnold Moss (who Star Trek fans will recognize as the actor that played the evil Anton Kerridian in the episode "Conscience of the King), Bob Juhren (my personal favorite), and Elspeth Eric (by far, my least favorite).

The actors were a mix of radio personalities from radio's "golden age", screen actors on their way up or way down, and Broadway performers such as Celeste Holm and Marian Seldes who were subsidizing their wages. Fred Gwynne of Munsters fame was a frequent performer as was John Lithgow. Jerry Orbach of Law and Order did one show as did Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. My favorite voice was that of Norman Rose. Rose would be familiar to most television viewers as the guy who told us about coffee farmer, Juan Valdez. To OTR fans, he was the host of Dimension X -- a very popular sci-fi radio show of the early 1950s.

The show ran from 1974 through 1982 on CBS Radio and a handful of independent stations. Toledo area residents would have heard it on WJR. Actress Tammy Grimes replaced E.G. Marshall as host in early 1982. By that time, the show had really run its course and the quality of writing had deteriorated badly. In its prime, it was as good as anything on television and I enjoyed it more than anything on television.

The show was created by Himan Brown who was already a veteran of radio drama, having written, produced and directed "The Inner Sanctum" in the 1940s and 50s which is probably the most famous of the horror genre radio shows. His introduction of radio drama in 1974 breathed new life, for a time, into this forgotten art.

I quit listening when I got my drivers license and began spending my evenings partying and hanging out with friends. I didn't even notice when the show was cancelled. But I never forgot it. Several episodes stayed in my mind for more than 20 years, and I thought I'd never have the opportunity to hear those great stories like "Hickory, Dickory, Doom" about a haunted clock, "A Horror Story" about a chef with several recipe for human meat, and "A Long Way from Home" which is an adaptation of an Ambrose Bierce story about a Civil War veteran's lost memory. (Bierce Rocks!) I was wrong.

I was a huge user of Napster when it was popular. One evening, while downloading some rock music, I thought about that show and wondered if anybody else was still a fan like me. As it turned out, there were dozens of people sharing recordings of the show and at least one recording existed of each episode.

Himan Brown (the very cantankerous ass is still alive and approaching 100) has never allowed the series to be released on tape. So many of the recordings were made by kids like me who laid a mic by the speaker of their radios and recorded them to listen to later. Many of the shows contained commercials from the 1970s that I'd forgotten about. They also include news broadcasts from stations across the United States. You can relive the final days of Watergate and the Patty Hearst kidnapping as it all unfolded.

As I listened to that creaking door, I was instantly taken back to those formative years between childhood and adulthood and was delighted to discover this relic of my childhood. Something that I loved dearly and thought was lost to me forever was found!

I joined some online fan groups and eventually acquired a complete set in 2000. I dedicated the next three years to listening to all 1399 episodes, culling the best recordings of each, and assembling a master set. Our online group set up a distro and my master set was mailed to 14 countries and most of the states.

Since I completed my master set in 2003, several radio professionals from the 1970s brought forward reel-to-reel tapes they made from the audio feeds from New York. Using these, we were able to upgrade most of our defective recordings. A gentleman from New Mexico has assembled a new master set that is about to start its distribution. I was honored when Ken from New Mexico mailed me his master series before the distro since I'd dedicated so much time to listening and finding defective recordings in my master set project.

For those interested, I recommend you visit these two sites:

http://cbsrmt.mousetrap.net/

http://www.cbsrmt.info/macabre/
I helped develop the database for the former and am a moderator on the latter.

You should never, ever purchase recordings of this series. Unlike most Old Time Radio shows, which are in the public domain, CBSRMT is still copyrighted. Its sale is illegal. Himan Brown might be a cantankerous old bastard, but he's entitled to not have his work stolen. Himan Brown is aware of our efforts to distribute the show and has tolerated them. He does not tolerate sales and regularly watches ebay and other sites for those selling.

If you are interested in obtaining a complete set, contact me and I'll work with you.