Raised on Radio

In the late 1920s radio exploded almost overnight into being America's dominant entertainment, just as television would do twenty-five years later. Gerald Nachman, himself a product of the radio years, takes us back to the heyday of radio, bringing to life the great performers and shows, as well as the not-so-great and not-great-at-all. Nachman analyzes the many genres that radio exploited or invented, from the soap opera to the sitcom to the quiz show, zooming in to study closely key performers like Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and Fred Allen. Raised on Radio is a generous, instructive, and sinfully readable salute to an extraordinary American phenomenon.

Gerald Nachman has for thirty-eight years covered theater, movies, cabaret, and television for newspapers and magazines across the country. The author of three previous books, he lives in San Francisco.

PREFACE    Background Music    
INTRODUCTION    Bedtime Stories
1    Radio-Free America    
2    Vaudio    
3    The Anticomedian
4    Nesting Instincts    
5    Treadmill to Posterity    
6    Wise Guys Finish First    
7    Jokes, Inc.    
8    For Your Listening and Dancing Pleasure    
9    The Children's Hour    181
10    Saddle Sore    
11    Valued Families    
12    No WASPs Need Apply    
13    We'll Be Back Right after These Words    
14    A Voice of Another Color    
15    Radio Noir—Cops and Grave Robbers    
16    Minds over Matter    
17    Just Folks    
18    The Soap Factory    
19    The Royal Family    
20    Meet the Press    
21    Best Seats in the House    
22    Crunch, Creak, Crash, Whoosh, Wham, and Whoo-oooo
23    The Unseen Audience    
24    We're a Little Late, Folks, So Good Night    

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTERVIEWS    
BIBLIOGRAPHY    
INDEX    
PHOTO CREDITS