|
  "How to Download and Listen to All the
Old Time Radio Shows You Want" That is the tag line on the RUSC (R U Sitting
Comfortably?) website. Having been a longtime fan of the old radio shows, I gratefully
accepted an offer by co-owner Joy Norris to poke around the website that she and
her husband Ned have created. RUSC is a subscription-based collection of hundreds,
nay thousands of programs from "The Golden Age of Radio" that are available for
your listening pleasure either streaming live or as a download for listening to
at a later time.
A list (like the one to the left) of the main show categories appears on every
page for easy access. Not only are more familiar comedy titles like Abbot &
Costello, Milton Berle, and Father Knows Best included, but
lesser known shows like My Fiend Irma, and Life With Luigi are
also available. Are you a detective story fan? If so, then listen to The Adventures
of Sam Spade, Charlie Chan, The Shadow, or Nightbeat.
I have listened to dozens of old
Dragnet
radio shows over the years. Even quiz shows like You Bet Your Life and
Beat the Band can be used to try your knowledge of trivia. If you think
your IQ is higher than it needs to be, I recommend anything from the Soap Opera
series. Sports enthusiasts will appreciate recorded broadcasts of boxing matches
and football games from days of yore.
  One of my favorite old-time
radio broadcasters is Jean Shepherd (original assignee of
K2ORS call sign),
who spent many years at WOR in New York City. Jean was the consummate storyteller
capable of recounting in detail his experiences in the U.S. Army, during his youth,
and throughout life when faced with many unique circumstances. His biggest career
break came following a Christmas 1962 broadcast of "Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder
Nails the Cleveland Street Kid," a story which came from his book "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash," and became the basis
of the hit movie "A Christmas Story."
 A quick look at
Archive.org
is always a good way to find out how long (at least) a website has been around because
a chart like the one here shows the dates on which it captured samples of the site.
Sure enough, just as claimed, rusc.com has been on Archive.org's radar since way
back in 1999 (the same year rfcafe.com was born, btw).
  For convenience,
RUSC
Radio Show Listing can be downloaded as a PDF file. It contains nearly
2,000 pages of brief synopses for hundreds of shows, including data on date first
broadcast, main star(s), show length in minutes and seconds, and has a fully categorized
table of contents. A mobile version of the RUSC website is available to make listening
on the go even easier.
The "2-Minute Tour" of RUSC is provided to quickly orient you to
the vast resources (25,000+ items) made available. An ever-changing "Top 10" list
is maintained alerting you to the most popular shows currently being listened to
or downloaded. You can add them or any other episodes to your play list. Ned regularly
writes editorial articles on various topics related to his radio show collection.
Graphical charts can be displayed indicating current popularity based on show category
or series.
RUSC guarantees your complete satisfaction or your subscription payment will
be refunded. Click here
to start your trial.
Posted March 4, 2014
|
