Sundays With Snyder - Number 19

Tom's first guest is an author who would not deny that his most famous book is rubbish.

William Rathje deploys a terrific sense of humor during his hour with Tom from July 21, 1992. as he discusses Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage, his book first published in May of 1992 and reprinted in 2001. Rathje is an archeologist who digs into landfills and extracts garbage that has been buried for as long as 40 years. Bill admits that he and his crew don't always use their facemasks, because "after ten or fifteen minutes, the smell goes away."

That may be true, and no disrespect to Mr. Rathje, but maybe he and his compatriots should have kept those masks on. I can't remember anyone coughing while on Tom's show, but Rathje hacks his way throughout the entire interview, with one bout of coughing so serious-sounding that Tom playfully asks Bill if he'd like to have some oxygen brought in. I'm pleased to report that Mr. Rathje seems to still be alive and, presumably, well. That's amazing; based the audio impression given by this program, you wouldn't have given the guy six months.

Tom's guest for the second hour (in an interview that's nearly complete) is legendary CBS newsman Robert Trout. Trout began working in radio when announcers wore smocks and were selected, in part, on elocution, vocal timbre, and authoritative delivery. Trout's final assignments were retrospective pieces for NPR, which probably had to make an exception to bring him on board. (I love and support NPR, but suspect they select male announcers based on level of affectation, inappropriate folksiness, wryness, and execution of thoughtful pauses/ability to convey mock surprise).




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Sundays With Snyder - Number 18

When a new kid plops down next to Tom in the sandbox, you can count on him to be welcoming and polite, even when he's not completely thrilled with the new arrival.

Deborah Norville made the announcement that she would soon be added to the ABC radio sandbox on this day. The key achievement of Norville's life seems to be her failure on the NBC "Today" television show, where her brief stint was bookended by the long and successful reigns of Jane Pauley, who preceded her, and Katie Couric, who followed her. For quite some time, she adopted the persona of the puzzled yet plucky underdog. ("What did I do wrong?")

She lasted a year as an ABC radio host. Tom didn't like her much, which is evident in the interview despite his statements to the contrary. Perhaps Norville is not as disingenuous as she sounds.

In the second hour, Tom is joined by Robin "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" Leach. A man who can be trusted, obviously.

For your information - let's get this straight - there were hidden self-promotional motives in neither Norville's tasteful People Magazine breast-feeding photo nor Leach's graphic-but-also-tasteful presentation of a celebrity C-section. No further discussion, please, on these selfless acts that bring important information to the public. And let's not even mention Tom's TV show that featured a naked encounter group.



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 17

An hour (actually less, commercials have been removed) with Stephen Rebello, author of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. This is preceded by the end of an interview with Don Drysdale. This was a "Best Of" rebroadcast, which accounts for some of the unusual edits.

Why post the end of the Drysdale interview? Because the beginning might show up someday. That's what happened with a previous program posted here with guest Anthea Disney, editor of TV Guide; that program will be updated shortly with the missing segment.

And if you want to see TS with Hitch...



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Sundays With Snyder - Number 16

Gosh - I had forgotten that Tom was also broadcast on WABC-AM from New York City. (I was actually closer to WICC, which was and is right across the Long Island Sound in Connecticut). It was a source of annoyance to Tom that during the summer, WABC bumped him - frequently - for Yankees baseball.

I mention this because Tom's guest is Curt Smith, author of  "Voices of The Game," about the great radio broadcasters who called the play-by-play. It's Tuesday, June 30, 1992.

You can hear lightning making lots of noise in the AM band... I guess there was no Yankees game that night.



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The Cantorial Tradition In The Music Of Laurel and Hardy And "Our Gang?"

Visually, in one of Hal Roach's Max Davidson shorts, maybe. That's Max at left.

But ethnomusicologist Henry Sapoznik, of the nonprofit Living Traditions, which is releasing “Cantors, Klezmorim & Crooners 1905-1953” ($25, JSP Records/Living Traditions) says that devotees of LeRoy Shield's later film music (including the wonderful background music heard in the 1930's Hal Roach shorts) can trace Shield's musical thematic development in his earlier work as a conductor/arranger for Jewish recordings (among others) at Victor. On the the CD, which will be released to mark KlezKamp's 25th anniversary and a festival of Yiddish music and art set for December 23-29, there's a track that features Yiddish Theater singer Ellie Casman backed by LeRoy Shield's RCA band.

Sapoznik, a five-time Grammy winner for early folk and country music productions, who also received a Peabody Award for his "Yiddish Radio Project," was misquoted and misinterpreted in a poorly edited interview that popped up on the 'net and raised a few eyebrows among Shield admirers (and this post has been revised to reflect the proper context for his remarks).

The raised eyebrows had to do with the fact that Shield was Irish. Which is not to say he didn't want to be perceived as Jewish... in fact, the reverse is true. Steve Cloutier, who runs the Leroy Shield website learned that "...Leroy changed his name from "Shields" to "Shield" [because he thought it] would be advantageous in Hollywood if his name sounded more Jewish than Irish." Shield/Shields changed the name quite a bit - Roy Shield was yet another variation he used.

Sapoznik suggests Shield's early work, including the Yiddish recordings for RCA, were an influence Shield brought to [the Hal Roach] movies. Sapoznik observed, “The cantorial tradition,” so central to Yiddish recordings, “was the key DNA of Eastern European Jewish music. Everything — klezmer, Yiddish theater, folk songs — that’s what links them all together."

He makes a point. It would be great fun to hear more of Shield's early work. Maybe we can convince a klezmer band to cover the Hal Roach tunes, but in the meantime, I'm going to check out the "C,K, and C" CD asap.