Bob and Ray WOR 073 June 21, 1973

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(4.8 stars; 2 reviews)

This show is from Thursday June 21st, 1973. There is some patter between Bob and Ray, an In The Gathering Dust and then coverage of the Gran Prix. On the Mary Backstayge episode Carmine joins the crew, Captain Larsen hits his head several times with the resulting personality changes.    A very unusual show. The recording here is also slightly unusual as two separate people recorded this show with one being slower on the stop button. The worst bits of both are used here 0:00  A talk on Labrador, its tourist attractions, and the use of forced labour in the tourism industry. 1:50  Another installment of The Gathering Dusk, "the heart-warming story of a girl who overcomes every obstacle to achieve complete misery".  In today's episode, Edna (Ray) gets a visit from plainclothesman Everknoch of the village police force (Bob), whom she tells of the prowler hanging around the neighborhood. 5:25  Coverage of the Gibraltar Grand Prix by Roland Thaxter of the British Broadcasting Corporation (who is neither Bob nor Ray, but Peter Ustinov, from his brilliant comedy album 'The Grand Prix of Gibraltar!'.  Thaxter is joined by American commentator Barrett Spikes. 7:20  Webley Webster (Ray) drops by and discusses car racing with Bob and Ray.  Webley recalls driving the Gibraltar course and side-swiping the chapel on the corner, and Bob comments on the track's eight-yard straightaway. 8:35  A brief discussion of the music of The Henry Gladstone Trio.  Henry Gladstone was a WOR newscaster for 32 years, beginning in 1942, whose musical ability was a running gag on Bob & Ray. 9:05  Back to Gibraltar for color commentary, then an interview with the German driver 'Graf Wolfram von Grips' (based on Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips, who began his Formula One career in September 1956, and who actually drove neither a Mercedes nor a 'Schnorcedes', but a Ferrari).  The interview is cut short by German racing team manager 'Herr Altbauer'. 12:00  Back to the studio briefly, then at 12:25 they return to Gibraltar for an interview with German chief Herr Altbauer (based on long-time Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix racing team manager Alfred Neubauer, 'Alt' being German for 'old', 'Neu' being 'new'). The discussion of the lightness of the German cars may be inspired by a well-known (and completely untrue) story that Neubauer told about the origin of the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow racing cars.  Originating in the early 1930s, the Silver Arrows were unpainted, using body panels of polished aluminum inspired by aircraft fuselage construction. The story that Neubauer told in his 1958 memoirs is that at the 1934 Eifelrennen, a race in the Eifel Mountains region of Germany, the cars had an upper weight limit of 750 kilograms (about 1650 pounds).  The day before the race, his white Mercedes-Benz W25 weighed in at 751kg, so Neubauer and his driver Manfred von Brauchitsch removed the paint, successfully lowering the weight to 750kg. The truth is that both Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union had raced silver cars in 1934 prior to the Eifelrennen, and von Brauchitsch himself had raced a silver car as early as 1932.  In fact, the 1934 Eifelrennen was 'Formule Libre', so weight would not even have been an issue. 13:20  An interview with the French driver 'Orgini' (based on Italian-born French driver Aldo Gordini) on the problems of funding a racing team, such as the high cost of paint due to French painters like Bernard Buffet taking it all. 15:20  Back to the studio, a discussion of Bob's outside gig, and the first day of summer. 16:40  On Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife, Carmine has joined the crew of a ship helmed by a rather capricious Captain Wolf Larsen, title character of Jack London's novel The Sea Wolf. 20:00  Back to the Gibraltar Grand Prix for more talk with French driver Orgini, and his devious scheme to throw the Germans off their game.  At 21:25, a move to the Italian pits, and an interview with the Paraguayan champion 'Jose Julio Fandango' (based on Argentine five-time Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio). 23:10  Back to the studio briefly, then back to Gibraltar at 22:30 for an interview with builder of racing automobiles 'Commendatore Fanfani' (likely based on Ferrari). 25:10  Raymond Thaxter introduces Lord Weeps of Sebring, then the race gets underway.  (The German driver 'Fling' mentioned by Thaxter at 28:00 is a reference to Karl Kling, German veteran of eleven Formula One Grand Prix races.) 29:15  Another visit from The Word Wizard, Dr. Elmer Stapley (Ray), who answers letters from listeners about language, with both pretense and incompetence. 32:35  The wrap-up of coverage of the Gibraltar Grand Prix by Barrett Spikes and Roland Thaxter. Annotated by Harry Wilson

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

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