THE MURRAY HILL RADIO THEATER PRESENTS THE SHADOW  -  ORSON WELLES

YEAR:  1976
LABEL:  Murray Hill
TRACK LISTING:  The White God,  Murder On Approval,  Aboard the Steamship Amazon,  The Creeper,  The Power of the Mind,  The Hypnotized Audience
IMPRESSIONS:  Back around 1979 when I first got into old radio shows via my friend Ed Jacoby, I got my first taste of the Shadow with this 3 record box set I checked out of my school library.  I kept renewing the record and kept them checked out, as I recall, the entire months of October, November and December.  So therefore, while there's nothing Christmasy here, I do associate this record with winter and the Christmas season.  I taped the records, naturally, and listened to the millions of times but there was nothing quite as nice as having the actual LP to put on my turntable.  There is, of course, practically no better radio show opening than THE SHADOW with Rosa Rio's hauntingly spooky organ music and the classic tag line "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?  The Shadow knows!"  But I also loved the commercials spoken by the announcer for Goodrich Safety Silvertown tires "with the lifesaver tread"; there was just something so evocative about picturing in my mind's eye the rainy streets at night from these commercials and the blinking show hadn't even started yet.  Then of course there were the fine episodes taken from Orson Welles' tenure as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow; six corkers including the exotic "White God" residing inside an active volcano and probably my favourite all-time Shadow episode "The Creeper" in which a creepy character sneaks into people's homes at night (usually during a thunderstorm) via a labyrinth of subterranean tunnels beneath the city to kidnap his victims and spirit them away in the dark, drippy catacombs beneath the earth.  I mean, how can you beat this stuff?!?  My adolescent ears spun and my brain bubbled as my imagination and "mind's eye" were sparked into life.  
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  I will resist the temptation to say all of 'em so I'll choose:  The White God,  The Creeper,  The Hypnotized Audience
FACT SHEET:  THE MURRAY HILL RADIO THEATER PRESENTS THE SHADOW was a 3 record box set featuring six episodes of the Shadow radio programme.  THE SHADOW programme in this era starred Orson Welles as Lamont Cranston aka the Shadow and Agnes Moorehead as Margo Lane.  "The White God" was originally broadcast May 1, 1938.  "Murder On Approval" was originally broadcast August 21, 1938.  "Aboard the Steamship Amazon" was originally broadcast July 17, 1938.  "The Creeper" was originally broadcast May 29, 1938.  "The Power of the Mind" was originally broadcast July 3, 1938.  "The Hypnotized Audience" was originally broadcast March 27, 1938.