#nbc monitor

Had some requests to share this show, so I uploaded it to the internet archive --

NBC Monitor (NBC)  "Groucho Marx Birthday Show"

Originally Transmitted: Saturday, October 04, 1958 

Recalling the legendary 20th century comedian Groucho Marx on his birthday with this vintage radio broadcast of the past... From 1958, A 68-year old Groucho Marx recalls his life & career up to that point in his own words & his own inimitable style. (with additonal commentary by announcer Jim Lowe)

Among the highlights are special birthday greetings from brother Harpo & even Margaret Dumont (who sounds like she's reciting dialouge from "Duck Soup"). There's also some bad covers of songs from Marx Brothers films thrown in, but some interesting surprise guests turn up...Most likely broadcast on (or about) October 04th 1958 & this recording came from the 1963 re-broadcast (not sure of the 1963 repeat air date) as part of NBC's (weekend) Re-Monitor program. (00:49:52)

Stream it or download it to go... "& tell 'em Groucho sent you"

I’m just curious here:

Did Bill and Joe appear on NBC Radio’s legendary weekend anthology series Monitor, as aired between 1955 and 1975, primarily to promote new productions of theirs or otherwise to discuss their studio? (I assume you can just hear the legendary Monitor Beacon in the background....)

And speaking of the Monitor Beacon ... such was actually an audio cue for the network’s affiliates to cut away for local “breakaway” segments such as for news, or to rejoin the network feed. As the tribute website MonitorBeacon.net put it, such was

a combination of high-frequency tones dialed by an operator to activate remote telephone equipment in completing long-distance calls. The phone company had recorded the sound and sent it to NBC, which re-recorded it at higher and lower frequencies, put it through several filters and mixed it with a microsecond lag. Then network engineers superimposed an oscillator sending the Morse Code letter “M” for “Monitor.”

It was hard to create The Beacon — and impossible to forget, once you heard it.

Did the Pestering of Reporters Lead to the Famed Description of the NBC Monitor?

True Or False

RADIO URBAN LEGEND: Pat Weaver came up with the trademark description of The NBC Monitor on the fly when being pestered by reporters.