VANCOUVER, Wash. – Three legendary radio drama series come together for Re-Imagined Radio in July: “The Lone Ranger,” “The Green Hornet” and “The Challenge of the Yukon.” Among the best of the old-time radio programs, each exemplifies pioneering radio storytelling, featuring larger-than-life characters, adventurous plots and classical music themes. Each was written by Fran Striker and produced by George Trendle, owner of WXYZ radio in Detroit, and each popularized its classical theme music.
The premier broadcast and live stream airs at 1 p.m. July 18 on KXRW-FM, Vancouver, and KXRY-FM, Portland. Subsequent broadcasts and streams will be provided by local, regional and international broadcast partners.
“The Lone Ranger” (1933 – 1955) spawned novels, films, television series, animations, comic strips and books, video games, premiums and toys—as well as parodies and spoofs. The Lone Ranger and his companion, Tonto, became enduring American icons, galloping onto the scene to Rossini’s “The William Tell Overture.” Radio Re-Imagined samples an episode from 1938, “Horse Thieves Steal Silver.”
Hero of “The Green Hornet” (1938 – 1952) was Britt Reid, a “daring young publisher,” and his valet, Kato, who matched wits with the underworld to track down criminals and racketeers. They were accompanied by Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Flight of the Bumblebee.” Re-Imagined radio samples a 1939 episode, “Words and Music.”
“The Challenge of the Yukon” (1939 – 1947) turned Sergeant Preston of the Northwest Mounted Police and his trusty dog Yukon King into household names. They also starred in a later radio series (1950 – 1955), titled “Sergeant Preston of the Yukon.” The theme music was the overture to von Reznicek’s opera “Donna Diana.” Radio Re-Imagined features a sample from “Meeting the Terms of a Contract” (1943), the earliest surviving episode of the original series.
Re-imagined Radio premieres episodes on the third Monday of the month on KXRW-FM and KXRY-FM. In addition, every Sunday, an episode of Re-Imagined Radio is broadcast on KXRW only, drawing from previously broadcast episodes. Episodes can be streamed on demand from the Re-Imagined Radio website, www.reimaginedradio.net.
Community Partners
Re-Imagined Radio draws on community voice actors, Foley artists, musicians, sound artists and engineers. Partners include KXRW-FM, Marc Rose, Martin John Gallagher, Holly Slocum Design and Regina Carol Social Media Management.
About Re-Imagined Radio
Re-Imagined Radio was begun in 2013 by John Barber, faculty member of the Creative Media and Digital Culture Program at WSU Vancouver, to celebrate radio storytelling. “We select, produce and perform classic and contemporary stories across a spectrum of radio genres, from dramas to comedies, from oral to aural histories, from documentaries to fictions, from soundscapes to sonic journeys, from radio to sound art,” Barber said.
About WSU Vancouver
WSU Vancouver is in the homeland of Chinookan and Taidnapam peoples and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. As one of six campuses of the WSU system, WSU Vancouver offers big-school resources in a small-school environment. The university provides affordable, high-quality baccalaureate- and graduate-level education to benefit the people and communities it serves. As the only four-year research university in Southwest Washington, WSU Vancouver helps drive economic growth through relationships with local businesses and industries, schools and nonprofit organizations.
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MEDIA CONTACT(S)
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communication, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@wsu.edu