Radio inspired my imagination and brought characters vividly to life through the incredible talents of radio actors, sound effects, and thrilling music. I remember my Grandma and Mom listening to “soap operas” when I was playing in the house on a rainy or cold day. “The Second Mrs. Burton,” “The Guiding Light,” and others were not shows I listened to intentionally, although the organ music they used for themes and dramatic punctuations always caught my ear.
Even in my teen years, the airwaves still featured radio drama on Sunday afternoon. CBS was the last to ditch the format, but those final years brought 2 hours of great listening from 4-6pm on WMT radio. “Suspense,” “Yours Truly Johnny Dollar,” “Gunsmoke, “and “Have Gun Will Travel” were a part of my weekly routine.
In the late 1960s, I discovered that many of these programs were available to purchase on reel to reel tape, so I started a collection that eventually grew to thousands of shows. Sound quality varied from excellent to horrible, but they were fun to hear and brought back many pleasant memories. Several Chicago stations started playing some “old time radio” (OTR) late Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon.
As Program Director of WDBQ, I decided to do the same. Several companies licensed the most popular shows like “The Lone Ranger” and “Green Hornet,” but I soon learned that many of the shows were considered in the “public domain” because they hadn’t been copyrighted. About this same time, the FCC made a ruling that the 6pm-7pm time slot on network television must be turned over to local stations. The big three networks could no longer force their affiliates to carry shows they originated during that hour. The intent was to encourage local creative programming. But, like most FCC ideas, it was well-intentioned, but not productive. Local stations either programmed re-runs of old network shows or inexpensive quiz shows like “Wheel of Fortune.”
Thus began “Studio B” on WDBQ. We encouraged people to turn off the television reruns at 6:30 and enjoy timeless memories of great radio programs. I contacted a long time friend, Bill Zwack, who also had a growing collection of old programs, and together we hosted a half-hour programs of nostalgic radio.
Soon we expanded to a 4-hour format on Sunday evenings from 8 to 12 midnight. That gave us ample time to present a wide variety of shows, including comedy, drama, westerns, variety shows, spooky horror shows, and big band remotes. Short comedy excerpts from the shows were presented at 7:15 am on "The Hall Closet." We also presented short vintage films once each month at the Julien Hotel with "The WDBQ Memory Club." Admission was $1.00 to see films from Laurel & Hardy, an old cartoon, and a serial chapter such as "Zorro's Fighting Legion" or "Captain Marvel."
In the summer of 1972, I had the idea to run a radio script contest and ask our listeners to write original half-hour radio plays that we would then produce using our station announcers and selected local actors. My boss thought it was a clever idea, but doubted we’d get much response. That wasn’t the encouragement I needed, but I managed to talk him into offering cash prizes for the top five entries. We started promoting The WDBQ Radio Theater in early July. Much to everyone’s surprise and my absolute delight, the scripts began pouring in. By late August, we had 52 scripts.
Broadcasting Magazine wrote an article about our efforts in the April 30, 1973 issue.
Jay Sharbutt, a feature writer for the Associated Press, saw it, called me, and then wrote a feature article that was printed in thousands of newspapers around the globe. Our little 1,000 watt AM station in Dubuque had gained the attention of millions of people.
And the Iowa Broadcasters Association recognized our workWithin a year, the Mutual network announced Rod Serling’s “The Zero Hour.” Yes, the man who created the legendary TV series “Twilight Zone” ventured into radio with a nightly ½ hour of science fiction and bizarre stories with name actors in every role.
Next, CBS announced they were bringing back nightly radio drama with the hour-long CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Some of America’s top actors worked for union scale to be part of these nightly dramas. And several Soon several stations in cities like Seattle and Denver also began weekly radio dramas using local scripts and actors.
Did WDBQ inspire all of this? I can’t say it did or didn’t. But, we were the first to take a step “back to the future” with radio drama.
During the next 4 or 5 years, we produced about 25 more radio scripts by local authors.
The novelty of radio drama attracted the attention of the newly created “Old Creamery Theater Company” of Garrison, Iowa. A representative contacted me to inquire about our interest in producing several original dramas written by their staff and also some abridged versions of Shakespeare.
Old Creamery Theater Company
The Old Creamery Theatre became the longest-running professional theatre company in the state of Iowa and now is located in the historic Amana Colonies.
Several of the produced scripts featured actors who have gone on to significant national and international success. Among them was Kate Mulgrew, known to millions as Captain Janeway on Star Trek The Next Generation, and Tim Russell who became the morning personality on WCCO-Minneapolis and then a regular on Garrison Keillor’s popular “Prairie Home Companion.”
Our excellent WDBQ staff filed most of the roles. Superb local announcers including Mike Kenneally, Tom (Mack) McDonough, Jim Hauber, Paul Kemp, and many friends such as Tom Cunliffe, Mary Trierweiler, Kate Mulgrew, Bob Bateman, Nadine Marchesi, and Mike Jagielski played a variety of parts – often multiple roles in the same production. It was “local radio” at its creative best.
Most of the shows survive because I saved the original tapes and have attached quite a few, including the original five with the link below.
Over the years, “Fibber McGee & Molly,” “The Great Gildersleeve,” “Our Miss Brooks,” and countless other classic radio programs became local favorites long after their original network run. Families often came together on Sunday evenings to enjoy wholesome entertainment that truly stands the test of time.
The WDBQ Radio Theater is a memorable program in Dubuque radio history and, unfortunately, marked the end of a “Golden Era” of Dubuque broadcasting.
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