Radio: A Reference Guide (American Popular Culture) - Hardcover

"As with the previous Reference Guides' in the American Popular Culture' series, including R.A. Armour's Film and M.W. Booth's American Popular Music, Greenfield's book is a significant contribution to the literature on popular culture. His coverage of the existing literature about radio (including dissertations and theses as well as monographs and periodicals) is both thorough and well-organized. Following a brief historical overview on radio and its role in American life, chapters offer informative and, within the confines of the format, lively and enjoyable bibliographic essays on individual facets of radio as an entertainment and information medium. Topics covered include network and station histories; drama programs; news; music; comedy and variety programming; sports; women in radio; advertising; religious broadcasting; and armed forces radio. A few chapters also highlight the literature on prominent individuals in radio history in discussing the chapter's general topic (e.g., Jack Benny is spotlighted in the chapter on radio comedy; Edward R. Murrow in the chapter covering radio news programming). The book concludes with listings of organizations; of journals; indexes, and abstracts; and of library and other collections of interest to researchers and students of radio. Because of difference in arrangement, focus, and format, this work complements rather than supersedes W.E. McCavitt's Radio and Television: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography, plus suppl. 1982, 1989). Highly recommended for both academic and public library collections."-Choice ..."Overall, the book achieves its mission. Students, scholars and radio aficionados will find this a highly useful work."-Journalism Quarterly "The purpose of this work is to provide scholars and students of popular culture with an evaluative survey of research materials about radio. Like other titles in this important American Popular Culture series from Greenwood, this guide is highly selective; the bibliography is limited to 500 items. The author, a professor of English at Bellarmine College, has included the most useful Ph.D. dissertations and identified many other unpublished manuscripts (usually brief histories of small radio stations). Information concerning special collections and organizations is included. Only the better secondary source materials and the more informative journal articles and autobiographies written by popular radio personalities have been selected for inclusion. An interesting introduction provides an overview of radio's history in the U.S. . . . The bibliographic essays throughout the work will hold the attention of readers and cover topics such as networks and station histories, radio drama, news, music, comedy and variety, and sports. Also included are brief discussions on Women in Radio, ' Radio Advertising, ' and Religious Radio Broadcasting'. . . . All users will discover important sources of information and will appreciate the well-written bibliographic essays."-Reference Books Bulletin "As readers are well aware, we live in a high tech, information media age. With the help of the computer, almost any subject, along with its complexities, is at our fingertips. In the world of OTR enjoyment, we are experiencing a wealth of new information presented to us, almost on a daily basis. New clubs and publications are being formed, new collections are frequently discovered, and new books enter our whelm of interest. To keep up with all the changes, we need an up-to-date work. We have one here. The author has presented an evaluative survey of the history and development of radio, including our favorite area, the shows and personalities behind it. Over 500 sources, including journals, magazine articles, and books are presented as a guide for serious study as an academic discipline, or as important information for the fan or collector who wants to learn more about that show and star. And, with few exceptions, all areas of OTR enjoyment are there . . . The strongest point may be an area we will all find interest in, and fittingly, it is the last chapter. The chapter Organizations, Collections, Journals, and Indexes' is just that, and it is thorough. . . . To complete this work, there is a section that includes contacts and/or phone numbers of locations of collections and organizations. This work is heartily recommended."-SPERDVAC ?...Overall, the book achieves its mission. Students, scholars and radio aficionados will find this a highly useful work.?-Journalism Quarterly ?The purpose of this work is to provide scholars and students of popular culture with an evaluative survey of research materials about radio. Like other titles in this important American Popular Culture series from Greenwood, this guide is highly selective; the bibliography is limited to 500 items. The author, a professor of English at Bellarmine College, has included the most useful Ph.D. dissertations and identified many other unpublished manuscripts (usually brief histories of small radio stations). Information concerning special collections and organizations is included. Only the better secondary source materials and the more informative journal articles and autobiographies written by popular radio personalities have been selected for inclusion. An interesting introduction provides an overview of radio's history in the U.S. . . . The bibliographic essays throughout the work will hold the attention of readers and cover topics such as networks and station histories, radio drama, news, music, comedy and variety, and sports. Also included are brief discussions on Women in Radio, ' Radio Advertising, ' and Religious Radio Broadcasting'. . . . All users will discover important sources of information and will appreciate the well-written bibliographic essays.?-Reference Books Bulletin ?As readers are well aware, we live in a high tech, information media age. With the help of the computer, almost any subject, along with its complexities, is at our fingertips. In the world of OTR enjoyment, we are experiencing a wealth of new information presented to us, almost on a daily basis. New clubs and publications are being formed, new collections are frequently discovered, and new books enter our whelm of interest. To keep up with all the changes, we need an up-to-date work. We have one here. The author has presented an evaluative survey of the history and development of radio, including our favorite area, the shows and personalities behind it. Over 500 sources, including journals, magazine articles, and books are presented as a guide for serious study as an academic discipline, or as important information for the fan or collector who wants to learn more about that show and star. And, with few exceptions, all areas of OTR enjoyment are there . . . The strongest point may be an area we will all find interest in, and fittingly, it is the last chapter. The chapter Organizations, Collections, Journals, and Indexes' is just that, and it is thorough. . . . To complete this work, there is a section that includes contacts and/or phone numbers of locations of collections and organizations. This work is heartily recommended.?-SPERDVAC ?As with the previous Reference Guides' in the American Popular Culture' series, including R.A. Armour's Film and M.W. Booth's American Popular Music, Greenfield's book is a significant contribution to the literature on popular culture. His coverage of the existing literature about radio (including dissertations and theses as well as monographs and periodicals) is both thorough and well-organized. Following a brief historical overview on radio and its role in American life, chapters offer informative and, within the confines of the format, lively and enjoyable bibliographic essays on individual facets of radio as an entertainment and information medium. Topics covered include network and station histories; drama programs; news; music; comedy and variety programming; sports; women in radio; advertising; religious broadcasting; and armed forces radio. A few chapters also highlight the literature on prominent individuals in radio history in discussing the chapter's general topic (e.g., Jack Benny is spotlighted in the chapter on radio comedy; Edward R. Murrow in the chapter covering radio news programming). The book concludes with listings of organizations; of journals; indexes, and abstracts; and of library and other collections of interest to researchers and students of radio. Because of difference in arrangement, focus, and format, this work complements rather than supersedes W.E. McCavitt's Radio and Television: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography, plus suppl. 1982, 1989). Highly recommended for both academic and public library collections.?-Choice .,."Overall, the book achieves its mission. Students, scholars and radio aficionados will find this a highly useful work."-Journalism Quarterly

The purpose of this work is to provide scholars and students of popular culture with an evaluative survey of research materials about radio...An interesting introduction provides an overview of radio's history in the U.S. The bibliographic essays throughout the work will hold the attention of readers and cover topics such as networks and station histories, radio drama, news, music, comedy and variety, and sports. All users will discover important sources of information and will appreciate the well-written bibliographic essays. Booklist Following a brief historical overview on radio and its role in American life, chapters offer informative and, within the confines of the format, lively and enjoyable bibliographic essays on individual facets of radio as an entertainment and information medium...Highly recommended. Choice Intended to be an evaluative survey of bibliographical material on the history and development of radio and radio programming in America, this guide identifies and discusses more than 500 written sources relating to radio music, drama, comedy and variety, news, sports and more. An introductory chapter thoroughly analyzes the historical development of the medium--from its inception during the pioneer era, to the network era (radio's Golden Age), to the decline of radio in the 1950s, and finally to the radio renaissance--based largely, on narrowcasting--that began in the 1960s and continues to the present. Greenfield also examines the formation of the FCC, focuses on radio's losing battle with television--the main reason for its decline beginning in 1949--and provides a cogent analysis of the creative thinking underlying not only the concept of today's narrowcasting, but of the current ascendency of the local station as well. Also addresses are the Press/Radio war of the 1930s, the rise of radio drama, and the enormous influence of rock and roll music on the evolution of radio programming after World War II. A chapter is devoted to networks and station histories and another to issues such as women in radio, advertising, religious broadcasting, and armed forces radio. A list of selected archival collections, radio organizations and associations, and an index complete the volume. Primarily designed for students, scholars, and researchers in the fields of broadcasting and popular culture, this reference deserves a place in university libraries but also has a wealth of information of interest to radio and television professionals. And, because its resources include popular and fan materials as well as standard academic and professional publications, Radio: A Reference Guide provides an insightful overview for any informed generalist with an interest in this important facet of American popular culture.