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The Singing Bandit

The Singing Bandit: Being robbed while you are on the dusty trail is bad enough, but it is doubly embarrassing if the desperado begins singing to you before killing you!

Singing Bandit

10 old time radio show recordings
(total playtime 2 hours, 269 min)
available in the following formats:

1 MP3 CD
or
2 Audio CDs


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Play a sample episode from July 01, 1937:

"California Fiesta"



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Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

Gene Autry helped to create one of Hollywood's most unlikely character types when he made his film debut with In Old Santa Fe (1934) as the very first "Singing Cowboy". A buckaroo with a song on his lips proved to be a low-budget alternative to the rootin'-tootin' action-hero cowboy, guitars and musicians being much less expensive to film than horses and stuntmen. A singing cowboy could make do with a generic bad guy in a black hat, so the "singing bad guy" remained a part of serious musical theater but not really part of the singing cowboy western.

Jay NovelloRadio did have The Singing Bandit, a syndicated program produced in the studios of KMTR Los Angeles during the late Thirties for Robert E. Callahan Syndications. Callahan was a noted authority on "authentic" Indian, cowboy, Mexican, and Old California culture. He claimed to have begun his career with Buffalo Bill's Wild West, made a respectable fortune in Chicago advertising, and finally settled in Los Angeles. In 1928, he purchased land along West Washington Blvd where he built Ramona Village, and Old West-themed attraction which featured an Indian Village, a trading post, Mexican-styled café, various dioramas including a representation of Death Valley, a motor court featuring guest accommodations in cement teepee, and a theater where various pageants and dramas were held.

Callahan's earliest radio efforts were remote broadcast from the stage of the Ramona Village theater, but he soon began writing and producing more elaborate radio dramas, including the Lone Indian, Indian Trails, Santa Fe Trail, and may have contributed scripts to 20 Mule Team's Death Valley Days. The Singing Bandit was one of his more sophisticated offerings, although the program used characters and situations which had appeared in earlier shows. The titular Bandit was a "Zorro" knock-off, a former dandy who grew up on a California rancho and was forced into a life of crime but kept a strong sense of chivalry and personal nobility. Rather than using a sword to mark his accomplishments with a "Z", he had a quirt or whip which left the image of a red spiderweb, giving the Singing Bandit his other alias, "The Red Spider".

The Bandit was played by Jay Novello, who would go on to play Jack Packard in the West Coast version of I Love a Mystery.

Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

These classic recordings are available in the following formats:

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  • MP3 CDs are delivered by mail. These archival quality MP3 CDs are playable in your computer and many MP3 player devices.



    10 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00. Total playtime 2 hours, 269 min
    10 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00
    total playtime 2 hours, 269 min
    Add MP3 CD Collection to Cart

    1. 10 shows – total playtime 2 hours, 4 minutes
    2. Singing Bandit 370000 001 California Fiesta B7175 49.mp3
    3. Singing Bandit 370000 001 California Fiesta B7226 138.mp3
    4. Singing Bandit 370000 001 California Fiesta Buildup.mp3
    5. Singing Bandit 370000 002 Three Americanos Calaboosa 9 Years.mp3
    6. Singing Bandit 370000 003 Red Spider B7176 61.mp3
    7. Singing Bandit 370000 004 Stage Holdup B7207 56.mp3
    8. Singing Bandit 370000 005 Redwood Forest B7210 58.mp3
    9. Singing Bandit 370000 007 Cripple Creek B7212 59.mp3
    10. Singing Bandit 370000 009 Death Fire B7234 55.mp3
    11. Singing Bandit 370000 00x Music For Show B7178 13.mp3
  • MP3 downloads are available instantly after purchase!



    10 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00. Total playtime 2 hours, 269 min
    10 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00
    57 MB – total playtime 2 hours, 4 min
    Add Instant Download Collection to Cart

    1. 10 shows – 57 MB – total playtime 2 hours, 4 minutes
    2. Singing Bandit 370000 001 California Fiesta B7175 49.mp3
    3. Singing Bandit 370000 001 California Fiesta B7226 138.mp3
    4. Singing Bandit 370000 001 California Fiesta Buildup.mp3
    5. Singing Bandit 370000 002 Three Americanos Calaboosa 9 Years.mp3
    6. Singing Bandit 370000 003 Red Spider B7176 61.mp3
    7. Singing Bandit 370000 004 Stage Holdup B7207 56.mp3
    8. Singing Bandit 370000 005 Redwood Forest B7210 58.mp3
    9. Singing Bandit 370000 007 Cripple Creek B7212 59.mp3
    10. Singing Bandit 370000 009 Death Fire B7234 55.mp3
    11. Singing Bandit 370000 00x Music For Show B7178 13.mp3
  • Standard Audio CDs are delivered by mail on archival quality media with up to 60 minutes on each CD and play in all CD players



    10 recordings on 2 Audio CDs. Total playtime 2 hours, 4 min
    10 recordings on 2 Audio CDs
    total playtime 2 hours, 4 min

    Singing Bandit Disc A001

    1. Singing Bandit 370000 001 California Fiesta B7175 49
    2. Singing Bandit 370000 001 California Fiesta B7226 138
    3. Singing Bandit 370000 001 California Fiesta Buildup
    4. Singing Bandit 370000 002 Three Americanos Calaboosa 9 Years
    5. Singing Bandit 370000 003 Red Spider B7176 61

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Singing Bandit Disc A002

    1. Singing Bandit 370000 004 Stage Holdup B7207 56
    2. Singing Bandit 370000 005 Redwood Forest B7210 58
    3. Singing Bandit 370000 007 Cripple Creek B7212 59
    4. Singing Bandit 370000 009 Death Fire B7234 55
    5. Singing Bandit 370000 00x Music For Show B7178 13

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00

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