Recommendations to the the Tune of "Radio Days"
January 12, 2023 6:09 PM   Subscribe

I recently enjoyed watching Radio Days and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. I like the self-referential old-time radio and pulp vibes, it's pretty fun since I grew up listening to dad's OTR cassette tapes. What are some other works--films, books, podcasts, etc.--that I shouldn't miss? Some more details inside.

Just to offer some more context:

I already decided to watch some more Woody Allen films, and started watching The Purple Rose of Cairo.

A Christmas Story is another film I enjoy and watch a couple times a year. I do listen to some of Shep's old radio shows sometimes.

I'm especially open to any postmodern fictional works of this genre, like Jade Scorpion. I have been reading some old pulp novels from Steeger Books as well, but I do find that I like having some of the self-referential humor in there.

I'm also open to juvenile lit or children's lit and sometimes read a bit of a Homer Price book, or watch How to Frame a Figg, etc., just for the mystery with light humor elements.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.
posted by circular to Media & Arts (9 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Depending on how you feel about Garrison Keillor, I loved his novel "WLT: A Radio Romance" about a Midwestern radio station in the 1930s.
posted by briank at 6:29 PM on January 12, 2023


Best answer: I just deleted a long recommendation for Shepherd after re-reading your post.

I strongly recommend Blue Jam. (It's kind of brutal and very definitely NSFW, but I think not entirely unlike Shep if he had been born in the '80s.)
posted by eotvos at 6:44 PM on January 12, 2023


Best answer: I was going to say, Prairie Home Companion and its various offshoots seem like your vibe.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:46 PM on January 12, 2023


Best answer: Although it's not radio focused, My Favorite Year has some of those similar vibes, but centered around the early days of TV and a bit of a take off of Sid Caesar's Show of Shows.
posted by brookeb at 8:22 PM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]


Best answer: I think you would like Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour broadcasts if you have not heard them already - one example "Happiness"
posted by rongorongo at 9:43 PM on January 12, 2023


Best answer: The Cruisin series of compilation albums that were issued in the 1980s, were also structured to include not just the must from a particular year but also contemporary DJs and advertisements. Here is Cruisin 1955, the first of a series which stretched to 1980.
posted by rongorongo at 9:53 PM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 10:03 PM on January 12, 2023


Best answer: Remember WENN.
posted by elphaba at 5:36 AM on January 13, 2023 [1 favorite]


Best answer: You might enjoy The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
posted by marguerite at 3:03 PM on January 13, 2023


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