Radio-TV mirror (July-Dec 1953)

NOTHING'S EASY Jack Webb has found many a difficult detour on his road to fame and happiness By FREDDA DUDLEY Like Joe Friday, Jack believes in hard work and thorough preparation, never adnnits that a case can't be solved — somehow. DURING THE DAYS when Jack Webb was a student at Belmont High School in Los Angeles, his friend Chuck Anderson organized a pick-up band of fellow Belmontites. Jack was retained as emcee to introduce each number, giving some background information about the tune and in general adding to the interest of the melody and its performance. The band did very well in a sub-income sort of way. Although it was much in demand for school parties and occasional fraternal affairs, the average take for an evening was around 85^ to $1.00 per man. In an effort to step up their buying power, the combo — loyally abetted by Chuck's father — decided to cut a series of records and mail them on an advertising basis to the program chairmen of various social groups. The day of the platter-cutting was a larynx -parched one for all members of the band. Even the juiciest were dry, and thosp most recently progressed beyond adolescence were insisting (in falsetto) that everything would be aU right. The cuttings were to be done in an old dance studio converted into a concert hall by the simple device of hanging ancient rugs from ceiling to floor. This gesture toward better acoustics added little to the cheer of the room or the confidence of {Continued on page 89) 4? I I Jack Webb stars in Dragnet— heard on NBC Radio, Tues., 9 P.M.— seen on NBC-TV, Thurs., 9 P.M.— both EST, for Chesterfield Cigarettes.