Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Our month of Jack Webb continues with his most unusual crime drama - Pete Kelly's Blues, a show that incorporated Webb's love of jazz into its weekly mysteries. Kelly played cornet in a combo at a Kansas City speakeasy during Prohibition, and each episode featured vocal and instrumental musical numbers. Though it didn't last long on radio, Webb brought Pete Kelly's Blues to the big screen with a cast that included Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald. We'll hear four episodes of the short-lived series: "Gus Trudeau" (originally aired on NBC on August 15, 1951); "Zelda" (originally aired on NBC on September 5, 1951); "The Dutchman" (originally aired on NBC on September 12, 1951); and "June Gould" (originally aired on NBC September 19, 1951).

Our Jack Webb series continues this week with Jeff Regan, Investigator - another stint as a hard-boiled gumshoe before he picked up Joe Friday's badge on Dragnet. Regan was the long-suffering operative of Anthony J. Lyon's International Detective Bureau, and "the Lyon's eye" was always thrown into whatever dangerous case his boss took on with no questions asked. We'll hear Webb as Regan in four radio mysteries: "The Lady with the Golden Hair" (originally aired on CBS on July 31, 1948); "The Man in the Door" (originally aired on CBS on August 28, 1948); "The Man Who Fought Back" (originally aired on CBS on November 27, 1948); and "The Gambler and His Lady" (originally aired on CBS on December 11, 1948).

Our month-long salute to Jack Webb continues with his signature series and my five favorite radio episodes of Dragnet. We'll join Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday as he keeps the streets of Los Angeles safe from crooks of all stripes. We'll hear "The Big Bomb" (originally aired on NBC on July 13, 1950); "The Big Saint" (originally aired on NBC on April 26, 1951); "The Big Bunco" (originally aired on NBC on April 17, 1952); "The Big Bull" (originally aired on NBC on September 14, 1952); and "The Big Little Mother" (originally aired on NBC on October 6, 1953).

We kick off a new month-long series saluting the great Jack Webb in honor of his April 2nd birthday, and we're starting with Pat Novak for Hire - his ultra-hard boiled series that put him on the map. Novak never looked for trouble but always found it on the San Francisco waterfront, and we'll hear him try to keep his head above water in four radio mysteries: "Jack of Clubs" (originally aired on ABC on February 20, 1949); "Fleet Lady" (originally aired on ABC on March 6, 1949); "John St. John" (originally aired on ABC on May 21, 1949); and "Agnes Bolton" (originally aired on ABC on June 4, 1949).

Easter is almost here, and we've got a pair of old time radio mysteries with a twist on the bunny and his basket. Lon Clark stars as Nick Carter, Master Detective in "The Case of the Chemical Chickens," a story of explosive eggs (originally aired on Mutual on April 13, 1947). Then, a rabbit farm that ends up the scene of a murder as Sydney Greenstreet and Larry Dobkin star in "The Case of the Brave Rabbit" from The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe (originally aired on NBC on December 1, 1950).