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Welcome to Down These Mean Streets, a weekly trip back to the Golden Age of Radio where we rub elbows with the era's greatest private eyes, cops, and crime-fighters. Since 2013, I've been podcasting everything from cozy mysteries to police procedurals, spotlighting characters ranging from hard boiled gumshoes to amateur sleuths. 

Be sure to tune in each Sunday for adventures of a radio detective and the behind-the-scenes stories of their shows. Join me as we spend time with Sam Spade, Johnny Dollar, Sgt. Joe Friday, and more!

Feb 29, 2024

In this bonus episode, we're going back to the beginning with the audition recordings for five old time radio detective shows - some that became regular series, some that didn't, and some that changed stars along the way. We'll hear Victor Jory as a Scotland Yard inspector in the tryout for The Hunters (recorded in November 1948) and Dick Powell - before he was Richard Diamond - as Johnny Dollar in that show's audition (recorded in December 1948). Bill Johnstone stars as Lt. Ben Guthrie in Police Line-Up, the audition for what became The Line-Up (recorded in May 1950) and Mercedes McCambridge heads to court in The Defense Rests, which premiered later as Defense Attorney (recorded in April 1951). Finally, Howard Duff - radio's Sam Spade - dons the fedora of private eye Mike McCoy in the audition for The McCoy (recorded in April 1951).