THE WORLD ADVENTURERS' CLUB
(Restored
Edition) 33 Stories of adventure and 34
rousing songs (Pith helmets
optional)
You are privileged to be
invited to the meeting of the greatest explorers,
adventurers and circumnavigators ever assembled under one
roof. Each has a concise and amazing story to tell of
daring escapes, perils, sabotage, rescue, sacrifice,
treasure, superstition, horror, mystery, heroism, or exotic
romance, and between each story is a rousing musical number
by "the quartet." Yes, all of the stories are written from
that old-fashioned imperialist perspective, so you
occasionally hear people being called "brown devils," or
"ignorant savages" etc. but we all know this isn't real and
nobody's trying to offend anyone, they're just there to try
and tell a good story. The original programs survive in
somewhat scratchy condition, with long, extraneous opening
and closing themes. This audio DVD has been formatted into
six hour-long "meetings" of the Adventurers' club, with
five or six stories and the same number of songs in each.
Gone are the repeats of the opening and closing theme
music, and the DVD has reduced the scratchiness
considerably, edited out skips present in the original
tracks, and has heightened, noise-reduced and
volume-adjusted sound quality throughout. The stories range
from triumphant to terrifying to tragical, and the songs,
many of which sound as if they are adapted from Kipling
poems and the like, are unique and worth the price of the
DVD themselves! A well-designed presentation by Dr. Grood
of a wonderfully entertaining -- if politically archaic --
series designed for optimum listening pleasure. Fantastic
for listening to in the car on a portable DVD player while
on adventurous automobile excursions of your own!
THE WORLD ADVENTURERS' CLUB Reviewed by
Bonga
Imagine yourself seated at the bar of a posh London club.
To your left, Nayland Smith and Blake of Scotland Yard are
sipping sherry, while chatting with Tal Chatoli and Rex
Bennett. To your right, Clyde Beatty and Cptn. Jim Marsden
are playing mumblety-peg with Crash Corrigan. Pat Ryan,
Lance Reardon, and, lord help us, Ray Mala are playing a
round of darts. At the piano, Ace Drummond is clearing his
throat. At the billiard table, Smilin’ Jack and
Jungle Jim are chalking their cues.
What would these guys talk about if they all got together?
“The World Adventurers Club” is probably as
close as we’ll come to getting an answer to that
question. This fascinating series, which sounds like it
must have been broadcast in the very early 1930s, takes the
form of the regular meetings of a club of globe-trotting
explorers, scientists, agents provocateur and soldiers of
fortune. When not escaping from headhunters or surviving
arctic blizzards, the adventurers like nothing better than
hearing a good story told by one of their number. Just as
serial heroes would probably relive their adventures with
their peers, these guys spin each other yarns from their
most recent expeditions to the nether parts of the globe.
Following each hackle-raising tale, the gang gathers round
the piano for a rousing sing-along.
In the manner of Irish folk music, this series is quaint
and, at the same time, vigorously red-blooded. The stories
are extremely well-done. Scripting is tight, sound effects
are atmospheric, acting is solid. Although quite short,
each story is fully involving and rich with detail. They
seem longer than they are. The adventurers circle the
uncivilized corners of the world, fighting revolutions,
tracking lost expeditions, battling bandits and hunting
treasure. They’re very good at what they do--this is
the gang you would want around when the chips are down.
And, they know it. The prevailing world view of the
storytellers is patrician and assuredly
colonial--accordingly, some of these tales are far from
21st Century PC, and the occasional slur or derogatory
slight is the only feature which would make this
time-capsule series less than perfect as an introduction to
radio drama for children.
About the songs: everyone in this club can sing and sing
well: these gents know their harmony, vibrato and
counterpoint. The songs are all the kind of tune that Ace
Drummond would sing (if he knew more than just one song).
They add tremendously to the suave, clubby and somehow
veddy upper-class atmosphere of the series. If the Serial
Squadron members can sing like this at the Serialfest bar,
we should cut an album.
I don’t know where his crack team of
audio-archaeologists dug this series up, but they’ve
unearthed a real treasure.
FIRST
MEETING 1 Opening Music - 2 The Men Who Sail the
Main - 3 PAPUA ESCAPE - 4 The Jungle Night - 5 MANCHURIAN
LIMITED - 6 Thundering Guns - 7 PANCHO VILLA'S TREASURE - 8
Mexican Song - 9 THE BORNEO DIAMOND - 10 Law of the Jungle
- 11 THE FROZEN NORTH
SECOND
MEETING 12 March On for Gold - 13 LAND OF DOOMED
SOULS - 14 The Silent Maiden - 15 THE VALE OF DEATH - 16
Danse Macabre - 17 RASPUTIN, THE EVIL GENIUS - 18 Volga
Boat Song - 19 THE TREASURE HUNT - 20 Eight Bells - 21
CURSE OF THE BLACK HAND - 22 Kashmiri Song - 23 MYSTERY
LAND OF INDIA
THIRD
MEETING 24 The Builder's Song - 25 THE HIDDEN FANG -
26 Lament - 27 THE TATTOOED ROSE - 28 Invictus - 29 THE
FIRE DOG - 30 Devil Wind and Fire - 31 NORWAY'S LUCK - 32
Gifts - 33 ELEPHANT'S GRAVEYARD - 34 Africa, Heart of
Darkness - 35 THE BLACK WHITE MAN
FOURTH
MEETING 36 Forest Song - 37 THE LIVING SHROUD - 38
Bells of the Sea - 39 STORM ON THE SEA - 40 Finiculi
Finicula - 41 GRAIN OF DEATH - 42 Hear Dem Bells - 43 HAIRY
WILD MAN - 44 Asia - 45 MALAY MADNESS - 46 Follow the Flame
- 47 THE PALE FLAME
FIFTH
MEETING 48 A Stein Song - 49 THE FAWN - 50 Morning -
51 KADITCHA - 52 Love Song of India - 53 MUCKIN' IN THE
KHYBER - 54 A Merry Crowd are We - 55 THE MADONNA'S TEAR -
56 How Dear Are These Haunts - 57 DEAD MEN WALK
SIXTH
MEETING 58 Soldiers' Chorus from Faust - 59 THE
LIVING MUMMY - 60 Bells of Notre Dame - 61 MAD MONK OF
ANGKOR VAT - 62 Roll Down to Rio - 63 VENGEANCE - 64
Freedom - 65 THE CONTINENTAL EXPRESS - 66 Merrily We Go -
67 Closing & End Music - 68 Auld Lang Syne
1 DVD $4.95
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Listen to "The Jungle
Night"
Listen to THE LIVING SHROUD
Listen to "March on for Gold"
Listen to THE BLACK HAND
Listen to "The Thundering Guns"
Listen to THE HIDDEN FANG
Listen to "Lament"