The Department Store Swindle!
(Detective Dexter Roland returns to the air to bring you an episode of Your’s Truly, Johnny Dollar, with this gem from 24 December 1949. Later aired on 7 December 2016 as Mutations #28.1)

Detective Dexter Roland had a pretty eventful November, and was ready to settle down for a quiet December where he could worry about money for a chance.  But no sooner had he dismissed his secretary and was about to do some heavy drthinking, when his old friend Johnny Dollar called up, to discuss a holiday case that he can’t stop thinking about.  All December, Dexter Roland will be presenting holiday capers the likes of which you’ve never heard before, and he’d doing it all as part of our annual X-Mas Memories Broadcasts.

To kick things off, we are offering, “How I Played Santa Claus And Almost Got Left Holding The Bag,” a Johnny Dollar story from Christmas Eve, 1949.  Johnny Dollar had a long and fascinating radio career, and in almost 12 years aired over 800 shows that are still being enjoyed to this day.  Not quite a famous as Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe or Dexter Roland, Johnny Dollar seemed to outlast them all by delivering a combination of the best detective characters on radio, and dominated the ’50’s as detectives popped up on every station.  When the mid-’60’s rolled around – and Television had very truly dominated radio – Johnny Dollar faded away.

But him memory lives on, with this story about how difficult department stores can be.  And until next week:

Enjoy!

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The Department Store Swindle!

Side A: Camera Shy 

01.) Johnny B. Goode * The Remains * A Session With The Remains
02.) Train * Mission of Burma * vs.
03.) Camera Shy * Parts & Labor * Mapmaker
04.) I’ll Cry * The Reigning Sound * Too Much Guitar
05.) Shoplifting * The Slits * Cut
06.) Pictures * Thought Police * Messthetics Vol. 3
07.) There Ain’t No Santa Clause On The Evenin’ Stage * Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band * The Spotlight Kid

Side B: True Detective 

08.) Close The Door * The Readymen * Restless
09.) Last Chance * The Wipers * The Herd
10.) White * Ken Nordine * Colors
11.) True Detective * Accidents * A Reference Of Female-Fronted Punk Rock: 1977-89
12.) Mr. Santa Claus * Nathaniel Mayer* Village Of Love