Premier Collections:
Rocky Jordan, Volume 1
Liner notes written by John Olsen, Elizabeth McLeod and Harlan Zinck

Click to listen to an audio sample

Flashing eyes and flashing knives. Intrigue and mystery in the dusty, crowded streets of Cairo. That's what "Rocky Jordan" meant to faithful radio listeners between 1945 and 1951. It began as "A Man Named Jordan," a fifteen-minute daily serial on the CBS west coast network, and evolved into the weekly half-hour adventure that is best remembered today. Heard for the most part only on the west coast, and unknown to most of the radio audience during its original airing, the series had national exposure only for the final two months of it's run -- but has nonetheless captured the imagination of latter-day Old Time Radio enthusiasts as securely as if it had been a long-running coast-to-coast favorite.

"Rocky Jordan" is very reminiscent of the classic movie "Casablanca." You'll remember that, at the end of the 1942 movie, nightclub owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) and Police Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) walk off into the night, leaving Casablanca to join the Free French garrison across the desert. It would be very easy to think of them ending up in Cairo a few years later, with Blaine opening a new cafe and Renault returning to the challenges - and perks - of police work.

Jack Moyles plays Rocky Jordan, who is much like the Bogart character Rick Blaine. Jordan runs the Cafe Tambourine in Cairo, and Jay Novello plays Captain Sam Sabaaya, a policeman who relates to Jordan much as Captain Renault does to Rick: they like each other, they respect each other -- but they both maintain a certain skepticism.

The settings of both stories are nearly identical: the desert sands, the fez, the turbans, the robes, the underworld lowlifes who visit the cafe. In "Casablanca," "everyone comes to Rick's." Not so in "Rocky Jordan;" the Cafe Tambourine is a lower-class establishment. It's more a waterfront dive, filled with forgotten men. And, unlike "Casablanca," the war is over -- but not the mystery or the intrigue.

In this ten-CD collection of shows, all taken from original CBS network master recordings, Rocky Jordan has encounters with a beautiful gypsy girl, escaped killers, desert raiders, ex-Nazis, diamond smugglers, black marketeers, gun runners, arsonists, racketeers and international thieves. And in them all, he hides a strong sentimentality behind his gruff exterior.

Yes, it's Bogart's Rick Blaine all over again -- but this time portrayed by Jack Moyles as Rocky Jordan. Casablanca or Cairo, it makes no difference. Close your eyes and feel the hot desert winds against your face. Listen to the babble of the crowds at the bazaar. Feel the adrenaline rush as a sharp Bedouin knife thunks into the woodwork inches from your ear. It's time for another Cairo adventure with Rocky Jordan!

Here is the complete content of this new Premier Collection:

Up in Flames
After several Cairo businesses are burned to the ground, a female insurance agent tries to talk Rocky into investing in more fire insurance. But Rocky has a hunch that something is just not right, so he sets out to investigate.
Sunday, December 19, 1948 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining 

Red Stands for Blood
Yan Melnick wants to rent the Cafe Tambourine for a party, so Rocky agrees to meet and discuss the arrangements. But it isn't long before Rocky discovers that Melnick has an ulterior motive in mind.
Sunday, February 13, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

The St. Louis Blues
Ted Polanski, Rocky's old friend from back in the States, is found in Cairo with a knife in his back.
Sunday, March 13, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

Consignment for Naples
After Rocky accepts an insurance check to compensate for his lost cargo, he finds himself widely hated -- and, more importantly, the pilot of the plane in which his cargo was flying is murdered.
Sunday, April 24, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

Lady in Disguise
After Rocky threatens him, Kaffar Bey - a big man in Cairo - is found shot to death.
Sunday, May 8, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

The Man They All Loved
Missionary Jonathan Mellow is found dead at Rocky's doorstep, leaving some baffling questions unanswered: why would the holy man have bought fifty cases of liquor and what is his connection to the riverboat "The Delta Queen?"
Sunday, June 5, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

The Map of Murder
The Cafe Tambourine's new singer gets into an argument with a customer, and is soon found dead in a hotel room. Meantime, a valuable map and $5000.00 has disappeared.
Sunday, July 3, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

The Race
A bomb explodes in a pawnshop located near the Cafe Tambourine. Shortly after the explosion, Rocky learns that another bomb has been planted - this one even bigger than the first - and it is set to go off any minute!
Sunday, July 17, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

The Coward of Mutakhan
After being knifed in the chest, a respected sheik asks Rocky to find the tomb of his ancestor -- a pharaoh of ancient times. 
Sunday, July 24, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

Barlache
Rocky befriends a Spanish-speaking gypsy. Moyles announces that, as of next week, the show will be sponsored by Del Monte.
Sunday, July 31, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

Gold Fever
A claim holder offers Rocky a 30% interest in his gold strike.
Sunday, August 7, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods

Cairo Vendetta
Police Captain Sam Sabaaya has been found beaten in an alley. He decides to quit the force, only to find that he's become a marked man - by the Italian mafia!
Sunday, August 14, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods

The Gum Queen
A caravan carrying a cargo of gum arabic arrives in Cairo, leading Rocky to a murder and a jewel smuggling conspiracy.
Sunday, August 21, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods

A Stranger to the Desert
An exotic looking man breaks through the window of the Cafe Tambourine, and promptly dies. It's later discovered that he's an Eskimo named Johnny Sealskin -- but how did he end up in Cairo?
Sunday, September 4, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods

Adventure with Andraya
A Latin lovely from Ecuador arrives in Cairo trying to recover her lost gold and platinum.
Sunday, September 11, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
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The Nile Runs High
A boat is docked on the bank of the Nile, filled with wet cotton -- and a dead body.
Sunday, September 18, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
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Momento from Adelaide
Rocky inherits $40,000.00 from his late wife. But wait...Rocky has never been married!
Sunday, September 25, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods

Pattern for Revenge
Rocky's name is discovered on a "hit list" of people to be killed...and the others on the list seem to be dropping like flies!
Sunday, October 2, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
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The Man with No Name
A customer of the Cafe Tambourine is shot in the face with an elephant gun, making the corpse unrecognizable. Who was the victim and what was his name?
Sunday, October 9, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods

Quest for Tornina
Rocky witnesses the abduction of a beautiful native girl, but does nothing about it. Shortly thereafter, the kidnapper is found knifed to death.
Sunday, October 16, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods

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