Background:

Audio dramas and stories released on records were rare but not unheard of before World War 2. For example, the cast of Superman performed several short record-only programs in the first part of the 1940s. However, after the War, children’s records were the primary use of this medium, including  Peter Pan, Golden, and Disneyland records. These companies released albums of children’s music and also began to feature stories. Peter Pan became known for its book and story sets in which kids listening could follow along in the book.

Story records often featured adaptations of public domain stories, as well as original children’s material. Some of these records were read by a narrator, and others were full-cast audio dramas.  Over time, companies began to produce records about popular children’s characters of the day. Peter Pan was a leader in this, as they produced records for beloved children’s characters like Scooby Doo, Bozo the Clown, the Flintstones, and Yogi Bear. Through their label, Power Records, Peter Pan produced records featuring DC and Marvel’s most famous comic creations. Power Records also dipped its toe into other popular series that would appeal to older kids and adults, like Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Space 1999, The Six Million Dollar Man, and Kojak. 

Kojak, the 1970s street-level police series starring Telly Savalas, sticks out in the midst of the Power Records line-up of sci-fi and superheroes. It’s hard to explain why they chose Kojak, as it doesn’t fit their audience. Unfortunately, there’s not much documentation or contemporary reviews of these releases. The best potential explanation I could find is that Power Records competitor Wonderland Records did an album featuring another street-level 1970s cop series, Beretta, the year before, and Power Records decided to match. Of course, we don’t know why Wonderland Records did a Beretta record, but that’s a bit beyond the purview of this review.

Synopsis:

There were a total of four Kojak audio dramas produced by Power Records. The first two, “Five Star Final” and “A Question of Honor“, were comic book and record sets, as was normal for many Powers Records releases. Comic books took the place that children’s books had with the Peter Pan releases.  An album was released that collected those two stories as well as two additional tales, “Tourist Trap” and “The Prodigal Son”. The two-record set didn’t include a comic. Each audio drama is between nine and ten-and-a-half minutes long.

In “Five Star Final”, a racketeer leans on a newsstand operator running a small-time numbers game and kills him. In “A Question of Honor”, a white-collar thief selling some hot bonds decides to rob and kill his buyer, take the money and the bonds, and flee. He doesn’t care who he has to kill to make his getaway. In “Tourist Trap”, the owner of one of Kojak’s favorite Greek restaurants is part of an immigration racket to get cheap labor. In “The Prodigal Son”, an entitled junior attorney digs into his father’s files and tries to blackmail a corrupt political appointee. Failing that, the young attorney murders him. Kojak’s investigation into the crime is frustrated by a pompous FBI agent.

Review:

The voice talent in this release is superb. There are six listed cast members (five men and one woman) for the album who voice all the characters that show up throughout four different episodes and you wouldn’t know it. As was typical for Power Records, the actual actors from the TV series didn’t participate. However, the actor who plays Kojak is uncanny and I found myself thinking it was Telly Savalas a few times during the record. It really is a remarkable performance.

The sound effects are good particularly for the era. The Greek restaurant in “Toruist Trap” is well-realized.

This one uses the series’s music as opposed to many other Power records, which had to settle for generic stock music. This gives it a nice bit of authenticity and continuity with the show. And the same goes for the artwork for the comic and record set. The supporting cast members (Captain McNeil, and Detectives Crocker and Stavros) are very good representations of the characters as they appear on television. The overall feel and art for the comic story works fine in the crime genre. My only issues with it are one questionable coloring choice, and a goof where a female police officer who we’re told is a detective is drawn in uniform. But those are minor points in a solid artistic output.

The stories themselves are entertaining, though varying in quality. “Tourist Trap” is the strongest story as it lets us see Kojak in a unique situation. “A Question of Honor” is a very intense tale with so much happening in its nine-minute run time. “Five Star Final” is fine, although it is probably the most forgettable of the four. The titular “Prodigal Son” of the last story is a bit insufferable, made so by a scene where he talks with his dad at his office to complain about how he’s entitled to success as he’s the greatest attorney ever. This is mitigated by satisfying scenes of Kojak pushing around a federal agent.

While fun, the stories are simplified. This means criminals make some dumb mistakes or escalate quickly to bring the story to a head. While it wasn’t the typical practice of Power Records, it may have been a stronger production had Power opted to make two stories of eighteen or nineteen minutes rather than the shorter tales featured. This would make particular sense given the radio revival movement in the 1970s that saw millions tuning in to programs like The CBS Radio Mystery Theater, showing that listener attention spams could support the longer length.

Still, it’s an entertaining curiosity that is a nice treat for fans of Kojak or 1970s detective dramas in general.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5