Get this and get it straight. Crime is a suckers road and those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.

The story you are about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective.

The Adventures of the Saints starring Vincent Prize.

Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account.

America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

Yours truly, Johnny Deller. And the Hello and welcome to Down These Means Streets a weekly roundup of

detectives and crime fighters from the Golden Age of Radio. This week we leave behind the mean streets

of New York and Los Angeles and take a trip all the way to Cairo where American

expat Rocky Jordan runs his nightclub, the Cafe Tambourine.

And as much as he'd like to be left to the business of his club, Rocky can't avoid being drawn into the shadowy intrigue and mystery that lurks around

every corner and in every bizarre in Cairo.

Jack Moils stars as the titular Rocky, a tough two-fisted character in the vein of

Casablanca's Rick Blaine.

Like Rick, Rocky is an American fleeing shady past back in the states whose local watering hole is frequented

by people on both sides of the law and at all levels of society.

And like Rick Blaine, Rocky has a mostly friendly relationship with the local

constabulary. For Rocky, it's Captain Sam Sabaya of the Cairo Police

played by Jay Novello, one of Radio's one-man United Nations delegations

adept with accents and dialects.

Rocky Jordan is a show that admittedly I wasn't crazy about when I first heard it, but it's really grown on me over the years.

Jack Moiles makes for a great hero as the Bogart inspired Rocky, and the show's Cairo setting is not only a nice change of pace from the usual crop of radio detective dramas, it also allows for a variety of stories to be told.

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