Episodes
Friday Sep 25, 2009
Ray Bourbon - Forbidden Broadcast
Friday Sep 25, 2009
Friday Sep 25, 2009
Now we bring you a disc that isn't a radio broadcast, but is a bit of obscure radio-related memorabilia. "Forbidden Broadcast" is a comedy record made by nightclub performer Ray Bourbon sometime in the 1930s. Ray got his start in vaudeville, was a bit player in silent movies at Paramount and was friends with Rudolph Valentino and William Boyd, and made a name for himself with his outrageous improvised comedy. He was also a sexually ambiguous "drag queen" that wasn't afraid to do gay humor at a time when homosexuality was illegal and gay clubs were regularly raided by police.
Ray's career would extend from the 1920s until his death in 1971 in prison. He was convicted of the murder of the owner of the Pet-A-Zoo, a business in Big Springs, Texas. When Ray left his dogs with the owner, Roy Blount, and couldn't pay the bill, Blount sold the animals for medical research. But, during Ray's storied life, he appeared on stage with such stars as Mae West and helped composers Chet Forrest and Robert Wright and actor Robert Taylor get started in the business. Even Robert Mitchum, when he was breaking into the business, wrote songs for Ray's nightclub act to pick up a few dollars in the 1940s. Ray travelled all over the US and Europe, performing well into his 70s. Despite Ray's reputation as a "smutty" comedian, his material is rather tame and coy today and he did appear on radio a few times. In May 1933, his San Francisco revue "Boys Will Be Girls", was carried live on the radio - and, in a twist that made headlines at the time, the show was raided by the police and the raid was carried live on the station. I've also found documentation on program schedules that Ray appeared on radio three times in December 1938 on Los Angeles radio station KTMR in a 15 minute show. Ray was regularly working in Los Angeles nightclubs during this period and may have bought the time to promote his stage act.
Researching Ray's life and work and collecting his recordings and other memorabilia has been another one of my hobbies over the past decade. I was lucky enough to obtain the original typed manuscript of Ray's incomplete memoirs that he was working on when he was in prison in Texas. If you'd like to learn more about Ray's very strange life, check out my website on this unique performer. Also, sixties underground cartoonist Skip Williamson had a fascinating blog post a few months ago on working as a publicist for one of Ray's productions. "Forbidden Broadcast" is one of over 150 recordings Ray made from the 1930s to the 1960s. He was a true "do it yourself" artist, contracting to have 78s and lps produced and selling them at his shows and via mail order. Some were sold "under the counter" at record shops and the discs are well known to "party record" collectors today. So, in this post, give a listen to "Forbidden Broadcast" by Ray Bourbon, originally released on Western Record Company Bourbana, matrix number WR-716-A. My sincere thanks to collector Sara Hassan for providing a tape copy of this 78 used as the basis for this mp3 file.
Friday Sep 18, 2009
Hildegarde - Pgm 17
Friday Sep 18, 2009
Friday Sep 18, 2009
I recently obtained a few rare episodes of this rare comedy-variety series with the Incomprable Hildegarde. In this post, we give a spin to program 17 in the series as it was heard on the Armed Forces Radio Network. The show was originally broadcast as "The Raleigh Room" on May 15, 1945 on NBC.
Hildegarde's first song on the show is "Who?". Patsy Kelly tries to get a date with Xavier Cugat and Clifton Webb gives her some advice, putting in a few plugs for his new movie, "Laura". Hildegarde and Cugat sing "Take It Easy", with lyrics making fun of Patsy's man-chasing. In the cast are Hildegarde, Patsy Kelly, guests Xavier Cugat and Clifton Webb, and Harry Sosnik and His Orchestra. The show was transferred from original AFRS vinyl transcription, matrix numbers HD5-MM-7476-1 and HD5-MM-7477-1, probably pressed by RCA. Date is also on the transcription matrix.
Sunday Sep 13, 2009
Favorite Story - Pgm 61
Sunday Sep 13, 2009
Sunday Sep 13, 2009
Once in a while when going through old transcriptions, you find a little gem - something that surprises you and has an interesting backstory. We pay another visit to Ronald Coleman hosting the late 1940s syndicated Ziv series, "Favorite Story", this week presenting a story that was originally a radio play. It's Program 61 in the series, "Inside a Kid's Head", the favorite story of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
The play was written by Jerome Lawrence Schwartz and Robert Edwin Lee. In fact, it was the first play they wrote together after forming a partnership in 1942. "The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama" notes that a few years later, they would become two of the founders of Armed Forces Radio, creating programs for the network such as "Mail Call" and producing programming for events like V-J Day. After the War, they continued working together, writing for the stage. You might have heard of one of their more successful little plays - "Inherit the Wind". "Inside a Kid's Head" is an imagatnitive and fun little tour through the life of a ten year old boy. The cast includes many old time radio favorites such as Hans Conreid. The show was transferred from an original Ziv red vinyl transcription set. The show may be previously uncirculated or uncommon among otr collectors.
Thursday Sep 03, 2009
Pick and Pat - March 21, 1938
Thursday Sep 03, 2009
Thursday Sep 03, 2009
Note: This program contains racial stereotyping themes that may be offensive to some listeners. We continue our look this week at "Pick and Pat", a rare comedy variety show broadcast on CBS and featuring blackface comedians Pick Padgett and Pat Malone. Despite a radio career on all the major networks that spanned from the early 1930s to the mid 40s, only a handful of their shows survive. These shows, unheard since their original broadcast, are drawn from a set of airchecks recorded for the producer of the show, Frank Macmahon.
Unfortunately, many of the shows in this set are missing sides. In this post, we hear parts 1 and 3 of the show of March 21, 1938. Pick and Pat do a short opening routine with one of them dissing the other for being so dumb. Tenor Edward Roecker sings "There's a Goldmine In the Sky". In part 3 of the program, Edward Roecker sings "I Got Plenty of Nothin'" and Pick and Pat's last segment has them staging a melodrama titled "Be a Gentleman" or "Never Hit a Lady With Your Hat On". During the show, we get to hear commercials for the sponsor, Dill's Best and Model tobacco. Also, the company that recorded the aircheck captured the last couple of minutes of the previous program on the station and the one following "Pick and Pat", "Lux Radio Theater". The show was transferred from an original WABC aircheck laquer recorded by the Advertiser's Recording Service, New York. The file has been run through click reduction software to improve the sound, but it's still a little rough in places - the lacquer on these one of a kind discs is deteriorating and cracking. Another note of interest - this week's episode of Mad Men included a scene where the main character in the show donned blackface, creating some interesting discussion on the topic. Also, a blogger at Slate discusses how we should look at the work of artists who worked in blackface at some point in their career.Thursday Aug 27, 2009
Pick and Pat - May 31, 1937
Thursday Aug 27, 2009
Thursday Aug 27, 2009
Note: This program contains racial stereotyping themes that may be offensive to some listeners. This week, I'm starting a series of posts of "Pick and Pat", a rare variety show featuring two blackface performers. These programs, unheard since they were originally broadcast, come from a series of aircheck lacquers I recently obtained. Except for one program, the shows are incomplete. I'm still working on transferring and restoring the discs, so I'm not sure how many I will be able to offer here since the discs are in bad shape and starting to deteriorate.
The episode of May 31, 1937 includes routines where Pat plays the harmonica and the pair do a sketch playing Indians selling the island of Manhattan. The latter includes some jokes about the stock market crash and Depression and, with two Irish vaudeville comedians in Blackface playing Native Americans, considerable cognitive dissonance about race that might make your head explode if you try to analyze it too much. The show features music by vocalist Edward Roecker and an orchestra led by Benny Krueger, including "That Old Gang of Mine" with a recitation. The series was sponsored by the U.S. Tobacco Company to promote Model and Dill's Best pipe tobaccos. According to Dunning's "Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio", Pick Padgett and Pat Malone were Irishmen who teamed up in 1929 as Molasses and January and worked regularly under that name on the "Maxell House Show Boat" program. They were heard on radio in their own series on NBC from 1934-35, CBS from 1935-39, Mutual in 1944 and ABC in 1945. You can see a picture of Pick and Pat and read an interview with Pick Padget from the St. Petersburg, Florida Evening Independent of June 16, 1933. These discs were made for the producer of the program, Frank MacMahon, and each show was recorded on 16" lacquers in three parts. In the case of this particular episode, the second disc is missing, so you'll hear a fade-out in the middle of the show before we continue with the third part. The discs also preserved a bit of the shows on the air that evening before and after "Pick and Pat"; this set includes the last minute or so of the "Ted Weems" show, a special announcement by the WABC announcer on how to get tickets for the program, and, at the end, the WABC station id and opening of "Lux Radio Theater". The show was transferred directly from an original WABC lacquer aircheck made by the National Recording Company, New York. The file has been run through click reduction software to improve the sound. Note that the sound levels vary during the show.Thursday Aug 27, 2009
Burns and Allen - Pgm 62
Thursday Aug 27, 2009
Thursday Aug 27, 2009
Note: This program has been removed from my site, as of August 21, 2010. Recently, Radio Spirits has issued take-down notices to archive.org and other sites concerning claims they have on particular series and shows. These claims not only include exclusive license for particular series, but also claims on images, likenesses and recordings of particular personalities. Since Radio Spirits doesn't publicly provide a list of shows they license or estates they represent, I'm taking preventive action and removing some programs from my site, based on forum posts and archived news articles I've seen on their claims and the estates they say they represent. - rand Now, let's turn to some classic old time radio comedy with the "George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" in a program originally broadcast December 26, 1944 on CBS and distributed as program 62 in the series by the Armed Forces Radio Network.
In this episode, Gracie's concerned because their show is moving to Mondays - the night that "high class" dramas like "Lux Radio Theater" are broadcast. So, of course, she has to hire an acting coach for George and convince him to take up drama. The show features Bill Goodwin, Jimmy Cash, Mel Blanc and Felix Mills and his Orchestra. According to Goldin, this was the last show of the series with Goodwin and Cash. The program was transferred from an original AFRS Navy Department transcription and appears to be uncommon among otr collectors. The program date is from the transcription matrix. A special tip of the hat to blog listener Michael Utz who donated the disc to my collection.Thursday Aug 27, 2009
Mail Call - Pgm 58
Thursday Aug 27, 2009
Thursday Aug 27, 2009
I'm in a rather lighthearted mood this week, so here's some more comedy, this time with a World War II theme.
"Mail Call" was one of the comedy-variety series produced by Armed Forces Radio and featuring some of the top talent from Hollywood and radio. Program 58 in the series, recorded September 30, 1943 and released in November of that year, is hosted by actor Lionel Barrymore and features Harlow Wilcox with the announcing duties, taking a break from shilling Johnson's Wax on "Fibber McGee and Molly". Skinnay Ennis and the OTC Band kick off the show with "This is the Army, Mr. Jones" and Georgia Gibbs sings "Shoo Shoo Baby". Dennis Day offers a seldom-heard War-themed tune and then we hear Fanny Brice and Hanley Stafford in a "Baby Snooks" sketch. The program was transferred from an original War Department Armed Forces Radio vinyl transcription. Apologies for the digital artifacts in the file - the click reduction had to work overtime on this very scratched disc.Thursday Aug 20, 2009
Bing Crosby Show - March 26, 1953
Thursday Aug 20, 2009
Thursday Aug 20, 2009
We come to the final entry I'll be posting in the series of "Bing Crosby Show" aircheck discs in my collection.
Bing returns to sing a bit and give us a soft sell for GE home appliances in this show from March 26, 1953. After kicking off the show with "Bye Bye Blues" (a song that, oddly, he performed just a few weeks ago on the series), Bing talks with announcer Ken Carpenter about the crooner's upcoming GE sales trip to Europe on the Queen Elizabeth. Guests on the show are Rosemary Clooney and the ever-present Joe Venuti. The program was transferred from an original Radio Recorders lacquer aircheck recorded from KCBS/KCBS-FM, San Francisco.Thursday Aug 20, 2009
Music Hall - Pgm 155
Thursday Aug 20, 2009
Thursday Aug 20, 2009
Note: The following program contains racial stereotyping themes that may be offensive to some listeners. Last week we heard a previously lost episode of the "Kraft Music Hall" featuring Lum N' Abner. In this post, another episode in the series that appears to be not in circulation.
Broadcast as "Music Hall" on the Armed Forces Radio Network as program 155 in the series and originally heard as "Kraft Music Hall" on November 22, 1945 on NBC, the program features host Frank Morgan. The first song on the show is "Tampico" and Frank Morgan appears in a comedy sketch about pirates. The show features John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra, the Charioteers, Lina Romay, Vera Vague, Carmen Cavallaro and announcer Ken Carpenter. The show was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription. There's some heavy grove damage and scratches on the disc; the file has been run through some noise reduction software to clean up the sound a bit.Thursday Aug 13, 2009
Command Performance - Victory Extra
Thursday Aug 13, 2009
Thursday Aug 13, 2009
Finally this week in our look at the end of World War II, we hear a remarkable broadcast - a special episode of "Command Performance" dubbed "Victory Extra", prepared for VJ Day and broadcast August 15, 1945 on the Armed Forces Radio Network.
Running a full 100 minutes, the show features an incredible array of actors, actresses, comedians, performers and personalities - almost anyone who was anybody showed up to celebrate the end of the War for our troops. Below, after the jump, is a complete outline of all the program contents for the purposes of indexing and searching for the show, but, if you've never heard it, I'd recommend you just listen and be surprised at who shows up. Of course, since AFRS programs had to be distributed on disc to stations around the world, this special broadcast had to be prepared in advance. It would be interesting to find out how the show was put together - it sounds like it was specially created and didn't use recycled excerpts from other programs, like some other AFRS programs. Was it done in one recording session? What did they tell the audience? (Or was the audience made up of the performers themselves?) The program was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription set. Click "more" to see a complete listing of the show's performers. An outline of the program's contents:- An opening prayer read by Ronald Coleman
- "Ave Maria" performed by Rise Stevens
- Dinah Shore singing "I'll Walk Alone"
- Lionel Barrymore introducing Jose Iturbe
- Bette Davis in a comedy routine with Jimmy Durante and Jose Iturbe
- Marlene Dietrich introducing Burgess Meredith reading material by Ernie Pyle
- Ginny Sims singing "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To"
- Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby engaging in banter and singing a few song excerpts, then Frank sings "The House I Live In"
- Brief remarks from Rita Hayworth, Desi Arnez, Ida Lupino, Ginger Rogers, Ruth Hussey, Clare Trevor, Don Wilson, Bill Maldin, George Montgomery, John Conte, Jinx Falkenburg, Dinah Lewis, Ronald Coleman
- Janet Blair singing "What Is This Thing Called Love?"
- William Powell introducing Bing Crosby singing "San Fernando Valley"
- Harry Von Zell and Lucille Ball with "Sounds from Home" including Lucille Ball sighing
- The King Sisters singing "Shoo Shoo Baby"
- Cary Grant introducing Robert Montgomery reading words from FDR
- Loretta Young reading a prayer written by a Chaplin serving in Burma
- Lena Horne singing "The Man I Love"
- Col Thomas H.A. Lewis expressing thanks to the performers, radio networks and stations, unions music publishers and others that make AFRS programs possible
- GI Jill introducing Johnny Mercer singing "GI Jive"
- Edward G. Robinson and Orson Welles reading words from various military leaders of the War
- Lena Roman singing a song in Spanish
- Danny Kaye performing a song about movies
- Marilyn Maxwell singing "I Got Rhythm"
- Herbert Marshall reading a poem by a fighter pilot
- Carmen Miranda singing "Tico, Tico"
- Claudette Colbert with Ed Gardner as "Archie" from "Duffy's Tavern"
- Greer Garson introducing Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas"
- Orson Welles reading a prayer by Yeoman 3rd Class William Welch
- Ken Carpenter "signing off" the program "on this first day of world peace" and introducing the US national anthem