Episodes
Friday Jun 02, 2017
Philco Radio Time - October 1, 1947
Friday Jun 02, 2017
Friday Jun 02, 2017
Bing Crosby shows are so well known that they’re usually out of my collecting specialty of obscure programs. But I’ll make an exception if I run into some favorite popular series from time to time. And, besides, I feel like I owe you something for putting up with “Wade Lane’s Home Folks” for several weeks.
In this post, we hear the “Philco Radio Time” program of October 1, 1947. Bing has just returned from his vacation in Canada for the first show of the season. After the first song, “My Heart is a Hobo”, we get music from Peggy Lee and a fun sketch with guest Gary Cooper. The show features announcer Ken Carpenter, John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra and backup vocals by the Rhythmaires.
The show was transferred from three sides of two sixteen vinyl American Broadcasting Company/Crosby Enterprise transcriptions, matrix numbers HD7-MM-11081-10, HD7-MM-11099-10, and HD7-MM-11134-10.
It’s interesting the program is spread across three sides - US half hour shows are usually on two sides, but I worked with a large group of BBC discs that all used three sides for a thirty-minute show. I imagine it was done to release the show with the highest sound quality. The “dead” side of the set includes a strobe and empty groove that could be used by the engineer to make sure the turntable was running at the correct speed.
Saturday May 20, 2017
Rhapsody in Rhythm - Pgm 2
Saturday May 20, 2017
Saturday May 20, 2017
It’s been awhile since I posted a Transco program. The company syndicated several shows in the early 30s, particularly of great jazz and popular music performances.
In this post, we hear program two in the series, “Rhapsody in Rhythm”, featuring Charles W. Hamp and the Rhythm Rascals. (I posted program one from the other side of the disc a few years ago in the blog.) The first song is “And Still No Luck With You”, played by the Rhythm Rascals.
I wish I could run into these Transco discs more often.
Our mp3 transfer is direct from blue laminated Radio Transcription Company (Transco) transcription, matrix number A-2569.
Saturday Apr 29, 2017
Sammy Kaye Showroom - Pgm 39
Saturday Apr 29, 2017
Saturday Apr 29, 2017
And here’s our final episode of “The Sammy Kaye Showroom”, a fifteen minute syndicated music program sponsored by Chrysler-Plymouth distributed around 1949. Although at least seventy shows were produced in the series, only a handful circulate among collectors.
The first song on program 39 is the Irving Berline tune “Homework”, sung by Laura Leslie, from the Broadway show, “Miss Liberty”. Don Cornel and the choir sing “Bali Hai”. “It’s a Great Feeling” is the “Chrysler Song of the Week”. The commercials highlight service by your local Chrysler dealer.
The show was transferred from an original sixteen-inch Columbia vinyl transcription, matrix number YTNY 11470.
Saturday Apr 08, 2017
Guest Star - Pgm 682 - April 17, 1960
Saturday Apr 08, 2017
Saturday Apr 08, 2017
Now another late era episode of the long-running program promoting US Savings Bonds, “Guest Star”. The times are changing, as some upstart teenage rock n’ roll invades this showcase for vocalists and big bands.
In program 682, we hear the popular fifties vocal group from Canada, the Crew Cuts. While we don’t get to hear their big hit, “Sh-Boom”, we get a reminder of how good they could be, turning in polished performances of less well-remembered tunes. The first song is the upbeat “Let’s Fall in Love” and they also perform “Aura Lee”, recorded by Elvis four years earlier as the title song for his film, “Love Me Tender”. As usual, the music is provided by Harry Sosnik’s Orchestra and the announcer is Del Sharbutt.
Our mp3 was transferred direct from a sixteen inch vinyl microgroove Treasury Department vinyl transcription.
Sunday Apr 02, 2017
Wade Lane’s Home Folks - Pgm 4
Sunday Apr 02, 2017
Sunday Apr 02, 2017
Now, let’s sit by the fire for another fifteen minutes with everyone’s favorite unwanted guest in “Wade Lane’s Home Folks”.
In program 4, Lane starts off the show with a creepy little monologue about his fascination with peering into his neighbor’s windows and how the windows are an “eye to the soul”, leading to the first song, “Little Grey Home in the West”. The usual assortment of slightly disturbing stories and corny old songs round out the quarter hour of your life you’ll never get back.
This show is so old-fashioned that, even for the late 30s, the target market must have been great-grandmothers or undead vampires who still had vivid memories of the pre-Civil War era.
Our mp3 was transferred from an original sixteen inch shellac transcription, matrix number B5090A. The show was recorded in the Hollywood studios of Recordings, Inc. and probably pressed by Allied. It was produced by Mertens and Price, 1240 South Main Street, Los Angeles.
Saturday Mar 25, 2017
Guest Star - Pgm 681 - April 10, 1960
Saturday Mar 25, 2017
Saturday Mar 25, 2017
Here’s another in our series of late era “Guest Star” programs that were syndicated by the Treasury Department to promote Savings Bonds.
Program 681 in the series features vocalist Betty Johnson and the first is “You Don’t Care a Rowboat”, which she released on Atlantic records. Johnson, by the way, is a native of Guilford County, North Carolina. Her vocal style reminds me a bit of Dinah Shore. The show features Harry Sosnik’s Orchestra and the announcer is Del Sharbutt.
Our mp3 was transferred direct from a sixteen inch vinyl microgroove Treasury Department vinyl transcription.
Saturday Mar 18, 2017
Union Leader Tobacco - April 1, 1940
Saturday Mar 18, 2017
Saturday Mar 18, 2017
Finally on the blog this week, an unusual fifteen minute musical show by a unique performer, Harry "Woo Woo" Stevens.
The Union Leader Tobacco program featured Harry Stevens playing banjo and singing old well-known tunes. Stevens has a performing style that harkens back to the days of vaudeville and early radio, with friendly patter between (and during) the songs about his home town in Georgia and how great the “old songs” are. The first song on the show of April 1, 1940 is “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”. The program was originally broadcast on NBC. I can’t find an entry for this in any newspapers at JJ’s Radio Logs, so it might have been carried on the network on a regional basis.
You can read about the long and storied career of Harry "Woo Woo" Stevens in an article published in 2007 at the Orange County Register.
The show was transferred from an original set of twelve inch air-check lacquers running at 78 rpm made for Stevens.
Saturday Mar 18, 2017
Sammy Kaye’s Showroom - Pgm 29
Saturday Mar 18, 2017
Saturday Mar 18, 2017
Let’s enjoy another quarter hour of “sweet band” music with “Sammy Kaye’s Showroom”, a syndicated series sponsored by Chrysler and produced by McCann-Erickson Inc.
The first song on program 29 is “My One And Only Highland Fling” sung by Laura Leslie and Don Cornell. The commercials pitch service for your car available from your local Chrysler dealer.
The show was transferred from an original sixteen inch vinyl transcription pressed by Columbia, matrix number YTNY 11373.
Saturday Mar 11, 2017
Guest Star - Pgm 680 - April 3, 1960
Saturday Mar 11, 2017
Saturday Mar 11, 2017
Here’s another late OTR era episode of the long running Treasury Department public service program, “Guest Star”.
Program 680 in the series features singer Felicia Saunders backed by Harry Sosnik’s Orchestra. The announcer is Del Sharbutt.
I won’t tell you what the first song is that Saunders performs - you’ll have to listen and find out yourself. It’s one of the most bizarre arrangements of a well known show tune that I think I’ve ever heard. Keep in mind, though, that the show this song came from was still on Broadway and hadn’t been made into one of the biggest musicals of the sixties - back in 1960, it was just another song from another Broadway show that could be shaped and rearranged by a variety of recording artists.
The show was transferred from an original 16” vinyl microgroove Treasury Department transcription.
Saturday Mar 11, 2017
Wade Lane's Home Folks - Pgm 3
Saturday Mar 11, 2017
Saturday Mar 11, 2017
Once again, we sit by the fire with everyone’s favorite deep bass creepy warbling home invader on “Wade Lane’s Home Folks”. You can read what little background I was able to dig up on this 1930s-era show in a previous post on the blog.
The first songs in Program 3 in the series are “(In the Gloaming) By the Fireside”, a song recorded by English band leader Ray Noble with singer Al Bowlly, and “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny”. (The organist has some slip-ups in the latter tune that will make you cringe.) Lane rambles on about grandmother’s picture album and his old school chum, Ike, singing songs about rivers.
Our mp3 was transferred from an original sixteen inch shellac transcription, matrix number B5089. The show was recorded in the Hollywood studios of Recordings, Inc. and probably pressed by Allied. It was produced by Mertens and Price, 1240 South Main Street, Los Angeles.