rand's esoteric otr

Comedy Caravan - April 20, 1945

Our final post this week is a half-hour of comedy with Jimmy Durante and Garry Moore, originally broadcast April 20, 1945 on the CBS network, but heard here in a version heard on the Armed Forces Radio Service as program 95 in the series.

Roy Bargy and His Orchestra kicks off the show with “South American Way”.  Garry tries to make a long distance phone call to the FBI.  Georgia Gibbs sings the new ballad, “I Should Care”.  Durante and Moore play twin brothers in a “hillbilly feud” sketch.

Our show was transferred from an original vinyl 16” Armed Forces Radio transcription.  The date is from the disc matrix.

Again, our thanks to blog listener William Harris for his donation of the disc to the collection!

Guest Star - Pgm 86

You know you should be buying US Savings Bonds, right?

Here’s another installment of the US Treasury Department’s long-running series, “Guest Star”.  Program 86 in the series features guest Bonita Granville and Jack Webb in a dramatic sketch, “The Road to Yesterday”, written by Harry Lawrence.  The plot concerns a dead woman reflecting on her life.  David Rose and the Savings Bond Orchestra kick off the program with “I’ll Be Seeing You”.  

The program was digitized direct from an original Treasury Department 16” vinyl transcription, matrix number TDR-1004 D-32349.

Guy Lombardo - Pgm 62

Guy Lombardo steps up to the microphone again this week with another program in his series “Guy Lombardo and His Musical Autographs”, originally heard on the NBC Blue Network.  The show was originally broadcast April 9, 1945 and we hear the version distributed as program 62 in the series for the Armed Forces Radio Network.  The first song on the show is “All of My Life”.

The show was transferred from an original 16” vinyl Armed Forces Radio Service transcription.  The date is from the disc matrix.

My thanks to blog listener William Harris for his donation of the disc to the blog!

The Hour of Charm - April 7, 1945

Kicking off the blog posts this week, light music from the popular All-Girl Orchestra of “The Hour of Charm”.

The episode of April 7, 1945, originally heard on NBC and rebroadcast on Armed Forces Radio as program 105 in the series, is “Pictures at an Exhibition”.  The show kicks off with “In an Eighteenth Century Drawing Room”.  Featured are Phil Spitalny and His All-Girl Orchestra, Evelyn and Her Magic Violin.

Our show was dubbed direct to digital from an original Armed Forces Radio 16” vinyl transcription; the date is from the matrix.  Our thanks to blog listener William Harris for his donation of the disc to the collection!

Louie’s Hungry Five - Pgm 6, Part 2

And, following up from our previous post, here’s the other side of the disc with part of program 6 in the series “Louie’s Hungry Five”.  The band continues their adventure on a carnival ride.

Our program was transferred from an original Marsh Laboratories Electra shellac 12” transcription, matrix number 6077.

Raymond Scott - August 22, 1944

Here’s another fifteen minutes of nice big band arrangements, courtesy of Raymond Scott and His Orchestra with vocalist Dorothy Collins as it was heard on Armed Forces Radio as program 141 in the series.  The first tune on the program is “Sweet and Lovely”.  Also heard is the new ballad, “I’ll Walk Alone”.

These arrangements do sound a lot like the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Our mp3 comes direct from an original 16” vinyl Armed Forces Radio Service Transcription.  The date is from the disc matrix.

Thanks to blog listener William Harris for donating the disc to the collection!

Supper Club - March 7, 1945

Now a little Perry Como on “The Chesterfield Supper Club”, originally heard on NBC, but broadcast here as program 45 in the series “Supper Club” on the Armed Forces Radio Service.

Perry starts of the show with “I’m Beginning to See the Light”.  Also heard in the show are Mary Ashworth and guest Victor Borge in a routine on composers writing hit songs.

The show was dubbed direct to digital from an original vinyl 16” Armed Forces Radio Service transcription disc.

Thanks again to blog listener William Harris for his donation of the disc for the collection!

Waltz Time - Pgm 80

It’s “Waltz Time” again on the blog, the popular program of light music created by  Frank and Anne Hummert.

The show starts with “I Walked In”, sung by Frank Munn.  Evelyn MacGregor then sings “A Little on the Lonely Side”.  The show features Abe Lyman and His Orchestra and the Amsterdam Chorus.

The program was digitized from an original 16” vinyl Armed Forces Radio transcription.  There’s a notation of “dubbed 4-20” in the disc matrix.  Considering the dates of the other programs in the series, this might be from April 1945.

My thanks to blog listener William Harris for his donation of the disc to the collection!

Louie’s Hungry Five - Pgm 5, Part 2

Some months ago, I posted a sequence of early radio serial broadcasts by the “Little German Band”, “Louie’s Hungry Five”, which originated at WGN in Chicago.  The series was developed by the station after they lost “Amps n’ Andy” so they could cash in on the lucrative syndication transcription market.  The shows I posted a few months ago dated from 1931.  

Doug Hopkinson and Ryan Ellett produced a detailed and illustrated article about the series that tells the story much better than I can.

Next up on the blog, part of two earlier “Louie’s Hungry Five” broadcasts, probably dating from late 1930.  While the later discs I posted previously were pressed by Columbia, here’s a disc recorded at Marsh Laboratories and likely distributed just a few weeks after the syndicated show debuted in October 1930.

In program 5 of the series, the band is at some kind of carnival and walking through an attraction with funhouse mirrors.  We only hear the second part of the show on this disc.

The show was transferred from an original Marsh Laboratories Electra shellac 12” transcription, matrix number 6075.

The Eddie Cantor Show - Feb 14, 1945

Finally this week, we hear “The Eddie Cantor Show”, originally broadcast on NBC on February 14, 1945 and heard here in a version distributed by Armed Forces Radio as a replacement for “Duffy’s Tavern” program #89.

I guess Duffy was preempted that week.  Well, I’d rather listen to Cantor anyway.

Eddie kicks off the show singing “Swanee” and the comedy sketch “Around the Clock with Eddie Cantor.  Hoagy Carmichael, hot off his appearance in the film “To Have and Have Not” is the guest and he sings "Billiaduk”.  The show features Cantor, announcer Harry Von Zell, Bert Gordon as “The Mad Russian” and Leonard Sues and His Orchestra.

Our mp3 was transferred from an original Armed Forces Radio vinyl transcription.

Many thanks to listener William Harris for his donation of the disc to the blog!