Oliver Wakefield, The Voice of Inexperience – Phantom Dancer 19 Dec 2017 – Actor – Singer

“H-h-hello everybody. Ladies and men. Women and those of you. Oliver Wakefield, the Voice of Inexperience, speaking.”

Christmas songs, jazz and swing from Christmas season broadcasts are the mix for this week’s non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV. Hear the show only for the next four weeks at radio 2ser.com

The Phantom Dancer, presented by authentic 1920s-1930s singer, Greg Poppleton, also brings you a one-off Yuletide BBC broadcast from Oliver Wakefield, the Voice of Inexperience, with Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra.

EXPERIENCE
Oliver Wakefield, actor, comedian and monologuist, had the perfect English ‘upper class twit’ accent even though he was born in Zululand and died in New York City aged only 48.

He was ‘The Voice of Inexperience’. You’ll hear him in full flight on today’s Phantom Dancer in the 1936 Christmas broadcast by Henry Hall and his BBC Dance Orchsetra.

Dressed in full dinner suit, Wakefield delivered his wry, double entendre monologues through stuttering, disjointed syntax, malapropisms, spoonerisms, dropped words and unfinished sentences.

They are stunningly complex works of vocal art – and entertaining.

COMEDIAN IN RESIDENCE
Oliver Wakefield was the first Resident Comedian on the BBC. He appeared on 1930s BBC TV and also had a US career in the ’30s. One of his first New York appearances was in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934.

He appeared in British Pathé newsreels in the late 1930s (one of them is your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week) and in the 1937 movie, ‘There Was Young Man’. These lead to featured roles in British films from 1938 to 1942 including The Peterville Diamond (1942), playing a gentleman jewel thief whose partner-in-crime was played by future Doctor Who star William Hartnell.

He was booked to open at the Rainbow Room in New York three weeks after the outbreak of World War II. He chose to remain in England to serve in the RAF.

VARIETY
After the war, Wakefield toured Australia,. He performed on stage for a year in Melbourne and Sydney, followed by a 52-week radio series for the Australian Broadcasting Commission.

In 1952 he moved to the United States, appeared in nightclubs, on Broadway, frequently was on CBS TV, and hosted his own CBC TV panel show, ‘Make a Match’.

Variety summed him up by writing, “Wakefield seems strong for any medium.”

LAST WORD
It was said, that Oliver Wakefield’s “grasp of current affairs was only exceeded by his inability to express it.”

See what ‘they’ mean in this stand-up clip by Oliver Wakefield ‘The Voice of Inexperience’ from 1936 when he was 27.

The Pathe announcer does a terrible imitation of him at the opening of the clip. It only goes to highlight the stunning artistry of Oliver Wakefield’s complex monologues. It’s your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week-

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #293
107.3 2SER Tuesday 19 December 2017 Christmas Show After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) National Program: ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm and early morning on 22 other stations.
Set 1
Let’s Dance (theme) + Jingle Bells	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 25 Dec 1935
Open + It Had To Be You + The Fairy On The Christmas Tree	Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra (MC) Oliver Wakefield ‘The Voice of Inexperience’, (voc) The 3 Sisters	BBC Regional Service London 25 Dec 1936
Set 2
Open + Maple Leaf Rag	Kid Ory	Club Hangover KCBS CBS San Francisco 25 Dec 1954
Theme + Blue Christmas	Jan Garber Orchestra (voc) Ray Cordell	Melody Mill WGN Chicago 1950
Weary Blues + Ad	Kid Ory	Club Hangover KCBS CBS San Francisco 25 Dec 1954
Set 3
Jingle Bells (open) + The Morning After	Chico Hamilton Quartet	‘Stars In Jazz’ AFRTS Re-broadcast New York 25 Dec 1958
Wrap your Troubles In Dreams	Chico Hamilton Quartet (voc) Georgia Carr	‘Stars In Jazz’ AFRTS Re-broadcast New York 25 Dec 1958
Blee Blop Blues + One O’Clock Jump (theme)	Count Basie Orchestra	Birdland WRCA NBC NY 16 Dec 1956
Set 4
Happy Hollidays + Here We Come a’Caroling + Silent Night	Bing Crosby and the Norman Luboff Choir (voc) Paul Weston Orchestra	‘Christmas Sing With Bing’ KNX CBS LA 24 Dec 1957
Description of Ballarat’s Carols By Candlelight + Joseph Mine, Help Me Cradle The Child Divine	Ted Furlong (station manager 3BA Ballarat) + The Ballarat YWCA Choir	Christmas Sing With Bing’ KNX CBS LA via 3BA Ballarat 24 Dec 1957
Champagne Cocktail + Close (When Summer Is Gone)	Hal Kemp Orchestra	‘Chesterfield Time’ KNX CBS LA 24 Dec 1937
Set 5
Open + March of the Toy Soldiers	Phil Davis Orchestra	‘Fountain of Fun’ WLW Cinncinnati 19 Dec 1943
Jingle Bells	Thrasher Sisters	‘Fountain of Fun’ WLW Cinncinnati 19 Dec 1943
Jack-Armstrong Blues	Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 25 Dec 1947
Embraceable You	The Pied Pipers (voc) Harry James Orchestra	‘Command Performance USA’ AFRS 25 Dec 1945
Set 6
Swingin’ Them Jingle Bells	Fats Waller and his Rhythm	Comm Rec New York 29 Nov 1936
Jingle Bells	Glenn Miller Orchestra	Café Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WJZ NBC Blue NY 27 Dec 1941
Jingle Bells	Dave Brubeck	Birdland WABC ABC NY Jan 1954
Jingle Bells (theme) / Half Nelson / White Christmas / Little Willie Leaps	Charlie Parker (as) Kenny Dorham (tp) Al Haig (p) Tommy Potter (b) Max Roach (d)	‘Symphony Side Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 25 Dec 1948
Set 7
Open + March of the Toys	Phil Davis Orchestra	‘Fountain of Fun’ WLW Cincinnati 19 Dec 1943
My Silent Love	Lena Horne (voc) Count Basie Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 25 Dec 1945
Embraceable You	The Pied Pipers (voc) Harry James and the Music Makers	‘Command Performance USA’ AFRS Hollywood 25 Dec 1945
Yesterdays	Art Tatum (p)	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 25 Dec 1947
Set 8
Open + 2 Latin American Christmas Songs	Chiquita	‘Chiquita’ AFRS Hollywood Dec 1946
O Come All Ye Faithful / Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem / It Came Upon A Midnight Clear / Santa Claus Is Coming To Town	Frank Sinatra	‘V-Disc Christmas Selections’ New York 1944
Good King Wenceslas	Carol Richards, Garry Crosby, The Mellow Men (voc) Ray Noble Orchestra	‘The New Edgar Bergen Show’ KNX CBS LA 25 Dec 1955