Xavier Cugat 1940s-50s Radio – Phantom Dancer Show 2 April 2019

LATIN

Xavier Cugat, ‘King of the Rhumba’, a leading figure in the spread of Latin music, is your feature artist on this week’s Phantom Dancer with Greg Poppleton.

One of his trademark gestures was to hold a chihuahua while he waved his baton in front of his orchestra.

See the full Phantom Dancer play list below of swing and jazz mixed by Greg Poppleton from live 1920s-60s radio below.

PHANTOM DANCER

This week’s Phantom Dancer will be online right after the 12 March 2SER live mix at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney

CUGIE

Xavier Cugat was a Spanish born musician and bandleader. He migrated with his family to Havana, Cuba, at age five in 1905.

CUBA

Cugat studied classical violin. He was a child prodigy. To help pay for his education he was a violinist at the age of nine in a silent movie theatre. He was first chair violinist for the Teatro Nacional Symphonic Orchestra. He drew caricatures when he wasn’t playing.

NEW YORK CITY

Cugat arrived in New York City with his family at age 14. He played violin solos in recitals with Enrico Caruso.

After a stint leading his band in Los Angeles in the 1920s, Cugat took his band to New York for the 1931 opening of the Waldorf–Astoria Hotel.

He then led the Waldorf–Astoria Orchestra for sixteen years, shuttling between New York and Los Angeles for music and film engagements.

MOVIES

Cugat appeared in the films Gay Madrid (1930), You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Week-End at the Waldorf (1945), Bathing Beauty (1944), Holiday in Mexico (1946), A Date with Judy (1948), On an Island with You (1948) and Chicago Syndicate (1955).

LATIN MUSIC

In the 1920s Cugat led a band that played at the Cocoanut Grove, Los Angeles.

Charlie Chaplin, a friend of Cugat’s, visited the Grove wanting to dance the tango. So Cugat added tangos to the band’s set list.

Seeing the popularity of the tango at the Grove, Cugat convinced the owner to hire South American dancers to give tango lessons.

When this also became popular, Cugat made the dancers part of his orchestra. In 1928 he Xavier Cugat and His Gigolos were filmed for a 15 minute Vitaphone short.

Over the years, Cugat’s orchestra included such musical stars as Desi Arnaz, Abbe Lane, Yma Sumac and Miguelito Valdés.

CARTOONS

Xavier Cugat worked for the Los Angeles Times as a cartoonist. His caricatures were nationally syndicated. His older brother, Francis, was also an artist of some note. He painted the cover art for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby.

DINER

Cugat owned and operated the Mexican restaurant Casa Cugat, which opened in West Hollywood in the 1940s. The restaurant was frequented by Hollywood celebrities and featured two singing guitarists who would visit each table and play diners’ favourite songs upon request. It closed in 1986.

The restaurant’s exterior and a fanciful depiction of its interior can be found in scenes in the 1949 film Neptune’s Daughter in which Cugat has a substantial role playing himself. A brief scene revolving around the restaurant can also be seen in the earlier 1943 film The Heat’s On, also starring Cugat as himself.

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week is from 1957. Abbe Lane (Cugat’s 4th wife) sings with the orchestra. The Spanish banner on the top right of the screen means ‘Censured under Francoism’. Happy rule breaking!

26 MARCH PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #379
107.3 2SER Tuesday 2 April 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) National Program: ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12:04 – 1pm and early morning on 24 other stations.
Set 1	Big Bands on 1944-45 Radio
Open + Swinging on a Star	Eddie Oliver Orchestra (voc) The Oliver Twisters	‘Spotlight Bands’ AFRS Re-broadcast 14 Aug 1944
Texakana	Denny Beckner Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Blue Network Norfolk Va 30 Mar 1944
To Each His Own + Close	Boyd Raeburn Orchestra (voc) Ginny Powell	‘One Night Stand’ Club Morocco Los Angeles 1945
Set 2	12:15 Music at 12:15
Open + My Dog Has Fleas	Dave Rose Orchestra	‘Music at Midday’ Radio Transcription WOR Mutual NY 10 Aug 1945
Lady of the Evening	Dave Rose Orchestra	‘Music at Midday’ Radio Transcription WOR Mutual NY 10 Aug 1945
Holiday for Strings	Dave Rose Orchestra	‘Music at Midday’ Radio Transcription WOR Mutual NY 10 Aug 1945
Fascinating Rhythm	Frean and Rigatti piano duo	‘Music at Midday’ Radio Transcription WOR Mutual NY 10 Aug 1945
Time On My Hands + Close	Unidentified Orchestra	‘Music at Midday’ Radio Transcription WOR Mutual NY 10 Aug 1945
Set 3	Yiddish Jazz
Open + The Bridegroom Special	Sam Medoff	‘Yiddish Melodies in Swing’ WHN NY 24 Nov 1940
Zum Gali Gali + Oriental Hora	Barry Sisters (voc) Yiddish Swingtet	‘Bandstand USA’ Cafe Bohemia WOR Mutual NY 1957
Yidel mitn Fiedel + Close	Barry Sisters	‘Yiddish Melodies in Swing’ WHN NY 18 Feb 1945
Set 4	Xavier Cugat
Open + Amor, Amor + Besume Mucho + Besume Mirame	Xavier Cugat Orchestra (voc) Del Campo	‘One Night Stand’ Trocadero, Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast 18 Feb 1945
Say Si, Si	Xavier Cugat Orchestra (voc) Nita Rossa	‘Xavier Cugat Show’ AFRS Re-broadcast 1944
Tibirico	Xavier Cugat Orchestra	‘All-Star Parade of Bands’ Hotel Last Frontier NBC Las Vegas 30 Nov 1953
Set 5	Jan Savitt 1938-39 Shuffle Rhythm Radio
Quaker City Jazz (theme) + And The Angels Sing	Jan Savitt and his Top Hatters (voc) Bon Bon	Arcadia Restaurant KYW NBC Red Philadelphia 1939
You Go To My Head	Jan Savitt and his Top Hatters (voc) Carlotta Dale	Radio Transcription New York City 25 Aug 1938
Good Morning	Jan Savitt and his Top Hatters	Radio Transcription New York City 1939
Futuristic Shuffle	Jan Savitt and his Top Hatters	Comm Rec New York City 22 Jul 1938
Set 6	Sarah Vaughan Radio
Love Me or Leave Me	Sarah Vaughan	‘Eddie Condon’s Floor Show’ WPIX TV NYC 13 Dec 1948
Mean To Me	Sarah Vaughan	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Feb 1945
I Cover The Waterfront	Sarah Vaughan	‘Eddie Condon’s Floor Show’ WPIX TV NYC 13 Dec 1948
Don’t Blame Me	Sarah Vaughan	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Mar 1945
Set 7	Pianist Band Leaders on Radio
Open + If You Can’t Smile and Say Yes	Nat King Cole (voc) NKC	Trocadero KHJ Mutual-Don Lees Los Angeles 25 Apr 1945
Dont Take Your Love From Me	Claude Thornhill Orchestra (voc) Audrey Morris	‘One Night Stand’ Steel Pier, Atlantic City NJ AFRS Re-broadcast 24 Aug 1956
Go Away Blues	Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Bette Roche	Hurricane Restaurant WABC CBS NY 29 Aug 1943
I Give You My Word	Fats Waller Rhythm (voc) Kay Perry	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Dec 1940
Set 8	Mod Radio
The Gentle Art of Love (theme) + Nico’s Tempo	Oscar Pettiford	Birdland WABC ABC NY 26 May 1957
The Man I Love	Patti Page (voc) Benny Goodman Sextet	‘One Night Stand’ The Click Philadelphia AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Jun 1948
A Gem From Tiffany	Shelly Manne Quintet	Basin Street WCBS CBS NY 1956