Blues – 2SER Radiothon Wk 2 Tues – Phantom Dancer 18 Oct 2022

St Louis Blues features on this Tuesday’s annual 2SER radiothon Phantom Dancer. Time to subscribe and support 2SER community radio. Now is your moment to win great prizes when you pledge your support to 2SER which has been bringing you The Phantom Dancer with Greg Poppleton since 1985.

You’ll hear W.C Handy himself talk about St Louis Blues and play it on trumpet on a radio broadcast from 1940 on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

St Louis Blues with Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars (Edmond Hall clarinet solo, Trummy Young trombone) and the Lewisohn Stadium Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein With W.C Handy (composer in hat) watching. From 1956…

The Phantom Dancer is your weekly non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week.

LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 18 October) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

W.C Handy playing St Louis Blues on the Ed Sullivan TV Show in 1948…

BIG BANDS

“The Saint Louis Blues” (or “St. Louis Blues“) is a popular American song composed by W. C. Handy in the blues style and published in September 1914.

It was one of the first blues songs to succeed as a pop song and remains a fundamental part of jazz musicians’ repertoire (including mine).

The song has been called “the jazzman’s Hamlet“.

Here’s the St Louis Blues featured in the 1929 short ‘St Louis Blues’ starring Bessie Smith…

W.C. Handy said he had been inspired to compose the song by a chance meeting with a woman on the streets of St. Louis, Missouri, distraught over her husband’s absence. She lamented, “Ma man’s got a heart like a rock cast in de sea”, a key line of the song.^[7] Handy’s autobiography recounts his hearing the tune in St. Louis in 1892: “It had numerous one-line verses and they would sing it all night.”

The form of St Louis Blues is unusual in that the verses are the now-familiar standard twelve-bar blues in common time with three lines of lyrics, the first two lines repeated, but it also has a 16-bar bridge written in the habanera rhythm, characterized by Handy as tango. The tango-like rhythm is notated as a dotted quarter note followed by an eighth note and two quarter notes, with no slurs or ties.

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While blues often became simple and repetitive in form, “Saint Louis Blues” has multiple complementary and contrasting strains, similar to classic ragtime compositions.

Handy said his objective in writing the song was “to combine ragtime syncopation with a real melody in the spiritual tradition.”

Writing about the first time “Saint Louis Blues” was played (1914), Handy noted that

The one-step and other dances had been done to the tempo of “Memphis Blues” … When “St Louis Blues” was written the tango was in vogue. I tricked the dancers by arranging a tango introduction, breaking abruptly into a low-down blues. My eyes swept the floor anxiously, then suddenly I saw lightning strike. The dancers seemed electrified. Something within them came suddenly to life. An instinct that wanted so much to live, to fling its arms to spread joy, took them by the heels.

The first audio recording of “Saint Louis Blues” was by the house band at Columbia Records, directed by Charles A. Prince in December 1915. You can hear it below…

2SER RADIOTHON

2SER IS BRINGING BACK THE FAMILY FOR RADIOTHON 2022. SUBSCRIBE NOW

After years of COVID restrictions, 2SER is getting back into the studios for radiothon – our biggest revenue raiser for the year – and we’re getting the family together in person!

From Oct 7 to 21 the station takes a break from regular programming to celebrate everything that makes 2SER great! The music, the talks and, most importantly, the 2SER family! Under the theme of We Are Family, we’ll be asking everyone to become financial subscribers or to donate.

2SER Breakfast presenter, Danny Chifley, said ”Subscribers and donors are so important for the station – they help us maintain our independence and provide us with some stability in an ever-shifting cultural and economic environment”

“When sponsorship of events abruptly evaporated at the start of the pandemic, our subscribers helped us stay afloat. When lightning struck our antenna three years ago, our donors got us right back on air”, said Danny. “So we love our family and we’re really excited to be reconnecting again”

Anyone who subscribes during radiothon goes into the draw for incredible prizes including a vintage turntable and record voucher from Egg Records, Newtown or a Complete Studio Kit from RØDE that contains everything you need to make professional, studio-quality recordings at home. There’s also small business subscriber prizes including an Atomic Brewery Dinner and Drinks for 10 people.

Call 9514 9500 or get online at 2ser.com and join the family!

Here’s that first recording of St Louis Blues from 1915…

18 OCTOBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE SUBSCRIBE Community Radio Network Show CRN #566
107.3 2SER Saturday 18 October 2022 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 2YYY Young Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am 2SEA Eden Tuesday 6 – 7pm 2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am 2RDJ Burwood Wednesday 12 – 1pm 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2RRR Ryde Friday 11am -12 noon 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturdays 10 – 11am Repeat: Wednesdays 10 – 11pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	St Louis Blues
St Louis Blues	Keith Atkinson (cl) Wally Portingale  Orchestra	‘Aermy on Parade’ 2CH AWA Network Sydney Oct 1943
St Louis Blues	W,C Handy (tp) with Henry Levine’s Dixieland Octet	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NYC16 Jun 1940
St Louis Blues	Charlie and his Orchestra	RRG Berlin 1941
St Louis Blues	Wild Bill Davison	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NYC 10 May 1947
Set 2	St Louis Blues
St Louis Blues	Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith (piano solo) Joe Grasso (d)	‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’ WJZ NBC Blue NYC 24 Jun 1944
St Louis Blues (Le Tristezze di San Luigi)	Pippo Barzizza Orchestra (voc) Trio Lescano	Comm Rec Rome 1937
St Louis Blues	Gus Arhheim Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman	‘Cocoanut Grove’ Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1931
Set 3	St Louis Blues
St Louis Blues	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (tb) Jack Teagarden	‘Paul whiteman’s Musical Varieties’ WJZ NBC Blue NYC 16 Feb 1936
St Louis Blues	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Casino Gardens Ocean Park Ca 3 Jan 1947
St Louis Blues	Louis Armstrong Orchestra (voc) Louis Armstrong	‘Norge Program’ Radio Transcription NYC 1937
St Louis Blues	Die Goldene Sieben	Comm Rec Berlin Nov 1937
Set 4	St Louis Blues
St Louis Blues	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Jimmy Rushing	Chatterbox Hotel Penn WCAE NBC Red Pittsburgh 8 Feb 1937
St Louis Blues	Fats Waller	Aircheck Yacht Club NYC 14 Oct 1938
St Louis Blues	Artie Shaw Orchestra	Blue Room Hotel Lincoln WABC CBS NYC 28 Nov 1939
St Louis Blues	Artie Shaw Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WEAF NBC Red NYC 19 Oct 1939
Set 5	St Louis Blues
St Louis Blues	Roy Eldridge Orchestra	Aircheck Arcadia Ballroom NYC 1939
St Louis Blues	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Johnny Mercer	Fox Theatre KMOX CBS St Louis 9 May 1939
St Louis Blues	Mildred Bailey (voc) Blue Barron Orchestra	‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NYC 1944
St Louis Blues	Eddie Condon Group	‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert”WJZ Blue NYC 27 Jan 1945
Set 6	St Louis Blues
St Louis Blues	Louis Prima Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Mitchell Field Long Island WOR Mutual NYC 15 Jan 1945
St Louis Blues	Benny Goodman Sexter	‘The Benny Goodman Show’ Hollywood 7 Oct 1946
St Louis Blues	Louis Armstrong All-Stars	‘Damon Runyon Memorial Jazz Concert’ WENR ABC Chicago 11 Dec 1948
St Louis Blues	Muggsy Spanier	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 18 Apr 1953
Set 7	St Louis Blues
St Louis Blues	Charlie Shavers Quartet	London House WBBM CBS Chicago May 1962
Set 8	St Louis Blues

Big Bands – 2SER Radiothon Wk 1 Sat – Phantom Dancer 15 Oct 2022

Big Bands feature on this Saturday’s live Phantom Dancer – live because it’s the annual 2SER radiothon. Now is your moment to win great prizes when you pledge your support to this community radio station. 2SER has been bringing you The Phantom Dancer with Greg Poppleton since 1985.

The Phantom Dancer is your weekly non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week.

LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 6pm AEST, Saturday 15 October) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

BIG BANDS

Big bands are jazz orchestras usually consisting of ten or more musicians with three sections: reeds, brass and rhythm.

Originating in the early 1910s and dominating jazz into the early 1950s, big band describes a genre of pop music.

Big bands started as accompaniment for dancing. In contrast to the typical jazz emphasis on improvisation, big bands relied on written compositions and arrangements.

Big bands in the 1920s – 1930s, typically had two or three trumpets, one or two trombones, three or four saxophones doubling clarinet and flute, and a rhythm section of double bass, piano, guitar and drum kit.

In the 1940s, Stan Kenton’s band used up to five trumpets, five trombones (three tenor and two bass trombones), five saxophones (two alto saxophones, two tenor saxophones, one baritone saxophone), and a rhythm section.

Duke Ellington at one time used six trumpets. Boyd Raeburn drew from symphony orchestras by adding flute, French horn, strings and timpani to his band.

In the early 1940s, the big bands of Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Les Brown, Artie Shaw, Glen Miller and more, added violins and cellos – ‘strings’.

2SER RADIOTHON

2SER IS BRINGING BACK THE FAMILY FOR RADIOTHON 2022. SUBSCRIBE NOW

After years of COVID restrictions, 2SER is getting back into the studios for radiothon – our biggest revenue raiser for the year – and we’re getting the family together in person!

From Oct 7 to 21 the station takes a break from regular programming to celebrate everything that makes 2SER great! The music, the talks and, most importantly, the 2SER family! Under the theme of We Are Family, we’ll be asking everyone to become financial subscribers or to donate.

2SER Breakfast presenter, Danny Chifley, said ”Subscribers and donors are so important for the station – they help us maintain our independence and provide us with some stability in an ever-shifting cultural and economic environment”

“When sponsorship of events abruptly evaporated at the start of the pandemic, our subscribers helped us stay afloat. When lightning struck our antenna three years ago, our donors got us right back on air”, said Danny. “So we love our family and we’re really excited to be reconnecting again”

Anyone who subscribes during radiothon goes into the draw for incredible prizes including a vintage turntable and record voucher from Egg Records, Newtown or a Complete Studio Kit from RØDE that contains everything you need to make professional, studio-quality recordings at home. There’s also small business subscriber prizes including an Atomic Brewery Dinner and Drinks for 10 people.

Between 7 and 21 October call 9514 9500 or get online at 2ser.com and join the family!

15 OCTOBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE SUBSCRIBE Community Radio Network Show CRN #565
107.3 2SER Saturday 15 October 2022 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 2YYY Young Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am 2SEA Eden Tuesday 6 – 7pm 2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am 2RDJ Burwood Wednesday 12 – 1pm 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2RRR Ryde Friday 11am -12 noon 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturdays 10 – 11am Repeat: Wednesdays 10 – 11pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	Big Bands
Theme + Instrumental	Gay Claridge Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Chez Paree Chicago 15 Oct 1945
Cirribirribin (theme) + Loveless Love	Harry James Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Casino Gardens Ocean Park Ca 29 Jun 1944
What a Drag	Glen Gray & the Casa Loma Orchestra (voc) Fats Daniels	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Casino Gardens Ocean Park Ca 24 Oct 1945
You’re Blase	Sonny Dunham Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Palladium Ballroom Hollywood Ca 1 Aug 1944
Set 2	Big Bands
I Was Here When You Left	Cab Calloway Orchesta (voc) Dottie Salters	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast New Zanzibar Cafe NYC Jul 1945
Theme + Hop, Skip and a Jump	Gene Krupa Orchestra (voc) Carolyn Raye	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Meadowbrook Gardens Culver City Ca 31 Mar 1946
Out of This World + Black Orchid	Woody Herman Orchestra (voc) Frances Wayne	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania NYC 23 Aug 1945
Set 3	Big Bands
Full Moon and Empty Arms	Buddy Morrow Orchestra (voc) Carl Denny	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Blue Room Hotel Lincoln NYC 27 May 1945
Redskin Rumba (theme) + Murder at Peyton Hall	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Casino Gardens Ocean Park Ca 3 Jan 1947
All of Me	Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) Claire Hogan	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania NYC 7 Apr 1949
Golden Earrings	Del Courtney Orchestra (voc) Gil Vester	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Rose Room Palace Hotel San Francisco 7 Jan 1948
Set 4	Big Bands
Dancing Tambourine	Ralph Flanagan Orchestra (voc) Band	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania NYC 26 Sep 1950
Theme + I’m a Fool to Want You	Art Wayner Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast The Latin Quarter NYC 31 Jul 1951
Autumn Leaves	Ray Anthony Orchestra (voc) The Skyliners and Ray Deauville	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler NYC 12 Dec 1950
Johnny, Won’t You Stay Awhile? + Blue Champagne + I Only Have Eyes For You	Blue Barron Orchestra (voc) Betty Clark	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast Palladium Ballroom Hollywood Ca 20 Nov 1951
Set 5	Big Bands
Set 6	Big Bands
Set 7	Big Bands
Set 8	Big Bands

Ted Fio Rito Cocoanut Grove 1934 – Phantom Dancer 13 September 2022

Ted Fio Rito, band leader, composer and pianist, under the radio pseudonym ‘Vincent Valsanti’, is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist in a 1934 Cocoanut Grove radio transcription.

Since I’ve been playing radio transcriptions made in 1934 of ‘Valsanti’ from the Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles over the past three weeks, here’s a little about the Ted Fio Rito / Valsanti / Cocoanut Grove story along with videos from the era.

The Phantom Dancer – your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted by me, Greg Poppleton.

Enjoy a whole library of Phantom Dancer mixes online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.

This show will be online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 13 September at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

 

COCOANUT GROVE

The Cocoanut Grove at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel was a lavishly appointed club – part of the massive 23-acre Ambassador resort, which also included four restaurants, a bowling alley, a billiard room, a shopping plaza, and even a movie theater – decorated in Moroccan style and featured full-sized palm trees reportedly salvaged from Rudolph Valentino’s film “The Sheik.” In addition to the decor, which also offered a night sky filled with stars (thanks to about 1000 small light bulbs), an elevated stage, and both dining and dancing room for several hundred patrons, customers came for the smooth musical entertainment provided by a series of dance orchestras and popular vocalists – many of whom would later go on to star careers in radio, recordings, and the film industry.

In the 1980 book, “Are the Stars Out Tonight?”, former Ambassador PR Director, Margaret Tante Burk, recalls the Grove’s opening night:

“…on the night of April 21, 1921… the new club officially opened its Moroccan style, gold leaf and etched palm tree doors… The Cocoanut Grove was aptly named, guests agreed as they were escorted by the maître de and captains down the wide plush grand staircase… Overhead, soaring about the room were cocoanut trees of papier mache, cocoanuts and palm fronds which had been rescued from the sandy beaches of Oxnard where they had served as atmosphere of the 1921 classic, The Sheik. Swinging from their branches were stuffed monkeys blinking at the revelers with their electrified amber eyes. Stars twinkled in the blue ceiling sky, and on the southernmost wall hung a full Hawaiian moon presiding over a painted landscape and splashing waterfall.”

Ray West Orchestra in 1930…

Due to the foresight of Abe Frank, the manager of both the hotel and the Grove, in the mid-1920s the Ambassador had been equipped with a small radio studio, allowing the music of the various orchestras to be broadcast and enjoyed well outside the confines of the nightclub. From the late 1920s well into the 1960s, live “remote” programs broadcast from the Cocoanut Grove were a popular feature of nighttime radio, allowing millions of people to enjoy the music they would otherwise be unable to afford to hear in person. These broadcasts, aired live nightly for two full hours, only increased the reputation of the Grove as “the place to be” when it came to top notch West Coast entertainment.

From the beginning, the Cocoanut Grove’s glamorous atmosphere attracted the top names in Hollywood for dining, dancing, and mingling. This celebrity connection was always well-publicized by the Ambassador and for a very good reason, too: tourists coming to Los Angeles for a vacation wanted to see the stars and there was no place where the stars came out quite so regularly as the Ambassador Hotel. On an average evening, it was common to see such well-known celebrities as Joan Crawford, Jack Oakie, or Jean Harlow coming to see Bing Crosby or Russ Columbo sing with Gus Arnheim’s Orchestra or dance to Jimmie Grier’s band as they accompanied Loyce Whiteman, The Three Ambassadors (Martin Sperzel, Jack Smith, and Al Teeter), or popular tenor Donald Novis. Even though there was a nationwide depression, Hollywood stars and executives still needed to be entertained — and the Cocoanut Grove was often their first choice.

From 1930 to 1943, six Academy Awards ceremonies were hosted at the hotel. As many as seven U.S. presidents stayed at the Ambassador, from Hoover to Nixon, along with heads of state from around the world.

It was the place to be even in the 1960s…

In 1968, the Ambassador Hotel was the scene of the shooting of Bobby Kennedy.

Due to the decline of the hotel and the surrounding area, the Ambassador Hotel was closed to guests in 1989. In 2001, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) purchased the property with the intent of constructing three new schools within the area. After subsequent litigations to preserve the hotel as a historic site, a settlement allowed the Ambassador Hotel to be demolished in 2005.

VALSANTI

Ted Fio Rito used the pseudonym ‘Valsanti’ for these Cocoanut Grove transcriptions because of an existing recording contract.

Fio Rito was a pianist, hammond organist and the composer of such classic tunes as, “I Never Knew,” “Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye,” “Laugh, Clown, Laugh,” “Roll Along, Prairie Moon” and “Alone at a Table for Two.”

He started his career as a pianist with a series of bands led by Harry Yerkes, then moved to Chicago in 1921 to join Dan Russo’s band. The following year, he joined with Russo to become the co-leader the Oriole Terrace Orchestra, which he eventually took over when Russo departed in 1928.

Before coming to the Cocoanut Grove in mid-1933, Fio Rito had spent a number of years touring the East Coast and Midwest, including many engagements in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and Cincinnati. An early radio enthusiast, Fio Rito’s band was frequently heard on the air from various nightspots – preparing him well for the regular broadcasts scheduled to emanate from the Grove during his stay.

Musically, the orchestra that Fio Rito brought to the Grove was sweet, smooth and clever, playing highly danceable music accented with temple blocks, rapid triplets, and even an occasional solo on the Hammond organ by its talented leader.

Due to an existing recording contract, Theodore Salvatore Fiorito’s singers also adopted pseudonyms for these transcriptions. Muzzy Marcellino, Fio Rito’s guitarist and primary vocalist, sings as Jack Howard. Howard Phillips sings under the name of Bill Thomas, and Fio Rito’s vocal trio The Debutants appear as The Three Keys. 

Watch Ted Fio Rito from the Cocoanut Grove in this 1934 Paramount short ‘Star night atthe Cocoanut Grove’ also featuring Mary Pickford and Bing Crosby. You’ll hear the extreme high and low four octave voice of Jimmy Durante’s future comic foil Candy Candido in what is thought to be his earliest film performance….

 

 

13 SEPTEMBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE   Community Radio Network Show CRN #563
107.3 2SER Tuesday 13 September 2022 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 2YYY Young Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am 2SEA Eden Tuesday 6 – 7pm 2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am 2RDJ Burwood Wednesday 12 – 1pm 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2RRR Ryde Friday 11am -12 noon 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturdays 10 – 11am Repeat: Wednesdays 10 – 11pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	Swing Bands One Night Stand Radio
Theme + Song of the Wanderer	Buddy Morrow Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Roseland Ballroom NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 1 Mar 1946
16:00 On The Clock	Shep Field and His New Music	‘One Night Stand’ Copacabana NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1944
Come Rain Come Shine + Close	Hal McIntyre Orchestra (voc) Frankie Lester	‘One Night Stand’ Century Room Hotel Commodore NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 15 May 1946
Set 2	1950s-60s Jazz Radio
Jazz Connoisseur	Harry James Orchestra (dms) Buddy Rich	Moonbowl Freedomland WNEW NYC 1962
The Theme	Miles Davis Sextet	‘Treasury of Music’ Birdland WRCA NBC NY AFRTS Re-broadcast 25 Aug 1959
Set 3	Benny Goodman in Chicago
Let’s Dance (theme) + Farewell Blues	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 20 Jan 1936
Soft Spring	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Chicago 10 Aug 1941
King Porter Stomp + Goodbye (theme)	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Feb 1936
Set 4	Vincent Valsanti (Ted Fio Rito)
Serenade of Love (theme) + Flirtation Walk	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Jack Howard	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
When You’re in Love	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Two Cigarettes in the Dark	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Phil Thomas	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Were You Foolin’? + I’ll Take an Option on You + Serenade of Love (theme)	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Jack Howard and The Three Blue Keys	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Set 5	1930s German Swing
Darf ich bitten?	Die Goldene Sieben	Comm Rec Berlin Sep 1936
Ja und nein	Die Goldene Sieben	Comm Rec Berlin Aug 1939
Aus lauter Liebe	Die Goldene Sieben (voc) Peter Igelhoff	Comm Rec Berlin Jul 1937
Oh! Aha!	Die Goldene Sieben (voc) Rudi Schuricke Terzett	Comm Rec Berlin Feb 1939
Set 6	Early Dorseys
Theme + On The Beach at Bali Bali	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	‘Ford V-8 Show’ Texas Centennial Exhibition KRLD CBS Dallas Tx 11 Aug 1936
Sandman (theme) + Is That Religion?	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (voc) Bob Crosby	Riviera Fort Lee NJ WEAF NBC Red NY 20 Sep 1934
Weary Blues	Eddy Howard Orchestra	‘Ford V-8 Show’ Texas Centennial Exhibition KRLD CBS Dallas Tx 4 Aug 1936
Farewell Blues	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra	‘Chrysler Show’ Radio Transcription 1934
Set 7	Sweet Music
Romance (theme) + We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye	Ray Herbeck Music with Romance Orchestra (voc) Lorraine Benson	Trianon Ballroom WGN Mutual Chicago 24 Nov 1947
For You	King Sisters	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Jun 1945
Sweet Lorraine	Frank Sinatra	‘Frank Sinatra Show’ AFRS Re-broadcast 26 Nov 1946
What is This Thing Called Love?	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (voc) Eugenie Baird	‘Forever Pops’ ABC Chicago 1947
Set 8	1930s Fats Waller
Yacht Club Swing (theme) + Whatcha Know, Joe?	Fats Waller	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Dec 1940
Pent Up in a Penthouse	Fats Waller	Yacht Club WABC CBS NY 14 Oct 1938
Sto Beating ‘Round The Mulberry Bush	Fats Waller	WEAF NBC Red NY 16 Jul 1938
I Had To Do It	Fats Waller	Yacht Club WABC CBS NY 18 Oct 1938

Ted Fio Rito Cocoanut Grove 1934 – Phantom Dancer 24 May 2021

Ted Fio Rito, band leader, composer and pianist, under the radio pseudonym ‘Vincent Valsanti’, is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist in a 1934 Cocoanut Grove radio transcription.

Since I’ve been playing radio transcriptions made in 1934 of ‘Valsanti’ from the Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles over the past three weeks, here’s a little about the Ted Fio Rito / Valsanti / Cocoanut Grove story along with videos from the era.

The Phantom Dancer – your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted by me, Greg Poppleton.

Enjoy a whole library of Phantom Dancer mixes online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.

This show will be online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 24 May at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

 

COCOANUT GROVE

The Cocoanut Grove at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel was a lavishly appointed club – part of the massive 23-acre Ambassador resort, which also included four restaurants, a bowling alley, a billiard room, a shopping plaza, and even a movie theater – decorated in Moroccan style and featured full-sized palm trees reportedly salvaged from Rudolph Valentino’s film “The Sheik.” In addition to the decor, which also offered a night sky filled with stars (thanks to about 1000 small light bulbs), an elevated stage, and both dining and dancing room for several hundred patrons, customers came for the smooth musical entertainment provided by a series of dance orchestras and popular vocalists – many of whom would later go on to star careers in radio, recordings, and the film industry.

In the 1980 book, “Are the Stars Out Tonight?”, former Ambassador PR Director, Margaret Tante Burk, recalls the Grove’s opening night:

“…on the night of April 21, 1921… the new club officially opened its Moroccan style, gold leaf and etched palm tree doors… The Cocoanut Grove was aptly named, guests agreed as they were escorted by the maître de and captains down the wide plush grand staircase… Overhead, soaring about the room were cocoanut trees of papier mache, cocoanuts and palm fronds which had been rescued from the sandy beaches of Oxnard where they had served as atmosphere of the 1921 classic, The Sheik. Swinging from their branches were stuffed monkeys blinking at the revelers with their electrified amber eyes. Stars twinkled in the blue ceiling sky, and on the southernmost wall hung a full Hawaiian moon presiding over a painted landscape and splashing waterfall.”

Ray West Orchestra in 1930…

Due to the foresight of Abe Frank, the manager of both the hotel and the Grove, in the mid-1920s the Ambassador had been equipped with a small radio studio, allowing the music of the various orchestras to be broadcast and enjoyed well outside the confines of the nightclub. From the late 1920s well into the 1960s, live “remote” programs broadcast from the Cocoanut Grove were a popular feature of nighttime radio, allowing millions of people to enjoy the music they would otherwise be unable to afford to hear in person. These broadcasts, aired live nightly for two full hours, only increased the reputation of the Grove as “the place to be” when it came to top notch West Coast entertainment.

From the beginning, the Cocoanut Grove’s glamorous atmosphere attracted the top names in Hollywood for dining, dancing, and mingling. This celebrity connection was always well-publicized by the Ambassador and for a very good reason, too: tourists coming to Los Angeles for a vacation wanted to see the stars and there was no place where the stars came out quite so regularly as the Ambassador Hotel. On an average evening, it was common to see such well-known celebrities as Joan Crawford, Jack Oakie, or Jean Harlow coming to see Bing Crosby or Russ Columbo sing with Gus Arnheim’s Orchestra or dance to Jimmie Grier’s band as they accompanied Loyce Whiteman, The Three Ambassadors (Martin Sperzel, Jack Smith, and Al Teeter), or popular tenor Donald Novis. Even though there was a nationwide depression, Hollywood stars and executives still needed to be entertained — and the Cocoanut Grove was often their first choice.

From 1930 to 1943, six Academy Awards ceremonies were hosted at the hotel. As many as seven U.S. presidents stayed at the Ambassador, from Hoover to Nixon, along with heads of state from around the world.

It was the place to be even in the 1960s…

In 1968, the Ambassador Hotel was the scene of the shooting of Bobby Kennedy.

Due to the decline of the hotel and the surrounding area, the Ambassador Hotel was closed to guests in 1989. In 2001, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) purchased the property with the intent of constructing three new schools within the area. After subsequent litigations to preserve the hotel as a historic site, a settlement allowed the Ambassador Hotel to be demolished in 2005.

VALSANTI

Ted Fio Rito used the pseudonym ‘Valsanti’ for these Cocoanut Grove transcriptions because of an existing recording contract.

Fio Rito was a pianist, hammond organist and the composer of such classic tunes as, “I Never Knew,” “Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye,” “Laugh, Clown, Laugh,” “Roll Along, Prairie Moon” and “Alone at a Table for Two.”

He started his career as a pianist with a series of bands led by Harry Yerkes, then moved to Chicago in 1921 to join Dan Russo’s band. The following year, he joined with Russo to become the co-leader the Oriole Terrace Orchestra, which he eventually took over when Russo departed in 1928.

Before coming to the Cocoanut Grove in mid-1933, Fio Rito had spent a number of years touring the East Coast and Midwest, including many engagements in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and Cincinnati. An early radio enthusiast, Fio Rito’s band was frequently heard on the air from various nightspots – preparing him well for the regular broadcasts scheduled to emanate from the Grove during his stay.

Musically, the orchestra that Fio Rito brought to the Grove was sweet, smooth and clever, playing highly danceable music accented with temple blocks, rapid triplets, and even an occasional solo on the Hammond organ by its talented leader.

Due to an existing recording contract, Theodore Salvatore Fiorito’s singers also adopted pseudonyms for these transcriptions. Muzzy Marcellino, Fio Rito’s guitarist and primary vocalist, sings as Jack Howard. Howard Phillips sings under the name of Bill Thomas, and Fio Rito’s vocal trio The Debutants appear as The Three Keys. 

Watch Ted Fio Rito from the Cocoanut Grove in this 1934 Paramount short ‘Star night atthe Cocoanut Grove’ also featuring Mary Pickford and Bing Crosby. You’ll hear the extreme high and low four octave voice of Jimmy Durante’s future comic foil Candy Candido in what is thought to be his earliest film performance….

 

 

24 MAY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINECommunity Radio Network Show CRN #546
107.3 2SER Tuesday 24 May 2022 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 2YYY Young Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am 2SEA Eden Tuesday 6 – 7pm 2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturdays 10 – 11am Repeat: Wednesdays 10 – 11pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	Swing Bands One Night Stand Radio
Theme + Song of the Wanderer	Buddy Morrow Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Roseland Ballroom NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 1 Mar 1946
16:00 On The Clock	Shep Field and His New Music	‘One Night Stand’ Copacabana NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1944
Come Rain Come Shine + Close	Hal McIntyre Orchestra (voc) Frankie Lester	‘One Night Stand’ Century Room Hotel Commodore NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 15 May 1946
Set 2	1950s-60s Jazz Radio
Jazz Connoisseur	Harry James Orchestra (dms) Buddy Rich	Moonbowl Freedomland WNEW NYC 1962
The Theme	Miles Davis Sextet	‘Treasury of Music’ Birdland WRCA NBC NY AFRTS Re-broadcast 25 Aug 1959
Set 3	Benny Goodman in Chicago
Let’s Dance (theme) + Farewell Blues	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 20 Jan 1936
Soft Spring	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Chicago 10 Aug 1941
King Porter Stomp + Goodbye (theme)	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Feb 1936
Set 4	Vincent Valsanti (Ted Fio Rito)
Serenade of Love (theme) + Flirtation Walk	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Jack Howard	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
When You’re in Love	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Two Cigarettes in the Dark	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Phil Thomas	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Were You Foolin’? + I’ll Take an Option on You + Serenade of Love (theme)	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Jack Howard and The Three Blue Keys	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Set 5	1930s German Swing
Darf ich bitten?	Die Goldene Sieben	Comm Rec Berlin Sep 1936
Ja und nein	Die Goldene Sieben	Comm Rec Berlin Aug 1939
Aus lauter Liebe	Die Goldene Sieben (voc) Peter Igelhoff	Comm Rec Berlin Jul 1937
Oh! Aha!	Die Goldene Sieben (voc) Rudi Schuricke Terzett	Comm Rec Berlin Feb 1939
Set 6	Early Dorseys
Theme + On The Beach at Bali Bali	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	‘Ford V-8 Show’ Texas Centennial Exhibition KRLD CBS Dallas Tx 11 Aug 1936
Sandman (theme) + Is That Religion?	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (voc) Bob Crosby	Riviera Fort Lee NJ WEAF NBC Red NY 20 Sep 1934
Weary Blues	Eddy Howard Orchestra	‘Ford V-8 Show’ Texas Centennial Exhibition KRLD CBS Dallas Tx 4 Aug 1936
Farewell Blues	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra	‘Chrysler Show’ Radio Transcription 1934
Set 7	Sweet Music
Romance (theme) + We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye	Ray Herbeck Music with Romance Orchestra (voc) Lorraine Benson	Trianon Ballroom WGN Mutual Chicago 24 Nov 1947
For You	King Sisters	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Jun 1945
Sweet Lorraine	Frank Sinatra	‘Frank Sinatra Show’ AFRS Re-broadcast 26 Nov 1946
What is This Thing Called Love?	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (voc) Eugenie Baird	‘Forever Pops’ ABC Chicago 1947
Set 8	1930s Fats Waller
Yacht Club Swing (theme) + Whatcha Know, Joe?	Fats Waller	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Dec 1940
Pent Up in a Penthouse	Fats Waller	Yacht Club WABC CBS NY 14 Oct 1938
Sto Beating ‘Round The Mulberry Bush	Fats Waller	WEAF NBC Red NY 16 Jul 1938
I Had To Do It	Fats Waller	Yacht Club WABC CBS NY 18 Oct 1938

Cocoanut Grove Radio 1934 – Phantom Dancer 4 January 2022

Ted Fio Rito, band leader, composer and pianist, under the radio pseudonym ‘Vincent Valsanti’, is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist in a 1934 Cocoanut Grove radio transcription.

As it’s the holiday season and I’m taking a day off, this is a repeat of The Phantom Dancer broadcast 11 May 2021

The Phantom Dancer – your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted by me, Greg Poppleton.

Enjoy a whole library of Phantom Dancer mixes online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.

This show will be online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 4 Jan 2022 at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

 

COCOANUT GROVE

The Cocoanut Grove at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel was a lavishly appointed club – part of the massive 23-acre Ambassador resort, which also included four restaurants, a bowling alley, a billiard room, a shopping plaza, and even a movie theater – decorated in Moroccan style and featured full-sized palm trees reportedly salvaged from Rudolph Valentino’s film “The Sheik.” In addition to the decor, which also offered a night sky filled with stars (thanks to about 1000 small light bulbs), an elevated stage, and both dining and dancing room for several hundred patrons, customers came for the smooth musical entertainment provided by a series of dance orchestras and popular vocalists – many of whom would later go on to star careers in radio, recordings, and the film industry.

In the 1980 book, “Are the Stars Out Tonight?”, former Ambassador PR Director, Margaret Tante Burk, recalls the Grove’s opening night:

“…on the night of April 21, 1921… the new club officially opened its Moroccan style, gold leaf and etched palm tree doors… The Cocoanut Grove was aptly named, guests agreed as they were escorted by the maître de and captains down the wide plush grand staircase… Overhead, soaring about the room were cocoanut trees of papier mache, cocoanuts and palm fronds which had been rescued from the sandy beaches of Oxnard where they had served as atmosphere of the 1921 classic, The Sheik. Swinging from their branches were stuffed monkeys blinking at the revelers with their electrified amber eyes. Stars twinkled in the blue ceiling sky, and on the southernmost wall hung a full Hawaiian moon presiding over a painted landscape and splashing waterfall.”

Ray West Orchestra in 1930…

Due to the foresight of Abe Frank, the manager of both the hotel and the Grove, in the mid-1920s the Ambassador had been equipped with a small radio studio, allowing the music of the various orchestras to be broadcast and enjoyed well outside the confines of the nightclub. From the late 1920s well into the 1960s, live “remote” programs broadcast from the Cocoanut Grove were a popular feature of nighttime radio, allowing millions of people to enjoy the music they would otherwise be unable to afford to hear in person. These broadcasts, aired live nightly for two full hours, only increased the reputation of the Grove as “the place to be” when it came to top notch West Coast entertainment.

From the beginning, the Cocoanut Grove’s glamorous atmosphere attracted the top names in Hollywood for dining, dancing, and mingling. This celebrity connection was always well-publicized by the Ambassador and for a very good reason, too: tourists coming to Los Angeles for a vacation wanted to see the stars and there was no place where the stars came out quite so regularly as the Ambassador Hotel. On an average evening, it was common to see such well-known celebrities as Joan Crawford, Jack Oakie, or Jean Harlow coming to see Bing Crosby or Russ Columbo sing with Gus Arnheim’s Orchestra or dance to Jimmie Grier’s band as they accompanied Loyce Whiteman, The Three Ambassadors (Martin Sperzel, Jack Smith, and Al Teeter), or popular tenor Donald Novis. Even though there was a nationwide depression, Hollywood stars and executives still needed to be entertained — and the Cocoanut Grove was often their first choice.

From 1930 to 1943, six Academy Awards ceremonies were hosted at the hotel. As many as seven U.S. presidents stayed at the Ambassador, from Hoover to Nixon, along with heads of state from around the world.

It was the place to be seen even in the 1960s…

In 1968, the Ambassador Hotel was the scene of the shooting of Bobby Kennedy.

Due to the decline of the hotel and the surrounding area, the Ambassador Hotel was closed to guests in 1989. In 2001, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) purchased the property with the intent of constructing three new schools within the area. After subsequent litigations to preserve the hotel as a historic site, a settlement allowed the Ambassador Hotel to be demolished in 2005.

VALSANTI

Ted Fio Rito used the pseudonym ‘Valsanti’ for these Cocoanut Grove transcriptions because of an existing recording contract.

Fio Rito was a pianist, hammond organist and the composer of such classic tunes as, “I Never Knew,” “Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye,” “Laugh, Clown, Laugh,” “Roll Along, Prairie Moon” and “Alone at a Table for Two.”

He started his career as a pianist with a series of bands led by Harry Yerkes, then moved to Chicago in 1921 to join Dan Russo’s band. The following year, he joined with Russo to become the co-leader the Oriole Terrace Orchestra, which he eventually took over when Russo departed in 1928.

Before coming to the Cocoanut Grove in mid-1933, Fio Rito had spent a number of years touring the East Coast and Midwest, including many engagements in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and Cincinnati. An early radio enthusiast, Fio Rito’s band was frequently heard on the air from various nightspots – preparing him well for the regular broadcasts scheduled to emanate from the Grove during his stay.

Musically, the orchestra that Fio Rito brought to the Grove was sweet, smooth and clever, playing highly danceable music accented with temple blocks, rapid triplets, and even an occasional solo on the Hammond organ by its talented leader.

Due to an existing recording contract, Theodore Salvatore Fiorito’s singers also adopted pseudonyms for these transcriptions. Muzzy Marcellino, Fio Rito’s guitarist and primary vocalist, sings as Jack Howard. Howard Phillips sings under the name of Bill Thomas, and Fio Rito’s vocal trio The Debutants appear as The Three Keys. 

Watch Ted Fio Rito from the Cocoanut Grove in this 1934 Paramount short ‘Star night atthe Cocoanut Grove’ also featuring Mary Pickford and Bing Crosby. You’ll hear the extreme high and low four octave voice of Jimmy Durante’s future comic foil Candy Candido in what is thought to be his earliest film performance….

 

 

4 JANUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE   Community Radio Network Show CRN #525
107.3 2SER Tuesday 4 JANUARY 2022 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am 2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am, Sunday 11 – 11:56pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturdays 10 – 11am, Wednesdays 10 – 11pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	Swing Bands One Night Stand Radio
Theme + Song of the Wanderer	Buddy Morrow Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Roseland Ballroom NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 1 Mar 1946
16:00 On The Clock	Shep Field and His New Music	‘One Night Stand’ Copacabana NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1944
Come Rain Come Shine + Close	Hal McIntyre Orchestra (voc) Frankie Lester	‘One Night Stand’ Century Room Hotel Commodore NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 15 May 1946
Set 2	1950s-60s Jazz Radio
Jazz Connoisseur	Harry James Orchestra (dms) Buddy Rich	Moonbowl Freedomland WNEW NYC 1962
The Theme	Miles Davis Sextet	‘Treasury of Music’ Birdland WRCA NBC NY AFRTS Re-broadcast 25 Aug 1959
Set 3	Benny Goodman in Chicago
Let’s Dance (theme) + Farewell Blues	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 20 Jan 1936
Soft Spring	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Chicago 10 Aug 1941
King Porter Stomp + Goodbye (theme)	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Feb 1936
Set 4	Vincent Valsanti (Ted Fio Rito)
Serenade of Love (theme) + Flirtation Walk	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Jack Howard	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
When You’re in Love	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Two Cigarettes in the Dark	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Phil Thomas	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Were You Foolin’? + I’ll Take an Option on You + Serenade of Love (theme)	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Jack Howard and The Three Blue Keys	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Set 5	1930s German Swing
Darf ich bitten?	Die Goldene Sieben	Comm Rec Berlin Sep 1936
Ja und nein	Die Goldene Sieben	Comm Rec Berlin Aug 1939
Aus lauter Liebe	Die Goldene Sieben (voc) Peter Igelhoff	Comm Rec Berlin Jul 1937
Oh! Aha!	Die Goldene Sieben (voc) Rudi Schuricke Terzett	Comm Rec Berlin Feb 1939
Set 6	Early Dorseys
Theme + On The Beach at Bali Bali	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	‘Ford V-8 Show’ Texas Centennial Exhibition KRLD CBS Dallas Tx 11 Aug 1936
Sandman (theme) + Is That Religion?	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (voc) Bob Crosby	Riviera Fort Lee NJ WEAF NBC Red NY 20 Sep 1934
Weary Blues	Eddy Howard Orchestra	‘Ford V-8 Show’ Texas Centennial Exhibition KRLD CBS Dallas Tx 4 Aug 1936
Farewell Blues	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra	‘Chrysler Show’ Radio Transcription 1934
Set 7	Sweet Music
Romance (theme) + We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye	Ray Herbeck Music with Romance Orchestra (voc) Lorraine Benson	Trianon Ballroom WGN Mutual Chicago 24 Nov 1947
For You	King Sisters	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Jun 1945
Sweet Lorraine	Frank Sinatra	‘Frank Sinatra Show’ AFRS Re-broadcast 26 Nov 1946
What is This Thing Called Love?	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (voc) Eugenie Baird	‘Forever Pops’ ABC Chicago 1947
Set 8	1930s Fats Waller
Yacht Club Swing (theme) + Whatcha Know, Joe?	Fats Waller	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Dec 1940
Pent Up in a Penthouse	Fats Waller	Yacht Club WABC CBS NY 14 Oct 1938
Sto Beating ‘Round The Mulberry Bush	Fats Waller	WEAF NBC Red NY 16 Jul 1938
I Had To Do It	Fats Waller	Yacht Club WABC CBS NY 18 Oct 1938

Ted Fio Rito Cocoanut Grove 1934 – Phantom Dancer 11 May 2021

Ted Fio Rito, band leader, composer and pianist, under the radio pseudonym ‘Vincent Valsanti’, is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist in a 1934 Cocoanut Grove radio transcription.

Since I’ve been playing radio transcriptions made in 1934 of ‘Valsanti’ from the Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles over the past three weeks, here’s a little about the Ted Fio Rito / Valsanti / Cocoanut Grove story along with videos from the era.

The Phantom Dancer – your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted by me, Greg Poppleton.

Enjoy a whole library of Phantom Dancer mixes online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.

This show will be online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 11 May at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

COCOANUT GROVE

The Cocoanut Grove at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel was a lavishly appointed club – part of the massive 23-acre Ambassador resort, which also included four restaurants, a bowling alley, a billiard room, a shopping plaza, and even a movie theater – decorated in Moroccan style and featured full-sized palm trees reportedly salvaged from Rudolph Valentino’s film “The Sheik.” In addition to the decor, which also offered a night sky filled with stars (thanks to about 1000 small light bulbs), an elevated stage, and both dining and dancing room for several hundred patrons, customers came for the smooth musical entertainment provided by a series of dance orchestras and popular vocalists – many of whom would later go on to star careers in radio, recordings, and the film industry.

In the 1980 book, “Are the Stars Out Tonight?”, former Ambassador PR Director, Margaret Tante Burk, recalls the Grove’s opening night:

“…on the night of April 21, 1921… the new club officially opened its Moroccan style, gold leaf and etched palm tree doors… The Cocoanut Grove was aptly named, guests agreed as they were escorted by the maître de and captains down the wide plush grand staircase… Overhead, soaring about the room were cocoanut trees of papier mache, cocoanuts and palm fronds which had been rescued from the sandy beaches of Oxnard where they had served as atmosphere of the 1921 classic, The Sheik. Swinging from their branches were stuffed monkeys blinking at the revelers with their electrified amber eyes. Stars twinkled in the blue ceiling sky, and on the southernmost wall hung a full Hawaiian moon presiding over a painted landscape and splashing waterfall.”

Ray West Orchestra in 1930…

Due to the foresight of Abe Frank, the manager of both the hotel and the Grove, in the mid-1920s the Ambassador had been equipped with a small radio studio, allowing the music of the various orchestras to be broadcast and enjoyed well outside the confines of the nightclub. From the late 1920s well into the 1960s, live “remote” programs broadcast from the Cocoanut Grove were a popular feature of nighttime radio, allowing millions of people to enjoy the music they would otherwise be unable to afford to hear in person. These broadcasts, aired live nightly for two full hours, only increased the reputation of the Grove as “the place to be” when it came to top notch West Coast entertainment.

From the beginning, the Cocoanut Grove’s glamorous atmosphere attracted the top names in Hollywood for dining, dancing, and mingling. This celebrity connection was always well-publicized by the Ambassador and for a very good reason, too: tourists coming to Los Angeles for a vacation wanted to see the stars and there was no place where the stars came out quite so regularly as the Ambassador Hotel. On an average evening, it was common to see such well-known celebrities as Joan Crawford, Jack Oakie, or Jean Harlow coming to see Bing Crosby or Russ Columbo sing with Gus Arnheim’s Orchestra or dance to Jimmie Grier’s band as they accompanied Loyce Whiteman, The Three Ambassadors (Martin Sperzel, Jack Smith, and Al Teeter), or popular tenor Donald Novis. Even though there was a nationwide depression, Hollywood stars and executives still needed to be entertained — and the Cocoanut Grove was often their first choice.

From 1930 to 1943, six Academy Awards ceremonies were hosted at the hotel. As many as seven U.S. presidents stayed at the Ambassador, from Hoover to Nixon, along with heads of state from around the world.

It was the place to be even in the 1960s…

In 1968, the Ambassador Hotel was the scene of the shooting of Bobby Kennedy.

Due to the decline of the hotel and the surrounding area, the Ambassador Hotel was closed to guests in 1989. In 2001, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) purchased the property with the intent of constructing three new schools within the area. After subsequent litigations to preserve the hotel as a historic site, a settlement allowed the Ambassador Hotel to be demolished in 2005.

VALSANTI

Ted Fio Rito used the pseudonym ‘Valsanti’ for these Cocoanut Grove transcriptions because of an existing recording contract.

Fio Rito was a pianist, hammond organist and the composer of such classic tunes as, “I Never Knew,” “Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye,” “Laugh, Clown, Laugh,” “Roll Along, Prairie Moon” and “Alone at a Table for Two.”

He started his career as a pianist with a series of bands led by Harry Yerkes, then moved to Chicago in 1921 to join Dan Russo’s band. The following year, he joined with Russo to become the co-leader the Oriole Terrace Orchestra, which he eventually took over when Russo departed in 1928.

Before coming to the Cocoanut Grove in mid-1933, Fio Rito had spent a number of years touring the East Coast and Midwest, including many engagements in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and Cincinnati. An early radio enthusiast, Fio Rito’s band was frequently heard on the air from various nightspots – preparing him well for the regular broadcasts scheduled to emanate from the Grove during his stay.

Musically, the orchestra that Fio Rito brought to the Grove was sweet, smooth and clever, playing highly danceable music accented with temple blocks, rapid triplets, and even an occasional solo on the Hammond organ by its talented leader.

Due to an existing recording contract, Theodore Salvatore Fiorito’s singers also adopted pseudonyms for these transcriptions. Muzzy Marcellino, Fio Rito’s guitarist and primary vocalist, sings as Jack Howard. Howard Phillips sings under the name of Bill Thomas, and Fio Rito’s vocal trio The Debutants appear as The Three Keys. 

Watch Ted Fio Rito from the Cocoanut Grove in this 1934 Paramount short ‘Star night atthe Cocoanut Grove’ also featuring Mary Pickford and Bing Crosby. You’ll hear the extreme high and low four octave voice of Jimmy Durante’s future comic foil Candy Candido in what is thought to be his earliest film performance….

 

11 MAY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #489
107.3 2SER Tuesday 11 MAY 2021 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm 4RPH Brisbane Sunday 3 – 4am 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	Swing Bands One Night Stand Radio
Theme + Song of the Wanderer	Buddy Morrow Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Roseland Ballroom NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 1 Mar 1946
16:00 On The Clock	Shep Field and His New Music	‘One Night Stand’ Copacabana NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1944
Come Rain Come Shine + Close	Hal McIntyre Orchestra (voc) Frankie Lester	‘One Night Stand’ Century Room Hotel Commodore NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 15 May 1946
Set 2	1950s-60s Jazz Radio
Jazz Connoisseur	Harry James Orchestra (dms) Buddy Rich	Moonbowl Freedomland WNEW NYC 1962
The Theme	Miles Davis Sextet	‘Treasury of Music’ Birdland WRCA NBC NY AFRTS Re-broadcast 25 Aug 1959
Set 3	Benny Goodman in Chicago
Let’s Dance (theme) + Farewell Blues	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 20 Jan 1936
Soft Spring	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Chicago 10 Aug 1941
King Porter Stomp + Goodbye (theme)	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Feb 1936
Set 4	Vincent Valsanti (Ted Fio Rito)
Serenade of Love (theme) + Flirtation Walk	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Jack Howard	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
When You’re in Love	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Two Cigarettes in the Dark	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Phil Thomas	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Were You Foolin’? + I’ll Take an Option on You + Serenade of Love (theme)	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Jack Howard and The Three Blue Keys	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Set 5	1930s German Swing
Darf ich bitten?	Die Goldene Sieben	Comm Rec Berlin Sep 1936
Ja und nein	Die Goldene Sieben	Comm Rec Berlin Aug 1939
Aus lauter Liebe	Die Goldene Sieben (voc) Peter Igelhoff	Comm Rec Berlin Jul 1937
Oh! Aha!	Die Goldene Sieben (voc) Rudi Schuricke Terzett	Comm Rec Berlin Feb 1939
Set 6	Early Dorseys
Theme + On The Beach at Bali Bali	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	‘Ford V-8 Show’ Texas Centennial Exhibition KRLD CBS Dallas Tx 11 Aug 1936
Sandman (theme) + Is That Religion?	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (voc) Bob Crosby	Riviera Fort Lee NJ WEAF NBC Red NY 20 Sep 1934
Weary Blues	Eddy Howard Orchestra	‘Ford V-8 Show’ Texas Centennial Exhibition KRLD CBS Dallas Tx 4 Aug 1936
Farewell Blues	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra	‘Chrysler Show’ Radio Transcription 1934
Set 7	Sweet Music
Romance (theme) + We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye	Ray Herbeck Music with Romance Orchestra (voc) Lorraine Benson	Trianon Ballroom WGN Mutual Chicago 24 Nov 1947
For You	King Sisters	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Jun 1945
Sweet Lorraine	Frank Sinatra	‘Frank Sinatra Show’ AFRS Re-broadcast 26 Nov 1946
What is This Thing Called Love?	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (voc) Eugenie Baird	‘Forever Pops’ ABC Chicago 1947
Set 8	1930s Fats Waller
Yacht Club Swing (theme) + Whatcha Know, Joe?	Fats Waller	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Dec 1940
Pent Up in a Penthouse	Fats Waller	Yacht Club WABC CBS NY 14 Oct 1938
Sto Beating ‘Round The Mulberry Bush	Fats Waller	WEAF NBC Red NY 16 Jul 1938
I Had To Do It	Fats Waller	Yacht Club WABC CBS NY 18 Oct 1938

Chico Hamilton – Phantom Dancer 22 Dec 2020

CHRISTMAS

Chico Hamilton and his Quartet spread Christmas cheer on this week’s non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV – The Phantom Dancer – with Greg Poppleton.

LISTEN

This week’s Phantom Dancer will be online after the 22 December 107.3 2SER Sydney live mix at 2ser.com.

CHICO HAMILTON

American jazz drummer and bandleader, Chico Hamilton came to prominence as sideman for Lester Young, Gerry Mulligan, Count Basie, and Lena Horne.

Hamilton became a bandleader with a quintet featuring the cello as a lead instrument, which you’ll hear on this Phantom Dancer from a 1958 broadcast. Later, he lead bands that performed cool jazz, post bop, and jazz fusion.

Hamilton started his career in a band with Charles Mingus, Illinois Jacquet, Ernie Royal, Dexter Gordon, Buddy Collette and Jack Kelso before he had finished high school.

Engagements with Lionel Hampton, Slim & Slam, T-Bone Walker, Lester Young, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Charlie Barnet, Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Billie Holiday, Gerry Mulligan and Lena Horne established his career.

He appeared in You’ll Never Get Rich (1941) as part of the backing group supporting Fred Astaire. Hamilton also performed on the soundtrack of the Bing Crosby and Bob Hope film Road to Bali (1952).

ALBUMS

He recorded his first album as leader in 1955 with George Duvivier (double bass) and Howard Roberts (jazz guitar) for Pacific Jazz. In the same year Hamilton formed an unusual quintet in L.A. featuring cello, flute/saxes/clarinet, guitar, bass and drums. The quintet has been described as one of the last important West Coast jazz bands.

A version of the quintet including flutist Paul Horn was featured in the film Sweet Smell of Success in 1957 and one including Eric Dolphy appeared in the film Jazz on a Summer’s Day (1960), set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.

Hamilton revamped his group in 1961 with Charles Lloyd, Gabor Szabo, George Bohanon and Albert Stinson, playing what has been described as chamber jazz, with “a moderate avant-gardism.”

The group recorded for Columbia, Reprise and Impulse Records and also recorded the soundtrack for the industrial film Litho in 1962, the first American film to be shown behind the Iron Curtain. Hamilton formed a commercial and film production company in 1965, and went on to score the feature films Repulsion (1965), Mr. Ricco (1975), Coonskin (1975), By Design (1982), the television programs Portrait of Willie Mays and Gerald McBoing Boing, and scored hundreds of commercials for TV and radio.

In 1986 Hamilton formed his sextet Chico Hamilton and the Young Alto’s featuring Kenneth Lampl, Eric Person and Marc Bernstein. The group performed at the 1986 JVC Jazz Festival, the Apollo Theater, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

He released Twelve Tones of Love on Joyous Shout! in 2009. In March 2011, he had a long recording session, resulting in 28 new tracks with his Euphoria group. Following a health setback in 2010, he and the group began weekly rehearsals at Hamilton’s Penthouse A; which brought together the material which would comprise Revelation, an 11-track CD, released in 2011.

22 DECEMBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream Community Radio Network Show CRN #468
107.3 2SER Tuesday 22 December 2020 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4pm 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
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 (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 Holidays + 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
Open + Let It Snow + Happy Christmas, Little Friend	Dinah Shore (voc) Frank deVol Orchestra	‘Dinah Shore Show’ WRCA NBC NY 22 Dec 1954

Make sure you come back to this blog, Greg Poppleton’s Radio Lounge, every Tuesday, for the newest Phantom Dancer play list and Video of the Week!

Thank you.

Dixieland Revival – Phantom Dancer 21 April 2020

Your feature artists on this week’s Greg Poppleton Phantom Dancer are all (but one) broadcasting from San Francisco in the 1950s. They are Jimmy Dorsey (in a radio transcription), Muggsy Spanier, Kid Ory and Turk Murphy – all part of the Dixieland revival that went worldwide from the late 1930s into the 1960s (in Australia).

The Phantom Dancer, your non-stop 2 hour mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio, is produced and presented by 1920s-30s singer and actor Greg Poppleton can be heard online from 12:04pm AEST Tuesday 21 April at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

The last hour is all vinyl.

DIXIELAND REVIVAL

Was a movement of the late 1930s to the 1950s (in the US) reviving earlier improvisational jazz. It was a reaction to the arranged music of swing orchestras. The traditional front lines consisting of trumpets, trombones, and clarinets, and ensemble improvisation over a two-beat rhythm.

The term “Dixieland” was applied to early jazz by traditional jazz revivalists, starting in the 1940s and 1950s. The name is a reference to the “Old South”, specifically anything south of the Mason-Dixon line. The term encompasses earlier brass band marches, French Quadrilles, biguine, ragtime, and blues with collective, polyphonic improvisation. While instrumentation and size of bands varied, the “standard” band consisted of of a “front line” of trumpet (or cornet), trombone, and clarinet, with a “rhythm section” of at least two of the following instruments: guitar or banjo, string bass or tuba, piano, and drums. Louis Armstrong’s All-Stars was the band most popularly identified with Dixieland during the 1940s, although Armstrong’s own influence during the 1920s was to move the music beyond the traditional New Orleans style.

The definitive Dixieland sound is created when one instrument (usually the trumpet) plays the melody or a recognizable paraphrase or variation on it and the other instruments of the “front line” improvise around that melody. This creates a more polyphonic sound than the arranged ensemble playing of the big band sound or the straight “head” melodies of bebop.

During the 1930s and 1940s, the earlier group-improvisation style fell out of favor with the majority of younger black players, while some older players of both races continued on in the older style. Though younger musicians developed new forms, many beboppers revered Armstrong and quoted fragments of his recorded music in their own improvisations.

The Dixieland revival in the late 1940s and 1950s brought many semi-retired musicians a measure of fame late in their lives as well as bringing retired musicians back onto the jazz circuit after years of not playing (e.g., Kid Ory and Red Nichols). Many Dixieland groups of the revival era consciously imitated the recordings and bands of decades earlier. Other musicians continued to create innovative performances and new tunes. For example, in the 1950s a style called “Progressive Dixieland” sought to blend polyphonic improvisation with bebop-style rhythm. Spike Jones and His New Band and Steve Lacy played with such bands. This style is sometimes called “Dixie-bop”. Lacy went on to apply that approach to the music of Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, and Herbie Nichols.

Muggsy Spanier

CHICAGO STYLE

“Chicago style” is often applied to the sound of Chicagoans such as Jimmy McPartland, Eddie Condon, Muggsy Spanier, and Bud Freeman. The rhythm sections of these bands substitute the string bass for the tuba and the guitar for the banjo. Musically, the Chicagoans play in more of a swing-style 4-to-the-bar manner. The New Orleanian preference for an ensemble sound is deemphasized in favor of solos. Chicago-style Dixieland also differs from its southern origin by being faster paced, resembling the hustle-bustle of city life. Chicago-style bands play a wide variety of tunes, including most of those of the more traditional bands plus many of the Great American Songbook selections from the 1930s by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin. Non-Chicagoans such as Pee Wee Russell and Bobby Hackett are often thought of as playing in this style. This modernized style came to be called Nicksieland, after Nick’s Greenwich Village night club, where it was popular, though the term was not limited to that club.

Turk Murphy at Club Hangover

WEST COAST REVIVAL

The “West Coast revival” is a movement that was begun in the late 1930s by Lu Watters and his Yerba Buena Jazz Band in San Francisco and extended by trombonist Turk Murphy. It started out as a backlash to the Chicago style, which is closer in development towards swing. The repertoire of these bands is based on the music of Joe “King” Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, and W.C. Handy. Bands playing in the West Coast style use banjo and tuba in the rhythm sections, which play in a two-to-the-bar rhythmic style.

Much performed traditional Dixieland tunes include: “When the Saints Go Marching In”, “Muskrat Ramble”, “Struttin’ with Some Barbecue”, “Tiger Rag”, “Dippermouth Blues”, “Milenberg Joys”, “Basin Street Blues”, “Tin Roof Blues”, “At the Jazz Band Ball”, “Panama”, “I Found a New Baby”, “Royal Garden Blues” and many others. All of these tunes were widely played by jazz bands of the pre-WWII era, especially Louis Armstrong. They came to be grouped as Dixieland standards beginning in the 1950s.

Your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week is ‘Yes Suh!’ 26/Jul/32 NYC., THE RHYTHMAKERS: Red Allen (t) Jimmy Lord (cl) Pee Wee Russell (ts) Fats Waller (p,v) Eddie Condon (bj) Jack Bland (g) Pops Foster (b) Zutty Singleton (d) Billy Banks(v). Enjoy!

21 APRIL PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #433
107.3 2SER Tuesday 21 April 2020 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program: 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 – 11pm 5GTR Mt Gambier Mon 2:30 – 3:30am 4NAG Keppel FM 3 – 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4pm 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 7LTN Launceston 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am
Set 1	Prehistoric Stan Kenton from 1941 Radio
Artistry in Rhythm	Stan Kenton Orchestra	Radio Transcription C. P. MacGregor Studios Los Angeles Nov 1941
A Setting In Motion	Stan Kenton Orchestra	Radio Transcription C. P. MacGregor Studios Los Angeles 20 Sep 1941
Blues in F Minor	Stan Kenton Orchestra	Radio Transcription C. P. MacGregor Studios Los Angeles 6 Jan 1942
El Choclo	Stan Kenton Orchestra	Radio Transcription C. P. MacGregor Studios Los Angeles Oct 1941
Set 2	Swing Band Leaders Speak on the Radio
Sunrise Serenade	Glenn Miller Orchestra	Glen Island Casino New Rochelle NY WEAF NBC Red NY 15 Nov 1938
When I Get It + Blue Lou + Close	Harry James Orchestra lead by Tommy Dorsey	Casino Gardens Ocean Park KECA ABC LA 12 Aug 1944
Hallelujah	Benny Goodman Quartet	‘For The Record’ WEAF NBC NY 1944
Set 3	Lounge Music on 1920s – 1950s Radio
Sugarloaf Mambo	Bernard ‘Whitey’ Berquist’ and the Chicago NBC Symphony Orchestra	‘Monitor’ WRCA NBC NY 19 Jun 1956
On The Wood Pile	Harry Bruer (xylophone) with the Colonial Club Orchestra	‘Brunswick Brevities’ WABC CBS NY 1929
White Sails + Time On My Hands	Johnny Saab (organ)	‘Musical Interlude’ WJSV CBS Washington DC 21 Sep 1939
Set 4	From Birdland over WNBC in 1952
Stuffy	Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge Orchestra	‘Stars in Jazz’ Birdland WNBC NBC NY 1952
Stardust + Lady Be Good	Kai Winding Group	‘Stars in Jazz’ Birdland WNBC NBC NY 2 Sep 1952
Set 5	The 1950s Dixie Revival on Radio
Chicago	Jimmy Dorsey ‘Dorseyland Band’	‘Marine Corp Show’ Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1950
Squeeze Me	Muggsy Spanier and his Dixieland All-Stars	‘Club Hangover’ KCBS San Francisco 11 Apr 1953
St James Infirmary	Kid Ory’s Creole Jazz Band	‘Club Hangover’ KCBS San Francisco 10 Oct 1954
Memphis Blues + Bay City (close)	Turk Murphy’s San Francisco Jazz Band	‘Easy Street’ KCBS San Francisco 9 Dec 1958
Set 6	Early Radio Appearances By Famous Singers
Shine	The Hoboken Four (Frank Sinatra’s first radio appearance)	‘Major Bowes’ Original Amateur Hour’ WABC CBS NY 1935
From The Bottom Of My Heart	Frank Sinatra (voc) Harry James Orchestra	‘America Dances’ Famous Door WABC CBS NY / BBC London Jul 1938
I’m Happy About The Whole Thing	Doris Day (voc) Barney Rapp and his New Englanders	Sign of the Drum Cincinnati Ohio NBC 17 Jun 1939
I Cried For You	Bing Crosby	WABC CBS NY 7 Nov 1931
Set 7	Harmony Singers on 1930s – 1940s Radio
When My Dreamboat Goes Home	The King Sisters with Frank DeVol	‘Radio Transcription’ Los Angeles 1949
Chi Baba, Chi Baba	Lionel Hampton Orchestra (voc) Herman McCoy and the Hamp-Tones	Casa Manana Culver City Ca KFI NBC LA 20 Jul 1947
That Sly Ol’ Gentleman	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Martha Tilton and the Quintones	‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS NY 4 Apr 1939
Tiger Rag	The Inkspots	WFIL NBC Red Philadelphia 12 Jul 1939
Set 8	Swinging on 1940s Radio
Open + Tea For Two	Bob Strong Orchestra	Glen Island Casino New Rochelle NY WOR Mutual NY 5 Aug 1944
Theme + Quiet Riot	Buddy Rich Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Quonset Naval Air Station Rhode Island Blue Network 25 Jan 1946
The Elks’ Parade	Bobby Sherwood Orchestra	Terrace Room New Jersey WCBS CBS NY 17 Feb 1945
Cottontail	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘A Date With The Duke’ Evansville Indiana ABC 16 Jun 1945

Left Field 1953 Band Leaders on NBC Radio – 14 April Phantom Dancer

Sauter-Finegan, Stan Kenton and Billy May were three 1953 bands making way-out sounds on NBC radio and are this week’s Greg Poppleton Phantom Dancer feature artists. You’ll also hear from vocal group The Hi-Los, an influence on young pianist, Herbie Hancock. Read the three band leader stories below…

The Phantom Dancer is your non-stop 2 hour mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio. On-air with Greg Poppleton since 1985.

The Phantom Dancer produced and presented by 1920s-30s singer and actor Greg Poppleton can be heard online from 12:05pm AEST Tuesday 14 April at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

The last hour is all vinyl.

Sauter-Finegan Orchestra

SAUTER – FINEGAN

The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra was an American swing jazz band popular in 1953.
The orchestra was led by Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan, who were both experienced big band arrangers. Sauter played mellophone, trumpet, and drums. He had attended Columbia University and Juilliard. Finegan had studied at the Paris Conservatory. They began recording together in 1952, using inventive arrangements that made use of a variety of unusual instruments, including many orchestral instruments as well as oddities like the kazoo and the beaten human chest.

A June 7, 1952, article in the trade publication Billboard described the new group as “a creative band, which will combine dance music as well as mood interpretations.”

The group initially had a three-year contract with RCA Victor, with plans “for about 16 sides a year.” Their first chart appearance was with “Doodletown Fifers”, their version of a Civil War tune called “Kingdom Coming and the Year of Jubilo”. “Nina Never Knew” (featuring vocalist Joe Mooney) and “The Moon is Blue” (with Sally Sweetland) soon followed on the charts. With the success of the singles, they put together a 21-member touring ensemble and began playing venues in 1953.  Because the group played in dance halls rather than concert venues, they encountered little success on the road, and quit touring in 1955 after having accrued much debt.

June Christie singing with the Stan Kenton Orchestra

STAN KENTON

In 1950 Kenton fput together the large 39-piece Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra that included 16 strings, a woodwind section, and two French horns. The music was an extension of the works composed and recorded since 1947 by Bob Graettinger, Manny Albam, Franklyn Marks and others. Name jazz musicians such as Maynard Ferguson, Shorty Rogers, Milt Bernhart, John Graas, Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Laurindo Almeida, Shelly Manne, and June Christy were part of these musical ensembles. The groups managed two tours during 1950–51, from a commercial standpoint it would be Stan Kenton’s first major failure.

In order to be more commercially viable, Kenton reformed the band in 1951 to a much more standard instrumentation: five saxes, five trombones, five trumpets, piano, guitar, bass, drums. The charts of such arrangers as Gerry Mulligan, Johnny Richards, and particularly Bill Holman and Bill Russo began to dominate the repertoire. The music was written to better reflect the style of cutting edge, be-bop oriented big bands like those of Dizzy Gillespie and Woody Herman. Young, talented players and outstanding jazz soloists such as Maynard Ferguson, Lee Konitz, Conte Candoli, Sal Salvador and Frank Rosolino made strong contributions to the level of the 1952–53 band. The music composed and arranged during this time, which you hear from live 1953 radio, was far more tailor-made to contemporary jazz tastes and was one of the high points in Kenton’s career as band leader.

Billy May, sousaphone

BILLY MAY

After playing tuba for a few local bands, May heard Charlie Barnet’s band on the radio in his hometown of Pittsburgh. In the summer of 1938, he approached the bandleader and asked if he could write arrangements for the band. From 1938–40, he wrote arrangements and played trumpet for Barnet’s big band.

His arrangement of the Ray Noble composition “Cherokee” became a major hit of the swing music era. During the Barnet days, May revealed a significant flair for satire on a composition, “The Wrong Idea”, composed with Barnet, ridiculing the bland “Mickey Mouse” style of safe big-band music, with specific aim at bandleader Sammy Kaye, known for his “swing and sway” trademark. May’s caustic lyrics to the song called it “swing and sweat with Charlie Barnet”. Bandleader Glenn Miller hired May away from Barnet in 1940. “May points out that he was not responsible for any of the [Glenn Miller] band’s signature hits, but he did write the beautiful left-field introduction to [Bill] Finegan’s [arrangement of] ‘Serenade In Blue'”.

May’s charts often featured brisk tempos and intricate brass parts. One distinctive feature of his style is his frequent use of trumpet mute devices; another, a saxophone glissando, is widely known as his “slurping saxes”. He wrote in slower tempos, sometimes using string arrangements.

LOOK AT THIS 1930s DRUM KIT

Your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week is from a Larry Clinton 1939 Vitaphone short with vocals by Bea Wain and Ford Leary. Also note the clear shots of the 1930s drum kit where the cymbals are on bent poles attached to the bass drum.

14 APRIL PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #432
107.3 2SER Tuesday 14 April 2020 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program: 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 – 11pm 5GTR Mt Gambier Mon 2:30 – 3:30am 4NAG Keppel FM 3 – 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4pm 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 7LTN Launceston 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am
Set 1	1930s True Crime, Fox and Gypsy
Calling All Cars Theme	Studio Orchestra	‘Calling All Cars’ KNX CBS LA 17 Nov 1938
Unidentified Song	Jaroslav Jezek Orchestra	Comm Rec Prague 1938
Hallelujah!	Svenskahotkvintetten	Comm Rec Stockholm Oct 1939
Set 2	1930s European Pop on 1930s US Radio
The Lambeth Walk	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Martha Tilton	‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS NY 6 Sep 1938
Harbour Lights	Rudy Vallee (voc) Robert Ambruster Orchestra	‘Chase and Sanborn Hour’ WEAF NBC Red NY 3 Oct 1937
My Prayer	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (voc) Joan Edwards	‘Chesterfield Show’ WABC CBS NY 25 Oct 1939
Set 3	Spotlight Bands 1943-45 Blue Network
Open + Blue Skies	Jimmy Joy Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Harlingen Tx Blue Network 6 Jan 1945
Chatanoogo Choo Choo Boogie	Sammy Kaye Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Washington DC Blue Network 31 Jan 1942
Take It Down + What Is This Thing Called Love + Close	Leo Reisman Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ National Press Club Washington DC Blue Network 23 Jan 1943
Set 4	Way-Out Sounds on 1953 Radio
Open + Tweedle-Dee Tweedle-Dum	Sauter – Finnegan Orchestra	‘All Star Parade of Bands’ Blue Note WMAQ NBC Chicago 12 sep 1953
Blue Eyes	Stan Kenton Orchestra (voc) Conte Condoli	‘Concert in Miniature’ Student Union Teachers’ College WBOW NBC Terre Haute Indiana 16 June 1953
Do You Ever Think Of Me?	Billy May Orchestra (voc) The Encores	‘All Star Parade of Bands’ Palladium Ballroon KFI NBC LA 21 Dec 1953
Set 5	Mellow Swing on 1940s Radio
Brahm’s Lullaby	Les Elgart Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York City 1946
Trouble, Trouble	Benny Carter Orchestra (voc) Betty Roche	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
It’s Mellow	Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra	Terrace Room Hotel New Yorker WABC CBS New York May 1944
Way Low	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘A Date With The Duke’ 400 Restaurant WJZ ABC NY 28 Apr 1945
Set 6	Trad Jazz on 1930s-40s Radio
Won’t You Come Over To My House, Baby?	Lazy Ade’s Big 4 (voc) Ade Monsborough	3AW Melbourne 1949
Waiting For The Evening Whistle	Eddie Condon Group	‘Eddie Condon’s Town Hall Jazz Concert’ Town Hall WJZ Blue NY 30 Sep 1944
You’re Driving Me Crazy	Bob Crosby’s Bobcats	‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS NY 18 Jul 1939
Dixieland Band	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest	Palomar Ballroom KFI NBC Red LA 22 Aug 1935
Set 7	1940s Radio Big Band Swing
Open + Jeep Rhythm	Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Jefferson Barracks, Missouri Mutual Network 23 Nov 1945
The New Look	Charlie Spivak Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom KNX CBS LA 4 Apr 1948
Mister Pastor Goes To Town	Tony Pastor Orchestra	Broadcast New York City 1945
One O’Clock Jump	International Sweethearts of Rhythm + Armed Forces Radio Service Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Mar 1945
Set 8	Mod Sounds on WHDH Boston 1953 – 54
Hi Beck	Lee Konitz	Storyville Copley Square Hotel WHDH Boston 5 Jan 1954
Them There Eyes	Billie Holliday	Storyville Copley Square Hotel WHDH Boston Oct 1953
Groovin’ High	Charlie Parker	Storyville Copley Square Hotel WHDH Boston 22 Sep 1953

1940s Trumpet Players – Phantom Dancer 28 March 2020

1940s trumpet player band leaders: Pippo Barzizza, Charlie Spivak and Randy Brooks, are the Phantom Dancer feature artists kicking off this week’s non-stop live radio mix.

The Phantom Dancer produced and presented by 1920s-30s singer and actor Greg Poppleton can be heard online from 12:05pm AEDST Tuesday 31 March at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

Two hour non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV presented by Greg Poppleton on radio 2SER 107.3 Sydney since 1985.

In this week’s mix hear Jo Stafford and a set of women pop singers on 1930s-50s radio, a set of Dizzy Gillespie radio and a set of 1940s radio swing bands lead by trumpet players Barzizza, Spivak and Randy Brooks.

The last hour is all vinyl.

PIPPO BARZIZZA

With his friend and rival Cinico Angelini, Pippo Barzizz became the pre-eminent Italian swing and jazz band leader in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

Beginning with his Blue Star Orchestra, then with Orchestra Cetra in the 1930s (which recorded 7,000 sides), and his Orchestra Moderna in the 1950s (which included a young Ennio Morricone), Barzizza broadcast regularly on EAIR, the national Italian radio, and then its post-war successor, RAI, intil 1954.

He composed songs and film soundtracks. His treatise on musical exercises, “Barzizza’s method” was published in 1952.

Pippo composed songs such as “Domani”, “Sera”, (a beautiful piece “with a harmony almost too high for that period”) and solo orchestra songs as “Do sol la si do” and his extraordinary “Adagio”.

CHARLIE SPIVAK

Spivak’s band was one of the most successful in the 1940s and survived until 1959.

Spivak’s experience playing with jazz musicians had little effect on his own band’s style, which was straight dance music, made up mainly of ballads and popular tunes. Spivak himself (known as “Cheery, Chubby Charlie”) had been noted for his trumpet’s sweet tone and his strength for playing lead parts, rather than for any improvisational ability. He was also known as “The Man Who Plays The Sweetest Trumpet In The World”.

RANDY BROOKS

Brooks began on trumpet at age six, and by eleven was touring with Rudy Vallee. He then worked with Claude Thornhill, Bob Allen, Bernie Cummins, Art Jarrett, and Les Brown before founding his own band in 1944. John Benson Brooks (no relation) contributed arrangements to the ensemble, and Stan Getz played in it in 1946. Among his hits for Decca Records were “Tenderly”, “Harlem Nocturne” and “The Man With The Horn”, but his swing-based style and large ensemble were out of step with the times, and his success eroded toward the end of the decade.
He was married to singer and band leader, Ina Ray Hutton.

Your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week is Pippo Barzizza leading and conducting the RAI TV Orchestra on his compositions “Il Boscaiolo” and “Sera” on the 60th Anniversary RAI TV broadcast of 1986.
Enjoy!

Make sure you come back to this blog, Greg Poppleton’s Radio Lounge, every Tuesday, for the newest Phantom Dancer play list and Video of the Week!

31 MARCH PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #430
107.3 2SER Tuesday 31 March 2020 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program: 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 – 11pm 5GTR Mt Gambier Mon 2:30 – 3:30am 4NAG Keppel FM 3 – 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4pm 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 7LTN Launceston 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am
Set 1	Swing Bands of Trumpet Playing Leaders on 1940s Radio
Non Hai Piu La Veste A Fiori Blu	Alberto Rabagliati e Quartetto Vocale Hot (voc) Pippo Barzizza Orchestra	Comm Rec Cetra, Rome 1946
Open + Stomping Room Only	Charlie Spivak Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Steel Pier Atlantic City NJ AFRS Re-broadcast 1947
Perdido + Theme	Randy Brooks Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Roseland Ballroom New York City AFRS Re-broadcast 14 Jul 1945
Set 2	Mickey Mouse Bands On 1950s – 60s Radio
Open + Tea For Two	Leon Kellner Orchestra	Blue Room Roosevelt Hotel WWL CBS New Orleans 1964
Mississippi Mud	Dick Jurgens Orchestra (voc) Al Galante and Band	Aragon Ballroom Aragon Ballroom WBBM CBS Chicago Dec 1950
Little Girl + Goodnight My Love + Drifting and Dreaming (Close)	Orrin Tucker Orchestra (voc) OT	Boulevarde Room Stevens Hotel ABC Chicago 1951
Set 3	Women Pop Singers on 1930s-50s Radio
More Than You Know	Jo Stafford (voc) Victor Young Orchestra	’Your Melody Hour’ KFI NBC Los Angeles 5 Aug 1951
If This Is Love, I Don’t Want Love	Kay Thompson	’Dodge Show’ Radio Transcription New York City 1935
Brahm’s Lullaby + Close	Ginny Simms + Chorus (voc) Cookie Fairchild Orchestra	’Personal Album’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
Set 4	Crooners on 1940s Radio
Open + Careless Hands	Frank Sinatra and The Hit Paraders (voc) Alex Stordahl Orchestra	’Your Hit Parade’ KFI NBC LA 30 Apr 1949
Open + Let’s Have Another Cup Of Coffee + Rise and Shine	Gordon MacRae	’The Railroad Hour’ KFI NBC Los Angeles 7 Aug 1950
Lucky Ol’ Sun	Dick Haymes and The Andrew Sisters (voc) Jerry Gary Orchestra	’Club 15’ KNX CBS Los Angeles 23 Sep 1949
Set 5	Dizzy Gillespie on 1940s-50s Radio
Lady Byrd	Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra	Aircheck Apollo Ballroom Harlem NY 22 Jan 1947
Manteca	Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra	Winter Palace Stockholm Radio Sweden 2 Feb 1948
Doodlin’	Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra	Birdland WCBS CBS NY Jul 1956
Jam Session	Dizzy Gillespie with Orchestra	Rex Theatre RTF Paris Feb 1953
Set 6	Piano Playing Band Leaders on the Air
If You Can’t Smile and Say Yes	Nat King Cole Trio	Trocadero KHJ Mutual LA 26 Apr 1945
Body and Soul	Teddy Wilson Orchestra	’America Dances’ BBC London via WABC CBS NY 1939
Every Tub	Count Basie Orchestra	’Stars in Jazz’ Birdland WNBC NBC NY 14 Jan 1953
Flying Home	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Blue Note WMAQ NBC Chicago 13 Aug 1952
Set 7	1930s Radio Jazz and Dance Bands
Black and Blue Rhythm	Jack Hylton Orchestra	Comm Rec London 26 Sep 1933
Crazy Rhythm	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Helen Ward	’Let’s Dance’ WEAF NBC Red New York City 8 Dec 1934
Dardenella	Bunny Berrigan Orchestra	’Saturday Night Swing Club’ WABC CBS NY 31 Oct 1936
Haunting Me	Henry Busse Orchestra	Radio Transcription Hollywood 1935
Set 8	Trad Bands on Radio
Beale Street Blues	Jimmy Dorsey Dorseyland Band	Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1950
Heebie Jeebies	Eddie Condon Group	’Eddie Condon Town Hall Jazz Concert’ WJZ Blue NY 9 Sep 1944
I’m Confessin’	Hot Lips Page	’Doctor Jazz’ Stuyvesant Casino WMGM New York City 1950
That’s A Plenty	Muggsy Spanier	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 18 Apr 1953