Richard Himber Unusual Arrangements 1936-38 Radio – Phantom Dancer 18 February 2020

This week’s 18 February Phantom Dancer mix of swing of jazz feature artist from live 1920s-60s radio, on radio and online, is composer, band leader, violinist, and magician, Richard Himber.

Richard Himber was a gimmicks man. He had the first vanity phone number back in 1932, R-HIMBER, and he came up with the idea of bands playing on the back of flatbed trucks for promotions. Hear him on 1936-38 radio on this week’s Phantom Dancer with Greg Poppleton.

The Phantom Dancer with actor and 1920s-30s singer Greg Poppleton can be heard online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

The last hour is all vinyl.

 

From his Wiki entry…

Richard Himber Orchestra

TUCKER

He was born as Herbert Richard Imber in Newark, New Jersey to the owner of a chain of meat stores. His parents gave him violin lessons but when they found him performing in a seedy Newark dive, they took the instrument away from him and sent him to military school. In 1915, he stole away into New York City, where Sophie Tucker heard him play and hired him as a novelty act to play with her and the Five Kings of Syncopation where Himber was the highlight of the cabaret act.

He worked his way through Vaudeville and down Tin Pan Alley. He managed Rudy Vallee’s orchestra service, which sent out bands for private parties and society functions. A suave salesman and irrepressible idea man, he soon had his own band booking agency. In 1932, he acquired the first known “vanity” telephone number, R-HIMBER, answered 24 hours a day. Later that year, Himber finally formed an orchestra of his own, parlaying a gig at New York’s Essex House Hotel into national NBC radio exposure. Among the top-notch professionals in its ranks were Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw and many other future stars of the music world.

CAREER

In 1933 Richard Himber made his first records, for Vocalion under the name “Dick Himber,” which intimates always called him. Among the selections was his own theme song, “It Isn’t Fair,” a song he wrote which became a hit. In 1934 after a single session for Victor’s budget label Bluebird, he began recording for the full-priced Victor label until 1939. He led one of the most sophisticated “sweet” dance bands of the era, featuring Joey Nash as his vocalist (1933–1935), who was replaced by Stuart Allen (1935–1939). We hear Stuart Allen on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

Himber was also a skilled magician, and invented many magic tricks including “The Himber Wallet,” “The Himber Ring,” and the “Himber Milk Pitcher.” In later years, his band act often included an interlude of magic and he conjured on many television shows as well.

An amazing Richard Himber magic trick – with comedy patter!

Himber was the publisher of the R-H Log, a weekly survey of the most popular tunes on radio and television. To the annoyance of most music publishers, he refused to accept payola. He once ordered his secretary to phone every major publisher and tell them he had a stroke, to which many of them joyfully replied, “It’s about time.”

Other popular tunes that Himber composed were “Moments in the Moonlight,” “After the Rain,” “Monday in Manhattan,” “Haunting Memories,” “Time Will Tell,” “Am I Asking Too Much,” and “I’m Getting Nowhere Fast with You.” In 1957 he wrote a TV theme for NBC’s Tonight! America After Dark when Jack Lescoulie was the interim host—before Jack Paar took over.

In the late 1930s Himber’s band was featured in short-subject films produced in New York by Paramount Pictures and Himber was also the maestro for New York’s annual Harvest Moon Ball.

FLATBED TRUCK

Among Himber’s novel promotions was a traveling bandstand on a flatbed truck, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. The orchestra used it for free outdoor concerts in the New York City area in the 1960s. It was during one of these concerts in 1966 that Himber suffered a heart attack, dying several hours later.

VIDEO

Here is The Phantom Dancer Video of the Week, the Richard Himber 1937 soundie, ‘Richard Himber Plays For You’.

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!

18 FEBRUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #424
107.3 2SER Tuesday 18 February 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 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am
Set 1	1938 – 40 Glenn Miller
Moonlight Serenade (theme) + I Never Knew	Glenn Miller Orchestra	Paradise Restaurant WEAF NBC Red NY 30 Dec 1938
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen	Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Andrew Sisters	‘Chesterfield Show’ WABC CBS NY 27 Dec 1939
My My + Close	Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Marion Hutton	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WJZ NBC Blue NYC 15 Apr 1940
Set 2	Modern Radio
Prez’s Mood	Lester Young	1958 recording
I Got It Bad	Woody Herman Orchestra (voc) Mary Ann McCall	‘Excursions in Modern Music’ Rendezvous Ballroom KHJ Mutual LA 30 Jul 1949
My Lady + Bill’s Blues	Stan Kenton Orchestra (alto sax Lee Konitz)	‘Concert Encores’ Palladium Balroom KFI NBC LA 15 Jan 1953
Set 3	Benny Goodman and Fletcher Henderson
Some of These Days	Benny Goodman Quartet	‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS NY 13 Sep 1938
Pic-a-Rib	Benny Goodman Orchestra	‘Camel Caravan’ WEAF NBC Red NY 14 Oct 1939
Blue Skies	Benny Goodman Orchestra and Fletcher Henderson	‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS NY 13 Sep 1938
Set 4	Richard Himber
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen	Lucky Strike Orchestra directed by Richard Himber (voc) Buddy Clark	‘Your Hit Parade’ WEAF NBC Red NY 15 Jan 1938
Yesterdays	Richard Himber and his Studebaker Champions	‘Magic Key’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 27 Dec 1936
Through the Courtesy of Love + It’s DeLovely	Richard Himber and his Studebaker Champions (voc) Stuart Allen	‘Magic Key’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 27 Dec 1936
Set 5	Women Big Band Singers  1937 – 40
I’m Getting Sentimental Over You (theme) + I’ll Those In Favour of Swing Say Aye	Edythe Wright (voc) Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WABC CBS NY 14 Sep 1939
It’s a Blue World	Ella Fitzgerald Orchestra (voc) EF	Savoy Ballroom Harlem WEAF NBC Red NY 4 Mar 1940
Darn That Dream	Helen Humes (voc) Count Basie Orchestra	Southland Cafe WNAC NBC Red Boston 20 Feb 1940
One, Two Button Your Shoes	Ivie Anderson (voc) Duke Ellington Orchestra	Cotton Club WABC CBS NY 18 Mar 1937
Set 6	1940s Swing Bands on Radio
Combination Solid	Charlie Spivak Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1941
Nightmares (theme) + Bedford Drive	Artie Shaw Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Santa Ana Ca. Mutual Network 3 Oct 1945
Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby?	Bob Strong Orchestra (voc) Betty Martin and Randy Ryan	Glen Island Casino New Rochelle NY WOR Mutual NY 5 Aug 1944
Minding My Business	Buddy Rich Orchestra (voc) Dottie Reid	‘Spotlight Bands’ Phoenixville PA 24 Dec 1945
Set 7	Cab Calloway Commercial Sides
A Minor Breakdown	Cab Calloway Orchestra	Comm Rec 10 Dec 1937
Vuelva	Cab Calloway Orchestra	Comm Rec 17 Dec 1939
I Like Music	Cab Calloway Orchestra	Comm Rec 26 Jan 1938
Do I Care? No. No.	Cab Calloway Orchestra	Comm Rec 18 Mar 1940
Set 8	Harry James on 1954 Radio
Caxton Hall Swing	Harry James Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York City 23 Jan 1954
Cherry	Harry James Orchestra	NBC Superior WI 29 May 1954
Woodchopper’s Ball	Harry James Orchestra	‘All Star Parade of Bands’ WOW NBC Omaha 1954
Roll ‘Em + Cirribirribin (theme)	Harry James Orchestra	Aragon Ballroom WBBM CBS Chicago 20 Jun 1954

First Nighters Feature – Latest From 3MGB Radio Mallacoota – Phantom Dancer 7 Jan 2020

First nighters for the first Phantom Dancer of 2020 – your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted by me, Greg Poppleton.

Hear excepts from the 1939 radio premier of Morton Gould’s ‘American Symphonette #2’, the first all African-American Variety show on NBC in 1948, and Duke Ellington introducing his Shakesphere suite over CBS from the 1957 Ravinia Festival

3MGB Radio Mallacoota plays The Phantom Dancer every week. Mallacoota has faced some of the worst of the 2019 – 2020 bushfires where the sky turned red and the Navy is now in the process of evacuating people from the town.

Map showing warning areas near bushfires in Victoria, Australia. The areas with a black line and grey fill are designated for evacuation. The red lines indicate “emergency warning”. The arrow points toward Mallacoota, Victoria. The width of the largest emergency warning area is approximately 204km (110 miles), east to west. Map by Vic Emergency, Dec. 31, 2019

The ABC (the Australian national broadcaster) has just posted news from 3MGB volunteer, Francesca Winterson, 2 Jan…

“Francesca Winterson is a volunteer at Mallacoota’s community radio station 3MGB, and plenty of you were concerned about her safety earlier in the week. We’ve been able to have a long chat with her this morning.

She said misinformation had been spreading on Facebook.

“I think people are starting to get incredibly anxious because they have been isolated for so long but they have to accept that right at the moment there’s absolutely nothing we can do,” she told ABC Gippsland.

“Some people have been able to get back into their homes. I was one person fortunate enough that at the moment my house is standing.”
Ms Winterson said water supplies had been restored but power was still out and the only road out of town was still closed.

Paramedics had been brought in by police helicopter and only people with acute medical emergencies were being airlifted out, she said, as the town waits for a navy ship docked nearby to start evacuating people.

But amid the chaos people were doing what they could to help.

“There’s a lot of smiles, a lot of waves,” she said.

“Yes there are some people who are incredibly anxious but basically the community is pulling together and that’s what we’ve got to do. We all have to pull together, reach out to other people, offer them accommodation, offer them a shower.

“We’re a strong little town and most of the people that come here have been coming here for a long time and they love Mallacoota so they’ll help us.”

Source – ABC Blog

You can hear The Phantom Dancer online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

FIRST NIGHTERS

Every week The Phantom Dancer brings you a feature artist. This week, it’s feature programs. Excerpts from three historic first nighters with some explaination about why they are so important below…

AMERICAN SYMPHONETTE No.3 RADIO PREMIER – WOR MBS New York City / CBC CANADA, 1939

Joseph Stevenson writes,
“This 1939 composition is one of the most convincing classical attempts to create a jazz spirit. It succeeds in doing so without the presence of any jazz players or use of improvisation. Nevertheless, jazz devices of coloration are used, such as wire brushes on drums, glissandi and lip slurs, and chord voicings that are common to jazz arrangements of the time. In addition, the themes (and their scales and harmonies) are jazz- and blues-derived. So successful was Gould in devising “jazz” themes for this symphonette that the second movement, “Pavane” has been widely quoted in actual jazz performances by such masters as John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and Glenn Miller. The outer two movements of this three-movement piece are marked “Moderately fast” and “Very fast–Racy,” respectively. Incidentally, you have heard and are quite familiar with the theme of the Pavane, whether you know it or not. Outstanding listening. Gould is notable for creating excellent music, perfectly crafted, seemingly almost commercial in intent and yet, when really listened to, revealing unusual breadth. I always conclude listening to this piece believing that it is a true masterpiece without even trying to be. Wonderfully ingratiating music.”

‘SWINGTIME AT THE SAVOY’ WNBC NBC NY, 28 Jul 1948

New York Times headline: “The News of Radio; All-Negro Variety Show, ‘Swingtime at the Savoy,’ Will Bow Tonight on NBC”

“An all-Negro variety show, entitled “Swingtime at the Savoy,” will have its premiere at 8 o’clock tonight on NBC. The regular cast will include Lucky Millinder and his orchestra, Miller and Lee, comedians; Jackie (Moms) Pabley, comedienne, and the King Odem Quartet.” New York Times, 28 July 1948

RAVINIA FESTIVAL – DUKE ELLINGTON SHAKESPHERE SUITE PREMIER, CBS 1 JUL 1957

The Ravinia Festival is the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States, with a series of outdoor concerts and performances held every summer from June to September. In Ravinia Park’s first summer of 1905, it hosted the New York Philharmonic, and the prairie style Martin Theater dates from this time period. It has been the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) since 1936. Located in Highland Park, Illinois, the festival operates on the grounds of the 15 ha Ravinia Park, with a variety of outdoor and indoor performing arts facilities – Wiki

“In 1957, Duke Ellington premiered the latest in what would become a series of suites based on various subjects and inspirations. This one, inspired by the plays of William Shakespeare, had its U.S. premier at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago and was broadcast (much, but not all of it) via CBS Radio on July 1st, with the performance already underway. An album of the suite was planned and recorded, slated for release in November of 1957, but apparently the stereo version was scrapped and only the mono version was available until 1999. The world premier of the piece was given at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, where Ellington and his band were scheduled to play for two nights. It was there that Ellington got the idea to do a suite based on Shakespearean themes, and along with his co-writer Billy Strayhorn, worked on the suite to be premiered the following year at the festival. So the actual world premier of most of Such Sweet Thunder took place at Stratford around June 30 1957, but it wasn’t complete and no recording of it exists.” Gordon Skene.

Now, tirelessly searching YouTube for a swingy, jazzy, instructive, or ‘weird and wonderful’ Video of the Week, I’ve found this for your ocular delectation, a whole set of soundies by the 1940s all-women swing orchestra, International Sweethearts of Rhythm, recently featured on your Phantom Dancer with Greg Poppleton. 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!

Thank you.

7 JANUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #418
107.3 2SER Tuesday 7 January 2020 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) National Program: ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 – 11pm Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	Swing on 1930s Radio
Open + Panamania	Leith Stevens Orchestra	‘Saturday Night Swing Club’ WABC CBS NY 12 Jun 1937
Naila (Delibes)	Arnold Johnson Orchestra	Comm Rec (unissued) Variety Records New York City 26 May 1937
RCA Radio Ad + Wolverine Blues + Study In Brown (theme)	Larry Clinton Orchestra	‘RCA Campus Club’ Glen Island Casino New Rochelle WEAF NBC Red NY 2 Jul 1938
Set 2	Latin Sounds on 1946-53 Radio
Open + Chiu Chiu	Desi Arnez Orchestra	Ciro’s KNX CBS LA 1946
Bolero	Sergio Torres Orchestra (voc) unannounced woman singer	‘Chiclets Program’ XEW Mexico City 1949
Chi sas? Chi sas?	Xavier Cugat Orchestra	‘All-Star Parade of Bands’ Hotel Last Frontier NBC Las Vegas 30 Nov 1953
Set 3	1943-44 Swing Radio
Joshua	Richard Himber Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Aniston, Alabama Blue Network 13 Nov 1943
I’ve Got You Under My Skin	Leo Reisman Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ National Press Club Washington DC Blue Network 23 Jan 1943
I Got Rhythm + Close	Lenny Conn Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Los Angeles AFRS Re-broadcast 1949
Set 4	Special Music Programs
First Movement	Morton Gould Orchestra	‘American Symphonette No. 3’ WOR MBS/CBC New York City 1939
Open + I’ve Got Rhythm + Money Money (calypso)	Lucky Millinder Orchestra with Noble Sissle and the Hall Sisters	‘Swingtime At The Savoy’ WNBC NBC NY 28 Jul 1948
Circle of Fourths + Jam With Sam	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘Ravinia Festival’ WBBM CBS Chicago 1 Jul 1957
Set 5	1939 Radio Singers
We Three	Johnny Messner Orchestra (voc) Johnny Messner	Radio Transcription New York City 1939
Stairway To The Stars	Teddy Wilson Orchestra (voc) Thelma Carpenter	‘America Dances’ CBS NY / BBC London 1939
From The Bottom Of My Heart	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Frank Sinatra	‘America Dances’ CBS NY / BBC London 19 Jul 1939
Chew, Chew Your Bubblegum	Chick Webb Orchestra (voc) Ella Fitzgerald	Southland Cafe WNAC NBC Boton 4 May 1939
Set 6	Traditional Jazz on 1939 – 1951 Radio
Way Down Yonder In New Orleans (theme) + Maple Leaf Rag	Wild Bill Davison	‘This Is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NY 19 Apr 1947
You’re Driving Me Crazy	Bob Crosby Bobcats	‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS NY 18 Jul 1939
Snag It	Henry ‘Red’ Allen Dixielanders	‘Doctor Jazz’ Stuyvesant Casino WMGM NY 1950
There’ll Be Some Changes Made + I Would Do Anything For You	Eddie Condon Group (voc) Red McKenzie	‘Eddie Condon Town Hall Jazz Concert’ Town Hall WJZ Blue NY 16 Sep 1944
Set 7	Benny Goodman On The Air
The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise	Benny Goodman Quintet	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Re-broadcast Jan 1948
Clarinade	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Meadowbrook Gardens Culver City Ca KECA ABC LA 26 Jan 1946
Sweet Georgia Brown	Benny Goodman Quintet	‘Spotlight Bands’ Springfield Mass. Blue Network 29 Sep 1943
Jack Benny-Gary Cooper Skit + One O’Clock Jump	Benny Goodman Orchestra	‘Jack Benny Show’ WEAF NBC NY 13 Dec 1942
Set 8	Modern Sounds on 1940s-50s Radio
All of Me + VIP’s Boogie	Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Bette Roche	Town Casino NBC Cleveland 1952
Hot House	Barry Ulanov’s All Star Modern Jazz Musicians	‘Bands For Bonds’ WOR MBS NY 13 Sep 1947
Painted Rhythm	Stan Kenton Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom KNX CBS LA 27 Nov 1945
Fine and Dandy	Slim Gaillard Quintet	‘Symphony Sid Show’ WJZ ABC NY 2 Jun 1951

Kay Starr First Nations Jazz Singer – Phantom Dancer 19 Nov 2019

INDIGENOUS

This week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist with Greg Poppleton, is indigenous US jazz singer, Kay Starr. She began singing on radio as a child and we hear her this week aged 22 singing with Benny Goodman and Charlie Barnet’s orchestras.

ONLINE

This week’s Phantom Dancer will be online after the 19 November 107.3 2SER Sydney live mix at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney.

KAY

Katherine Laverne Starks, known professionally as Kay Starr, was a name jazz, pop, and country singer in the 1940s-50s. (She was the original singer of the Roy Acuff song, ‘Bonaparte’s Retreat. Her roots were in jazz and Billie Holiday called her ‘the only white woman who could sing the blues.’

CHICKENS

Her aunt Nora was impressed by her 7-year-old niece’s singing and arranged for her to sing on a Dallas radio station, WRR, vocal competition. Starr finishing 3rd one week in a talent contest and placed first every week thereafter. She was given a 15-minute radio show. She sang pop and country songs with a piano accompaniment. By age 10 she was making $3 a night, which was quite a salary during the Great Depression.

WESTERN

When Starr’s father changed jobs, the family moved to Memphis, where she continued performing on the radio. She sang Western swing music, still mostly a mix of country and pop. While working for Memphis radio station WMPS, misspellings in her fan mail inspired her and her parents to change her name to Kay Starr.

VENUTI

At 15, she was chosen to sing with the Joe Venuti orchestra. Venuti had a contract to play in the Peabody Hotel in Memphis which called for his band to feature a girl singer, a performer he did not have at the time. Venuti’s road manager heard Starr on the radio and recommended her although she was young and her parents insisted on a midnight curfew.

BIG BANDS

At 17, in 1939, she worked with Bob Crosby and Glenn Miller, who hired her to replace the ill Marion Hutton. With Miller she recorded ‘Baby Me’ and ‘Love with a Capital You’. They were not a great success, in part because the band played in a key that, while appropriate for Hutton, did not suit Kay’s vocal range.

After finishing high school, she moved to Los Angeles and signed with Wingy Manone’s band. From 1943 to 1945 she sang with Charlie Barnet’s ensemble, which we’ll hear on this week’s show, retiring for a year after contracting pneumonia and later developing nodes on her vocal cords as a result of fatigue and overwork.

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week is the 1952 hit song ‘Wheel of Fortune’ sung on the Your Hit Parade TV show.

19 NOVEMBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #414
107.3 2SER Tuesday 19 November 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) National Program: ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 – 11pm Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	Stan Kenton Transcriptions
Artistry in Rhythm + Memphis Lament	Stan Kenton Orchestra (voc) Red Dorris	Radio Transcription Hollywood Oct 1941
Underneath the Stars	Stan Kenton Orchestra	Radio Transcription Hollywood Nov 1941
I Haven’t Got the Heart + Artistry in Rhythm (theme)	Stan Kenton Orchestra	Radio Transcription Hollywood Oct 1941
Set 2	Women Singers on 1940s-50s Radio
I Enjoy Being a Girl	Vincent Lopez Orchestra (voc) Barbara Barry	‘One Night Stand’ Grill Room Hotel Taft NYC AFRTS Re-broadcast 1959
Open + The Trolley Song	Johnny Long Orchestra (voc) Jill Corey	‘Let’s Go With Music’ Radio Transcription Hollywood 1955
Cirribirribin (theme) + In Times Like These	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Kitty Kallen	Hotel Astor Roof WOR Mutual NY 6 Jun 1944
Set 3	Dixieland Radio
Bugle Call Rag	Red Nichols	Radio Transcription 1953
Kansas City Man	Sidney Bechet and Bob Wilbur	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NY 19 Apr 1947
Silver Threads Among the Gold + Close	Henry Levine Octet	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue 6 Jan 1941
Set 4	Kay Starr
Share Croppin’ Blues	Kay Starr (voc) Charlie Barnet Orchestra	V-Disc 13 Jul 1944
Honeysuckle Rose	Kay Starr (voc) Benny Goodman Quintet	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 1948
I Can’t Get Started	Kay Starr (voc) Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘For The Record’ WEAF NBC NY 11 Sep 1944
Them There Eyes	Kay Starr (voc) Benny Goodman Quintet	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 1948
Set 5	One Night Stand
Embraceable You	Bob Crosby Orchestra (voc) Jewel Hopkins	‘One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 21 Feb 1946
Come And Be My Honey	Sammy Kaye Orchestra (voc) Nancye Norman and Band	‘One Night Stand’ Hotel Astor Roof NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 14 Aug 1944
Unannounced + Take the A Train (close)	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Club Zanzibar NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 7 Oct 1945
Set 6	Radio Transcriptions
Quaker City Jazz + And The Angels Sing	Jan Savitt Top Hatters (voc) Bon Bon	Radio Transcription 1939
Slow and Easy	Charlie Spivak Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1939
Masquerade Is Over	Jan Savitt Top Hatters (voc) Bon Bon	Radio Transcription 1939/div>
Charlie Horse	Charlie Spivak Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1939
Set 7	Swing Bands on 1940s Radio
Paradiddle Joe	Tony Pastor Orchestra	Aircheck 1944
Saturday Night	Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) Patti Thomas	‘Spotlight Bands’ AFRS Re-broadcast 11 Feb 1945
Let’s Blow	Buddy Rich Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom KNX CBS LA 27 Mar 1946
Sentimental Over You (theme) + You’re Driving Me Crazy	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) The Sentimentalists	‘Spotlight Bands’ AFRS Re-broadcast 29 Jan 1945
Set 8	1940s-50s Moderne
Shoo Be Doo Be		Rex Theatre RFI Paris Feb 1953
B’s Flat	Shelly Manne Quintet	Basin Street WCBS CBS NY Mar 1956
Confess		‘One Night Stand’ The Click Philadelphia AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Jun 1948
Little Girl Blue	Stan Getz Quartet	Basin Street WCBS CBS NY Mar 1956

Child Prodigy Jazz Pianist – Phantom Dancer 24 September 2019

A child prodigy on this week’s Phantom Dancer radio show with Greg Poppleton – Frank ‘Sugar Chile Robinson’. He played a White House dinner in 1946 aged 7, then played again at the White House in 2016 to a standing ovation aged 77.

The Phantom Dancer is your 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. Hear the show online from 12:04pm Tuesday 24 September at 2ser.com

The last hour is all vinyl.

SUGAR CHILE

Fom Wiki,
Frank Isaac Robinson (born December 28, 1938), known in his early musical career as Sugar Chile Robinson, is an American jazz pianist and singer who became famous as a child prodigy.

PIANO

Robinson was born in Detroit, Michigan. At an early age he showed unusual gifts singing the blues and accompanying himself on the piano. According to contemporary newsreels, he was self-taught and managed to use techniques including slapping the keys with elbows and fists.

AGE 3

He won a talent show at the Paradise Theatre in Detroit at the age of three, and in 1945 played guest spots at the theatre with Lionel Hampton, who was prevented by child protection legislation from taking Robinson on tour with him. However, Robinson performed on radio with Hampton and Harry ‘The Hipster’ Gibson and also appeared as himself in the Hollywood film No Leave, No Love, starring Van Johnson and Keenan Wynn.

CATCH PHRASE

In 1946, he played for President Harry S. Truman at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, shouting out “How’m I Doin’, Mr. President?” – which became his catchphrase – during his performance of “Caldonia”. He was the first African American performer to appear at the annual WHCA dinner. He began touring major theaters, setting box office records in Detroit and California. In 1949 he was given special permission to join the American Federation of Musicians and record his first releases on Capitol Records, “Numbers Boogie” and “Caldonia”, both reaching the Billboard R&B chart. In 1950, he toured and appeared on television with Count Basie and in a short film ‘Sugar Chile’ Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet. The following year, he toured the UK, appearing at the London Palladium. He stopped recording in 1952, later explaining,

“I wanted to go to school… I wanted some school background in me and I asked my Dad if I could stop, and I went to school because I honestly wanted my college diploma.”

UNI AND TV

Until 1956 he continued to make occasional appearances as a jazz musician, billed as Frank Robinson, and performed on one occasion with Gerry Mulligan, but then gave up his musical career entirely. Continuing his academic studies, he earned a degree in history from Olivet College and one in psychology from the Detroit Institute of Technology. In the 1960s, he worked for WGPR-TV, and also helped set up small record labels in Detroit and opened a recording studio.

LATELY

In the 21st Century he has made a comeback as a musician with the help of the American Music Research Foundation. In 2002, he appeared at a special concert celebrating Detroit music, and in 2007 he traveled to Britain to appear at a rock and roll weekend festival. In the last Dr Boogie show of 2013, Sugar Chile Robinson was the featured artist, with four of his classic hits showcasing amid biographical sketches of his early career. On April 30, 2016, he attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on the 70th anniversary of his appearance at the 1946 dinner. He met President Obama and was saluted during the dinner, receiving a standing ovation as the picture of him as a child appeared on the video screens. In 2016 he was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.

Your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week is Sugar Chile Robinson! 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!

Thank you.

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #406
107.3 2SER Tuesday 24 September 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT)
Set 1	That Ace Drummer Man Gene Krupa on 1945-46 Radio
Whispering	Gene Krupa Orchestra	’Spotlight Bands’ MBS 1946
Bugle Call Rag	Gene Krupa Orchestra	Pacific Square San Diego MBS 2 Mar 1945
Yes, Yes, Honey	Gene Krupa Orchestra (voc) Carolyn Gray	’One Night Stand’ The Click, Phildelphia AFRS Re-broadcast 8 Jan 1945
Set 2	Rock’n’Roll Live on 1950s Radio
Theme + I Was Born To Rock	Smilin’ Smokey Lynn	’Midnite Matinee’ Olympic Auditorium KFVD Los Angeles 28 Sep 1951
Tender Trap	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Joe Williams	’Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 12 May 1956
Baby Please Don’t Go		’Sepia Swing Club’ WDIA Memphis 14 Dec 1951
Set 3	Progressive Jazz on 1948-62 Radio and TV
Theme + Move	Miles Davis Nonet	’Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA New York 4 Sep 1948
Strike Up the Band	Pete Brown	’All-Star Parade of Bands’ Birdland WRCA NBC NY 2 Sep 1952
Oleo + Theme	Phineas Newborn Jr	’Jazz Scene USA’ TV Series Los Angeles 15 Oct 1962
Set 4	Woody Herman on Live 1944-45 Radio
Flying Home	Woody Herman Orchestra	’Old Gold Show’ Rehearsal WABC CBS NY 2 Aug 1944
Goosey Gander	Woody Herman Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WABC CBS NY 21 Jul 1945
Apple Honey + Blue Flame (theme)	Woody Herman Orchestra	’One Night Stand’ Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 6 Aug 1945
Set 5	Raymond Scott Orchestra 1940
Pretty Little Petticoat (theme) + Huckleberry Duck	Raymond Scott Orchestra	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Chicago 1940
Creepy Weepy	Raymond Scott Orchestra	’Music Depreciation’ KHJ Mutual-Don Lees LA 1940
Blueberry Hill	Raymond Scott Orchestra (voc) Nan Wynn	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Chicago 1940
Caterpillar Creep	Raymond Scott Orchestra	’Music Depreciation’ KHJ Mutual-Don Lees LA 1940
Set 6	1930s Swing Bands on Radio
I Let a Song Go Out of my Heart	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1938
The Chant	Artie Shaw Orchestra	Aircheck 28 May 1939
Satan Takes a Holiday	Benny Goodman Orchestra	’Camel Caravan’ KNX CBS LA 17 Aug 1937
Bugle Blues	Count Basie Orchestra	Savoy Ballroom Harlem NYC 30 June 1937
Set 7	Tommy Dorsey on 1945 Radip
I’m Getting Sentimental Over You (theme) + Instrumental	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ 400 Restaurant AFRS Re-broadcast 30 Sep 1945
I’m Beginning To See The Light	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) Sentimentalists	Aircheck Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ 3 Feb 1945
Song of India	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	Aircheck Ocean Park Ca 19 Aug 1945
The Minor Goes Muggin’	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	Aircheck Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ 3 Feb 1945
Set 8	Pianists on 1940s-50s Radio
Caldonia Boogie	Sugar Chile Robinson with Lionel Hampton Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 1946
Theme + I’m In a Dancing Mood	Dave Brubeck	Basin Street WCBS CBS New York City Mar 1957
When Your Lover Has Gone	Erroll Garner	‘Storyville’ WHDH Boston Dec 1953

Paper Magnetic Tape for Tape Recorders – Phantom Dancer 30 July 2019

STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE

This week’s Greg Poppleton Phantom Dancer feature has been sent to The Phantom Dancer by Matt who lives in the USA. It’s a WBBM CBS Chicago aircheck of the Woody Herman Orchestra broadcasting from the Palladium Ballroom in Hollywood. Matt has transferred it from the original brittle paper reel-to-reel tape.

The aircheck includes a bop inspired swinger I’ve never heard before called ‘Non-Alcoholic’.

I had thought audio tape had always been ‘plastic’. So this paper tape Matt sent is a revelation to me. I found some information about paper audio tape on Wiki which I’ve edited into a few tantalising paragraphs below…

Thank you, Matt!

ONLINE

This week’s Phantom Dancer will be online right after the 30 July 107.3 2SER Sydney live mix at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney

PAPER RECORDING TAPE

Wax

The earliest known audio tape recorder was a non-magnetic, non-electric version invented by Alexander Graham Bell’s Volta Laboratory and patented in 1886. It employed a 3⁄16-inch-wide (4.8 mm) strip of wax-covered paper that was coated by dipping it in a solution of beeswax and paraffin and then had one side scraped clean, with the other side allowed to harden. It never went into commercial production largely due to the poor sound quality of the tape.

Photoelectric

In 1932, after six years of developmental work, Detroit radio engineer, Merle Dunstan, created a tape recorder that used chemically treated paper tape. During the recording process, the tape moved through a pair of electrodes which immediately imprinted the modulated sound signals as visible black stripes into the paper tape’s surface. The sound track could be immediately replayed from the same recorder unit, which also contained photoelectric sensors, somewhat similar to the various sound-on-film technologies of the era.

Iron Oxide

Magnetic tape recording as we know it today was developed in Germany during the 1930s at BASF and AEG in cooperation with the state radio RRG. This was based on Fritz Pfleumer’s 1928 invention of paper tape with oxide powder lacquered to it. The first practical tape recorder from AEG was the Magnetophon K1, demonstrated in Germany in 1935. Eduard Schüller of AEG built the recorders and developed a ring-shaped recording and playback head. It replaced the needle-shaped head which tended to shred the tape. Friedrich Matthias of IG Farben/BASF developed the recording tape, including the oxide, the binder, and the backing material. Walter Weber, working for Hans Joachim von Braunmühl at the RRG, discovered the AC biasing technique, which radically improved sound quality.

German WW2 Tape Recorder

End of Paper Tape

In 1938, S.J. Begun left Germany and joined the Brush Development Company in the United States, where work on magnetic tape recorders continued. This work attracted little attention until the late 1940s when the company released the very first consumer tape recorder in 1946: the Soundmirror BK 401.

Tapes were initially made of paper coated with magnetite powder. In 1947/48 Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company (3M) replaced the paper backing with plastic or polyester and coated it first with black oxide, and later, to improve overall sound quality, red iron oxide.

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week is from the late 1940s, an unidentified woman reading to paper tape. Enjoy her story!

30 JULY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #397
107.3 2SER Tuesday 30 July 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) National Program: Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	One Night Stand Bands on 1945 Radio
Take The A-Train (theme) + Midriff	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Cafe Zanzibar NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 7 Oct 1945
Music for Moderns (theme) + Lullaby of Broadway	Jan Savitt Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast 20 Sep 1945
Candy Kid’s Note to a Classy Chassie + Twilight Time (close)	Vaughan Monroe Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast 8 Feb 1945
Set 2	Swinging 60s Radio
Walkin’	Harry James Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Palladium ballroom Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast 22 Nov 1959
Alright OK You Win	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Joe Williams	‘All-Star Parade of Bands’ Zardi’s KFI NBC LA 14 May 1956
Black Magic + Close	Buddy DeFranco Group	‘The Navy Swings’ Radio Transcription 1959
Set 3	1935-41 Paris Radio
Radio Cite ID + Open + C’est Gentil	Ray Ventura et ses Collegiens	Poste Parisien 1935
Swing Festival ’41	Django Reinhardt, Aime Barelli, Alix Combelle and more	Radio Paris 26 Dec 1940
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes + All I Do The Whole Day Through Is Dream of You + Close	Guy Berry + Charlotte Duvier & Charles Trenet	‘Le Enfante Terrible’ Poste Parisien 1935
Set 4	Woody Herman on Paper Tape
Swing Low Sweet Clarinet	Woody Herman Orchestra (voc) Mary-Ann McCall	Palladium Ballroom Hollywood WBBM CBS Chicago 15 Feb 1947
Apple Honey	Woody Herman Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom Hollywood WBBM CBS Chicago 15 Feb 1947
Non-Alcoholic + Close	Woody Herman Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom Hollywood WBBM CBS Chicago 15 Feb 1947
Set 5	Teddy Wilson 1944-45
Tiger Rag	Teddy Wilson Sextet	‘Mildred Bailey Show’ WABC CBS NY 19 Jan 1945
Body and Soul	Teddy Wilson Sextet	‘Mildred Bailey Show’ WABC CBS NY 1944
Smiles	Teddy Wilson Sextet	‘Mildred Bailey Show’ WABC CBS NY 12 Jan 1945
Sweet Georgia Brown	Teddy Wilson Sextet	‘Mildred Bailey Show’ WABC CBS NY 8 Dec 1944
Set 6	Red Norvo Vibes
Rockin’ Chair	Esquire All-Stars with Red Norvo (vibes) Mildred Bailey (voc)	‘Spotlight Bands’ Metropolitan Opera House WJZ Blue NY 18 Jan 1944
Clarinet Marmalade	Red Norvo Octet	‘Paul Whiteman Musical Varieties’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 8 Mar 1936
Somebody Loves Me	Benny Goodman Sextet with Red Norvo	‘Alistair Cooke Concert’ BBC Transcription New York City 8 Dec 1945
I Never Knew	Red Norvo Octet	‘Paul Whiteman Musical Varieties’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 8 Mar 1936
Set 7	Hal Kemp
When Summer is Gone (theme) + Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?	Hal Kemp Orchestra (voc) Skinnay Ennis	‘Lavena Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1934
Everything I Have is Yours	Hal Kemp Orchestra (voc) Deane Janis	‘Lavena Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1934
Thanks	Hal Kemp Orchestra (voc) Deane Janis	‘Lavena Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1934
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea + When Summer is Gone (theme)	Hal Kemp Orchestra	‘Lavena Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1934
Set 8	Jubilee Swing 1943 and 1945
Blue ‘n’ Boogie (theme) + Opus X	Billy Eckstine Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Feb 1945
Love Me or Leave Me	Billy Eckstine Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Feb 1945
Vine Street Boogie	Jay McShann Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS NYC 1943
Jump the Blues + One O’Clock Jump (theme)	Jay McShann Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS NYC 1943

Cole Porter Sings ‘You’re The Top’ in 1934 – Phantom Dancer 16 July 2019

This week’s Phantom Dancer with Greg Poppleton feature artist is – The Phantom Dancer and Cole Porter.

Presented by my good self, Greg Poppleton, The Phantom Dancer is live every Tuesday on 107.3 2SER from 12:04 (+ 10 GMT).

It’s repeated Saturdays 5-6pm.

The Phantom Dancer is also streamed online at http://www.2ser.com. where you’ll also find an archive of past shows for you to enjoy at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

And it’s heard on radios stations across Australia.

2ser phantom dancer

PHANTOM DANCER STORY

Greg Poppleton began The Phantom Dancer on 2SER back in the days when jazz and swing were dirty words, in July 1985. It was a fifteen minute segment within a program called Cityscope.

In December 1985 it got its own one hour time slot.

It’s continued on 2SER every week since then.

In 2013 it adopted the current non-stop mix format.

In that year it began being sent to radio stations across Australia over CRN (Community Radio Network).

FIRSTS

8 May 1995 First 2SER all-digital broadcast
2002 First 2SER online play list
2013 First non-stop swing jazz radio mix show

AWARDS

1991 BASF Hi-Fi Radio Award
2007 Best Music Program, Community Broadcasting Association of Australia
2013 Best Music Presenter, 2SER Awards
2015 Best Music Program, ArtSound FM Canberra
2016 Finalist, Best Music Program, Community Broadcasting Association of Australia

COLE PORTER

Hear the famous composer singing his own famous composition ‘You’re The Top’ on live 1934 radio on this week’s 2 hour radio mix,

You’ll also hear swing and jazz from live 1920s – 60s radio by Billie Holliday, Miles Davis, Art Tatum, Benny Goodman with Charlie Christian and more in a program that was heard in 2015.

See the play list below…

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer Video of the Week, recorded at ABC-TV in Sydney in 1969, Julius Sumner Miller investigates ‘The Physics of Toys’ Part 2. This is program 29 in the series, ‘Dramatic Demonstrations In Physics’. Enjoy!

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #393
2SER Tuesday 16 July 2019 12:04pm – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT)
Set 1
Open + Panamania	Leith Stevens Orchestra	‘Saturday Night Swing Club’ WABC CBS NY 12 Jun 1937
T’ain’t What You Do It’s The Way How You Do It	Freddy Monroe (Frankie Masters) Orchestra	‘Streamlined Interview’ WJSV CBS Washington 21 Sep 1939
Ad + Flight of a Hay Bag	Paul Whiteman Orchestra	‘Paul Whiteman’s Musical Varieties’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 2 Feb 1936
Set 2
There’s a Small Hotel	Teddy Stauffer and his Original Teddies (voc) Billy Toffel	Comm Rec Berlin 30 Sep 1936
Ad + You’re The Top + Ad	Cole Porter	‘Fleischman Yeast Hour’ WEAF NBC Red NY 13 Dec 1934
Open + Hold Me + Idolising + Cuban Love Song	Larry Taylor (voc) with Orchestra	‘Melody Lane’ Radio Transcription 1936
Set 3
Cirribirribin (Open) + Noodlin’	Harry James Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom AFRTS Re-broadcast 27 Nov 1959
Instrumental	Ray Anthony Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania NY 12 Aug 1950
Prelude to a Kiss + Things Ain’t What They Used To Be	Duke Ellington Orchestrs	Basin Street CBS NY KNX Los Angeles Aircheck 16 Apr 1956
Set 4
No. 10 Ritchie Drive	Gene Krupa Trio	‘One Night Stand’ Hotel Astor Roof NY AFRS Re-broadcast 16 Jan 1945
Joshua Fought The Battle of Jericho	Paul Laval’s Woodwinds	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue 28 Jul 1941
I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling	Wild Bill Davison	‘This Is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NY 24 May 1947
Set 5
Tenderly	Gene Krupa Quartet	London House WBBM CBS Chicago 13 Mar 1959
Open + Walkin’	Miles Davis All-Stars	‘Bandstand USA’ Birdland WOR Mutual New York 3 Jan 1959
Set 6
Nola	Claude Hopkins Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York 18 Oct 1935
It Had to Be You	Artie Shaw Orchestra	Blue Room Hotel Lincoln WEAF NBC Red NY 25 Nov 1938
Open + Boogie Woogie Maxixe	Bob Crosby Orchestra	Blackhawk Restaurant WGN Mutual Chicago 25 Mar 1940
Rigmarole + Close	Jan Savitt Orchestra	KYW Studio Launch Philadelphia 14 Sep 1937
Set 7
You Go To My Head	Billie Holliday	Storyville Copley Square Hotel WMEX Boston Late 1953
Open + Bensonality	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Blackhawk Restaurant WMAQ NBC Chicago 30 Jun 1952/div>
Every Tub	Count Basie Orchestra	‘Stars in Jazz’ Birdland WRCA NBC NY 14 Jan 1953
Cherokee	Art Tatum ℗ Murray MacEachern Orchestra	Aircheck Los Angeles 1952
Set 8
Sheik of Araby	Benny Goodman Sextet	Aircheck Los Angeles 12 Aug 1940
Rachel’s Dream	Benny Goodman	Esquire Jazz Concert Metropolitan Opera House WJZ Blue Network 18 Jan 1944
Stop Beatin’ ‘Round The Mulberry Bush	Fats Waller	WEAF NBC Red NY 16 Jul 1938
I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me	Coleman Hawkins Orchestra	WABC CBS NY Savoy Ballroom, Harlem 1940

Cliff Edwards and Mickey Mouse – Phantom Dancer 28 May 2019

UKELELE IKE

The Phantom Dancer feature artist with Greg Poppleton this week is the earliest recorded scat singer, Cliff Edwards, also known as Ukelele Ike.

You’ll hear Ukelele Ike from 1936 and 1940 radio including a wild scat version of Margie.

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

ONLINE

This week’s Phantom Dancer will be online right after the 28 May 2SER live mix at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney

CLIFF EDWARDS

Cliff Edwards left school at age 14 in 1909 and began entertaining as a singer in saloons.

Most bars had pianos in bad shape or none at all, so Edwards taught himself to play ukulele to serve as his own accompanist (choosing it because it was the cheapest instrument in the music shop).

BIG BREAK

He was nicknamed ‘Ukulele Ike’ by a club owner who could never remember his name. He got his first break in 1918 at the Arsonia Cafe in Chicago, Illinois, where he performed a song called ‘Ja-Da’ written by the club’s pianist, Bob Carleton. Edwards and Carleton made it a hit on the vaudeville circuit. Vaudeville headliner Joe Frisco hired Edwards as part of his act, which was featured at the Palace in New York City – the most prestigious vaudeville theatre – and later in the Ziegfeld Follies.

In 1924, Edwards performed as the headliner at the Palace, the pinnacle of his vaudeville success. That year he also featured in George and Ira Gershwin’s first Broadway musical Lady Be Good, alongside Fred and Adele Astaire.

RECORDS

Edwards made his first records in 1919 and recorded early examples of jazz scat singing in 1922.

In 1923 he signed to Pathé Records and became one of the most popular singers of the 1920s, appearing in several Broadway shows. He recorded many of the pop hits of the day, including ‘California, Here I Come’, ‘Hard Hearted Hannah’, ‘Yes Sir, That’s My Baby’, and most famously, ‘I’ll See You in My Dreams’.

UKELELE

Edwards was responsible for the soaring popularity of the ukulele.Millions of ukuleles were sold during the 1920s and Tin Pan Alley publishers added ukulele chords to standard sheet music. Edwards always played American Martin ukuleles, favoring the small soprano model in his early career. In his later years, he moved to the sweeter-sounding, large tenor ukulele more suitable for crooning, which was becoming popular in the 1930s.

Edwards’ continued to record until shortly before his death in 1971. His last record album, Ukulele Ike, was released posthumously on the independent Glendale label.

FILM

In 1929, Cliff Edwards was playing at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles where he caught the attention of movie producer-director Irving Thalberg. His film company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hired Edwards to appear in early sound movies. After performing in some short films, Edwards was one of the stars in the feature Hollywood Revue of 1929, doing some comic bits and singing some numbers, including the film debut of his hit ‘Singin’ in the Rain’. He appeared in a total of 33 films for MGM into 1933.

WESTERNS

Edwards was also an occasional supporting player in feature films and short subjects at Warner Brothers and RKO Radio Pictures. He played a wisecracking sidekick to western star George O’Brien, and filled in for Allen Jenkins as “Goldie” opposite Tom Conway in The Falcon Strikes Back. In a 1940 short, he led a cowboy chorus in Cliff Edwards and His Buckaroos. Throughout the 1940s he appeared in a number of B westerns playing the comic, singing sidekick to the hero, seven times with Charles Starrett and six with Tim Holt.

JIMINY CRICKET

Cliff Edwards most famous voice role was as Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney’s Pinocchio (1940). Edwards’s rendition of ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ is his most familiar recorded legacy. He voiced the head crow in Disney’s Dumbo (1941) and sang ‘When I See an Elephant Fly’.

FILM and TV

In 1932 Edwards had his first national radio show on CBS Radio. He continued hosting network radio shows into 1946.

Edwards was an early arrival on television. In the 1949 season, he starred in The Cliff Edwards Show, a three-days-a-week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings) TV variety show on CBS. In the 1950s and early 1960s, he made appearances on The Mickey Mouse Club (see video below), in addition to performing his Jiminy Cricket voice for various Disney shorts and the Disney Christmas spectacular, From All of Us to All of You.

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week is The Mouseketeers jitterbugging and playing uke to Cliff Edwards on a Mickey Mouse Club from 20 November 1956 TV. Includes Dennis Day and Annette Funicello. Enjoy!

28 MAY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #388
107.3 2SER Tuesday 28 May 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) National Program: Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	Women Singers on Network Radio
Theme + I’m Gonna Love That Guy	Joan Edwards	‘Your Hit Parade’ AFRS Re-broadcast 27 Oct 1945
Open + If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight	Peggy Lee (voc) Russ Case Orchestra	‘Rexall Show’ KNX CBS LA 15 Jul 1951
Swinging on a Star + Close	The Smoothies	‘The Smoothies Music Shop’ AFRS Re-broadcast 1944
Set 2	Radio DJ 1956
Dem Bones (theme) + Sweet Lorraine	1947 Metronome All-Stars (voc) Frank Sinatra	‘Bill Randall Show’ WCBS CBS NY 11 Feb 1956
Chinatown	The Hi-Lo’s	‘Bill Randall Show’ WCBS CBS NY 11 Feb 1956
Tea for Two + Close	Nat King Cole	‘Bill Randall Show’ WCBS CBS NY 11 Feb 1956
Set 3	Women Folk Singers 1929-34
Blues Negres	Cleoma Falcon	Comm Rec New Orleans 1934
El Cacahuatero	Tona La Negre	Comm Rec Mexico 1931
Quero Sossego	Araci Cortes Com Orchestra Brunswick	Comm Rec Brazil 1931
Lei E	Emma Bush with Johnny Noble and his Hawaiian Music	Comm Rec Honolulu 1929
Set 4	Cliff Edwards
Open + Louisiana Hayride	Freddy Rich Orchestra	‘Florida’s Treat’ Radio Transcription New York City 1936
Pennies From Heaven + One, Two, Button Your Shoe	Cliff Edwards (voc) Freddy Rich Orchestra	‘Florida’s Treat’ Radio Transcription New York City 1936
Open + Margie + Once in a While + Close	Cliff Edwards	Transcription WOR Mutual NYC 10 Aug 1945
Set 5	Ballads from the Palace
Open + Out of this World	Boyd Raeburn Orchestra (voc) David Allyn	Palace Hotel KQW CBS San Francisco 27 Jul 1945
I Wish I Didn’t Love You So	Raymond Scott Orchestra (voc) Dorothy Collins	Palace Hotel KQW CBS San Francisco 27 Jul 1945
He’s Home For a Little While	Boyd Raeburn Orchestra (voc) Margie Wood	Palace Hotel KQW CBS San Francisco 27 Jul 1945
Santa Catalina	Raymond Scott Orchestra (voc) Dorothy Collins	Palace Hotel KQW CBS San Francisco 27 Jul 1945
Set 6	Glenn Miller 1939 Radio
Moonlight Serenade (theme) + Little Brown Jug	Glenn Miller Orchestra	Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ WJZ NBC Blue NY 5 Dec 1939
King Porter Stomp	Glenn Miller Orchestra	Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ WJZ NBC Blue NY 18 Apr 1939
Sold American	Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Band	Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ WJZ NBC Blue NY 6 Mar 1939
My Blue Heaven + Close	Glenn Miller Orchestra	NBC Radio Centre Baltimore 5 Sep 1939
Set 7	1929 Radio
Open + Angry	Ray Miller Orchestra (voc) Bob Nolan	‘Sunny Meadows Program’ Radio Transcription Chicago 1929
Medley	Red Nichols Five Pennies	‘Brunswick Brevities’ Radio Transcription new York City 27 Aug 1929
Painting the Clouds with Sunshine + Lonesome Little Doll	Dixie Two-Steppers	Radio Transcription Chicago 1929
Tell Me Who + Close	Ray Miller Orchestra (voc) Bob Nolan	‘Sunny Meadows Program’ Radio Transcription Chicago 25 Jan 1929
Set 8	Charlie Parker
Confirmation	Charlie Parker	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 12 Feb 1949
Broadway	Charlie Parker	Birdland WABC ABC NY 9 May 1953
Repetition	Charlie Parker	Apollo Theatre NY 17 Aug 1950
Moose the Mooch + Lullaby of Birdland	Charlie Parker	Birdland WABC ABC NY 9 May 1953

7 May Phantom Dancer – What is Trad Jazz, Dad?

IT’S TRAD, DAD!

This week’s feature artist on The Phantom Dancer, your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio by Greg Poppleton, is actually a feature style. The style is designated by a term a lot of its fans use without being too precise about its actual meaning. It’s Trad jazz, Dad.

See the full Phantom Dancer play list below.

PHANTOM DANCER

This week’s Phantom Dancer will be online right after this 7 May 2SER live mix at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney. See other stations and times in the play list below.

FRONTLINE

Trad Jazz is short for traditional jazz. It’s the Dixieland and ragtime jazz styles of the early 20th century which typically used a front line of trumpet, clarinet, and trombone.

REVIVAL

A Dixieland revival began in the United States on the West Coast in the late 1930s as a backlash to the Chicago style, which was close to swing. Lu Watters and the Yerba Buena Jazz Band, and trombonist Turk Murphy, adopted the repertoire of Joe “King” Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong and W. C. Handy: bands included banjo and tuba in the rhythm sections. A New Orleans-based traditional revival began with the later recordings of Jelly-Roll Morton and the rediscovery of Bunk Johnson in 1942, leading to the founding of Preservation Hall in the French Quarter during the 1960s.

Early King Oliver pieces exemplify this style of hot jazz; however, as individual performers began stepping to the front as soloists, a new form of music emerged. One of the ensemble players in King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, Louis Armstrong, was by far the most influential of the soloists, creating, in his wake, a demand for this “new” style of jazz, in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Other influential stylists who are still revered in traditional jazz circles today include Sidney Bechet, Bix Beiderbecke, Wingy Manone and Muggsy Spanier. Many artists of the big band era, including Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman, had their beginnings in trad jazz.

On this week’s Phantom Dancer, you’ll hear Trad and Chicago style is Set 4 by the Bob Crosby Bobcats, Eddie Condon and Red Nichols direct from 1929 radio

The last hour is all vinyl.

Your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week this week is: Westend Blues featuring Bob Barnard on trumpet and Lawrie Thompson, drums. I mention these two particular musicians out of the band in this 1980s telecast because I have had the huge pleasure of them both playing in my own Greg Poppleton band.

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!

Thank you.

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #384
107.3 2SER 12:04pm Tuesday 7 May 2019 5pm Saturday 11 May 2019  (+10 hours GMT) National Program: Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	Big Bands on 1940s Radio
Theme + The Moon Is Low	Ray McKinley Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Century Room Hotel Commodore AFRS Re-broadcast 1946
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah	Jack Barrow Orchestra (voc) Dolores Crane	‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Ocean Park Ca AFRS Re-broadcast Jul 1945
I Can’t Get Started + Theme	Jack Jenney (tb) Frank DeVol Orchestra	’Music Depreciation Revue’ KHJ Mutual – Don Lees Los Angeles 4 Feb 1945
Set 2	Smooth On 1950s Radio
Open + It’s A Good Day	Perry Como and the Ray Charles Singer (voc) Mitchell Ayres Orchestra	’Let’s Go To Town’ Radio Transcription Hollywood 1954
Champagne Music (theme) + Red Petticoats	Lawrence Welk Orchestra	Aragon Ballroom Ocean Park Ca KECA ABC LA 1958
Medley: How Deep Is The Ocean? + I’m In The Mood For Love + Avalon + Close	Sammy Kaye Orchestra	’One Night Stand’ Hotel Astor Roof NY AFRS Re-broadcast 27 Aug 1945
Set 3	Dixie on 1920s-50s Radio
Muskrat Ramble	Bob Crosby Bobcats	’Bob Crosby Show’ Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1955
I Want To Be Happy	Eddie Condon	’Dr Jazz’ Eddie Condon’s WMGM NY 10 Dec 1951
Jazz Me Blues	Little Buster and the Corn Poppers (Red Nichols)	’Dickenson Program’ Radio Transcription New York City Nov 1929
Set 4	1930 Radio Jazz
Tin Ear	Bob Effros and The Philco Orchestra	’Philco Program’ WABC CBS NY 1930
Singing River	Boswell Sisters	Continental Broadcasting Corporation Radio Transcription Hollywood 1930
I Don’t Need Atmosphere To Fall In Love With You + Close	Little Jack Little	’Little Jack Little Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1930
Set 5	Doris Day on 1939-45 Radio
I’m Happy About The Whole Thing	Doris Day (voc) Barney Rapp and his New Englanders	NBC Cincinatti 17 Jun 1939
Blue Music	Doris Day (voc) Les Brown Orchestra	Peacock Room Baker Hotel CBS Dallas 9 Aug 1945
Long Ago and Far Away	Doris Day (voc) Les Brown Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WABC CBS NY 7 Jul 1944
I Wish I Knew	Doris Day (voc) Les Brown Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom KNX CBS Hollywood 16 Aug 1945
Set 6	Fats Waller 23 Sep 1943 in Story and Song
Reefer Song	Fats Waller	Comm Rec New York City 23 Sep 1943
Ain’t Misbehavin’ + There’s a Girl in my Life + Honeysuckle Rose	Fats Waller	’Personally, It’s Off The Record’ WABC CBS NY 23 Sep 1943
Set 7	1934 Radio Jazz and Dance
Maniacs’ Ball	Glen Gary and the Casa Loma Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York City 1934
Intro + It Don’t Mean A Thing	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra	’Chrysler Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1934
Song of the Vipers	Louis Armstrong	Comm Rec Paris Oct 1934
Swingy Little Thingy	Hal Kemp Orchestra	’Lavena Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1934
Set 8	Bop on 1940s-50s Radio
A Night In Tunisia	Charlie Parker	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 12 Mar 1949
Now’s The Time	Howard McGee	Birdland WJZ ABC NY Oct 1951
I’m Glad There’s You	Charlie Ventura (voc) Jackie Kain and Roy Kral	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 1949

Personality Girl, Barbara James, Australian 1940s Radio – Phantom Dancer 16 April 2019

An Australian dance band singer features on this week’s Phantom Dancer with some of her broadcasts from the 1930s and 1940s.

Presented every week by actor, Greg Poppleton, The Phantom Dancer, is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV.

It’s recorded live at 107.3 2SER Sydney, Tuesdays 12:04 – 2pm, and sent to 22 radio stations of the Community Radio Network and online.

Hear this week’s Phantom Dancer (after 16 April), and plenty of past Phantom Dancers for your enjoyment, online at radio 2ser.com

In the mix this week, live 1930s-60s radio by Glenn Miller’s Army Air Forces Band, Lee Konitz, Charlie Parker in Boston, a Frank Sinatra aircheck from 1939 (singing his first record release), singer Loyce Whiteman, and Australian dance band singer, Barbara James.

See the full play list below.

BARBARA JAMES

Born in Sydney in 1907 (some sources say 1908), Barbara James was a jazz and swing singer. Her parents were entertainers Will James and Malvena Moore. Her father, Will, taught her to play the saxophone, xylophone and banjo. She also played violin and danced. She was married to musician and band leader, Reg Lewis, who we’ll also here on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

Over her career, James performed and recorded with numerous jazz bands in Australia such as Frank Coughlan’s Trocadero Orchestra, Dick Freeman and his Trocadero Orchestra and Johnny Tozer and his Swing Band.

From 1921, she was contracted by Harry George Musgrove to Musgrove’s Theatres, appearing at theatres in Sydney and Melbourne, including the Tivoli circuit and Trocadero, and on ABC radio.

She first appeared on the Tivoli theatre circuit billed as a ‘child wonder xylophonist’.

This week’s Phantom Dancer presents a selection of her radio broadcasts from 1937-45.

Barbara toured Hong Kong in 1946. From 1949 to 1955, Reg and Barbara Lewis toured Europe and Britain.

In London, they performed in the West End at Café Anglaise and the Windmill Theatre.

London variety shows featuring Reg and Barbara Lewis included, ‘Stars, Songs and Society’ Windmill Theatre London, 1950, ‘Nudes of the East’ 1951, ‘The Talk of the Town’ Tribe Bros Ltd London, 1950-1951 and ‘Midday Music Hall’, 1953.

They appeared on BBC radio and TV.

They had a regular 15 minute vocal and piano show on Sydney radio in the 1960s called, ‘Between You and Me’.

Your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week, a tour through Australian commercial station, 3BA Ballarat, in the 1930s. Enjoy!

16 APRIL PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #381 107.3 2SER Tuesday 16 April 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) National Program: ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm and early morning on 23 other stations. Set 1 Swing Bands on 1943-44 Radio Theme + The Carioca Richard Himber Orchestra ‘Spotlight Bands’ Aniston, Alabama Blue Network 13 Nov 1943 I’m Beginning To See the Light (theme) + The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else Enoch Light and the Light Brigade ‘One Night Stand’ New Park Casino Palisades Park NJ AFRS Re-broadcast 1944 One Night Stand + Close Denny Beckner Orchestra ‘Spotlight Bands’ Norfolk, Virginia AFRS Re-broadcast 30 Mar 1944 Set 2 Charlie Parker in Boston Ornithology Charlie Parker ‘Symphony Sid Show’ Hi-Hat Club WCOP Boston 18 Dec 1953 Laura Charlie Parker ‘Symphony Sid Show’ Hi-Hat Club WCOP Boston 1954 Out of Nowhere + Jumping with Symphony Sid Charlie Parker ‘Symphony Sid Show’ Hi-Hat Club WCOP Boston 24 Jan 1954 Set 3 Barbara James I Can’t Give You Anything But Love Barbara James (voc) Reg Lewis and his Trocadero Orchestra Comm Rec Sydney 1941 It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing Barbara James (voc) Frank Coughlan Trocadero Orchestra Radio Transcription Sydney June 1937 Small Town Boogie Barbara James (voc) Albert Fisher Orchestra ABC Sydney 1944 Set 4 1950s Swing on Radio It’s All In The Game Ray Anthony Orchestra ‘One Night Stand’ Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 1952 Disorder at the Border Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Horace Silver ‘Stars in Jazz’ Birdland WNBC NBC NY 1952 Everything Happens To Me Matt Denis Trio (MD voc) ‘All Star Parade of Bands’ Chi Chi Club WRCA NBC NY 15 Jun 1955 Set 5 Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra 1943-44 Jeep Jockey Jump Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra ‘Uncle Sam Presents’ AFRS Re-broadcast Oct 1943 Theme + Flying Home Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra ‘I Sustain The Wings’ Chicago Theatre WMAQ NBC Chicago 10 Jun 1944 Don’t Be That Way Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra ‘Uncle Sam Presents’ AFRS Re-broadcast Feb 1944 There Are Yanks + Close Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra (voc) Ray McKinley and the Crew Chiefs ‘I Sustain The Wings’ WEAF NBC New York City 15 Apr 1944 Set 6 Early Harry James Orchestra Cirribirribin (theme) + Tuxedo Junction Harry James Orchestra Southland Cafe WNAC NBC Red Boston 19 Mar 1940 FRom The Bottom Of My Heart Harry James Orchestra (voc) Frank Sinatra ‘America Dances’ WABC CBS NY and BBC London 19 Jul 1939 Andalucia (The Breeze and I) Harry James Orchestra Blue Room Hotel Lincoln WABC CBS New York City 22 May 1941 Feet Draggin’ Blues + Close Harry James Orchestra Aircheck Chatterbox Club Mountainside NJ 1940 Set 7 Loyce Whiteman 1930s Cocoanut Grove Sweet and Lovely (theme) + I’m Through With Love Gus Arnheim Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman ‘Cocoanut Grove’ TRANSCO Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1931 Rain On The Roof Jimmie Grier Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman ‘Cocoanut Grove’ TRANSCO Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1932 Whistling in the Dark Gus Arnheim Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman ‘Cocoanut Grove’ TRANSCO Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1931 You Could Have Been the One, Baby Jimmie Grier Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman ‘Cocoanut Grove’ TRANSCO Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1932 Set 8 Lee Konitz 1954 Radio Open + Hi Beck Lee Konitz Storyville Copley Square Hotel WHDH Boston 5 Jan 1954 Subconscious Lee Lee Konitz Storyville Copley Square Hotel WHDH Boston 5 Jan 1954

Swing Harp on 1940s-50s Radio – Phantom Dancer 5 February 2018

SWING HARP

The first woman to play swing harp was Adele Girard. We hear her and 1950s jazz harpist Betty Glamann as the Phantom Dancer feature artists on this week’s Phantom Dancer radio mix.

There’s also a set of Harry ‘The Hipster’ Gibson from 1944 Muzak and radio recordings, a set of 1930s Ella Fitzgerald radio, and two hours of non-stop swing and jazz mixed live by me from 1920s-60s radio recordings and vinyl.

PHANTOM DANCER

Hear this week’s Phantom Dancer (after 5 Feb) and past Phantom Dancers at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney

BETTY GLAMANN

Betty Glamann Voorhees was a jazz and classical harpist who began learning harp at age ten. She graduated from a music conservatory and for three years was harpist for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

She then played with Spike Jones in 1948 and founded the Smith-Glamann Quintet in 1955. That same year Duke Ellington wrote music for her and had her in his orchestra, as did Marian McPartland and then Oscar Pettiford in whose band we hear her in 1957 radio broadcasts. She recorded on the Kenny Dorham album Jazz Contrasts in 1957 and was involved in a Michel Legrand recording session with John Coltrane and Miles Davis. She played with Eddie Costa in 1958 and with the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1960. She recorded one album under her own name, Swinging on a Harp and was in the Steve Allen Show TV orchestra.

ADELE GIRARD

Adele Beatrice Girard was the first woman to play jazz harp. Only Casper Reardon had played jazz harp before her.

She began learning harp at age fourteen but her first professional music job was as a singer for the Harry Sosnik orchestra in Chicago in 1933. She was nineteen. When Sosnik learned she could play harp, he bought her one. She performed with the Dick Stabile orchestra in New York City in 1935 and in 1936 with the Three Ts, the Teagarden brothers (Jack and Charles) and Frankie Trumbauer at the Hickory House in New York City. She replaced harpist Casper Reardon, who had been hired for a Broadway show.

When the Ts toured, Girard worried that she would be unable to continue payments on her first harp. She asked the proprietor of the Hickory House to keep her on, and he introduced her to Joe Marsala. In 1937 she wed Marsala and became a member of his jazz band. which included Eddie Condon and Buddy Rich. The Marsalas worked in the house band at Hickory House for ten years.

Girard had perfect pitch and could improvise any tune on the spot. Among her fans were James Bond author Ian Fleming and Harpo Marx, who asked her for lessons.

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week is a 1940s soundie of ‘Harp Boogie’ by Adele Girard with her Trio. Enjoy!

5 FEBRUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #373
107.3 2SER Tuesday 5 February 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) National Program: ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm and early morning on 24 other stations.
Set 1	1946-50 Radio Swing Bands
Theme + Let’s Dance	Ray Anthony Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 12 Dec 1950
Seems Like Old Times	Bobby Sherwood Orchestra (voc) Bobby Sherwood	‘One Night Stand’ Avadon Ballroom LA AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Jul 1946
Out of Nowhere	Gene Krupa Orchestra (ts) Charlie Ventura	‘One Night Stand’ Meadowbrook Gardens Culver City Ca AFRS Re-broadcast 31 Mar 1946
Set 2	Sarah Vaughan
Open + I Get a Kick Out of You	Sarah Vaughan	‘Stars in Jazz’ WNBC NBC NY 26 Mar 1953
Open + The Nearness of You	Sarah Vaughan	‘All Star Parade of Jazz’ Zardi’s KFI NBC LA 21 May 1956
You’re Mine You	Sarah Vaughan	‘Stars in Jazz’ WNBC NBC NY 1 Apr 1953
Set 3	Club Hangover 1954
Deep Forest (theme) + St Louis Blues	Earl Hines and his Esquire All-Stars	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 30 Jan 1954
Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea	Ralph Sutton Quartet	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 7 Sep 1954
St Louis Blues + Relaxin’ At The Touro (Close)	Muggsy Spanier	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 27 Nov 1954
Set 4	Hawaiian Music
Moana Loa + Royal Hawaiian Hotel Theme + Lehi Lehi Oe + Close	Keeamoku Louis	Royal Hawaiian Hotel Radio Transcription Honolulu Hawaii 1934
Kila Kila Holiakala + Close	Johnny Pineapple	Polynesian Village Edgewater Beach Hotel WGN Chicago 31 Dec 1957
Hawaiian War Chant	Harry Owens Orchestra	‘Songs of the Islands’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
One O’Clock Jump + Kansas City Stride	Count Basie Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 27 May 1944
Set 5	1930s Ella Fitzgerald
You Ya Hunchin’ + The Starlit Hour	Ella Fitzgerald Orchestra (voc) EF	Savoy Ballroom WEAF NBC Red NY 26 Feb 1940
Rhythm and Romance	Chick Webb Orchestra (voc) Ella Fitzgerald	Comm Rec New York City 1936
Is There Somebody Else?	Ella Fitzgerald Orchestra (voc) EF	Savoy Ballroom WEAF NBC Red NY 4 Mar 1940
Chewin’ Gum	Chick Webb Orchestra (voc) Ella Fitzgerald	Southland Cafe WNAC NBC Red Boston 4 May 1939
Set 6	Shep Fields Rippling Rhythm 1939-40
Caravan	Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York City 1939
It Never Entered My Mind	Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra (voc) Hal Derwin	Radio Transcription New York City 1940
One Never Knows, Does One?	Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra (voc) Robert Goday	Radio Transcription New York City 1939
English Country Garden	Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York City 1940
Set 7	Swing Harp
Lover	Joe Marsala Orchestra (harp) Adele Girard	Log Cabin Farm Armouk NY WEAF NBC NY 30 Oct 1942
The Gentle Art of Love (theme) + Nica’s Tempo	Oscar Pettiford Band (harp) Betty Glamann	Birdland WABC ABC NY 26 May 1957
Solid Geometry For Squares	Joe Marsala Orchestra (harp) Adele Girard	Log Cabin Farm Armouk NY WEAF NBC NY 23 Oct 1942
I Remember Clifford + Not So Sleepy	Oscar Pettiford Band (harp) Betty Glamann	‘One Night Stand’ Birdland AFRTS Re-broadcast Jun 1957
Set 8	Harry ‘The Hipster’ Gibson 1944
Handsome Harry The Hipster	Harry ‘The Hipster’ Gibson	Comm Rec New York City 21 Apr 1944
Candlelight + In a Mist	Harry ‘The Hipster’ Gibson	‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’ WJZ Blue NY 10 Jul 1944
4F Ferdinand, The Frantic Freak	Harry ‘The Hipster’ Gibson	Comm Rec New York City 21 Apr 1944