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

1936-41 Jack Teagarden Radio – Phantom Dancer 29 October 2019

JACK

This week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist with Greg Poppleton, is, following last week’s Kid Ory feature, also a tromobonist. He is credited with being the most important pre-bop trombonist in jazz, who took trombone away from Kid Ory’s tailgate style. It’s Jack Teagarden.

ONLINE

This week’s Phantom Dancer will be online after the 29 October 107.3 2SER Sydney live mix at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney.

TEAGARDEN

Jack Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 1940s as well as being an engaging singer.

His early career was as a sideman in the orchestras of Tommy Dorsey, Paul Whiteman and lifelong friend Louis Armstrong before branching out as a bandleader in 1939. We hear his new orchestra debuting on radio in 1939 on this week’s Phantom Dancer. After WWII he specialised in New Orleans jazz until his death.

START

Jack’s is brother Charlie and sister Norma also became professional musicians. His father was an amateur brass band trumpeter and started him on baritone horn. At age seven he had switched to trombone. His first public performances were in movie theaters, accompanying his piano playing mother.

STYLE

His trombone style was largely self-taught. He developed many unusual alternative positions and novel special effects on the instrument. He is usually considered the most innovative jazz trombone stylist of the pre-bebop era. He did much to expand the role of the instrument beyond the Kid Ory tailgate style of the early New Orleans brass bands.

CAREER

This week’s Phantom Dancer features broadcast excerpts of Jack Teagarden between 1936-41. He had begun playing professionally as a teenager, playing with many different bands in a process that took him from his native Texas to New York City.

Teagarden sought financial security during the Great Depression and signed a contract to play for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra from 1933 through 1938. Jack did play and broadcast on radio in small jazz groups in the mid 30s with his brother Charlie and Frankie Trambauer as ‘The Three T’s.’ I have played some of these radio broadcasts from the Hickory House over CBS but the sound quality is very poor.

BIG BAND

Teagarden started leading his own big band in 1939. We’ll hear it’s debut on ‘The Fitch Summer Bandwagon’. The band was not a commercial success, and he was brought to the brink of bankruptcy.

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week is film of Jack Teagarden from a 1950s Telescription playing with ‘Basin Street Blues’.

29 OCTOBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #411
107.3 2SER Tuesday 29 October 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	1944-54 Radio Dance Bands
Open + Two Spot Hop	Dean Hudson Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Blue Room Hotel Lincoln AFRS Re-broadcast 11 Nov 1944
Minding My Business	Buddy Rich Orchestra (voc) Dorothy Reid	‘Spotlight Band’ Mutual Network 24 Dec 1945
Ole Negra + Close	Paul Neighbours Orchestra	Biltmore Bowl Biltmore Hotel NBC via KGHL Billings, MO 1954
Set 2	Women Singers on  Radio
Can’t Help Loving That Man	Helen Forrest (voc) Billy Liebert Group	‘Ford Show with Tennessee Ernie Ford’ Audition Disc 1960
Cry Me a River	Julie London (voc) Bobby Troup Group	‘All-Star Parade of Bands’ Cameo WRCA NBC NY 1956
Once In a While + Close	Dinah Shore	‘MUM Show’ KECA Blue LA 1944
Set 3	Modern Sounds 1947-60
Open + Trajectory	Stan Kenton Orchestra	‘Innovations 1950’ Radio Transcription 1950
Jack, Jack, Jack	Claude Thornhill Orchestra (voc) Fran Warren	Glen Island Casino New Rochelle NY WJZ ABC NY 23 Jun 1947
Cool By The Pool	Gilbert Lacombe Septet	CBC Monteal 1960
Set 4	Jack Teagarden
Announcer’s Blues	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (tb solo) Jack Teagarden	‘Paul Whiteman’s Musical Varieties’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 19 Jan 1936
Somebody Nobody Knows + Octoroon	Jack Teagarden Orchestra	‘Fitch Summer Bandwagon’ WABC CBS NY Nov 1939
Mr Jessie	Jack Teagarden Orchestra (voc) Jack Teagarden + Band	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Chicago 27 Dec 1941
Set 5	Phil Harris Orch 1933
Open + Love Me Tonight	Phil Harris Orchestra (voc) Jimmy Mill	Cocoanut Grove Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1933
Strange Interlude	Phil Harris Orchestra	Cocoanut Grove Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1933
From AM to PM + Close	Phil Harris Orchestra (voc) The Three Rhythm Kings	Cocoanut Grove Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1933
Set 6	1949-55 Swing Bands
Leap Frog	Les Brown Orchestra	Radio Transcription Sep 1949
Woodchoppers’ Ball	Woody Herman Orchestra	‘All Star Parade of Bands’ Peony Park Omaha NE WOW NBC Omaha 1954
Moonlight in Vermont	Claude Thornhill Orchestra (voc) Patty Ryan	Steel Pier Atlantic City NJ ABC 19 Jun 1955
Lullaby of Birdland + Close	Count Basie Orchestra	‘Stars of Jazz’ Birdland WNBC NBC NY 14 Jan 1953
Set 7	1943-45 Dance Band Radio Transcriptions. Read the Horace Heidt story from a 2017 Phantom Dancer
Doodle-Doo-Doo (open ) + Candy	Art Kassels and his Kassels-in-the-Air (voc) Glria Hart	Radio Transcription 1945
History of Music	Horace Heidt Orchestra (narr) Horace Heidt	Radio Transcription 1943
Bell Bottom Trousers	Art Kassels and his Kassels-in-the-Air (voc) Trio	Radio Transcription 1945
I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now?	Horace Heidt Orchestra (voc) Horace Heidt	Radio Transcription 1943
Set 8	Charlie Parker
Scrapple From The Apple	Charlie Parker	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 15 Jan 1949
What Is Bop?	Symphony Sid	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 19 Feb 1949
Oo-Bop-Sha-Bam	Charlie Parker (voc) Band	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 22 Jan 1949

Doris Day – Phantom Dancer 18 May 2019

DORIS DAY

The Phantom Dancer feature artist with Greg Poppleton this week is big band singer and movie star, Doris Day.

In this week’s non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s – 1960s radio and TV, you’ll hear Doris Day in 1939 on Ohio radio and later in the 1940s as the star singer with international favourite Les Brown and his Band of Renown.

You can s 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 21 May 2SER live mix at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney

Doris Day

DAY TIME RADIO

Doris Day was born Doris Mary Kappelhoff in 1922.

She began her career as a big band singer with Barney Rapp and his New Englanders in 1939, which is where we’ll first hear her in a broadcast over NBC from Cincinnati.

She reached commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, ‘Sentimental Journey’ and ‘My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time’ with Les Brown and his Band of Renown. We’ll also hear from live airchecks with Les Brown from that period.

She left Brown to embark on a solo career and recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967.

In 2011 at age 89, she released her 29th studio album My Heart which contained new material and became a UK Top 10 album and #12 on the Amazon bestseller list.

Doris Day and dance act partner Jerry, 1937

DAY TIME MOVIES

Day’s film career began with the film Romance on the High Seas (1948), leading to a 20-year career as a motion picture actress.

She starred in film musicals, comedies and dramas.

She played the title role in Calamity Jane (1953) and starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) with James Stewart. Her best-known films are those in which she co-starred with Rock Hudson including 1959’s Pillow Talk, for which she was nominated an Academy Award for Best Actress.

She worked with James Garner on both Move Over, Darling (1963) and The Thrill of It All (1963), and also starred with Clark Gable, Cary Grant, James Cagney, David Niven, Jack Lemmon, Frank Sinatra, Richard Widmark, Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall and Rod Taylor.

DAY TIME TV

She became one of the biggest film stars in the early 1960s and ended her movie career in 1968. She then moved to TV, starring in the sitcom The Doris Day Show (1968–1973) during and after which she starred in TV specials.

AWARDS DAY

She received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Legend Award from the Society of Singers. In 1960, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures in 1989. In 2004, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom; this was followed in 2011 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s Career Achievement Award.

ACTIVIST DAY

In 1971, Doris Day co-founded Actors and Others for Animals, and appeared in a series of newspaper advertisements denouncing the wearing of fur, alongside Mary Tyler Moore, Angie Dickinson and Jayne Meadows.

In 1978, Day founded the Doris Day Pet Foundation, now the Doris Day Animal Foundation (DDAF). A non-profit charity, DDAF funds other non-profit causes throughout the US that share DDAF’s mission of helping animals and the people who love them.

To complement the Doris Day Animal Foundation, Day formed the Doris Day Animal League (DDAL) in 1987, a national non-profit citizen’s lobbying organisation whose mission is to reduce pain and suffering and protect animals through legislative initiatives.

Day actively lobbied the United States Congress in support of legislation designed to safeguard animal welfare on a number of occasions and in 1995 she originated the annual Spay Day USA. The DDAL merged into The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in 2006. The HSUS now manages World Spay Day, the annual one-day spay/neuter event that Day originated.

A facility bearing her name, the Doris Day Horse Rescue and Adoption Center, which helps abused and neglected horses, opened in 2011 in Murchison, Texas, on the grounds of an animal sanctuary started by her late friend, author Cleveland Amory. Day contributed $250,000 towards the founding of the center.

Day was a vegetarian.

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week is a 1964 interview with Doris Day by Lucille Ball. Enjoy!

21 MAY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #387
107.3 2SER Tuesday 21 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 ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	Big Bands on 1950s Radio
Cirribirribin (theme) + Musicmakers	Harry James Orchestra	Cocoanut Grove Ambassador Hotel KFI NBC Los Angeles 7 Jan 1953
Too Close for Comfort	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Joe Williams	‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 16 Jun 1956
South	Chuck Cabot Orchestra	Empire Room Rice Hotel CBS Houston Apr 1953
Set 2	Trad on 1940s – 50s Radio
Open + Everybody Loves My Baby	Wild Bill Davison	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NY 3 May 1947
Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now	Ralph Sutton	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 24 Jul 1954
‘S Wonderful	Louis Armstrong	‘All Star Parade of Jazz’ WRCA NBC NY 8 May 1955
Set 3	Slim Gaillard
Open + How High The Moon	Slim Gaillard	Birdland WNBC NBC NY 9 Sep 1952
Ba-Ba-Doo	Slim Gaillard	Birdland WNBC NBC NY 9 Sep 1952
How High The Moon + Jumping with Symphony Sid	Slim Gaillard	Birdland WNBC NBC NY 9 Sep 1952
Set 4	Doris Day
Blue Music	Doris Day (voc) Les Brown Orchestra	Peacock Room Baker Hotel CBS Dallas 9 Aug 1945
Little Sir Echo	Doris Day (voc) Barney Rapp and his New Englanders	Sign of the Drum NBC Cincinnati OH 17 Jun 1939
I Wish I Knew	Doris Day (voc) Les Brown Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom KNX CBS LA 16 Aug 1945
I’m Happy About the Whole Thing	Doris Day (voc) Barney Rapp and his New Englanders	Sign of the Drum NBC Cincinnati OH 17 Jun 1939
Set 5	Modern Sounds on 1940s-50s Radio
Open + Casual Jazz	Stan Kenton Orchestra	‘Concert in Miniature’ Hampton Casino Hampton Beach NH WBZ NBC Boston 21 Jul 1953
Open + Carambola	Machito	‘Symphony Sid Show’ BIrdland WJZ ABC NY 1951
Don’t Take Your Love From Me	Maynard Fergusson Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Birdland AFRS Re-broadcast 1958
Set 6	1930s-40s Sweet Band Radio Transcriptions
Vieni Su (theme)	Carl Ravazza Orchestra (voc) CR	Radio Transcription 1941
So You’re The One	Sterling Young Orchestra (voc) Bobbie Ennis	Radio Transcription 1939
Would It Make Any Difference To You?	Carl Ravazza Orchestra (voc) CR	Radio Transcription 1942
Cherokee	Sterling Young Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1940
Set 7	Buddy Rich Big Band on Radio
Rain on the Riff (theme) + Cool Breeze	Buddy Rich Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Phoenixville PA Mutual Network 24 Dec 1945
Nellie’s Nightmare	Buddy Rich Orchestra	Hollywood Palladium KNX CBS LA Mar 1946
Day by Day	Buddy Rich Orchestra (voc) Dottie Reid	Hollywood Palladium KNX CBS LA 27 Mar 1946
Quiet Riot	Buddy Rich Orchestra	Post Lodge Larchmont NY Aircheck Apr 1947
Set 8	Buddy Rich Quintet
Four + If It Were a Bell	Buddy Rich Quintet	Birdland WABC ABC NY 7 Nov 1958

3 April 2018 Phantom Dancer. Helen Keller On How The Deaf Heard Radio Music In The 1920s

There’re some rare, rare early jazz radio broadcasts for your listening pleasure on this week’s Phantom Dancer. And below, read an insight from Helen Keller about how radio brought music to the deaf in the 1920s.

The Phantom Dancer is produced and presented by Australia’s only authentic 1920s-30s-style singer and band leader, Greg Poppleton.

The Phantom Dancer is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV. It’s made in the studios of 2SER in Sydney. The Phantom Dancer is heard across Australia on stations of the Community Radio Network.

Hear this week’s Phantom Dancer (and past Phantom Dancers online) at radio 2ser.com

Greg Poppleton music website.

In this week’s mix, you’ll hear sets of radio broadcasts by Buddy Rich, Benny Goodman over three days in October 1937 and The Andrew Sisters. There’s also a set of WW2 European dance bands from Prague, Moscow and Hilversum. The Prague recording features Andrew Sisters soundalikes, The Allan Sisters (Allanovy Sestry).

But the rare, rare radio comes from January 1929. Four ‘Sunny Meadows Washing Machine Programs’ featuring the Ray Miller Orchestra. These were recorded on five minute 78 rpm discs – six discs to a 30 minute show.

1920s radio set

And that got me thinking about 1920s radio and how it was perceived. That’s when I found two letters from 1924 and 1926 quoted by Timmy D. Taylor in his paper, ‘Music and the Rise of Radio in 1920s
America: technological imperialism, socialization, and the transformation of intimacy’, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 22, No. 4, 2002.

The two letters come from the very early years of radio as a mass entertainment medium. They both describe how deaf people could ‘hear’ music on the radio.

 

HELEN KELLER REPORTS…

Helen Keller

The first letter is from the famous deaf and blind social activist, Helen Keller, in 1924.

It is a letter to the Symphony Society of New York and describes her joy at hearing a symphonic concert on WEAF Radio, New York City.

“I have the joy of being able to tell you that, though deaf and blind, I spent a glorious hour last night listening over the radio to Beethoven’s ‘Ninth Symphony.’

I do not mean to say that I ‘heard’ the music in the sense that other people heard it; and I do not know whether I can make you understand how it was possible for me to derive pleasure from the symphony. It was a great
surprise to myself. I had been reading in my magazine for the blind of the happiness that the radio was bringing to the sightless everywhere. I was delighted to know that the blind had gained a new source of enjoyment; but
I did not dream that I could have any part in the joy.

Last night, when the family was listening to your wonderful rendering of the immortal symphony some one suggested that I put my hand on the receiver and see if I could get any of the vibrations. He unscrewed the top, and I lightly touched the sensitive diaphragm. What was my amazement to discover that I could feel, not only the vibrations, but also the impassioned rhythm, the throb and the urge of the music. The intertwined and intermingling vibrations from different instruments enchanted me. I could actually distinguish the cornets, the roll of the drums, deep-toned violas and violins singing in exquisite unison. How the lovely speech of the violins flowed and flowed over the deepest tones of the other instruments! When the human voices leaped up thrilling from the surge of harmony, I recognized them instantly as voices. I felt the chorus grow more exultant, more ecstatic, upcurving swift and flame-like, until my heart almost stood still. The women’s voices seemed an embodiment of all the angelic voices rushing in a harmonious flood of beautiful and inspiring sound. The great chorus throbbed against my Žfingers with poignant pause and flow. Then all the instruments and voices together burst forth—an ocean of heavenly vibration—and died away like winds with the atom is spent, ending in a delicate shower of sweet notes.

Of course, this was not hearing, but I do know that the tones and harmonies conveyed to me moods of great beauty and majesty. I also sensed, or thought I did, the tender sounds of nature that sing into my hand—swaying reeds and
winds and the murmur of streams. I have never been so enraptured before by a multitude of tone-vibrations. As I listened, with darkness and melody, shadow and sound filling all the room, I could not help remembering that the great composer who poured forth such a flood of sweetness into the world was deaf like myself. I marveled
at the power of his quenchless spirit by which out of his pain he wrought such joy for others—and there I sat, feeling with my hand the magniŽficent symphony which broke like a sea upon the silent shores of his soul and mine.

Let me thank you warmly for all the delight which your beautiful music has brought to my household and to me. I want also to thank Station WEAF for the joy they are broadcasting in the world.”

 

JAZZING THE DEAF

The second report about the deaf ‘hearing’ radio in the 1920s comes from ‘Jazzing the deaf by radio’, Popular Radio, March 1926, p. 296.

“This information has been conveyed to Paul Ash, orchestra leader and radio star of KYW in letters from several women who explain that these are the only sounds they have been able to hear and that they enjoy the jazz music although otherwise deaf.

A famous ear specialist of Chicago has become interested in the subject, it is reported, and is conducting a series of tests to determine the possibilities of utilizing this means of ‘bone conduction’ of sound so that those
who have lost normal hearing may through radio have the pleasures of music.

When the unique investigation has been completed the renowned specialist promises the issuance of a report and a test program over the air is to be given with deaf persons asked to ‘listen in’ and to report what they ‘hear’.”

 

VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

Your Phantom Dancer Videos of the Week feature Helen Keller herself.

In the first video, the teacher who taught her to speak, Anne Sullivan (who was blind herself), explains with Helen demonstrating, how Helen learnt to talk after hitherto being dumb as well as deaf and blind. Her first word was ‘it’. Her first sentence, “I am not dumb now.” Be amazed…

And here is a 1919 dramatisation of her childhood. The film is called ‘Deliverance’…

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #309 107.3 2SER Tuesday 3 April 2018 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) National Program: ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm and early morning on 22 other stations. Set 1 Russ Morgan his Wah-Wah Trombone and his Orchestra Does Your Heart Beat For Me? Russ Morgan Orchestra Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1937 Sheik of Araby Russ Morgan Orchestra ‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast 28 Apr 1944 Open Up That Door and Let Me In + So Long (Close) Russ Morgan Orchestra (voc) Al Jennings ‘One Night Stand’ Garden Room Hotel Claremont Berkeley Ca AFRS Re-broadcast 28 Jun 1945 Set 2 Andrew Sisters on Radio Open + Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Andrew Sisters with Raymond Paige Orchestra ‘Kraft Music Hall’ KFI NBC LA 6 Sep 1945 Begin the Beguine Andrew Sisters with Glenn Miller Orchestra ‘Chesterfield Show’ WABC CBS NY 31 Jan 1940 White Christmas + Jingle Bells Nash Ad + Apple Blossom Time (Close) Andrew Sisters with Curt Massey and Vic Schoen Orchestra ‘Nash – Kelvinator Show’ KNX CBS Los Angeles 19 Dec 1945 Set 3 Swing from WWII Europe Poznate lehce nas rytmus Allanovy Sestry Comm Rec Prague 17 Dec 1942 Baron von der Pschek (Bel Mir Bist Du Schoen) Leonid Utesov Comm Rec Moscow 1943 Ja De Ramblers (voc) Ferry Barendse and Band Comm Rec Hilversum 2 Mar 1944 Set 4 Benny Goodman – 3 Days in October 1937 Stardust on the Moon + Dear Old Southland Benny Goodman Orchestra Manhattan Room Hotel Pennsylvania WABC CBS NY 20 Oct 1937 Where or When + Someday Sweetheart Benny Goodman Trio and Orchestra Manhattan Room Hotel Pennsylvania WABC CBS NY 20 Oct 1937 Dixieland Band + Goodbye Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Martha Tilton Manhattan Room Hotel Pennsylvania WOR Mutual NY 23 Oct 1937 Set 5 Duke Ellington on 1951-53 Radio VIP’s Boogie Duke Ellington Orchestra Aircheck Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 4 Oct 1953 Things Ain’t What They Used To Be Duke Ellington Orchestra Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ WNBC NBC New York 11 Jun 1951 Great Times Duke Ellington Orchestra Radio Transcription New York City 11 Feb 1951 Just a Sit-in’ and a Rockin’ + Mood Indigo Duke Ellington Orchestra Blue Note WMAQ NBC Chicago 13 Aug 1952 Set 6 Ray Miller on 1929 Radio Open + Angry Ray Miller Orchestra ‘Sunny Meadows Program’ Radio Transcription Chicago 18 Jan 1929 I’ll Never Ask For More Ray Miller Orchestra ‘Sunny Meadows Program’ Radio Transcription Chicago 18 Jan 1929 I Ain’t Got Nobody Ray Miller Orchestra (voc) Mary Williams ‘Sunny Meadows Program’ Radio Transcription Chicago 18 Jan 1929 Tell Me Who + There’s No Place Like Home (theme) Ray Miller Orchestra (voc) Bob Nolan ‘Sunny Meadows Program’ Radio Transcription Chicago 25 Jan 1929 Set 7 Bob Crosby 1939 Radio South Rampart Street Parade Bob Crosby Orchestra ‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS New York City 27 Jun 1939 Little Rock Getaway Bob Crosby Orchestra (piano) Joe Sullivan ‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS New York City 4 Jul 1939 O, You Crazy Moon Bob Crosby Orchestra (voc) Helen Ward ‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS New York City 11 Jul 1939 Diga Diga Doo Bob Crosby Orchestra ‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS New York City 18 Jul 1939 Set 8 Buddy Rich Radio Rain on the Riff (theme) + Cool Breeze Buddy Rich Orchestra ‘Spotlight Bands’ Phoenixville PA Mutual 24 Dec 1945 Nellie’s Nightmare Buddy Rich Orchestra Aircheck New York City 1947 In a Prescribed Manner Buddy Rich Quintet Birdland WABC ABC NY 7 Nov 1958

Phantom Dancer Show 20 Jan – Julius Sumner Miller – The Thermal Expansion Of Solids

A set of requests on this Tuesday’s Phantom Dancer for Andrew and Olivia.

Hear today’s Phantom Dancer online till late Feb. Less talkmore music.

With lots of swing, jazz and dance from live 1920s – 60s radio and TV (online at http://www.2ser.com), we’ll also hear Andrew and Olivia’s request for the original Phantom Dancer program from 1934 and Phil Harris playing the theme ‘A Boy And A Girl Were Dancing’ from a 1933 TRANSCO Cocoanut Grove radio transcription.

Jim Davidson and his Palais Royal Orchestra

As this week’s Phantom Dancer Video of the Week, recorded at ABC-TV in Sydney in 1969, Julius Sumner Miller investigates The Thermal Expansion of Stuff – Solids. Enjoy!

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN#142 2SER Tuesday 20 Jan 2015 12 noon – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) Set 1 San Luigi (Le Tristezze di…) (St Louis Blues) Trio Lescano Comm Rec Milan 1942 Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Andrew Sisters ‘Chesterfield Show’ WABC CBS NY 27 Dec 1939 You Forgot To Remember Benny Goodman Orchestra Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red NY 25 Dec 1935 Set 2 Japanese Sandman Rytmin Swing Yhtye Comm Rec Helsinki 22 Jan 1948 Blue Skies + The Hucklebuck Erroll Garner ‘Guest Star’ Radio Transcription New York 14 Dec 1949 Too Close For Comfort Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Joe Williams Birdland WCBS CBS NY 16 Dec 1956 Set 3 Rose Room (theme) + A Boy and a Girl were Dancing Phil Harris Orchestra (voc) Jeffrey Gill Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1933 A Boy and a Girl were Dancing / The Song of Suurender / One Morning In May / The Carioca / I’ll String Along With You / Will You Be Hating Me Tomorrow for Loving You Tonight Studio Orchestra ‘Phantom Dancer Show’ Radio Transcription New York 1934 Set 4 Moszkowski’s Spanish Dance Henry Levine Octet ‘Chamber Music Society of Lower basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 4 Aug 1941 Squeeze Me Eddie Condon ‘Doctor Jazz’ Eddie Condon’s Club WMGM NY 5 Jan 1951 One O’Clock Jump + Deep Forest (theme) Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines Club Hangover KCBS CBS San Francisco 30 Jan 1954 Set 5 Teasy Toe Les Brown Orchestra Radio Transcription Los Angeles Sep 1949 Interview Gerard Hoffnung and Cyril Richardson ‘Saturday Night on the Light’ BBC Light Programme London 1955 Mister Beebe Erskine Hawkins Orchestra (voc) June Richmond ‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 1943 Riff Staccato Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Joya Sherill ‘One Night Stand’ Club Zanzibar NY AFRS re-broadcast 28 Oct 1945 Set 6 Hodge Podge Gene Krupa Trio V-Disc New York 4 May 1944 Million Dollar Smile Lionel Hampton Orchestra (voc) Dinah Washington ‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 16 Oct 1944 West End Blues Charlie Barnet Orchestra ‘Downbeat’ AFRS Hollywood Feb 1944 It’s Sand Man Count Basie Orchestra Blue Room Hotel Lincoln WABC CBS NY 23 Dec 1944 Set 7 Rhythmus der Freude (There’s a New World) Die Goldene Sieben Comm Rec Berlin Jun 1937 Who Blew out The Flame? Artie Shaw Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest Blue Room Hotel Lincoln WEAF NBC Red NY 6 Dec 1938 I Can’t Get Started (theme) + Organ Grinder’s Swing Bunny Berrigan Orchestra ‘Norge Program’ Radio Transcription New York 1937 It’s Funny To Everyone But Me Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) Bob Eberly Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ WEAF NBC Red NY 5 Oct 1939 Set 8 Sweet Georgia Brown Fats Navarro (tp) Bill Harris (tb) Allan Eager Charlie Ventura (ts) Ralph Burns (p) Al Valante (g) Chubby Jackson (b) Buddy Rich (d) ‘Saturday Night Swing Session’ WNEW NY 12 Apr 1947 The Cinch Buddy Rich Quintet Birdland WABC ABC NY 8 Nov 1958