Carson Robison 1st Country Record. Early Rap – Phantom Dancer 28 February 2023

Carson Robison was a two-tone whistler, guitarist, banjoist, singer and composer. He recorded the first country record, early rap, and popularised radio via his radio shows. And he is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist.

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

LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 28 February) and weeks of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

CARSON

Carson Jay Robison’s father was a champion fiddler; his mother played the piano and sang. Robison became a professional musician in the American Midwest at the age of 14, backing Wendell Hall on the early 1920s music hall circuit. He worked as a singer and whistler at radio station WDAF (Kansas City, Missouri).

With a continuous studio career from 1924 to 1956, Carson J. Robison is probably the most recorded singer-songwriter in country music history. He was also one of the first full-time country writers.

In 1924, he moved to New York City and was signed to his first recording contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company.

That year he started a professional collaboration with Vernon Dalhart, accompanying Dalhart on guitar, harmonica, whistling, and harmony vocals.

In one of their first collaborations, Robison accompanied Dalhart on the landmark recording of “Wreck of the Old ’97” b/w “The Prisoner’s Song” (1924), regarded as country music’s first million-seller. It sold over 7 million copies.

Dalhart reportedly treated Robison like a sideman and demanded one-third of his songwriting royalties. When this escalated to one-half of Robison’s royalties, the songwriter severed the partnership.

Robison immediately teamed up for duets with Frank Luther, who could sing almost exactly like Dalhart. They had an instant hit with “Barnacle Bill the Sailor” and followed it with four sequels. With Luther’s wife, fiddler Zora Layman, they also aped Dalhart’s trio records. The Luther-Robison partnership lasted until they parted amicably in 1932.

ROBISON

Next, Robison reinvented himself as a cowboy singer. He traveled with his group to Great Britain and Ireland in 1932, 1936 and 1939, becoming the first act to take country music overseas. Stateside, he starred in a string of national radio series for CBS and NBC throughout the 1930s. During this phase of his career Robison wrote such cowboy classics as “Carry Me Back to the Lone Prairie.”

According to Billboard, his 1942 reworking of the standard “Turkey in the Straw”, with new lyrics relating to World War II, was that year’s most popular song.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he appeared on the Grand Ole Opry. His most famous recording was 1948’s “Life Gets Tee-Jus Don’t It”, a worldwide hit for MGM Records.

Although he played country music for most of his career, he is also remembered for writing expurgated lyrics for “Barnacle Bill the Sailor” with music by Frank Luther.

Ever alert to changing tastes, he wrote and recorded “Rockin’ and Rollin’ with Grandma” in 1956, the year before his death.

28 FEBRUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #586
107.3 2SER Tuesday 28 February 2023 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5UV Adelaide Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 2YYY Young Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 3am – 4 and 6 -7pm 2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am and Sunday 11pm Reading Radio (QLD) Friday 1am – 2 2RRR Ryde Friday 11am – 12 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Saturday 4am – 5am Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturday 10 – 11am Repeat: Wednesdays 10 – 11pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm 2SEA Sapphire Coast Eden Sunday 9 – 10pm
Set 1	Count Basie
One O’Clock Jump (theme) + Move	Count Basie Orchestra	‘Stars on Parade’ AFRS Re-broadcast 20 Apr 1951
Basie Boogie	Count Basie Orchestra	‘Stars on Parade’ AFRS Re-broadcast 20 Apr 1951
Bluebeard Blues	Count Basie Orchestra	‘Stars on Parade’ AFRS Re-broadcast 20 Apr 1951
One O’Clock Jump (theme)	Count Basie Orchestra	‘Stars on Parade’ AFRS Re-broadcast 20 Apr 1951
Set 2	Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney
A Touch of the Blues	Rosemary Clooney (voc) Buddy Cole Music	‘Bing Crosby-Rosemary Clooney Show’ KNX CBS LA 22 Mar 1960
You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To	Bing Cosby and Rosemary Clooney (voc) Buddy Cole Music	‘Bing Crosby-Rosemary Clooney Show’ KNX CBS LA 22 Mar 1960
Yours + Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea	Bing Crosby (voc) Buddy Cole Music	‘Bing Crosby-Rosemary Clooney Show’ KNX CBS LA 22 Mar 1960
All The Way + Avalon Town + Close	Rosemary Clooney/Bing Crosby (voc) Buddy Cole Music	‘Bing Crosby-Rosemary Clooney Show’ KNX CBS LA 22 Mar 1960
Set 3	1920s Jazz
Open + Harold Teen	Coon-Sanders Nighthawks (voc) Joe Sanders	‘Maytag Frolics’ Radio Transcription 28 Feb 1929
Mississippi, Here I Am	Coon-Sanders Nighthawks (voc) Carleton Coon	‘Maytag Frolics’ Radio Transcription 28 Feb 1929
Sittin’ and ‘Whittlin’	Coon-Sanders Nighthawks (voc) Joe Sanders	‘Maytag Frolics’ Radio Transcription 28 Feb 1929
Way Down in the Deep South	Coon-Sanders Nighthawks (voc) Carleton Coon	‘Maytag Frolics’ Radio Transcription 28 Feb 1929
Set 4	Carson Robison
Theme + Somebody Loves You	Carson Robison and his Pioneers	Radio Transcription New York City 1932
Swing Low Sweet Chariot + When I Lost You	Carson Robison and his Pioneers	Radio Transcription New York City 1932
Old Faithful + The Old Chisholm Trail (rap)	Carson Robison and his Pioneers	Radio Transcription New York City 1932
When I Was A Boy From The Mountains + Close	Carson Robison and his Pioneers	Radio Transcription New York City 1932
Set 5	Uptempo 1940s Swing
Open + Rockin’ in Rhythm	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Feb 1945
Miss Thing + On the Sunny Side of the Street	Nat King Cole Trio	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 16 Apr 1945
A Bee Bezindt	Ozzie Nelson Orchestra	Blackhawk Restaurant WGN Mutual Chicago 30 Mar 1940
Cherokee	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Feb 1945
Set 6	1930s Dance Bands
There’s Something in the Air	Red Nichols Orchestra	Radio Transcription NYC 30 Nov 1936
Small Fri	Paul Whiteman Orchestra	‘Chesterfield Time’ WABC CBS NYC 28 Sep 1938
Organ Grinder’s Swing	Red Nichols Orchestra	Radio Transcription NYC 30 Nov 1936
John Peel	Paul Whiteman Orchestra	‘Chesterfield Time’ WABC CBS NYC 28 Dec 1938
Set 7	Glenn Miller
In the Mood	Glenn Miller and the Band of the AAF training Command	‘Uncle Sam Presents’ Radio Transctiption NYC Feb 1944
Holiday for Strings	Glenn Miller and the Band of the AAF training Command	‘Uncle Sam Presents’ Radio Transctiption NYC Feb 1944
String of Pearls	Glenn Miller and the Band of the AAF training Command	‘Uncle Sam Presents’ Radio Transctiption NYC Feb 1944
Don’t Be That Way	Glenn Miller and the Band of the AAF training Command	‘Uncle Sam Presents’ Radio Transctiption NYC Feb 1944
Set 8	Modern Jazz
All the Things You Are	Thelonius Monk	Aircheck 1948
A Foggy Day + They All Laughed	Carmen McCrae	‘Timex All Star Jazz Show’ NBC TV NYC 30 Dec 1957
Such Sweet Thunder	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘Timex All Star Jazz Show’ NBC TV NYC 30 Dec 1957

The King’s Jesters – Phantom Dancer 17 Jan 2023

The King’s Jesters, billed as America’s ‘biggest little band’ is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artists. They were a vocal group who accompanied themselves on guitar, banjo and other instruments and with orchestra. They were household names in the 1930s and early 1940s.

You’ve heard them previously on The Phantom Dancer featured as a male vocal trio with Ben Bernie’s Orchestra on 1942 episodes of the weekday ‘Ben Bernie’s War Workers’ Program’.

Here’s a 1938 Standard radio transcription ofThe King’s Jesters…

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

LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 17 January) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

The King Jesters’s singing for Paul Whiteman in the early 1930s…

START

The King’s Jesters began as a comic vocal trio that also played instruments along with an accompanist.

They were John Ravencroft – sax and clarinet, Francis “Fritz” Bastow – banjo and guitar, George Howard – drums and vibraphone, along with Ray McDermott – piano, accordion, and arranger.

They were hired by Paul Whiteman to replace The Rhythm Boys and sang with him from 1930 to 1931.

When they left Whiteman, they added vocalist Marjorie Whitney and called her their queen. These five were the core of the King’s Jesters.

Here are The King’s Jesters on a 1932 LP released by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in 1932…

BREAK

The King’s Jesters were discovered by Ray McDermott. He managed them and set up an audition for Paul Whiteman, the leading orchestra leader of the 1920s, while he was touring with his band in Cincinnati.

Whiteman named them The King’s Jesters. They toured and recorded with the Whiteman band from 1931 – 32, replacing Whiteman’s famous Rhythm Boys which had included Bing Crosby.

AFTER

In 1932, after leaving Paul Whiteman, The King’s Jesters formed a new band of seven members: Fritz Bastow, George Howard and John Ravencroft, Ray McDermott who was the piano accompanist, Jimmy Awad on trumpet, Bob Casey on string bass, and singer, Marjorie Whitney, who you’ll hear this week singing, ‘Same Old Lines’, and with George Howard on ‘I’ll Love You Coast to Coast’.

The King’s Jesters broadcast daily over NBC from the Hotel Morrison in Chicago.

In June 1936 The King’s Jesters begin playing at the Bismark Hotel in Chicago, from where you’ll hear them on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

Their repertoire mixed instrumental fox trots for dancing and and vocal harmony numbers.

Pianist Ray McDermott died of pneumonia in 1937. The King’s Jesters and band then opened a new floor show in the Blue Fountain Room at the La Salle Hotel.

In July 1937, The King’s Jesters were on the front cover of the July 3, 1937 issue of the trade music bible, Billboard. They were billed as “America’s Biggest Little Band.”

After their months-long engagement at the La Salle Hotel in 1937, The King’s Jesters moved to the Fairview Hotel & Dance Gardens in Chicago.

Their 1937 show included songs like ‘Turkish Delight’,’The Deacon Steps Out’, sung with the ‘Peck-in’ dance introduced in ‘New Faces of 1937’ and ‘Today I am a Man’. Their queen, Marjorie Whitney, had a number of songs to herself, which include ‘They Can’t Take That Away From Me’ and ‘There’ll be Changes Made’.

BENNY GOODMAN

The King’s Jesters band made two guest radio appearances with Benny Goodman and his orchestra on July 7, 1941, and one on July 24, 1941.

They appeared in the Sir Francis Drake hotel in San Francisco; William Penn hotel in Pittsburgh; LaSalle hotel in Chicago; the Carlton hotel in Washington, and the Philadelphia hotel in Philadelphia. For all these spots they broadcast over the NBC and Mutual.

The King’s Jesters stopped performing in 1962.

17 JANUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #581
107.3 2SER Tuesday 17 January 2023 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 2YYY Young Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am 2SEA Eden Tuesday 6 – 7pm 2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am 2RDJ Burwood Wednesday 12 – 1pm 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturdays 10 – 11am Repeat: Wednesdays 10 – 11pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	Champagne Music
Champagne Music (theme) + Annabelle	Lawrence Welk Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951
Wang Wang Blues	Lawrence Welk Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951
In The Mood	Lawrence Welk Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951
Wonder Why? + Close	Lawrence Welk Orchestra (voc) Dick Dale	‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951
Set 2	Kay Kyser
You Ought to Be in Pictures	Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines (voc) Art Wilson	Radio Transcription 1934
Liza	Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines	Radio Transcription 1934
Vieni Su	Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines (voc) Glee Club	Radio Transcription 1934
Rhapsody in Rain	Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines	Radio Transcription 1934
Set 3	More Breakfast Radio
Open Theme	Unidentified Orchestra	‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950
Chicago	Guy Lombardo Orchestra	‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950
Good News	Unannounced Orchestra	‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950
Dixie + Close	Ray Anthony Orchestra	‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950
Set 4	The King’s Jesters
Changes (theme) + I’ll Sing You a Thousand Love Songs	The King’s Jesters Orchestra	Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936
Medley: Serenade in the Night + Love, What Are You Doing to My Heart?	The King’s Jesters Orchestra	Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936
Same Old Lines	The King’s Jesters Orchestra (voc) Marjorie Whitney	Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936
It’s Still Being Done + I Love You From Coast to Coast + Swingin’ on the Swanee Show + Close	The King’s Jesters Orchestra (voc) Marjorie Whitney and George Howard	Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936
Set 5	Hopkins and Eldridge
Minor Jive	Roy Eldridge Orchestra	Aircheck Arcadia Ballroom New York City 1939
Chasing My Blues Away	Claude Hopkins Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York City 1935
Mahogany Hall Stomp	Roy Eldridge Orchestra	Aircheck Arcadia Ballroom New York City 1939
Lazybones	Claude Hopkins Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York City 1935
Set 6	Charlie Barnet
Theme + Back in Your Own Backyard	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Ft Devon Mass. Mutual Network 15 Oct 1945
I Like To Riff	Charlie Barnet Orchestra (voc) Peanuts Holland	‘For the Record’ WEAF NBC NYC 11 Sep 1944
Gulf Coast Blues	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘Downbeat’ AFRS Hollywood Feb 1944
Keep the Home Fires Burning	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘For the Record’ WEAF NBC NYC 11 Sep 1944
Set 7	Cotton Club
O, Babe! Maybe Some Day	Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Ivie Anderson	Cotton Club WABC CBS NYC 24 Mar 1938
Harlem Speaks	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Cotton Club WABC CBS NYC 18 Mar 1937
Riding on a Blue Note	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Cotton Club WOR Mutual NYC 1 May 1938
Caravan	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Cotton Club WABC CBS NYC 18 Mar 1937
Set 8	Count Basie
One O’Clock Jump (theme) + Why Not?	Count Basie Orchestra	Birdland WNBC NBC NYC 31 Aug 1952
Andy’s Blues	Count Basie Orchestra	Avadon Ballroom KHJ Don Lee Network Los Angeles Jun 1946
Hittin’ 12	Count Basie Orchestra	‘All-Star Parade of Bands’ Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC NYC 31 Dec 1965

The King’s Jesters – Phantom Dancer 2 Aug 2022

The King’s Jesters, billed as America’s ‘biggest little band’ is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artists. They were a vocal group who accompanied themselves on guitar, banjo and other instruments and with orchestra. They were household names in the 1930s and early 1940s.

You’ve heard them previously on The Phantom Dancer featured as a male vocal trio with Ben Bernie’s Orchestra on 1942 episodes of the weekday ‘Ben Bernie’s War Workers’ Program’.

Here’s a 1938 Standard radio transcription ofThe King’s Jesters…

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

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

The King Jesters’s singing for Paul Whiteman in the early 1930s…

START

The King’s Jesters began as a comic vocal trio that also played instruments along with an accompanist.

They were John Ravencroft – sax and clarinet, Francis “Fritz” Bastow – banjo and guitar, George Howard – drums and vibraphone, along with Ray McDermott – piano, accordion, and arranger.

They were hired by Paul Whiteman to replace The Rhythm Boys and sang with him from 1930 to 1931.

When they left Whiteman, they added vocalist Marjorie Whitney and called her their queen. These five were the core of the King’s Jesters.

Here are The King’s Jesters on a 1932 LP released by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in 1932…

BREAK

The King’s Jesters were discovered by Ray McDermott. He managed them and set up an audition for Paul Whiteman, the leading orchestra leader of the 1920s, while he was touring with his band in Cincinnati.

Whiteman named them The King’s Jesters. They toured and recorded with the Whiteman band from 1931 – 32, replacing Whiteman’s famous Rhythm Boys which had included Bing Crosby.

AFTER

In 1932, after leaving Paul Whiteman, The King’s Jesters formed a new band of seven members: Fritz Bastow, George Howard and John Ravencroft, Ray McDermott who was the piano accompanist, Jimmy Awad on trumpet, Bob Casey on string bass, and singer, Marjorie Whitney, who you’ll hear this week singing, ‘Same Old Lines’, and with George Howard on ‘I’ll Love You Coast to Coast’.

The King’s Jesters broadcast daily over NBC from the Hotel Morrison in Chicago.

In June 1936 The King’s Jesters begin playing at the Bismark Hotel in Chicago, from where you’ll hear them on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

Their repertoire mixed instrumental fox trots for dancing and and vocal harmony numbers.

Pianist Ray McDermott died of pneumonia in 1937. The King’s Jesters and band then opened a new floor show in the Blue Fountain Room at the La Salle Hotel.

In July 1937, The King’s Jesters were on the front cover of the July 3, 1937 issue of the trade music bible, Billboard. They were billed as “America’s Biggest Little Band.”

After their months-long engagement at the La Salle Hotel in 1937, The King’s Jesters moved to the Fairview Hotel & Dance Gardens in Chicago.

Their 1937 show included songs like ‘Turkish Delight’,’The Deacon Steps Out’, sung with the ‘Peck-in’ dance introduced in ‘New Faces of 1937’ and ‘Today I am a Man’. Their queen, Marjorie Whitney, had a number of songs to herself, which include ‘They Can’t Take That Away From Me’ and ‘There’ll be Changes Made’.

BENNY GOODMAN

The King’s Jesters band made two guest radio appearances with Benny Goodman and his orchestra on July 7, 1941, and one on July 24, 1941.

They appeared in the Sir Francis Drake hotel in San Francisco; William Penn hotel in Pittsburgh; LaSalle hotel in Chicago; the Carlton hotel in Washington, and the Philadelphia hotel in Philadelphia. For all these spots they broadcast over the NBC and Mutual.

The King’s Jesters stopped performing in 1962.

2 AUGUST PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #556
107.3 2SER Tuesday 2 August 2022 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 2YYY Young Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am 2SEA Eden Tuesday 6 – 7pm 2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am 2RDJ Burwood Wednesday 12 – 1pm 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturdays 10 – 11am Repeat: Wednesdays 10 – 11pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	Champagne Music
Champagne Music (theme) + Annabelle	Lawrence Welk Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951
Wang Wang Blues	Lawrence Welk Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951
In The Mood	Lawrence Welk Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951
Wonder Why? + Close	Lawrence Welk Orchestra (voc) Dick Dale	‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951
Set 2	Kay Kyser
You Ought to Be in Pictures	Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines (voc) Art Wilson	Radio Transcription 1934
Liza	Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines	Radio Transcription 1934
Vieni Su	Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines (voc) Glee Club	Radio Transcription 1934
Rhapsody in Rain	Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines	Radio Transcription 1934
Set 3	More Breakfast Radio
Open Theme	Unidentified Orchestra	‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950
Chicago	Guy Lombardo Orchestra	‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950
Good News	Unannounced Orchestra	‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950
Dixie + Close	Ray Anthony Orchestra	‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950
Set 4	The King’s Jesters
Changes (theme) + I’ll Sing You a Thousand Love Songs	The King’s Jesters Orchestra	Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936
Medley: Serenade in the Night + Love, What Are You Doing to My Heart?	The King’s Jesters Orchestra	Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936
Same Old Lines	The King’s Jesters Orchestra (voc) Marjorie Whitney	Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936
It’s Still Being Done + I Love You From Coast to Coast + Swingin’ on the Swanee Show + Close	The King’s Jesters Orchestra (voc) Marjorie Whitney and George Howard	Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936
Set 5	Hopkins and Eldridge
Minor Jive	Roy Eldridge Orchestra	Aircheck Arcadia Ballroom New York City 1939
Chasing My Blues Away	Claude Hopkins Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York City 1935
Mahogany Hall Stomp	Roy Eldridge Orchestra	Aircheck Arcadia Ballroom New York City 1939
Lazybones	Claude Hopkins Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York City 1935
Set 6	Charlie Barnet
Theme + Back in Your Own Backyard	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Ft Devon Mass. Mutual Network 15 Oct 1945
I Like To Riff	Charlie Barnet Orchestra (voc) Peanuts Holland	‘For the Record’ WEAF NBC NYC 11 Sep 1944
Gulf Coast Blues	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘Downbeat’ AFRS Hollywood Feb 1944
Keep the Home Fires Burning	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘For the Record’ WEAF NBC NYC 11 Sep 1944
Set 7	Cotton Club
O, Babe! Maybe Some Day	Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Ivie Anderson	Cotton Club WABC CBS NYC 24 Mar 1938
Harlem Speaks	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Cotton Club WABC CBS NYC 18 Mar 1937
Riding on a Blue Note	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Cotton Club WOR Mutual NYC 1 May 1938
Caravan	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Cotton Club WABC CBS NYC 18 Mar 1937
Set 8	Count Basie
One O’Clock Jump (theme) + Why Not?	Count Basie Orchestra	Birdland WNBC NBC NYC 31 Aug 1952
Andy’s Blues	Count Basie Orchestra	Avadon Ballroom KHJ Don Lee Network Los Angeles Jun 1946
Paradise Squat + Lullaby of Bordland + Close	Count Basie Orchestra	‘Stars of Jazz’ Birdland WNBC NBC NYC 14 Jan 1953

Shuffle Rhythm – Phantom Dancer 22 February 2022

Shuffle Rhythm features in this week’s Phantom Dancer with a set of 1930s shuffle rhythm by the exponents of the style, Jan Savitt and Henry Busse

The Phantom Dancer is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted by me, Greg Poppleton. Hear past Phantom Dancer online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.

This show will be online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 22 February at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

 

SHUFFLE

Is one of three varieties of quaver (or eighth note) rhythms musicians use. The others are straight and swing.

It’s based on triplet subdivisions of the beat and it’s easiest to understand it by hearing it, hence the shuffle rhythm videos and set featuring Jan Savitt and Henry Busse.

Shuffle quavers alternate a long note and a short note. The long note falls on the beat and the short one in-between on the upbeat.

It’s a quaver triplet without playing the middle note of the triplet. Think of the first two notes of the triplet being tied together or even missing the middle note of the triplet.

NOTATION

Mostly if a song uses shuffle it does it all through the song. To make it easier to read the notation the notes are written as straight quavers. At the start of the music there’ll be a note to read the quavers as shuffle quavers.

A common marking for shuffle is a little equation written at the beginning expressing 2 quavers are to be played like a triplet with the first two notes tied. Or, the first two quavers of the triplet are written as a crochet.

Another way to indicating shuffle is to simply write the word shuffle at the top of the music.

22 FEBRUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #532
107.3 2SER Tuesday 22 February 2022 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 2YYY Young Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am 2SEA Eden Tuesday 6 – 7pm 2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturdays 10 – 11am Repeat: Wednesdays 10 – 11pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	Glenn Miller in German
Spoken Intro + Here We Go Again	Glenn Miller AAF Orchestra	‘Wehrmacht Stunde’ ABSIE American Broadcsting Station in Europe Abbey Road Studios London 30 Oct 1944
Begin the Beguine	Glenn Miller AAF Orchestra (voc) Irene Manning	‘Wehrmacht Stunde’ ABSIE American Broadcsting Station in Europe Abbey Road Studios London 27 Nov 1944
Long Ago and Far Away	Glenn Miller AAF Orchestra (voc) Johnny Desmond	‘Wehrmacht Stunde’ ABSIE American Broadcsting Station in Europe Abbey Road Studios London 6 Nov 1944
Set 2	Mickey Mouse Bands on 1940s Radio
Open + Sing a Song About Susie	Gay Claridge Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Chez Paree Chicago AFRS Re-broadcast 7 Aug 1944
As If I Didn’t Have Enough on my Mind	Leighton Noble Orchestra (voc) Helen Lind	‘One Night Stand’ Starlight Room Waldorf-Astoria Hotel NYC AFRS Re-broadcast Aug 1946
Riff Raff + Close	Bob Strong Orchestra (voc) Band	‘One Night Stand’ Glen Island Casino New Rochelle NY AFRS Re-broadcast 20 Aug 1944
Set 3	Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street
Open + The March of the Goons	Paul Lavalle	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 14 Jul 1941
Long, Long Ago	Diane Courtney	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 14 Jul 1941
Dark Eyes	Toots Mondelo	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 14 Jul 1941
Swanee River	Henry Levine	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 14 Jul 1941
Set 4	Shuffle Rhythm
Hot Lips (theme)+ Hurry Home	Henry Busse Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast 14 Sep 1944
You’re Driving Me Crazy	Jan Savitt Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast 20 Sep 1945
Cherokee	Henry Busse Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast 14 Sep 1944
Set 5	Swing Musicians Play Rock
Come A’Runnin’	Big Al Sears (voc) Jessie Stone	Comm Rec NYC 22 Apr 1955
Open + Why Do Fools Fall In Love	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 1956
Let’s Face It	Sam ‘The Man’ Taylor Orchestra	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 1956
I Almost Lost My Mind	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Ivory Joe Hunter	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 1956
Set 6	Harry James Sells Bonds
Intro + Save The American Way	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest	‘Treasury War Bond Show’ Transcribed Mar 1942
This is Worth Fighting For	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Jimmie Saunders	‘Treasury War Bond Show’ Transcribed Mar 1942
My Beloved is Rugged	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest	‘Treasury War Bond Show’ Transcribed Mar 1942
Back Beat Boogie + Close	Harry James Orchestra	‘Treasury War Bond Show’ Transcribed Mar 1942
Set 7	Gimmick Band Radio Transcriptions
Snuff Stuff	Seger Ellis and his Choirs of Brass	Radio Transcription 1937
Let There Be Love	Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra (voc) Hal Derwin	Radio Transcription 1940
Walkin’ the Dog	Seger Ellis and his Choirs of Brass	Radio Transcription 1937
It Never Entered My Mind	Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra (voc) Hal Derwin	Radio Transcription 1940
Set 8	Progressive Jazz Radio
Open + Sweet Georgia Brown	Roy Eldridge	‘Bandstand USA’ Cafe Bohemia WOR Mutual NY Mar 1957
Perdido + Tiny’s Blues	Terry Gibbs All-Stars	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 1948
I Remember Clifford	Oscar Pettiford	Birdland WABC ABC NY 1957
Not So Sleepy	Oscar Pettiford	Birdland WABC ABC NY 1957

Phantom Dancer Is Back Live – Southern Louisiana Music – 28 Sep 2021

Southern Louisiana music, off the radio is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature. You’ll hear Cajun and New Orleans jazz from 1950s and 60 radio.

It is so good to be back in the studio to create a fresh non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted for you. My name,s Greg Poppleton, Greg Poppleton. I’ve been mixing The Phantom Dancer for you since June 1985 and this week is the first live mix since the latest Sydney Covid lockdown starting June this year.

LISTEN to this Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 28 September) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

This week, two musics from Sothern Louisiana…

CAJUN

Cajun music is relatively catchy with an infectious beat and a lot of forward drive, placing the accordion at the center. Besides the voices, only two melodic instruments are heard, the accordion and fiddle, but usually in the background can also be heard the high, clear tones of a metal triangle.

The harmonies of Cajun music are simple and the melodic range is just one octave, rising a fifth above the tonic and descending a fourth below. Because the Cajun accordion is a diatonic instrument (do-re-mi or natural major scale) it can only play tunes in a few keys. For example, a “C” accordion is tuned such that the entire C scale is available on the ten buttons (over two octaves) and it can play a tune in the key of C with all the notes of the C scale available (C-D-E-F-G-A-B). A “C” accordion can also play a few Cajun songs in the key of F however the Bb note will be missing. Also it can play in the key of D with a bluesy sound since the F natural note becomes a flat third or minor third in the key of D. However a skilled accordion player can play in these other keys and still make good music whereby the notes missing (because of the limitations of the diatonic tuning) are not needed by the melody.

Since an instrument must match the singer’s range, much Cajun singing is sung in the singer’s upper range. The accordionist gives the vocal melody greater energy by repeating most notes.

Dancehall Cajun, which we’ll hear today from a 1966 KEUN Mamou La recording of thier live ‘Fais-do-do’ radio show, is often known in South Louisiana as ‘Fais do-do’ music because it is commonly played at fais do-dos; this in turn comes from the local practice of couples bringing their children with them to the dance hall.

As bands moved from house dances to large halls, electrical amplification of instruments was introduced so as to cut through the noise of the crowd.

Typically in dancehall Cajun performances, the melody is played by the accordion followed by a bridge, a vocal verse, a leading line by the steel guitar, a leading line by the fiddle, then a leading line by the accordion player again followed by a bridge. This is followed by the next vocal verse, and so on. Lawrence Walker, Aldus Roger, Nathan Abshire, Iry LeJeune, and Sidney Brown are examples of this musical period.

JAZZ

Probably the single most famous style of music to originate in the city was New Orleans jazz, also known as Dixieland. It came into being around 1900. Many with memories of the time say that the most important figure in the formation of the music was Papa Jack Laine who enlisted hundreds of musicians from all of the city’s diverse ethnic groups and social status. Most of these musicians became instrumental in forming jazz music including Buddy Bolden, Bunk Johnson and the members of Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

One of early rural blues, ragtime, and marching band music were combined with collective improvisation to create this new style of music. At first, the music was known by various names such as “hot music”, “hot ragtime” and “ratty music”; the term “jazz” (early on often spelled “jass”) did not become common until the 1910s. The early style was exemplified by the bands of such musicians as Freddie Keppard, Jelly Roll Morton, “King” Joe Oliver, Kid Ory. The next generation took the young art form into more daring and sophisticated directions, with such creative musical virtuosos as Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Red Allen.

New Orleans was a regional Tin Pan Alley music composing and publishing center through the 1920s, and was also an important center of ragtime.

Louis Prima demonstrated the versatility of the New Orleans tradition, taking a style rooted in traditional New Orleans jazz into swinging hot music popular into the rock and roll era. He is buried in New Orleans.

Contemporary jazz has had a following in New Orleans with musicians such as Alvin Batiste and Ellis Marsalis. Some younger jazz virtuosos such as Wynton Marsalis and Nicholas Payton experiment with the avant garde while refusing to disregard the traditions of early jazz.

28 SEPTEMBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #511
107.3 2SER Tuesday 28 SEPTEMBER 2021 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am 2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	1940s One Night Stand Radio
Theme + Cowboy Song	Gay Claridge Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Chez Paree Chicago AFRS Re-broadcast 15 Oct 1945
Nevertheless	Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (voc) Kenny Gardiner	‘One Night Stand’ Grill Room Hotel Roosevelt NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 25 Oct 1950
Play, Fiddle, Play + Smoke Rings (theme)	Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Casino Gardens Ocean Park AFRS Re-broadcast 24 Oct 1945
Set 2	Jazz Blues
Memphis Blues	Wild Bill Davison (cnt)	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NYC 17 May 1947
Tin Roof Blues	George Brunies (tb and voc)	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NYC 10 May 1947
Wild Cat Blues	James P Johnson and Sidney Bechet (piano and cl)	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NYC 24 May 1947
Set 3	Ted Fio Rito
Theme + Stay As Sweet As You Are	Vincent Valsanti (aka Ted Fio Rito) Orchestra (voc) Bill Thomas	Cocoanut Grove Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1934
Two Hearts	Vincent Valsanti (aka Ted Fio Rito) Orchestra	Cocoanut Grove Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1934
Miss Otis Regrets + What a Difference a Day Makes + Theme	Vincent Valsanti (aka Ted Fio Rito) Orchestra (voc) Spooky Dickenson	Cocoanut Grove Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1934
Set 4	South Louisiana Music
Eh, La Bas	Papa Celestin	‘Dixieland Jambake’ WDSU ABC New Orleans 1950
Ma Negresse	Nathan Abshire and his Pine Grove Boys	‘Fais Do-Do’ KEUN Mamou La 1966
Runnin’ Wild	George Lewis	‘Dixieland Jambake’ WDSU ABC New Orleans 16 Sep 1950
Grand Mamou	Adam Landreneau	‘Fais Do-Do’ KEUN Mamou La 1966
Set 5	Your Hit Parade
Theme + Casual Jazz	Mark Warnow Orchestra (voc) Barry Wood	‘Your Hit Parade’ AFRS Re-broadcast 23 Jan 1943
So In Love	Axel Stordahl Orchestra (voc) Frank Sinatra	‘Your Hit Parade’ WNBC NBC NYC 30 Apr 1949
Change Partners + I’ve Got a Pocketful of Deams	Al Goodman Orchestra	‘Your Hit Parade’ WABC CBS NYC 22 Oct 1938
Set 6	Glenn Miller Ballads
On The Alamo	Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Gail Reese	Paradise Restaurant WJZ NBC Blue NYC 18 Jun 1938
Shadows on the Sand	Glenn Miller Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WJZ NBC Blue NYC 6 Nov 1940
Please Come Out of Your Dream	Glenn Miller Orchestra	Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ WJZ NBC Blue NYC 8 Mar 1939
Georgia On My Mind	Glenn Miller Orchestra	‘Sunset Serenade’ Steel Pier Atlantic City NJ WJZ NBC Blue NYC 30 Aug 1941
Set 7	1930s Radio Transcriptions
You’re a Heavenly Thing	Orville Knapp Orchestra (voc) Edith Caldwell	Radio Transcription 1936
Gone With The Wind	Dick Jurgens Orchestra (voc) Eddy Howard	Radio Transcription 1939
Robins and Roses	Orville Knapp Orchestra (voc) Leighton Noble	Radio Transcription 1936
In a Sentimental Mood	Dick Jurgens Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1938
Set 8	1950s Piano Jazz
Lover	Erroll Garner	Basin Street WCBS CBS NY May 1956
Dream a Little Dream of Me	Claude Thornhill Orchestra (voc) Patty Ryan	‘One Night Stand’ Steel Pier Atlantic City NJ AFRS Re-broadcast 16 Jun 1956
Here Lies Love	Dave Brubeck	Basin Street WCBS CBS NY Feb 1956
It’s Time For Us To Part	Claude Thornhill Orchestra (voc) Gene Williams	‘One Night Stand’ Steel Pier Atlantic City NJ AFRS Re-broadcast 24 Aug 1956

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

Happy New Decade – Did Wynn Foresee Australia Burning? – Phantom Dancer 31 Dec 2019

We started this year  with this New Year show, choc-a-bloc full of New Years swing and jazz from live 1936 – 1966 radio. And because I’m on holidays unable to move with a fractured femur, we’ll end the decade with it, too!

The Phantom Dancer, presented by myself, Greg Poppleton, since 1985 on 107.3 2SER Sydney, is now re-broadcast on over 24 stations of the Community Radio Network across Australia. Hear the show online from midday 31 December 2019 (AEST).

And see the play list below.

OOGIE BOOGIE

This week’s featured ‘artist’ is Wynn the Astrologer…

SEER

This famous 1930s astrologer gives his prognostications for 1937 on this week’s Phantom Dancer. In fact, get ready for disappointment at the end of Set 1, where I play Wynn’s ‘wise words’ (and some musical excerpts) from the 1936 New Year’s Eve Rudy Vallee show.

You’ll hear most of what Wynn had to say about the year ahead. I cut it short for time. Think of the audience for the 1936 radio broadcast, they never got that time Wynn wasted back.

Wynn, born Sidney Kimball Bennett, wrote the stars for the New York Daily News. It seems he didn’t do it for a laugh. He was pompously serious about himself, as you’ll hear.

SPOOKY

His claim to fame was a prediction he made in the NY Daily News in 1932. He ‘foresaw’ financial turmoil for early March of 1933. That’s when President Roosevelt closed the banks for a week as the US struggled with the Great Depression.

UNCANNY

Wynn’s predictions for 1937 are typically vague, and, well, predictable. More interesting is just a short list of what actually happened in 1937 out of the trillions of things Wynn’s charts failed to predict…

• Safety glass in vehicle windscreens becomes mandatory in Great Britain
• Bradman scores 270 Aust v England at the MCG, incl 110 singles
• 2nd of Stalin‘s purge trials; Pyatakov & 16 others sentenced to death
• DuPont Corp patents nylon, developed by employee Wallace H Carothers
• Initial flight of the first successful flying car, Waldo Waterman’s Arrowbile
• Bradman scores 169 in 5th Test Cricket v England in 223 minutes
• Mexico nationalizes oil
• Pope Pius XI publishes anti-nazi-encyclical Mit brennender Sorge
• Astronomer Fritz Zwicky publishes his research on stellar explosion in which he coins the term “supernova” and hypothesizes that they were the origin of cosmic rays
• Spinach growers of Crystal City, Texas, erect statue of Popeye
• Debut of cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer J Fudd & Petunia Pig
• German Luftwaffe destroys Basque town of Guernica in Spain
• 1st commercial flight across Pacific operated by Pan Am
• The Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% voted yes
• San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge opens
• Spam, the luncheon meat, is first introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation
• Japanese & Chinese troops clash at the Marco Polo Bridge, beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War
• Buchenwald Concentration Camp opens
• Isolation of pituitary hormone announced (Yale University)
• 1st FM radio construction permit issued (W1X0J (WGTR) in Boston MA)
• Date celebrated as the first International Hobbit Day and the birthdays of Bibo and Frodo Baggins
• 1st Santa Claus Training School opens (Albion NY)
• Balinese Tiger declared extinct
• Dmitri Shostakovitch’s 5th Symphony premieres
• Clifford Odets’ “Golden Boy” premieres in NYC
• Japanese troops conquer and plunder Nanjing (Nanjing Massacre)
• Bill O’Reilly takes 9-41 for NSW against South Australia
• Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na hÉireann) is enacted and Irish free state is named Eire
• Pan Am starts service between San Francisco and Auckland, New Zealand

Here’s some footage of the first successful flying car, Waldo Waterman’s Arrowbile. How did Wynn miss this one? Probably the same way he missed foretelling his own 1926 car accident…(gosh, on today’s Phantom Dancer he warns Rudy Vallee to be ‘careful of cars’, spooky!)

31 DECEMBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #417
107.3 2SER Tuesday 31 December 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
New Years Eve Aboard An Ocean Liner	Raymond Scott Quintette	Comm Rec New York 21 Jul 1939
In The Mood	Glenn Miller Orchestra	‘Chesterfield Show’ WABC CBS NY 27 Dec 1939
Never Should Have Told You + Predictions for 1937 + Chim Bomba + Close	Rudy Vallee and Wynn the Astrologer	‘Royal Gelatin Show’ WEAF NBC Red NY 31 Dec 1936
Set 2
Open + Happy Holidays	Bing Crosby (voc) John Scott Trotter Orchestra	‘Kraft Music Hall’ KFI NBC LA 30 Dec 1943
Rhapsody In Blue (theme) + Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah	Paul Whiteman Orchestra and Chorus	‘The Paul Whiteman Show’ WJZ ABC NY 1 Jan 1947
Poinciana + Close	Bing Crosby (voc) John Scott Trotter Orchestra	‘Kraft Music Hall’ KFI NBC LA 30 Dec 1943
Set 3
Deep Forest (theme) + Dippermouth Blues + When The Saints Go Marching In + Tiger Rag	Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines	Club Hangover KCBS CBS San Francisco 1 Jan 1957
Set 4
Auld Lang Syne + Newport Up + Together + Macarena + You Better Know It	Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Jimmy Grissom and Ozzie Bailey	‘All-Star Parade of Bands’ Blue Note WMAQ NBC Chicago 1 Jan 1958
Set 5
Sad Sack	Harry James Orchestra (Hollywood)	‘New Year’s Dancing Party’ AFRS Hollywood 31 Dec 1945
One O’Clock Jump	Count Basie Orchestra (New York)	‘New Year’s Dancing Party’ AFRS Hollywood 31 Dec 1945
Warsaw Concerto	Freddy Martin Orchestra (Cocoanut Grove, Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles)	‘New Year’s Dancing Party’ AFRS Hollywood 31 Dec 1945
Woodchopper’s Ball	Woody Herman Orchestra (Meadowbrook Ballroom, Cedar Grove NJ)	‘New Year’s Dancing Party’ AFRS Hollywood 31 Dec 1945
Set 6
Open + Stompin’ At The Savoy + Tea For Two	Teddy Wilson Trio	‘All-Star Parade of Bands’ The Embers WRCA NBC NY 31 Dec 1957
Stompin’ Down Broadway + Opus 1 (close)	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra	Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ WCBS CBS NY 1 Jan 1956
Set 7
Afterthoughts + Canadian Sunset + Soft Summer Breeze + The Man I Love + Begin The Beguine	Eddie Haywood Trio	‘All-Star Parade of Bands’ The Embers WRCA NBC NY 31 Dec 1957
Set 8
Robin Hood	Louis Prima Orchestra (voc) LP	‘New Year’s Dancing Party’ AFRS Hollywood 31 Dec 1945
Gotta Be This Or That	Benny Goodman Orchestra (with Slam Stewart b, Red Norvo vibes, Boston)	‘New Year’s Dancing Party’ AFRS Hollywood 31 Dec 1945
Let The Zoomers Drool	Duke Ellington Orchestra (Evansville, Indiana)	‘New Year’s Dancing Party’ AFRS Hollywood 31 Dec 1945

Dolly Dawn – Inspiration for Ella Fitzgerald – Phantom Dancer 1 October 2019

DOLLY DAWN

When you listen to Ella Fitzgerald you hear Dolly Dawn? Why? Because Dolly Dawn was a big influence on Ella Fitzgerald’s singing style. Dolly Dawn is this week’s Phantom Dancer presented by Greg Poppleton.

ONLINE

This week’s Phantom Dancer will be online right after the 1 October 107.3 2SER Sydney live mix at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney

FOCUS

Dolly Dawn was one of the first vocalists to become the sole focus of a band. When Walter Winchell coined the term ‘canary’ for female singers, he was referring to her.

She sang with George Hall and his Orchestra from age 16. Though born Theresa Maria Stabile, (she was a cousin of band leader Dick Stabile) she had already given herself the stage name Billie Starr after winning a singing contest at age 14.

George Hall and Harriet Mencken, a writer on The New York Journal-American, came up with the name, Dolly Dawn, for her.

‘She’s as fresh as the dawn and as dimpled as a doll,’ the newspaperwoman said, according to an article in Radio Guide in 1937. Miss Dawn never stopped hating the name, which she thought made her sound like a stripper.

DAWN PATROL

Nevertheless, her relationship with Hall and his wife was so close that they formally adopted her when she was 19. In a ceremony on 4 July 1941, at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, George Hall officially turned the band over to her and became her manager.

NEW YORK – JANUARY 28: Big Band singer Dolly Dawn and orchestra leader George Hall. Dolly models hat fashions. Image dated January 28, 1936. New York, NY. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

The band was renamed ‘Dolly Dawn and Her Dawn Patrol’ and on this week’s Phantom Dancer we hear her introduce herself as a band leader on NBC’s ‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’.

The WW2 draft took most of her band, so from 1942 she continued without the band, appearing in engagements across the US. She continued to record into the 1950s.

She developed a cult following that saw her in scattered club appearances in the 1970s and 80s, particularly in response to the release of a double album of her records with George Hall on the RCA Bluebird label in 1976.

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week is Dolly Dawn singing with George Hall’s Orchestra in the 1938 short, ‘Hall’s Holliday’. Enjoy!

1 OCTOBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #407
107.3 2SER Tuesday 1 October 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 10 – 11pm and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	1939 – 40 Radio Remotes
Theme + Choppin’ Wood	Woody Herman Orchestra	The Famous Door WEAF NBC Red NY 7 Jan 1940
Dardenella	Paul Whiteman Orchestra	‘Chesterfield Show’ WABC CBS NY 25 Oct 1939
The Chinese Lullaby + Close	Teddy Powell Orchestra (voc) Jimmy Blair	The Famous Door WJSV Washington DC via WABC CBS NY 21 Sep 1939
Set 2	This Is Jazz 1947 Radio
Theme + St Louis Blues + Tin Roof Blues	Wild Bill Davison and more (voc) George Brunies	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NY 10 May 1947
Chocolate Bar	James P Johnson	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NY 17 May 1947
Blue Turning Gray Over You + I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling	Wild Bill Davison and more	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NY 17 May 1947
Set 3	Glenn Miller in German 1944
Long Ago and Far Away	Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Johnny Desmond	ABSIE American Broadcasting Station in Europe Abbey Road Studios London 30 Oct 1944
Body and Soul	Glenn Miller Orchestra	ABSIE American Broadcasting Station in Europe Abbey Road Studios London 27 Nov 1944
Poinciana	Glenn Miller Orchestra	ABSIE American Broadcasting Station in Europe Abbey Road Studios London 6 Nov 1944
Set 4	Dolly Dawn
The You and Me That Used To Be	George Hall Orchestra (voc) Dolly Dawn	‘Easy to Remember’ WABC CBS NY 1937
Dolly Dawn Speaks	Dolly Dawn	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 25 Aug 1941
Beethoven Wrote But It Swings	Dolly Dawn and her Dawn Patrol	Comm Rec 15 Feb 1939
52nd Street	George Hall Orchestra (voc) Dolly Dawn	‘Easy to Remember’ WABC CBS NY 1937
Set 5	Novelty Songs on 1930s-40s Radio
The Music Goes Round and Round	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (voc) Jack Teagarden	‘Paul Whiteman’s Musical Varieties’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 12 Jan 1936
Open The Door Richard	The Hit Paraders	‘Your Hit Parade’ WNBC NBC NY 1 Mar 1947
Swingin’ On A Star	Louis Armstrong Orchestra (voc) LA	‘Spotlight Bands’ Tuskagee Alabama AFRS Re-broadcast 5 Oct 1944
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah	Ginny Simms	‘Your Hit Parade’ WNBC NBC NY 1 Mar 1947
Set 6	Trad Bands on 1940s Radio
Ollie Outs In Free	Carl Ravazza Orchestra (voc) Carl Ravazza and Band	Radio Transcription 1942
Tain’t Me	Raymond Scott Orchestra (voc) Dorothy Collins	Radio Transcription 1944
Cancel the Flowers	Carl Ravazza Orchestra (voc) Carl Ravazza	Radio Transcription 1941
The Beard	Raymond Scott Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1944
Set 7	Cocoanut Grove 1931 – 32 Radio Transcriptions
Do The New York	Gus Arnheim Orchestra	Radio Transcription Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles 1931
Down Among the Sleepy Pines	Jimmie Grier Orchestra (voc) Jean Shark and the Three Ambassadors	Radio Transcription Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles 1932
Out of Nowhere	Gus Arnheim Orchestra (voc) Bing Crosby	‘MJB Coffee Revue’ KFI NBC Orange Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles 1931
I Know You’re Lying But I Love It	Jimmie Grier Orchestra (voc) Gogo DeLys and the Four Cheers	Radio Transcription Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles 1932
Set 8	Jazz Piano on Radio
Budo	Bud Powell	‘Symphony Sid Show’ WJZ ABC NY 7 Mar 1953
All The Things You Are	Thelonius Monk	Aircheck 1948
Cherokee	Art Tatum	Radio Transcription late 1940s
I’ll Remember April	Erroll Garner	Peacock Lane KFI NBC LA Mar 1957

Glenn Miller in German 1944 – Phantom Dancer 17 September 2019

This  week’s Phantom Dancer radio show with Greg Poppleton features a set of women jazz singers from 1950s radio and TV including Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Roche and Ella Fitzgerald. And the featured artist is the Glenn Miller Orchestra in German.

In just four years Glenn Miller scored 16 number-one records and 69 top ten hits—more than Elvis Presley (38 top 10s) and the Beatles (33 top 10s)

Miller received the first gold record for 1.2 million sales of Chattanoga Choo Choo in 1942.

Glenn Miller gold record 1942

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.

This week’s show can be heard over and over again online at radio 2ser.com

The last hour is all vinyl.

GERMAN GLENN MILLER

This description of the Glenn Miller German broadcasts is from “An Overview, from Glenn Miller Declassified” by Dennis M. Spragg © 2017, Potomac Books, University of Nebraska Press:

“A new venture in psychological warfare was the appearance of leading American entertainers and bands on Music for the Wehrmacht (Musik für die Wehrmacht), (over ABSIE, the American Broadcasting Station in Europe, based in London) for which William Klein wrote German-American continuity.

DER BINGLE

During September 1944 Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore recorded programs and standby (reserve) recordings during their tours of England and the Continent. The American Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (ABAEF) pianist Pvt. Jack Rusin accompanied Crosby, who was nicknamed “Der Bingle” by German troops listening to Music for the Wehrmacht. Irene Manning and Morton Downey followed them. Others appearing in the series during the latter third of 1944 were Marlene Dietrich, M1C Sam Donahue and the U. S. Navy Dance Band of the Allied Liberation Forces and even Spike Jones and his City Slickers.

Glenn Miller and the Andrew Sisters 1940

NEW ZEALAND

Musical projection of America was furthered notably by the appearance on Music for the Wehrmacht of musical programs with Maj. Glenn Miller and the ABAEF in a series of weekly broadcasts with German continuity. This series instantly became a highlight of the ABSIE schedule and received significantly favorable comment. Interesting evidence of the global audience for Music For The Wehrmacht was received when a listener from New Zealand reported in detail about one of the Glenn Miller broadcasts.

Glenn Miller and Irene Manning

DEATH THREATS

A female announcer identified as Ilse Weinberger hosted many of the Music for the Wehrmacht programs. In OWI photographs, Gloria Wagner is the announcer seen with Glenn Miller and others recording programs in this series. In addition to full-time announcer Wagner (who hosted other
programs) the ABSIE German Desk had two other staff members handle female announcing duties using the “Ilse” pseudonym. Among ABSIE’s well-known German voices was Gottfried “Golo” Mann, son of Thomas Mann and the reporter mentioned in these scripts. All of the ABSIE staff were American citizens and included SHAEF military and OWI civilian personnel. Wagner, Mann, ABSIE contributor Marlene Dietrich and other ABSIE on-air personnel were subject to enemy death threats.

WEHRMACHT MUSIK

Six complete episodes of Music for the Wehrmacht were recorded and broadcast by the ABAEF. Program 7 was scheduled for broadcast December 20, 1944 but only the start of the episode was recorded. Any additionally planned programs or repeats were cancelled following the announcement of Miller’s disappearance December 24, 1944.

Your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week this week is Episode 3 of the 1940s Republic Serial, Radar Men From the Moon:
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 Community Radio Network Show CRN #404
107.3 2SER Tuesday 17 September 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays  5 – 5:56pm + 23 stations across Australia
Set 1	Big Bands on Air From The Palladium Ballroom 1949-61
Let’s Dance	Benny Goodman Orchestra	’One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom LA AFRS Re-broadcast 22 Mar 1949
Walkin’	Harry James Orchestra	’One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom LA AFRS Re-broadcast 27 Nov 1959
It Took Ten Days Blues	Jerry Gary and His Band of Today	’One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom LA AFRS Re-broadcast 20 Jan 1961
Set 2	Strange and Wonderful 1938 – 1960 Radio Transcriptions
Theme + The Sound of Music	Felicia Saunders with Harry Sosnik and the Savings Bonds Orchestra	’Guest Star’ Radio Transcription New York City 3 Apr 1960
Theme + In A Little Spanish Town	The Master Radio Canaries	’Hartz Mountain Pet Food Canaries’ Radio Transcription Chicago 1949
I’m Wild About Horns on Automobiles	Hoosier Hot Shots	’Alka-Seltzer Radio Spot’ NBC Transcriptions, Chicago 1938
Set 3	1920s-30s Women Pop Singers
He’s So Unusual	Helen Kane	Comm Rec New York City 14 Jun 1929
I Can’t Write The Words	Mildred Hunt (voc) Philco Orchestra	’Philco Hour’ WABC CBS NY 1931
After You’ve Gone + Got A Bran’ New Suit	Kay Thompson (voc) Dodge Orchestra	’Dodge Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1935
Set 4	Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye on 1940s Radio
Theme + Kiss Me Sweet, Kiss Me Simple	Sammy Kaye Orchestra (voc) Laura Leslie and Don Cornell	’Chrysler Showroom’ Radio Transcription 1949
Swanee River	Sammy Kaye Orchestra	’One Night Stand’ Hotel Astor Roof New York City AFRS Re-broadcast 27 Aug 1945
So In Love + My Gal Sal + Theme	Sammy Kaye Orchestra (voc) Tony Alamo	’Chrysler Showroom’ Radio Transcription 1949
Set 5	Women Jazz Singers 1950s Radio & TV
Intro + Fine & Mellow	Billie Holliday	’The Sound of Jazz’ WCBS CBS TV NY 8 Dec 1957
My Gentleman Friend	Sarah Vaughan	’Concert Recording’ Apollo Theatre NY 17 Aug 1950
All Of Me	Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Betty Roche	Blue Note WMAQ NBC Chicago 30 Jul 1952
Ridin’ High	Ella Fitzgerald (voc) Benny Goodman Orchestra	’Texaco Swing Into Spring’ WRCA TV NBC NY 9 Apr 1958
Set 6	Cab Calloway on Live 1940s Radio From Cafe Zanzibar NYC
Do I Care? No, No	Cab Calloway Orchestra (voc) CC	Comm Rec New York City 18 Mar 1940
Minnie The Moocher (theme) + The Very Thought Of You	Cab Calloway Orchestra (voc) CC	’One Night Stand’ Cafe Zanzibar New York City AFRS Re-broadcast 22 Sep 1944
The More I See You	Cab Calloway Orchestra (voc) CC	’One Night Stand’ Cafe Zanzibar New York City AFRS Re-broadcast 10 Jul 1945
Lammar’s Boogie + Coastin’ With JC	Cab Calloway Orchestra	’One Night Stand’ Cafe Zanzibar New York City AFRS Re-broadcast 16 July 1946
Set 7	Early Radio Jazz and Dance
Blue Melody Blues	Tiny Parham and his Musicians	Comm Rec Chicago 1 Feb 1929
Me	Gus Arnheim Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman and Dave Marshall	’Cocoanut Grove’ Radio Transcription 1931
Happy Feet	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (voc) Bing Crosby and the Rhythm Boys, Brox Sisters	’King of Jazz’ Film Soundtrack 1929
Is It Spain + A Most Remarkable Girl	The Dixie Two-Steppers (voc) The Dixie Tenor	’Sunny Meadows Program’ Radio Transcription 1929
Set 8	Glenn Miller Broadcasting to Germany 1944
Intro + Here We Go Again	Glenn Miller AEF Orchestra	Radio Transcription American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) Abbey Road Studios London Oct-Nov 1944
Now I Know	Glenn Miller AEF Orchestra (voc) Johnny Desmond	Radio Transcription New York City 1939
Begin the Beguine	Glenn Miller AEF Orchestra (voc) Irene Manning	Radio Transcription American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) Abbey Road Studios London Oct-Nov 1944
Great Day + Close	Glenn Miller AEF Orchestra	Radio Transcription American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) Abbey Road Studios London Oct-Nov 1944

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