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

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

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

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

The last hour is all vinyl.

Sauter-Finegan Orchestra

SAUTER – FINEGAN

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

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

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

June Christie singing with the Stan Kenton Orchestra

STAN KENTON

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

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

Billy May, sousaphone

BILLY MAY

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

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

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

LOOK AT THIS 1930s DRUM KIT

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

14 APRIL PLAY LIST

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

The Magic Key – Phantom Dancer 4 December 2018

HIGH ART AND PARODY

One of the more ambitious US radio shows of the 1930s was NBC Blue Network’s ‘The Magic Key of RCA’, ‘unlocking a world of entertainment’, as announcer Milton J Cross would intone. It was a show that featured opera, symphony, critique, comedy, swing and hillbilly and was ‘Hi-Brow’. Parodying that show from 1940 was NBC Blue’s ‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’, ‘showcasing the 3 B’s – barrelhouse, boogie woogie and the blues’. It was ‘Lo-Brow’. For a short time in 1944, it too was narrated by Milton J Cross. We hear these shows side-by-side on this week’s Phantom Dancer with Greg Poppleton.

PHANTOM DANCER

The Phantom Dancer is your non-stop swing and jazz mix of live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week. I’ve been bringing you The Phantom Dancer on radio 2SER, and now online, since 1985.

Hear this week’s Phantom Dancer (after Nov 20) and past Phantom Dancers at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney

MAGIC KEY

The Magic Key of RCA ran on NBC’s Blue Network from 29 September 29 1935 till 18 September 1939.

NBC used this quality program to demonstrate the cultural contribution radio could make. This is made clear in Milton Cross’s script on the Magic Key mix from 1937 and 1938 I’m presenting for you this week.

From 1938, they also used the show to promote RCA TV.

It is also made clear from the shows’s content I’m presenting to you this week – a recitation by one of the great Shakespearean actors, Eva Le Gallienne, an announcement for a Magic Key Eugene Goosens concert and two selections by RCA Victor recording artist, Fats Waller.

PRE-INTERNET CALLOUT

We’ll also hear a curious and successful proto-internet reach-out over radio for a rare magazine by literary critic, Alexander Woolcott.

We hear the story of this pre-Facebook call-out, it’s success and his thank you. Fascinating.

STARS

Performers who appeared on The Magic Key include Fats Waller, Benny Goodman, Ray Noble, Ruth Etting, Rudolf Ganz, Casper Reardon, Paul Robeson, Eddie Green, Jane Froman, Rudy Vallée, Irving Berlin, Darryl Zanuck, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Sonja Henie, Tyrone Power, Paul Whiteman, Efrem Zimbalist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Eleanor Roosevelt, Vienna Boys’ Choir, Gladys Swarthout, Guy Lombardo, Richard Himber, Eugene Ormandy, Lauritz Melchior, Fred MacMurray, Walt Disney and the Pickens Sisters.

CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LOWER BASIN STREET

The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street was something of a parody on The Magic Key and started on the Blue Network in 1940. It ran until 1944 but was revived on NBC from 1950-52 including one half-hour TV show. A broadcast from 1952 is your Phantom Dancer video of the week.

Radio Life magazine described The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street as ‘one of radio’s strangest offsprings… a wacky, strictly hep tongue-in-cheek burlesque of opera and symphony.’

It made an unknown regular vocalist named Dinah Shore a national recording and radio star.

Two resident bands provided the jazz and swing music. They were,
– Henry Levine (a former member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band) and His Dixieland Octet offered traditional ‘readings’ of jazz standards;
– Paul Laval and His Woodwind Ten played the same type of music on more symphonic instruments, showing that such instruments as oboe, bassoon and celeste were equally capable of producing hot jazz. In 1943, Laval changed his surname to ‘Lavalle’ to avoid association with French fascist leader, Pierre Laval.

Each week the show would feature a notable guest from the jazz world. There were appearances by W.C. Handy, Eddie Condon, Lionel Hampton, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Bobby Hackett, Count Basie, Benny Carter and this week, Stuff Smith.

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week a transcripton of the 19 April 1952 show with host Orson Bean.

4 DECEMBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #343
107.3 2SER Tuesday 4 December 2018 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) National Program: ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm and early morning on 24 other stations.
Set 1	Radio in 1930
Open + Sweeter Than Sweet	Studio Orchestra	WENR and W9XF Chicago 1930
Dancing to Save Your Sole	Philco Orchestra	‘Philco Hour’ WABC CBS NY 1930
Blue Skies + Bye Bye Blues + My Future Just Passed + I Love You So Much	Philco Orchestra (voc) Kent Sisters	‘Philco Hour’ WABC CBS NY 1930
Set 2	Magic Key 1937-38
Open + The Merchant of Venice, Portia’s Scene Act 1	Eva La Gallion	‘The Magic Key of RCA’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 17 Apr 1938
Rare Book Call-Out Story	Alexander Woolcott	‘The Magic Key of RCA’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 17 Apr 1938
Hallelujah + A Thousand Dreams of You + Close	Fats Waller and his Victor Recording Orchestra	‘The Magic Key of RCA’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 7 Jan 1937
Set 3	Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street
Open + Running Wild	Paul Laval Woodwinds	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 19 Nov 1941
Lanterns on the Levee	Diane Courtney	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 19 Nov 1941
My Blue Heaven	Stuff Smith	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 19 Nov 1941
Set 4	Rock’n’Roll Dance Party
Pushin’ + Taylor Made	sam ‘The Man’ Taylor Orchestra	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 4 Sep 1956
Ring Ding Dilly + Candy	Big Maybelle	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 4 Sep 1956
See Saw + Close	The Moonglows	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 4 Sep 1956
Set 5	Dance Bands on 1930s Radio
Goody Goodbye	Sterling Young Orchestra (voc) Bobbie Ennis	Radio Transcription Chicago 1939
Us on a Bus	Guy Lombardo Orchestra (voc) Trio	‘Esso Boulevarde’ WABC CBS NY 13 Mar 1936
Open + Amour	Isham Jones Orchestra	WOR Mutual NYC 13 Mar 1936
42nd Street + When Summer Is Gone (theme)	Hal Kemp Orchestra	‘Lavena Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1934
Set 6	Glenn Miller Broadcasting in German 1944
In The Mood (theme) + Star Dust	Glenn Miller Orchestra	‘Wehrmacht Hour’ ABSIE (American Broadcasting Station in Europe) London Nov 1944
Begin the Beguine	Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Irene Manning	‘Wehrmacht Hour’ ABSIE (American Broadcasting Station in Europe) London Nov 1944
Long Ago and Far Away	Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Johnny Desmond	‘Wehrmacht Hour’ ABSIE (American Broadcasting Station in Europe) London Nov 1944
Little Brown Jug + Cherokee (close)	Glenn Miller Orchestra	‘Wehrmacht Hour’ ABSIE (American Broadcasting Station in Europe) London Nov 1944
Set 7	Tommy Dorsey on 1940s Radio
I’m Getting Sentimental Over You (theme) + On The Sunnyside of the Street	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ 400 Club New York City AFRS Re-broadcast 30 Sep 1945
You’re Driving Me Crazy	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) The Sentimentalists	‘Spotlight Bands’ Blue Network 29 Jan 1945
Just As Though You Were Here	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	‘Raleigh-Kool Show’ Washington DC 18 Aug 1942
Well Get It	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Mutual Network 5 Dec 1945
Set 8	Charlie Parker 1940s Bop Records
Max is Making Wax	Charlie Parker	Comm Rec Los Angeles 29 Jul 1946
Shaw Nuff	Charlie Parker	Comm Rec NYC 11 May 1945
Dark Shadows	Charlie Parker	Comm Rec Hollywood 19 Feb 1947
Barbados	Charlie Parker	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NYC 1949

Ferde Grofe Seeking Music Rather Than Fame – 6 November Phantom Dancer

RISING ABOVE

There are people who go out of their way to ruin another person’s career.

This week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist, Ferde Grofe, was a target of such abuse. He rose above it. The U.S composer, arranger, pianist and electronic music pioneer sought music rather than fame. You mightn’t know his name. You’ll certainly know his music. Here’s his story…

PHANTOM DANCER

The Phantom Dancer, with Greg Poppleton, is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week. It’s been on 2SER since 1985, thanks to your financial support in 33 subscriber drives.

And over those years, Greg Poppleton and The Phantom Dancer have inspired musicians, painters, film, TV and theatre creatives.

Listen on-air every Tuesday 12:04-2:00pm AEST (+11 GMT) and online

See this week’s full play list and video of the week below.

The last hour of the live mix is all vinyl.

FERDE GROFE

was born into a family with four generations of classical musicians.

Piano was his favourite instrument, but he also played viola, violin, baritone horn, alto horn and cornet. As a teenager he played in dance bands and brass bands. He later played violin in the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra.

Ferde arranged music and composed. He received his first composing commission at age 17.

PAUL WHITEMAN

Grofe joined the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, ‘the King of Jazz’, in 1920 as a jazz pianist and arranger. (Incidentally, on this week’s Phantom Dancer you’ll hear Paul’s daughter, Loyce Whiteman, singing with Gus Arnheim in Cocoanut Grove Radio Transcriptions from 1931.)

His most important arrangement for the Whiteman band was for the 1924 debut of George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’. He transformed Gershwin’s two piano piece into an orchestral masterpiece. In fact, Grofe’s 1942 arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue is the one most often heard today.

THE PRIME MINISTER OF JAZZ

In 1932, The New York Times called Grofe ‘the Prime Minister of Jazz’, since his boss, Whiteman was ‘the King of Jazz’.

1932 was also the year Grofe left the Whiteman Orchestra.

Whiteman then tried to ruin Grofe’s career. First he created union problems for Grofe, then he slandered Grofe to the New York based advertisers who booked orchestras for the radio shows. He insinuated that Grofe was a sub-standard conductor and booking him would lower the quality of their programs.

RADIO

Whiteman’s rumours stymied Grofe’s career for over a year. He couldn’t get radio work so his management sent him on a conducting tour of B-grade orchestras.

However, one of his compositions did get aired in that first year, on band leader Nat Shilkret’s ‘His Masters Voice on the Air’ radio transcription series for RCA Victor. That was ‘On The Trail’, from Grofe’s famous ‘Grand Canyon Suite’. It became Grofe’s musical signature.

(Shilkret had also introduced a Grofe number on his Shilkret Novelties radio show the previous year when Grofe was still with Whiteman. That song was Mardi Gras, from Grofe’s Mississippi Suite.)

Grofe did end up getting gigs conducting radio orchestras throughout the 1930s, but they were all short term contracts.

Of relevance to this week’s Phantom Dancer is Grofe’s stint for ‘The Ford V-8 Revue’ in 1939.

Grofe was also hired by Ford in 1939 to be their orchestra leader for the New York World’s Fair. Grofe wrote his suite ‘Wheels’ for Ford. We’ll hear the ‘Bicycle’ movement from ‘Wheels’ on this week’s The Phantom Dancer.

Whiteman also commissioned Grofe to write music for the New York World Fair. Grofe’s compositions were Trylon and Perisphere, two futuristic buildings at the Fair.

NBC staff arranger, conductor and musical director (in the 1930s-40s) Tom Bennett credited Grofe with being one of the three great innovators in the history of orchestration along with Berlioz and Rimsky-Korsakov. Bennett wrote this in his article ‘Arranging Music for Radio’ for the book ‘Music in Radio Broadcasting’ by Gilbert Chase.

Grofe was hired by Ford in 1939 to be their orchestra leader for the New York World’s Fair. Grofe wrote his suite ‘Wheels’ for the Ford Dealers of America. We’ll hear the ‘Bicycle’ movement from ‘Wheels’ on this week’s The Phantom Dancer. Whiteman also commissioned Grofe to write music for the New York World Fair. His compositions were Trylon and Perisphere, two futuristic buildings at the Fair.

I’ve listed Grofe’s suites, many for corporate clients below.

ELECTRONIC MUSIC

The Hammond Company asked Grofe in 1938 to conduct and arrange for ‘The New World Ensemble’ of four Novachords (electronic keyboards) and a solo Hammond organ.

He was reluctant at first to conduct a quintet after conducting symphony orchestras, but realised he’d be introducing a new way of expressing music to the world, so he accepted.

The Novochord was not a commercial success, but his involvement in writing and being spokesman for the instrument whetted Grofe’s interest in elctronica.

In the 1950s, Grofe became ‘the sound of Mars’ writing mainly science fiction film scores for novochord and theremin. The most famous example is the soundtrack for the 1950 classic ‘Rocketship X-M’ starring Lloyd Bridges.

Grofe continued writing and playing music up till his death in 1972.

CORPORATE SUITES

Some of Grofe’s corporate music and other curios works include:

Broadway at Night (1924)
Mississippi Suite (Tone Journey) (1925)
Theme and Variations on Noises from a Garage (1925)
Three Shades of Blue (1927)
Metropolis: a Fantasy in Blue (1928)
Free Air (1928)
Grand Canyon Suite (1931)
Knute Rockne (1931) tone poem
Tabloid Suite: Four Pictures of a Modern Newspaper (1933)
A Day At The Farm, for orchestra (1934–1935)
A Symphony in Steel (1935)
Madison Square Garden Suite (1930s)
Rudy Vallee Suite (1937)
Kentucky Derby Suite (1938)
Trylon and Perisphere for the New York World’s Fair of 1939–40
Wheels (1939) dedicated to the Ford dealers of America
An American Biography (1939–1940) about Henry Ford and dedicated to him
Six Pictures of Hollywood (1940)
Aviation Suite (1944)
Hudson River Suite (1955)
Dawn at Lake Mead, for orchestra (1956)
Valley of the Sun Suite (1957)
Yellowstone Suite (1960)
San Francisco Suite (1960)
Niagara Falls Suite (1961)
World’s Fair Suite (1964)
Hawaiian Suite (1965)
Requiem for a Ghost Town (1968)

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week features Ferde Grofe’s ‘Aviation Suite’ (1944) recorded by an orchestra directed by Grofe.

1- Take Off (4.03)
2- Hostess (4.58)
3- Clouds (4.13)
4- Motor City (4.33)

6 NOVEMBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #340
107.3 2SER Tuesday 6 November 2018 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) National Program: ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm and early morning on 24 other stations.
Set 1	Women Singers on the Ait
Intro + I Love You	Frances Langford	‘Mail Call’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
You Belong To My Heart	Trudy Irwin (voc) Ray Noble Orchestra	‘By Request’ KNX CBS LA 13 Jun 1945
Don’t You Know I Care?	Phyllis Miles (voc) Frankie Masters Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Cedar Rapids Ia Blue Network Jan 1945
Set 2	1940s Radio Dance Bands
The Girl With The Light Blue Hair	Benny Kruger	WOR Mutual New York City 28 Apr 1940
Caldonia	Enoch Light and his Light Brigade	‘One Night Stand’ New Park Casino Palisades Park NJ AFRS Re-broadcast 1944
Bottoms Up	Harry Owens Orchestra	‘Songs of the Islands’ AFRS Hollywwod 1944
Set 3	Count Basie 1956 Rock Radio
One O’Clock Jump (theme) + Perdido	Count Basie Orchestra + Low Light + Beaver Junction	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 2 Jun 1956
Right Now, Right Now + Teeners’ Canteen	Big Al Sears	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 2 Jun 1956
Send Me Someone To Love	Joe Williams (voc) Count Basie Orchestra	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 2 Jun 1956
Set 4	Ferde Grofe on the Wireless
(theme) + Bicylcles (Wheels Suite)	Ferde Grofe Orchestra	‘Ford V-8 Revue’ Radio Transcription New York City 1939
Daybreak	James Melton (voc) Al Goodman Orchestra	‘James Melton Show’ WABC CBS NY 1946
(closing theme)	Ferde Grofe Orchestra	‘Ford V-8 Revue’ Radio Transcription New York City 1939
Set 5	1940s Swing Band Radio
Rags to Riches	Buddy Rich Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Quonset, Rhode Island Mutual Network 25 Jan 1946
I Wish I Didn’t Love You So	Raymond Scott Orchestra (voc) Dorothy Collins	Rose Room Palace Hotel KQW CBS San Francisco Sep 1947
Lucky Number	Artie Shaw Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ San Diego Ca Blue Network 12 Sep 1945
Perdido + Boogie Woogie Jamboree	Bob Strong Orchestra	Glen Island Casino New Rochelle NY WOR Mutual NY 2 Sep 1944
Set 6	Eddie Condon Jazz Concerts 1944
D.A. Blues	Eddie Condon Group	‘Eddie Condon Town Hall Jazz Concert’ WJZ Blue NY 1944
Rosetta + Memphis Blues	Eddie Condon Group	‘Eddie Condon Town Hall Jazz Concert’ WJZ Blue NY 23 Sep 1944
Black and Blue	Eddie Condon Group	‘Eddie Condon Town Hall Jazz Concert’ WJZ Blue NY 1944
Impromptu Ensemble	Eddie Condon Group	‘Eddie Condon Town Hall Jazz Concert’ WJZ Blue NY 9 Sep 1944
Set 7	Cocoanut Grove Transcriptions 1931-32
Music in the Moonlight (theme) + Stardust	Jimmy Grier Orchestra (voc) Donald Novis	Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles Radio Transcription 1932
St Louis Blues	Gus Arnheim Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman	Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles Radio Transcription 1931
Sugar	Jimmy Grier Orchestra	Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles Radio Transcription 1932
It’s Love	Gus Arnheim Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman	Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles Radio Transcription 1931
Set 8	Jazz Trumpet Stars
High Hat, Trumpet and Rhythm	Valaida Snow (voc and tp)	Comm Rec London 6 Sep 1936
Open + New York Blues	Harry James Orchestra	Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1949
Trinidad	Erskine Hawkins Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Blue Room Hotel Lincoln NY AFRS Re-broadcast 1 May 1946
52 Street Theme	Miles Davis (tp) Charlie Parker (as) Tadd Dameron (piano) Curley Russell (b) Max Roach (d)	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 4 Sep 1948

Greg Poppleton October Newsletter

OCTOBER NEWS

1. See Greg next
– Penrith RSL 2-5pm Sat 10 Nov
– Unanderra Hotel 3-6pm Sat 12 Jan
– Jazz at the Pines 12:30-4pm Sun 17 March

2. The Gin Mill Social is back!
Two shows only Thurs 15 Nov and Thurs 13 Dec.
Book now

3. We’re back at the Sydney Lord Mayor’s Seniors’ Christmas Party at Sydney Town Hall. Invitation only.

4. Sydney Rowers drops Sunday Jazz.

5. 2SER Phantom Dancer radio show Subscriber Drive this month. See this week’s play list. Greg Poppleton’s weekly non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV.

6. Recording finished for next album.

7. Chill Mix on YouTube passes 1, 113,000 YouTube views…

GREG’S TIP-TOP TIP #2
Consider your event type

Weddings, parties and corporate events usually call for a band. Some types of events may justify booking the band in different combinations. For example a duo or trio from the band could open the event or play for cocktails, with the larger band or orchestra closing the evening for dancing.

SEPTEMBER PHOTOS

Entertaining at a corporate event

Audience mingling at corporate event. The Greg Poppleton trio creates 1920s background music

PHANTOM DANCER RADIO SHOW – LATEST PLAY LIST

Greg Poppleton brings you
swing, jazz & dance from live 1920s-60s radio every week.

Listen online now and any time at 2ser.com
Heard on 24 radio stations across Australia.

2 OCTOBER PHANTOM DANCER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #335
107.3 2SER Tuesday 2 October 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 24 other stations.
Set 1	Sweet Bands on 1944-45 Radio
Open + On The Sunny Side of the Street	Ted Straeter Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Apr 1945
Blues Concerto	Jerry Wald Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ AFRS Re-broadcast 28 Oct 1955
Dark Eyes + Close	Billy Bishop Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Trianon Ballroom, Chicago AFRS Re-broadcast 1945
Set 2	Dixieland Club
Open + Copenhagen	Preacher Rollo and the Five Saints	‘Dixieland Club’ AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Sep 1951
Canadian Capers	Marie Marcus	‘Dixieland Club’ AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Sep 1951
Bye Bye Blackbird + Close	Preacher Rollo and the Five Saints	‘Dixieland Club’ AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Sep 1951
Set 3	Modern Jazz on 1951-60 Radio
Theme + No Name Number One	Gilbert Lacombe	‘Jazz du Canada’ Radio Canada Montreal 1960
I Had The Craziest Dream	Helen Forrest	‘The Navy Swings’ Radio Transcription 1959
Golden Bullet + One O’Clock Jump (close)	Count Basie Septet	‘Stars on Parade’ Radio Transcription 1951
Set 4	Bop Clarinet
Swedish Pastry	Stan Hasselgard (cl 2nd solo) Benny Goodman Sextet	Westchester County Centre White Plains NY WNEW NYC 26 Jun 1948
Open + Undercurrent Blues	Benny Goodman Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Hollywood Palladium AFRS Re-broadcast 28 Mar 1949
The Squirrel	Buddy deFranco (cl) Miles Davis (tp)	‘All-Star Jazz Session’ WPIX TV NYC 17 Jan 1949
Set 5	Harry James on 1940s-50s Radio
In The Still of the Night	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Paula Gilbert	Radio Transcription 1954
Temptation	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Ginny Powell	‘One Night Stand’ Meadowbrook Gardens Culver City Ca AFRS Re-broadcast 10 Feb 1946
Open + How High The Moon?	Harry James Orchestra	‘Call For Music’ KNX CBS LA 1948
Till I Waltz With You Again	Harry James Orchestra (voc) April Ames	‘One Night Stand’ Hotel Astor Roof NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 25 May 1953
Set 6	1936 Jazz Radio
Lazy Bones	Claude Hopkins Orchestra (voc) Fred Norman	Radio Transcription New York City 1936
Inspiration Tango	Isham Jones Orchestra	WOR Mutual Network NYC 13 Mar 1936
Weary Blues	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	‘Ford V-8 Show’ Texas Centennial Exposition CBS Dallas TX Aug 1936
St Louis Blues	Jack Teagarden (tb) Paul Whiteman Orchestra	‘Paul Whiteman’s Musical Varieties’ WJZ NBC Blue New York City 16 Feb 1936
Set 7	Women Singers Part 2
Rocking Chair (theme) + Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone + I’ll Never Be The Same	Mildred Bailey	‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NY 1944
As Long As I’m Dreaming	Peggy Lee	‘Peggy Lee Show’ KNX CBS LA 1948
Mad About The Boy	Lena Horne	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
Chewin’ Gum + I Wanna Be A Rug Cutter	Ella Fitzgerald	Savoy Ballroom WEAF NBC Red NY 4 Mar 1940
Set 8	1940s-1950s Mod Radio
Bebop	Howard McGee Sextet	AFRS Hollywood 29 Apr 1947
Poor Little Rich Girl	Claude Thornhill Orchestra (arr. Gerry Mulligan)	‘One Night Stand’ Steel Pier Atlantic City NJ AFRS Re-broadcast 24 Apr 1956
Jam Seesion Blues	Ivie Anderson (voc) Joe Turner (voc) Johnny Otis Orchestra , Miguelito Valdez and his Cuban Rhythm	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Oct 1945

Spike Jones and his City Slickers – Phantom Dancer 24 July

The Phantom Dancer – a weekly radio mixtape of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV produced and presented by authentic 1920s-30s singer, Greg Poppleton.

Greg has presented the multi-award winning Phantom Dancer on 107.3 2SER Sydney since 1985. It is now heard on 23 radio stations and online.

Check it out https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

See the play list for this week’s Phantom Dancer below. This week’s mixtape has a special broadcast recording by Spike Jones and his City Slickers of ‘F-B-Aida’ a send-up of Verdi’s famous opera.

SPIKE JONES

Was a U.S drummer, percussionist and bandleader most famous for his parodies of popular tunes on record, radio and TV in the 1940s and 1950s.

These parodies were performed by his City Slickers. He also ran a serious orchestra playing lush arrangements of pop songs called the ‘Other Orchestra’.

Spike Jones took up drums at age 11. A railway restaurant chef taught him how to use objects like pots and pans as percussion. This skill got him onto popular radio shows in the 1930s as a comic percussionist. But he was also a dance band drummer and studio musician.

In fact, he was the drummer on the original version of the biggest selling record of all time, ‘White Christmas’ sung by Bing Crosby.

BORED

Tired of playing the same music every night for radio orchestras, Jones and like-minded musicians got together playing send-ups of popular ditties which they recorded to amuse their wives. One recording found its way to the offices of RCA Victor which offered the parody band a contract.

Their first record was Der Fuehrer’s Face which became a huge hit.

They starred in their own radio show between 1945 and 1949, and in their own NBC and CBS television shows from 1954 to 1961.

On this week’s Phantom Dancer, we hear Spike Jones and his City Slickers live on 1949 radio.

And for your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week, marvel at the City Slickers live on 1950s TV sending up ‘That Ol’ Black Magic’.

Bill Barty, who performed in film and TV up until his death in 2000, sings in the style of James Cagney, Jimmy Durante and finishes with Johnny Ray.

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #323
107.3 2SER Tuesday 24 July 2018 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
Set 1
Theme + Manhattan Spiritual	Jerry Gray and his Band of Today	‘One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom AFRTS Re-broadcast 30 Oct 1959
Redskin Rhumba (theme) + Murder at Peyton Hall	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Casino Gardens Ocean Park Ca AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Jan 1947
Dancing Tambourine + Close	Henry Russell Orchestra	‘Let’s Dance’ KFI NBC LA 1948
Set 2
Rollin’ Home	Ray Anthony Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler NY AFRS Re-broadcast 11 Jan 1952
Daahoud	Max Roach – Clifford Brown Quartet	Basin Street WCBS CBS NY 6 May 1956
Lover Come Back To Me + Close	Stan Getz Quartet	Basin Street WCBS CBS NY 21 Apr 1956
Set 3
Goodbye Sue	Perry Como (voc) Benny Goodman Orchestra	‘For The Record’ WEAF NBC NY 1944
Love Is A Simple Thing	Sauter-Finnegan Orchestra (voc) Andy Roberts and Sally Sweetland	‘The All-Star Parade of Bands’ Blue Note WMAQ NBC Chicago 12 Sep 1953
I Get a Kick Out of You + Close	Sarah Vaughan	‘Stars in Jazz’ Birdland WNBC NBC NY 21 Apr 1952
Set 4
I Found a New Baby	Ralph Sutton All-Stars	Club Hangover KCBS CBS SF 7 Sep 1954
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love + Close	Harry Sosnick and the Savings Bonds Orchestra	‘Guest Star – Dixieland Clambake’ Radio Transcription New York 1951
Runnin’ Wild + Close	Chris Barber Jazz Band	‘Traditional Jazz’ BBC Light Programme London AFRTS Rebroadcast 9 May 1955
Set 5
Forgotten	Harry James Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom KNX CBS LA 1949
Oh! What a Beautiful Morning	Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra	Casino Gardens Ocean Park Ca KECA ABC LA 19 Sep 1946
I’ll Get By	Woody Herman Orchestra (voc) WH	‘Woody Herman Show’ Jun 1946
Daily Double	Buddy Rich Orchestra	Aircheck Los Angeles Mar 1946
Set 6
‘Buck Benny Rides Again’	Jack Benny	‘Hollywood is on the Air’ Buck Benny Rides Again Trailer Radio Transcription Hollywood 1940
F-B-Aida	Spike Jones and the City Slickers	‘The Spike Jones Show’ CBS 25 Jun 1949
Set 7
Jeepers Creepers	Paul Whiteman Orchestra	‘Paul Whiteman Show’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 7 Dec 1938
Open + Huckleberry Duck	Raymond Scott Orchestra	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red NY 1940
Diga Diga Doo	Bob Crosby Orchestra	‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS NY 18 Jul 1939
Day In Day Out + Merry-Go-Round	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Southland Cafe WNAC NBC Boston 9 Jan 1940
Set 8
Manteca	Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra	Winter Palace Stockholm Radio Sweden 2 Feb 1948
Be Bop Boogie	Lester Young Quintet	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 4 Dec 1948
How High The Moon	Allen Eager	Birdland WJZ ABC NY Jun 1953
Bye Bye Blues	Benny Goodman Sextet	‘One Night Stand’ The Click Philadelphia AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Jun 1948

27 March Phantom Dancer – Bunny Berigan and How Disease Effects Legacy

It never ceases to amaze me how disease can over-shadow the brilliant legacy of a person’s life. How much ‘expert’ blather was there about Stephen Hawking’s motor neurone disease as an excuse to avoid explaining and understanding his discoveries in physics? It’s belittling and disrespectful.

Louis Armstrong’s favourite trumpet player was Bunny Berigan. We’ll be hearing radio broadcasts by Bunny Berigan on this week’s The Phantom Dancer.

Even today, seventy years after his death, he is still considered to have been one of the top trumpet players in jazz.

But what I find additionally interesting is how his legacy has been marred by the alcoholism that affected the inventiveness of his playing in the latter part of his short thirty-three years and which ultimately killed him through cirrhosis of the liver.

On this week’s Phantom Dancer you’ll also hear a set of live vintage radio by Dave Brubeck, Jack Teagarden and women singers with their own radio shows – Lee Wiley, Peggy Lee, Dinah Show and Mildred Bailey.

 

THE PHANTOM DANCER is two hours of non-stop swing and jazz mixed from live 1920s – 1960s radio and TV by Greg Poppleton, Australia’s only authentic 1920s-1930s singer www.gregpoppletonmusic.com

Broadcast 12:04pm Tuesdays 107.3 2SER Sydney then over 22 radio stations and online.

HEAR The Phantom Dancer live-streamed and afterwards online on the Radio 2SER website. http://www.2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

HOW DISEASE EFFECTS LEGACY

When jazz musicians talk about Bunny Berigan, his alcoholism always comes up.

‘What might have been had he not drank?’, is usually the most positive musing. But to me, from a music perspective, his illness should have no bearing on his legacy. Surely it’s his trumpet playing and technique that’s important, the music played, the songs composed, the landmark recordings made. Louis Armstrong praised Bunny Berigan’s trumpet sound and jazz ideas both before and after Berigan’s death.

I have known jazz musicians, world-touring, who’ve died after long illnesses. They kept their illnesses private, performing to the very end. Even though everyone knew they were terminally ill, the particulars of their illnesses were never discussed. These musicians had the luxury and the determination to never be defined by their disease. Nowadays, when people talk about them, they talk about their music, the good times and their positive legacy. How they died, their disease, and their substance abuse (in one case) are irrelevancies.

However, other jazz musicians I have known, have had deaths after long, debilitating illnesses during which time it was impossible to perform. Others have died suddenly – a heart attack, an overdose, a bleed. Always, these musicians are discussed in terms of their deaths, their creative life work overshadowed by the fabula of their failing health or their fatal surprise.

I guess it’s easier to talk about sickness and death than music. The musical process is a specialist field. Feeling poorly and falling off the perch is something on which everyone has an expert opinion.

BUNNY BERIGAN…
…was the stage name of Roland Bernard Berigan.

He composed, sang, and most famously was a brilliant trumpet player. Of his compositions, we’ll hear a live recording of one, ‘Chicken and Waffles’, from a live 1936 radio broadcast on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

He was best known for his virtuoso jazz trumpeting. His 1937 classic recording of a song from a flop music, ‘I Can’t Get Started’ (which we’ll also hear in two live 1930s versions on this week’s Phantom Dancer) was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975. ‘I Can’t Get Started’ was Berigan’s radio theme when he launched his own band in 1937.

Bunny Berigan had learnt violin and trumpet and was playing in local bands by his mid-teens. In 1930 he joined the Hal Kemp Orchestra and soon came to notice. He became a sought-after studio musician in New York as well as playing in the orchestras of Freddy Rich, Freddy Martin, Ben Selvin, Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman. In fact, Goodman’s manager only got ‘that ace drummer man’ Gene Krupa to join the band by telling him Berigan was already on board.

After leaving Goodman, Berigan began to record regularly under his own name and to back singers such as Bing Crosby, Mildred Bailey, and Billie Holiday. We’ll hear him this week with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in early 1937. His solo on ‘Marie’ became one of his signature performances. We’ll hear a 1940 radio version. And, of course, a critic describing Berigan’s trumpet on the 1940 show had to bring up his alcoholism.

After leaving Goodman, Berigan began to record regularly under his own name and to back singers such as Bing Crosby, Mildred Bailey, and Billie Holiday. We’ll hear him this week with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in early 1937. His solo on ‘Marie’ became one of his signature performances. We’ll hear a 1940 radio version. And, of course, a critic describing Berigan’s trumpet on the 1940 show had to bring up his alcoholism.

MUSICAL ADVICE FROM BERIGAN
And instrumentalists PLEASE TAKE NOTE. There’s nothing more irritating to a singer than an instrumentalist taking too much air during the singer’s solo, or cramping the singer’s freedom of expression by trying to steer the improvisation…

Your Phantom Dancer Bunny Berrigan singing and playing trumpet on ‘Until Today’ with Freddy Rich’s Orchestra in 1936 . Enjoy!

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #308 107.3 2SER Tuesday 20 March 2018 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) National Program: ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm and early morning on 22 other stations. Set 1 Swing on 1940s Radio Theme + Girl of My Dreams Randy Brooks Orchestra ‘One Night Stand’ Roseland Ballroom NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 17 Nov 1945 K.C. Caboose + Are You Happy? John Kirby Sextet ‘One Night Stand’ Aquarium Restaurant NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 18 Jul 1944 They Didn’t Believe Me + Blue Moon (Close) Eliot Lawrence Orchestra ‘One Night Stand’ Roseland Ballroom NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 26 Jul 1945 Set 2 Big Bands on 1950s Radio Theme + I’m Walking Johnny Richards Orchestra ‘ABC Dancing Party’ Birdland WABC ABC NYC 1957 If I Had You Ted Heath Orchestra ‘International Bandstand’ London NBC/BBC 2 Mar 1959 It’s All In The Game Ray Anthony Orchestra ‘One Night Stand’ Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania AFRS Re-broadcast 1952 Set 3 Bing Crosby Radio Open + Pistol Packin’ Mama Bing Crosby ‘Kraft Music Hall’ KFI NBC LA 16 Dec 1943 Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra Bing Crosby ’Philco Radio Time’ KECA ABC LA 19 Nov 1947 Ukulele Lady + Green Grow The Lilacs + Close Bing Crosby + Rosemary Clooney (2nd song) ’Bing Crosby-Rosemary Clooney Show’ KNX CBS LA 19 Oct 1961 Set 4 Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street Open + Dixieland One-Step Henry Levine Octet ‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 1 Sep 1941 O Sussanah Diane Courtney ‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 1 Sep 1941 Cheery-Beery-Bee The Tune Toppers ‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 1 Sep 1941 Dangerous Mood Paul Lavalle Woodwinds ‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 1 Sep 1941 Set 5 Trombonist Jack Teagarden Announcer’s Blues Paul Whiteman Orchestra ‘Paul Whiteman’s Music Varieties’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 19 jan 1936 Mr Jessie Jack Teagarden Orchestra Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Chicago 22 Nov 1941 You Took Advantage of Me + Tea For Two + Close The Three T’s (Jack and Charlie Teagarden and Frank Trambauer) Hickory House WEAF NBC Red NY 9 Dec 1936 (1936 Home Recording) Wolverine Blues + Close Jack Teagarden Orchestra Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Chicago 27 Dec 1941 Set 6 Women Singers With Their Own Radio shows Somebody Loves Me Peggy Lee ‘Peggy Lee Show’ KNX CBS LA 1947 Beg Your Pardon Dinah Shore ‘Dinah Shore Show’ KNX CBS LA 4 May 1948 Too Good To Be True Lee Wiley ‘Lee Wiley Sings’ WABC CBS NY 1 Jul 1936 Summertime Mildred Bailey ‘Mildred Bailey Show’ WABC CBS NY 12 Jan 1945 Set 7 Bunny Berigan I Can’t Get Started (theme) + Organ Grinder’s Swing Bunny Berigan Orchestra ‘Norge Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1937 I Can’t Get Started (theme) + Ay, Ay, Ay Bunny Berigan Orchestra Manhattan Centre WNEW NY 26 Sep 1939 Marie Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (Bunny Berigan tp feature) Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ WABC CBS NY 9 Mar 1940 Runnin’ Wild + Chicken and Waffles Bunny Berigan Orchestra ‘Saturday Night Swing Club’ WABC CBS NY 31 Oct 1936 Set 8 Dave Brubeck This Can’t Be Love Dave Brubeck Aircheck Jan 1954 The Song Is For You Dave Brubeck Basin Street WCBS CBS NY Mar 1957 Stardust Dave Brubeck ‘Symphony Sid Show’ Birdland WJZ ABC NY Dec 1953 All The Things You Are Dave Brubeck Basin Street WCBS CBS NY Feb 1956

Greg Poppleton 1920s – 1930s Music July 2013 Newsletter

Greetings Broadcasters,

We promise some hot 1920s Gatsby jazz and 1930s swing for you to beat the Winter blues this July!

1. Great news for Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters and The Lounge Bar Lotharios 1920s Great Gatsby Orchestra. We’re getting so busy, band bookings are now handled by Tony Jex at OzManagement 02 9567 7171 tony@ozmanagement.com

2. Please like our Facebook Page

3. Greg’s award-winning swing jazz radio show, The Phantom Dancer, swing and jazz from live 1920s – 60s radio and TV is now heard on over 30 radio stations across Australia, including Sydney Tuesdays 107.3 2SER 12noon – 2pm and Canberra ArtSound FM Sundays 7 – 8pm.

You can now also hear The Phantom Dancer radio show online – Hear last Tuesday’s show. See the play list and the weekly Phantom Dancer Video of the Week here on Greg Poppleton’s Radio Lounge Blog

Where you can see Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters this July?

WED 10 JULY – MILSONS POINT 12:30 – 3pm

The Sydney Flying Squadron presents ‘Midweek Jazz‘ and this month’s featured artist is Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters

Greg Poppleton – 1920s vocals/leader
Paul Furniss – reeds
Al Davey – trumpet/trombone
Graham Conlon – banjo
Geoff Power – sousaphone
Lawrie Thompson – drums

Music playing from 12:30pm to 3:00pm. The Flying Squadron is at 76 McDougall St., Milsons Point. Google map
Ticket pricing is $10, pay as you sign in and enter on arrival.

WED 17 JULY – BONDI BEACH 1:30 – 2:30pm FREE

Once a year, Grahame Conlon on guitar and myself singing serenade the songs of the 1920s and 1930s in the High Tide Room of Bondi Pavilion – as a service for people bussed in from retirement homes – but if you happen to be in the area, you are very welcome.

Free. Afternoon tea is served.

SAT 20 JULY – PENRITH 2 – 5pm FREE

The Greg Poppleton Bakelite Broadcasters swing quartet return to Penrith RSL for an afternoon of 1920s-30s songs for fun and dancing. Greg Poppleton (voc) Grahame Conlon (g) Darcy Wright (double bass) Bob Gillespie (drums)

Bob was music director for Lovelace Watkins and was drummer in Maynard Ferguson’s English Orchestra. Darcy was named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the world’s top ten jazz bassists

Penrith RSL – Castle Lounge
8 Tindale St, Penrith
2 – 5pm
Dance floor / Bistro
Free. +18 event

Here’s a YouTube clip from the Bakelite’s last Penrith show, featuring Paul Furniss on reeds:

SUN 21 JULY – THE ROCKS 11am – 1pm FREE

Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters will be at the 2013 Aroma Festival playing the music that made the Roaring 1920s ROAR

Greg Poppleton (voc and megaphone) David Horniblow (tenor sax and clarinet) Ian Baker (tuba) Adam Barnard (drums and washboard)

JUNE 2013 IN PICTURES

7 JUNE – 1920s CORPORATE PARTY
Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters played for a corporate event in the Django Bar of the Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. The theme was 1920s. In the band were Greg Poppleton 1920s vocals, Geoff Power trumpet and sousaphone, David Horniblow tenor sax and clarinet, Grahame Conlon banjo, Lawrie Thompson drums and washboard

Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Dance Band Voh-De-Oh-Doh at a 1920s Corporate Party

15 JUNE – 1920s MURDER MYSTERY BIRTHDAY PARTY
Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters played right on the edge of Sydney, houses behind us, paddocks in front, for a birthday party with Murder Mysrtery Fun – Greg Poppleton 1920s vocals, Geoff Power trumpet, Stan Kenton double bass, Paul Baker banjo

Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcaster – playing for a Murder Mystery Fun birthday party with a 1920s theme

23 JUNE – TOMMY DORSEY SHOW
I emceed. Quite a few Bakelites played in the ‘T Dorsey’ Orchestra for a big tribute concert at North Sydney Leagues

Greg Poppleton Tommy Dorsey Tribute MC at Norths Leagues, 23 June 2013. Picture by Helen Fenton

27 JUNE – THE LOUNGE BAR LOTHATIOS – SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB WODEN ACT
The Lounge Bar Lotharios play original 1920s arrangements of 1920s hits like Me And Jane In A Plane and Never Swat A Fly. We launched a series of four concerts titled ‘Generations Of Jazz 1920s 50s’. Here’s an action pic. You’ll find more on the Greg Poppleton Radio Lounge Blog…

The Lounge Bar Lotharios 1920s Orchestra at The Souther Cross Club, Woden, ACT, 27 June 2013

Greg Poppleton, Sydney’s only authentic 1920s singer , fronting The Louneg bar Lotharios 1920s show in Canberra

Thank you for reading this far. We hope to see you at a Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters soon!

Tune into The Phantom Dancer online at 2ser.com. Click the blog headings to get the online shows.

Band bookings are now handled by Tony Jex at OzManagement 02 9567 7171 tony@ozmanagement.com

Please like our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Greg.Poppleton.Band

Till August when The Lounge Bar Lotharios will be playing,

Best Regards
Greg

Latest Photos – Sydney’s 1920s Great Gatsby Orchestra

Check out the latest pics of Sydney’s #1 1920s Great Gatsby Dance Orchestra – The Lounge Bar Lotharios – taken at the 11th Anniversary of the Penrith Jazz Club

The Lounge Bar Lotharios will be playing at the,
1. Great Art Deco Ball, Carrington Hotel, Katoomba – also celebrating the 200th anniversary of the first crossing of the Blue Mountains by Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson

2. Roaring 20s Gala Ball, Albert Hall, Canberra – celebrating the Centenary of Canberra

We look forward to seeing you there at these once-in-a-lifetime historical events!

Visit the Orchestra’s website: www.1920sorchestra.com.au. The Lounge Bar Lotharios look forward to playing for your wedding, corporate event, festival and Great Gatsby Film Launch. Contact Greg via the website!

The Lounge Bar Lotharios, Sydney’s 1920s Great Gatsby Dance Orchestra

Greg Poppleton, Sydney’s only authentic 1920s jazz dance band singer

Greg Poppleton, crooner and band leader with The Lounge Bar Lotharios

Al Davey, trumpet, The Lounge Bar Lotharios

Ben Gurton, trombone, The Lounge Bar Lotharios

Geoff Power, trumpet and musical director, The Lounge Bar Lotharios

Grahame Conlon, banjo, The Lounge Bar Lotharios

Horn section, The Lounge Bar Lotharios (l-r) Al Davey, Geoff Power, Ben Gurton

Drums, The Lounge bar Lotharios, Alexander Inman-Hislop

Rod Herbert, sousaphone, The Lounge Bar Lotharios

Saxes and clarinets, The Lounge Bar Lotharios (l-r) Richard Booth, Paul Furniss, David Horniblow

Tony Gardner, piano, The Lounge Bar Lotharios

The Lounge Bar Lotharios, 1920s Speakeasy Jazz Orchestra, Penrith RSL, 1 Dec 2012

Tony Gardner, piano, Alexander Inman-Hislop, drums, The Lounge Bar Lotharios

More Lounge Bar Lotharios Pics At Moocooboola 2012

The Lounge Bar Lotharios is Sydney’s newest 1920s dance orchestra. Here are some photos taken by Julian Gobeth as the Lotharios played at the Moocooboola Festval 2012. Moocooboola is the Eora Aboriginal word for Hunters Hill, Sydney. As you might tell be our hair, it was a very windy day…

Greg Poppleton 1920s Singer with The Lounge Bar Lotharios

The Lounge Bar Lotharios at the Moocooboola Festival 2012

Rod Herbert Sousaphone, Lounge Bar Lotharios

Greg Poppleton 1920s Jazz Singer

Greg Poppleton 1920s Orchestra Singer

Reed Section 1920s Dance Orchestra

The Lounge Bar Lotharios 1920s Orchestra

Grahame Conlon 1920s Band Banjo

The Lounge Bar Lotharios are available to play at your event, too. Please contact Greg via the Lotharios’ official website: http://www.1920sorchestra.com.au

The Lounge Bar Lotharios 2012 Moocooboola Festival

Today The Lounge Bar Lotharios played on the main stage of the 2012 Moocooboola Festival. Thank you to everyone who came to see the Orchestra. Here are a couple of action shots as the Orchestra played ‘Old Man Blues’

The Lounge Bar Lotharios at the 2012 Moocooboola Festival

The Lounge Bar Lotharios – Sydney Great Gatsby 1920s Dance Band

The Lounge Bar Lotharios are available for your event, too. Visit The Lounge Bar Lotharios’ website to enquire