The band and I had the great pleasure of playing for Vera’s Golden Age birthday at the historic Carrington Hotel at the Blue Mountains in Katoomba last Saturday.
I took some photos to show you how much fun the guests and band had at Vera’s 1920s inspired party.
WHAT WE DO
Greg Poppleton, which is both my name and the band’s name, specialises in the music of the 1920s and 1930s.
We feature Australia’s only authentic 1920s – 30s singer with world-toured classic jazz musicians.
BAND SIZE
Vera chose the quartet to play for her:
1. Greg Poppleton – authentic 1920s-1930s singer,
2. Sousaphone doubling cornet,
3. Banjo doubling guitar,
4. Baritone sax tripling alto sax and clarinet
PARTY PLAN
1. The band played three 45 minute sets over three hours in the Carrington Hotel ballroom.
2. We personalised some 1920s songs for Vera.
3. Vera sent us three requests from the band’s song list to play for her.
The song list can be emailed to you by Tony, tony@ozmanagement.com
4. We played Happy Birthday for Vera and all the guests joined in, raising three cheers.
5. We encouraged guests to dance, which they did.
6. We played a special slow song for Vera at the end of the party.
7. The band used a small PA with 1920s music played during band intermissions.
8. Vera used Greg’s 1920s microphone for her speeches.
This week’s Phantom Dancer with Greg Poppleton features a 1950s radio broadcast and commercial release by a significant figure in the British rhythm and blues and ‘beat boom’ of the 1960s, trad jazz trombonist and band leader, Chris Barber.
See the full Phantom Dancer play list of swing and jazz mixed by Greg Poppleton from live 1920s-60s radio below.
PHANTOM DANCER
This week’s Phantom Dancer will be online right after the 14 May 2SER live mix at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney
Chris Barber jazz band 1953
BARBER
English trad bandleader and trombonist, who apart from recording UK top 20 trad jazz records, helped the careers of many musicians. These include blues singer Ottilie Patterson who we’ll hear live on the BBC in 1955, Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with Barber triggered the skiffle craze of the mid-1950s and, later, Alexis Korner.
SUNSHINE
Barber and Monty Sunshine (clarinet) formed a band in 1953, calling it Ken Colyer’s Jazzmen to capitalise on their trumpeter’s recent trip to New Orleans.
This band included Donegan, Jim Bray (bass), Ron Bowden (drums) and Barber on trombone. The band played Dixieland jazz, and later ragtime, swing, blues and R&B. Pat Halcox took over on trumpet in 1954 when Colyer moved on after musical differences and the band became “The Chris Barber Band”.
In 1959 the band’s version of Sidney Bechet’s ‘Petite Fleur’, a clarinet solo by Monty Sunshine with Barber on string bass, spent twenty-four weeks in the UK Singles Charts, making it to No. 3 and selling over one million copies. It was awarded a gold disc. After 1959 he toured the United States many times where ‘Petite Fleur’ charted at #5.
Ottile Patterson
BLUES
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Barber was mainly responsible for arranging the first UK tours of blues artists Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and Muddy Waters, sparking young musicians such as Peter Green, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones. British rhythm and blues powered the British invasion of the USA charts in the 1960s.
Barber stunned traditionalists in 1964 by introducing blues guitarist John Slaughter into the line up.
A recording of the Lennon–McCartney composition “Catswalk” can be heard, retitled “Cat Call”, on The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away. Written by Paul McCartney the song was recorded in late July 1967 and released as a single in the UK on 20 October 1967.
RECENT
In 2014, Barber published his autobiography Jazz Me Blues with co-author Alyn Shipton. Now, at age 89, Chris Barber continues to perform.
VIDEO
This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week is a half-hout TV show of Chris Barber and band on French TV in 1972. Enjoy!
14 MAY PLAY LIST
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #386
107.3 2SER Tuesday 14 May 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT)
National Program:
Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm
7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm
2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm
3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1
Big Bands on 1942-45 Radio
Open + Hallelujah! + The Song is You
Jerry Ward Orchestra (voc) Dick Merrick
‘Spotlight Bands’
Blue Network
28 Oct 1944
Open + Instrumental
Benny Carter Orchestra
‘Jubilee’
AFRS Hollywood
16 Apr 1945
This Love of Mine + Close
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) Frank Sinatra
‘Spotlight Bands’
Blue Network
1942
Set 2
Miles Davis and John Coltrane
Four
Miles Davis and John Coltrane
‘Bandstand USA’
Cafe Bohemia
WOR Mutual NY
17 May 1958
Bye Bye Blackbird
Miles Davis and John Coltrane
‘Bandstand USA’
Cafe Bohemia
WOR Mutual NY
17 May 1958
Walkin’ + Two Bass Hit
Miles Davis and John Coltrane
‘Bandstand USA’
Cafe Bohemia
WOR Mutual NY
17 May 1958
Set 3
Duke Ellington
Take The A-Train + Strollin’
Duke Ellington Orchestra
El Patio Ballroom
KLZ CBS Denver
15 Jul 1942
Waiting For The Evening Train
Duke Ellington Orchestra
‘One Night Stand’
Cafe Zanzibar
New York City
AFRS Re-broadcast
7 Oct 1945
Take the A-Train + Lullaby of Birdland
Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Bette Roche
Birdland
WNBC NBC NY
24 Nov 1952
Set 4
Chris Barber 1950s
You Don’t Understand + Everybody Loves My Baby
Chris Barber Jazz Band
BBC Light Programme
London
9 May 1955
Double Check Stomp
Chris Barber Jazz Band
Comm Rec
London
1959
See See Rider
Chris Barber Jazz Band (voc) Ottile Patterson
BBC Light Programme
London
9 May 1955
Set 5
Herman and James in New Orleans
Blue Flame (theme) + Nice Work If You Can Get It
Woody Herman Orchestra
Blue Room
Hotel Roosevelt
WWJ CBS New Orleans
10 Nov 1951
Honeysuckle Rose
Harry James New Jazz Group
Blue Room
Hotel Roosevelt
WWJ CBS New Orleans
1951
Bijou
Woody Herman Orchestra
Blue Room
Hotel Roosevelt
WWJ CBS New Orleans
20 Oct 1951
Moonlight Fiesta
Harry James New Jazz Group
Blue Room
Hotel Roosevelt
WWJ CBS New Orleans
1951
Set 6
1931 Jack Hylton Records
Mausie
Jack Hylton Orchestra
Comm Rec
London
1931
Nevertheless
Jack Hylton Orchestra
Comm Rec
London
1931
Today I Feel So Happy
Jack Hylton Orchestra (voc)
Comm Rec
London
1931
Heartaches
Jack Hylton Orchestra
Comm Rec
London
1931
Set 7
Vocal Dexterity on 1930s Radio
Honeysuckle Rose
Leo Watson
‘Rudy Vallee Show’
WEAF NBC Red NY
24 Mar 1939
Swinging on the Strings
The Inkspots
WEAF NBC Red NY
9 Aug 1935
Nagasaki + The Sheik of Araby
Les and Scotty
‘Shell Chateau’
KFI NBC Red LA
1937
Tiger Rag
The Inkspots
WFIL NBC Red Philadelphia
12 Jul 1939
Set 8
Dizzy Gillespie
Shaw Nuff
Dizzy Gillespie and more
Comm Rec
New York City
11 May 1945
Koko (theme) + Hot House
Dizzy Gillespie and more
‘Bands for Bonds’
WOR Mutual NY
13 Sep 1947
Intro + Blue and Boogie
Dizzy Gillespie and more
‘Symphony Sid Show’
Birdland
WJZ ABC NY
31 Mar 1951
Radio Stations used Fax Machines in 1938 just like radio uses the internet to complement its programming now. This blog being an example…
Faxes were sent over AM radio, not the phone line.
Hear one in operation on today’s Phantom Dancer – your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV (and with a whole hour of live 1930s swing radio today).
I bring you The Phantom Dancer every Tuesday after the midday news on 107.3 2SER and online at radio 2ser.com. Hear this week’s show online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 30 April.
A 1938 radio fax used to promote personalities on the radio station transmitting it. Three generations of John Gamblings broadcast on New York City radio between 1925 and September 2016.
1930s RADIO FAXES On today’s Phantom Dancer, marvel at the ‘pump and wheeze’ sound of a 1930s fax machine taken from a recording made in 1938 to introduce WOR New York’s new radio fax service.
As the radio announcer and station engineer tell us, the fax service is a ‘new breakthrough’ in radio to transmit news and information overnight to subscribers with radio fax machine in their homes.
About a dozen US AM radio stations in the late 1930s transmitted a radio fax service, with news faxes sent between midnight and 6am when the stations were ordinarily shut down.
A WOR radio fax from 1938
Static was a problem. Static from a passing car or lightening could wipe out whole pages of information.
By the early 1940s shortwave and ultra short wave frequencies were set aside solely for the transmission of faxes.
When FM radio was introduced after WW2, some FM stations transmitted radio faxes on their broader bandwidth subcarriers. A page of news and pictures would take 15 minutes to be printed from an FM service.
So easy to use, even a child can operate it. A 1938 publicity photo shows a Finch home printer receiving a facsimile newspaper from WWJ in Detroit. (Detroit News Archives, The Radio Historian)
Lack of public interest in this expensive substitute newspaper technology killed the mass production of home radio fax machines.
However, radio facsimile was still in use for the transmission of weather maps by satellite in 2010.
See the full Phantom Dancer play list below, including the 1938 announcement of WOR’s radio fax service.
Greg Poppleton is Australia’s only authentic 1920s – 30s singer. He is also a film and TV actor who has worked with Adrien Brody, Nicole Kidman, John Goodman and many others.
Band website: www.gregpoppletonmusic.com
Actor and Voiceover: www.gregpoppleton.com
PHANTOM DANCER PLAY LIST 30 APRIL
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #383
107.3 2SER Tuesday 30 April 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news,
12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
2ARM Armidale Friday 12noon – 1pm
and early morning on 22 other stations.
Set 1
Raymond Scott on 1940-41 Radio
Pretty Little Petticoat (theme) + Wellesley High Jump
Raymond Scott Orchestra
Blackhawk Restaurant
WGN Mutual Chicago
21 Oct 1940
Pretty Little Petticoat (theme) + A Symphony Under The Stars
Raymond Scott Orchestra
Bermuda Room
Hotel Brunswick
WBZ NBC Boston
6 Dec 1941
Huckleberry Duck + Pretty Little Petticoat (theme)
Raymond Scott Orchestra
Blackhawk Restaurant
WGN Mutual Chicago
1 Nov 1940
Set 2
A New Radio Service
Il Pesce e l’Uccellina
EIAR Orchestra Moderna (voc) Silvana Fioresi and Trio Lescano
Comm Rec
Rome
1938
Facsimile ‘Visual’ Radio
Interview
WOR Mutual NYC
9 Feb 1938
Set 3
1930s Local Radio Music
Theme + Sugar + On The Lone Prairie + When The Rest of the Crowd Goes Home + Heigh Ho + Theme
Our Orchestra
Radio Transcription
Los Angeles
1934
Set 4
1935-36 Radio
Open + Ad Music + I Got Rhythm
Freddy Rich Orchestra
’Dodge Show’
Radio Transcription
New York City
1936
Sleep (theme) + On Your Toes
Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians (voc) Johnny Davis and Trio
’Ford Show’
WABC CBS NY
14 Apr 1936
Syncopated Love Song
Nathaniel Shilkret
KFI NBC LA
1935
Set 5
Swing on 1939 Radio
Top Hat Shuffle
Jan Savitt Top Hatters
Radio Transcription
New York
1939
Basin Street Blues
Jack Teagarden and Benny Goodman
’Camel Caravan’
WABC CBS NY
31 Jan 1939
You Can Count On Me
Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Ivie Anderson
Ritz Carlton Hotel
WNAC NBC Boston
26 Jul 1939
Man From Mars + Nightmare (theme)
Artie Shaw Orchestra
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania
WEAF NBC Red NY
21 Oct 1939
Set 6
Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra on the Air
Theme + Little John
Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra
’One Night Stand’
Casa Mañana
Culver City Ca
AFRS Re-broadcast
8 Sep 1945
Honey Dripper
Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra
’Spotlight Bands’
Jefferson Barracks, Missouri
Blue Network
23 Nov 1945
Culver City Ca
AFRS Re-broadcast
8 Sep 1945
I Need a Lift
Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra
’One Night Stand’
Casa Mañana
Culver City Ca
AFRS Re-broadcast
4 May 1945
Wham + For Dancers Only
Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra (voc) Band
’Jubilee’
AFRS Hollywood
1943
Set 7
The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra on 1955-56 Radio
Theme + Opus No. 1
Dorsey Brothers Orchestra
Cafe Statler
Hotel Pennsylvania
WRCA NBC NY
Dec 1955
Ridin’ Around in the Rain (voc) Dolly Houston
Dorsey Brothers Orchestra
Cafe Statler
Hotel Pennsylvania
WRCA NBC NY
Apr 1956
I’ll Always Be In Love With You
Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (voc) Dolly Houston
Cafe Statler
Hotel Pennsylvania
WRCA NBC NY
Mar 1956
Zhou Xuan singing jazz influenced ‘Mandopop’ is your feature artist on this week’s Phantom Dancer with Greg Poppleton.
The best of China’s ‘Seven Great Singers’, you’ll hear her in three Pathe recordings she made in Hong Kong in 1994 and 1946, including the song that became Shanghai’s unofficial anthem before 1949, ‘Ye Shanghai’.
See the full Phantom Dancer play list below of swing and jazz mixed by Greg Poppleton from live 1920s-60s radio below.
PHANTOM DANCER
This week’s Phantom Dancer will be online right after the 23 April 2SER live mix at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney
ZHOU XUAN
whose name is also romanised as Chow Hsien was an international diva popular from Shanghai to Singapore.
She was China’s top singing movie star with a life full of professional triumphs and personal tragedies. She was in over 40 movies and recorded more than 200 songs.
She was the illegitimate and abandoned child of a Buddhist nun and raised by an opium addicted foster father who was about to sell her to a brothel at age 13 when fate led her to join Li Jinhui’s Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe.
GOLDEN VOICE
When she was fourteen, she won second prize in a singing contest in Shanghai and was given the nickname “Golden Voice” (金嗓子) for her effortless high-pitched melodies.
ANGELS OF THE STREETS
The 1920s-1930s were a time of change in Chinese music when traditional opera and folk music melded with jazz and Western rhythms to create the first generation of Mandopop.
Zhou began her film career in 1935. She achieved stardom in 1937 when director Yuan Muzhi cast her as one of the leads as a singing girl in Angels of the Streets. In that 1937 movie she sang in traditional Chinese song a song still popular in China today, The Wandering Songstress.
1940s
Zhou rapidly became the most famous and marketable popular singer in the gramophone era up to her death, singing many famous tunes from her own movies. You’ll hear three of her most famous Mandopop movie songs on today’s Phantom Dancer. These songs incorporate Latin rhythms, Western opera and jazz dance music into traditional Chinese forms. There’s even a snatch of Mrs Hills’ 1936 ‘Happy Birthday to You’.
Between 1946 and 1950, she often went to Hong Kong to make films such as “All-Consuming Love” (長相思), “Hua wai liu ying” (花外流鶯), “Sorrows of the Forbidden City”, and “Rainbow Song” (彩虹曲). After introducing “Shanghai Nights” (夜上海) in 1949, Zhou returned to Shanghai. She spent the next few years in and out of a mental institutions owing to frequent breakdowns. Through the years, Zhou led a complicated and unhappy life marked by her failed marriages, illegitimate children, and suicide attempts. Zhou’s first husband was the composer Yan Hua (严华, 1912-1992), who wrote and sometimes also performed songs with her. She died in a mental institution aged 39 in 1957.
VIDEO
This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week is from 1947 – Zhou Xuan’s waltz, “Goodnight Serenade”. It was used as a station closer by Rediffusion TV Hong Kong in the early 1960s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCqfJKKzNB0
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #382
107.3 2SER Tuesday 23 April 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
2ARM Armidale Friday 12:04 – 1pm
and early morning on 24 other stations.
Set 1
Big Bands on 1946-51 Radio
Open + Star Dust
Eliot Lawrence Orchestra
Meadowbrook Ballroom
Cedar Grove NJ
WOR Mutual NY
1951
Open + The Best Things in Life are Free
Buzz Adlam Orchestra (voc) Kay Starr
‘Music by Adlam’
KECA ABC LA
27 Dec 1947
El Greco + Let’s Dance (theme)
Benny Goodman Orchestra
‘One Night Stand’
Hollywood Palladium
AFRS Re-broadcast
22 Mar 1949
Set 2
Thrasher Sisters on the Radio
Shoo Shoo Baby
Thrasher Sisters
‘Fountain of Fun ‘
WLW Cincinati
21 Nov 1943
Massachusetts
Thrasher Sisters
‘Fountain of Fun ‘
WLW Cincinati
1 Nov 1942
Tuesday at Ten
Thrasher Sisters
‘Fountain of Fun ‘
WLW Cincinati
28 Nov 1943
Set 3
1935-36 Radio
Open + By The Sea
Spike Jones and his City Slickers (voc) Trio
‘Corn’s A-Poppin”
Los Angeles
AFRS Re-broadcast
21 May 1949
The Barber of Seville
Spike Jones and his City Slickers (voc) Sir Frederick Gas
‘Corn’s A-Poppin”
New York City
AFRS Re-broadcast
1948
Carolina Moon + Close
Spike Jones and his City Slickers (voc) Prof. Beetlebaum
‘Corn’s A-Poppin”
Charlotte NC
AFRS Re-broadcast
27 Feb 1949
Set 4
Zhou Xuan 1944-46
Ye Shanghai
Zhou Xuan
Comm Rec
Hong Kong
1946
The Blossom Youth
Zhou Xuan
Comm Rec
Hong Kong
1944
Stop Singing
Zhou Xuan
Comm Rec
Hong Kong
1946
Set 5
Artie Shaw
Nightmare (theme) + Out of Nowhere
Artie Shaw Orchestra
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania
WEAF NBC Red NY
19 Oct 1939
I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me
Artie Shaw Orchestra
Blue Room
Hotel Lincoln
WEAF NBC Red NY
25 Nov 1938
My Heart Stood Still
Artie Shaw Orchestra
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania
WEAF NBC Red NY
21 Oct 1939
I Won’t Tell a Soul + Nightmare (theme)
Artie Shaw Orchestra
Blue Room
Hotel Lincoln
WEAF NBC Red NY
2 Dec 1938
Set 6
Fats Waller
Ain’t Misbehavin’ (theme) + Hold My Hand
Fats Waller
WEAF NBC Red NY
16 Jul 1938
My Best Wishes
Fats Waller
WEAF NBC Red NY
5 Jul 1938
What’s The Matter With You?
Fats Waller
WEAF NBC Red NY
16 Jul 1938
Sheik of Araby + Ain’t Misbehavin’ (theme)
Fats Waller
WEAF NBC Red NY
5 Jul 1938
Set 7
1930s Australian Dance Bands
Forty-Second Street
Jim Davidson and his Palais Royal Orchestra (voc) Cantrell Brothers
Comm Rec
Sydney
6 Jun 1933
Harlem Heat
Dudley Cantrell and his Grace Grenadiers
Comm Rec
Sydney
22 Nov 1937
Says My Heart
Jim Davidson and his ABC Orchestra
Comm Rec
Sydney
17 Aug 1938
Cosmopolitan Blues
Maurice Gilmore Orchestra (voc) Jack Davey
Comm Rec
Sydney
8 Jan 1935
Set 8
Slim Gaillard
Tutti Frutti + Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart (Slim and Slam)
‘Rudy Vallee Show’
WEAF NBC NY
14 Jul 1938
Slim’s Jam
Slim Gaillard Orchestra
Comm Rec
New York City
14 Dec 1945
Sabroso
Slim gaillard Quintet
‘Symphony Sid Show’
Birdland
WJZ ABC NY
7 Jul 1951
Here is your Phantom Dancer play list for Tuesday 11 August 107.3 2SER Sydney 12noon – 2pm and online at http://www.2ser.com, follow the program guide, Phantom Dancer links where the show will also be archived for streaming.
This week’s 2 hour non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s – 1960s radio has a set of 1940s-50s big bands to open, a set of 1950s progressive jazz, a traditional jazz set from 1950s radio, comedy from Jack Benny and Spike Jones, and more. Plus, the last half of the show is, as always, ALL VINYL. See the play list below.
Spike Jones ponders the two-headed man
Your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week is Julius Sumner Miller giving Dramatic Demonstrations in Physics on the matter of Miscellaneous and Wondrous Things in Electricity & Magnetism. This is sadly the last show in the series, program 45, recorded at ABC-TV in Sydney in 1969. Enjoy…
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #170
107.3 2SER Tuesday 11 August 2015 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT)Repeat Sunday 2SER 5 – 6pm
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
All the songs on this album are played live to tape in one go. It was just like the band and I were on a stage. You were in the audience, mobile in one hand, cigarette lighter waving in the other, suzie-q-ing at the same time, mixing decades as I do.
It was such a teeny tiny venue we piled into. I had to lower my voice so my singing didn’t spill into the instrument mikes. Very intimate. Gives the vocals a kind of ‘breaking the stereotype sweet edge’ on songs like the St Louis Blues.
And a southern gentleman strolls in on the second half of Carolina In The Morning. Don’t know where he came from but I instantly liked him and he’s stayed in the act ever since.
I believe in never playing the same song the same way twice, because I can’t. So I’ve put in alternative takes of a couple of songs for you. The drummer went all tango in the third chorus of one take of Am I Blue.
We sincerely trust you’ll enjoy, ‘Sweet Sue.’ And if you do, contribute. Buy a track, or two, or the whole album. Huzzah!
Big thanks to…
Saxes (soprano / alto / tenor) and Clarinet – Paul Furniss
Trumpet and Trombone – Al Davey
Guitar – Grahame Conlon
Double Bass – Darcy Wright
Double Bass – Mark Harris
Drums – Lawrie Thompson
Sweet Sue, the latest swing album by Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters on Bandcamp. My 10 year old son drew the cover during the last school holidays.
Actor - Singer - Voiceover 