Paul Douglas Radio and Film Star – Phantom Dancer 21 March 2023

Paul Douglas, 1930s CBS announcer and later Broadway and Hollywood film star, is this week’s Phantom Dancer non-stop swing jazz feature artist. He opens this week’s show in a ‘Saturday Night Swing Club’ broadcast.

Greg Poppleton has been bringing you The Phantom Dancer, your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV, each week since 1985.

Hear The Phantom Dancer online from 12:04pm AEST Tuesday 21 March at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/ where you can also hear two years of archived shows.

The finyl hour is vinyl.

RADIO

Though Paul Douglas Fleischer performed in dramatics as a student at Yale, he first started in radio,

He began as an announcer for CBS radio station WCAU in Philadelphia, relocating to network headquarters WABC in New York in 1934. Douglas co-hosted CBS’s popular swing music program, The Saturday Night Swing Club, from 1936 to 1939. He was host and commercial pitchman for Chesterfield Cigarettes on swing band leader Glenn Miller‘s 1939-42 CBS radio series.

BROADWAY

Paul Douglas made his Broadway debut in 1936 as the Radio Announcer in Doty Hobart and Tom McKnight’s Double Dummy at the John Golden Theatre. In 1946 he won both a Theatre World Award and a Clarence Derwent Award for his portrayal of Harry Brock in Garson Kanin‘s Born Yesterday.

HOLLYWOOD

Douglas began appearing in films in 1949. He may be best remembered for two baseball comedy movies, It Happens Every Spring (1949) and Angels in the Outfield (1951). He also played Richard Widmark‘s police partner in the 1950 thriller Panic in the Streets, frustrated newlywed Porter Hollingsway in A Letter to Three Wives (1949), Sgt. Kowalski in The Big Lift (1950), businessman Josiah Walter Dudley in Executive Suite (1954) and a con man-turned-monk in When in Rome (1952). Douglas was host of the 22nd annual Academy Awards in March 1950. Continuing in radio, he was the announcer for The Ed Wynn Show, and the first host of NBC Radio’s The Horn & Hardart Children’s Hour. In April 1959 Douglas appeared on The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show as Lucy Ricardo’s television morning show co-host in the episode “Lucy Wants a Career”.

Douglas starred in Clash by Night in 1952 with Barbara Stanwyck.

Douglas was originally cast in the 1960 episode of The Twilight Zone called “The Mighty Casey“, a role written for him by Rod Serling based on his character in Angels in the Outfield. Douglas died the day after production of the episode had been completed. He had been in his last stages of illness during filming, and his severe physical state was apparent on film. (The crew incorrectly assumed that his condition was the result of heavy drinking.) The episode – which was a comedy – was deemed unairable. It was, however, resurrected some months later, and Douglas’s scenes were re-shot with Jack Warden.

Film director Billy Wilder and his longtime co-writer I. A. L. (‘Izzy’) Diamond had just offered Douglas the role of Jeff Sheldrake in the 1960 movie The Apartment that went to Fred MacMurray instead. Wilder later said: “I saw him and his wife, Jan Sterling, at a restaurant, and I realized he was perfect, and I asked him right there in the parking lot. About two days before we were to start, he had a heart attack and died. Iz and I were shattered.”

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

A trailer from the 1950s US/UK sci fi shlocker, ‘The Gamma People’, starring Paul Douglas and Leslie Phillips. 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!

21 March PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #590
107.3 2SER Tuesday 21 March 2023 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 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 – 4pm 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 2MCE Bathurst / Orange / Central West NSW Wednesday 9 – 10am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Sunday 5 – 6am
Set 1	Swing on 1930s Radio
Open + Panamania	Leith Stevens Orchestra	‘Saturday Night Swing Club’ WABC CBS NY 12 Jun 1937
Naila (Delibes)	Arnold Johnson Orchestra	Comm Rec (unissued) Variety Records New York City 26 May 1937
RCA Radio Ad + Wolverine Blues + Study In Brown (theme)	Larry Clinton Orchestra	‘RCA Campus Club’ Glen Island Casino New Rochelle WEAF NBC Red NY 2 Jul 1938
Set 2	Latin Sounds on 1946-53 Radio
Open + Chiu Chiu	Desi Arnez Orchestra	Ciro’s KNX CBS LA 1946
Bolero	Sergio Torres Orchestra (voc) unannounced woman singer	‘Chicklets Program’ XEW Mexico City 1949
Chi sas? Chi sas?	Xavier Cugat Orchestra	‘All-Star Parade of Bands’ Last Frontier NBC Las Vegas 30 Nov 1953
Set 3	1943-44 Swing Radio
Joshua	Richard Himber Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Aniston, Alabama Blue Network 13 Nov 1943
I’ve Got You Under My Skin	Leo Reisman Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ National Press Club Washington DC Blue Network 23 Jan 1943
I Got Rhythm + Close	Lenny Conn Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Los Angeles AFRS Re-broadcast 1949
Set 4	Special Music Programs
First Movement	Morton Gould Orchestra	‘American Symphonette No. 3’ WOR MBS/CBC New York City 1939
Open + I’ve Got Rhythm + Money Money (calypso)	Lucky Millinder Orchestra with Noble Sissle and the Hall Sisters	‘Swingtime At The Savoy’ WNBC NBC NY 28 Jul 1948
Circle of Fourths + Jam With Sam	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘Ravinia Festival’ WBBM CBS Chicago 1 Jul 1957
Set 5	1939 Radio Singers
We Three	Johnny Messner Orchestra (voc) Johnny Messner	Radio Transcription New York City 1939
Stairway To The Stars	Teddy Wilson Orchestra (voc) Thelma Carpenter	‘America Dances’ CBS NY / BBC London 1939
From The Bottom Of My Heart	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Frank Sinatra	‘America Dances’ CBS NY / BBC London 19 Jul 1939
Chew, Chew Your Bubblegum	Chick Webb Orchestra (voc) Ella Fitzgerald	Southland Cafe WNAC NBC Boton 4 May 1939
Set 6	Traditional Jazz on 1939 – 1951 Radio
Way Down Yonder In New Orleans (theme) + Maple Leaf Rag	Wild Bill Davison	‘This Is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NY 19 Apr 1947
You’re Driving Me Crazy	Bob Crosby Bobcats	‘Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS NY 18 Jul 1939
Snag It	Henry ‘Red’ Allen Dixielanders	‘Doctor Jazz’ Stuyvesant Casino WMGM NY 1950
There’ll Be Some Changes Made + I Would Do Anything For You	Eddie Condon Group (voc) Red McKenzie	‘Eddie Condon Town Hall Jazz Concert’ Town Hall WJZ Blue NY 16 Sep 1944
Set 7	Benny Goodman On The Air
The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise	Benny Goodman Quintet	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Re-broadcast Jan 1948
Clarinade	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Meadowbrook Gardens Culver City Ca KECA ABC LA 26 Jan 1946
Sweet Georgia Brown	Benny Goodman Quintet	‘Spotlight Bands’ Springfield Mass. Blue Network 29 Sep 1943
Jack Benny-Gary Cooper Skit + One O’Clock Jump	Benny Goodman Orchestra	‘Jack Benny Show’ WEAF NBC NY 13 Dec 1942
Set 8	Modern Sounds on 1940s-50s Radio
Romance Without Finance	Tiny Grimes Quintet (voc) Tiny Grimes	Comm Rec 15 Sep 1944
Hot House	Barry Ulanov’s All Star Modern Jazz Musicians	‘Bands For Bonds’ WOR MBS NY 13 Sep 1947
Painted Rhythm	Stan Kenton Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom KNX CBS LA 27 Nov 1945
Fine and Dandy	Slim Gaillard Quintet	‘Symphony Sid Show’ WJZ ABC NY 2 Jun 1951

Don Redman Swing Inventor? Phantom Dancer 28 June 2022

Don Redman is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist. Don Redman was a U.S jazz musician, arranger, bandleader and composer. He’s hailed as the arranger who invented swing. He’s the uncle of saxophonist Dewey Redman and great-uncle of saxophonist Joshua Redman and trumpeter Carlos Redman.

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 June) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

Here’s Don Redman singing with his Orchestra in a Vitaphone short feature from 1933…

DON REDMAN

Don Redman’s father was a music teacher. His mother was a singer. He started playing trumpet at age 3 and joined his first band at the aged 6.

By the time he was 12, he was proficient on all wind instruments ranging from trumpet to oboe as well as piano.

He studied at Storer College in Harper’s Ferry (where the third video, The Don Redman Jazz Heritage Awards was filmed, see below.). He then studied at the Boston Conservatory.

On graduating he joined Billy Page’s Broadway Syncopaters in New York City.

SWING

Crucial to the developement of swing, Redman joined the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in 1923 on clarinet and saxophones. He began writing arrangements for the Henderson Orchestra which created the Swing sound.

A trademark of Redman’s arrangements was the band playing harmony under written solos. He played brass and reed sections off each other in a call-response pattern, having one section punctuate the figures of another, and moved the melody around different orchestral sections and soloists. This innovative Swing sound forms the basis of much big band jazz writing.

He left Henderson in 1927 to join McKinney’s Cotton Pickers as their musical director and leader. He was responsible for their great success and arranged over half of their music. In 1931 he started his own orchestra.

ORCHESTRA

With his own band, Redman started at a residency at the Manhattan jazz club Connie’s Inn. Redman signed with Brunswick Records and undertook a series of radio broadcasts – part of one you’ll hear on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

He sang with his orchestra, sharing the microphone with the ‘Black Crosby’, Harlan Lattimore. By 1937, his orchestra featured ‘The Swing Choir’. Redman’s vocal style on his own songs like ‘I Heard’ and ‘Try Getting a Good Night’s Sleep’ is recitative in style.

Don Redman and Orchestra in the 1933 Betty Boop cartoon, “I Heard”…

Redman disbanded his orchestra in 1940 and concentrated on freelance work writing arrangements for Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, and Harry James.

He traveled to Europe in 1946 leading an all-star band that included Don Byas, Tyree Glenn, and Billy Taylor. He appeared on Uptown Jubilee on the CBS Television network for the 1949 season. In the 1950s, he was music director for singer Pearl Bailey.

In the early 1960s, he played piano for the Georgia Minstrels Concert and soprano sax with Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle’s band.

Don Redman’s legacy continues – The Don Redman Jazz Heritage Awards, 2016…

28 JUNE PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #551
107.3 2SER Tuesday 28 June 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	1940s Swing Radio
Sound Off (theme) + Sheik of Araby	Teddy Wilson and Red Norvo Band	‘Sound Off’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
Remember (theme) + Woodchoppers’ Ball	Benny Goodman Orchestra (theme) Woody Herman Orchestra	‘Jill’s All-Time Juke Box’ AFRS Hollywood 1945
When They Ask About You + Sound Off (theme)	Hal McIntyre Orchestra (voc) Gloria Vance	‘Sound Off’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
Set 2	Dixie
Open + Panama	Paul Tanner and his Solid Seven	‘Yank Bandstand’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
Down The Road Apiece	Art Hodes (piano)	‘Dixieland Club’ AFRS Re-broadcast5 Sep 1951
When The Saints Go Marching In + Getting Sentimental Over You	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra + Duke Ellington + Buddy Rich + Johnny Ray	‘Stageshow’ WCBS CBS TV NYC 1 Jan 1955
Set 3	Frank Sinatra
Open + With a Song in My Heart	Frank Sinatra	‘Treasury Star Parade’ Radio Transcription 1944
Great Day + You’ll Never Walk Alone	Frank Sinatra	‘Guest Star’ Radio Transcription 1948
That Old Black Magic + Auld Lang Syne + Put Your Dreams Away (theme)	Frank Sinatra	‘Songs by Sinatra WABC CBS NYC 31 Dec 1943
Set 4	Don Redman
Try Getting a Good Night’s Sleep	Don Redman Orchestra (voc) Don Redman	Comm Rec NYC 26 Feb 1932
Odds and Ends	Don Redman Orchestra (voc) Don Redman	Casino de Paree WABC CBS NYC 22 Dec 1933
Redman Rhythm + Close (At the beginning of Redman Rhythm, the radio reception for this 1933 home disc recording improves)	Don Redman Orchestra	Casino de Paree WABC CBS NYC 22 Dec 1933
A Two Time Man	Don Redman Orchestra (voc) Don Redman	Comm Rec NYC 19 Sep 1932
Set 5	Let’s Dance
Let’s Dance (theme) + The Object of My Affection	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Buddy Clark	‘Let’s Dance’ WEAF NBC Red NYC 1 Dec 1934
Honeysuckle Rose + Love is Just Around the Corner	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Buddy Clark	‘Let’s Dance’ WEAF NBC Red NYC 4 Jan 1935
Chicago	Benny Goodman Orchestra	‘Let’s Dance’ WEAF NBC Red NYC 2 Feb 1935
Set 6	Radio Transcriptions
Tumbling Tumbleweeds	Jan Garber Orchestra (voc) Lee Bennett	Radio Transcription 1939
Cradle Song (Brahms)	Les Elgart Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1946
Love Song of Renaldo	Jan Garber Orchestra (voc) Fritz Heilbron	Radio Transcription 1941
Largo (Dvorak)	Les Elgart Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1946
Set 7	Selling Shoes and Aeroplanes
I’ve Got Five Dollars (theme) + One Man Band	Freddy Rich Orchestra	‘Friendly Five Footnotes’ Radio Transcription 1932
Somebody Stole My Gla	Freddy Rich Orchestra	‘Friendly Five Footnotes’ Radio Transcription 1932
A Happy Landing	Freddy Rich Orchestra	‘Friendly Five Footnotes’ Radio Transcription 1932
San	Freddy Rich Orchestra	‘Friendly Five Footnotes’ Radio Transcription 1932
Set 8	Modern Jazz
Night and Day	Django Reinhardt with Paul Baron’s Orchestra	‘This is Paris’ NBC 1949
If I Were a Bell	Buddy Rich Quintet	Birdland WABC ABC NY 7 Nov 1958
Theme + Jordu	Stan Getz Quartet	‘Bandstand USA’ Red Hill Inn Pennsauken NJ Mutual 18 May 1957

International Women’s Day – Phantom Dancer 8 March 2022

Women jazz and swing musicians, radio announcers and singers from live 1930s-50s radio are this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artists. 8 March is International Women’s Day.

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 International Women’s Day Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 8 March) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

Below, some potted biographies of some of the women, famous and obscure, you’ll enjoy on this weeks IWD Phantom Dancer.

Here’s Ina Ray Hutton, her all woman orchestra, on her own 1958 network TV show…

WOMEN INSTRUMENTALISTS

Marjorie Hyams: Jazz vibraphonist, pianist and arranger. She played in Woody Herman’s Orchestra (1944 – 1945), the Hip Chicks (1945), Mary Lou Williams (1946), Charlie Ventura (1946), George Shearing (1949 – 1950), and led her own groups.

Melba Liston: Jazz trombonist, musical arranger and composer. She was the first woman trombonist to play in big bands. She was a star writer and arranger.

Adele Girard: Swing harpist, the first woman to bring the concert harp to prominence in jazz, with only Casper Reardon preceding her. As a musician she is known by her birth name Adele Girard, but she became Adele Girard Marsala after marrying clarinetist Joe Marsala.

Betty Glamann: Glamann learned to play harp at the age of ten. She attended a conservatory and was the harpist for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for three years. She played with Spike Jones in 1948, founded the Smith-Glamann Quintet in 1955, played with Duke Ellington and Marian McPartland around 1955 and then with Oscar Pettiford during 1957–58. With Kenny Dorham’s band she recorded the album Jazz Contrasts in 1957. In 1958, she was involved in a Michel Legrand recording session with John Coltrane and Miles Davis; she played with Eddie Costa in 1958 and with the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1960.

WOMEN RADIO ANNOUNCERS

Billie Hurt: Sydney radio announcer. Announcer for ‘Army on Parade’ a radio series produced at 2CH in Sydney and aired across Australia on the AWA Network.

Martha Wilkerson: known as GI Jill, was an American disc jockey and host of GI Jive, a music program on the Armed Forces Radio Service during World War II. She was notable for her positive effect of her personality and music selections on American troops’ morale and for being “universally credited with being the No. 1 overseas attraction” on AFRS. By the end of January 1945 she had made 870 broadcasts.

Here’s DJ GI Jill…

WOMEN BAND LEADERS

International Sweethearts of Rhythm: was the first integrated all-women’s band in the United States. During the 1940s the band featured some of the best female musicians of the day.  Read more in this Radio Lounge blog post

The Ingenues: a vaudeville all-girl jazz band based in the US Mid West, which toured the United States and other countries, including Australia, from 1925 to 1937.

Ina Ray Hutton: born Odessa Cowan, was an American singer, bandleader, and the half-sister of June Hutton. She led one of the first all-female big bands.

Here’s two all-women vaudeville jazz bands…

WOMEN SWING ERA SINGERS

Rose Murphy: known as “the chee chee girl” because of her habit of singing “chee chee” in many of her numbers. Also known as “the girl with the pale pink voice”, Murphy began her musical career in the late 1930s, playing intermission piano for such performers as Count Basie.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe: singer and guitarist. She attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and electric guitar. Read more in this Radio Lounge post.

Felicia Sanders: the most successful song she recorded was A Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart) in which she was recruited by Percy Faith to sing, and was only paid scale. However, it catapulted her singing career, and the song become a hit for Percy Faith and His Orchestra in 1952-3. This week she sings a rip-roaring version of the Sound of Music with tuba, snare and orchestra.

Libby Holman: American socialite, actress, singer, and activist. Holman was known for her bold personality. She was the frequent subject of contemporary gossip columns and became known in the press as “the dark purple menace”. Although friends observed her to be a “ball breaker” with men, she was tender and intimate in her same-sex relationships.

Here’s a collection of 1940s Soundies from the all-woman International Sweethearts of Rhythm…

8 MARCH PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #534
107.3 2SER Tuesday 8 March 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	1940s Swing Radio
Theme + Down By The Riverside	Sister Rosetta Tharpe (voc and g) Lucky Millinder Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 2 Aug 1943
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love	Rose Murphy	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 18 Jan 1945
Sweet Georgia Brown	International Sweethearts of Rhythm	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 5 Jul 1944
Prelude in C# + One O’Clock Jump (theme)	Dorothy Donegan	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 1945
Set 2	1930s Torch Singers
When I Go A’Dreamin’	Helen Forrest (voc) Artie Shaw Orchestra	Blue Room Hotel Lincoln WEAF NBC Red NY 1 Dec 1938
East of the Sun	Bea Wain (voc) Larry Clinton Orchestra	‘RCA Victor Campus Club’ Glen Island Casino New Rochelle NY WEAF NBC Red NY 2 Jul 1938
The Dixieland Band + Goodbye (theme)	Martha Tilton (voc) Benny Goodman Orchestra	Madhattan Room Pennsylvania Hotel WOR Mutual NY 21 Oct 1937
Set 3	Modern Women Jazz Singers
Theme + Sound of Music	Felicia Sanders	‘Guest Star’ Radio Transcription New York City 3 Apr 1960
Theme + I’ve Got My Love to Keep Warm	Patti Page	‘The Big Record’ WCBS CBS TV NYC 27 Nov 1957
My Colouring Book	Sandy Stewart (voc) Tony Motolla Quartet	‘The Navy Swings’ Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1939
Cry Me a River	Julie London (voc) Bobby Troup Trio	‘All Star Parade of Stars’ Cameo Club WRCA NBC NY 1956
Set 4	Women Radio Announcers
Open + Stomp, Mr Henry Lee	Announcer: GI Jill. Orchestra: Eddie Miller	‘Gi Jive’ AFRS Hollywood 1945
I’ll See You Again	Announcer: Billie Hurt. Singer: Pat Burling	‘Army on Parade’ 2CH Sydney AWA Network 1943
Swingin’ The Blues	Announcer: Billie Hurt. Orchestra: Wally Portingale	‘Army on Parade’ 2CH Sydney AWA Network 1943
Set 5	1920s Women Stars
I Can’t Write The Words	Mildred Hunt	‘Philco Hour’ WABC CBS NY 1931
Tain’t No Sin To Take Off You Skin and Dance Around in Your Bones	Lee Morse	Comm Rec New York City 1929
Moanin’ Low	Libby Holman	‘Brunswick Brevities’ Radio Transcription 1929
Set 6	Women Harmony Singers
Medley	Andrew Sisters	‘Kraft Music Hall’ KFI NBC Los Angeles 6 Sep 1945
Jingle Bells	Thrasher Sisters	‘Fountain of Fun’ WLW Cincinnati 25 Dec 1943
Lucky Me Loveable You	Boswell Sisters	Radio Transcription Continental Broadcasting System Hollywood 1930
Set 7	Women Led Radio Shows
I’m Beginning to See the Light	Mildred Bailey	‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NY 19 Jan 1945
Open + My Guy’s Come Back	Ginny Simms	‘Ginny Simms Show’ WABC CBS NY 28 Dec 1945
Open + If I Could Be With You	Peggy Lee	‘Peggy Lee Show’
Teach Me Tonight + Close	Dinah Shore	‘Chevrolet Show’ WRCA NBC NY Dec 1954
Set 8	Women Jazz Instrumentalists
Open + Barrel Roll	Adele Girard (harp)	Aircheck Log Cabin Farms Armonk NY 30 Oct 1942
Woodchoppers’ Ball	Marjorie Hyams (vibraphone)	Palladium Ballroom KNX CBS LA 17 Oct 1944
Stella by Starlight	Melba Liston (tb)	Birdland WCBS CBS NYC 1956
Open + Nica’s Tempo	Betty Glamann (harp)	Birdland WABC CBS NYC 26 May 1957

Rosemary Clooney Chain Smoking Singer – Phantom Dancer 1 March 2022

Rosemary Clooney was an American singer, actor and radio host. She’s this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist where you’ll hear her in radio broadcasts from the 1950s-60s. She’s also actor, George Clooney’s, aunt.

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 1 March at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.

ROSEMARY CLOONEY

It’s incredible that she had the beautiful voice that she had despite the heavy smoking that eventually made the end of her life painful before killing her.

From ‘More Than a Girl Singer’, American Association for Cancer Research,

“A long-time smoker, Clooney was hospitalized in 1996 with acute respiratory failure. At that time, her doctors advised her to quit smoking, but Clooney struggled with her addiction. “Mama called me from the hospital and asked me to bring her cigarettes,” Ferrer (one of her sons)  remembers. “It was so hard for her to stop, though she finally did.”

Toward the end of 2001, Clooney was on the road performing when she began to find it hard to breathe. By the time she arrived home in Beverly Hills a few days before Christmas, she was exhausted. “She could hardly get up the stairs,” says Ferrer. “After two steps, she would have to stop and rest.” Less than a month later, Clooney was diagnosed with stage IIIA non–small cell lung cancer. She died six months later, on June 29, 2002, at her home in Beverly Hills with her family beside her. She was 74.”

TALENT SPOTTED

In 1945, Rosemary Clooney’s father went out one night with friends to celebrate the end of World War II. He never came back.

Clooney, 17, and her sister, 14, found themselves in a dire situation. They collected soft drink bottles and used what little money they had to buy lunch at school. The rent was overdue, the phone disconnected and the utilities about to be turned off when their luck changed. The teenagers, who had grown up performing at political rallies for their grandfather, the mayor of Maysville, won a singing competition at WLW Cincinnati, a local radio station. The station hired them for a regular late-night spot, with each sister earning $20 a week (almost US$290 in 2021 money).

They sing with Tony Pastor’s Orchestra, broadcasting and recording with the band until 1949 (as you’ll hear on this week’s Phantom Dancer mix).

In 1950–51, she was a regular on the radio and television versions of Songs For Sale on CBS. In 1951, her record of “Come On-a My House”, produced by Mitch Miller, became a hit. It was her first of many singles to hit the charts—despite the fact that Clooney hated the song passionately. She recorded several duets with Marlene Dietrich and appeared in the early 1950s on Faye Emerson’s Wonderful Town series on CBS. Clooney also did several guest appearances on the Arthur Godfrey radio show.

HOLLYWOOD

In 1954, she starred with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen in the movie White Christmas…

Two years later she had her own half-hour syndicated television musical-variety show, The Rosemary Clooney Show. NBC re-launched the show in a prime time slot on 1957 as The Lux Show Starring Rosemary Clooney. It lasted one season. In the late 50s and early 1960s, Clooney often appeared with Bing Crosby on television and radio. You’ll hear an excerpt from a 20-minute CBS radio program they did Monday to Friday for years that aired before the midday news.

Clooney left Columbia Records in 1958, doing a number of recordings for MGM Records and then some for Coral Records. Finally, toward the end of 1958, she signed with RCA Victor Records, where she stayed until 1963. In 1964, she went to Reprise Records, and in 1965 to Dot Records.

1970s – 2000s

After a hiatus of 11 years due to pills, alcohol and depression, Clooney signed to United Artists Records in 1976 for two albums. From 1977, she recorded an album every year for the Concord Jazz record label until her death. She was also singing on other people’s albums in 70s and 80s

In 1995, Clooney guest-starred in the NBC television medical drama ER (starring her nephew, George Clooney); for her performance, she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

She received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.

Here’s Rosemary Clooney on ‘What’s My Line’,

1 MARCH PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #534
107.3 2SER Tuesday 1 March 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	A Date With The Duke
Take The A-Train (theme) + Can’t You Read Between The Lines?	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘A Date With The Duke’ AFRS Re-broadcast 1945
Back Home Again in Indiana	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘A Date With The Duke’ AFRS Re-broadcast 1945
The Wish I Wish	Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Joya Sherill	‘A Date With The Duke’ AFRS Re-broadcast 1945
Cottontail	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘A Date With The Duke’ AFRS Re-broadcast 1945
Set 2	1950s Jazz Radio
Sugar Beat	Eliot Lawrence Orchestra	Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ WOR Mutual NY 1951
At Sundown	Les Brown Orchestra	‘Treasury Bandstand’ Hershey Park Ballroom WLAN ABC Lancaster PA 1957
Give Me The Simple Life	Thelma Carpenter	‘Jazz Arts Concert’ WNBC NBC NY 4 Oct 1952
Set 3	Trad Jazz Radio
Bugle Call Rag	Red Nichols	Radio Transcription 1952
Open + South Rampart Street Parade	Preacher Rollo	‘Dixieland Club’ AFRS Re-broadcast 30 Apr 1952
Mama’s Gone, Goodbye + St Louis Blues	Kid Ory	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 5 Feb 1955
Set 4	Rosemany Clooney
‘S Wonderful	Rosemary & Betty Clooney (voc) Tony Pastor Orchestra	Aircheck New York City Sep 1948
Tenderly (theme) + You Make Me Feel So Young	Rosemary Clooney	‘The Rosemary Clooney Show’ KNX CBS LA 2 Nov 1954
Enchanted	Rosemary Clooney	‘Bing Crosby – Rosemary Clooney Show’ KNX CBS LA 20 Mar 1962
It’s a Most Unusual Day + Something to Remember You By	Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby	‘The Bing Crosby Show’ KNX CBS LA 22 Nov 1953
Set 5	1920s Comm Records
Sunday	Jean Goldkette Orchestra (voc) Keller Sisters	Comm Rec Camden NJ 15 Oct 1926
Delirium	Red and Miff’s Stompers	Comm Rec New York City 11 Feb 1927
Flamin’ Mamie	Coon-Sanders Nighthawks Orchestra (voc) Joe Sanders	Comm Rec Camden NJ 21 Dec 1925
Blue Melody Blues	Tiny Praham and his Musicians	Comm Rec Chicago 1 Feb 1929
Set 6	Henny Youngman
Love Thy Neighbour (film preview)	Henny Youngman, Jack Benny, Tommy Dorsey & more	Paramount Theatre WOR Mutual NY 17 Dec 1940
Set 7	Mid 1940s Swing Radio
Theme + Hamp’s Got a Duke	Lionel Hampton Orchestra	Casa Manana Culver City Ca KFI NBC LA 20 Jul 1947
Temptation	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Ginny Powell	Meadowbrook Gardens KECA ABC LA 10 Feb 1946
Santa Catalina	Raymond Scott Orchestra (voc) Dorothy Collins	Palace Hotel KQW CBS San Francisco 16 Sep 1947
Andy’s Blues	Count Basie Orchestra	Avadon Ballroom Aircheck Los Angeles 1946
Set 8	Women Radio Singers
Manhattan	Lee Wiley	‘Guest Star’ Radio Transcription New York City 1950
Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen	Kay Starr (voc) Charlie Barnett Orchestra	‘For the Record’ WEAF NBC NY 11 Sep 1944
Robin Hood	Mildred Bailey	‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NY 12 Feb 1945
I Miss Your Kiss	Joya Sherill (voc) Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘A Date with the Duke’ WJZ ABC NY 12 May 1945

Les Paul and Mary Ford 1940s Multitrack – Phantom Dancer 15 February 2022

Les Paul and Mary Ford are this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artists. Les was a jazz guitarist. Mary was a country guitarist. Together, they pioneered multitracking and had a string of hits in the 1950s.

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 15 February) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

Here’s Les Paul and Mary Ford waiting for the sunrise in a short 1953 TV spot…

MULTITRACK

In 1946, Les Paul’s mother complimented him on a song she had heard on the radio, when in fact she had heard guitarist, George Barnes. This motivated Paul to spend two years in his Hollywood garage recording studio, creating his unique sound, his New Sound. Paul stunned the music industry with his New Sound in 1948, all recorded using acetate discs only.

With the assistance of Bing Crosby who was a major shareholder in Ampex Tapes and Tape Recorders, and who Paul backed on recordings in the 1940s, Paul started his studio in the garage of his home in Hollywood. He experimented with microphone placement, track speed, and recording overdubs. These methods resulted in a clarity previously unheard in this type of multitrack recording.

Capitol Records released “Lover (When You’re Near Me)”, on which Paul played eight different parts on electric guitar, some recorded at half-speed, hence “double-fast” when played back at normal speed for the master. This was the first time he used multitracking in a recording. His early multitrack recordings, including “Lover” and “Brazil” were made with acetate discs. He recorded a track onto a disk, then recorded himself playing another part with the first. He built the multitrack recording with overlaid tracks rather than parallel ones as he did later. By the time he had a result that satisfied him, he had discarded some five hundred recording disks.

As a teen he had built a disc-cutter assembly using the flywheel from a Cadillac, a dental belt and other parts from his father’s car repair shop. Years later in his Hollywood garage, he used the acetate disc setup to record parts at different speeds and with delay, resulting in his signature sound with echoes and birdsong-like guitar riffs.

In 1949, Crosby gave Paul one of the first Ampex Model 200A reel to reel tape recorders. Paul invented sound on sound recording using this machine by placing an additional playback head, located before the conventional erase/record/playback heads. This allowed Paul to play along with a previously recorded track, both of which were mixed together onto a new track. The Ampex was a monophonic tape recorder with only one track across the entire width of quarter-inch tape, and therefore, the recording was “destructive” in the sense that the original recording was permanently replaced with the new, mixed recording. He eventually enhanced this by using one tape machine to play back the original recording and a second to record the combined track. This preserved the original recording.

In 1952, Paul invented the flange effect, where a sound phases in and out in harmonic tone. The first example of this can be heard on his song “Mammy’s Boogie”.

Observing film recordings inspired Paul to design the stacking of eight tape recorders. He worked with Ross Snyder on the design of the first eight-track recording deck built for him by Ampex for his home studio. Rein Narma built a custom 8-channel mixing console for him. The mixing board included in-line equalization and vibrato effects. He named the recorder “The Octopus” and the mixing console “The Monster”. The name “octopus” was inspired by comedian W. C. Fields who was the first person to hear Paul play his multi-tracked guitar experiments. “He came to my garage to make a little record (in 1946),” Les recalled. “I played him the acetate of ‘Lover’ that I’d done. When he heard it, he said, ‘My boy, you sound like an octopus.'”

LES PAUL AND MARY FORD

In mid-1945, Paul met country-western singer Iris Colleen Summers. They began working together on Paul’s radio show, as Rhubarb Red and The Ozark Apple Knockers with Mary Lou. Later Paul suggested the stage name Mary Ford. They married in Milwaukee in 1949.

Their hits included “How High the Moon”, “Bye Bye Blues”, “Song in Blue”, “Don’cha Hear Them Bells”, “The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise”, and “Vaya con Dios”. The songs were recorded with multiple tracks where Ford harmonized with herself and Paul played multiple layers of guitars.

They used the recording technique known as close miking where the microphone is less than 6 inches (15 cm) from the singer’s mouth. This produces a more intimate, less reverberant sound than when a singer is 1 foot (30 cm) or more from the microphone. When using a pressure-gradient (uni- or bi-directional) microphone, it emphasizes low-frequency sounds in the voice due to the microphone’s proximity effect and gives a more relaxed feel because the performer is not working as hard.

They also performed music-hall style semi-comic routines with Mary mimicking whatever line Les decided to improvise.

Here, Les Paul and Mary Ford explain their multitrack recording technique to Alistair Cooke on his Omnibus TV show…

15 FEBRUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINECommunity Radio Network Show CRN #531
107.3 2SER Tuesday 15 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	1940s Swing Radio
Pretty Little Petticoat (theme) + A Symphony Under the Stars	Raymond Scott Orchestra	Brunswick Hotel WBZ NBC Bosyon 6 Dec 1941
I Dreamt I Dwelt in Harlem	Mal Hallett Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ AFRS Hollywood 7 Jun 1945
Moten Swing + Cirribiiribin (theme)	Harry James Orchestra	Casino Gardens Ocean Park Ca KFI NBC LA 1944
Set 2	Spike Jones
Open + By The Sea	Spike Jones and his City Slickers (voc) Trio	‘Corn’s a-Poppin’ AFRS Re-broadcast 21 May 1949
The Barber of Seville	Spike Jones and his City Slickers (voc) Sir Frederick Gas	‘Corn’s a-Poppin’ AFRS Re-broadcast 1948
Carolina Moon + When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba	Spike Jones and his City Slickers (voc) Prof. Beetlebaum	‘Corn’s a-Poppin’ AFRS Re-broadcast 27 Feb 1949
Set 3	Modern Jazz
One O’Clock Jump + Perdido	Count Basie Orchestra	‘All-Star Parade of Bands’ Zardi’s KNX NBC Los Angeles 2 Jul 1956
I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm	Benny Goodman Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Palladium Ballroom Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast 1949
Take the A-Train + Close	Ted Heath Orchestra	‘International Bandstand’ BBC/NBC 1959
Set 4	Les Paul and Mary Ford
Open + Brazil	Les Paul Trio (voc) Mary Ford	‘Les Paul Show’ NBC 12 May 1950
Some of These Days	Les Paul Trio (voc) Mary Ford	‘Les Paul Show’ NBC 30 Jun 1950
Puttin’ on the Style	Les Paul Trio (voc) Mary Ford	‘Les Paul Show’ NBC 26 May 1950
What Is This Called Love? + If a Nightinggale Could Sing Like You	Les Paul Trio (voc) Mary Ford	‘Les Paul Show’ NBC 26 May 1950
Set 5	Glenn Miller Hits Played by Other Orks
I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo	Joe Marsala Orchestra (voc) Al Jennings	Aircheck Log Cabin Farms Armouk NY 23 Oct 1942
In the Mood	Louis Armstrong Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS NYC early 1943
Moonlight Serenade	Gray Gordon and his Tic Toc Rhythm Orchestra (voc) Cliff Grass	Radio Transcription New York City 1939
Set 6	Hit of the Week Cardboard Discs
Sweet Jennie Lee	Reser’s Radio Orchestra (voc) Frank Luther	Hit of the Week Records 29 Dec 1930
My Extraordinary Girl	Hit of the Week Orchestra (voc) Ralph Kirbery	Hit of the Week Records 26 May 1932
Let’s Get Friendly	The New York Twelve (voc) Smith Bellew	Hit of the Week Records May 1931
Me	Sam Lanin Orchestra (voc) Male Trio	Hit of the Week Records 8 Oct 1931
Set 7	1930s Radio Dance Bands
St Louis Blues	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (tb) Jack Teagarden	‘Paul Whiteman’s Musical Varieties’ WJZ NBC Blue NYC 16 Feb 1936
Lady Be Good	Barney Rapp and His New Englanders	Sign of the Drum NBC Cincinnati OH 17 Jun 1939
King of Bongo Bong	Roy Eldridge Orchestra	Aircheck Arcadia Restaurant NYC 1939
I Wanna Be a Rug Cutter	Ella Fitzgerald Orchestra	Savoy Balllroom WEAF NBC Red NYC 4 Mar 1940
Set 8	Modern Jazz
Micro	Django Reinhardt Hot Club of France	Radio Geneva Switzerland 25 Oct 1949
The Cinch	Buddy Rich Quintet	Birdland WABC ABC NY 8 Nov 1958
Theme + The Dart Game	Shelly Manne Quintet	Basin Street WCBS CBS NYC 1956

All Day Practice Makes Outstanding Trumpeter – Phantom Dancer 8 February 2022

Clifford Brown is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature. Clifford Brown was an outstanding jazz trumpeter who in a career spanning only a few years became a jazz sensation . He composed the jazz standards Sandu, Joy Spring (his nickname for his wife) and Daahoud.

The Phantom Dancer is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted by me, Greg Poppleton. This week’s Phantom Dancer is a ‘classic’from March last year. I can’t go into the studio because I have caught COVID.

Hear past Phantom Dancer online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.

This show will be online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 8 February at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

CLIFFORD

Brown came from a musical family. His father organized his four sons, including Clifford, into a vocal quartet. He started playing trumpet at school at ten and began private lessons at age thirteen.

He first went to university as a maths major, but music took over. He played in the fourteen-piece, jazz-oriented Maryland State Band. In June 1950, he was injured in a car accident after a performance. While in the hospital, he was visited by Dizzy Gillespie. Dizzy encouraged him to pursue a career in music. He got back into music despite his severe injuries by playing piano while recuperating.

BROWN

Brown was influenced and encouraged by trumpeter, Fats Navarro. He played for a week with Charlie Parker who was amazed by Brown’s trumpet ideas.

Clifford’s first recordings were with R&B bandleader Chris Powell. He worked with Art Blakey, Tadd Dameron, Lionel Hampton, J. J. Johnson.a

He formed a band with Max Roach. Sonny Rollins joined the band and remained a member of the group for the rest of its existence. You’ll hear the Max Roach-Clifford Brown Quintet with Sonny Rollins on live 1956 radio in this week’s Phantom Dancer.

Brown stayed away from drugs and didn’t like alcohol. Rollins, who was recovering from heroin addiction, said that “Clifford was a profound influence on my personal life. He showed me that it was possible to live a good, clean life and still be a good jazz musician.”

Brown also had the habit of practicing all day off-stage, starting from 6am on the band bus. This gave him phenomenal stamina, clarity and tone on the bandstand.

8 FEBRUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #531
107.3 2SER Tuesday 8 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 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 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm 4RPH Brisbane Sunday 3 – 4am 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	Big Bands on 1946 Radio
Intro + There’s Good Blues Tonight	Hal McIntyre Orchestra (voc) Johnny Turnbull	‘One Night Stand’ Century Rook Hotel Commodore NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 15 May 1946
Without You	Leighton Noble Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Starlight Roof Waldorf-Astoria Hotel NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 21 Jun 1946
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes + Perdido (close)	Buddy Morrow Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Roseland Ballroom NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 1 Mar 1946
Set 2	Phil Harris
Music in the Moonlight (theme) + Just Friends	Jimmy Grier Orchestra (voc) Dick Webster	Cocoanut Grove Ambassador Hotel TRANSCO Radio Transcription 1932
Save The Last Dance For Me	Jimmy Grier Orchestra (voc) Donald Novis	Cocoanut Grove Ambassador Hotel TRANSCO Radio Transcription 1932
The More You Hurt Me The More You Make Me Care + Music in the Moonlight (theme)	Jimmy Grier Orchestra (voc) Margaret Lawrence	Cocoanut Grove Ambassador Hotel TRANSCO Radio Transcription 1932
Set 3	West Coast Trad 1949-59 Radio
I Cover The Waterfront (theme) + Struttin’ With Some BBQ	Estuary Jazz Band	Pier 23 KGO San Francisco 1959
Open + Mississippi Mud	Kid Ory’s Creole Jazz Band	Beverly Cavern Club KGFJ Los Angeles 28 Jun 1949
March of the Bobcats + Honeysuckle Rose + I’ve Got a Right To Sing The Blues (theme)	Jack Teagarden	Club Hangover KCBS San Francisco 24 Apr 1954
Set 4	Clifford Brown
Sweet Georgia Brown + What’s New?	Clifford Brown – Max Roach Quintet	Basin Street WCBS CBS NYC 6 May 1956
Interview	Clifford Brown interviewed by Willis Connover	‘Jazz Hour’ Voice of America 1956
I Remember Clifford	Oscar Pettiford	Birdland WABC ABC NY 1957
Set 5	Extended Works by Duke Ellington
Diminuendo in Blue	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Birdland WNBC NBC NY 30 Jun 1951
Crescendo in Blue	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Birdland WNBC NBC NY 30 Jun 1951
Black, Brown and Beige Work Song	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘Date with the Duke’ 400 Club WJZ Blue NYC 28 Apr 1945
Black, Brown and Beige Spiritual	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘Date with the Duke’ 400 Club WJZ Blue NYC 28 Apr 1945
Set 6	Harry James Radio Transcriptions
Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest	Radio Transcription 1943
Caxton Hall Swing	Harry James Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1954
Honeysuckle Rose	Harry James Orchestra (g) Allen Reuss	Radio Transcription 1943
In The Still of the Night	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Paula Gilbert	Radio Transcription 1954
Set 7	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra 1956
Intro + Song of India	Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler WRCA NBC NY 1956
Ridin’ Around in the Rain	Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra (voc) Dolly Houston	Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler WRCA NBC NY 1956
Sunny Side of the Street	Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra (voc) Lynn Roberts	Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler WRCA NBC NY 1956
Just For Taking Bows	Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler WRCA NBC NY 1956
Set 8	Progressive Jazz Radio
A Foggy Day	Carmen McRae	‘Timex All Star Jazz Show’ CBS TV 30 Dec 1957
They All Laughed	Carmen McRae	‘Timex All Star Jazz Show’ CBS TV 30 Dec 1957
Lester Leaps In	Lester Young	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 27 Nov 1948
Moose The Mooche + Lullaby of Broadway	Charlie Parker	Birdland WABC ABC NY 9 May 1953

Don Redman Swing Inventor? Phantom Dancer 1 February 2022

Don Redman is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist. Don Redman was a U.S jazz musician, arranger, bandleader and composer. He’s hailed as the arranger who invented swing. He’s the uncle of saxophonist Dewey Redman and great-uncle of saxophonist Joshua Redman and trumpeter Carlos Redman.

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 1 February) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

Here’s Don Redman singing with his Orchestra in a Vitaphone short feature from 1933…

DON REDMAN

Don Redman’s father was a music teacher. His mother was a singer. He started playing trumpet at age 3 and joined his first band at the aged 6.

By the time he was 12, he was proficient on all wind instruments ranging from trumpet to oboe as well as piano.

He studied at Storer College in Harper’s Ferry (where the third video, The Don Redman Jazz Heritage Awards was filmed, see below.). He then studied at the Boston Conservatory.

On graduating he joined Billy Page’s Broadway Syncopaters in New York City.

SWING

Crucial to the developement of swing, Redman joined the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in 1923 on clarinet and saxophones. He began writing arrangements for the Henderson Orchestra which created the Swing sound.

A trademark of Redman’s arrangements was the band playing harmony under written solos. He played brass and reed sections off each other in a call-response pattern, having one section punctuate the figures of another, and moved the melody around different orchestral sections and soloists. This innovative Swing sound forms the basis of much big band jazz writing.

He left Henderson in 1927 to join McKinney’s Cotton Pickers as their musical director and leader. He was responsible for their great success and arranged over half of their music. In 1931 he started his own orchestra.

ORCHESTRA

With his own band, Redman started at a residency at the Manhattan jazz club Connie’s Inn. Redman signed with Brunswick Records and undertook a series of radio broadcasts – part of one you’ll hear on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

He sang with his orchestra, sharing the microphone with the ‘Black Crosby’, Harlan Lattimore. By 1937, his orchestra featured ‘The Swing Choir’. Redman’s vocal style on his own songs like ‘I Heard’ and ‘Try Getting a Good Night’s Sleep’ is recitative in style.

Don Redman and Orchestra in the 1933 Betty Boop cartoon, “I Heard”…

Redman disbanded his orchestra in 1940 and concentrated on freelance work writing arrangements for Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, and Harry James.

He traveled to Europe in 1946 leading an all-star band that included Don Byas, Tyree Glenn, and Billy Taylor. He appeared on Uptown Jubilee on the CBS Television network for the 1949 season. In the 1950s, he was music director for singer Pearl Bailey.

In the early 1960s, he played piano for the Georgia Minstrels Concert and soprano sax with Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle’s band.

Don Redman’s legacy continues – The Don Redman Jazz Heritage Awards, 2016…

1 FEBRUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINECommunity Radio Network Show CRN #529
107.3 2SER Tuesday 1 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	1940s Swing Radio
Sound Off (theme) + Sheik of Araby	Teddy Wilson and Red Norvo Band	‘Sound Off’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
Remember (theme) + Woodchoppers’ Ball	Benny Goodman Orchestra (theme) Woody Herman Orchestra	‘Jill’s All-Time Juke Box’ AFRS Hollywood 1945
When They Ask About You + Sound Off (theme)	Hal McIntyre Orchestra (voc) Gloria Vance	‘Sound Off’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
Set 2	Dixie
Open + Panama	Paul Tanner and his Solid Seven	‘Yank Bandstand’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
Down The Road Apiece	Art Hodes (piano)	‘Dixieland Club’ AFRS Re-broadcast5 Sep 1951
When The Saints Go Marching In + Getting Sentimental Over You	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra + Duke Ellington + Buddy Rich + Johnny Ray	‘Stageshow’ WCBS CBS TV NYC 1 Jan 1955
Set 3	Frank Sinatra
Open + With a Song in My Heart	Frank Sinatra	‘Treasury Star Parade’ Radio Transcription 1944
Great Day + You’ll Never Walk Alone	Frank Sinatra	‘Guest Star’ Radio Transcription 1948
That Old Black Magic + Auld Lang Syne + Put Your Dreams Away (theme)	Frank Sinatra	‘Songs by Sinatra WABC CBS NYC 31 Dec 1943
Set 4	Don Redman
Try Getting a Good Night’s Sleep	Don Redman Orchestra (voc) Don Redman	Comm Rec NYC 26 Feb 1932
Odds and Ends	Don Redman Orchestra (voc) Don Redman	Casino de Paree WABC CBS NYC 22 Dec 1933
Redman Rhythm + Close (At the beginning of Redman Rhythm, the radio reception for this 1933 home disc recording improves)	Don Redman Orchestra	Casino de Paree WABC CBS NYC 22 Dec 1933
A Two Time Man	Don Redman Orchestra (voc) Don Redman	Comm Rec NYC 19 Sep 1932
Set 5	Let’s Dance
Let’s Dance (theme) + The Object of My Affection	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Buddy Clark	‘Let’s Dance’ WEAF NBC Red NYC 1 Dec 1934
Honeysuckle Rose + Love is Just Around the Corner	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Buddy Clark	‘Let’s Dance’ WEAF NBC Red NYC 4 Jan 1935
Chicago	Benny Goodman Orchestra	‘Let’s Dance’ WEAF NBC Red NYC 2 Feb 1935
Set 6	Radio Transcriptions
Tumbling Tumbleweeds	Jan Garber Orchestra (voc) Lee Bennett	Radio Transcription 1939
Cradle Song (Brahms)	Les Elgart Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1946
Love Song of Renaldo	Jan Garber Orchestra (voc) Fritz Heilbron	Radio Transcription 1941
Largo (Dvorak)	Les Elgart Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1946
Set 7	Selling Shoes and Aeroplanes
I’ve Got Five Dollars (theme) + One Man Band	Freddy Rich Orchestra	‘Friendly Five Footnotes’ Radio Transcription 1932
Somebody Stole My Gla	Freddy Rich Orchestra	‘Friendly Five Footnotes’ Radio Transcription 1932
A Happy Landing	Freddy Rich Orchestra	‘Friendly Five Footnotes’ Radio Transcription 1932
San	Freddy Rich Orchestra	‘Friendly Five Footnotes’ Radio Transcription 1932
Set 8	Modern Jazz
Night and Day	Django Reinhardt with Paul Baron’s Orchestra	‘This is Paris’ NBC 1949
If I Were a Bell	Buddy Rich Quintet	Birdland WABC ABC NY 7 Nov 1958
Theme + Jordu	Stan Getz Quartet	‘Bandstand USA’ Red Hill Inn Pennsauken NJ Mutual 18 May 1957

Meredith Willson from Sousa to Chicken Fat – Phantom Dancer 18 January 2022

Meredith Willson, this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist, was a piccolo and flute virtuoso who played in John Philip Sousa’s band, the New York Philharmonic under Arturo Toscanini, composed popular music and 3 Broadway shows including ‘The Music Man’, was a two time Academy Award nominee, wrote three books and conducted the Armed Forces Radio Service Orchestra during WW2.

LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 18 January) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

I’m Greg Poppleton, The Phantom Dancer producer and presenter every week on 107.3 2SER radio Sydney since 1985.

Watch Meredith Willson on Garry Moore’s “I’ve Got A Secret” (March 25, 1963) as he conducts a chorus of people chosen from the New York City phone book whose names spell out the words to the 19th century song, ‘In The Good Old Summer Time’.

YOUNG VIRTUOSO

Willson was a flute and piccolo virtuoso. He become a member of John Philip Sousa‘s band (1921–1924) and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini (1924–1929). He then moved to San Francisco, California, as the concert director for radio station KFRC, and then as a musical director for the NBC radio network in Hollywood. His on-air radio debut came on KFRC in 1928 on Blue Monday Jamboree.

FILM MUSIC

Willson’s work in films included the score for Charlie Chaplin‘s The Great Dictator (1940) (Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score), and arranging music for the score of William Wyler‘s The Little Foxes (1941) (Academy Award nomination for Best Music Score of a Dramatic Picture).

RADIO

During World War II, Willson worked for the United States’ Armed Forces Radio Service. His work with the AFRS teamed him with George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Bill Goodwin. He worked with all three as the bandleader, and a regular character, on the Burns and Allen radio program. He played a shy man always trying to get advice on women. His character was ditzy as well, basically a male version of Allen’s.

In 1942, Willson had his own program on NBC. Meredith Willson’s Music was a summer replacement for Fibber McGee and Molly. Sparkle Time, which ran on CBS in 1946–47, was Willson’s first full-season radio program.

Returning to network radio after WWII, Willson created the Talking People, a choral group that spoke in unison while delivering radio commercials. In 1950 he became the musical director for The Big Show, a 90-minute comedy-variety program hosted by actress Tallulah Bankhead and featuring some of the world’s best-known entertainers.

Willson became part of one of the show’s very few running gags, beginning replies to Bankhead’s comments or questions with “well, sir, Miss Bankhead”. He wrote the song “May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You” for the show. Bankhead spoke the lyrics over the music at the end of each show. He also worked on Jack Benny‘s radio program, and hosted his own program in 1949. For a few years in the early 1950s, Willson was a regular panelist on the Goodson-Todman game show The Name’s the Same; he recalled later that he did the show for the steady Goodson-Todman salary, which he was saving toward his Broadway musical project.

In 1950, Willson served as musical director for The California Story, California’s centennial production at the Hollywood Bowl. Working on this production, Willson met writer Franklin Lacey, who proved instrumental in developing the storyline for a musical Willson had been working on, soon to become The Music Man. The California Story was followed by two more state centennial collaborations with stage director Vladimir Rosing: The Oregon Story in 1959 and The Kansas Story in 1961.

BROADWAY

Willson’s most famous work, The Music Man, premiered on Broadway in 1957, and was adapted twice for film (in 1962 and 2003). He called it “an Iowan’s attempt to pay tribute to his home state”. It took Willson eight years and 30 revisions to complete the musical, for which he wrote more than 40 songs.

The show was a resounding success, running on Broadway for 1,375 performances over three and a half years. The cast recording won the first Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Album (Broadway or TV). In 1959, Willson and his second wife Ralina “Rini” Zarova recorded an album, … and Then I Wrote The Music Man, in which they review the history of, and sing songs from, the show. In 2010, Brian d’Arcy James and Kelli O’Hara played Willson and Rini in an off-Broadway entertainment based on this album.

Willson’s second musical, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, ran on Broadway for 532 performances from 1960 to 1962 and was made into a 1964 motion picture starring Debbie Reynolds. His third Broadway musical was an adaptation of the film Miracle on 34th Street, called Here’s Love. Some theater buffs recall it as a quick failure, but it actually enjoyed an eight-month run on Broadway in 1963-64 (334 performances). His fourth, last, and least successful musical was 1491, which told the story of Columbus’s attempts to finance his famous voyage. It was produced by the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera in 1969, but not on Broadway.

CLASSICAL

Willson’s Symphony No. 1 in F minor: A Symphony of San Francisco and his Symphony No. 2 in E minor: Missions of California were recorded in 1999 by William T. Stromberg conducting the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra. Other symphonic works include the O.O. McIntyre Suite, Symphonic Variations on an American Theme and Anthem, the symphonic poem Jervis Bay, and Ask Not, which incorporates quotations from John F. Kennedy‘s inaugural address. In tribute to the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts (ISOMATA), Willson composed In Idyllwild for orchestra, choir, vocal solo and Alphorn. Willson’s chamber music includes A Suite for Flute.

TV

In 1964, Willson produced three original summer variety specials for CBS under the title Texaco Star Parade. The first premiered on June 5, 1964, and starred Willson and his wife Rini. It featured guest stars Caterina Valente and Sergio Franchi, and a production number with Willson leading four military bands composed of 500 California high school band members.

The second special starred Debbie Reynolds singing selections she had introduced in Willson’s production The Unsinkable Molly Brown. On July 28, Willson and Rini hosted the third special, which featured a Willson production number with 1,000 Marine Corps volunteers from Camp Pendelton. Guest stars were Vikki Carr, Jack Jones, Frederick Hemke, and Joe and Eddie.

POP SONGS

Meredith Willson wrote a number of well-known songs, such as “You and I”, a No. 1 hit for Glenn Miller in 1941 on the Billboard charts. It was also recorded by Bing Crosby, and by Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra on vocals.

Three songs from The Music Man have become American standards: “Seventy-Six Trombones“, “Gary, Indiana”, and “Till There Was You“, originally titled “Till I Met You” (1950).

Other popular songs by Willson include “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” (published as “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas”), “May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You“, and “I See the Moon“. He wrote the University of Iowa‘s fight song, “Iowa Fight Song“, as well as Iowa State University‘s “For I for S Forever”. He also wrote the fight song for his hometown high school “Mason City, Go!” He honored The Salvation Army with a musical tribute, “Banners and Bonnets”.

An oddity in Willson’s body of work is “Chicken Fat“, written in 1962. In school gymnasiums across the nation, this was the theme song for President John F. Kennedy’s youth fitness program.

In 2014, a re-recording of “Chicken Fat” was used in a television commercial for the iPhone 5S.^[19]

In 1974, Willson offered another marching song, “Whip Inflation Now”, to the Ford Administration, but it was not used.

BOOKS

Willson wrote three memoirs: And There I Stood With My Piccolo (1948), Eggs I Have Laid (1955), and But He Doesn’t Know the Territory (1959).

Here’s ’76 Trombones’ from the 1962 movie, ‘The Music Man’

18 JANUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINECommunity Radio Network Show CRN #527
107.3 2SER Tuesday 18 January 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 2SEA Eden 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 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	1940s Swing Radio
Open + It’s Been So Long	Randy Brooks Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Roseland Ballroom NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 14 Jul 1945
I’ll Be Around	Sonny Dunham Orchestra (voc) Pat Cameron	‘One Night Stand’ Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 14 Apr 1944
Holiday for Strings + Lady Be Good	Lucky Millinder Orchestra (piano) Sir Charles Thompson	‘One Night Stand’ Savoy Ballroom NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 17 Jul 1945
Set 2	Middle of the Road Christmas
Open + Let It Snow	Dinah Shore	‘Dinah Shore Show’ WRCA NBC NY 24 Dec 1954
Happy Christmas Little Friend	Dinah Shore	‘Dinah Shore Show’ WRCA NBC NY 24 Dec 1954
We Three Kings + Gloria in Excelsior Deo + Close	Unidentified Choir	‘Music America Loves’ AFRS Re-broadcast 24 Dec 1944
Set 3	1937-39 Radio
Theme + Shoot the Sherbert to Me, Herbert	Bob Chester Orchestra (voc) Kathleen Lane	Mayfair Restaurant Hotel van Cleve Dayton OH WJSV CBS Washington DC 22 Sep 1939
Midnight in a Madhouse	Larry Clinton Orchestra
Rockin’ in Rhythm + East St Louis Toodle-oo (theme)	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Cotton Club WOR Mutual NYC 18 Mar 1937
Set 4	Meredith Willson
I’ve a Strange New Rhythm in My Heart + With a Song in My Heart	Intro and Outro by Louis B Mayer. Meredith Willson Orchestra (voc and tap dance) Eleanor Powell	‘Good News of 1938’ KFI NBC Red LA Dec 1937
Intro + Happy Wedding Day	Meredith Willson Orchestra (voc) Cast + Bing Crosby	‘Command Performance USA’ Dick Tracy in Bb AFRS Hollywood 1945
Whose Dream Are You? + Who’s That Knocking at My Door?	Meredith Willson Orchestra (voc) Dinah Shore, Bing Crosby, Harry von Zell, Jerry Colonna	‘Command Performance USA’ Dick Tracy in Bb AFRS Hollywood 1945
Medley: For You, Make Believe Island, Every Little Movement, Somrthing Goes Ting-a-Ling, Raggedy Fool, Do You Remember?	Meredith Willson Orchestra	‘At Ease’ AFRS Hollywood 1944
Set 5	Tommy Dorsey
I’m Getting Sentimental Over You (theme + On The Sunny Side of the Street	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) The Sentimentalists	‘One Night Stand’ 400 Restaurant NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 30 Sep 1945
Song of India	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Blue Network 12 Feb 1945
So What? + Close	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ WABC CBS NY 11 Feb 1941
Set 6	Cocoanut Grove Vocal Trios
You’re The Surest Cure for the Blues	The Three Ambassadors (voc) Gus Arnheim Orchestra	Radio Transcription Cocoanut Grove Hollywood 1931
Down Among the Sleepy Pines	The Three Cheers (voc) Jimmy Grier Orchestra	Radio Transcription Cocoanut Grove Hollywood 1932
Take It From Me	The Three Ambassadors (voc) Gus Arnheim Orchestra	Radio Transcription Cocoanut Grove Hollywood 1931
I Know You’re Lying But I Love It	The Three Cheers and Gogo Delys (voc) Jimmy Grier Orchestra	Radio Transcription Cocoanut Grove Hollywood 1932
Set 7	Glenn Miller
Theme + Here We Go Again + White Cliffs of Dover	Glenn Miller Orchestra	‘Sunset Serenade’ WJZ NBC Blue NYC 27 Dec 1941
String of Pearls	Glenn Miller Orchestra	‘Uncle Sam Presents’ Radio Transcription Feb 1944
Oh So Good	Glenn Miller Orchestra	‘Sunset Serenade’ WJZ NBC Blue NYC 27 Dec 1941
Don’t Be That Way	Glenn Miller Orchestra	‘Uncle Sam Presents’ Radio Transcription Feb 1944
Set 8	Modern Jazz
C Jam Blues	International All Stars	Comm Rec Los Angeles Dec 1947
Baghdad	Boyd Raeburn Orchestra	Palace Hotel KQW CBS San Francisco 27 Jul 1945
Theme + Jordu	Stan Getz Quartet	‘Bandstand USA’ Red Hill Inn Pennsauken NJ Mutual 18 May 1957

Med School Dropout Leads Famous Orchestra – Phantom Dancer 11 January 2022

Med School dropout Eddy Howard, singer, band leader and composer of ‘Careless’ (his theme song), ‘If I Knew Then’, ‘My Last Goodbye’, and ‘A Million Years Ago’, is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist.

LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 11 January) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

I’m Greg Poppleton, The Phantom Dancer producer and presenter every week on 107.3 2SER radio Sydney since 1985.

Eddy Howard singing with Dick Jurgens Orchestra. How different is the radio transcription of Ragtime Cowboy Joe (19120 played on this week’s Phantom Dancer to this 1939 commercial waxing…

TROMBONE THEN SINGER

Edy Howard studied medicine at Stanford University before dropping out to become a singer of romantic ballads on Los Angeles radio. Later he sang with bands led by Ben Bernie and Dick Jurgens.

He first auditioned for, and then joined the Jurgens Orchestra, as a trombonist. With a limited knowledge of music, he committed the audition charts to memory and got the job.

By the time Jurgens discovered that Howard had not enough sight-reading skills to hold down the trombone chair, he had also discovered Howard’s ability as a vocalist. Jurgens hired someone else to play trombone. He gave Eddy Howard a guitar and made him band vocalist.

Jurgens said that it didn’t matter how well Howard played guitar, his vocals made the band.

Eddy Howard singing with his vocal trio and Orchestra in 1949…

ORCHESTRA

In 1939, Howard started his own band, and he was the regular vocalist on It Can Be Done, Edgar A. Guest‘s 1941 radio programme on the Blue Network, from Wednesday to Friday.

The first No. 1 single for Howard and his Orchestra, “To Each His Own“, spent five non-consecutive weeks at the top of the U.S. pop chart in 1946. The song was a tie-in with the 1946 Paramount film, To Each His Own, which brought Academy Awards for Olivia de Havilland and screenwriter Charles Brackett. The recording by Howard was released by Majestic Records and reached the Billboard chart on July 11, 1946, spending a total of 19 weeks on the chart. It sold over two million copies by 1957 and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.

Howard’s orchestra was heard on The Gay Mrs. Featherstone on NBC (April 18 – October 10, 1945) and on NBC’s The Sheaffer Parade, sponsored by Sheaffer Pens (September 14, 1947 – September 5, 1948).

In 1949, Howard signed to Mercury Records. His popularity continued into the 1950s with tracks such as “Maybe It’s Because”, and “(It’s No) Sin“, which became Howard’s second No. 1 tune, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

Howard’s last hit was “The Teen-Ager’s Waltz”, which peaked at No. 90 on the Billboard Top 100 chart in 1955.

In 1952–1953 he was heard on CBS on Thursday nights at 10:45pm, with further broadcasts on Tuesdays at 10pm in 1955–1956. The rise of rock music led to a decline in Howard’s popularity.

In a change of roles, Howard was the host on Just for You, an hour-long variety program on NBC in 1954. The staff orchestra of WMAQ Chicago provided the music.

Howard’s star rose again during the 1960s, as part of the revival of interest in Big Band music and old-time radio.

He went into semi-retirement and his some-time saxophonist, vocalist-bandleader Norman Lee, procured the rights to use the Eddy Howard Orchestra name and the band’s arrangements. Lee and the Orchestra became a dance-band staple throughout the U.S. midwest. Based out of Wichita, Kansas, they toured extensively and recorded on their own label, Marian Records.

By the late 1960s, Lee dropped the Eddy Howard name and led the orchestra under his own name, though several Howard standards remained featured in their repertoire. The organization dissolved in the wake of the murder of Lee and his wife by one of the band’s former trumpet players on 6 December 1978.

Here’s Eddy Howard’s theme, which he co-wrote with Dick Jurgens…

11 JANUARY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #526
107.3 2SER Tuesday 11 January 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 2SEA Eden 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 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	1940s Swing Radio
Open + Hallelujah + The Song is You	Jerry Wald Orchestra (voc) dick Merrick	‘Spotlight Bands’ AFRS Re-broadcast 28 Oct 1944
Bugle Call Rag	Gene Krupa Orchestra	Pacific Square KFSD Mutual San Diego 3 Mar 1945
Desperate Desmond + Close	Buddy Rich Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ AFRS Re-broadcast 24 Dec 1945
Set 2	Count Basie Rock’n’Roll
One O’Clock Jump (theme) + Blee Blop Blues	Count Basie Orchestra	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 21 Apr 1956
Shake a Hand + I’ll Be True To You	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Faye Adams	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 21 Apr 1956
All Right, OK, You Win	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Joe Williams	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 21 Apr 1956
Basie Land + One O’Clock Jump (theme)	Count Basie Orchestra	‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ WCBS CBS NY 21 Apr 1956
Set 3	Early Recorded Radio
Open + My Sweeter Than Sweet + She’s So Unusual	Studio Orchestra	Opening WNER and W9XF Chicago 1930 (9XF Chicago was a shortwave and mechnaical TV station)
Dancing to Save Your Sole	Philco Orchestra (tp) Bob Effros	‘Philco Hour’ Radio Transcription New York City 1930
Blues Skies + Bye Bye Blues + My Future Just Passed + I Love You So Much	Philco Orchestra (voc) Ruth Glenn & Catherine Kent	‘Philco Hour’ Radio Transcription New York City 1930
Boy! Oh! Boy! I’ve Got It Bad	Philco Orchestra (voc) Boswell Sisters	‘Philco Hour’ Radio Transcription New York City 1931
Set 4	Eddy Howard
Careless (theme) + Thou Swell + Homesick, That’s All	Eddy Howard Orchestra (voc) Eddy Howard	Aragon Ballroom WGN Chicago 5 Dec 1945
The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down	Dick Jurgens Orchestra (voc) Eddy Howard	Comm Rec NYC 1938
Martha	Dick Jurgens Orchestra (voc) Eddy Howard	Comm Rec NYC 1938
Medley + So Long For Now	Eddy Howard Orchestra (voc) Eddy Howard	Aragon Ballroom WGN Chicago 5 Dec 1945
Set 5	European Dance Bands
Musik, Musik, Musik	Marika Roekk (voc and tap dancing)	From the film, ‘Hallo Janine’ Berlin 1939
Son Belle	Natalino Otto	Comm Rec Turin 1948
Hallo, Dobra Vece	Unknown	Comm Rec Prague 1930s
Set 6	1940s Harry James
Joe Blow	Harry James Orchestra	Aircheck 1943
Cherokee	Harry James Orchestra	Southland Cafe WNAC NBC Red Boston 19 Mar 1940
But Not For Me	Harry James Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest	Hotel Astor Roof WABC CBS NY 28 Aug 1942
Jeffries’ Blues	Harry James Orchestra	Aircheck Blue Room Hotel Lincoln NYC 22 May 1941
Set 7	Mildred  Bailey
I’ll Get By	Mildred Bailey (voc) Paul Baron Orchestra	‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NYC 1944
She’s Funny That Me	Mildred Bailey (voc) Paul Baron Orchestra	‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NYC 19 Jan 1945
I Dream of You	Mildred Bailey (voc) Paul Baron Orchestra	‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NYC 1944
T’aint Me	Mildred Bailey (voc) Paul Baron Orchestra	‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NYC 24 Nov 1944
Set 8	Modern Jazz
Bebop	Howard McGee Sextet	Aircheck Los Angeles 29 Apr 47
Three Little Words	Gene Krupa Quartet	London House WBBM CBS Chicago 13 Mar 1959
Hot House	Charlie Parker (as); Miles Davis (tpt); Al Haig (p); Tommy Potter (b); Max Roach (d)	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 12 Dec 1948
Salt Peanuts	Charlie Parker (as); Miles Davis (tpt); Al Haig (p); Tommy Potter (b); Max Roach (d) (voc) Charlie Parker	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 12 Dec 1948

Yao Lee and 1940s-60s New Years Eve! – 28 December 2021

Yao Lee, Hong Kong’s Patti Page is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist. Her most famous song opens this week’s Phantom Dancer. The first hour for the national show then continues with a mix of swing by Harry James, vocals by Giselle McKenzie, Rhythm and Blues from a 1951 radio aircheck, and live radio hard bop by Miles Davis and John Coltrane aired in 1958.

For the last hour broadcast, live to 2SER Sydney listeners, then available online, you’ll hear New Years Eve radio from the 1940s and 1960s.

(The short weather report that opens this week’s Phantom Dancer comes from a shortwave English language broadcast by Reichrundfunk Berlin in 1938).

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

I’m Greg Poppleton, The Phantom Dancer producer and presenter every week on 107.3 2SER radio Sydney since 1985.

News Years Eve 1930s-40s Cinema ads…

ROSE, ROSE I LOVE YOU

is the most famous song by singer Yao Lee. A 1940 Mandarin popular song composed by Chen Gexin and first recorded by Yao Lee. It became something of a Lili Marlene equivalent for Allied soldiers in the Asia-Pacific during World War 2.

The song was brought back to England by broadcaster Wilfrid Thomas in 1951 after doing commentary on the war in Malaya. When he played it on his BBC program he received a barrage of requests for a repeat and he played it again in several more programs.

An English-language version whose lyrics by Wilfred Thomas that have little in common with the original Mandarin was first recorded by Frankie Laine in 1951. David Bowie used the song in a film about him in Hong Kong.

1930 New Years Eve record, KHJ Los Angeles…

YAO LEE

Also known as Yao Li, Yiu Lei and Hue Lee, was one of the Seven Great Singing Stars of Shanghai in the 1940s.

Raised in Shanghai, Yao began performing on the radio in 1935 at the age of 13. When she was 14, she recorded her first single with Yàn Húa (嚴華) called “New Little Cowherd” (新小放牛, Xin xiao fang niu). After being introduced by singers Zhou Xuan and Yan Hua, she was signed to Pathé Records when she was 16 in 1937, and the first record she released with the label was “Yearning for Sale” (賣相思, Mai Xiang Si).

She married Wong Po Lo (黃保羅) in 1947 and stopped performing to devote time to her family. Following the Communist seizure of power in China in 1949, popular music was considered ideologically suspect and Yao fled to Hong Kong in 1950 but continued her singing career with Pathé Records (EMI).

In addition to releasing hit records, beginning in 1955 with the film 桃花江 (Peach Blossom River), she was also a playback singer for movie actresses. Many of her featured songs became popular hits. She stepped down from her singing career in 1967 after the death of her brother, Yao Min. In 1969, she accepted the invitation to become the General Manager and Producer at EMI Music Hong Kong. Yao produced records for many artists during her time as a producer and retired from this position in 1977.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Yao Lee’s high, soft singing style was typical of Chinese popular music of the time (influenced by her superstar idol, Zhou Xuan). She performed numerous popular standards, such as Wishing You Happiness and Prosperity (恭喜恭喜), “I Can’t Have Your Love” (得不到你的愛情), and “By the Suzhou River” (蘇州河邊) with her brother Yao Min, arguably the best-known Chinese pop songwriter of the shidaiqu era.^[3] She is famous for her 1940 version of Rose, Rose, I Love You (玫瑰玫瑰我愛你), later recorded by Frankie Laine in the United States with English lyrics. Her version was also released in the U.S. and the United Kingdom credited to “Miss Hue Lee.” Yao was known as “the Silver Voice” (銀嗓子), alluding to fellow Shanghai singer Zhou Xuan, who was known as “the Golden Voice” (金嗓子).

With increasing Western influence in the region after World War II and her move to Hong Kong, Yao Lee’s singing style changed. She was introduced to more Western popular music and became an admirer of American singer Patti Page, whom she emulated by lowering her voice and incorporating some similar vocal mannerisms. As a result, Yao is sometimes called “Hong Kong’s Patti Page.” One of her biggest ’50s records was “The Spring Breeze Kisses My Face” (春風吻上我的臉).

Yao was extremely prolific with over 400 records attributed to her. Her 1959 song, “Rén Shēng Jìu Shì Xì”/”Life Is a Performance” (人生就是戲), is featured in the 2018 film, Crazy Rich Asians, in the scene when the matriarch grandmother, played by veteran Chinese American actor Lisa Lu, first appears.

Welcome in the New Year with this mix of 1920s-30s songs from six albums I’ve released …

28 DECEMBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #524
107.3 2SER Tuesday 28 DECEMBER 2021 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 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 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
Rose, Rose, I Love You	Yao Lee	From the film ‘Singing Girl’ 1940
Blue Skies	Harry James Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Mutual Network 1946
Zanzibar	Harry James Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Mutual Network 1946
All The Things You Are + Opus #1	Harry James Orchestra	‘Spotlight Bands’ Mutual Network 1946
Set 2
Theme + The Poor People of Paris (La goualante du pauvre Jean)	Giselle McKenzie (voc) Skitch Henderson Orchestra	‘Airtime’ NBC Radio Transcription New York City 1955
Dancing with the Deb	Skitch Henderson Orchestra	‘Airtime’ NBC Radio Transcription New York City 1955
S’Wonderful	Skitch Henderson Orchestra	‘Airtime’ NBC Radio Transcription New York City 1955
Juke Box Baby + Too Close For Comfort + Close	Skitch Henderson Orchestra (voc) The Honey Dreamers and Giselle McKenzie (ts) Herbie Fields	‘Airtime’ NBC Radio Transcription New York City 1955
Set 3
Theme + Shake It All Around	King Jughead	‘Sepia Swing Club’ WDAI Memphis 14 Dec 1951
Shine On	Ruth Brown	‘Sepia Swing Club’ WDAI Memphis 14 Dec 1951
Baby, Please Don’t Go	Billy Wright	‘Sepia Swing Club’ WDAI Memphis 14 Dec 1951
Let Your Tears Fall, Baby	Big Mama Thornton	‘Sepia Swing Club’ WDAI Memphis 14 Dec 1951
Set 4
Open + Four	Miles Davis Quintet	‘Bandstand USA’ Cafe Bohemia WOR Mutual NYC 17 May 1958
Bye, Bye, Blackbird	Miles Davis Quintet	‘Bandstand USA’ Cafe Bohemia WOR Mutual NYC 17 May 1958
Walkin’ + Two Bass Hit	Miles Davis Quintet	‘Bandstand USA’ Cafe Bohemia WOR Mutual NYC 17 May 1958
Set 5
Deep Forest (theme) + Dippermouth Blues	Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines	‘New Year Dancing Party’ KCBS CBS San Francisco 1 Jan 1957
When The Saints Go Marchin’ In	Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines	‘New Year Dancing Party’ KCBS CBS San Francisco 1 Jan 1957
Tiger Rag + Close	Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines	‘New Year Dancing Party’ KCBS CBS San Francisco 1 Jan 1957
Set 6
Open + Bebop	Charlie Parker, Kenny Dorham, Al Haig, Tommy Potter, Joe Harris	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NYC 1 Jan 1949
Flying Home	Gene Krupa Quartet	Metropole Cafe WRC NBC Washington DC 31 Dec 1965
Dark Eyes	Gene Krupa Quartet	Metropole Cafe WRC NBC Washington DC 31 Dec 1965
Set 7
Slow Boat to China	Charlie Parker, Kenny Dorham, Al Haig, Tommy Potter, Joe Harris	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NYC 1 Jan 1949
Ornithology	Charlie Parker, Kenny Dorham, Al Haig, Tommy Potter, Joe Harris	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NYC 1 Jan 1949
Set 8
Robin Hood	Louis Prima Orchestra	‘New Year’s Dancing Party’ Salt Lake City AFRS Hollywood 31 Dec 1945
Gotta Be This or That	Benny Goodman Orchestra	‘New Year’s Dancing Party’ Boston AFRS Hollywood 31 Dec 1945
Let The Zoomers Drool	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘New Year’s Dancing Party’ Evansville IN AFRS Hollywood 31 Dec 1945
Auld Lang Syne	Guy Lombardo Orchestra	‘New Year’s Dancing Party’ New York City AFRS Hollywood 31 Dec 1945