On this week’s Phantom Dancer, the first all-vinyl set (top of the second hour) is dedicated to band leader, Horace Heidt and his Trianon Ballroom.
Horace Heidt and the Musical Knights produced some of the best-known tunes of the Big Band Era including the 1941 international hit, The Hut-Sut Song.
The Phantom Dancer, presented every week by authentic 1920s-30s singer and band leader, Greg Poppleton, is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV. It’s broadcast from 107.3 2SER Sydney to 22 radio stations across Australia and online.
Listen to the past four Phantom Dancers at radio 2ser.com
POT OF GOLD
Horace Heidt was a showman. He hit the big time after fifteen years of running a band by producing and presenting a radio show the US broadcasting regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, called ‘a thinly disguised lottery’ and then forced off air.
“Pot of Gold” featured Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights with singing quartet, The King Sisters, playing popular songs while operators during the broadcast placed three calls to random phone numbers across the U.S.
When someone answered, announcer Ben Grauer shouted “Hold it, Horace, stop the music.” The phone answerer would automatically win $1000 – a huge amount in the late 1930s – whether they had been listening to the show or not.
The show was so popular that cinema operators complained of low movie attendances while Pot of Gold was on air. Some offered $1,000 to anyone who was called while attending their films. How you proved you got the call would have been time consuming and difficult.
NATION OF ISLAM
Heidt’s fame as a band leader came through his promotions. Before “Pot of Gold” he produced “Answers by the Dancers,” in which dancers at the Hotel Drake in Chicago were interviewed between rumbas and fox trots.
On his “Treasure Chest” show, married couples celebrating anniversaries would compete for prizes.
In the late 1940 and early 50s, as the big band era wound down and other bands couldn’t book gigs, Heidt’s band continued touring the U.S with his “Youth Opportunity” radio show.
Talented violinist and later Nation of Islam bigwig Louis Farrakhan (formerly Eugene Walcott) was a successful contestant.
BELL-RINGING DOG
Famed Jazz musicians Alvino Rey, Bobby Hackett and Jess Stacy played in the Heidt band at various times.
The band even accompanied a trained dog. “We would play ‘The Bells of St. Mary’s’ and the dog would ring the bells,” Heidt recalled at a 1982 party celebrating seven decades in show business.
Heidt’s smart showbiz sense meant his big band were still playing ballrooms while other bands were shutting down as the Swing Era came to a close after WW2.
HIGH STAKES
Heidt bought the popular Trianon Ballroom in South Gate Ca in the early 40s as a base for his band. On today’s Phantom Dancer you’ll hear air checks by Benny Carter and Lionel Hampton broadcasting from this now long demolished ballroom.
He started a trend for big band leaders to own their own ballrooms after Billboard reported, 10 Jan 1942, that not only had Heidt recouped his $100,000 investment, but he made $40,000 profit through the ballroom in only its first year.
Billboard 3 Feb 1945 reported that Heidt had ‘expanded his outside business holdings’ by buying an exclusive Beverley Hills steak house and renaming it “Horace Heidt’s”, though he didn’t book any live music in the room.
He later went into housing development.
STAMMERER
Billboard 3 Feb 1945 also reported that Heidt had set up a school in Los Angeles for stammerers. Horace used to stammer himself and he announced that he had developed a foolproof way to stop stammering. He put Leo Neibaur, trombonist and vocal instructor with Heidt’s band, in charge of the school.
REMOTES
By 1946, having bands broadcasting from Horace Heidt’s Trianon, and other ‘danceries’ was getting ‘exsy’, as Billboard, 24 Aug 1946, reported. Another reason Heidt moved from big bands to real estate.
OVER THE RAINBOW
Now enjoy Horace Heidt’s 1939 version of “Over The Rainbow”. You’ve heard this commercial version on an earlier Phantom Dancer mix, spun by Arthur Godfrey as WJSV Washington DC breakfast announcer on 21 September 1939.
It’s your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week –
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #291
107.3 2SER Tuesday 5 December 2017 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
and early morning on 22 other stations.
Set 1
Bop Influenced Swing on live 1940s Radio
Open + Nola (theme) + Two Hearts
Vincent Lopez Orchestra
’One Night Stand’
Grill Room
Hotel Taft NYC
AFRTS Re-broadcast
1959
Ruby
Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra (voc) Johnny Amoroso
’All-Star Parade of Bands’
Magnolia Room
Hotel Claridge
WMC NBC Memphis
1956
Boo Hoo
Woody Herman’s Third Herd
Starlite Roof
Edgewater Hotel
CBS Madison WI
12 Jul 1950
Set 2
Vocal Groups on the Air
Three Minutes of Music
Allanovy Sestry
Comm Rec
Prague
1945
I’m Lucky I Have You
The Inkspots
’Guest Star’
Radio Transcription
New York City
1952
Say Si, Si
Andrew Sisters (voc) Glenn Miller Orchestra
’Chesterfield Show’
WABC CBS NY
3 Jan 1940
Set 3
Glenn Miller Radio 1938-39
Moonlight Serenade (theme) + I Never Knew
Glenn Miller Orchestra
Paradise Restaurant
WEAF NBC Red NY
30 Dec 1938
Moon Love
Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Ray Eberle
Glen Island Casino
New Rochelle NY
WEAF NBC Red
20 Jun 1939
We Can Live On Love
Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Marion Hutton
Glen Island Casino
New Rochelle NY
WEAF NBC Red
20 Jun 1939
Set 4
Chamber Music Society on NBC 1940-41
Intro + Beale Street Blues
Henry Levine Dixieland Octet
’Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’
WJZ NBC Blue New York City
16 Jun 1940
Monday Night Special
Eddie Condon
’Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’
WJZ NBC Blue New York City
5 Jan 1941
Honeysuckle Rose + Farewell Blues + Basin Street Blues(theme)
Benny Carter (as) + Paul Lavalle’s Woodwinds
’Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’
WJZ NBC Blue New York City
5 May 1940
Set 5
Horace Heidt and the Trianon Ballroom
History of Music
Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights
Radio Transcription
Los Angeles
19430
Melancholy Lullaby (theme) + Old Man River
Benny Carter Orchestra
Trianon Ballroom
South Gate Ca
KNX CBS LA
1944
Moonglow + Swanee River
Lionel Hampton Orchestra
’One Night Stand’
Trianon Ballroom
South Gate Ca
AFRS Re-broadcast
16 Jun 1944
Now is the Hour
Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights
Radio Transcription
Los Angeles
1945
Set 6
Drummer Gene Krupa on Radio
Intro + Murdy Purdy
Gene Krupa Orchestra
Aircheck
26 Nov 1938
Wire Brush Stomp
Gene Krupa Trio
’Spotlight Bands’
Newport RI
Blue Network
2 Oct 1944
Indiana
Gene Krupa Quartet
London House
WBBM CBS Chicago
13 Mar 1959
Caravan
Gene Krupa Quartet
’Guard Sessions’
Radio Transcription
Los Angeles
1963
Set 7
Guy Lombardo 1935-36
Open + Isn’t Love The Grandest Thing?
Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians (voc) Trio
’Esso Boulevard’
WABC CBS NY
7 Oct 1935
When My Dreamboat Comes Home
Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians (voc) Lebert Lombardo
Comm Rec
New York City
17 Sep 1936
Isn’t This a Lovely Day?
Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians (voc) Carmen Lombardo
’Esso Boulevard’
WABC CBS NY
26 Aug 1935
Sweethearts on Parade
Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians (voc) Carmen Lombardo
Every week on 23 radio stations (welcome newcomer 89.1 Cairns) and online, authentic 1920s-30s singer Greg Poppleton brings you The Phantom Dancer. Listen here. (Available for next 4 weeks)
It’s your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV.
On this week’s Phantom Dancer you’ll hear a set of jazz from Paris and Geneva 1937-1949, a set of Artie Shaw and his swing band from live 1938-1939 radio and a song from the 1930 ‘Coca Cola Top Notchers’ program
DID YOU KNOW COCA COLA HAS ITS OWN TANGO?
Yes it does.
Coca Cola is the master of complete marketing. Even TextEdit, in which I’m writing the draft for this blog, automatically takes the words, Coca Cola, out of all-caps (try it).
Coca Cola has its own song?
Yes. ‘Coca Cola Signature’ was written in 1930 by composer, Leonard Joy, for Coca Cola’s first US network radio show, ‘The Coca-Cola Top Notchers’ on which he lead the 31-piece orchestra.
He penned it in one sitting at a piano.
The song was used to open and close Coca Cola sponsored radio and TV shows, and in Coca Cola advertising, into the 1960s.
Originally a tango, audiences first preferred it as a waltz. In the swing and rock’n’roll eras it was also played in 4/4.
It quickly became an aural meme for the so-called ‘Pause That Refreshes’.
So on this week’s Phantom Dancer you can hear some of Leonard Joy’s all-string orchestra, introduced by his unique soft drink theme. And you’ll hear it from an original 1930 Coca Cola Top Notchers program.
We’ll also hear a song from a 1932 Nehi soft drink program in the same set.
Grape Nehi (pronounced Knee High) is what Radar always drank on MASH (1970s TV show).
In fact you can hear them online for the next month, as part of this week’s entire two hour Phantom Dancer non-stop mix, at the website of radio 2ser.com.
Leonard Joy was a studio bandleader and arranger for Victor records.
Though he was not a jazz musician, he was assistant director to Paul Whiteman in the 1928 recording of ‘San’ featuring Bix Beiderbecke. He also backed the ‘Book-boop-a-doop Girl’, Helen Kane.
In 1939, he was studio producer for Coleman Hawkins’ landmark version of ‘Body and Soul’.
Never heard the Coca Cola Signature? Here it is open and closing the New Years Eve 1945 ‘Coca Cola Time’ program. It’s your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week. Enjoy!
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #290
107.3 2SER Tuesday 28 November 2017 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
and early morning on 22 other stations.
Set 1
Bop Influenced Swing on live 1940s Radio
Contrasts (theme) + Milange
Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra
’One Night Stand’
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Statler NYC
AFRS Re-broadcast
7 Apr 1949
The Man I Love
Gene Krupa Trio
’Spotlight Bands’
Blue Network
1944
Anthropology
Claude Thornhill Orchestra
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania
WJZ ABC NYC
22 Sep 1947
Set 2
Vocal Groups on the Air
Open + Take The A-Train
King Sisters (voc) Alvino Rey Orchestra
’Magic of Music’
Radio Transcription
Hollywood
1944
Open + Goody Goody
The Singing Razorbacks
’Texaco Show’
WEAF NBC Red NY
31 Mar 1936
The Beat of my Heart + Close
Sterling Male Chorus
’Chevrolet Musical Moments’
Radio Transcription
1936
Set 3
Club Hangover San Francisco
Theme + Royal Garden Blues
Kid Ory
Club Hangover
KCBS San Francisco
5 Feb 1955
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Ralph Sutton All-Stars
Club Hangover
KCBS San Francisco
7 Sep 1954
After Hours
Red Richards (piano)
Club Hangover
KCBS San Francisco
20 Nov 1954
When The Saints Go Marching In
Muggsy Spanier
Club Hangover
KCBS San Francisco
20 Nov 1954
Set 4
Fizzy Tunes
Varsity Drag
Sam Lanin Orchestra (tp) Red Nichols
Comm Rec
New York City
17 Aug 1927
Crazy Rhythm
George Shakley Ensemble (voc) The Rondoliers
’Nehi Program’
Radio Transcription
New York City
19 May 1932
I’m Following You + Coca Cola Signature
Leonard Joy Orchestra (voc)
’Coca Cola Top Notchers’
WEAF NBC Red NY
19 Mar 1930
Set 5
Artie Shaw 1938-39 Radio
Nightmare (theme) + Begin the Beguine
Artie Shaw Orchestra
Blue Room
Hotel Lincoln
WEAF NBC Red NY
30 Dec 1938
I’m Sorry for Myself
Artie Shaw Orchestra (voc) Tony Pastor
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania
WEAF NBC Red NY
21 Oct 1939
Day In Day Out
Artie Shaw Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania
WEAF NBC Red NY
19 Oct 1939
In The Mood + Diga Diga Doo
Artie Shaw Orchestra
Blue Room
Hotel Lincoln
WEAF NBC Red NY
20 Dec 1938
Set 6
Jazz from Paris and Geneva 1937-49
College Stomp
Philippe Brun Swing Band
Comm Rec
Paris
28 Dec 1937
Russian Lullaby
Oscar Aleman
Comm Rec
Paris
12 May 1939
Oui
Alix Combelle Orchestra
Comm Rec
Paris
16 Feb 1943
Nuage
Django Reinhardt
Radio Geneva
25 Oct 1949
Set 7
Duke Ellington 1951
Diminuendo in Blue + Crescendo in Blue
Duke Ellington Orchestra
Birdland
WNBC NBC NY
30 Jun 1951
Solitude
Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Yvonne Lanauze
’Guest Star’
Radio Transcription
New York City
11 Feb 1951
The Happening + Got To Go
Duke Ellington Orchestra
Meadowbrook Ballroom
Cedar Grove
WNBC NBC NY
8 Jun 1951
Set 8
Early Modern Jazz on Radio
Just You Just Me
Thelonius Monk
’Symphony Sid Show’
Royal Roost
WMCA NY
1948
Tiny’s Blues
Chubby Jackson
’Symphony Sid Show’
Royal Roost
WMCA NY
12 Mar 1949
Thirty-two years on air, heard on 23 radio stations and online, Greg Poppleton is Australia’s longest running swing DJ and Australia’s only authentic 1920s – 1930s singer.
Every week he brings you The Phantom Dancer, a live, multi-award-winning non-stop mix of swing and jazz sourced from real 1920s-1960s radio broadcasts.
In Greg’s eight Phantom Dancer sets this week we hear Bop takes of old songs on live 1947-51 radio, Duke Ellington from his 1945 ABC ‘Date with the Duke’ series, 1930s German dance bands playing the hits from the movies, and a set of R’n’B singers live over CBS radio’s Al Freed Rock’n’Roll Dance Party in 1956.
And the R’n’B set brings me to this question…
DO SONG COVERS VIOLATE COPYRIGHT?
Why does the R’n’B set bring me to this question? Because two of the singers we’ll be hearing on today’s Phantom Dancer from live 1956 radio had copyright run-ins with a big band/pop singer who also happened to be on today’s show (in Set 2), Georgia Gibbs.
The first R’n’B singer you’ll hear on today’s Phantom Dancer (and all the singers were backed in these ‘Rock’n’Roll Dance Party’ radio broadcasts by the Count Basie Orchestra) is LaVerne Baker.
LAVERN BAKER – TWEEDLEE DEE RIP OFF
Born Delores LaVern Baker, LaVern Baker had several hit records in the 1950s. Her most successful disc was “Tweedlee Dee” (1955) which you’ll here her sing live today. This latin tempo song was LaVern’s first hit. It got to 4 on the R&B chart and 14 on the national US pop chart. Meanwhile, singer Georgia Gibbs recorded a note-for-note cover of the song that reached number 1. A real kick in the guts that made LaVern ask the question,
“Does this Song Cover violate my copyright?”
She made an unsuccessful attempt to sue Gibbs. She unsuccessfully petitioned the US Government to consider such covers copyright violations.
ETTA JAMES – DANCE WITH ME HENRY GRAB
Born Jamesetta Hawkins, Etta started learning to sing at age five. Her singing teacher used to punch her in the chest while she sang to force her voice to come from her diaphragm. She developed an unusually strong voice.
Los Angeles big band leader, Johnny Otis, saw 14 year old Etta singing with a Doo-wop group and booked her to sing his “answer song” to Hank Ballard’s “Work with Me, Annie”. He even gave her co-credit as lyricist. The song was “Dance with Me, Henry”, which and you’ll hear Etta singing it live on today’s Phantom Dancer. But again, Georgia Gibbs recorded a cover that took a lot of the thunder. It was a version called “The Wallflower” and it reached number one on the Billboard Top 100. This made Etta very angry.
Her intellectual property had been appropriated.
FAYE ADAMS Faye Adams’ father was a gospel singer and at age five she joined her sisters to sing spirituals, regularly performing on local radio shows. She, too, had a big voice, billed as, “Atomic Adams’.
Her first hit, “Shake a Hand”, topped the US Billboard R’n’B chart for ten weeks in 1953 and hit 22 on the US pop chart, selling one million copies and receiving a gold disc.
In 1954, Adams had two more R&B chart toppers. The one she sings on today’s Phantom Dancer, live over CBS in 1956, is “I’ll Be True”. This song was then covered by Bill Haley and later by Jackie DeShannon.
Covering a song is much different to appropriating a song. All cool, because the original composer/lyricist is acknowledged and compensated. I’ll explain about the legalities of song covers below.
IVORY JOE HUNTER
He’s the final R’n’B singer in today’s Phantom Dancer set of 1956 rock’n’roll radio. He’d had hits on the R’n’B charts since the mid 1940s and was billed as The Baron of the Boogie and The Happiest Man Alive. Maybe he was happy because no-one was copying his songs while they were still climbing the charts. On today’s Phantom Dancer he sings his 1950 R’n’B chart-topper, “I Almost Lost My Mind”, live, of course, and with the Count Basie Orchestra.
Now, to the legalities of covering a song, quoted directly from the Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA) website…
A BAND IS PERFORMING MY SONGS. CAN THEY DO THIS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?
Yes, in most cases they can. The venue in which the band plays must hold an APRA licence; it is not the responsibility of the individual bands. The APRA licence gives the venue a blanket licence to authorise the performance of all copyright music.
DO I NEED A LICENCE?
Yes. You may need to obtain an AMCOS licence if you want to make a recording of a song composed by another writer.
WHAT ABOUT UPLOADING COVER VERSIONS TO DIGITAL SERVICE PROVIDERS?
If you are recording a cover version of a work and wish to make it available on a US-based digital service provider (iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify etc), you are required to take out a licence with the Harry Fox Agency (AMCOS equivalent in the USA). Go to www.harryfox.com/license_music/ and head to their Songfile Mechanical Licensing tool. In cases where the Harry Fox Agency do not represent the work, you may be able to obtain a compulsory licence via RightsFlow – see www.rightsflow.com and head to the Limelight licensing area.
IN AUSTRALIA?
As long as you’ve first obtained a manufacturing licence from AMCOS, you can supply your recording to a digital service provider (DSP) such as iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify etc. APRA AMCOS licenses DSPs directly, and so royalties for downloads will be collected by APRA AMCOS on behalf of the rights holders.
I hope this has been of help to you, with a bit of R’n’B history thrown in. Oh, and for more R’n’B history, check out this YouTube footage of LaVern Baker as your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week. Enjoy!
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #289
107.3 2SER Tuesday 21 November 2017 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
and early morning on 22 other stations.
Every week, Greg Poppleton brings you The Phantom Dancer – your non-stop two hour mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-1960s radio and TV.
Divided into 8 sets, Greg has been bringing you the Phantom Dancer on 107.3 2SER Sydney since 1985. It’s now heard on 23 radio stations across Australia. You can hear it any time only at 2ser.com
HOW DID THE INFAMOUS 1930s COTTON CLUB REALLY SOUND?
You’ll hear it on this week’s Phantom Dancer.
Set 7, in fact, is an all vinyl mix of Duke Ellington broadcasts from the infamous New York City nightclub where gangsters rubbed shoulders with socialites in a black fantasia.
The air checks are from 1937 and 1938.
This is the nightclub that inspired James Haskin’s novel, The Cotton Club, which in turn formed the basis of the 1984 Francis Ford Coppola 1984 hit crime drama of the same name.
An while Duke Ellington became synonymous with the Harlem nightspot in the late 1930s, it also featured such stars as Cab Calloway, Adelaide Hall, a very young Lena Horne, Fletcher Henderson and pianist/bandleader Dorothy Dandridge.
Started by heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson in 1920 as the Cafe Deluxe, Owney Madden took over the Harlem Club in 1923 on his release from Sing Sing prison.
Seeking rehabilitation through employment, no doubt, the gangster/bootlegger used the club to sell his boutique #1 beer. Though lovingly crafted from premium hops, no doubt, his brewed beverage was nonetheless illegal at the time due to prohibition.
And though the club was located in the black cultural heartland of Harlem, and the talent was all black, presenting ‘authentic black entertainment’, the club was notorious for its brazenly selective door policy, strictly well-off white patrons only.
However, the steep cover charge translated into high fees for the performers.
Ellington, himself, was expected to write ‘jungle music’ for the ‘black exotica’ presented in the form of revues with dancers, comedians and the band.
Meanwhile the club killed many of the smaller black cabarets in Harlem, unable to compete with the lavish Cotton Club shows, their customers discouraged by the flood of white tourists who wanted to try any black club if it couldn’t be the Cotton Club.
At the time of the 1937-38 Duke Ellington broadcasts you’ll hear on today’s Phantom Dancer, the club had moved out of Harlem to Broadway. It was a safer locale for the club’s patrons after the Harlem race riots of 1936.
The Cotton Club’s Broadway opening featured a lavish 130 performer show starring Cab Calloway and dancer Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson who was paid the highest ever fee for a performer on Broadway.
In 1940, changing tastes, high rents and a tax evasion investigation closed the Cotton Club’s doors permanently.
Here’s footage 1930s Harlem and the original, famous Cotton Club with Duke Ellington:
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #288
107.3 2SER Tuesday 14 November 2017 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
and early morning on 22 other stations.
Set 1
Big Bands on 1950s Radio
Take The A Train (Theme) + Koko
Duke Ellington Orchestra
Town Casino
NBC Cleveland OH
17 Sep 1952
South
Chuck Cabot Orchestra
Empire Room
Rice Hotel
KTRH CBS Houston
Apr 1953
Cry
Ray Anthony Orchestra (voc) Marcie Miller
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Statler
WCBS CBS NY
1952
Set 2
Progressive Jazz on Radio
Instrumental
Miles Davis Nonet
’Symphony Sid Show’
Royal Roost
WMCA NY
4 Sep 1948
Red Pepper Blues
Art Pepper
’Jazz International’
AFRTS Re-broadcast
Hollywood
16 Jun 1960
Perdido
Pete Brown
’Stars in Jazz’
Birdland
WNBC NBC NY
2 Sep 1952
Set 3
Bing Crosby
Love in Bloom (theme) + Humming, Singing and Whistling
Bob Crosby (voc)Georgie Stoll Orchestra
’Woodbury Program’
KNX CBS Los Angeles
18 Sep 1934
Too Marvelous
Bing Crosby (voc) Buddy Cole Music
’Ford Roadshow’
KNX CBS LA
7 Sep 1957
Blue Skies + When The Blue Of The Night Meets The Gold Of The Day (theme)
Bing Crosby (voc) John Scott Trotter Orchestra
’Philco Show’
KECA ABC LA
30 Oct 1953
Set 4
Accordion Jazz
Japanese Sandman
Rytmin Swing Yhtye
Comm Rec
Helsinki
22 Jan 1948
Theme + It Had To Be You + The Very Thought Of You
Art van Damme Quartet (voc) Louise Carlisle
Radio Transcription
Chicago
1950
Kissa Viekoon (Jeepers Creepers)
Bruno Laako and Lepokot (The Bats)
Comm Rec
Helsinki
1939
Set 5
1st Esquire Jazz Concert
Blues + Esquire Bounce
Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, Coleman Hawkins and more
’1st Esquire Jazz Concert’
WJZ Blue New York
Metropolitan Opera House
18 Jan 1944
Rockin’ Chair
Mildred Bailey
’1st Esquire Jazz Concert’
WJZ Blue New York
Metropolitan Opera House
18 Jan 1944
Basin Street Blues
Louis Armstrong All-Stars
’1st Esquire Jazz Concert’
WJZ Blue New York
Metropolitan Opera House
18 Jan 1944
I’ll Get By
Roy Eldridge (tp) Billie Holliday (voc)
’1st Esquire Jazz Concert’
WJZ Blue New York
Metropolitan Opera House
18 Jan 1944
Set 6
1940s Dance Bands on the Air
How Cute Can You Be
Jimmie Grier Orchestra
Radio Transcription
Hollywood
1945
A Red Kiss On A Blue Letter
Les Brown Orchestra (voc) Doris Day
Peacock Room
Baker Hotel
CBS Dallas
9 Aug 1945
Sioux Sue
Ray Noble Orchestra
Beverley Wiltshire Hotel
Beverley Hills Ca
KFI NBC LA
4 Feb 1940
It’s Mellow
Glen Gary and the Casa Loma Orchestra
Aircheck
Hotel New Yorker NYC
1944
Set 7
Cotton Club on 1937-38 Radio
Harlem Speaks
Duke Ellington Orchestra
Cotton Club
WOR Mutual NY
18 Mar 1937
Intro + Jig Walk
Duke Ellington Orchestra
Cotton Club
WABC CBS NY
22 May 1938
I’m Slappin’ on Seventh Avenue + Lost in Meditation
Hear Greg Poppleton bring you The Phantom Dancer – your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV – every Tuesday after the midday news on 107.3 2SER and online at radio 2ser.com
See the full Phantom Dancer play list below, including a 1930s radio transcription by the influential jazz vocal harmony trio, the Boswell Sisters.
BOSWELL SISTERS – PHANTOM DANCER PROGRAM NOTES Martha, Connie and Vet were the 1920s-1930s harmony sensations, The Boswell Sisters.
They were yet another 1920s – 30s jazz stand-out who had classical backgrounds, having studied classical piano, cello, and violin respectively.
“We studied classical music . . . and were being prepared for the stage and a concert tour throughout the United States, but the saxophone got us,” Martha told the Shreveport Times in 1925.
The sisters’ older brother Clyde, also a classically trained musician, was the one who first got his sisters into jazz. He introduced them to cornetist Emmett Louis Hardy, who shaped the sisters’ knowledge of jazz harmony, syncopation and improvisation. Vet took up the banjo, Connie took up saxophone and Martha continued playing the piano. Hardy died of tuberculosis at age 22. Clyde died from flu at 18.
For your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week, here are the Boswell Sisters in a 1932 Vitaphone short.
Also heard, a little dig at ‘music experts’ involving band leader Abe Lyman. Warning, the song ‘Louisiana Waddle’ contains racist lyrics. Read more Boswell notes and see today’s Phantom Dancer play list below…
The trio played concerts and vaudeville in the early 1920s, gradually replacing their classical repertoire with jazz. They first recorded in 1925 and after arriving in Los Angeles in 1929 sang on radio shows and recorded film music.
You’ll hear a song from one of their 1930 Hollywood Continental Broadcasting Corporation transcriptions on The Phantom Dancer today.
They became nationally famous, then internationally famous, after they moved to New York City in 1930 with their own show over CBS.
They recorded for Brunswick from 1931-1935, recordings that are considered milestone in vocal jazz. Connee wrote the vocal arrangements, Glenn Miller wrote the band arrangements and engaged the best New York jazz musicians to accompany the sisters, including the Dorsey Brothers, Benny Goodman, Bunny Berigan, Fulton McGrath, Joe Venuti, Arthur Schutt, Eddie Lang, Joe Tarto, Manny Klein, Dick McDonough and Carl Kress. Connee also made more conventional solo records for Brunswick during the same period.
They had 20 hits in this time, appeared on film and experimental TV, toured Europe twice, and even made a recording released only in Australia. They influenced the Andrew Sisters in the US, the Trio Lescano in Italy, Allanovy Sestry in Czechoslovakia and the Harmony Sisters in Finland. Connie Boswell’s solo recordings were a major influence on Ella Fitzgerald.
Vet’s daughter and granddaughter published the book, The Boswell Legacy, in 2014.
The young Boswell Sisters performing at home as a classical trio in 1918.
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
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #285
107.3 2SER Tuesday 31 October 2017 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
and early morning on 22 other stations.
Set 1
Swing Bands on 1944-46 Radio
Hot Lips (theme) + Hurry Homes
Henry Busse Orchestra
‘One Night Stand’
Palladium Ballroom
Hollywood
AFRS Re-broadcast
14 Sep 1944
Come Out Where Ever You Are
Harry James Music Makers (voc) Buddy DiVito
Casino Gardens
Ocean Park Ca
KFI NBC LA
1944
Strictly Dynamics
Bob Crosby Orchestra
‘One Night Stand’
Palladium Ballroom
Hollywood
AFRS Re-broadcast
28 Sep 1946
Set 2
1930s Radio incl. Boswell Sisters
Coca-Cola Waltz (theme) + I’m A Dreamer, Aren’t We All?
Leonard Joy Orchestra
‘Coca-Cola Top Notchers’
WEAF NBC Red NY
19 Mar 1930
The One I Love Just Can’t Be Bothered With Me
Boswell Sisters
Continental Broadcasting Corporation
Hollywood
1930
Thank Your Father + Coca Cola Waltz
Leonard Joy Orchestra
’Coca-Cola Top Notchers’
WEEI NBC Red Boston
26 Mar 1930
Set 3
Trad on 1940s-50s Radio
Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
Eddie Condon Group
’Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’
WJZ Blue Network
New York City
18 Nov 1944
Sweet Sue
Al Hirt Jazz Band
’At The Jazz Band Ball’
WWL CBS New Orleans
18 Aug 1956
Aunt Hagar’s Childen’s Blues + Basin Street Blues
Henry Levine
’Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’
WJZ NBC Blue NY
16 Jun 1940
Set 4
Jazz Piano Stars on 1950s Radio
Theme + Let’s Get Away From It All
Andre Previn Trio
London House
WBBM CBS Chicago
1959
Lullaby of Birdland (theme) + Love For Sale
Erroll Garner Trio
’All-Star Parade of Bands’
Birdland
WNBC NBC NY
24 Jul 1953
Lady Is A Tramp + Close
George Shearing
‘All-Star Parade of Bands’
Blue Note
WMAQ NBC Chicago
1 Jul 1953
Set 5
1930s-1940s Australian Dance Bands
Fair and Warmer
Jim Davidson New Palais Dance Orchestra (voc) Austral Singers
Comm Rec
Sydney
7 Sep 1934
Jungle Jive
George Trevare Orchestra (voc) Elsie Wardrope
Comm Rec
Sydney
1943
Hang Your Heart On A Hickory Limb
Jim Davidson ABC Dance Orchestra (voc) Alice Smith
Comm Rec
Sydney
24 Jul 1939
Shoo Shoo Baby
George Trevare Orchestra (voc) Joan Blake
Comm Rec
Sydney
1944
Set 6
Women Singers with 1950s Big Bands
Theme + Dream A Little Dream Of Me
Claude Thornhill Orchestra (voc) Patty Ryan
’One Night Stand’
Steel Pier
Atlantic City NJ
AFRS Re-broadcast
19 Jun 1955
Till I Waltz Again With You
Harry James Orchestra (voc) April Ames
Hotel Astor Roof
WOR Mutual NY
25 May 1953
Too Young To Go Steady
Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (voc) Dolly Houston
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania
WRCA NBC NY
May 1956
Indian summer
Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Norma Oldham
Meadowbrook Ballroom
Cedar Grove NJ
WNBC NBC NY
6 Jun 1951
Set 7
Swing Era Toe-Tappers
Pretty Little Petticoat (theme) + Huckleberry Duck
Raymond Scott Orchestra
Radio Transcription
WMAQ NBC Chicago
1940
I’m Looking For A Guy Who Plays Alto and Baritone Doubles on a Clarinet and Wears a Size 37 Suit
Ozzie Nelson Orchestra (voc) Rose Ann Stevens
Blackhawk Restaurant
WGN Mutual Chicago
30 Mar 1940
Honeydripper
Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra (voc) Trio
’Spotlight Bands’
Jefferson Barracks, Missouri
Blue Network
23 Nov 1945
Thank you to everyone who supported 2SER and The Phantom Dancer during this October’s Subscriber Drive.
I’m looking forward to presenting another year of Phantom Dancer shows for you. The Phantom Dancer is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV broadcasts.
In December, The Phantom Dancer will have been on air in various forms for 32 years.
Hear The Phantom Dancer live on 107.3 2SER Sydney every Tuesday after the midday news and online at radio 2ser.com
See today’s play list below. It includes a 1956 ‘Rock’n’Roll Party’ WCBS NYC aircheck from 1956 of the swinging Count Basie Orchestra, Joe Williams and Big Al Sears. There’s also a RARE Don Redman aircheck from the same radio station when it was known as WABC and from 1933.
PROGRAM NOTES – DON REDMAN 1920s SWING PIONEER
My favourite 1930s singer and composer of witty songs, Don Redman talked-sung his way through many of his own compositions exceptional charisma.
Songs written by Don Redman include the jazz standard, Cherry, I Heard, Try Getting a Good Night’s Sleep,
Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good to You and today’s Phantom Dancer rarity, Watching the Knife and Fork Spoon.
It’s a rarity because extant Don Redman radio broadcasts are rare. In fact, I heard they were long lost. But the 1933 Don Redman radio broadcast on today’s Phantom Dancer sound like it comes from a home recording with all the crackle, surface noice and static. But though all the noise, the classic Redman charm shines through.
Don Redman had musical parents. He started learning trumpet at 3, joined his first band at 6, and could play all wind instruments by 12. He polished his musical knowledge at a conservatory, then began work as a professional jazz musician in New York City in the early 1920s.
In 1923 he joined the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra playing reeds and arrangements. His arrangements contributed hugely to the development of what become Swing. In 1927 he was invited to join McKinney’s Cotton Pickers as their musical director and leader and made it a huge success.
Don Redman then formed his own band in 1931, signed to Brunswick Records and also did a series of those now rare radio broadcasts, part of one of which we’ll hear today.
You can hear Don Redman online in the Betty Boop cartoon ‘I Heard’ for which he wrote the music and this Vitaphone musical short which has been a Phantom Dancer Video of the Week.
In 1940 he turned to freelance arranging, writing hits for Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie and Harry James.
Don Redman is was the great-uncle of saxophonist Joshua Redman.
Now as your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week, here is the much faster tempo commercial recording made by Don Redman in 1933 of his song, Watching the Knife and Fork Spoon. You can hear the live 1933 radio version on today’s Phantom Dancer. Enjoy!
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #284
107.3 2SER Tuesday 24 October 2017 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
and early morning on 22 other stations.
Set 1
Dance Bands on 1941-45 Radio
Come Out Where Ever You Are
Harry James Music Makers (voc) Buddy DiVito
Casino Gardens
Ocean Park Ca
KFI NBC LA
1944
Paxtonia
George Paxton Orchestra
’One Night Stand’
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania
New York City
AFRS re-broadcast
19 Jul 1945
War Dance For Wooden Indians + Pretty Little Petticoat (theme)
Raymond Scott Orchestra
Bermuda Room
Hotel Brunswick
WBZ NBC Boston
6 Dec 1941
The Tuesday October 18 Phantom Dancer is in the second and final week of the annual 2SER Subscriber Drive.
Thank you to everyone who subscribed and donated, by phone on 02 9514 9500, or online at http://2ser.com/donate/
The Phantom Dancer, which I’ve presented since 1985 on 2SER, is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s – 1960s radio and TV.
On-air and online, 107.3 2SER Sydney after the 12 noon news. Hear the show any time online at the 2SER website http://2ser.com.
On this Subscriber Drive, 18 October Phantom Dancer show, you’ll hear some of my favourite, and I hope your favourite, swing, jazz and bop songs from live 1930s-50s radio.
I hope, too, that these songs will inspire you to support the Phantom Dancer with your $$$ so The Phantom Dancer can continue on community radio 107.3 2SER Sydney and online around the world.
SUBSCRIBE OR DONATE
Donations are tax deductible. Subscriptions cost as little as a coffee a month and now can be direct debited monthly.
Call the Phantom Dancer during the 2SER Subscriber Drive, 02 9514 9500 or online to give your financial support. In return, you’ll get the good feeling of giving and more Phantom Dancers.
WHY SUPPORT THE PHANTOM DANCER?
2SER is a grassroots, community-funded Sydney station and we couldn’t deliver to you the stories, ideas and music that we do each and every day, seven days a week, year-round without the support of listeners just like you. 2SER has supported The Phantom Dancer since December 1985.
‘Supporter Drive’ is 2SER’s annual fundraiser.
In order for 2SER to remain independent, once a year we go on air and ask our listeners to dig deep and financially support the station. 2SER gets no funding from the government, we are limited in the amount of sponsorship we can take, and the rest of funds come from a variety of projects and grants.
The revenue raised through Supporter Drive is vital for the survival of 2SER
Each year, we ask our listeners for money to help us keep making great radio. We ask them to become a supporter or make a tax deductible donation.
The financial support from our listeners helps pay for our equipment and maintenance, and is an important part of our budget. It helps to ensure that we are free of commercial influences and it also gives our listeners a sense of ownership of the station; which is a great thing because without them we wouldn’t have a station.
There’s no prizes, no gimmicks, but we need your support to keep 2SER 107.3 on air in Sydney. If you’d like to help then head to 2ser.com/donate. Give what you can.
PROGRAM NOTE: PROFESSOR COLESLAW
Otherwise known as pianist Paul Kuhlthau, Professor Coleslaw plays ‘Toy Piano Jump’ on an actual toy piano. The performance is from a 1939 radio transcription by the Johnny Messner Orchestra and it’s on today’s Subscriber Drive Phantom Dancer.
‘Popular Mechanics’ magazine, in a September 1940 article titled ‘Cashing In On Hobbies’ explained that, “Paul Kuhlthau, of Milltown, N.J., ‘Professor Coleslaw’ on the radio, was just another good pianist until he took up the hobby of finding toy pianos on department store counters which were accurate (sic.) in tune, sometimes testing 300 to select one. One day he played one of his ninety-eight cent toys over the air and it was a hit.”
Paul Kuhlthau composed ‘The Toy Piano Jump’ in 1939. He then went on to write ‘The Boogie Woogie Bride’ and ‘Toy Piano Minuet’ in 1941. He played with the Vincent Lopez into the early 1960s, writing pop songs and rock’n’roll novelties including ‘The Ol’ Piano Roll Rock’.
Here’s Professor Coleslaw and his Toy Piano Jump in the exact 1939 radio transcription, you’ll hear on today’s Phantom Dancer. Enjoy and subscribe!
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #283
107.3 2SER Tuesday 18 October 2017 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
and early morning on 22 other stations.
Set 1
Dance Bands on 1944-1950 Radio
Beethoven Wrote It, But It Swings
Dolly Dawn and her Dawn Patrol (voc) Dolly Dawn
Comm Rec
New York City
15 Feb 1939
We’re Off To See The Wizard
Jim Davidson ABC Dance Orchestra (voc) Band
Comm Rec
Sydney
21 Nov 1939
Behind The Swinging Doors
Jim Davidson ABC Dance Orchestra (voc) Alice Smith, Dave Cranburn, Gordon Rawlinson and Jim Gussey
Comm Rec
Sydney
2 Nov 1938
Set 2
Modern Sounds in Swing
Do The Hucklebuck
Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Band Vocal
’Band Remote’
Surf Beach Club
Virginia Beach Va.
NBC
27 Aug 1949
Boyd Meets Girl
Boyd Raeburn Orchestra
Rose Room
Palace Hotel
KQW CBS San Francisco
19 Jun 1945
Northwest Passage
Kauko Viitamaki Quintet
Comm Rec
Helsinki
7 Apr 1949
Set 3
Subscribe Now:
Phone 02 9514 9500
Cosa Farai Di Me?
E.I.A.R Orchestra Moderna (voc) Vittorio Belleli
Comm Rec
Rome
1940
Swamp Fire
Frankie Masters Orchestra
’Rhythm and Romance’
WJSV CBS Washington DC
21 Sep 1939
Solveig’s Song + Close
Bert Shefta (of modernistic piano fame)
’Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’
WJZ NBC Blue NY
23 Jun 1941
Set 4
Out There Orchestrations
Powerhouse
Raymond Scott Quintet
‘Saturday Night Swing Club’
WABC CBS NY
12 Jun 1937
Sound of Music
Felicia Saunders
’Guest Star’
Radio Transcription
3 Apr 1960
Ads + Sugar Loaf Mambo
Bernard ‘Whitey’ Berquist and the NBC Chicago Symphony
’Monitor’
WRCA NBC NY
19 Jun 1955
Set 5
1930s Novelty Songs
Toy Piano Jump
Johnny Messner Orchestra (toy piano) Prof. Coleslaw
Radio Transcription
New York City
1939
Somebody
Claude Hopkins Orchestra (voc) Fred Norman
Comm Rec
New York City
18 Oct 1935
The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down
Dick Jurgens Orchestra (voc) Eddy Howard and Band
Radio Transcription
Hollywood
1938
Penny Serenade
Hal Kemp Orchestra (voc) Saxie Dowell and Audience
Aircheck
1939
Set 6
Swinging Fast & Slow
Let’s Have One For The Road
George Trevare Orchestra (voc) unknown
Comm Rec
Sydney
1945
Baby Boogie
Eliot Lawrence Orchestra (voc) Rosalind Patton
Palladium Ballroom
KNX CBS LA
5 Dec 1947
Loose Wig
Lionel Hampton Orchestra
’Jubilee’
Hollywood
26 Nov 1945
Square Face
Turk Murphy San Francisco Jazz Band
Club Hangover
KCBS CBS San Francisco
7 Nov 1958
Set 7
Swing Era Toe-Tappers
Pretty Little Petticoat (theme) + Huckleberry Duck
Raymond Scott Orchestra
Radio Transcription
WMAQ NBC Chicago
1940
I’m Looking For A Guy Who Plays Alto and Baritone Doubles on a Clarinet and Wears a Size 37 Suit
Ozzie Nelson Orchestra (voc) Rose Ann Stevens
Blackhawk Restaurant
WGN Mutual Chicago
30 Mar 1940
Honeydripper
Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra (voc) Trio
’Spotlight Bands’
Jefferson Barracks, Missouri
Blue Network
23 Nov 1945
The Tuesday October 10 and 18 Phantom Dancers will be part of the annual 2SER Subscriber Drive.
The Phantom Dancer, which I’ve presented since 1985 on 2SER, is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s – 1960s radio and TV.
On-air and online, 107.3 2SER Sydney after the 12 noon news. Hear the show any time online at the 2SER website.
And for both Subscriber Drive Phantom Dancer shows, you’ll hear some of the greats of jazz, including Sarah Vaughan, Louis Armstrong and Harry James, from live 1920s-60s radio, broadcasting money songs and songs to inspire you to support the Phantom Dancer with your $$$$.
SUBSCRIBE OR DONATE
Donations are tax deductible. Subscriptions cost as little as a coffee a month and now can be direct debited monthly.
Call the Phantom Dancer during the 2SER Subscriber Drive, 02 9514 9500 or online to give your financial support.
WHY SUPPORT THE PHANTOM DANCER?
2SER is a grassroots, community-funded Sydney station and we couldn’t deliver to you the stories, ideas and music that we do each and every day, seven days a week, year-round without the support of listeners just like you. 2SER has supported The Phantom Dancer since December 1985.
‘Supporter Drive’ is 2SER’s annual fundraiser.
In order for 2SER to remain independent, once a year we go on air and ask our listeners to dig deep and financially support the station. 2SER gets no funding from the government, we are limited in the amount of sponsorship we can take, and the rest of funds come from a variety of projects and grants.
The revenue raised through Supporter Drive is vital for the survival of 2SER
Each year, we ask our listeners for money to help us keep making great radio. We ask them to become a supporter or make a tax deductible donation.
The financial support from our listeners helps pay for our equipment and maintenance, and is an important part of our budget. It helps to ensure that we are free of commercial influences and it also gives our listeners a sense of ownership of the station; which is a great thing because without them we wouldn’t have a station.
There’s no prizes, no gimmicks, but we need your support to keep 2SER 107.3 on air in Sydney. If you’d like to help then head to 2ser.com/donate and give what you can.
PROGRAM NOTE: SARAH VAUGHAN
Over the last two weeks I’ve described some of the ‘classical’ background of Fats Waller and Harry James.
This week I’m playing a song from a 1953 NBC broadcast by Sarah Vaughan, an extraordinary singer who had NO classical background, but a singer with a vocal instrument acclaimed as being suited for opera, though she chose not to train in that genre.
Vaughan’s New York Times obituary stated, “[Sarah was a] singer who brought an operatic splendour to her performances of popular standards and jazz.”
Her voice which remained resonant and supple throughout her illustrious career, spanned soprano to female baritone with no difficult intervals. Musicologist Henry Pleasants noted that Vaughan ranged from a soprano high C down to contralto low D.
She used a hand held microphone to add ternary dynamics to her voice.
As to being a jazz singer?
Sarah avoided classifying herself as one. In a 1982 interview for Down Beat she said,
“I don’t know why people call me a jazz singer, though I guess people associate me with jazz because I was raised in it, from way back. I’m not putting jazz down, but I’m not a jazz singer…I’ve recorded all kinds of music, but (to them) I’m either a jazz singer or a blues singer. I can’t sing a blues – just a right-out blues – but I can put the blues in whatever I sing.”
Here’s Sarah singing rock/doo-wop/cha-cha in 1959 and having a laugh during the song. Enjoy!
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #282
107.3 2SER Tuesday 10 October 2017 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
and early morning on 22 other stations.
Set 1
Jazz Women on Radio support 2SER
Open + I Get A Kick Out Of You
Sarah Vaughan
‘Stars in Jazz’
Birdland
29 Mar 1953
Cry Me A River
Julie London
’All-Star Parade of Bands’
Cameo
WRCA NBC NYC
1956
Thank You
Frances Faye
’All-Star Parade of Bands’
Cameo
WRCA NBC NYC
5 Mar 1956
Set 2
Loosen the Purse Strings with 1940s Swing
Theme + Always
Harry James Orchestra (voc) Buddy Moreno and Band
’March of Dimes’
Radio Transcription
1944
Got a Penny, Jenny?
Stan Kenton Orchestra (voc) June Christy
Radio Transcription
Hollywood
Dec 1945
Give Me Twenty Nickels For a Dollar
Nat King Cole
’King Cole Trio Time’
WMAQ NBC Chicago
1 Mar 1947
Set 3
1930s Dance Bands Donation Jamboree
Jamboree
Frank Coughlan Orchestra (voc) FC
’Featuradio radio Transcription’
Sydney
Jul 1937
The Coat and The Pants Do All of the Work
Bob Dyer
Comm Rec
Sydney
5 Sep 1940
I’m Shooting High
Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Helen Ward
Congress Hotel
WMAQ NBC Red
Chicago
20 Jan 1936
Set 4
Swing Bands on 1943-46 Radio
Singin’ In The Rain
Cliff Edwards (uke and voc)
Comm Rec
Los Angeles
28 May 1929
Let a Little Pleasure Interfere With Business
Philco Orchestra (tp) Bob Effros
’Philco Show’
WABC CBS NY
1930
That’s A’Plenty + Say It With Music (theme)
Red Nichols Orchestra
’Brunswick Brevities’
Radio Transcription
27 Aug 1929
Set 5
Money Songs on 1940s Swing Radio
Get Some Cash For Your Trash
Fats Waller
Broadcast
Garrick Stare Var Theatre
Chicago
2 Feb 1942
Million Dollar Smile
Dinah Washington (voc) Lionel Hampton Orchestra
’Jubilee’
AFRS
Hollywood
16 Oct 1944
This Is Worth Fighting For
Harry James Orchestra (voc) Jimmy Saunders
’Treasury War Bond Show’
Radio Transcription
Mar 1942
Three Cent Stomp
Duke Ellington Orchestra
’Jubilee’
AFRS
Hollywood
Feb 1949
Set 6
1930s Dance Bands Want You To Subscribe
You’re The Top
Hal Kemp Orchestra (voc) Skinnay Ennis
Radio Transcription
New York
14 Dec 1934
The Gold Diggers Song
Jack Hylton Orchestra
Comm Rec
London
28 Jul 1933
You’ve Stayed Away Too Long
Claude Hopkins Orchestra
Radio Transcription
New York
1935
The Moon Is A Silver Dollar
Gray Gordon Tic-Toc Rhythm Orchestra (voc) Cliff Grass
Radio Transcription
New York
1939
Set 7
Glenn Miller Says, “It’s Great to Donate”
Outside Of That I Love You
Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Marion Hutton and Tex Beneke
‘Chesterfield Show’
Masonic Auditorium
CBS Detroit
26 Jun 1940
Sold American
Glenn Miller Orchestra
Meadowbrook Ballroom
Cedar Grove NJ
WEAF NBC Red NY
8 Mar 1939
Open + Flying Home
Glenn Miller Orchestra
’I Sustain the Wings War Bond Rally’
Chicago Theatre
WBBM CBS Chicago
10 Jun 1944
The Moon Is A Silver Dollar
Glenn Miller Orchestra (voc) Marion Hutton
Meadowbrook Ballroom
Cedar Grove NJ
WEAF NBC Red NY
18 Apr 1939
Set 8
Bop and Post Bop Appeals For Your Dough Off 1945-64 Radio
I Want Every Bit Of It
Ruuberlegs Williams (voc) Clyde Hart’s All-Stars including Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker
Comm Rec
New York
Jan 1945
A Gem From Tiffany
Shelly Manne Quintet
Basin Street
WCBS CBS NY
1956
To Each His Own
Claude Thornhill Orchestra
‘One Night Stand’
Steel Pier
Atlantic City NJ
AFRS Re-broadcast
24 Aug 1956
More
Duke Ellington Orchestra
‘One Night Stand’
Steel Pier
Atlantic City NJ
AFRS Re-broadcast
Jul 1964
If the 26 September show is anything to go by, the 3 October Phantom Dancer, one week before the annual 2SER Subscriber Drive, is going to be the best show ever.
This week you’ll Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye and tune in for Part 5 of the Harry James aircheck series 1953-54. Indeed, the entire Vinyl Hour of The Phantom Dancer is devoted to trumpet band leaders on live radio: Louis Armstrong, Harry James, Erskine Hawkins and Dizzy Gillespie.
Your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV is presented by myself, Greg Poppleton, over radio station 107.3 2SER Sydney. I’ve been bringing you The Phantom Dancer since 1985.
HARRY JAMES
Since we are up to Part 5 in our chronological review of radio airchecks by trumpeter Harry James, it is worth noting here that just like Fats Waller, discussed in last week’s Phantom Dancer play list notes, Harry James also had a classical background when learning his instrument.
Harry James was none for his great facility on the trumpet and his wonderful tone. Harry’s father was a circus band leader. He started teaching Harry trumpet when Harry was aged 10. The lesson regime was that each day, he had to learn a page from the Arban’s book.
What’s the Arban’s book? It’s the instruction book for cornet, flugelhorn and trumpet written by the famous Joseph Jean-Baptiste Laurent Arban before 1859.
Arban was a cornetist, conductor, composer, teacher and the first famed virtuoso of the cornet. He was influenced by Niccolò Paganini’s virtuosic technique on the violin and successfully proved that the cornet was a true solo instrument by developing virtuoso technique it.
Arban’s book consists of: Introduction / First Studies / Playing Methods: Slurring or Legato Playing / Scales / Ornaments / Advanced Studies / Tonguing / Phrasing: 150 Classic and Popular Melodies / 68 Duets for Two Cornets / 14 Characteristic Studies / Celebrated Fantasies and Airs Varies
See the full Phantom Dancer play list below.
Make sure you come back to this blog, Greg Poppleton’s Radio Lounge, every Tuesday, for the newest Phantom Dancer play list!
Thank you.
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #281
107.3 2SER Tuesday 3 October 2017 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
and early morning on 22 other stations.
Set 1
Dance Bands on 1944-1950 Radio
Small Town Boogie
Barbara James (voc) Albert Fisher Orchestra
Aircheck
Sydney
1944
Sunrise Serenade (theme) + Let’s Do It Again
Frankie Carle Orchestra (voc) Band
’Your Saturday Dance Date’
Marine Dining Room
Edgewater Beach Hotel
WMAQ NBC Chicago
12 Aug 1950
On The Beach At Waikiki + Aloha Oe
Harry Owens Orchestra (voc) Prince Kawuhi and Chorus
’Sweet Leihani’
Mural Room
Hotel St Francis
KPO NBC San Francisco
1940s
Set 2
Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye
Theme + Just A Prayer Away
Sammy Kaye Orchestra (voc) Billy Williams
’Sunday Serenade’
WJZ Blue Network NYC
15 Apr 1945
It’s A Great Feeling
Sammy Kaye Orchestra (voc) The Kaydettes and Kaye Choir
’Sammy Kaye’s Showroom’
Radio Transcription
Hollywood
1949
How Deep Is The Ocean? + I’m In The Mood For Love + Avalon + Close
Sammy Kaye Orchestra
’One Night Stand’
Hotel Astor Roof
AFRS re-broadcast
27 Aug 1945
Set 3
Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street 1941
Open + Ballin’ The Jack
Henry Levine Dixieland Octet
’Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’
WJZ NBC Blue NY
18 Aug 1941
Peter and the Wolf
Paul Laval Woodwinds
’Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’
WJZ NBC Blue NY
23 Jun 1941
Gone With What Wind + Close
Paul Laval Woodwinds
’Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’
WJZ NBC Blue NY
4 Aug 1941
Set 4
Swing Bands on 1943-46 Radio
I’ve Got You Under My Skin
Leo Reisman Orchestra
’Spotlight Bands’
National Press Club
Washington DC
Blue Network
23 Jun 1943
Open + Look For The Silver Lining
Andy Russell (voc) Toots Cammerata Orchestra
’Double Feature’
AFRS Re-broadcast
2 Oct 1944
Tuesday at Ten + Close
Ray McKinley Orchestra
’One Night Stand’
Century Room
Commodore Hotel
AFRS Re-broadcast
1946
Set 5
Louis Armstrong
Theme + If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight
Louis Armstrong Orchestra
’Jubilee’
AFRS
New York City
Mar 1943
Super Tiger Rag
Louis Armstrong and French Orchestra
Comm Rec
Paris
1934
Lazy River
Louis Armstrong Orchestra (voc) LA
’Spotlight Bands’
Dallas TX
Blue Network
17 Aug 1943
Royal Garden Blues
Louis Armstrong All-Stars
’Damon Runyon Memorial Jazz Concert’
Blue Note
ABC Chicago
11 Dec 1948
Set 6
Harry James on 1953-54 Radio
Stomp and Whistle
Harry James Orchestra (voc) Buddy Rich
Aircheck
Superior WI
29 May 1954
Down South Camp Meeting
Harry James Orchestra
Aircheck
Hotel Astor Roof NYC
25 May 1953
Open + Stealin’ Apples
Harry James Orchestra
Aircheck
Aragon Ballroom
Chicago
18 Jun 1954
Back Beat Boogie
Harry James Orchestra
Aircheck
Aragon Ballroom
Chicago
20 Jun 1954
Set 7
Erskine Hawkins
What Do You Know About Love?
Erskine Hawkins Orchestra (voc) Ida James
Comm Rec
New York City
20 Oct 1938
Open + Eelibuj Boogie
Erskine Hawkins Orchestra
Paradise Restaurant
WOR MBS NY
3 May 1938
Holiday For Strings + Trinidad
Erskine Hawkins Orchestra
’One Night Stand’
Blue Room
Hotel Lincoln
New York City
1 May 1946
If the 19 September Phantom Dancer radio show is anything to go by, the 26 September non-stop mix of swing and dance from live 1920s – 1960s radio and TV is going to be the best show ever.
This week you’ll hear Fats Waller, Benny Goodman and news on the European Crisis over WABC NY in 1938 which we didn’t get to hear on last week’s show. We ran out of time with so much good music.
There’s also a set of women bop singers including Sarah Vaughan and Jackie Kane, and tune in for Part 4 in the Harry James aircheck series 1948-51.
Your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV is presented by myself, Greg Poppleton, over radio station 107.3 2SER Sydney. I’ve been bringing you The Phantom Dancer since 1985.
Fats Waller was a composer, pianist and entertainer. He wrote such jazz standards as Keeping Out of Mischief Now, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Honeysuckle Rose. You’ll hear him play his popular tune, The Joint is Jumpin’, on today’s Phantom Dancer on a live WABC NYC broadcast from 1938.
What’s little known about Fats Waller is the classic background that informed his unique jazz stride piano style.
Waller’s grandfather was an accomplished violinist. His mother, Adeline, was a church organist. She taught him to play organ, gave him his first lessons in classical music, and hired a tutor for him. His church musical director introduced him to the works of J.S. Bach.
1920s stride piano stars James P. Johnson and Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith later mentored Fats, teaching him stride piano style and introducing him to the works of impressionistic composers of the nineteenth century.
Enjoy!
Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #280
107.3 2SER Tuesday 26 September 2017 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT)
National Program:
ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm
and early morning on 22 other stations.
Set 1
Tunes on 1936 Radio
On The Beach At Bali Bali
Teddy Stauffer and his Original Teddies
Comm Rec
Berlin
19 Sep 1936
The Way You Look Tonight
Freddy Rich Orchestra (voc) Freddy Rich
’Your Hit Parade’
WEAF NBC Red NYC
21 Oct 1936
Fix It Easy + Ro-Ro-Rolling Along (theme)
Bob Crosby’s Bobcats (theme voc: The Freshmen)
’Ford V8 Revue’
Radio Transcription
NBC NYC
1936
Set 2
1947 Swing Radio
Spring Isn’t Everything
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) Stuart Foster
Casino Gardens
Ocean Park Ca
KECA ABC LA
1947
Naughty Angeline
Nat King Cole Trio (voc) Nat King Cole
’King Cole Trio Time’
KFI NBC Hollywood
5 Jul 1947
Come To The Mardi Gras + Close
Ray Eberle Orchestra
’All-Star Parade of Bands’
Birdland
WNBC NBC NY
9 Sep 1952
Set 3
1950s Big Bands
One O’Clock Jump (theme) + Little Pony
Count Basie Orchestra
’Stars in Jazz’
WNBC NBC NY
31 Jul 1952
I’ll Take Romance
Charlie Barnet Orchestra (voc) June Christy
’The Charlie Barnet Show’
Radio Transcription
Hollywood
20 Jan 1957
Limelight + Close
Stan Kenton Orchestra
’Concert in Miniature’
WBOW NBC Terre Haute IN
16 Jun 1953
Set 4
Swing Bands on 1945 Radio
Theme + No Can Do
Chuck Foster Orchestra (voc) Judy Tremain
’One Night Stand’
Terrace Room
Hotel New Yorker NYC
AFRS Re-broadcast
8 Sep 1945
Caldonia (theme) + You Was Right, Baby
Louis Jordan Tympani 5 (voc) LJ
Zanzibar Cafe
WOR Mutual NYC
15 Oct 1945
Taco Tico + Close
Clyde Lucas Orchestra
’Spotlight Bands’
Blue Network
12 Jan 1945
Set 5
Women Bop Singers
What More Can A Woman Do?
Dizzy Gillespie Septet (voc) Sarah Vaughan
Comm Rec
New York City
25 May 1945
I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles
Jackie Kain and Roy Kral (voc) Charlie Ventura Group
’Symphony Sid Show’
Royal Roost
WMCA NY
1948
The Man I Love
Benny Goodman Sextet (voc) Patti Page
’One Night Stand’
The Click
Philadelphia
3 Jun 1948
I’m Glad There’s You
Jackie Kain (voc) Charlie Ventura Group
’Symphony Sid Show’
Royal Roost
WMCA NY
1948
Set 6
Harry James on 1948-51 Radio
Open + How High The Moon
Harry James Orchestra
Aircheck
1948
Ciribiribin (theme) + Don’t Be That Way
Harry James Jazz Octet
Blue Room
Roosevelt Hotel
WWJ CBS New Orleans
1950
Open + New York Blues
Harry James Orchestra
Aircheck
1949
Two O’Clock Jump
Harry James Jazz Octet
Blue Room
Roosevelt Hotel
WWJ CBS New Orleans
1950
Set 7
1930s Radio Dance Bands
You Stayed Away To Long
Claude Hopkins Orchestra
Radio Transcription
New York City
1935
Moonshine Over Kentucky + Heigh Ho
Bunny Berrigan Orchestra
Paradise Restaurant
WOR MBS NY
3 May 1938
St Louis Blues
Paul Whiteman Orchestra (tb) Jack Teagarden
’Paul Whiteman’s Varieties’
WJZ NBC Blue
New York City
16 Feb 1936
My Melancholy Baby + The White Star of Sigma Nu
Joe Haymes Orchestra
Grill Room
Hotel McAlfin
WABC CBS NYC
29 Jan 1935
Set 8
1938 Radio, WABC New York
The Joint is Jumping / Summertime / Stomping At The Savoy
Actor - Singer - Voiceover 