Topic: Nostalgia Radio Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, radio & television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with it in 1943. "Mr. C", as he was nicknamed, sold millions of records for RCA and also pioneered weekly musical variety radio/television shows. His combined success on television and popular recordings was not matched by any other artist of the time. Below is an audio and also video recording of a 1954 simulcast CBS-TV/Radio show with guest Peggy Lee. Selections include Sway, Someone to Watch Over Me, I Feel a Song Comming On, Papa Loves Mambo.
Now Playing: Harry James Big Band remote broadcast Topic: Nostalgia Radio Harry James [March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983] was one of the most outstanding instrumentalists of the swing era, employing a bravura playing style that made his trumpet work instantly identifiable. He was also one of the most popular bandleaders of the first half of the 1940s, and he continued to lead his band until just before his death, 40 years later. HARRY JAMES broadcasts included vocalists Frank Sinatra, Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes, Kitty Kallen, and Helen Ward and others from radio remotes, the CBS Chesterfield shows, Coca-Cola shows and The Danny Kaye Show.
Listen link below, a 1940 Mutual network sustaining band remote from The Chatterbox, Mountainside, New Jersey. Features Dick Haymes vocalist, 13 1/2 minutes.
Topic: Nostalgia Radio 30 July 1949, from otrcat.com, a vintage broadcast (edit) of a Chicago Summer Theater of the Air. This program Music In The Air features the music of Jerome Kern, George Gershwin and others. Performers are Virginia Parker, Bruce Foote and Barnard Isso. This unique radio show was created during the rising popularity of operas and dramas in the 1940s with an attempt to add high culture to American entertainment. The operas were sensitively translated into English and were supplemented by strong story dramas. The combination was quite successful and the show covered a variety of operas such as Madame Butterfly, The Vagabond King, The Merry Widow and many others. The show was 60 minutes long as the creators prided themselves in utilizing the complete music and intended plot for each opera...OTRCAT.COM
Topic: Nostalgia Radio CARMEN DRAGON conductor, arranger –received an Oscar for best score (w/Morris Stoloff) for “Cover Girl” (1944) – musical director for films “Lovely To Look At” and “The Kid From Brooklyn” -rec. w/Hollywood Bowl Symphony for Capitol. Conducted radio orchestra for many Hollywood based network shows in the 1940's. Carmen Dragon was born on July 28, 1914 and died March 28, 1984. Dragon was born in Antioch, California. He was very active in pops music conducting and composed scores for several films, including At Gunpoint (1955), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Night into Tomorrow (1951), and Kiss Tomorrow Good-bye (1950). He conducted the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, and they performed on the "Standard Oil Hour," broadcast on NBC for elementary schools in the late 1940s through the 1950s. The show was sponsored by Standard Oil Company of California, but other than the name there were no commercials. The program featured a high quality introduction to classical music for young people growing up in the 1940s and early 1950s. Dragon made a series of popular light classical albums for Capitol Records during the 1950s with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Some of these recordings have been reissued by EMI on CD. Carmen Dragon is the father of harpist Carmen Dragon and Daryl Dragon of the 1970s pop music duo The Captain & Tennille.
Topic: Nostalgia Radio Columbia Presents Forecast, an "adventure in radio future." Forecast broadcast audition shows from New York and Hollywood, shows that all hoped that their appearance on Forecast would be their big break...
Topic: Nostalgia Radio
Eddie Fisher, fourth of seven children, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Russian-born Jewish immigrants Kate (née Winokur) and Joseph Fisher. His father's surname was originally Fisch, but was anglicised to Fisher upon entry into the United States. To his family, Fisher was always called "Sonny Boy" or "Sonny". It was known at an early age that he had talent as a vocalist and he started singing in numerous amateur contests, which he usually won. He sang on the radio in high school, WFIL The Magic Lady 6pm daily. He attended Simon Gratz High School in north Philadelphia. He also appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, a popular radio show which moved to television.
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Updated: Saturday, 26 July 2008 9:56 PM EDT
Topic: Nostalgia Radio VICTOR HERBERT melodies on Theater of Hits a musical public service transcription from 1954. Host John Bachowner presented Broadway musical songs performed by the United States Marine Band, under the direction of William F. Saddleman. Each show welcomed listeners as if they were coming to the theatre to see a live performance. So, find your seats and settle in for this performance of Victor Herbert favorites on Theatre of Hits as presented by the US Marine Corp.
Topic: Nostalgia Radio James "Jimmy" Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter and big band leader. Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of a music teacher and older brother of Tommy Dorsey who also became a prominent musician. He played trumpet in his youth, appearing on stage in a Vaudeville act as early as 1913. He switched to alto saxophone in 1915, and then learned to double on clarinet. While little-known now, Jimmy Dorsey played on a clarinet outfitted with the Albert system of fingering, as opposed to the more common Boehm system used by most of his contemporaries including Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. With his brother Tommy playing trombone, he formed Dorsey’s Novelty Six, one of the first jazz bands to broadcast. On December 26, 1953, the brothers and their orchestra appeared on Jackie Gleason's CBS television program. The success of that television appearance led Gleason to produce a weekly variety program, Stage Show, hosted by the brothers on CBS from 1954 and 1956. Elvis Presley appeared on several of the telecasts. Jimmy took over leadership of the orchestra after Tommy's death. Jimmy survived his brother by only a few months and died of lung cancer, aged 53, in New York City. Broadcasts of Jimmy Dorsey and The Fabulous Dorsey Orchestra on NBC Bandstand survive from December 25, and December 31, 1956. At least two other extant broadcasts from the month of December 1956 are available as well.
Now Playing: GLEN GRAY and The CASA LOMA ORCHESTRA Topic: Nostalgia Radio The Casa Loma Orchestra was an American swing band active from 1927 to 1963. It did not tour after 1950 but continued to record as a studio group. It began its existence in 1927 as the Orange Blossoms, one of several Detroit-area groups that came out of the Jean Goldkette office. It was a co-operative organization, fronted for the first few years by violinist Hank Biagini, although the eventual leader, saxophonist Glen Gray (1900-1963) was from the very beginning "first among equals." The band had adopted the Casa Loma name by the time of its first recordings in 1929, shortly after it was supposed to play an engagement at Casa Loma in Toronto.
Your Hit Parade on RADIO & TV Now Playing: broadcast for AFRS c.JUL 1944 Topic: Nostalgia Radio Your Hit Parade was a popular American radio and television program, sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes and broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on radio, and 1950 to 1959 on television. During this 24-year run, the show had 19 orchestra leaders and 52 singers or groups. Each Saturday evening, the program offered the most popular and bestselling songs of the week. The earliest format involved a presentation of the top 15 songs. Later, a countdown with fanfares led to the top three finalists, with the number one song for the finale. Occasional performances of standards and other favorite songs from the past were known as "Lucky Strike Extras."
Topic: Nostalgia Radio The Hollywood Palladium Ballroom opened September 23, 1940 with a concert by Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Over the years, it has hosted the Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Barbra Streisand and many others. The Hollywood Palladium was built by film producer Maurice M. Cohen, on the site of the original Paramount Pictures, between Argyle and El Centro avenues. Tommy Dorsey's first band was formed out of the remnant of the Joe Haymes band, and his smooth, lyrical trombone style – whether on ballads or on no-holds-barred swingers – became one of the signature sounds of both his band and the Swing Era. The new band hit from almost the moment it signed with RCA Victor with "On Treasure Island", the first of four hits for the new band that year. That led to a run of 137 Billboard chart hits, including his theme song, "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You".
Topic: Nostalgia Radio 16 JULY 1911 - Birthday Ginger Rogers (Virginia Katherine McMath), Academy Award winning American actress, singer and dancer who partnered with Fred Astaire...("Did everything he did but backwards and in high-heels" ;-)
Died 25 April 1995. Rogers introduced some celebrated numbers from the Great American Songbook, songs such as Harry Warren and Al Dubin's "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)" from Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), "Music Makes Me" from Flying Down to Rio (1933), "The Continental" from The Gay Divorcee (1934), Irving Berlin's "Let Yourself Go" from Follow the Fleet (1936) and the Gershwins' "Embraceable You" from Girl Crazy and "They All Laughed (at Christopher Columbus)" from Shall We Dance (1937). Furthermore, in song duets with Astaire, she co-introduced Berlin's "I'm Putting all My Eggs in One Basket" from Follow the Fleet (1936), Jerome Kern's "Pick Yourself Up" and "A Fine Romance" from Swing Time (1936) and the Gershwins' "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" from Shall We Dance (1937). Ginger Rogers won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in 1940s Kitty Foyle...dramatized on radio's Lux, Presents Hollywood:
Now Playing: Benny Goodman Topic: Nostalgia Radio 1936-38 The Benny Goodman band broadcast from the Madhattan Room down in the basement of the Hotel Pennsylvania, in New York City. The Benny Goodman remote radio programs on CBS originated from there. The bands popularity grew through regular appearances on these radio broadcasts. Also the band was heard on late-night remote broadcasts from Chicago's Congress Hotel. For all of Goodman's musical innovations, the most important one came when he integrated his band in 1935 with the addition of the Greatest Jazz Pianist of the period, Teddy Wilson. Later, Lionel Hampton joined them. Gene Krupa was BG's drummer with quite a following. Martha Tilton was the bands popular vocalist. The day after they ended their engagement at The Madhattan Room, on Saturday, January 15, 1938, they held their legendary Carnegie Hall concert (Sunday, January 16, 1938). ON THE WEB | IMAGES | SHOP Benny Goodman
Topic: Nostalgia Radio 11 JULY 1906 Birth of legendary announcer HARRY VON ZELL died 1981. The golden age of radio, announcer and actor, studied music and drama at UCLA and worked at a variety of jobs. After friends tricked him into singing on a radio program, he received offers from radio stations, and his radio career began. Auditioning for Paul Whiteman's radio show, he beat out 250 other announcers. When that series came to an end in 1930, he headed for New York and became a CBS staff announcer, working with Fred Allen, Phil Baker, Eddie Cantor, Eddy Duchin, Burns and Allen and Ed Wynn. He also announced for The March of Time. As a young announcer, von Zell made a memorable verbal slip when he referred to U.S. President Herbert Hoover as "Hoobert Heever" in 1931, during a live tribute on Hoover's birthday. this spoonerism came at the end of a long reading about Hoover's career, during which von Zell had correctly pronounced the president's name several times.
Topic: Nostalgia Radio The Artie Shaw Band from a radio remote broadcast from the Summer Terrace at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Roof in Boston. The Artie Shaw Orchestra of 1938-1939 was the best band he ever assembled. Shaw did many big band remotes, and he was also often heard from the Blue Room of New York's Hotel Lincoln. It was the location of his only regular radio series as headliner. Sponsored by Old Gold cigarettes, Shaw broadcast on CBS from November 20, 1938 until November 14, 1939. At the height of his popularity, Shaw reportedly earned $60,000 per week. For a comparison, George Burns and Gracie Allen, were each making US $5,000 per week during the year (1940-41) the Artie Shaw Orchestra provided the music for their radio show. He also acted on the show as a love interest for Gracie.
7 JULY 1949 - The police drama "Dragnet" premiered on the radio. The long-running radio and television police procedural drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from an actual police term, a "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. ON THE WEB | IMAGES | SHOP Dragnet
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Updated: Tuesday, 8 July 2008 10:06 PM EDT
Topic: Nostalgia Radio RECOLLECTIONS... "Lucky Lindy" aka "The Lone Eagle" American aviator, returnes to USA after the first solo nonstop Transatlantic flight from New York's Roosevelt Field to Paris' Le Bourget Field, in the single-seat, single-engine monoplane Spirit of St. Louis. Lindbergh was awarded the nation's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, in 1927 for his exploit. Listen to NBC radio coverage from the oldest NBC radio recording archived:
Anson Weeks Band ... radio remote Topic: Nostalgia Radio Anson Weeks (1896-1969) was leader of a popular West Coast dance band in the late 1920's through the 1960's, primarily in San Francisco (he made his first recording in Oakland on February 7, 1925, but it was rejected). He pioneered the "hotel" band sound and spent years at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, using the slogan "Dancin' With Anson". He formed his first band in 1924 and had key hotel jobs in Oakland and Sacramento. By the late 1920's he was a popular regional orchestra and started recording for Columbia in 1928. In 1932, he signed with Brunswick and recorded for them through 1935. He later did a session for Decca in 1937. MORE Wiki Bio | SHOP Anson Weeks
Topic: Nostalgia Radio In the golden age of radio broadcasting one of the busiest of radio announcers was Ken Carpenter (1900 - 1984). His early radio work was in Los Angeles, California in 1929 as a staff announcer at KFI radio, one of the larger stations in the area. Four years later in 1935, Carpenter went national when he became the announcer for the 1935 Rose Bowl football game. In 1936, Carpenter became the announcer on the Kraft Music Hall starring Bing Crosby. This started a 27 year long association with Crosby. Other shows which benefitted from Ken Carpenter’s cheerful voice were the Edgar Bergen - Charlie McCarthy show, Al Jolson (when he took over as host of The Kraft Music Hall show), Lux Radio (and Video) Theater, and both the television and radio versions of One Man’s Family. Carpenter died at age 84, on 16 October 1984 in Santa Monica, CA, following a brief illness. SHOP Ken Carpenter