Old Time Radio

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The Audition That Changed the Lives of Chester Lauck and Norris Goff

A print ad for Lum and Abner A strange sight would have greeted the eyes of anyone entering the board of directors room of the Quaker Oats Company on a summer morning in 1931. On one side of the room you would have found all the staid and dignified directors of the company, seated with their faces to the wall. On the other side you would have seen two young men talking hillbilly dialect to a broom handle! That was the turning point in the careers of the two boys who have become famous in ... (read more)

2022/12/13

Al Benny's Broadway Boys (Harry Bidgood) - Tip Toe Through The Tulips (1929)

Al Benny’s Broadway Boys recorded the song "Tip Toe Through the Tulips" in London for Broadcast Twelve Records on October 30, 1929. George McQuillan played the harp on the recording. Harry Bidgood was a composer and band leader who recorded music under numerous names using studio musicians. "Tip Toe Through the Tulips with Me" was created by Al Dubin (lyrics) and Joe Burke (music) appeared that year in the musical movie the Gold Diggers of Broadway. It became a hit song again ... (read more)

2022/12/12

Fanny Brice Made Her Name on an Amateur Night

Fanny Brice performing as Baby Snooks on radio Every night this week, in movie theaters in small towns as well as in the big radio studios of New York, scared girls in homemade clothes -- amateurs -- are doing imitations and singing songs. Hoping! Thirty years ago, too, there were amateur nights. More brutal amateur nights than those today. They were held not in vast modern studios with an unctuous Major Bowes or a wise-cracking Fred Allen as master of ceremonies, but in variety halls, as they ... (read more)

2022/12/12

Lew Stone and His Band - A Sailboat in the Moonlight (1937)

Lew Stone and His Band recorded the song "A Sailboat In The Moonlight" with the singer Sam Costa for the Decca label on August 20, 1937. The personnel included Alfie Noakes and Chick Smith on trumpet, Eric Breeze and Joe Ferrie on trombone, Joe Crossman, Ernest Ritte, Bill Apps, and Don Barrigo on reeds, Bobby McGee on piano, Sam Gelsley on guitar, Arthur Maden on string bass and Jock Jacobson on drums. Stone was a jazz pianist, bassist, cellist, arranger, and dance band leader who ... (read more)

2022/12/11

Saving Uncle Marmaduke by John Eugene Hasty

"All of a sudden there came from it three short raps." A short story by John Eugene Hasty from Radio magazine, September 1925 You know, I rather think there might be something in what these philosopher gents say about the darkest hour coming before the dawn. Of course, I imagine that dawn has been following the darkest hour for so many years that it's quite a habit with it by this time; but what I mean to say is that when a fellow gets in a bad jam and then up pops some friend to rally around ... (read more)

2022/12/11

Oscar Rabin and His Band - Moonlight Serenade (1947)

Oscar Rabin and his Band recorded the song "Moonlight Serenade" with Harry Davis in 1947 for the Parlophone label. Though the British band was named for Rabin, he primarily handled the business duties and Davis led the band in performances while Rabin played the saxophone. Their partnership lasted from 1924 to 1953, when Davis moved to California to live with his daughter Beryl, who had been a singer in the band for many years. The swing instrumental "Moonlight Serenade" was composed ... (read more)

2022/12/10

Early Radio Announcers Invented Their Profession in the 1920s

KDKA announcer H. W. Arlin on the air in 1921 Anyone who listens to the radio knows that the announcer or disc jockey has gone through some form of training to do the job right. But obviously in the early days of radio, there were not any schools to train people in the field of communications. So that meant anyone who wanted to do on the air work could just walk down to the local radio and ask for a job, and most likely they would get one. The first person who deserved to have the title ... (read more)

2022/12/10

Little Man You've Had a Busy Day - Harry Leader and His Band (1934)

Harry Leader and his Band recorded the song "Little Man You've Had a Busy Day" in London on June 28, 1934, for the Eclipse label. Leader was a successful band leader known for his work on the British radio program Workers Playtime, begun as a morale booster during World War II in 1941. The vocals on this song were performed by Dawn Davis, who sang with several British bands in the 1930s and 1940s, and also had a successful solo career. She sang with Al Bowlly on several recordings. ... (read more)

2022/12/09

Quin Ryan Broadcast the Scopes Trial on Radio

WGN broadcaster Quin Ryan Quin A. Ryan, manager of WGN Chicago. has had a colorful career including such vicissitudes as reporter, actor, sports correspondent, magazine editor, advertising man, syndicate humorist, columnist, feature announcer and station manager. Born in Chicago. Nov. 17, 1898, he divided his education between Loyola Academy. Northwestern University and the Old Essanay film studios. with early interest fixed in writing and acting. While in college he became sports correspondent ... (read more)

2022/12/09

The Opera Singer Lily Pons Lost 5 Pounds During Performances

The U.S. Lily Pons stamp from 1997 I've dressed numbers of opera stars but Lily Pons is the most glamorous and dynamic. I know she isn't a movie star and perhaps the editor will bawl me out for including her here, but I feel that enough people have heard her over the radio to be interested in her. Lily is a great shock at first because one thinks of opera singers as being robust and dramatic. Pons is very tiny -- I think her actual weight is a hundred and five pounds -- and she is as quiet and ... (read more)

2022/12/08

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