Bugle Call Radio

In this very special episode I take you on a journey through some Harlem nightclubs. I will tell you a little bit about the history of the district in times of the Harlem Renaissance and Prohibition, before we will hop from club to club and meet some important people and get to know their stories and how they influenced the Harlem nightlife and jazz music in general. Shine up your shoes and follow me through the streets of Harlem!

For most people television is the number one medium, I think. But I myself am an absolute radio lover. I grew up listening to it all day long and still today it accompanies me every day. In the heyday of Swing there was no television and people gathered at home around the radio to be entertained and informed. In this episode I unravel for you the complex history of the invention of the radio, tell you about how radio crowned Benny Goodman the "King of Swing" and how Swing was used as an insidious weapon in World War II. Of course, all this is interspersed with the unique flair of the radio program from the past - the conversations, the commercials, the music. Enjoy this episode of Bugle Call Radio - this time the name says it all!

***I prepared a special quiz for you at the end of the episode. Submissions of solutions will be accepted until December 6th, 2020. Have fun and good luck!***

Listening to music at home was not always as easy as it is today. Many inventions and innovations paved the way. In this episode we will look at the very first steps of sound recording, the very first records, the first ever (controversial) jazz recording, and why most of Fats Waller's recordings would not make it onto V-Discs.

I picked another famous swing standard to present it to you. Things ain't what they used to be. Ironically this song describes the current mood quite well, don't you think?

This time we are travelling to Kansas City, to get introduced to some hep cats that fundamentally influenced and changed jazz and swing music. Welcome!

So here it is, my very first podcast episode. I had no equipment but my laptop, but I finally did it! For the first episode I chose to talk about a very well known and popular song. Perhaps the title of this episode has already revealed, which song I picked?