When Radio Ruled

 In 1939 Dorothy Lamour was the leading lady on a show that was neck and neck with Jack Benny for number 1 in the ratings.

Not bad for a lower class girl who dropped out of school at 14 to support her family.

Now, at only 25 years old, her ambition and talent had paid off handsomely.

Also Featuring Don Ameche and Rudy Vallee. Charlie and Edgar also make an appearance.

Popular songs and Novelty Tunes from America’s girl next door, 1939. Dottie Lamour singing:

Go Fly A Kite

One Cigarette for Two

All In Favor Say Aye

ChatterBox

Dream Beside Me in the Midnight Glow

An Awful Lot of Dreaming to Do

Begin the Beguinne

When you Came into my Heart

I Spell Love with You

A Boy Named Lem and a Girl Named Sue

Sing a Song of Sunbeams

What’s New?

Two Blind Loves

I’ll Remember

What’s New?

Two Blind Loves

I’ll Remember

Oh Johnny

Are You Having Any Fun?

Give a Listen to the Talented Dottie Lamour, Girl Next Door

History through the eyes of people as they lived it, reported by radio.

In today’s soundscape:

Baby Snooks and Daddy visit the 1939 New York’s World Fair!

An Irish Ghost Story entitled “Faith is Not always a Lady”!!

A Gentle Reminder to Always Remember to Lux your Stockings!!

This episode features:

The Family Doctor

Cecil B DeMille

Jimmy Cagney

Fibber McGee

The Merry Macs

Jimmy Stewart

Robert Young

The Phil Harris Orchestra

Columbia Workshop

Zasu Pitts

Lionel Barrymore

Orson Welles

Warden Laws of Sing-Sing

Jack Benny

Don Wilson

Kenny Baker

Barbara Stanwyck

Sara Roosevelt – the mother of the President

Frank Morgan

Fanny Brice

Hanley Stafford

Robert Montgomery

And

Connee Boswell

Click Here to Give 1939 part 5 a Listen!

These Interviews were a regular feature of The Lux Radio Theater, a show that presented radio versions of current Hollywood films.

At act break host Cecil B. Demille and an expert guest would comment on the radio play so far.

Sometimes the guest would be from the rich, famous and powerful classes, we’ll hear those in part 2.

 This episode presents the common working men who did the jobs that week’s story was about. Some of these jobs no longer exist, but they were important in their time.

FEATURING, ALL THE WAY FROM 1939:

The Oldest Man in Hollywood

A Cross Country Bus Driver

An Associate Professor of Psychology

A Theatrical Stage Doorman

A Youth Crime Expert

A Doctor Detective

A Los Angeles County Sheriff

The Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office

The Author of “Life Begins at 40”

A Genuine English Butler

History through the eyes of people as they live it, reported by radio.

Voices from the past alive again because you’re listening now.

In today’s soundscape, you can hear the dark cloud of war gather.

Earlier in the year, as evidenced by When Radio Ruled Soundscapes 1939 parts 1, 2, and 3, Old Time Radio was trying to ignore the European turmoil. In this episode they’ve stopped trying.

The Columbia Workshop in particular forshadows the horrors to come. You’ll see.

Thank God for Jack Benny. This episode has its dark moments. They make a good laugh more important than ever.

This episode features:

Bing Crosby

Jane Withers

The Columbia Workshop

Cecil B. DeMille

Fibber McGee

Orson Welles

Jack Benny

Don Wilson

Phil Harris

Mary Livingstone

The Family Doctor

Lionel Barrymore

Robert Young

Rosalind Russell

Meredith Wilson

Tony Martin

Fred Allen

Harry Von Zell

Portland Hoffa

Give a Listen to SoundScape 1939 part 4

I had thought Dorothy Lamour to be just another pretty face who had a technically good voice but was somewhat interchangeable with the other bright, young, pretty songstresses of old time variety radio in that Dorothy’s songs were good enough but stylistically the same you heard on other popular shows.

Then I discovered this musical treasure trove and was forced to completely re-think my opinion. There are things Dorothy does with these classic songs that make them personal and unique.

Songs:

Ain’t Misbehaving

It Had To Be You

Comes Love Nothing Can Be Done

If I Didn’t Care

I Got a Right To Sing the Blues

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Melancholy Moon

Day In, Day Out

Melancholy Lullabye

Many Dreams Ago

Give a Listen to Dorothy at Her Best

1939 was a year where everything changed. An uneasy peace became all out war.  Society and culture and government were questioned as never before. The evil inside the human race made itself known that year, as ferocious as in the past but applied with an improved efficiency.

Radio was there to witness it.

And I got to Live 1939 second hand through these radio voices from the past.

In my OTR collection I have hundreds of hours of 1939 broadcasts. I listened to them in Chronological order to research the documentaries, the year 1939 as seen through comedy, drama, music, and of course news broadcast at the moments the history happened.

Here are curated highlghts of that journey for you to experience. This Soundscape delivers January 24 – March 2 1939 as seen by Old Time Radio, presented by the following voices from the grave, alive again because you’re listening:

Fibber McGee

Harlow Wilcox

Orson Welles

George Kaufmann

Jack Benny

Don Wilson

Mary Livingston

The Phil Harris Orchestra

Andy Devine

Eddie “Rochester” Anderson

Nelson Eddy

Charlie McCarthy

Edgar Bergen

Don Ameche

Dorothy Lamour

Maureen O’Sullivan

The Family Doctor

The Billy Mills Orchestra

Helen Hayes

And more!

Give a Listen to SoundScape 1939 part 3!

Charlie McCarthy  was created by Edgar Bergen based on a wise cracking newsboy named Charlie from the neighborhood.

 High Schooler Edgar Bergen sketched the design for Charlie.

More than a little obsessed,  Bergen decided to bring his Charlie to life.

Bergen built Charlie’s movable body but paid woodworker Theodore Mack $35 to carve Charlie’s head.

Edgar named his completed dummy Charlie McCarthy after newsboy and woodworker.

None of this carpentry could be seen by the radio audiences. Didn’t matter. On the Radio Charlie was just as real as any other voice.

The little boy con man Charlie sparring intellectually with his exasperated father-figure straight man Edgar was what they loved.

Didn’t matter that Edgar was them both. Charlie was the star.

Charlie had been with Edgar since the beginning. Mortimer didn’t appear on Radio until 1939

Mortimer Snerd was created by Edgar Bergen sometime during 1936 or 1937. He appeared in his first film, a short called “A Neckin’ Party” in 1937.

In my research I have yet to uncover what motivated Edgar to create Mortimer.

I can only conjecture that Edgar welcomed a creative change of pace, or might have wanted to get out from under Charlie’s shadow, at least for a little while.

Whatever the reason, Mortimer was created by comedy genius Edgar Bergen and became a great foil for Charlie McCarthy.

With Appearances By:

Don Ameche

Dorothy Lamour

Donald Dixon

Jean Arthur

and More!

Click Here for Bergen, McCarthy and Snerd 1939

1939 was the year the country woke up to the horrific scale of the death to come on land, sea, and in the Air

Seems obvious now, but at the time lots of people thought the first great war  had been so terrible it could never happen again. I wish they had been right.

The Soundscapes for 1939 series is the story of optimism to pessimism, of hope to resignation, compromise to confrontation through a tapestry of OTR clips.

Here is part 2, Curated clips broadcast chronologically January 12 to January 23, 1939. The early, hopeful days in 1939.

Highlights include

Do we have a free press or don’t we?

Better food with less kitchen time!

Mutiny on the Bounty descendants on Pitcairn island.

How Jack Benny saved Fred Allen’s life!

Featured Performers include:

America’s Town Hall of the Air

Orson Welles

Kenny Baker

Jack Benny

Mary Livingston

Don Wilson

Phil Harris Orchestra

Cecil B Demille

Fred MacMurray

Paulette Goddard

Floyd Gibbons

The Family Doctor

Artie Shaw Orchestra featuring Helen Forrest

Eddie Cantor

Fanny Brice

George Arliss

And more!

Click Here to Live Through January 12 – 23 1939 as Told by Old Time Radio!

Connee Boswell was one of the first white artists to integrate the jazz and swing experimentations of black New Orleans musicians into popular music.

The tempo, rhythm and pitch changes she and her sisters introduced to close harmony arrangements fused together Classical, Jazz, Swing, and Blues as never before.

The work she did on the radio and on the screen as well as behind the scenes as writer and arranger changed the sound of popular music and influenced directly or indirectly every vocalist since.

SONG LIST:

Jumpin’ Jive

Scatterbrain

Any Umbrellas?

Shuffle Off to Buffalo (with the Boswell Sisters)

Tumbling Tumbleweeds

Stop, it’s Wonderful

I Can’t Give You Anything But Love

Don’t Worry About Me

Begin the Beguinne

Oh, Johnny!

Ain’t Ya Comin’ Out?

Rancho Grande

I Didn’t Know What Time It Was

Heaven Can Wait

My Little Skipper

My Last Good-Bye

Goody Good-Bye

For the Previous 2 episodes, The Year 1939 – Politics and the year 1939 – Culture and Technology, I listened to almost 1000 hours of OTR in chronological order. I got to hear 1939 unfold through broadcasts from the day and learn what the podcasts should be about.

As I go, I create a best of collection of clips I might possibly use in the podcast that isn’t written yet.

This results in a rather large number of clips, 36 hours for the year 1939, history from those living it.

1939 was the year the country woke up to the horrific scale of the war we all saw coming.

The Soundscapes for 1939 series will tell the story of optimism to pessimism, of hope to resignation, compromise to confrontation through a tapestry of OTR clips.

Here is part 1, Curated clips broadcast chronologically January 1 to January 12, 1939. The early, hopeful days in 1939.

Highlights include

Goodbye 1938 hello 1939

How to have happiness in marriage?

A Great Playlet “Rose by Any Other Name” starring Melvyn Douglas

Other Feature Performers include:

Don Wilson

Mary Livingston

Jack Benny

The Phil Harris Orchestra

Andy Devine

Cecil B DeMille

Errol Flynn

Joan Blondell

Mae Robeson

Robert Young

Meredith Wilson

Orson Welles

Kenny Baker

Henry Morgan

Fanny Brice

And more!

Click Here to Listen to SoundScape 1939 part 1