BIG BANDS ON RADIO
DURING THE 20th CENTURY

Originally broadcast on WNIB
Saturday, July 10, 1999

CAMEL CARAVAN (1-31-39) Benny Goodman and his orchestra with Johnny Mercer and Martha Tilton. Guests are Jack Teagarden and boogie woogie pianist Pete Johnson. Martha Tilton sings Mercer’s new lyrics for Ziggy Elman’s “And the Angels Sing.” Teagarden sings and plays “Basin Street Blues.” The Goodman Quartet plays “The Umbrella Man.” Camel Cigarettes, CBS. (27 min)

YOUR ALL-TIME HIT PARADE (7-23-44) Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra with vocal­ists Bob Allen, Bonnie Lou Williams and the Sentimentalists in a program featuring the greatest “all-time” hits. Guest is Al Jolson who sings the first song he sang in public, “My Blushin’ Rosie” plus “April Showers.” The band plays “Little White Lies” and Tommy of­fers a solo on “Body and Soul.” Announcer is Harry Von Zell. This program features an in­teresting commercial about Charles Dickens visiting a tobacco plantation in 1842. Lucky Strike Cigarettes, NBC. (28 min)

MOONLIGHT SERENADE (5-2-40) Glenn Miller and his orchestra broadcast from the Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. with vocalists Marion Hutton, Ray Eberle and Tex Beneke. The band opens with “Sunrise Serenade;” Marion and Tex sing “Cowboy from Brook­lyn;” Ray sings “Sierra Sue;” and the band closes with “In the Mood.” Chesterfield Ciga­rettes, CBS. (14 min)

DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA (3-­18-37) Remote broadcast from the Cotton Club in New York City. Band plays “Harlem Speaks,” “Caravan,” and “Sophisticated Lady;” vocalist Ivy Anderson sings “One, Two, Button Your Shoe,” “Pennies from Heaven,” and “Mexicali Rose.” Roger Lyons announces. Sustaining, MBS. (30 min)

HAL KEMP AND HIS ORCHESTRA (4-7-40) Remote broadcast from the Empire Room of the Palmer House in Chicago with vocals by Janet Blair and Bob Allen. Selections include “Say Si Si,” “I Concentrate on You,” “I’ve Got No Strings,” and “In Dutch with the Duch­ess.” Sustaining, WGN/MBS. (30 min)

OUR SPECIAL GUEST is Big Band Historian Karl Pearson who will talk about the impor­tant part that the big bands played on radio in the 20th Century.