Best known today as the third angle in the Bob Hope Bing Crosby road pictures romantic triangles, or perhaps as the sarong wearing eye candy in several other films, Dorothy Lamour started out as a big band singer.
Appearing weekly on the Charlie McCarthy show afforded Dorothy opportunities to remind audiences of her musical roots, and her lovely expressive voice.
And that’s what this episode is all about. For your enjoyment, Here is a delightful collection of tunes sung live by Dorothy Lamour on the radio in 1938.
This is the second year in a row that Charlie McCarthy has proven himself the greatest lover in Hollywood, or anywhere else for that matter.
Among those that Charlie McCarthy charmed are the some of the most accomplished and beautiful women of his time. Some of them tried to resist, some didn’t bother, in the end they were all putty in Charlie’s hands. The previous year, 1937, Charlie McCarthy had earned quite a reputation as an irresistable bounder and cad. His list of conquests included Olympic Skater turned film star Sonya Henie as well as famous movie stars Carol Lombard, Glenda Farrell, and Bette Davis. Charlie’s torrid affair with Sex Siren Mae West and her guest appearance on his show caused a great scandal, resulting in Mae West being banned from network radio for many years. Charlie emerged a more infamous lover than ever. Such is society’s unfair double standard.
The Fred Allen material you are about to hear is from his radio show, Town Hall Tonight, in 1938.
Fred Allen was unique in the radio world of corny set up/punchline type snappy patter his former vaudeville and current radio peers like Eddie Cantor, Ed Wynn, Georgie Jessel, the Marx Brothers, and others favored.
Oftentimes Fred’s comic voice is compared to that of Mark Twain. All American and homespun wisdom disguised as jokes.
Fred ‘s wit focused on social commentary, gently poking fun at the foibles and eccentricities of human nature. Fred was gruff but mostly cheerful with a small town attitude, advocating common sense but tolerant of the mistakes of others.
Two of Fred’s greatest strengths were his ability to relate to regular people, and his improvisational skill. Very comfortable going off script and usually much funnier off the cuff than what was on the script.
These two factors influenced the head writer of Fred Allen’s show, a fellow by the name of Fred Allen, to put himself in situations on the radio where he could interact with people from all walks of life. And that’s what you are about to hear, Fred interviewing regular, not in show business folks, in a segment of his show entitled “I know You Didn’t Expect to Meet…..”.
The unexpected folks interviewed live in 1938 for this Podcast are:
Judy Garland was born Frances Gumm in 1922, and soon revealed a talent for song and dance. Her first public performance was when she was just 2 and a half years old, singing jingle bells at a Christmas pageant.
Her father was a successful vaudevillian with Judy and her sisters following in his footsteps, touring a singing act “The Gumm Sisters” in the waning days of Vaudeville.
When sound came to movies, so did song and dance acts like the Gumm sisters. The act moved to the big screen in early Vitaphone musical revues with seven year old Judy sometimes billed as Baby Gumm.
Fast forward to 1938, now 16 years old and being groomed for film stardom recently starring with Mickey Rooney in the very popular “Love Finds Andy Hardy “.
Judy, as a rule, did not appear on radio. She was too busy and important for that.
Except for The Good News program, which was created by Judy’s film studio MGM to feature MGM stars, movies, songs, and to convince their listeners to see MGM films in the theater.
As one of MGM’s newest stars, Judy dutifully appeared on a handful of the Good News programs in 1938 as their musical guests.
This collection of songs is from those appearances, 16 year old Judy Garland and her magnificent voice performing live 1n 1938. You are in for a treat.
Its time again to celebrate the holiday season and all it stands for with a Christmas stocking full old time radio yuletide magic.
This very special episode stars Phil Harris, Bing Crosby, Alice Faye, Jack Benny, Mary Livingston, Don Wilson, Kenny Baker, Joan Bennett, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Rudy Vallee, Andy Devine, and many other makers of Christmas magic
And magic it is. The magic of celebrating Christmas with old friends from 1938. The magic of our imagination. The magic of the golden age of radio. The magic of Santa Claus. The magic of the Jesus story. The magic of the subtle changes within ourselves, all of a sudden thinking and acting more like santa than scrooge. At least for a little while.
Our Old Time Radio Thanksgiving menu is made up of:
A first course of The Good News show from Thanksgiving eve , November 24, 1938.
Featuring:
Robert Young
Fanny Brice as Baby Snooks
And the cast of the very popular Andy Hardy movies, including star Mickey Rooney, in an original radio play.
Followed by an Entre of The Jack Benny Show from just after Thanksgiving 1937, November 28, entitled “Jack Cooked the Turkey” where the gang talks about their thanksgiving day.
Appetizer and desert provided by Fred Allen, courtesy to the cold open you just heard and the cold close to come.
All in all a delicious and satisfying audio thanksgiving experience with zero calories.
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast December 14 to December 30, 1937.
Starring : Dr Arthur C. Christie, Dr Gilbert W Hague, Dr Kingsley Roberts, Rudy Vallee, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Cecil B DeMille, Slim Hoffman, Brian Ahern, Madge Evans, Fibber McGee, Myrt and Marge, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Wallington, Jack Buchanan, Winston Churchill, Marlene Dietrich, and more.
Featured songs include Rudy Valle “Down with Love”, Gracie Allen “I love you from Coast to Coast”, and Marlene Dietrich “Lilli Marlene”
Halloween approaches – the night when the boundaries between the living and the dead, reality and imagination dissolve. Evil witches mount flying brooms. Brain starved Zombies, restless spirits, supernatural spooks, savage monsters and all forms of malevolent miscreants shamble across the earth creating terror among the hapless and tasty human populace.
Above all, Halloween is the best time for scary stories. In that tradition welcome to When Radio Ruled episode 56, Spooky Halloween Special 2022.
The show is going to give you a couple of spine tinglers to get you in the spooky Halloween frame of mind. The first one is entitled “Til Dead” and was originally broadcast February 2, 1943. It is a great example of the Suspense Genre that was so successful throughout the era of old time radio.
The second story is called “The Hitchhiker” and stars Orson Welles. It’s a classic supernatural tale, full of tension and mystery. It was performed by Welles multiple times over the years by popular demand, this performance was broadcast September 2, 1942.
So hang the garlic in the door to keep away the vampires, put a crucifix in your pocket just in case, lock the doors and windows, shut out the lights and brace yourself for When Radio Ruled Spooky Halloween Special 2022.
Mae West and Charlie McCarthy – Great scandals if 1937
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast November 29 to December 12, 1937.
Starring Cecil B Demille, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Wallington, Rudy Vallee, Tommy Riggs and Betty Lou, Frank Case, Andy Devine, Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Kenny Baker, Don Wilson, Fibber McGee, Don Ameche, Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen, Nelson Eddy, Mae West, Pinky Tomlin and more.
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast November 8 to November 28, 1938.
Starring Bing Crosby, Jimmy Wallington, Eddie Cantor, Fibber McGee and Molly, Benny Goodman, Colonel Stoopnagle and Budd, Don Wilson, Jack Benny, Phil Harris, Mary Livingstone, Orson Welles, and more.
Featured Songs include Eddie Cantor, “Getting some fun out of Life”, Bing Crosby “I’m Humming”, Some smoking Benny Goodman Swing Instrumentals and the Benny Goodman orchestra featuring vocalist Martha Tilden “Mama that moon is here again”, Pinky Tomlin “The Lady who couldn’t be Kissed” and Phil Harris “You can’t stop me from dreaming”
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast October 18 to November 7, 1937.
Starring Fibber McGee and Molly, Edward G. Robinson, Pinky Tomlin, Jimmy Wallington, Eddie Cantor, The Cast of the March of Time, Ben Davis Jr., Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Kenny Baker, Andy Devine, Don Wilson, Cecil B. Demille, John R. Kissinger , and more.
Featured Songs include Pinky Tomlin “Can’t stop me from dreaming”, Eddie Cantor Medley of hits and “Doe to Doe”.
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast October 11 to October 18, 1937.
Starring Fibber McGee & Molly, President Franklin Roosevelt, Eddie Cantor, Pinky Tomlin, Benny Goodman, Don Ameche, Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen, Clark Gable, Dorothy LaMour, Nelson Eddy, The Stroud Twins, Cecil B. DeMille, Jimmy Starr, Madge Evans, Fred MacMurry, and more.
Featured Songs include Eddie Cantor “Laugh Your Way Through Life” and “Keep it Over There”, Benny Goodman “The Old Apple Tree”.
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast September 5 to October 10, 1937.
Starring W.C. Fields, Charlie McCarthy, Don Ameche, Edgar Bergen, Fibber McGee and Molly, Al Jolson, George Jessell, Eddie Cantor, Bette Davis, Cecil B. DeMille, John LeRoy Johnston, Rudy Vallee, The Stroud Twins, Orson Welles, Agnes Moorehead, Jack Benny, Mary Livingston, and more.
Featured Songs include Al Jolson “Tootsie”, Eddie Cantor “Now’s the time to fall in love” and “Love is on the Air Tonight”, The Connecticut Yankees with an unidentified female vocalist (possibly Annette Hanshaw) “Basin Street Blues”, Eddie Cantor and Pinky Tomlin “Sweet Varsity Sue”
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast August 29 to September 5, 1937.
Starring Don Ameche, Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen, Dorothy Lamour, W.C. Fields, Pinky Tomlin, Fibber McGee and Molly, Benny Goodman, Eddie Stanley, Ida Lupino, and more.
Featured Songs include Don Ameche, Dorothy Lamour and Charlie McCarthy “Have You Got Any?”
Pinky Tomlin “The Love Bug” and “Stop Breaking my Heart”
And The Benny Goodman Quartet, a super group made up of swing and jazz legends Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, and Benny Goodman, with an especially hot version of “Vibraphone Blues”
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast August 22 to August 27, 1937.
Starring Harlow Wilcox, Fibber McGee & Molly, Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, Don Ameche, Charlie McCarthy, Glenda Farrell, Edgar Bergen, Dorothy LaMour, W.C. Fields, American Refugees from Japan’s invasion of Shang Hai,and more.
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast June 21 to July 11, 1937.
Starring Cecil B. DeMille, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Jack Benny, Mary Livingston, Jimmy Wallington, Pinky Tomlin, Don Ameche, Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen, Sonya Hennie, W.C. Fields, Dorothy Lamour, Robert Armbruster, Zasu Pitts, Hoagy Carmichael, and more.
Featured Songs include Mary Livingston with the cast of the Jack Benny Show “The Love Bug”, Pinky Tomlin “As Far As Your Concerned”, The cast of the Charlie McCarthy Show with Hoagy Carmichael, “I love you like my old felt hat”
Songs Recorded Live on the Eddie Cantor Radio Show 1937
Eddie was a multi-talented entertainer who was a huge star in vaudeville, and on broadway, and in silent film, and in radio, and in talking pictures, and in television.
Eddie Cantor is a true show biz Legend with a vast body of work spanning decades.
But this podcast is going to focus on Eddie Cantor the singer of songs old and new as recorded live on the Eddie Cantor radio show in 1937.
Eddie’s musical recording career began in 1917 and he had several hit songs throughout the 1920’s.
When these songs were recorded live on his radio show in 1937, Eddie Cantor was still a very popular singer, selling out concerts and charting records in addition to being at the very top of the radio ratings.
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson from the Jack Benny Show
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast May 31 to June 11, 1937.
Starring Fibber McGee and Molly, the Cast of Texaco Town, Pinky Tomlin, Don Wilson, Jack Benny, Rochester, Kenny Baker, Mary Livingston, Phil Harris, Don Ameche, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Dorothy Lamour, W.C. Fields, Constance Bennett, Ray Middleton, Natalie Bucknell, Cecil B. Demille, Errol Flynn, Frances Farmer, Chico Marx, Groucho Marx, and more.
Featured Songs include Pinky Tomlin “Tetched in the Head”, and Dorothy Lamour, Charlie McCarthy and Don Ameche with a Gilbert and Sullivan Medley.
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast March 11 to March 28, 1937.
Starring Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Wallington, Ben Bernie, Fibber McGee and Molly, Duke Ellington, Harlow Wilcox, Albert Sullivan, Rudy Vallee, and more.
Featured Songs include Eddie Cantor “There is anything that love can’t do” and “I’m on a sit down strike for love”, Some Great Duke Ellington tune with Ivey Anderson on vocals.
Judy Starr “Swing Swing your mother in law”. Rudy Vallee “This Year’s income taxes medley” and “Mr. Paganini”.
American actor, singer and comedian Eddie Cantor (1892 – 1964) with child actor Bobby Breen on CBS, 28th March 1936. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast February 21 to March 8, 1937.
Starring Father Coughlin, Douglas Fairbanks, Erroll Flynn, Rudy Vallee, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Wallington, Bobby Breen, and more.
Featured Songs include Rudy Vallee “Let’s Go Slumming” and “Here in the Moonlight”. And Bobby Breen “Trust in Me”.
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows performed live and broadcast January 17 to January 31, 1937.
Starring Don Wilson, Jack Benny, Andy Devine, Mary Livinston, Buck Jones, The Cast of The March of Time, Cecile B DeMille, Rudy Vallee, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, The Charioteers, Phil Harris, Eddie Cantor, Basil O’Connor, Jimmy Wallington, Charlie Butterfield, Irving Berlin, and more.
This one is a short subject, about 15 minutes long, starring Jim Jordan as Fibber McGee as in Fibber McGee and Molly.
Classic Fibber and Molly episodes featured jokes, gags, and situations that often repeated from episode to episode and became running gags that listeners looked forward to each week.
One of my favorite running gag is because Fibber can ever admit ignorance on any subject, When invariably asked if he knows anything about this or that occupation, Fibber not only knows all about it, he used to do it professionally and was the best ever at it.
And he bragged about his professional success using alliteration to great comic effect.
You’ll see what I mean.
Here, just because why not, is Fibber’s resume, 1937
This podcast is a montage of excerpts from old time radio shows broadcast January 1 to January 6, 1937.
Starring Eddie Cantor, Cecil B. DeMille, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Jack Benny, Phil Harris, Mary Livinston, Kenny Baker, Don Wilson, Al Jolson, Harry Von Zell, Jimmy Wallington, Edith Head, opening day of the 75th Congress of the United states, Tony Martin, Dinah Shore,
We are lucky that Soundscape #5 is featuring Fred Allen.
Fred was a legendary wit, his improvisational style and warmth made him a favorite in Vaudeville, on the radio and later on television.
His partner in show biz and real life, Portland Hoffa, was one of the most popular Dumb Dora character actors of her era, second only to the great Gracie Allen.
Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in Honolulu en route to Japan on the 1934 tour.
The Fleischmann’s Yeast Hour – Rudy Vallee – Franklin Roosevelt – The March of Time -The Hour of Smiles – Fred Allen – The Jack Benny Program – Milton Berle – George Burns – Gracie Allen – Portland Hoffa – Mary Livingston – And More!
Before TV 