Here’s another episode of “Music from the House of Squibb,” this one from February 25, 1944. The first half of the program is pretty good, but the second half has a lot of clicks and pops due to condition issues. I recorded it using a new stylus, hoping that it would track better through the rough spots. I think it did well until the point where the record is pretty much falling apart. I pieced it back together digitally as best I could.
The show is all movie music. Vera Brodsky is the guest singer. There’s also a male soloist, but I didn’t ever hear his name mentioned. I don’t know if maybe the very beginning of the show was missing, but what you hear is all that’s on my record. Mike Harron informs me that the NY Times listed Harrison Knox as the scheduled guest for this date, so it may be him (thanks, Mike).
The songs are “Suddenly it’s Spring” from Lady in the Dark, “I’ll Get By” from A Guy Named Joe, “Long Ago” from Cover Girl, and “The Piccolino” from Top Hat.
This is another episode of “Sing Along with the Landt Trio” of Karl, Jack and Dan. This program has a little extra interest to it: it’s Army Day! I knew about Armed Forces Day, but I’d never heard of Army Day. Google to the rescue!
“Army Day was established as a nationwide observance to draw public attention to national defense and to acquaint the public with Army activities.” Army Day had a rough beginning, but its official observance on April 6 began in 1929 to mark the day the U.S. entered World War I. 1949 was the last year that Army Day was recognized or celebrated. For more information, you can visit the Department of Defense page about it.
This program of Sing Along begins with popular songs of the day: “Don’t Sweetheart Me,” “I’ll Always be in Love with You,” and “I Couldn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night.” It concludes with two songs in honor of Army Day: “One Little WAC” and “What do they do in the Infantry?”
As a thank-you to those of you who are still with me after such a long hiatus, here’s something that I think is pretty special. This was one of my grandpa’s “b-sides,” where he really only cared about the material on the other side. This was totally unlabeled and undocumented in his records.
Jimmie Fidler was apparently a somewhat controversial entertainment reporter who had a weekly Hollywood news show. I don’t know the exact date of this program, but the one on the reverse was from February 4, 1944 so I’ll assume it’s close to that date. It is FASCINATING, a real time-capsule of the entertainment world. Just to drop a few names from this program: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lena Horne, Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Greta Garbo, Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye… and that’s not all. It’s a real “who’s who” of the day. The show is sponsored by Arrid antiperspirant, and includes a few good ads for that (as well as one ad for liver pills).
This record was in really bad shape, with the lacquer cracked and delaminating. In the middle, you’ll notice significant pops and drop-outs. I recorded this several times over, at both 78 and 33rpm (I could only do portions at 33), and tried to piece it together as best I could. Even so, there are places where anything from a portion of a second to a few seconds are missing. I encourage you to keep listening; it improves again as you get nearer the end and the content is so good that it’s worth it.
I’m not posting a picture since there’s no label on this. If you’d like a picture anyway, let me know and I’ll put one up.
Thanks again for your patience while I got both life and technical issues straightened out!
I have a new computer and a new phono preamp. My 33rpm motor is just about dead, so I’m primarily using the 78 motor and digitally correcting the speed. It’s not ideal, but it’s all I can do.
Here’s a quickie I could get off today. This is a program called “Buffalo Presents Portraits in Music,” from WKBW. It features David Cheskin and his orchestra, along with The Four Cheers and Jan Martell. Songs include, “Don’t Worry, Mom,” “Little Did I Know,” and “I Want to be Happy,” along with others.
Here we have another of what must have been one of my grandpa’s favorite programs, “To Your Good Health from the House of Squibb.” This originally aired on May 31, 1944. As always, we have Lyn Murray directing the Squibb Orchestra and Chorus of Stars. The guest soloist is Hubie Hendrie.
The playlist includes “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” “Lamp of Memory,” “Shadrach,” and “Amour.”
Here’s another case where I have a record labeled 2 of 2, and I don’t have number 1.
From what I could find, it seems that Invitation to Music was a popular CBS program that played relatively new works by current composers. I wish I had more episodes of this program but it looks like this is all I have.
This show features Mona Paulee and the Columbia Concert Orchestra. The main piece is “Ne Me Refuse Pas” from Massanet’s Herodiade.
This is Frankie Carle and his Orchestra, with special guest Betty Bonney. The program was broadcast from The Cafe Rouge at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York. Unfortunately it’s incomplete; the record is marked 2 of 2, and I don’t have the first one.
This record was exceptionally noisy. I did the best I could to reduce the noise but the audio is still not great. But with a well-played, 66-year-old record, what can you do?
The songs included are “People will say we’re in love,” “Oh what a beautiful morning,” “Falling Leaves,” “I’ve had this feeling before,” and “Show me the way to go home.”
I’m back! Hopefully my computer will continue to work for a while now.
This program is, I think, the day that Squibb changed the name of its show from “To Your Good Health from the House of Squibb” to “Music from the House of Squibb.” What’s interesting, though, is that the record label still says “To Your Good Health,” like maybe the affiliates didn’t know about the name change. It’s also the day after D-Day! The programming was obviously changed to reflect what was going on in the world, as this is a whole show of patriotic tunes.
As always, the Squibb Orchestra and Chorus of Stars is directed by Lyn Murray. Hubie Hendrie is the guest soloist. The songs performed are “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” “The Cassions Go Rolling Along,” “The Army Air Corps Song,” “The Pledge of Allegience,” and “The House I Live In.”
A couple of times in the recording you’ll hear a series of beeps. Those are on the original record, not a digital problem. I’m guessing maybe they’re some kind of alert signal for news updates, or something along those lines. I’m sure somebody will be able to tell me exactly what they are!
I’m back with a fun program to start the new year: Sing Along with Karl, Jack and Dan, who were also known as The Landt Trio. This website gives the history of the group along with a catalog of known recordings. There aren’t many.
This program is dated March 27, 1944 for broadcast on WJR on March 28 at 1:00am. Songs include “I Want to be Happy,” “So Little Time,” “Someone Else is Taking my place,” “When the Red Red Robin goes Bob-bob-bobbin’ along” and “Ikki Tikki Tambo” (or something close to that, it’s a little hard to catch exactly what they’re saying). The whole program is a lot of fun; my kids enjoyed listening as I recorded and edited it.
Here’s the direct link to the download page at my bandcamp site.
Contrary to what this broadcast is called, this isn’t a rehearsal. It’s a program that was produced in Detroit featuring Gus Haenschen and his orchestra. I found a great site that gave a history of Gus Haenschen (Tim’s Phonographs and Old Records), who also went by the name of Carl Fenton until 1927. Here’s the info that’s pertinent to this recording:
During the World War II years he conducted an all-string orchestra for a weekly show from Detroit sponsored by beer manufacturer Stroh’s. The show was broadcast in the Mid-West (Stroh’s was not sold in the Eastern states at the time). Singers included Margaret Daum and baritone Thomas L. Thomas.
That’s exactly what we have here, including Margaret Daum and Thomas L. Thomas. Unfortunately this show is not complete. My disc is marked #2 of 2, and I don’t seem to have #1. It also ends abruptly during an awesome commercial for Stroh’s Bohemian Beer. I do have quite a few other recordings of “Gus Haenschen’s Rehearsal” (15, I think), many of which are complete—and some of which I’m sure will have that great commercial in its entirety.
This program includes “I’m Making Believe,” “Tango of Roses” (in a rumba arrangement), and “White Christmas.” The first piece on the record is not credited during the program, but my grandpa’s index cards include a song called “Wang Wang Blues.” I’m guessing that’s what the first piece is.
One thing that makes me chuckle every time I hear this is the enthusiastic applause of the studio audience… which sounds like about three people.
If you’re using a screen reader, click here to go to my BandCamp site for a Flash-free download.
