Radio daily (Feb-Mar 1937)

Wednesday. March 17, 1937 RADIO DAILY 3 AGENCIES LARRY BRADLEY, radio director for the Seattle branch of MacWilkins & Cole, Inc., who present five orchestral broadcasts weekly, has received great acclaim by designating one night a week as "Song of the Past." This program features selections of not more than ten nor less than five years' vintage. After only two presentations this program has become so popular that already requests have piled up for such ex-favorites as "I Surrender Dear," "All of Me," "I'm Though with Love," "Say It Isn't So," and many others. J. P. MULLER Advertising agency has been named by Colabeer Co. of America to handle its coming campaign. Spot announcements will be used, but none has been set as yet. Joseph T. Sullivan is the account executive. WARD WHEELOCK of the Armstrong agency and H. J. Jones of Campbell's Soup have returned to New York after several weeks on the west coast. STREET & FINNEY, New York advertising agency, celebrates its 35th anniversary this week. BETSY ANNE SHELLHASE, formerly of H. B. Humphrey Co., Boston, has joined the Blaine Thompson advertising agency. KOL, Seattle, to Have Entire Office Building (Continued from Page 1) formerly known only in the larger Metropolitan stations. According to Archie Taft, owner and manager of the station, the building will be completely renovated at a cost of $30,000, with new decorations, furnishings, and the most modern equipment. KOL will be one of the few major radio stations in the West to own and occupy an entire office building, Taft stated. Plans for the new station include an auditorium with a seating capacity of 700, a large organ console, a full stage — and two showrooms in the lobby for advertising displays. A full basement will be devoted to cooking schools and other special features. On the second floor will be the studios— one for audition purposes. Control rooms, business offices and general staff quarters will also be on this floor. The tentative date set for KOL's occupancy of its new studio is July 1. The building, a re-inforced concrete structure, was built in 1928 at an approximate cost of $60,000. Proposes Broadcasts From Senate Floor (Continued from Page 1) dent's Supreme Court enlargement plan. "By broadcasting direct from the Senate we could be certain the people of the nation would be getting an accurate view of what is transpiring," he said. • • • Report along the airia too is that one of the oldest shows on the air will bow out and be replaced with a variety show headed by a bandleader who is the "chosen one" of the bill-payer! .... Thelma White, singing and dancing star of stage and screen, will direct "The Melody Men", a male aggregation .... Kenny Baker is back on the Benny "thing" Sunday (this spot had every singer in town "hoping") .... Reginald Thomas and Oscar Turner of the NBC electrical transcription dept. had their song, "I'm On A Sit-Down Strike for Love", published by Popular. . . .Ralph Kirbery is set for the Rubinoff transcriptions .... Ken MacGregar will continue on the Palmolive airing .... Cracker-jack candid cameraman Gene Lester returns to WHN as a singer tonite .... Gabriel Heatter is bedded with a cold. He did three different shows Sunday .... NBC's teletype flashed this morning with the following plea: "My name is Phoebe Mink. What's yours? This is a fine time of the morning for a guy to make a gal do a bit of unnecessary work!" • • • Lawyer-man Irving Paul Lazarre goes with Henny Youngman to the coast because the latter can't do up his bow-tie! This prompted Henny' s jather to chime in with: "And he had to go to college to learn that", referring to Irving's aptness at this work ... .There's no person who has tramped the boards of the Loew's State with the ability to hold an audience while singing as Belle Baker ... .Her presence on the stage is marked with reverence by the public ... .Why is this grand singer of songs, possessor of such power, without a radio show of her own? • • • Kreuger Beer bows off Monday .... Chicago wired Al Shayne asking for price on an NBC coaster after hearing his recorded audition .... Doris Rhodes is doing an NBC audition .... Doc Rockwell has abandoned the "rocking chair" and will hereafter work with stooges. . . .Gene Goldkette, one-time millionaire ork leader, is doing a comeback and an audition for General Motors in the mid-west .... Bunny Berigan goes with RCAVictor the 8th .... Rockwell-O'Keefe has a colored band dept. now with Harry Squires in charge .... Mai Hallet goes into the Meadowbrook .... MC A's Hal Hackeft's brother is seriously ill at the Polyclinic. • • • The cause for the four bar pause on the Rubinoff solo Sunday is that Dave got his bow caught in the violin. .. .Mix-up the other day on the "Vox Pop" show with the engineers going to the RCA building for an airing when the program was scheduled to come from the New Yorker. . . .Art Shaw is breaking up his band and reorganizing the same as Frank D alley ... .Phil Lord, though announcing that he was going west for his three-week vacation, really went to Florida and then on to Nassau. .. .Even his office didn't know where to reach him! Rumors of a shake-up in one of the largest band booking offices are around again. .. .Hal Nagle gets the Pierre job. • • • Texaco has taken a 30-day option on Bingo and has paid out $1000 for this consideration .... Joan Abbott, just back from Miami, would rather have radio than the picture deal announced here yesterday . . . .Don Bestor goes to the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas the 21st. . . .Lee Bennett, former Ian Garber vocalist, has formed a band of his own and comes East. ...The time switch of Winchell-Shep Fields shows is permanent. j ANNOUNCERS m jyOB ARMSTRONG has been added to the announcing staff of WBT, Charlotte. Armstrong comes from Augusta and stepped up to WBT from smaller Southern stations. J. HERB ANGEL, winner of the Pittsburgh announcers' popularity poll, will be honored at testimonial dance in Grotto Ballroom on March 31. Angel will get $75 wrist watch while crowd dances to Joe Sims' music. BILL O'TOOLE, popular announcer at WCAO, Baltimore, who conducts the early A. M. program with his pal Snowball, is back on the job after several weeks illness. GENE SHUMATE, Iowa network sports announcer, covered the Iowa high school girls basketball tournament from the Drake University field house in Des Moines last week. The broadcast was heard exclusively over KRNT and KMA. Some 385 teams participated. A total of 856 boys teams are entered in the Iowa high school boys tourney taking place March 18-20. The broadcasts are sponsored by Huskies over KSOWMT and WOI. Shumate will team with Andy Wolfries of WOI, ace basketball authority of the midwest, in covering the event. DON DUNPHY will handle the descriptions of the St. Patrick's Day Parade to be aired today, 1:30-4 p.m., over WINS and the New York State Broadcasting System. A variety of Irish programs will be offered throughout the afternoon. Ford's Friday Show Switched to Saturday (Continued from Page 1) time has as yet been cleared. An official announcement concerning station line-up and repeat time is expected within the next few days when Edsel Ford is due to announce the renewal of both the Chandler and the CBS Al Pearce shows. At present the program is heard over a network of 59 stations on the first broadcast at 9, with 15 west coast stations picking up the show at 12 midnight. Agency states that numerically, stations will remain about the same. N. W. Ayer & Son has the account. Gulf Refining Sets New Spring Series {Continued from Page 1) transcriptions will be used because of the lack of good talent in the areas. Gulf Spray has general distribution through retail outlets and the campaign will cover from Florida to Texas. Southwestern stations will begin the campaign on April 15 with remainder to be added in May. Series will supplement the Phil Baker CBS program which continues on the air throughout the summer.