Radio Digest (June 1932-Mar 1933)

Record Details:

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27 readers care to read it, as it reads like fiction, though it made him several hundreds of thousands of dollars; likewise some of you may remember the "Naughty Waltz," and "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More." I had the pleasure of meeting this quiet man several months ago, when in New York he visited me at the Pennsylvania. He promised at that time to send me the history of some of his greatest songs as material and notes for lectures I intend to give some day on the history of some of the most interesting songs ever published. This same Mr. Forster published one of my first songs, namely "I'm Still Caring," which also did good business for both of us. From time to time he has mailed me various tunes, hoping that I would like them well enough to feature them, and at last I believe he has done it. There have been many songs with this same title, but few of them as interesting and as well written, especially from a balanced lyrical and melodic standpoint, as "Same Old Moon." Messrs. Ed Rose and Billy Baskette, the latter being a man who has undeniable talent to crash through for a really big hit, are responsible for the song. Besides providing me with a song which it was my great delight to sing during the summer of 1929, "That's When I Learned To Love You," Billy Baskette is known in the past for such great tunes as "Waiting For The Evening Mail," "Hawaiian Butterfly," "Goodbye Broadway, Hello France;" in other words, he is a real dyed-in-the-wool song-writer. He seems to have been very quiet since his last big hit, although every now and then he tries his hand at fashioning another tune. This, I would say, is the best tune he has done in a long time. Certainly Billy Baskette was more than responsible for some of the charm that I have found in "Same Old Moon." We are playing it both as a waltz and a fox trot on this coming Thursday's program, and I hope by the time this article reaches you you will have heard it many times. Mr. Forster has been rather quiet since retiring actively from the business and closing his New York branch which was headed by Abe Olman, who now has his own music company, but this shows that he is certainly on the alert for good tunes, and I am grateful to him for having given me a tune that I can justly reprise on our Thursday evening hour. JJEMEMBER CHER1E. Here is a A song that will probably hardly sell enough copies to pay for the printing, though I will be happy to be agreeably surprised. Larry Spier, of the Famous Music Co., is publishing the song mainly because it is one of the most beautiful ballads he could ever have included in his catalogue. A bit too tricky in melody and construction to ever achieve a sensational popular success, the song nevertheless has made a very wonderful duet for Miss Irene Bordoni and myself, enough so that letters have poured in requesting a repetition. I suggested to Irene that she write me a French version, which she did, and which we divided between ourselves and rendered in Detroit. Two of the writers are well-known to song lovers — Sam Coslow and Pierre Norman. Coslow and Norman collaborated in the writing of Maurice Chevalier's great hit, "You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me," and each has been heard from independently since. Pierre Norman, whose mind quite naturally inclines toward the better type of song, has written what might be termed a "piece of material," which we have featured several times on our Fleischmann program, namely "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread," never really popularly published. Coslow is better known for his "Just One More Chance," which Mr. Crosby brought into well deserved prominence. Here they are in the writing of one of the better types of songs which, as I say, will probably hardly repay them for their effort if they wrote it in the hopes of financial remuneration. Knowing both gentlemen, I am sure that their's will be a great happiness in the fact that the song will be featured by many of the oustanding radio artists. There is nothing really typically French in the flavor of the lyrics of the song, but • it is a song which I certainly enjoy doing, and which I found running through my head for many days after my first Harry Richman: "How do you like my fiddling, Rubinoff?" Rubinotf: "Mower and mower." hearing of it. It has a rather high passage in the middle, which was made easier by several of us reconstructing it and making it less "rangey." The mention of this song is assuredlyone of the best proofs of the fact that songs described herein are not those necessarily which are destined to become big hits; rather songs which I feel are worthy of mention from one standpoint or another. TV ST ANOTHER DREAM OF YOU. J Thus we begin and end our article of this month with a waltz, and in mentioning this waltz it is necessary once again to pay tribute to the wisdom of Archie Fletcher. Believing that Bennie Davis and Joe Burke must know how to write waltzes inasmuch as both have independently written some of the biggest hits in the country, and together were responsible for "Carolina Moon," Archie Fletcher has commissioned them to write this waltz, which haunted me for days after my first broadcast of it in Detroit. I doubt very much if it will be one of the smash waltz hits of the season, though again I say I would be willing to be agreeably surprised, but it is a waltz of unusual merit. Its construction is rather intricate, which may or may not account for the fact that I find it a little above real tremendous mass appeal. The most successful waltzes have been the simplest. or waltzes like "When Your Hair Has Turned To Silver," founded on a definite popular melody such as the "Blue Danube." This is really a fresh thought in melody, though not an unusually odd lyrical thought. The same thought of the loved one who is lost for the moment, only being with us in dreams, has been incorporated in many songs; witness Isham Jones' "I'll See You In My Dreams." As in previous issues of "Radio Digest," I have pleaded for more waltzes, as I honestly believe they have been the biggest sellers and the most popular tunes with those who listen in, and I was indeed happy to receive this waltz from Joe Morris, and after running it over silently in my mind, to find it worth while for a spot on our programs. Certainly for me its melody is a trifle more outstanding than the lyrics, though Joe Burke handled his lyrical proposition very ably. It is very possible that he may have even had a part in writing the melody, as both he and Benny Davis are versatile enough to write either or both. I am still of the mind that it is the optimistic songs which most of us want to hear, and one cannot help but feel a bit melancholy as this tune is played, as it has a melancholy melody and wedded to it is a very melancholy lyric, which, after all, is one of the requirements of good song-writing. Whether the song is a tremendous hit or not is beside the point; it is an example of good craftsmanship, and if is a pleasure to end this month's article with it