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DECEMBER, 19 2 9
21
Wanted: Air
Personality!
By ALLEN HAGLUND
IT is a sad but true commentary on radio broadcasting that, at times, the sounds that emanate from the loud speakers in our homes are, disturbing as it is to relate, far from beautiful — in fact, often they are quite terrible. And in these days of perfect reception the fault must be laid, not to a loose gridleak or to a variable condenser that refuses either to condense or to be variable, but to the artist who has thus stirred the ether waves.
Who among us amateur warblers and bathroom tenors has not exclaimed "Great Scott, if that singer gets paid for that, I ought to be Radio's Sweetheart"? And again, "Say, if that Sapolio Soprano has a voice, then I'm going up to that studio and show them a Galli-Curci or two."
Well, why don't you? I say, why don't you? You will be surprised to find that, instead of being summarily dismissed and landing on your ear outside, you will be given a thorough and courteous audition. Moreover, mirabile dictu, you will find yourself, in a day or two, actually singing before a microphone. It is true that your voice will not be going forth into the highways and byways of the world, but you will be receiving a fair audition such as you sought ; your song will be transmitted to an adjoining room where a competent, well-salaried judge will be listening to give you the rating you deserve.
Enough Aspirants Already
It is to be hoped, of course, that these few words will not send everyone with the semblance of a voice scurrying to the broadcasting studios in search of vocal stardom via the air. The crowding would make the situation intolerable, and the splendid disposition of the big broadcasting concerns to get the best of talent, even if it is latent, would have to undergo some change. Besides, the crowd of aspirants is already large enough.
One of the most popular stations in the East estimates that it gives, on an average, thirty auditions a day. To do this it employs several well-trained men, accomplished musicians themselves, and maintains a whole outfit of efficient clerks, with their inevitable filing cabinets, to keep the records. Three piano accompanists do almost nothing
VAUGHN DE LEATH, the popular contralto crooner, now an exclusive Firestone artiste, is the outstanding possessor of Air Personality. Known for many years as the Radio Girl, she has sung to a worldwide audience and is credited with originating her particular style of entertainment. She must be heard to be appreciated.
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play aspiring singers. Altogether, the sum thus expended during a year would keep any grand opera prima donna in the best of style and temper for a long, long time — no small sum, you must admit.
So, although at times the singers on the air may sound fairly awful, it is a fact that the broadcasting concerns are spending real money to improve the calibre of their artists. Some of the most popular radio singers today are the products of this liberal system of auditions. Of course, a good many had made their reputations long before seeking to broadcast, but a large number had never trilled a note outside of their church or shower bath befort starting their climb to fame, wave-length by wavelength.
Search Continues Unabated
The search for a beautiful voice or a distinctive radio personality continues day after day. There are on file in this big broadcasting station of which we speak the names of twelve hundred singers who have received a rating of eighty per cent or over. Those who have failed to rate that high are not listed, and the number of unsuccessful aspirants is fully double that of those who have achieved a place in the files.
As for most of them, a place in the files is all that they do achieve. Only the best are put on the air. When one stops to consider that there are some 180 tenors on record in this one station, the difficulty of breaking in and super