Radio fan-fare, combining radio digest (June-Oct 1933)

18 make them seem only tolerably amusing to the listeners who have come to expect wisecracks with a wallop. Also, some of the material used by Mr. Cobb and Mr. Kelly is pretty familiar, and it is dangerous for them to try to get by with it, even on old sentimentalists like us. It may be, however, that there are sufficient numbers of people who can't hear Mr. Cobb without thinking of Judge Priest, or Mr. Kelly without recalling The Virginia Judge, to make up a radio audience that will continue to tempt advertisers. And, by the way, the advertising on the Gulf programs is fairly unobjectionable, the Brisbane-Rogers-Kelly show being the better of the two. The plugs on the Cobb program are often far fetched, but they're not so bad as they would be without the pleasing personality of Allan Joselyn, who plays the gas station attendant. tMEMO TO SPONSORS— Mildred Bailey and Gertrude Niesen are two good ones you've overlooked. Miss Bailey is an unusually good bet. Miss Niesen gets plenty of punch in her work (but would be better if she could eliminate some of the nasal quality in her delivery). Blubber Bergman, who went off the air when the Best Foods' Musical Grocery Store closed, should be brought back by some sponsor soon. He is one of the extremely rare natural radio comedians who can be funny without straight gag stuff. His material should be written for him by original humorists like Norman Anthony (editor of Ballyhoo) and Bill Scott (editor of Pastime), who did some of the better sketches for The Musical Grocery Store. t"l APOLOGIZE"— That, you'll remember, was the name of one of the songs that helped start Kate Smith on her way to fame and a husky bank account. The whole staff of Fan-Fare has been singing it ever since Kate told us about a mistake we made two issues ago. We said her program was gripping and then pointed an arrow under her picture down instead of np. Sorry, Kate, it was just one of those careless arrows — we mean errors. And lots of success with your new program. tNO FAULT TO FIND— The T y d o I Jubilee program is still going strong. It has some fairly fool-proof elements— Dolph Martin's good music, the pleasing harmonizing of the Travelers Quartet, the likable Negro character, Mortimer (played by John Battle, who also writes the show), and advertising that could be much worse. MILDRED BAILEY She should have a sponsor EDWIN C. HILL He'll never bore you JEAN SARGENT One of the better torchers BLUBBER BERGMAN He should have a great radio future Radio Fan-Fare ■ THE WHIFFLEDINGLE AWARDS— H We announce the award of the ^T Woofus W. Whifnedingle Memorial Moustache Cup for the most unbelievable, insincere, and generally obnoxious advertising during 1933 on any large radio program (that is, a program on which the sponsors should know better). The winner is Woodberry's Soap, whose program is now off the air. We feel absolutely safe in making this award for 1933 four months before the end of the year. Runner-up for the award was the NonSpi "how-to-get-your-man" program. The selling argument was that a girl would be popular if she used Non-Spi and smelled pretty, and the idea was put over about as bluntly as that. t BETTER THAN AVERAGE-Tk Happy Bakers . . . good musical entertainment, but heavy advertising with claims that strain our credulity. Little Jack Little . . . this one man show is as good as ever. K-7 Secret Service Stories . . . supposedly true tales of big league spying well written (by Burke Boyce, head of the NBC continuity department), smartly directed, and frequently exciting. As often as not the villain doesn't get his, which appeals to us. Lowell Thomas . . . not very exciting nor particularly interesting compared to Ed Hill, but still pleasant enough. Lowell's sponsor, the Sun Oil Company, goes light on the plugs, which makes the program seem better. Manhattan Merry-Go-Round . . . Jean Sargent, one of the better torchers, should appeal to pyrophiles. David Percy and the Men About Town do the usual singer-quartet stuff agreeably, and Gene Rodemich's band is one of radio's best. The Wildroot Institute . . . Good singing by Johnny Seagle and Lee Lawnhurst, and facile piano work by the latter. The dramatized part of the plug is, however, dreadful. The Capitol Family . . . Major Bowes and his talented group are still offering fine entertainment every Sunday. The program has changed little through the years — which proves you don't have to hitch your radio budget to a fad to put on a good show. There has, of course, always been enough variety in the program itself to keep it from seeming like the same thing week after week. The Yeast Foamers . . . Light, amusingmusic and singing, and advertising that is sincere and easy to take because it contains traces of understatement. Jan Garber's soft music is the best bet on the program, but the warbling of Virginia Hamilton, Rudy Rudi