Radio doings (Dec 1930-Jun1932)

km REVIEWS of the MONTH UOW DO YOU do Ladies and Gentlemen. I * The past month has presented very few unusual air features. Perhaps the most outstanding from a musical viewpoint is the symphony concert given by the Los Angeles Festival Orchestra featuring Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink and one of radio's best known impresarios, Roxy. You will all remember that the first concert was a complete failure as far as a broadcast was concerned, but the last symphony more than made up for the first one. These concerts have been vivid examples of what radio has done to the concert, musical comedy and vaudeville stages from a box office angle. The Los Angeles Festival Orchestra was organized to play benefits for the starving musicians in Southern California. If reports are true the musicians are still starving. Radio has revolutionized the stage of today, perhaps paralized would be a better word. A few donations were received from the radio audience but we doubt if they were large. Probably they were sent in appreciation of the fine concert or perhaps they were shamed into shelling out, by Mama Ernestine, who talked to them like a dutch uncle and made them like it. If there were more Schumann-Heinks how much more good would be accomplished in this world. This woman, who speaks the English language with great difficulty, and who knows Americans better than Americans know themselves, has enriched this world a million-fold. Is it any wonder that God gave her such a magnificent voice to go with that great understanding heart. • IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT the music of a military band has sent more men to war and death with heads high and hearts pounding with love of country than all the history classes and lectures in the world. Arthur Pryor and his military band broadcasting over the Columbia network for 1 5 minutes from 7:15 to 7:30 p. m. P. ST., daily, is a great treat for lovers of band music. The manufacturers of Cremo Cigars are to be complimented for this snappy and impressive program. • THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES held us spellbound for thirty minutes. To those of us who have read the thrilling experiences of this master detective by the late Conan Doyle, these two characters coming to us from out of our loudspeakers, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson sounded exactly as we would expect them to sound if we met them in real life. For real detective thrillers tune in on this NBC feature every Monday evening at 8:00 p. m. P. ST., and if you object to advertising with your programs, we assure you that the sponsors of this program have successfully put over the fact that G. Washington Coffee is the ideal coffee. • THE HAPPY WONDER BAKERS is brought to the nation over the NBC network from New York every Tuesday evening at 5:30 p. m. P. ST. Frank Black and Jean Cowan — KFWB his orchestra assisted by that inimitable male quartette, The Happy Wonder Bakers revived melodies of the past, memories of the past thirty years. Perhaps you remember The Little Red Schoolhouse, The Moth And The Flame, the swinging rhythm of Rambling Along, and many others. If you like something different in radio entertainment, listen to this delicious morsel given to you every Tuesday evening. • DISCOVERED SOME OLD FRIENDS in disguise, the Famous Superio Chefs of KFI and KFWB broadcasting from the studios of KGFJ in Los Angeles. This quartette, without a doubt one of the finest on the Pacific Coast, calls itself the State Furniture Gloom Chasers. Kelly Alexander, baritone is doing some fine solo work and Al Grey, bass, with his Texas drawl still does his stuff as the funny man. Jack Walker and Eddie Meis strutt along and put on a mighty fine show. Listen to them every evening at 9:30 p. m. P. ST., over KGFJ, if you like good male by Franks VallarL quartettes with some snappy dialogue and excellent harmony. • B. A. ROLFE AND HIS LUCKY STRIKE DANCE ORCHESTRA with their usual fine selection of popular dance tunes, is one of radio's oldest and best bets. Edward Thorgeson, better known to us as Eddie, is a fine chap personally. We're for the Eddie that used to toil by our side at NBC a year or so ago. •ADMIRING MARLENE DIETRICH, we tuned into the Sunkist Musical Cocktail, the West's contribution to the East over the Columbia chain every Wednesday evening at 4:30 p. m. P. ST. Marlene was interviewed by Louella Parsons, well known writer. We are inclined to believe that Marlene interviewed Louella. Anyway Marlene, like all good actresses, stole the show completely. Miss Dietrich's superior command of the English language and perfect diction makes our own English or I should say speech, a thing of beauty. It takes an educated alien to show how we should speak correctly. We'll take lessons from Marlene Dietrich anytime and anywhere. • THE RICHFIELD NEWSPAPER OF THE AIR is one of the livest news broadcasts we has listened to in many months, yea, years. Sam Hayes, popular West Coast sports announcer, who is the Richfield reporter, puts a lot of pep and interest into his fifteenminute broadcast over KFI every evening at 10:00 p.m. PST. A Consolidated News wire running directly into the studios of KFI, Los Angeles, enables the Richfield Reporter to bring to the public last minute news flashes of great importance, both local, national and international. • TWISTING THE DIAL, we start at San Diego and listen to a good dance band from Kennedy's over KFSD. Tuning up into the wave length of KFRC in San Francisco we hear another dance band but listen for twenty-three minutes for station call letters — all we can get out of the announcer is, "The next number will be . . ." so we give up in disgust. KPO, San Francisco presents a very fine organ program around the hour of midnight, well worth dialing for if you like organ music. It's after midnight and that station up around 610 or 20 kilocycles still refuses to give out station call letters. We dial still farther north but all we can get is dance bands and phonograph records, and would-be funny announcers dedicating this number and that number to Lizzie Snorts, George Jumpup, Billie Squeeze and their respective grandmothers and children. Some other time we are going to try north again, as we know there are some good stations up there putting out real programs. Page Thirty-five