Radio doings (Dec 1930-Jun1932)

WEBER and Fields ! A magic title 30 years ago in vaudeville, and now a magic title in radio. It seems as if we should take off our hats to these two old troupers, who have maintained such unequalled popularity through two generations of amusement seekers, and who now are better than ever in today's most wonderful field of entertainment. They appeared on the Lucky Strike NBC program recently and the response was so great that they have been engaged for all three nights. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. • Hot weather notes from KHJ : Program committee meeting at 9:30 a.m.. decided to discuss business at lunch. Program committee meeting at lunch, decided to discuss business at dinner. Program committee meeting at dinner, decided to discuss business over at Ted Osborne's house after the Merrymakers. Program committee meeting over at Ted Osborne's house after tlie Merrymakers, can't remember what business there was to discuss. Dick Creedon asleep with his brow in a half an iced cantaloupe. "Wish-Y ou-W as-Here" cards from vacationing members of staff. CHATTER KELW is going to have a hall of fame in its studio offices. Famous men and women of radio will be asked to place their picture or statuette in the collection. But the old meanies over at KELW have made it plain in a special announcement that "radio editors are automatically barred from contributing their likenesses to the exhibit." Well, (business of sticking tongue out) we weren't going to send anything, anyhow! So there! Whispering Jack Smith, after a triumphal tour of England, is back on the air over Columbia. It was a happy choice of songs that he picked for his first broadcast, his numbers including "Knee Deep in Daisies" and "Cecilia," which he introduced five or six years ago. It was Jack's rendition of these songs that skyrocketed him to fame and created a new vogue in singing — the ivhispering type that has so often been imitated since. Helms and Harkins, the "Tuneful Two," heard daily in hits and bits of harmony over KOMO, Seattle, go decidedly goofy twice weekly as they wise-crack the whims and whams of "Little Elmer." These hokesters forsook the show business for radio and have found themselves in the right church and the right pew. With a big swell grand opening, KTM moved into its brand new studio next to the Rainbow Gardens Ball Room, on Vermont Ave., Los Angeles. The entire studio staff turned out to make the opening a success, souvenirs were given to the visitors, and on the whole, it was a rip-roaring, memorable occasion. The new studio is marvelous. Everything is designed modernistically, all of the furnishings and fixtures are new and luxurious. From the beautiful garden patio visitors may sit and watch the broadcasts through huge plate glass. The furniture inside the studio is modernistic, and color combinations in paintings and decorations are rich in black, gold and silver. The whole place has been scientifically constructed for perfect acoustics, from the ceiling to the heavy carpets on the floor, which are inset with rubber. A week before the dedication of the new studios, KTM was officially represented in the Women's National Air Derby by Mildred Morgan, in her Travel'air plane, "Radio KTM". The mother of four-year-old twin girls and a son, five, Mrs. Morgan left the select circle of Beverly Hills to enter the race for the second time. Last year, you remember, she took second place. She is chief of staff of the Ninth Corps Area of the Betsy Ross Corps, National Women's Air Reserve, incidentally. She plans to leave soon on a cross-continental recruiting tour. • Perhaps you've noticed the picture of Bing Crosby, the one and only, on the contents page of this issue. There's a reason — ever since he disappeared from the air, after leaving the Cocoanut Grove, several letters a day have been coming in, asking "Where, Oh Where, is Bing?". And the announcement from CBS that he was now a member of their staff came as a big relief. He is on CBS at 7:00 p.m. every night except Sunday. If you didn't hear him on his opening night it was because he had a sore throat and couldn't warble. • Dope on Morton Downey: He punctuates almost every sentence by knocking wood . . . favors a slouch hat and turned up coat collar . . . raises police dogs . . . raspberry ice is his favorite dessert . . . fears old age . . . is five feet ten inches tall, weighs 170 . . . carries good-luck charms on both ends of a watchless watch chain . . . when nervous bites the nails of only the thumb or Page Twenty-eight RADIO DOINGS