Radio doings (Dec 1930-Jun1932)

BING"-mg HOME THE BACON is Freshly Crowned With Western Laurels. Bing Crosby Becomes a National Sensation Overnight — And Sets a New Style of Crooning SOME radio singers are popular with the ladies. Some make a hit with the men. But few stand in the good graces of both. For some mysterious reason. Harry L. "Bing" Crosby has taken his enviable place among the chosen few who have fans among both sexes alike. Many of his contemporaries have far better voices, music critics will tell you. The slightly hoarse voice, while mellow and sweet in places, would probably never take any bouquets in grand opera. There must be something deeper than mere voice — a subtle feeling — an intriguing personality. Ever since Bing Crosby sang before his first audience back at Gonzaga College, in Seattle, he has thrilled his listeners and made lifelong and enthusiastic fans. There wasn't much money to be made from singing at college, and after clerking a while in a law office. Bing went to Los Angeles to get a job. He teamed up with Al Rinker. and they got a break in one of Will Morrisey's revues at the old Majestic theater. They worked awhile at Coffee Dan's and went over big. Crosby was a trap-drummer, and rigged up a cymbal on one end of the piano, where he sang and accompanied himself with his drum sticks. Soon the Metropolitan Theater, now the Paramount, saw the box office appeal in these two clever boys, and signed them up on a five-year contract. Paul Whiteman. who was plaving at the Million Dollar Theater at the time, saw them work one night, and liked them. He found that their theater contract wasn't binding, as one of the bovs was under a°:e. and made them such a generous offer they went to work for him. after getting the parents' consent on a new contract. Whiteman took Rinker and Crosbv East, and when he brought his band back to Los Angeles two winters ago. the now-famous "Rhvthm Bovs" — Crosby, Rinker and a clever third member. Harrv Barris. made now conquests in the West. When the famous Whiteman organization disbanded in Los Angeles, following the completion of the movie "King of Jazz." the Rhythm Boys proceeded to the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel, and to further fame with Gus Arnheim. The true story of their breaking up remains a mystery. The fact remains that they did disband, and the trio separated each going his own way. For several weeks Bing was the hardest person on the Coast to locate. Rumors that he was here, there, and everywhere were spread. Several listeners swore they had heard him over other stations, under another name. Even Crosby fans imagined they had heard him at various time on various stations. The answer? Imitators. Nearly every radio station has its "Bing Crosby" today. Some are clever, many of them are fair imitations of the real Bing. but does it worrv Mr. Harry L.Crosby? Not a bit! The style that has made him so successful can't be copied, because it is part of Bing himself. He speaks in the same low. husky voice. Some call him radio's newest and brightest star. They say he is directlv responsible for the popularity of a newT type of singing and for the decline in favor of the crooner. Bing listens to all criticism, good and bad. but offers no comment. His sensational rise to a place of prominence in the national radio picture is another matter Bing won't discuss. He won't tell you that he has worked all his life to reach this goal. "I haven't got there yet." he will say. "I'm just on the way up. I've had a break and now it's up to me to show what Eve got." That his first broadcasts over the Columbia chain caught the public fancy was clearly demonstrated by the flood of letters and telegrams that poured into the fan mail department of CBS. Bing reads all his mail, and tries to answer most of the letters. There is an interesting storv behind Bing's going to Columbia. Two days out on the S. S. Bremen, bound for Europe. William S. Paley, youthful president of Columbia, last summer heard a phonograph record playing as he passed a stateroom during a turn around the decks. It was a vocal record, and when Palev heard it he stopped in his tracks and listened. When the record had ended, he politely knocked at the stateroom door and inquired who the singer was. It was Bing Crosbv. Paley immediately dispatched a wireless to Ralph Wonders, head of Columbia Artists' Bureau, who in turn, got in touch with Crosby in California. A few davs later Bing boarded a train for New York. On his arrival he listened to many proposals, and finally accepted that of Columbia. Realizing fullv the tremendous opportunitv afforded him. and the responsibilities of such a position. Bing began preparations for his first network broadcast. So anxious was he to make this a success that he rehearsed until he lost his voice almost completely, and it was necessarv for Columbia to postpone his network debut two davs. while Bing remained at home under a phvsician's care. This Crosby takes his singing seriously. Before each of his 15-minute broadcasts. Bing goes through an hour's rehearsal with Victor Young's orchestra. He rarely sings during rehearsal, but stands by while the orchestra rehearses, giving suggestions and humming a few bars of each chorus. Bing always wears a hat during these rehearsals, and during his broadcasts. "It's not superstition." he smiles, "but I've worn a hat from the first time I broadcast, and I guess it's grown to be a habit." When he is not recording or broadcasting. Bing can usuallv be found on one of a number of golf courses near New York, or horseback riding in Central Park. If the weather is inclement, he is usuallv in his apartment on the thirty-third floor of a new skyscraper near the Park, reading detective stories, preferably those of Dashiell Hammett. Bing is married to Dixie Lee. a beau[Turn to Page 39] RADIO DOINGS Page Thirteen