Radio revue (Dec 1929-Mar 1930)

36 RADIO REVUE JTATIC pccm the XtWDICX (Continued from page 32) that George MacGovern owns the one chessboard and pieces, and that the other members of the club are convinced that it is "fixed." Henry Shope, NBC top tenor, recently went on the Hollywood 18 -day diet in order to reduce. However, ■when he reached the eleventh day, there was not enough on the menu to appease his appetite, so he decided to go back to the third day's bill of fare, in order to satisfy his pangs. C7 It is not always the crooner of popular songs who receives the most letters from radio fans. As proof of this, Elsie Pierce, who conducts a class in beauty over WOR every Tuesday morning at 11:15, has received so much mail since she started to broadcast a number of weeks ago, that she has been forced to employ three secretaries to take care of this detail. Margaret Harrison, supervisor of educational broadcasting at Teachers' College, (formerly with the NBC), Walter Stone, of NBC Press Relations, with Florence U. Pierce, (who is really Mrs. Walt Stone), program board secretary of NBC, went to Yale recently to visit Miss Noel Pierce, one of radio's coming playwrights, who is now studying under Professor George Pierce Baker. But that is not the story. Walter tried to do the correct thing just outside the Yale Bowl. He stopped the car and opened a package declared to be "right off the ship". He put the contents into a pewter shaker, a wedding present. And lo! the shaker melted" It is said that Rudy Vallee has introduced a novelty in his late dance programs in the nature of the Theremin instrument, which operates on the principle of controlled static. It is being featured in solos, with piano accompaniment. With all the expert electrical engineers the NBC has under its roof, it seems rather ironical that a stranger from the outside should fix the loud speaker in one of the reception rooms at 711 Fifth Avenue, but such was the case recently. A man approached the hostess and, smiling blandly, said: "Well, I fixed it." "Fixed what?" she asked. "Why, the loud speaker in that reception room was out of order and I fixed it." "Are you connected with the NBC?" she asked him. "No, but I happened to be in there when it went out of order and I understand those things, so I fixed it." And, so saying, he departed, not even waiting to be thanked — or reprimanded. John W. Rehauser, a local arranger well known in radio circles, toured some years ago with Sir Harry Lauder as conductor. Upon arriving in Australia, John asked Sir Harry not to lay undue emphasis on his nationality, pointing out that he was not a Prussian, but a Bavarian from Munich, where the beer comes from. In Sydney, Sir Harry introduced John as follows: "Don't mistake my conductor, John W. Rehauser, for a German. He's a Bulgarian!" Among the recent musical groups to have auditions in the NBC studios was a quartet of violins led by Anthony Rizzutto, of Brooklyn. This is said to be an unusual musical combination. I * * * Raymond Knight, of NBC, has been promoted again. He is now Vice-President in Charge of Lunacy. In one of his recent Music Appreciation Hours at NBC, Walter Damrosch conducted Ravel's "Daphnis and Chloe." In order to play this composition it was necessary to add to the orchestra a G-flute. This is probably the first time that this type of flute has ever been heard over the air. The Gflute, he explained, is a fifth lower than the ordinary flute and it gives a hollow, ghostly sound. It is to the flute family what a consumptive person is to a healthy family. Lucrezia Bori, accompanied by her bright-eyed terrier, Rowdy, and Willie Perceval-Monger were seen strolling up Fifth Avenue the last sunny day, conversing in Italian. The Metropolitan star and her dog attracted considerable attention. The most chesty and exalted announcer in the world is John S. Young, of the NBC. He went to Yale with Rudy Vallee. Autograph hunters and photograph fiends please note! WOR is the scene of considerable friendly rivalry among its announcers, who in their spare time are engaged in writing continuity for many new programs now being heard on the station. WOR has a board composed of its executives and presided over by Alfred J. McCosker, director of the station, which passes upon the fitness of all contemplated programs. This board, which realizes that announcers are best informed as to how a program "clicks," gave them an opportunity to do some writing on their own account. This rule was responsible for such excellent bits of entertainment as Lewis Reid's "Tuneful Tales," Postley Sinclair's "The Troupers," and Basil Ruysdael's "Red Lacquer and Jade." George Shackley, music director of the station, not to be outdone by the announcers, came forward with the Racketeers, a Friday night feature.