We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
Harry Schad sings Mon., Wed., Fri. at 9:15 on WBEN's breakfast show. Harry once studied dancing, became so proficient that he and Doreen Weider (above) won Buffalo's Great Waltz Contest in 1938.
BASHFUL BARITONE
Harry Schad presents something of a paradox in Buffalo radio. The WBEN vocalist took dancing lessons for five years and became so expert that he and his partner won the Great Waltz Contest sponsored by the Buffalo Evening News at Shea's Buffalo in 1938. Nevertheless, Harry forsook dancing for singing.
The "bashful baritone" has had a fine measure of success in upstate New York radio and yet he remains shy and gentlemanly in a profession that has more than its share of prima donnas.
Harry was still in grade school in 1933 when he decided to sing on a children's amateur hour on WEBR. Although dancing still was his first love, he decided he'd like to sing, too, so he picked the sure-fire and popular "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" and proceeded to walk off with top honors in the contest. That about decided him on a singing career and since then he's had featured programs on four Buffalo stations.
When war came he enlisted in the Coast Guard and did plenty of singing while in the service. He's made somewhat of a habit of winning contests for in 1933, while in uniform, he won second prize in a Frank Sinatra amateur contest in Boston.
When Harry wound up a two and one-half year radio series in 1948, he decided he needed a vacation. Typical of the ambitious youth, he hied himself to Hollywood. While there he decided to gain some experience for his trip so he went to the RKO studios for an audition. There he was received favorably by Bob Keith, the studio's vocal coach, who advised him to return to Buffalo to make a radio name.
The popularity of young Mr. Schad was reflected when he had a pneumonia attack, which lasted from August to September, in 1949 which kept him off the air for several weeks. He received more than 250 get-well cards from his WBEN fans and the hospital switchboard was clogged by hundreds of inquiring calls.
Being a veteran himself, he is generous with his time and talents wherever disabled buddies are concerned. While he is in demand at Buffalo churches for sacred music and features popular tunes on the air, he generally offers the classics when entertaining at veterans' hospitals.
A graduate of Buffalo's McKinley Vocational High School, Harry is still single.
20