Variety (March 1932)

VARIETY R A D I O R E P O R T S Tuesday, Marcli 22, 1932 RUTH ETTING With Nat Shilkret's Orch. Songs COMMERCIAL WABC, New York New series of Chesterfield, pro- grams Inaugurated, last week.' In- stead of the six times weekly Alex Gray-Nat Shllkret combo, the clggle account now uses Gray for but two of Its periods, with, the other four divided between the Boswell Sisters and Ruth Ettlng. Since both the Boswells and Gray have been: previously covered In radio reports, but hot Miss Ettlng, the latter receives the notice. The ncwr series is strong and will gain many additlonar listeners . through its diversity In ace talent: Miss Etting was all. s^t to go to the Coast for picture work when this CBS account bid for her serv- ices. Chesterfield has her for 13 weeks, adding a bonus for her caTi- cellation of the Coast trip. No mat-, ter what trouble Chesterfield was' forced to undergo to 'secure her Bervlces, it will be worth while. Miss Ettlng is a type of singer Ayho not only pleases, but causes com- ment, which reacts as publicity for the product/ ifi,nd that Is-what the sponsor is after. Miss: Ettlng's original:and indi- vidual style of interpretation Is Interesting. Her delivery of 'When We're Alone,' first song on this broadcast, a pop repeatedly heard through the loud, speaker, ex- emplified her Individual style. Ditto with the obsolete 'What Can I Say After! Say I'm Sorry?' which Miss Ettlng disc recorded somia years ago, and the pop, 'Why Did It Have to Be Me?' which follpwed. Lattier Id a sob ballad and a cinch for this songstress to handl.e; Norman Brokehshlre Was brought on as announcer with the new se- ries. SOCIETY PLAYBOY With Norman Brokenshire, Wel- come Lewie and Nat Brusiloff's • Orchestra COMMERCIAL WBBM, Chitago It took the Society Brand clothes outfit'a: year of r.2flectlve medita- tion and looking around before de- ciding on this program. From re- sults of the initial broadcast over a chain that took In Canada, it might as well keep on looking. . Normaii Brokehshlre returns to CBS on this layout after a considr erabie absence from that network to take on ah m.c. job. It doesn't appear that Brokenshlre -Is suited for this type of work, which re- quires a subtle sense of humor or at least a light comedy vein. Bro- kenshlre Is the straightaway, al- though grammatically correct Eng- lish sllnger . and. that's about all. ■ Whoever sold Society Trand on the ^ idea of overrplugging its product ■' did not do the company any favor either. That's another and very important item, apparently ovier- looked.. Day when every two out of three • spoken words over the air was a .commercial plug is now considered passee among smart advertising ' agencies and even sponsbrs,- so why should an Important concern like Society Brand fool Itself?. Welcome Xiewls, with previo..3 .radio experience and vaudeville training, did not dick as well as "she should have. Perhaps the fault of mike placement or some such thing, as Miss l/ewls' voice should be attunable for the ether. Brusiloff's combination showed the flame discrepancy, with the brass section particularly harsh sound- ing. iSpon. VOICE OFAtHOUSAND SHADES Tenor and. Orchestra COMMERCIAL WBBMr Chicago Pratt & Lambert, makers of an assorted variety of paint, enamel and varhlsh, is heading out. with this feature over a CBS hookiip. Singer's name Is not identified. Vocallsti whoever. he is, has a fairly good range, but by no means apt>rpachlng even the shades adver- tised. Music Is satisfactory In an average, matter-of-fact style, with tho whole thing not especially ex- citing for the average listener. Span. PERCY LEONARD Rianolog ; Sustaining ■ ' ■' WHN, New York l/Conard sounds like he'd do oko In prosonal appearances, and prob- aWv has done some vaude and other dates, already, mentioning that he's Just back from Boston. Ills theme song lis 'Whispering' to plant the 'whispering crooner' idea. He (lo05 old and new pops, with a loaning towards reviving an^ bid 'un -euc'li as 'Supposin" on occasion. Has a nice delivery. •■ ' Abet. FRIENDLY PHILOSOPHER Homer Griffith Talk and'Poetry COMMERCIAL WBBM, CHICAGO Griffith iarrlves in town yviih something of a rep established on the other side of the Sierras^ No reason, given for tho flip from the Pacific to Lake Michigan, but it must be that. Griffith ran out of re^ cltabjo poetry out on the coast and switched to Chi to start re-reading the Iambics a:hd: pentameteris. Fig- ured at the i-ate of two poems oi more at a session^ it's only reason- able, that GriflltH should soon find the well of poetry rather dry, par- ticularly that overly-sweet 'homey* sort: of rhymes he dishes out ovier. the kilocycles. This homely phllosbphizlng gag Is getting to be, as w.k. on the ether' as a lovcrsohg and about as orig- inal. The philosophers spend a couple of hours down at the library during the day gathering up all the cheaper grades of poetry, or rather rhymed sermons, and spend the nights i>assing the goods oh to their listeners In the guise of new and brilliant thought. It's that sort of triteness on the Edgar Guest style that they're almlhg at, and which most of 'eim succeed in hitting. Their friendliness oozes Over the loudspealcer like molasses. Smile is their great maxim. Has your kid got,croup? . Smile.. Did you break ja Ifeg?: Smile. This sort of stuff is no doubt plenty oWe on occasion, but when that friendliness is repeated daily in large aind mohotonous doses, it's likely to become a bit wearisome. Most of the poetry used in these sessions, as It ; Is utilized in this particular program, is classi- fied hest as rhymed preaching, con- taining all the platitudes of eighth- rate poetry. This session here has as its one great defect that of over-comimer- clallzatloh,:.\Vhich entirely destroys the effect, Griffith may have been strlvine "for. Fully five minutes, or ona-thim, of this Interlude was con- sumed by a violent plugging by Griffith for hls^vertisers,. the J. L. Marks Co., local. investment secu- rities flrnj. . In fact the entlre.act merely leads UP to that plug. The iearly chatter of Griffith revolves around a theme of 'making your dreams come true.' And the cue-line is that only by 'financial' independence' is such a goal possible. From then on it's all plug, plug, plug that tears down everything. The company, through Griffith, is offering a free booklet which is called 'The Road to Riches.' That gives the best idea. Gold. 'TOP O' THE MORNING' Edward H. Smith Reading and Music Sustaining WMAQ, Chicago . Another one of those homey philosophers who read poetry with feeling and who insist that 'every- thing has a bright side.' So smile, smile, smile. . Early In the morning Smith grabs himself a load of NBC wires and wafts rhymes over the ether to con- vince the poor mugg struggling out of bed to make the office whistle in time that this is a great world after all. Smith' is somewhat different from other ether philosophers. Smith doesn't croon the verses of the bet- ter known poets: he accepts and reads the contributions of the ama- teur versifiers thro"ughout .the land. The poetry is evidently carefully selected to ke6p it strictly in the traditional tempo of an old fash- ioned idyllic strain. It is doubtful that many men lis- ten to this program. Its great audi- ence is probably the frau who, after she's through with the dusting, hurries down to the weekly session of the Browning Society. For these femmes this reading and its mu- sical string-trlb background may fit. But for the great bulr of the citizenry, this sort of poetizing must be dull listening. Gold. BILLY BAUER Banjo Su<;tnining . WHN. New York liauor has a nice banjo doll\^ery. nil!, solo iu«lri;mental skill on the- baiijp is rcaaily.'n.ppaioiit, codplcd with M'hJch is a happy, idea of rou-, tlnlns numbers. "While no ponlc, and chlcdy an afternoon flUcr-lnnor over WHN, he manages his 16 minutes quite nicely. Abel. RIGGS and MOKE Songs, Talk. Sustaining. WCAE, Pittsburgh. . Tommy Rlggs and Blaine Moke, locals, have been oh: the waves around here for a couple of years now and doubtless the most popu- lar single feature ever, developed Ih the. Pittsburgh radio field. Why these lads haven't yet landed a commercial sponsor is soniething of a m: stery but that theyUl eventu- d'.ly dp this seems assured. Rlggs and . Moke are on twice weekly at 7:15 p. m. and have two other spots as Uncjle Bob and Betty, i which they read the comics froni th^ 'Siih-Tele,' Hearst sheet which cphtrols WCAE. "Their own 15- mlnute skit is swift and racy, boys mixing talk and song dexterously. Both have pleasant vpicos and their harmony comes over nicely. Always near, the close, thoy bring on Betty. Latter is Tommy Rlggs' creation and voice is that of a six or seven-year-old youngster; always good for flock of laughs. Petty sings, too. Riggs is likewise pianist for the team. Turn has a wide local following, and deservedly so. V Cohen, FRANCO HI-JINKS Music, Singing, Paitter COMMERCIAL KFWB, Hollywood Franco bakery sponsors tljls War- . ner Bros, station program not to sell its rolls to the family but to restaurants. In addition to plug- ging the rolls, anhouncer.alsb pleads for husbands to take their wives out of the kitchen occasionally by taking her to a restaurant once a week. It's a program to gain the good will of the feedery owners. Program is above average for a: single st£^tlon broadcast ih this territory. It is dope in'front of an audience, liometimes numbering 700, on a sound stage at Warner studio, and this aids in timing gags and getting a reaction to songs. Audience's presence is regarded as one of the reasons for this pro- gram's speed and snap, although plenty of the gags were old. But hearing the station audiehce ap- plaud ahd laugh naturally affects the rocking chair audience into feeling iikfiwlse,'. • ■ Classic and popular numbers, and -cmlc acts make up the 8-9, p. m. hour. Talent is fair, but program's good staging and dash get it across nicely. It is m. c.'d. by Johnny Murray, whose , voice sounds like Wlnchell'S oyer .the air. Theme was Russian : on night program was reviewed, and songs and patter were along this line. E'obby Burns opened with 'Sonya,' followed by Aunt Ad^e (program character) in old ahd new gagging. Chorus . sahg "Volga Boatmen' and were followed by'Maxlhe Castleton and Harold Spauldlng in 'Cossack Love Song.' Gus Reed did a good job of the Tirlnklng Song.' Red Corcoran, Nat Specter and Leonard. Stevens did turns. Program has an Informal, Im- promptu affair. It's well liked Ih these parts, and has been on the air about two monttwv WiLUAM^^Vl^ With: rled^fliich's Orch. Songs Sustaining WABC, New York William Hall Is the latest male vocalist addition to the CBS ranks. He is on a commercial on Sunday nights and has two sustainlngs weekly. Caught on a sustalnlhg period, Hall- disclosed a strong baritone. Judging by his manner of delivery, appears as though he has had some stage experience. This was espe-. dally evident In 'Marching Home,' a favorite Song among vaudeville balladists, which Hall handled with plenty of Vocal dramatics. Hall does about three songs. Rest, of the time is devoted to the orch- tra, led by Freddy Rich, who also accompanies the warbler. MUSICAL MOSAICS Orchestra Sustaining WGN, Chicago New local feature over WON, us- ing Alfred Wathall Jind the studio music for a colorful and picturesque bedtime interlude. A lot better than much of the material heard around the dial at this hour. Idea is based on mosaic palnt^ ings with Wathall responsible for taking 'em out of the frames and setting them to music. In the first series there were four tone pictures of this sort. First is a Chinese boat race, followed by a temple scene of the same native motif and carrying along a dramatic interpretation. Last two numbers start .with an Egyptian funeral. and winds up with a Moorish love song. All well done and presented to the an- nouncer's narrative: on the side- lines. Span. BUILDING SOUTHERN CALI- FORNIA Playlets COMMERCIAL KHJ, Loa Angeles Motor Transit Stages" and Pacific Electric II.R. has adopted the radio as a means to educate Californlans, old timers and recent settlers in. the background of California history. .Playlets take the form of a narra- tion with cut back to dramatize the historical ihcidentSi Callfornlan history is essentially Latin. Founded , by the Spaniards, It was. not until the middle of tiie last century that the English speak- ing people started to come to. the coast. This means that any history of So. Cal. must be :of, Spanish theme. Try apd Interest' trans- planted -lo wans and Nebraskans. predomlna'.ely Nordic, In anything .Spanish. Thei-e are about 100,000 Latins living in'Los Angeles, but they are not the people that this program Is aimed at. Unfolding of the various episodes themselves get a bit dizzy. All characters are supposed .o be Span- l.sh. Loads spcdk ,perfect English,, while the bits aro idone. with a Leo CarlUo dialect. No drainatic pvinch to any of the sequences, which means that most of the listeners will be twirling the dials "before the transportation company can get in its advertising plug. Call. 'THE LYON FAMILY' Virginia Leo and Phil Kalar Serial COMMERCIAL WLS, Chicago . This is the program which the Reed, Murdock grocery company finally selected after sampling £2 auditions. The firm Is so proud of that: high mark that the fact is mentioned In the prees notices of the program. However, When the session Itself is tasted the wohder grows' that such a strihg: of trials should have been necessary : to pick such a simple period. Two players per- forni the entire affair, Which in- cludes several mike characters. ' The. only individuality in the in- terlude is the proteah effectiveness of Virginia Lee, who manages a number of deft characterSr be- sides, warbling, giiitar-pluhklng ahd piano-tickling.. With proper script- ing this girl should stick, for. she's a smart radio worker. For her largest bit Miss Lee Is turnlhg .but a colored mammy im- personation, in which character she handled comedy lines, Negro tunes, and picks: at . the guitar. She also does a debutahte, and here plays the piano and tosses off somis fairly good straight vocalizing. Also man- ages all additional femme charac- ters. Kalar is merely by-the-way, supplying- the other half of the i-omantlc Ihterest. Story carries for three afternoon, sessions weekly, centering attention on the cleverness of the old darky lady ih settling the sundry prob- lems of the, Lyon family by which she's employed. That Lyon gag Is; confqislng, be- ing a not-so-subtie attempt at plugging with which this 16-mlnute serial is overly weighted. At the two ends and all throughout, there's constant drumming of the firm's Moharch brand and its products. Mammy goes into ecstatic raptures over the various Monarch food- stuffs. It'p overdone, the girl even interrupting the announcer at the close tor-giye mo):« vocal-puffing for iher.firmls Stuffs.. Also more, plug- glng^at the finish by way of a coh- test, ./^ s . ... The paflent housewives, for whom this program is intended, are asked to send in the la;bels—'as niany as possible'—of the various Monarch packages, write a lelUer telling how they like best to usK the product in questloh, and thereby Stand a chance to win some more Monarch product. Lack of attention to the flnei- de- tails of the session was evidenced even in the theme sound effect, which is supposed to rejjresent a lion's roar, the lion being the trade- mark of Reed, Murdock. A sound effects man could have told the ad- vertisers that all effect on the air must be suggested bcforehahd in order for the listener to recognize the sound for what it's meant to convey, because an unsuggested noise over the mike can sound like almost anything at alL For in- stance, the. sound of the lion's roar here could, and did, give the im- pression of the whining of the wind, or the bass notes on a bass violin, an airplane motor, or even a con- tented snore. The fault here lies In the fact that the announcer named the sound after the event instead of before. Gold. TED FIORITO Cafe Broadcast Sustaining KFWB, Hollywood Where eastern chain broadcasts cease after 9 p. m. because of the three-hour difference in. time, it evolves upon local dance bands to supply the meat of air entertain- ment from then on. Any new band of decent quality is a welcome change of diet and a class band of Ted Florlto's calibre is proportion- ately more welconte as a regular contributor. Florito opened the Culver City George Olsen club; retitled the Frolics, March 17 with Fuzzy Khight' as m.c. and Bobbe Arnst plus a 16- girl floor show, Miss Arnst's bal- lads'came through clearly and w^ell, but t^uzzy Knight was 7B% mush- mouth for the radioi Dance music is of livelier nature than the typical local product and will returh quite a few dials to the Warner Bros, sta- tion. Extravagant announcements plug- ging everyone involved cheapened the program somewhat and should be toned. - Bang. PLATINUM-VOICED TENOR Billy Taylor and String Septette COMMERCIAL, WBBM, Chicago Another conventional local broad- cast promulgating thie Maybelline Co; and its eyelash beautifler. For that reason, better than any other, Taylor's signature hum is 'i'our Beautiful Eyes,' a ditty from the old album. Ml of which Is oke, but why the platinum tag on Taylor? His Is an average tenor with -lothlng par- ticularly to denote color. As may. be realized it's an inexplensive lay- out. String cpmbination fair for seven pieces. On the commercial end there is a Miss Elizabeth Card ell, be.T,uty ex- pert of Maybelline, who speaks of eyelashes and other things pertain- ing to milady's makeup. Span. HOUSEHOLD FINANCE Musical Memories With Alice Mock, Don Ameche, Bob White Tom, Dick and Harry and Josef Koestner Directing COMMERCIAL WMAQ, Chicago Deciding that its. previous broad- casts have, been too highbrow to reach the class they're trying to sell,: Household Finance thinks the change it's now making will be an Improvement. All it has suoccedea in doihg so far is changing an oper- atic air for 'Swanee River* and in- stead of a classic duet, or somethlns akin, to it the new trio of Tom* Dick and Harry is subbing witlj pop melodies. Musical memories being the sub- title of the program, it's naturally expected that the type of entertain- ment will be somewhere In the back files. And that's Just what happens; Old numbers revised with some commentary backgrouhd, and altoi gether slow ahd ofttime tiring. Miss Mock, an operatic soprano of good qua:ilty, is pleasantly audible as always, but there Is nothing elso t<j lift the 'Traumerei' effect of the entire half hour. Harmony work of the three boys seems to lack in luster. Their voices blend: nicely enough, b\it the trouble is with their' arrangements^ which might have been the spon. sor's suggestion. Koestner's orches- tra is suffering from the same mal- ady, the music . being paced; lu a retarded tempo. Koestner has been doing <iulte a lot of radio work in < recent years, originally coming up ^ from a picture house pit. Don Ameche, Who Is doubling from the 'Beau Batchelor' program, . is held over- from the last House- ' hold program for a dramatic inter- lude with Bob White.. It's an 'Old Kentucky Home' thenie. Ameche could have been utilized to better advantage. And right in the middle of it all comes the plug in the form of dry, statistical patter about finances. . etc. It. appears to be a caise. of neither here nor there with. this program in its indecision of getting awsiy from highbrowishhess and yet afraid of getting too low down. Span. JACK PETTIS ^ Orchestra . Sustaining < WGY, Schenectady Jack Pettis* orchestra, noW at De Witt Clinton Hotel, Albany, IS on air from 11:30 to 12 weekday nights, and also for a supper-hour broad- cast thrice weekly. ~ Regular hook^ up between hotel and WGY. Pet- tis' unit formerly was feature of a Sunday afternoon commercial over NBC network. Does not show to same advan- tage in present spot as on studio program. Hotel's broadcasting fa- cilities are inadequate; acoustics poor and tone dies away at times. Leader cannot use his pair of saxa- phonlsts with the effectiveness he managed on the chain. ' is also at disadvantage with some listeners, In that he followed Jack Miles' straight dance orchestra. Pettis' type of niusic, away from the Eastern floor style, is soft, sooth- ing, and syrupy, but not likely to make loud-speakerltes roll back the rug, unless for a waltz. Those strong for a last tempo and hot stuff probably will not cotton to Pettis, altho he can serve up a sizzling tune when the mood prompts him. While radio dahce fans may be a little cold, lovers of better musio will warm up to unit as they do not to the average Jazz group. Boys get splendid symphonic effects with arrangements of standard numbers, in which F'ettls' violins stand, out. Good piano Work, too. On some supper broadcasts, tenor singer is heard infrequently. Oc- casional faster number would en- hance pull Of Pettis' programs and probably draw more dance listeners to hotel. . As Is, a fine orchestra to hear. Jaco. JACK HYLTON'S BAND Dance Music and Songs BBC NetWork, England Best dance band broadcasting ever, put over by BBC, having at last signed a band with personality. As a background to the band period, had Christopher Stone, a gramoi)hone expert and editor of a trade paper, acting as m.c. Stone runs the BBC's gramophone hours. He made a good supervisor .and kept the hour moving. Vocally, there was Leslie Sarony and Jules Etledsoei Opening with English numbers, most of which were hew, band switched into familiar .ditties, and then 'In Old Vienna,' from a Con- tinental film, which has been a raife here. Later, Sarony did a comedy number and bledsbe offered 'Old Man River.'- This was the cue for the climax, orchestra doing the number after the manner of leading classical masters, the Wagner interpretation being, particularly imaginative.. Good showmanship and an example of clever. orchestration, presence of an audience and much applause after each number, according to the Hyltort or studio idea of atn>os-: phere. Chro.