Variety (Apr 1937)

RADIO REVIEWS VARIETY wi«h Diirclle AlexAndir, Del Culno. Zek WrltM, Irvtaf Wis mud Fred- die Bleh's Orch^ ' variety Sli«w WABC, New Xerk Will Wrigtit is ah announcer on the Al Pear<}e program, and plays heavies in -Gang Busters.' CBS has him ticketed as a potentiality, and is civing him - the sustaining slot buiWup along with some other CBS contractees. - Program heard Thurs. (1). was rather , on the dull side-and self- suggests that layout ?be livened. Wright's material was light, but not humbrbus by any standard. He did a monolog in straight character, as did his cousin Ceb, V(hp affects a dubious hick accent for some doWn- tountry sage-spieling that wasn't too ineaty. ' , ■., , . ^ i, DureJle Alexander had one song shot, ditto tienor Del Casino. Both held their igrOund firmly. ^ Irving Reis, who produces CBS' •Columbia Workshop' on Sat. nites over the network, was interviewed, Wright had him at the mike much too long, it getting not only monotb- nous, but the script used was actu- ally acutely repetitious. Will be weekly policy to have a guest, such as lleis interview on success oi their careers. , ^ . Freddie Rich ore la strong bracer to the broadcast. Bert. THOMAS THOMAS MAXWELL. HOUSE COFFEE Thusday, 9 p.yn. WEAF-NBC, New T«rk (Benton ti Botules) Recent wihner of Met Opera audi- tions of. the air guested briefly on the Maxwell House show, offering solo, "The World Is Mine Tonight,' and., ducting with Lahhy Ross on selection from *La Boheme.' Has fine set of baritone pipes — robust, rich, clear and colorful. Also has ingratiating mike personality.. Room for several other numbers. . Faulty continuity to have Lanny Ross make ah introduction directly aftfer finishing tough duet with Thomas, Obviously Winded, he stumbled plainly in trying to get bff the spiel. Hobe. GEOBGIA CRACKERS , With Hank and Slim Newttan, Sto- ; ver . Sisters/ Miriam .'Merc, Bob NeWinan, Jerry Langstbn and Fred Joyner 30 Min. Bookeye Network CRAZT WATER CRYSTALS Daiiy> 2:30 pjn. WHKC, CalqmbDS This i^ the first commercial show to hit the new Buckeye Network, a group of Ohio stations controlled by the Cleveland Plain Dealer's United Broadcasting Co. • It originates in Columbus with WHKC talent, and at present WJAY,. Cleveland, is the only other station carryihg the pro- gram. : . Show is almost entirely on the hill-billy side, which is to say that it is tailored to fit thb particular audience Crazy Watbr Crystals r wants to reach. It is refined hill- billy stuff, however, with the guitar- playing backed up by an accordion and the whole cast contributing 6c« casionai snatches of popular music. Sponsor-v£oes away overboard on the- comhiercial end of the sho'Ur. There^ tuijingle contest on the sub ject-. of'.•iJbe> product and Hank- New man-jtwlcev take$ time' oyt from his em-cee!dUties a chant sample jingles to giv0lithe customer^ . the idea. This is characteristic of Crazy Crys- tal selling. » . Oh top of this Announcer Fred Joyner is called on for plugs after each number or two,.or.so it seems. Actually he probably cuts in three times in addition to the opening and closing announcements, which are pretty long.. Hardly an auspicious opener for a • new network, but when the per formers get a chance it's pleasant entertainment, aimed principally at the rural audience and other , day-" time listeners who go for hill-billy music. tis. of ork music, Harry Cyrrie, HARRT CVRRIE'S ORCHESTRA Terry Hay Masie, Sooffs .to Mins. Sustaining Daily; 4:30 p.m. WHAS, Louisville Tuneful half-hour and voCal numbers, staff batoneer, at program caught chose selections ranging from pops to rather nifty arrangements in dance tempo, of the musical shows of yesteryear. Combo leans toward: the sweet side,' and gains sortie particularly melodious, effects from an obviously capable and. miisicianly string sec tion. Program establishes.' a restful mood with the theme melody 'Out of the Dusk to You.' Vocalist on the half hour of melo ,ies .was Terry Ha"s, a full-vOiced songstiress, who knows how to pro- ject the lyrics through the mike, and with it.has a fine, sense of the melodic line, and a smooth, even reg^ ister.. Both oi'k and vocailist are also heard Over a brewery-sponsored program, aired from a local theatre . each Thursday night at 10 p.m. Hold: FANNT MAT BALDRIDGE With Newell Davis 'True Marriaire Froposals' Dramatizations 15 Minis.—-Local Sustaining Friday, 2.15 p.m. WMCA^ New York For an afternoon audience, thought of dramatizing place and timie of a wedding proposal is a good one. Gould be invested with lumor, romance and hiiman quali- ties. Unfortunately, ideas need to be dressed up fOr public presenta tion, and \vhen /caught this one 'wasn't. When caught a Mrs. Bedk.er was introed at start, then conditions of hei: marriage proposal were dramatized. ' The 'conditions' were humdrum. Possibly^ because WMCA stressed . the" 'true'., garnishings around proposals, station may get only blah submissions from listeners anxious to have . their momentous monients aired. If so, for programs' sake, . fiction in whole or in part should be resorted to. Miss Baldridge .edits the period, asi^isted by Newell Davis, who also baritones a sentimental: ballad to point lip the hearts-aiid-flowers at' mosphere. Bert. EVE HAMMER 'To Our Mothers' Interviews- 15 Mins.—Local. Sustaining Mondays, i6:45 a.m^ WMCA^ New York Public, is canvassed tO come up to the jstudio and give- affectionate tributes aiid testimonials, as to wha; fine rnothers the world possesses. That would automatically ihsure a aever-, ing istream of testifiers. Subject, also insures interest am appreciation from a large audience. But its sponsor-shagging possibili ties don't impress as too strong— chiefly because, of program handling Was caught Monday (5). Four persons talked when caught with Miss Hammer inserting interpo lations from.^ time to time. Two were men; two were hiaids. It might have been the fault of the scripts, but the testimonials impressed rather canned. They were, in essence, al plucked, off . the same tree of sweet .fruit. One interviewed, billed truck driver, seemed att out-and-out stooge. His slang was too stagey Other three alnriost broke down anc bawled. If some of the hoke Wa.s scrape([ away, program would show improve ment. Bert KAT KYSER ORCHESTRA Music 30 MtaiB. Sustaining Sundays, 4:30 p.m. WGN, Chicago Showmanship in this 'ohe^ Half our -of Kay Kyser music (from Trianon ballroorh) had everything a- dance period should have, and plus added heart appeal, oh Easter.. Sun- day. When reviiewed, band leader airought his mother to the micro- phone for an: introduction, and she, after . giving her greetings to everybody, vincluding her South- ern homefolk'si hoped; nobody forgot his mbther bn Easter Sunday. Tough, job, anc one leavih^ithe pro- ducer open to pos£tible critcism ;ior using hoke. BUt there can. be l ho such criticism, hbre, so fast, and' so sincerely was it done. Kyser organizatioh has . a- lot . to offer ah aiir audience whether they're in the mood foi: dancing or not. Everything, is' novelty, and everything is danceable, a swell combination. Best thing of all is the way the blurbs are handled. Scarcely, any announcing is done as such. Kyser handles -most of that, him- self, in- a friendly, easy. Southern voice, straight, or in dialogue' with one of his vocalists, but, for the most part, the only introductions of num- bers used is the singing of the 'song titles after introduction is played; Band . goes directly' frOm one num- ber into another, handling the change of tempo perfectly, and in this manner keepmg a continuous period of • music on the air. ; ' Vocalists include Ish Kabibble Bogue, comedian, Sally Mason, per sonality singer, Hatiry Babbitt and Bill Stoker, who, do the, pop stuff, with the . latter siijiging Song , titles, and double numbers with Naiicy Nelson, the only girl with the out fit Line-up gives plenty of variety in vocalists, anda, lack of a gift singer doing everV other, chorus, something is a relief from the Usual routine. This girl, howevier, is good enough so that she could , stand to do. a little mori than, she is 'at present. Stanza heard included 'Love Bug Will Get You,' 'LoVe Is Good For Anything That Ails You,' and 'Take Your Gal to the Movies' as hovel ties, 'China Boy' as both a waltz and folttrot, and 'Let's Call the Whole Thing Off,' as a double number by Bill Stoker and Nancy Nelson. Swell pickup from ballroom showing or- chestra off to its best possible ar- rangements, bass and brass baianc ing nicely; Follow-Up Comment mVlNiG AARONSON BAND 30 Mins. Sustaining Tuesday, 9:15 p.m. WHN, New York . In this (30) program Irving Aaron- sons outfit stuck tight to straight dance music, which it dished up satisfactorily ienough without caus- ing undue excitement . Trouble with the fare as served •IS thjat it is without seasoning. No novelties, fe\(f arrangements, vocals color variation. Aaronson's musicianship may be okay for studio need.s, but after several tunes all in ditto style and similarly played, the numbers tend to become mdistjn- guishible. That spells monotony. . Spieler labored to inject chuckles 'nto title announcements. Hobc. 'TALL TALES OF THE TALL TIMBER' With Charles Irving, Ken Wilson, Joe Cohen, Claude Radcliffe,. and Bob Kennedy Yarns and Songs 10 Mins., Local PAUL BUNYAN PRODUCTS CO. Fri., Sat., 5:05 p. m. WMIN, St. Paul-Minneapolis Sounds of wopdchbpping open this spot, with a full-throated shout of 'Look out, there,' as the tree crashes in the. surroundiiig timber. Then there's a. short, snappy chorus of 'Sweet Adeli ,! followed by some typical woodsmeri's chatter, with the lumberjacks grouped^ arbund the fire- and smoking their pipes after the day's labor. .Bob Kennedy|s the announcer. Others in the cast take care of the patter, with Charles Irving spinning the tall yarns made famous in Amer- ican legend by Pa:»l Bunyan, only mythical hero this nation can call its ■own. It's typically he-man frphi start to finish, and since It purveys Paul •Bunyan barber supplieis, that's okey dokey—but since most blokes are either still on the job or just wind- ing, up the day's toil at the time it comes on, maybe H misses the mas- culine ears. Can switch to a later .time,, or the men can hear it via their car radios. Rash, EDWIN C. HILL News Commentator 15 Mins. LUCKY STRIKE Dally, 12:15 p. m. WABCrCBiS, New York (Lord & Thoifias)^ In his familiar role of reporter commentator, Edwin C. Hill is now batting for : his namesake, George Washington Hill. Session is mon ikered 'Lucky Strike News Parade and it's uncorked five times a week during the nOon period oyer 76 CBS outlets. Hill is still the boy with the, voice.; Has ah authoritative style combined with knack of .making. his( material sound more exciting than it really is. As before, HiH is much more impressive as a coihmentator than as a "Straight hews reporter. His hews spieling tends to be more mat- ter-ofrfact (as straight reporting should be) and his vitality is miss- ing. Runs different items together in a confusing Way. When he turns to the 'Human Side Of the News' brand of spieling, how- ever. Hill unlimbers his most color? ful and expressive gab. And whoever writes the script is a word painter. Beaucoup adjectives without. trip- ping over the Thesaurus. Sponsor may need to watch for Hearst bias. Commercials arie chucked into the script every now and .then; majoi one being name testdmbnial, in this case .'Princess Alice''Roosevelt Long- worth. In view of the recent uproar Over testimonials by senators, it was notable, that members of that body were referred to as LUcky smokers, but weren't- identified. Hobc, ^Paramount on Parade' is still a laphazavd affair, as etherizing ovbr WJZiNBC Sunday noon, Lynne Overman and-Mary Carlisle are. ap- parently a permanent pair of foils, and the mam idea is seemingly to get new Par titles into the ether; %afs achieved, all right, but little else.' It's a. loose-jointed half hour and, while the N. Y. tuner-iners might sympathize with the thought that^ooh in the east is .9 a, .m; on the Coast, a pethaps not .very con- ducive hour to wax m i rthful, tnat's neveirtheless something the studio should circumvent; Boris Morrois was anonymous on this, the jsecond, prograni. Instead, a pairade of■ Parites included Victor Young's orchestra, the Yacht Club Boys (using for a runn|ng gag how to find their way out of the lot), Ray Turner, Gregory Stone . (piano team), Dorothy Lambur, Gail Pat- rick, Ray Millahd, Akini Tamaroff (in a silly Romieo bit), the 8, 10 and 12-year-old Bryan Sisters. (Con- nie Boswell's protegees). All got their innings with hit 'n' miss ^ef- fect. Mostly, when things started to lag. Young's crack dahsapatoi-s >yere impressed into service to play •Jammin' and 'Turn Off the Moon,' from the latter-titled hew Par pic- ture, plus other excerpts. 'Artists and Miodels* is in work, the Yachters emphasized sufficiently, bUt their solo opportunity' was an excerpt from a competitive, already-released film, 'Pigskin Parade' (20th). It must be that they want to keep their new 'A&M' song .chores under camphor until the piciure's released; which isn't a bad idea at that.. Coronet swung from WOB, New York, tb NBC blue last Friday, hit- ting at 9:30 ESf, Mutual could not clear time for the'expansion desired by the publisher. Show is as was on WOR, with Deems Taylor the hub and Robert ArnibrUster the con diictbr. , . V, It's a hodge-podge out Of which emerges many entertaining bits. General level of the program is so- phisticated, almost intellectual, and the manner of its presentation is casual and unlike the regulation radio entertainment. These things may be at once assets and weak nesses, Asijets because- they .should attract a selective aiidience. Weak- nesses because it may puzzle hoi polloi at certain points. Either way, it would appear that NBC's sales promotion dept. might well make studies of this experl; ment, for it may supply swell am- munition to use in going after aC-. counts which habitually might no; consider, radio appropriate for what they're selling. With a coast-to coast loop, the stimulation of maga zine sales must be plenty ample to justify-the cost. At the same time, the item is a relative luxury and for the classes that' finished the fourth grade at school. ■Opening routine about the moon was drawn out and . rather strained. It was the weakest yet the best suited lead-off if working up to bet- ter things was the f!Oal. HbAvever, a weak lead-off, while sometimes familiar in vaudeville, etc., is: usually dubious radio. Fewer items per pro- gram, which would mean more rnu- sical stuff, would .seem a probable improvement fbr the show. Stack-Gobel agency.- Spencer Bent- ley, returning to the airwaves for the .first time .sin'ce he suffered a fractured'jaw, did a 'Floyd Gihbon.s' in packing the three,. commercial spiels intb the brief allotted stanza. 'Pretty Kitty Kelly' .seriaiizatibn nightly via WABC for Wonder, read is beginning to resemble a combi- natibn: of cOmic strip thriller and piilp fiction. Overboard on hoke and sWamped with whimsv. Also %vos'i- ing less credible. Series started out with beaucoup Irish brogue be- ing spieled. Latest innovation is. hew bharacter with thick Russian accent and ■a^J'ark avenue playboy who's just too, too: kittenish, for woi'd.s. Performances pretty ragged, too.- Lobks like sponsor has tossed .-iway any thought of . adult appe.^1 and i shooting only at the moppets. Mrs. Osay^ohnsbn contributed an interview-article on housekeeping in the jungles to the 'Heinz Maga- zine of the Air,'.over CBS; Quizzed by Greta Palmer, the woman ex- plorer gave an account which, cou- pled with her name, should have held the attention of fcmme listen- ers. Mrs. Johnson's . voice is clear and rather firm, but -mor modula- tion and fewer headtonies would, im- prove it for radio reception. captain Tim Healy, gue.ster on an- other edition of 'Magazine of the Air,' tried to cover too, much ground in telling the life story of Clara Barton, founder of the American Red^ Cross. As a result, he spoke tob rapidly for smooth delivery arid easy , reception. Healy'.*5 fast tempo wad the more noticeable i view of prograhx's usual leisurely pace. Wax Show Goes Flesh Gould's Fifth Ave, Shop, oil WHN, N, Y., itches from platter-program to live corpuscles ori its Sunday. a.m. pieriod. Using singer'S.uzanna ab- Cordionist Alfred Schei A. & P. AFTE«N|ATH Weedom. Issuii Ends in a iladelphia, Controver.sy over freedom of speech on radi which began two weekis ago when A&P'$tores charged CBS discriminated against them, ended last Saturday' night, with 15 minutes of ET music being played on time allotted without charge- by chain for stores, to havje their say. Dr. Leon Levy, pre>!y of WCAU and viccrprez of CBS, id he, had contacted exeips of chain stores and of consuniier orgs which the stores originally wanted to put on, but all had r6fu.sed. to talk. Trouble .started over chain store tax bill periding before state leg- islature. A&P and other web gro- ceries wanted to air objections to it on A&P ..Baiid Wagon program Wednesday night a week ago.; CBS said such talk was against policy on cominercial, and offeried 15 minutes of free time, with Adrnfriistration officials,favoring the hill allotted the same opportunity to state their case roadway Varieties' continues tb concentrate on radio's safest com- modityr—music-r-without cluttering up the shbw with plot. Produces strong, well-paced, spirited enter- tainment. Oscar Shaw still m. c,'s the proceedings and gets in plenty ot both solo and with Elizabeth Lennox: Carnr\ela Pbhselle remains as top. spot. Mezzo-soprano clicked last week (2) with 'Long, Long Ago.' Bisodol's commercials, however, in- clude everything but the burp. Seieoiid Cartoonist Forum oh WNBW, N. Y., last week used topic 'Is There a New Gag'?' with satirists and cartoonists from E.squire, the New Yorker, College. Humor and Saturday Evening Post. Quentin Reynolds,, editor of Collier'!?, acted as chairman of forum which was held to-demonstrate that some of their funny twists found their way into pictures and onto the air. Rosaline Greene, with her modu- lated contralto speaking voice and perfect poise, makes an ideal mis- tress of ceremonies for General Elec- tric's 'Hour of Charm,' an NBC mat- ineb. Miss Greene is equally smooth in handling number introductions •for Phil Spitalny's versatile all-girl unit and in reading advertising con- tinuity for GE mazdas. Program, with, its luscious music, is one in which a mood is definitely estab- lished and maintained. -Incidentally, it brought back Miss Greene on her 13th' radio annlver.sary, to the com- pany with which she madtt her bow on the air; In 1924 a State Teachers College sophomore, Rosaline Greenr berg, began broadcasting over Geh-, eral Electric's WGY With Schenec- tady's school dramatic group. Her voice;^came over the wave bands so clearly and; pleasantly that Kolin D: Hager, WGY manager and. a aium- nUs of State Teachers, invited her: to join the WGY Players, then* in their third.year of airing full-length stage, productions; Joe Rines, Morton Bowe, et aL constitute perhaps .the brightest morning comedy-variety shbw^ judg- ing by. their Sunday a.m. session on behalf of lodent. They do it. in; big league fashion and, having the field to themselves they undoubtedly command considerable attention. Rines. and Bowe had a very flinny golf sequence, aided and abetted by that Russian dialectic countess this past Sunday. Rines dansapation, of course, is standard. Fred Nlblb, in announcing that the 18th broadcast of the WPA Pro- fessional Parade over the NBC blue would be the last, 'for the time be- ing at least,' took the unusual step of specifying the.number of weekly listeners the program had attracted. The Parade's drum major said the total had grown to 'hiore than 3,600,- 000,' Niblb remarked that the finaV' broadcast was dedicated to the man who successfully directed the pro- gram, Rubey Cowan at the moment en route by train to Hollywood and perhaps listening in somewhere east of Chicago, Mark Warhow riieets toil test of ability to mean something ai^ainst the; dance groove obligatory with Lucky Strike without losing the Warnow distinctive touchi ,By re- arranging his sections, Warnpw gives the riiusic enough zip and ihtelUgent interpretation ■'-to satisfy G, W. and istill remain M; W. ■Vox Pop team of Par)t,s Johnson and Wally Butterworth appeared irt a special broadca.st Monday (5) night over WOR, N, Y., in front Of the Astor hotel, Broadway, in behalf of the N. Y.: Journal. Johnson-Butter- Worth duo's div'ersifaction Of rapid fire questions ofTbred a smart .show man.Ship tie-up with the. newspa- per's canipaign to put over its ency Clopedia, idea being plugged that rhost of the answers cOuld be found in this volume. Vox-Pop corhbination, which is heard,each Tuesday night over NBC^, was presented in this extra show through the courtesy of Molle and ,Jean Sablon, NBC-imported French tenor, is heard sustaining on the red; loop with Norman Clbutier's musical back-up. Sablon's vocalisms are at once strikingly reminiscent bf Blng Cro.s- by and Maurice Chevalier; the, lat- ter emphasized because of heavyr tenor's accent, Sablon might cut himself quite a/ hunk of radio cake if given studied and slick buildup, but he won't ■ do if shoved, right up into the front fir- ing line. NBG plans for im ap- pear at the moment, vague. Cloutier directed an ore for years on: WTIG, Hartfoi-d, Conn., .till in- surance companyrbwned station last, year decided to^ affect lower-crown millinery. His crew s.ounds sweet in back of the singer. -Cloutier is a tip- top musician of radio experience 'Who will do okay in the big town. Variety's daytime.. dial ister bumped into Paul Martin's ri.sco band (NBC Blue) agaih, this time for a half hour. It happened Mon- day.afternoon (5).. . A few weeks ago, under radio re- views, Martin y)as declared to have aTr~^cellent program. Idea now is to revise that opinion a little follow- ing the second hearing;.jiist to get on the record that this is only the be.st instrumental Isweet' half hour now on the network. And it's a crime tb bury it of a Monday matitice.