WYYR.COM – Yester Year Radio Just Smoke and Mirrors

Doctored up Photo of Non-existent WYYR Radio Station

Just a little over a year ago I was contacted by Chris Valenti about becoming a host on his WYYR.com internet based radio station hosted by Blog Talk Radio. Blog Talk Radio allows anyone, anywhere the ability to host a live talk radio show online, simply by using a telephone and a computer. Blog Talk Radio’s unique platform, powered by Cinchcast, empowers citizen broadcasters to create and share their original content, their voices and their opinions in a worldwide public forum. For a very inexpensive fee of $40.00 a month anyone can have their own radio show.

All one needs is a $25 headset that can be purchased at Radio Shack, access to a computer and a topic to discuss and you’re on the radio. Well not exactly! You’re on the internet streaming live information, but what kind of an audience do you have? Chris Valenti convinced me that if I would come on board and do a talk show on his channel that I would be reaching thousands of people listening in.

Well what he failed to make clear was that his website was getting thousands of hits each month but in reality the listenership on the blog talk radio stream was getting far less than a hundred listeners per night and of those the majority were listeners that had followed Chris over the years when he had a “real” live radio show in the New York City area.

My first broadcast had a listenership of perhaps 10 to 15 live listeners and during the next week maybe another 50 people would down load and listen to the show. Over the next 6 to 7 months that my so called program was on the ”air” I don’t think I ever had more than 50 “live” listeners on any single night.

I have to admit I did enjoy doing my show as I felt that I was getting some good experience and I did have the opportunity to interview some very interesting people of the Big Band era. People such as Buddy De Franco former leader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Fred Radke the leader of the Harry James Orchestra and a number of other interesting guests who were associated with the Big Band era.

Chris Valenti

Chris is an interesting character! He was at one time a “Real Live On Air” radio personality when his program “The Big Band Broadcast” first aired on New York's 1240AM WGBB in 1979 and the show featured both Big Band and early Rock & Roll, but lasted just a few years. Soon after with a different name and a new format, it came back to 1240AM WGBB and made itself a staple for many years on both AM and FM including WBAU & WHPC ... but solely as a Big Band program!

When Chris’s parents retired and moved to Florida, Chris went with them to take care of them due to their age and disabilities. Chris doesn’t really work a regular job as he purports to those that know him. He tells those that meet him that he is the “The Program Director” at his “Radio Station” but that is just his front. He really sustains himself by living off his parents Social Security checks, and to think that he has a PhD!

Recently he was really worried that he would be found out when the U.S. Air Force Academy’s music director wanted to visit his studio and he asked me what to do so they wouldn’t find out about the fact that he ran WYYR.com out of his bedroom. I suggested that he tell them that the studio was actually located in New Jersey where Blog Talk Radio is actually located and that he broadcast his show remotely from Florida, which is basically true. Chris proudly boasts on his website that a letter from the Academy’s commander is hanging prominently at WYYR. I suppose that it is prominently hanging on Chris’s bedroom wall.

Valenti gained international prominence several years ago by making some outrageous claims that the US Government was covering up the disappearance of Glenn Miller on December 15th 1944. He was labeled as a “Crack Pot Theorist” on July 20th, 2004 in this posting (http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/A2654822 ) and has tried to escape this tag ever since.

My first show for WYYR.com began with this topic and to make sure that the subject was fairly covered my first guest was Dennis Spragg, Glenn Miller Archivist at the American Music Research Center on the campus of the University of Colorado at Boulder. A total of six hours were spent discussing Miller’s disappearance with Dennis.

Jan Eberle

My broadcasting experience came to a screeching halt in November 2011 after I had done an online interview with Jan Eberle the daughter of Ray Eberle renowned for his short lived career with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. It seems that Ms. Eberle got her panties all knotted up when I made the comment that I thought she might be apprehensive about doing an interview with me as I was an “amateur” broadcaster. She immediately called Chris Valenti and began be-rating him that I “had to go” otherwise she would not become a member of his programming lineup. It was this sanctimonious tirade that caused Chris to cancel my show. Oh well, it wasn’t a big deal anyway!

Jan got her show on WYYR and a couple more! She is a very insecure and vindictive individual and carries a lot of baggage around about the failures of her famous father, Ray Eberle. She has been trying for the last 30 or so years to succeed in his footsteps, but really to no avail. She pictures herself as a successful big band vocalist and to her credit has in fact performed with some very notable big bands but obviously nowhere near the level of her father. Other than a couple of self published books and a self published CD and of course her internet radio shows, she too has little to show from her career.

 Don Kennedy

Of course after the demise of my show Chris replaced it with a 92 year old broadcaster from the 50’s, Donald (Don) Kennedy, (aka Derrick Slaugenhaupt), (born June 8, 1920 in Beaver, Pennsylvania), who was a radio, film and television actor whose career began in the late 1940s with a radio announcer spot on Pennsylvania radio station WPIC. In the mid-1950s Don was a contributor to NBC's Monitor radio show where he developed several characters, including one named Goat-man.

He is best remembered as Officer Don, the host of the long-running Atlanta children's TV show “The Popeye Club” (1956 to 1970). He currently hosts “Big Band Jump”, as stated in his biography as “an internationally-syndicated radio show devoted to music from the Big Band era”, on WYYR.com! Sounds impressive, but total BS!

Horace Heidt

To round out its schedule of programming, Chris brought on a canned production from Horace Heidt, Jr. the son of big band leader Horace Heidt (May 21, 1901–December 1, 1986) who was a pianist, big band leader, and radio and television personality. His band, Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights, toured vaudeville and performed on radio and television through the 1930s and 1940s.

Horace Jr’s name to fame is as President of the Horace Heidt Agency, which owns and operates a unique 220-unit, 10-acre apartment complex in Sherman Oaks. This family-owned business has been in operation since 1956. He is also President of the Horace Heidt Productions, in which he offers his consultative expertise in the field of entertainment to Fortune 500 companies. From 1982-1994, he was the Musical Director for the Los Angeles Raiders and in 1985 played for President Ronald Reagan at the 50th American Presidential Inaugural Ball.

Peggy King

AND last but not least Chris hosts a monthly program with a 1950’s TV personality who is outrageously stuck on herself, Peggy King, who was a regular guest on the George Gobel Show which ran on NBC from 1954 to 1960. Talk about a real waste of time!

Many of you may be saying “Well why bother bringing up the past?” and I would have to say “Your right!” and then others will simple say that I am being “Acrimonious” and you would also be right! But for me it all boils down to honesty! Chris Valenti has never been honest and I just felt that it was high time that he be exposed for what he really is and that is a fraud! That is my opinion, enough said!

For those of you that want to listen to “Real” radio with the real sounds of the big bands listen to http://www.studio1430.com/ streaming live 24 hours daily.

Spencer K. Smartt

Dallas, TX.

Canned – The Real Truth Behind Miller’s Firing of Ray Eberle!

In June of 1942 approximately a year after the Glenn Miller Orchestra had completed the making of “Orchestra Wives”, the second and last film to feature The Glenn Miller Orchestra, the movie made by 20th Century Fox starring Ann Rutherford, George Montgomery, and Glenn Miller was “one of the many more notable swing era musicals because its plot was more serious and realistic than the insubstantial story lines that were typical of the genre.” 

The band was playing at the Panther Room in Chicago’s Hotel Sherman when Ray Eberle turned up for work late one day and Glenn had had enough so as Ray walked in the door, Glenn shouted out to Eberle "YOUR FIRED" no explanation, no more conversation, that was it Ray was fired!

Over the last 70 or so years what really happened has been pooh-poohed and hushed up because of the embarrassment that it caused the Eberle family. I wanted to get to the bottom of this incident so I began really doing some serious research as to what really did happen that fateful day in June of 1942. I started making some phone calls to several of my resources who knew not only many of the original band members but several of the authorities who have access to some of the documentation of the incident itself. Low and behold much of what has been previously reported was really true and the public image that the family has tried to portray is really a real “White Wash” job to cover the real story of Ray Eberle and not only this incident but the true character of the man himself. 

Glenn Miller & His Orchestra – “People Like You and Me” from Orchestra Wives

George T. Simon, in his book, “Glenn Miller and His Orchestra” while interviewing Ray during research for his publication says, " Ray Eberle still insisted he quit the band and his main beef with Glenn was over money, the guys in the band were getting $50 per week against his $35". 

But according to George Simon's book there were numerous other reasons given by members of the orchestra why Ray was fired. In Glenn's account of the reason were Ray's persistent heavy drinking and his many late arrivals to work were the primary reason for the firing. This was corroborated by quite a number of other band members according George T. Simon in his book “Glenn Miller and His Orchestra” and especially Marion Hutton, Glenn’s girl singer.  George states that Marion told him “point blank” that Ray “was getting away with things that nobody else could do” and that “If Glenn hadn’t let him go, there would have been a revolt in the band” confirming Ray’s hard drinking and undisciplined attitude toward Glenn’s strict rules that band members had to adhere to.

In another account of what happened according to band member Maurice Purtill he states that “When we were at the Panther Room, we used to do a one-hour show. There was always some big number for Ray and the Modernaires just before we went into the closing ‘Bugle Call Rag.’ On this particular night, Janet, Ray’s wife, and her family came in  to catch the show and when it was time for Ray’s big number, Glenn for some reason or other skipped the tune and went right into ‘Bugle Call rag.’ Eberle took a burn and had a few belts and said he was going to kill Glenn.” Obviously when Glenn got word of this comment he was not very pleased. Once again in his state of drunkenness Ray had stepped over the line as Glenn saw it.

In another incident that really got Glenn’s dander up was when Ray blasted him in one of the industry publications of the time, Metronome or Billboard or one of the publications which followed the music industry, about Glenn being a cheap skate and unfair to him about what he was being paid and that Glenn was to much a taskmaster with his discipline. Glenn felt that Ray’s comments were uncalled for and that he was very vindictive when he was drinking heavily. 

Ray was not the most popular member of Glenn’s band because of his drinking problem, he was not all that popular with the music critics either and many of them were not all that impressed with Ray's voice, yet he was an integral part of the Miller line-up, singing on many of the group's biggest hits. Even though Miller's own musicians weren't happy with Eberle's style and often voiced their complaints, Miller stuck with him up until the Panther Room incident.

 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra – “At Last” from Orchestra Wives

Regardless of what really happened between Ray and Glenn, Eberle landed a job with Gene Krupa shortly before the end of 1942. He only stayed a short while with Krupa before leaving to go solo. It was rumored that Gene stated that he really didn’t need any more trouble since his arrest on January 20^th of 1943 for procession of marijuana and he felt that Ray’s drinking problem would only exacerbate his problem with the authorities so Ray went out on his own. The only thing that really even exists of this short stay with Krupa is a few air checks that still exist. Although I was unable to confirm these rumors with my sources they would not deny them either out of respect for Gene.

Seeing that he had already been in the two Glenn Miller movies he was able to garner a role in a Universal picture called “Mr. Big” where he had only a cameo role as himself. He also starred in several other movies in 1943, but by the end of the year he had entered the army. By the time of his discharge from the Army in 1945 he formed his own orchestra, where he attempted to cash in on his experience with Miller. By the mid 50s his orchestra had broken up but Ray continued to sing sometimes on TV but mostly on the nightclub circuit until 1970 when he joined Tex Beneke’s Orchestra for a national tour. After that he tried one again to form his own band but that too did not work out. He appeared as himself in a couple episodes of the TV series “Happy Days” but for all intents and purposes Ray’s career had come to an end except for his appearances in various night clubs around the country.

Years later according to George Simon, Ray didn’t seem to hold a grudge against Glenn for firing him and would talk about his time with the band as a very happy time for him. During a phone call to Ray from George Simon in the late 60’s Ray admitted that he had not done to well financially by going out on his own especially as a soloist in various night clubs around the country but he was at last happy and serene in his Non-alcoholic existence. By his own admittance to Simon he states “Now, when I get up in the morning, it’s nice knowing where I am.” 

Ray Eberle died from a heart attack on August 29^th 1979 in Douglasville, Georgia, broke and with little to nothing to show for all the years he had tried to live in the shadow of Glenn Miller.

Spencer K. Smartt
Dallas, TX.

Reflections On Sunny Brook

Sitting some 16 plus miles northwest of Valley Forge National Historical Park, the nationally significant site of the 1777-78 winter encampment of the Continental Army under General George Washington, (A place that evokes the spirit of patriotism and independence, represents individual and collective sacrifice, and demonstrates the resolve, tenacity and determination of the people of the United States to be free) sits the small community of Pottstown, PA. on the banks of the Schuylkill River . [1]

Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts, is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania some 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia and 18 miles southeast of Reading. Pottstown is the center of a productive farming and dairying region and in the past has had extensive interests in the iron and steel industry. There were huge rolling mills, furnaces, nail works, textile mills, bridge works, agricultural-implement works, boiler and machine shops, foundries, and manufactories of bricks, silks, shirts, hosiery, etc. [2]

Over time, Pottsgrove grew and in 1815, was incorporated under the name Pottstown becoming the second borough in Pennsylvania after Norristown. The extension of the Reading Railroad to Mount Carbon facilitated the movement of raw materials and finished goods which helped Pottstown's economy to grow. Within a few years following the extension of the railroad, the population grew from 600 to 1,850 residents. Pottstown's metal production grew and notably, steel from the borough was used in the Panama Canal and Golden Gate Bridge. By 1900, 13,696 people lived there and by 1940, 20,194 people lived there. The population was 22,377 at the 2010 census. [2]

It was during the Depression, in early 1931, that Ray Hartenstein Sr., who would later be known as "the dean of the big band ballroom operators, decided to add a dance pavilion to the swimming pool and picnic grove he had built five years earlier on a portion of the old Sunny Brook Farm".

For its first three decades or so one of the big "name" dance bands played here every Saturday night, New Year's Eve, and sometimes during the week or on other holidays. Located just east of Pottstown, it attracted dancers from a 50-mile radius, and all the Main Line, who came to dance to (or in some cases just to listen to and watch) virtually all the top dance bands in the country.

The finished ballroom opened on Memorial Day, less than eight weeks after its construction was started. "Modern in every detail and spacious enough to seat 1500 persons at a banquet," it was reported in the Pottstown Mercury the next day, "the new building ranks with the finest to be found at any place in the East.... [It] attracted upward of a thousand persons to the opening and the beauty of the building excited the admiration of all who were on hand for the opening dance."

The first band to play at Sunny Brook Ballroom, at its opening on Memorial Day 1931, was Joe LaFrance and his Bosch Radio Band, advertised as "one of the finest in the country".

The size of the ballroom and its capacity to accommodate a large crowd also helped Sunny Brook attract the best bands. The attendance record, over 7300 people, was set in February 1942 by Glenn Miller during his last road trip before disbanding his orchestra to go into the U.S. Army Air Force in September.

But overall, it was Tommy Dorsey who drew the best, with crowds of more than 6000 on several occasions just before Glenn Miller's record. "If we wanted to make money to buy something or do something," Ray Hartenstine Jr. later recalled, "we brought Tommy Dorsey in, sent him a cable."

The ballroom was still run on the assumption, as Ray Hartenstine Jr. put it, that "it is a privilege to come to Sunny Brook", and that it was a place where there would be no trouble. It was an atmosphere appreciated and respected by both the bands that played there and the people who came to listen and dance. Everybody was well dressed, and if anyone got out of line in any way he or she was asked to leave.

Both before and after the war there were regular remote radio pickups from Sunny Brook over station WRCV in Philadelphia and also, from time to time, on nationwide broadcasts over the CBS or NBC networks as Sunny Brook was included as part of a regular series of pickups each week from ballrooms and hotels in different parts of the country. [3] [4]

The current President of "Sunny Brook Management Partners, Mr. Tom Oehme was recently a guest on “A Night at The Palomar” discussing the movie career of Miss Martha Tilton when one of our listeners from Philadelphia called into the show. Mr. Oehme invited the listener Chuck Henry, who just happens to be an author who has written several books about the fabulous big band vocalist Frances Langford, to be his guest for the upcoming show featuring Miss Amanda Carr on October 15th. Mr. Henry’s raving review by e-mail prompted me to write this article about both Sunny Brook Ballroom and the beautiful and talented Miss Amanda Carr. Below is Mr. Henry’s review.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Reflections on Sunnybrook
From: Chuck Henry
Date: Sun, October 16, 2011 9:05 pm
To: requests@wyyr.com

Hi Chris,

Well we're home. What odd traveling! It took us six hours to drive 41 miles to Pottstown and 53 minutes to get home. A little lopsided but then that’s the Henry's and their motoring trips. I can't explain it. I won't even try to explain it.

We explored a little bit of Pottstown Saturday during the day. A cute little town but it is a depressed state. I did find a thriving tobacco shop in the center of town and loaded up on some different brands of pipe tobacco. Bought two ounces of their own version of Capt. Black, the gentleman letting me know that their blend was far superior to the packaged version. Having been through that routine before, I only bought two ounces of their blend. It just ain't so. The supposed superior blend has an ok taste but burns hot, and bites and so I will blend it with the real Capt. Black to use it up.

But the real story is the night at Sunnybrook. I wanted to try and see Tom Oehme before the show and give him the books and as it happened he was the first person we ran into. Tom is a thoroughly engaging person who went way out of his way to make us feel welcome. As if he hadn't already done enough, he gave us a book of a pictorial history of Sunnybrook, a real treasure! The place is set off the main street of Pottstown in an immaculately cared for setting.

It's like a time travel. As you walk in, you can almost hear the strains of Miller, Shaw, James, and the Dorsey’s emanating from the four walls. Tom had us sitting at one of three tables reserved for him up front. There was nothing between us and the beautiful stage. There were several hundred people there ranging in age mostly from the 40's on up plus Tom's grand daughter who appeared to be about 12 and who proved to be quite a dancer! She was really into the whole thing.

The show started promptly at 8 with the lovely Amanda Carr enchanting all of us. With her long blond hair, when she turned her back to the audience, it was like having Frances Langford, live.

Amanda has a lovely strong voice. A full voice, an even voice, in all of its registers. The band was definitely authentic, playing all of the tunes expertly under its director. I was surprised that I did not know more than a few of the tunes but all were done in great big band arrangements.

Priscilla and I danced more than we ever have. We, however, were not mistaken for Fred and Ginger. We did the slow numbers leaving the upbeat ones to the experts.

The highlight for me was going backstage to the real wall of fame with all of the signatures of the wonderful people who graced that place over the years. Miller, James, Shaw, Goodman, Tilton, Forrest, all there and what was really great for me, the area was just as it was when the folks had been there, signing the wall. What I really liked was that there was no brilliant illumination or fancy frames around the signatures, just some worn looking hooks to hang coats and some very old looking lockers, chipped paint and all.

It really created quite an atmosphere and the signature of Lou Costello with the words I'm a baaad boy! Really stood out. As soon as I saw that I thought of Mike from Asbury and Peggy. Some had drawn caricatures of themselves and others. What a piece of history!

As the evening wore on a good many of the elderly left before the end. It went to 11'Oclock and I know full well how tired you can get after 10. But we stayed till the end and Amanda sent us out with a stirring version of At Last.

About four other Miller tunes were played, String of Pearls and your theme song, Moonlight Serenade. If you ever get the chance you should go up there. You would love it! We want to go back. The Miller band will be there in March. We'd love to go to that!

Didn't see Frances Langford's name on the wall but that doesn't mean she wasn't there. She will have to go there in 'No Matter How Impossible.' I'm already thinking of having her there sometime in the 50's as I have some time to fill, the 50's being a time period where not too much has been written of her activities. I know she did a nightclub act called 'Frances and the Fella's but outside of a publicity photo of them together and a newspaper ad, that's all I know.

So, it was a great time, a wonderful trip back in time. We are so
grateful to Tom, Spencer and you for such an adventure...

Chuck Henry

Amanda Carr "If You Could See Me Now"

Boston based daughter of a big band vocalist and trumpeter Nick Capezuto, who played trumpet with a whole list of top bands including the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Louis Prima, Freddie Slack, Buddy DeFranco, Larry Clinton Tex Beneke and probably most known for Herb Pomeroy Band, Amanda Carr is a multi-styled vocalist/pianist that began early on in her teens in the rock and pop genre, but has in recent years focused on fresh interpretations of the Great American Songbook. For over three decades she’s performed and recorded both in the U.S. and Italy.

She and her CD’s have received critical acclaim from a tough bevy of reviewers. Her 2005 recording, TENDER TRAP debuted on the National Jazz Charts at 55 and received 4-stars from All Music Guide.

Her follow-up recording in 2007 was a feature story by Nat Hentoff in The Wall Street Journal which catapulted her to global exposure with sales and airplay as he hailed her, “...a true jazz singer in a time of wannabes”. She’s also featured in Hentoff’s latest book, “At the Jazz Band Ball: 60 Years on the Jazz Scene” (2010-University of California Press)

Amanda Carr

Among her varied performances, she stars in “A Tribute to Peggy Lee and Benny Goodman” a big band show that has traveled to various cities nationwide completing a 30-date tour during the 2008-09 touring season.

Amanda has been featured with The Artie Shaw Orchestra, Harry James Orchestra and has also appeared with the Glenn Miller Orchestra among her many other guest vocal appearances including guest soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra. She is considered the #1 vocalist on the big bands “First Call List”.

She’s headlined at the EuroJazz Festival in Italy along with James Moody and George Mraz, and recorded “Live in San Giorgio” with Trio Martinale from Turin.

Amanda has composed and performed award-winning music for two PBS documentaries and received an Emmy nomination for “The Story of Golf”, an 8-part series on the Golf Channel. She’s won awards for her musical contributions to “Boston Red Sox: 100 Years of Baseball History” and original works with children’s music with the “Lil’Iguana” series.

In 1999 she received the Videographer Award by the NTA for excellence in Music Composition in addition to her multiple “Telly’s”. She has dozens of TV and Radio commercials to her credit and owns and operates a successful recording studio in the Boston area that acts as her independent record label.

Amanda Carr sings with the Concord Band

Among her own recordings, her eclectic album credits include the late Dave Guard from the Kingston Trio on his final album “Up & In”, a yearlong project in the early 1980’s.

Since then she has a long list of album credits as both a music composer and vocalist. Along with 4 other CD’s since 1995, Amanda released big band CD “Common Thread” in October of ‘09, with the Kenny Hadley Big Band.

Like the 2007 small group release “SOON”, “COMMON THREAD” soared to #2 on Amazon’s Jazz Bestseller list on the heels of a Wall Street Journal endorsement and debuted #32 on the Billboard Charts.

Amanda Carr and the Kenny Hadley Big Band "CommonThread"

With distribution and airplay in over a dozen countries, including Japan and the Netherlands, and a growing International fanship, Amanda continues to perform with her own group while a popular guest vocalist with many other ensembles.

Amanda is the CEO of the newly formed not for profit organization American Big Band Preservation Society, Inc. which has a mission of preserving and promoting Big Band music through performance and education and acquiring a library of unpublished Big Band arrangements to share with the public. [5]

Please visit http://www.americanbigband.org/

Sunny Brook Ballroom is one of the few remaining large dance halls of the pre-World War II era still in existence and still operating. If you are in the area stop by and say hello to Mr. Tom Oehme (Pronounced Amy) and ask him to show you around.

Amanda will be my guest on “A Night at The Palomar” November 14th, 2011 at 9PM Eastern Time. Daylight Saving Time ends Friday, October 28, 2011at Midnight, be sure to set your clocks back one hour.

Spencer “Wolf” Smartt
Dallas, TX.

[1] http://www.nps.gov/vafo/historyculture/index.htm

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottstown,_Pennsylvania

[3] http://www.sunnybrookballroom.net/

[4] http://www.sunnybrookballroom.net/BallroomSetups.html

[5] http://www.amandacarr.com/

A Night at The Palomar with Anita O'Day

"A Night at The Palomar" 

Presents the life and the music of 

Anita O'Day

Miss Anita O'Day 

with our featured guest 

Miss Ginger Berglund 

The show is live at 9PM EST. 

Call in to join in the fun at 917-889-7819.

Log in to listen live at:

A Night at The Palomar with Anita O'Day 

Your Host

Spencer K. Smartt

A Night at The Palomar presents Part 2 of Bob Wills King of Western Swing

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys

October 10th, 2011 at 9PM EST - 8PM CST

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thebigbands

Our Special Guest to talk about Bob Wills, his life and his music

Dwight Adair

http://www.dwightadair.com/1.html

Your Host

Spencer K. Smartt

A Night at The Palomar with Miller on Mondays

A Night at The Palomar

Presents

"Miller on Mondays"

Monday October 3rd, 2011

9PM EST

This month the Panel of Experts

will discuss 

The "NEW" Glenn Miller Orchestra

and his music recorded in 1938

Call in and join in the conversation!

Call in line is 917-889-7819

Show can be heard live at:

The Big Bands on Yester Year Radio

Your Host

Spencer Smartt

The Big Bands on Yester Year Radio

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys - October 26th, 2011

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys

September 26th, 2011 at 9PM EST - 8PM CST

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thebigbands

Our Special Guest to talk about Bob Wills, his life and his music

Dwight Adair

http://www.dwightadair.com/1.html

Your Host

Spencer K. Smartt

Upcoming Shows! Miller on Monday - Cole Porter - Les Brown

Some of our upcoming guests on "A Night at The Palomar" will be Rick Busciglio, Paula Kelly and Les Brown Jr. all of whom are on the Glenn Miller Official Fan Club Facebook page.

"A Night at The Palomar" can be heard live streaming on http://wyyr.com/ (Yester Year Radio) at 9PM Eastern each Monday evening.

August 1st will be our ...very first episode of "Miller on Monday" our monthly discussion of Glenn Miller and his music. Our esteemed panel of Miller historians will include Dennis Spragg, Jeff Karpinski, George Spink and Chris Valenti. Join in on the live online discussion! 9PM Eastern!
August 8th a special treat for Cole Porter fans! Our special guest will be Marilyn Holloway, MA-English who has just published Masters' Dissertation through the University of South Africa all about Cole Porter.

Join in on the live online discussion! 9PM Eastern!

Send me and e-mail with your musical requests at spencer.smartt@gmail.com

July 4th A Celebration of America’s 235th Birthday

This program is dedicated to the men and women in uniform serving our country around the world.
Listen to the archived program at this link:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thebigbands/2011/07/05/july-4th-the-235th-celebration-of-the-united-states

Welcome to “A Night at the Palomar”

Our special guest who you will greatly enjoy, an American hero, Mr. John Wayne


John Adams - Declaration of Independence 



The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an oath of loyalty to the national flag and the Republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the national pledge in 1942. Listen to how John Wayne felt about the Pledge!




Yankee Doodle - US Navy Band 1:08
Traditions place its origin in a pre-Revolutionary War song originally by British military officers to mock the disheveled, disorganized colonial "Yankees" with whom they served in the French and Indian War. As a term Doodle first appeared in the early seventeenth century, and is thought to derive from the Low German dudel or dödel, meaning "fool" or "simpleton". The Macaroni wig was an extreme fashion in the 1770s and became contemporary slang for foppishness. The implication of the verse was therefore probably that the Yankees were so unsophisticated that they thought simply sticking a feather in a cap would make them the height of fashion.



July 4th - Marines Hymn - US Marine Band 1:07 The "Marines' Hymn" is the official hymn of the United States Marine Corps. It is the oldest official song in the United States military.





 Why I Love Her - John Wayne 2:53


“People Like You and Me” From 20th Century Fox film – “Orchestra Wives” recorded May 20th, 1942 with Marion Hutton, Tex Beneke, Ray Elberle, and The Modernaires



Bugle Boy of Company B – Andrews Sisters"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was recorded at Decca's Hollywood studios on January 2, 1941 and was a major hit for The Andrews Sisters and an iconic World War II tune. This song can be considered an early jump blues recording. The song is ranked #6 on Songs of the Century.



America The Good Things – John Wayne

American Patrol – Glenn Miller - Glenn Miller recorded the song in 1942 in a swing arrangement by Jerry Gray. The record reached no. 15 on Billboard in 1942.



The Presidential Address to Congress of December 8, 1941 (known as the Infamy Speech or Day of Infamy Speech) was delivered at 12:30 p.m. that day to a Joint Session of Congress by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, one day after the Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii.



"Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else but Me)" is a popular song that was made famous by Glenn Miller and by the Andrews Sisters during World War II. Its lyrics are the words of two young lovers who pledge their fidelity while one of them is away serving in the war.

Note: Andrews Sisters with Harry James

Green Eyes - Glenn Miller w/ Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell
The English version of the song was a hit for the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra. The recording was made on March 19, 1941 with vocals by Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly and released by Decca Records




An American Boy Grows Up - John Wayne - No Video Available



He's 1A In The Army and He's A1 in My Heart
Martha Tilton Video - He's 1A In The Army & A1 In My Heart (12/23/1941)







The House I Live In (1945) is a ten-minute short film written by Albert Maltz, produced by Frank Ross and Melvyn LeRoy, and starring Frank Sinatra. Made to oppose Antisemitism and racial prejudice at the end of World War II, it received an Honorary Academy Award and a special Golden Globe award in 1946.



I'm Beginning to See the Light – Harry James with Kitty Kallen
The song was composed by Duke Ellington (along with others), published in 1944, and Duke recorded it the following year. But the popular hit of it belonged to Harry James with Kitty Kallen doing the honors on vocal in 1945.



Deep Purple - Artie Shaw and Helen Forrest

 The song is a sentimental ballad. The tune was a favorite of Babe Ruth, and Peter DeRose performed the song at Ruth's birthday parties for about a decade.

Face The Flag Son – John Wayne 3:46




Guns In The Sky - GM ARMY AIR CORP J. DESMOND 2:25 - No Video Available

GI Give - Johnny Mercer 3:21




 Story of Taps – John Wayne 2:57

"(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo" is a #1 popular song recorded by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra in 1942. It was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren and published in 1942. It was featured in the musical film Orchestra Wives and was recorded by Glenn Miller & His Orchestra, featuring Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton and The Modernaires, who released it as an A side 78 in 1942, 27934-A. The B side was "At Last".

The Glenn Miller record was the year's best-selling recording in the United States according to Billboard magazine. It spent nineteen weeks on the Billboard charts, including eight weeks in first place.The song was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Music, Original Song in 1943.





Jukebox Saturday Night Live
The counter-service soda fountain was introduced in 1903, and around that same time, drugstores began to attract noontime customers by adding sandwiches and light lunches. The beverage menu at a soda shop usually included ice cream sodas, chocolate malteds, fountain colas and milkshakes.

During the 1930s and 1940s, the jukeboxes in such establishments made them popular gathering spots for teenagers, as noted in the 1940s song, "Jukebox Saturday Night (tune by Paul McGrane and lyrics by Al Stillman).

Moppin' up soda pop rickies

To our hearts' delight,

Dancing to a swingeroo quickie,

Jukebox Saturday night...

Pop Tate's Chocklit Shoppe is a fictional soda shop created by Bob Montana as a setting for the characters in his Archie comic books and comic strips.

"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938, as sung by Kate Smith (becoming her signature song). Berlin wrote the song in 1918 while serving in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York, but decided that it did not fit in a revue called Yip Yip Yaphank, so he set it aside. The lyrics at that time included the line, "Make her victorious on land and foam, God bless America..." as well as "Stand beside her and guide her, to the right with the light from above."

In 1938, with the rise of Hitler, Berlin, who was Jewish and a first-generation European immigrant, felt it was time to revive it as a "peace song", and it was introduced on an Armistice Day broadcast in 1938 sung by Kate Smith, on her radio show

July 4th 2011 - The 235th Birthday of the United States of America! - A Musical Celebration from the Swing Era!

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A Man and His Horn - Harry James

June 27th, 2011 9PM EST

a special presentation of the life and music of the 

"Master of The Trumpet" 

Mr. Harry James 

with our special guest 

Mr. Fred Radke current leader of The Harry James Orchestra.

Harry James - Don't Be That Way

Streaming live worldwide at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thebigbands at 9PM EST.

Talk with our guest live at 917-889-7819

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"A Night at The Palomar"