The process of aging has been kind of liberating in its own way. Some time back I got used to not knowing who all the hot young things were or are. Did getting older give me the permission I needed to ignore them, or was it just the excuse I used? There's far too many so called celebrities getting media coverage, and I'm quite content not having any idea just who the hell they are or why I should care. I even got used to the fact that these so called celebrities I've never heard of have been around for 10 or 20 years, and obtained their 15 minutes of Warhol time through tv shows, movies, or music of which I am blissfully unaware.
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Well, Geez. It's been over two hours of interruptions since I wrote that last sentence. Whatever cranky old man prattle I was concocting has completely vacated the synapses of my aging brain. This has been the pattern of daily events since I returned to managing our community radio station. So before the phone rings again, or another email arrives which needs immediate attention, or I feel guilty about not answering a couple of other station emails
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Well, wasn't that fun - another interruption. More station problems. (We've been on and off the air a few times over the last 24 hours due to a bad circuit in the cable company's equipment.) At leas that fire is out - for now.
So as I was about to say, before something else happens, I better post this past Saturday's show. I've only been trying to do it since Sunday. I did have an escape/adventure for several hours on Monday, getting back to town with time to spare before the station's Board meeting (I'm the President).
Last Saturday's show noted the birthdays of band leader Les Brown, of the 'Band of Renown' fame (whose 'girl singer' was Doris Day); arranger, composer, and band leader Les Baxter; bandleader and trumpeter extraordinaire Harry James; St. Patrick's Day; and a wonderful March 13th, 1949 broadcast of Philco Radio Time hosted by Bing Crosby, with guests Peggy Lee, Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, and Joe Venuti. (Whew!)
But first (since the phone isn't ringing and we're on the air) a few clippings from the newspaper from the days around the Philco show. That March started with the heaviest snowfall of the winter. Ads for new cars appeared almost every day, and a new household detergent was introduced. ..
I hope anyone who listens to the show enjoys it.
4 comments:
Good old Tide....it's still MY wash day miracle.
Thanks for listening? Thanks for broadcasting. I was born the year of that Bing show in 1949, and was raised with '50s radio. 1st saw tv in 1956 and was delighted with both media featuring the same artists. One thing I didn't realize until listening to your show was how much Bing Crosby was echoed years later in Dean Martin. Their visual presences were so different, but as I listened to Crosby's lyrical repartee with Peggy Lee and Louis Armstrong there were times when I could picture Martin's artfully relaxed, engaging voice being prefigured. Great post! Kept me up past bedtime.
Delores, Tide is also my long time wash day friend. Recently, however, I've had to change. I have an allergy to cheap perfumes, especially those in things like detergents, shampoos, and etc. Tide was one of the first detergents to have an unscented product for folks like me. But the supermarket I can get to with the least amount of trouble has discontinued it in favor of an unscented Arm and Hammer product. If something sells a lot, and has a good price, it gets discontinued so that you have to buy the product that costs a little more...
Geo, Thank You for your kind comments. I was born in 1950, by the way. I'd never really thought about the similarities between Crosby and Martin before, but you're quite right. Crosby really set the tone for all the singers who followed. In the old days, singers had to practically shout into a megaphone in the old vaudeville 'be heard in the balcony' style for recordings. When the microphone arrived, Bing Crosby was one of the people who figured out that they could sing in a more relaxed, almost conversational style. If it hadn't been for his approach, we wouldn't have had Sinatra and the rest. (Crosby once noted that singers like Sinatra came along 'once in a lifetime. But why did it have to be my lifetime?')(That was a joke in a radio show, by the way.)
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