NBC Radio Comic Book

Four Color Shadows posted this 1947 comic booklet published by NBC about all the effort that went into producing a radio show.  Our guide through radioland is a somewhat menacing detached microphone, who covers every aspect of golden age radio production, from scripts, to music, to rehearsals, sound effects and even copyright!

Sunrise Serenade: Rock Daniel

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Rock Daniel" by Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra featuring Sister Rosetta Tharpe.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Playlist For May 30, 2012

The playlist for the May 30, 2012 broadcast of the Swing Shift Shuffle has just been added to the playlist filing cabinet.

GM Models For 1936

The Jalopy Journal asked the question of why so many hot rodders based their creations on the late 1930's Fords, rather than other makes.  Some might point to the legendary Ford V8 as the answer, but many of the GM straight 8's, and even the old Chevy "stovebolt" straight 6 had equivalent horsepower.  Regardless of the reason, the JJ posted a series of GM advertising literature featuring coupe models from 1936.

Sunrise Serenade: Don't Get Around Much Anymore

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" by the Ink Spots.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Be A Cool Cat With The Tiger Rag And Red Hot Lindy Hop

Summer is here, so keep cool with The Tiger Rag tomorrow night and every Wednesday at the Madison Dance Studio inside Minglewood Hall at 1555 Madison Avenue at 8:00 p.m. You can also sign up for a series of dance classes taught every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.  More info here. 

The Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues this Friday night at the Rumba Room with free admission and lesson before 7:00 p.m., and $5 cover at the door afterwards.  The lesson will be by Kirk and Jasmine with music by Kirk.  Dress like you are going out!

Rumba Room

303 South Main

Memphis, TN 38103

Sunrise Serenade: Jukebox Saturday Night

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Jukebox Saturday Night" by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Memorial Day

Better late than never, I hope everyone has a good Memorial Day, and that we remember its purpose.

Daffy The Commando

For Memorial Day weekend, it seemed appropriate to revisit the story of when Daffy Duck turned commando to take on Hitler.  From the Internet Archive, here is the 1943 short, Daffy the Commando. 

Sunrise Serenade: Hooray for Hollywood

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was an old favorite of mine:  "Hooray for Hollywood," by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra from the 1937 Warner Bros. picture, Hollywood Hotel.  In addition to Benny, this song features Johnny "Scat" Davis, Francis Langford, Harry James and Gene Krupa.

Hooray 4 Hollywood Busby Berkeley by NilbogLAND

Pullman Cinema Car

Before in flight movies there was on rail movies.  Vintage Ads posted a series of passenger railroad promotions that included the above depiction of the Club-Cinema Car, which converted from lounge to movie theater at night.

Sunrise Serenade: Beer Barrel Polka

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Beer Barrel Polka" by the Andrews Sisters.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Playlist For May 23, 2012

The playlist for the May 23, 2012 broadcast of the Swing Shift Shuffle has just been added to the playlist filing cabinet.

Wartime Saturday Evening Post Covers

As demonstrated by this Golden Age Comic Book Stories posting of seven covers from The Saturday Evening Post between 1942-1949, the magazine did not always start with an image of homespun Americana.  Several of these covers reflect the struggles of the day.

Sunrise Serenade: Swing Mr. Charlie

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Swing Mr. Charlie" by Bunny Berigan.  Click on the song title for a sample from emusic, or click here for the album page.

Hop Into Summer With A Rag

Celebrate the unofficial start of Summer with The Tiger Rag tomorrow night and every Wednesday at the Madison Dance Studio inside Minglewood Hall at 1555 Madison Avenue at 8:00 p.m. You can also sign up for a series of dance classes taught every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.  More info here. 

The Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues this Friday night at the Rumba Room with free admission and lesson before 7:00 p.m., and $5 cover at the door afterwards.  The lesson will be by Matt and Amanda with music by Amanda.  Dress like you are going out!

Rumba Room

303 South Main

Memphis, TN 38103

Sunrise Serenade: Forty Second Street

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Forty Second Street" by the Boswell Sisters.  Enjoy the song below, or click on the song title to watch on YouTube.

Post War Crosley

I like what Crosley was trying to do with small, efficient cars, but something about the styling of this 1946 model mentioned in the June 1946 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, posted on Modern Mechanix, leaves me a bit flat.  

Sunrise Serenade: A Tisket A Tasket

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "A Tisket A Tasket" by Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb and His Orchesta.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Screwball Squirrel

One thing struck me right from the beginning of this Screwy Squirrel cartoon from 1944.  Although Warner Bros. certainly had the ultimate cartoon music in the Raymond Scott compositions for which it purchased the rights, MGM had some really swinging cartoon music of its own.  From the Internet Archive, and directed by Tex Avery, here is Screwball Squirrel. 

Sunrise Serenade: Someone Stole Gabriel's Horn

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Someone Stole Gabriel's Horn" by Bunny Berigan.  Click on the song title for a sample clip from emusic.

World Of Tomorrow

This set of images, posted on Retronaut, shows artists' conceptions of the exposition buildings at the 1939 New York World's Fair.  Based on the captions for the images, it appears these renderings were created before the buildings were completed.  Although I'm familiar with the famous "spike and ball" from that World's Fair, the others were new to me, and I am not even sure they were completed.  I especially like this Maritime building, with its dual prowed entrance.

Sunrise Serenade: One Meatball

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "One Meatball" by the Andrews Sisters.  Enjoy the video below from YouTube.

Playlist For May 16, 2012

The playlist for the May 16, 2012 broadcast of the Swing Shift Shuffle has just been added to the playlist filing cabinet.

A Variety Of Myrna Loy

Film Noir Photos posted a nice series of Myrna Loy pictures that really shows the diversity of one of my favorite actresses.  The photos depict Loy in a variety of costumes, demonstrating she could easily be more than just William Powell's foil.

Sunrise Serenade: Bye Bye Baby

This morning's Sunrise Serenade is a hard to find instrumental version of "Bye Bye Baby," by Bob Crosby.  Click on the song title to hear a sample courtesy of ArtistDirect.

More Rags And Lindys

The Tiger Rag happens tomorrow night and every Wednesday at the Madison Dance Studio inside Minglewood Hall at 1555 Madison Avenue at 8:00 p.m. You can also sign up for a series of dance classes taught every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.  More info here. 

The Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues this Friday night at the Rumba Room with free admission and lesson before 7:00 p.m., and $5 cover at the door afterwards.  The lesson will be by Mike T and Becky with music by Becky.  Dress like you are going out!

Rumba Room

303 South Main

Memphis, TN 38103

Sunrise Serenade: Organ Grinder's Swing

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Organ Grinder's Swing" by Ella Fitzgerald.  Enjoy the video below from YouTube.

Chic Carter Police Reporter & Part Time Caped Hero?

According to Four Color Shadows, Chic Carter was a police reporter who solved crimes, and to take a break from work, he would only occasionally become a costumed crime fighting hero known as The Sword.  All work and no play makes Chic a serious workaholic.  Anyway, in this issue, Chic sticks with the flat foot and fedora style to vanquish a slithery seductress who digs cobras.

Sunrise Serenade: There'll Be Some Changes Made

By the way, sorry about the absence of any posts Friday.  Had to call in sick for that shift.  Feeling much better now, and hopefully this morning's Sunrise Serenade will make you feel better too.  It was "There'll Be Some Changes Made" by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra.  Enjoy the video below from YouTube.

A Home On The Road

Now that is what I call camping in style.  The adventure and freedom of a motorcycle combined with the comforts of a camping trailer, with a canoe to boot.  Dieselpunk posted this cover from the June 1936 issue of Popular Science. 

Sunrise Serenade: Keep Laughing, Keep Smiling, Be Happy

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Keep Laughing, Keep Smiling, Be Happy" by Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra.  Enjoy the video below from YouTube.

Playlist For May 9, 2012

The playlist for the May 9, 2012 broadcast of the Swing Shift Shuffle has just been added to the playlist filing cabinet.

Navy Food Posters

In another example of how times have changed, Retronaut posted a series of U.S. Navy posters that warned against the dangers of wasting food.  I like the slogan "Take all you can eat.  Eat all you take."  I wonder how much food is wasted today.

Sunrise Serenade: It's A Quiet Town

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "It's A Quiet Town" by the Andrews Sisters with Danny Kaye.  Enjoy the video below from YouTube. 

Tiger Rag Wednesday And Live Music Friday

The Tiger Rag happens tomorrow night and every Wednesday at the Madison Dance Studio inside Minglewood Hall at 1555 Madison Avenue at 8:00 p.m. You can also sign up for dance classes.  More info here. 

The Red Hot Lindy Hop brings live music to the Rumba Room this Friday night with Jeremy Shrader's Quintessentials.  Free lesson at 7:00 p.m. with a $7 band cover.  The lesson will be by Michael Q. and Kimmie.  Dress like you are going out!

Rumba Room

303 South Main

Memphis, TN 38103

Sunrise Serenade: American Patrol

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "American Patrol" by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Slot Machine Doctor

Here is yet another example of technology that many people might consider relatively recent, but which is actually over 70 years old.  I remember seeing coin operated blood pressure machines even when I was a kid, but I never realized until I saw this article from the December 1941 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, posted on Modern Mechanix, that such machines were in use at that time.

Sunrise Serenade: Are You Ready?

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Are You Ready?" by Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Betty Boop: Old Man Of The Mountain

I really do not know why I have not posted this cartoon long ago, since it includes one of my favorite songs.  In this animated short from Fleischer Studios, Betty Boop and Cab Calloway team up again for some musical mischief.  The lyrics in this version of "Old Man of the Mountain" differ somewhat from those of the popular recorded version of the song, in which the Old Man is more pleasant and less menancing.  From the Internet Archive, here is the 1933 cartoon, Old Man Of The Mountain.

Sunrise Serenade: Straighten Up And Fly Right

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Straighten Up And Fly Right" by the Nat King Cole Trio.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

1937 Aeronautics Show Poster

In addition to the wonderfully simple yet sophisticated design of this poster for a 1937 air show in Milan (posted on Dieselpunk), it contains a subtle point of historical interest.  On both sides of the poster, just above the event title "II Salone Internazionale," there is a stylized "fasces."  This symbol, an axe within a bundle of rods, was an emblem of the Roman empire.  Mussolini, who was ruling Italy at the time of this poster, revived the use of that symbol, which gave its name to his party - Fascists.

Sunrise Serenade: Never Gonna Dance

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Never Gonna Dance" by Fred Astaire.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Playlist For May 2, 2012

The playlist for the May 2, 2012 broadcast of the Swing Shift Shuffle has just been added to the playlist filing cabinet.

Multinational Propaganda

This image, posted on Retronaut, illustrates why the conflict was called "World" War II.  It depicts British and Russian aircraft shooting down a German plane, with a caption in Persian for distribution to Iran.

Sunrise Serenade: Robbin's Nest

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Robbin's Nest" by Ella Fitzgerald.  Click on the song title for a sample from emusic, or click here for the album page.

Rag, Hop And Live Music Next Week

The Tiger Rag happens tomorrow night and every Wednesday at the Madison Dance Studio inside Minglewood Hall at 1555 Madison Avenue at 8:00 p.m. You can also sign up for dance classes every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.  More info here.  A four week Charleston class starts tomorrow!

The Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session returns to the Rumba Room this Friday night with free admission and lesson before 7:00 p.m., and $5 cover at the door afterwards.  The lesson will be by Meghan and Kirk with music by Josie.  Dress like you are going out!

Rumba Room

303 South Main

Memphis, TN 38103

Next week:  Live music from Jeremy Shrader's Quintessentials. 

Sunrise Serenade: Big Fat Mama

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Big Fat Mama" by Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.