Original air date - Phantom Dancer :: 12:00pm 14th Jan 2020

Your feature artists on this week's Phantom Dancer with Greg Poppleton - your two hour non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio - are singers Frankie Laine, Mel Torme and Jo Stafford from live 1940s radio. The last hour is all vinyl. You can hear The Phantom Dancer online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

FRANKIE LAINE

Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio) was an American singer, songwriter and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years. He first sang in 1930 with a marathon dance company. His final performance was "That's My Desire" in 2005. Often billed as "America's Number One Song Stylist", his other nicknames include "Mr. Rhythm", "Old Leather Lungs", and "Mr. Steel Tonsils". His hits included "That's My Desire", "That Lucky Old Sun", "Mule Train", "Jezebel", "High Noon", "I Believe", "Hey Joe!", "The Kid's Last Fight", "Cool Water", "Rawhide", and "Lord, You Gave Me a Mountain". He sang well-known theme songs for many movie Western soundtracks, including 3:10 To Yuma, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and Blazing Saddles, although his recordings were not charted as a country & western. Laine sang an eclectic variety of song styles and genres, stretching from big band crooning to pop, western-themed songs, gospel, rock, folk, jazz, and blues. On this week's Phantom Dancer, The Velvet Fog, Mel Torme, sings two songs including one when aged 17 in front of Chico Marx's Orchestra on a CBS Fitch Bandwagon.

MEL TORME

Melvin Howard Tormé was nicknamed "The Velvet Fog". He was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells. A child prodigy, Torme first performed professionally at age 4 with the Coon-Sanders Orchestra, singing "You're Driving Me Crazy" at Chicago's Blackhawk restaurant. He played drums in the drum-and-bugle corps at Shakespeare Elementary School. From 1933 to 1941, he acted in the radio programs The Romance of Helen Trent and Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy. He wrote his first song at 13. Three years later his first published song, "Lament to Love," became a hit for bandleader Harry James. From 1942 to 1943 he was a member of a band led by Chico Marx of the Marx Brothers. He was the singer, drummer, and also did some arrangements. In 1943, Tormé made his movie debut in Frank Sinatra's first film, the musical Higher and Higher. His appearance in the 1947 film musical Good News made him a teen idol. In 1944 he formed the vocal quintet Mel Tormé and His Mel-Tones, modeled on Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers. The Mel-Tones, which included Les Baxter and Ginny O'Connor, had several hits fronting Artie Shaw's band and on their own, including Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?" The Mel-Tones were among the first jazz-influenced vocal groups.

JO STAFFORD

Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American traditional pop music singer and actor. Her career spanned the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classical training to become an opera singer before following a career in popular music, and by 1955 had achieved more worldwide record sales than any other female artist. Her 1952 song "You Belong to Me" topped the charts in the United States and United Kingdom, the record becoming the first by a female artist to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart. Born in Coalinga, California, Stafford made her first musical appearance at age 12. While still at high school, she joined her two older sisters to form a vocal trio named the Stafford Sisters, who found moderate success on radio and in film. In 1938, while the sisters were part of the cast of Twentieth Century Fox's production of Alexander's Ragtime Band, Stafford met the future members of the Pied Pipers and became the group's lead singer. Bandleader Tommy Dorsey hired them in 1939 to perform back-up vocals for his orchestra. In addition to her recordings with the Pied Pipers, Stafford featured in solo performances for Dorsey. After leaving the group in 1944, she recorded a series of pop standards for Capitol Records and Columbia Records. Many of her recordings were backed by the orchestra of Paul Weston. She also performed duets with Gordon MacRae and Frankie Laine. Her work with the United Service Organizations giving concerts for soldiers during World War II earned her the nickname "G.I. Jo". Starting in 1945, Stafford was a regular host of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio series The Chesterfield Supper Club and later appeared in television specials—including two series called The Jo Stafford Show, in 1954 in the U.S. and in 1961 in the U.K. Jo Stafford film and TV clips make up your Video of the Week. The first clip is introduced by Ronald Reagan and includes a live version of 'Temtayshun', with Jo Stafford as 'Cinerella G Stump' singing a quarter tone out and taking no spaces like all of our great indie singers (but back then it was considered a joke). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZoiu7m0LgE Make sure you come back to this blog, Greg Poppleton's Radio Lounge, every Tuesday, for the newest Phantom Dancer play list and Video of the Week! Thank you.

14 JANUARY PLAY LIST

Play List - The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #419
107.3 2SER Tuesday 14 January 2020 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 - 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) National Program: ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 - 11pm Edge FM Bega Monday 3 - 4pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 - 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 - 1pm 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 - 6am and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	Swing on 1950s Radio
One O'Clock Jump + Sixteen Men Swinging	Count Basie Orchestra	'Saturday Night Rock'n'Roll Dance Party' Paramount Theatre, Brooklyn WCBS CBS NY 1956
Sitting In The Sun	Les Brown Orchestra (voc) JoAnn Greer	'All-Star Parade of Bands' Palladium Ballroom KFI NBC LA 12 Oct 1953
Capital Idea + (theme)	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra	'All-Star Parade of Bands' Magnolia Room Hotel Claridge WMC NBC Memphis 19 Jun 1953
Set 2	Swing Dance Bands on 1942-44 Radio
Open + Abraham	Chico Marx Orchestra (voc) Mel Torme	'Fitch Band Wagon' Blackhawk Restaurant WBBM CBS Chicago 20 Dec 1942
Was It Like That?	Lionel Hampton Orchestra (voc) Dinah Washington	'One Night Stand' Civic Auditorium Oakland Ca AFRS Re-broadcast 4 Jun 1944
Open + Ain't Misbehavin'	Louis Armstrong Orchestra (voc) Louis Armstrong	'Jubilee' AFRS Hollywood 20 May 1943
One Night Stand + Close (Coca Cola Waltz in 4/4 Swing)	Denny Beckner Orchestra	'Spotlight Bands' Norfolk, Virginia AFRS Re-broadcast 30 Mar 1944
Set 3	Navy Star Time Singers 1952 Radio
Baby, That Ain't Right	Frankie Laine (voc) Buzz Adlam Orchestra	'Navy Star Time' Radio Transcription Hollywood 1952
I Hadn't Anyone Till You	Mel Torme (voc) Buzz Adlam Orchestra	'Navy Star Time' Radio Transcription Hollywood 1952
I'll Get By + Close	Jo Stafford (voc) Buzz Adlam Orchestra	'Navy Star Time' Radio Transcription Hollywood 1952
Set 4	1946 Radio Swing
Instrumental	Harry James Orchestra	'Spotlight Bands ' El Patio Playhouse KHJ Mutual LA 13 Apr 1946
Begin The Beguine	Bobby Sherwood Orchestra	'One Night Stand' Avadon Ballroom Los Angeles AFRS Re-broadcast 3 jun 1946
Blue Moon + Summertime	Bob Crosby Orchestra	'One Night Stand' Palladium Ballroom Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Dec 1946
Set 5	1934 - 36 Radio Bands
There's Something In The Air	Red Nichols Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York City 1936
Robins and Roses	Lee Wiley (voc)	WABC CBS NY 17 Jun 1936
Christopher Columbus	Isham Jones Orchestra	WOR Mutual NY 13 Mar 1936
Goodbye	Benny Goodman Orchestra	'Let's Dance' WEAF NBC Red NY 2 Feb 1935
Set 6	Big Bands 1942-45 Radio
McGhee Special	Andy Kirk and his 12 Clouds of Joy	Comm Rec New York City 14 Jul 1942
Open + Smiles	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	'For The Record' WEAF NBC NY 11 Sep 1944
Slip Of The Lip	Duke Ellington Orchestra	'Fourth War Loan Drive' WEAF NBC NY 1 May 1943
One O'Clock Jump (open) + Unidentified Time	Johnny Otis Orchestra	'Jubilee' AFRS Hollywood Oct 1945
Set 7	Sweet Bands on 1930-40s Wireless
You Are My Dream	Gray Gordon and his Tic Toc Rhythm Orchestra (voc) Cliff Glass	Radio Transcription New York City 1939
It Was Just One Of Those Things	Russ Morgan Orchestra	Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles 13 May 1946
Words Of Love	Eddy Howard Orchestra	Aragon Ballroom WGN Mutual Chicago 5 Dec 1945
It's A Whole New Thing	Blue Barron Orchestra (voc) Charlie Fisher	Radio Transcription New York City 1938
Set 8	Bop Inspired Radio
Moppin' The Blues	Pete Brown Quintette	Comm Rec New York City 11 Jul 1944
A Minor Thing + In Your Own Sweet Way	Dave Brubeck Quartet	Basin Street WCBS CBS NY Feb 1956
High On An Open Mike	Fats Navarro (tp) Bill Harris (tb) Alen Eager, Charlie Ventura (ts) Ralph Burns (piano) Al Valente (g) Chubby Jackson (b) Buddy Rich (d)	'Saturday Night Swing Session' WNEW NY 12 Apr 1947
Fine and Dandy	Slim Gaillard Quintet	'Symphony Sid Show' WJZ ABC NY 2 Jun 1951