Original air date - Phantom Dancer :: 12:00pm 10th Mar 2020

George Wallace, Australian comedian, composer, dancer and singer, is this week's Phantom Dancer feature artist from live 1940s-50s radio. Of interest in the comedy selections of George Wallace from 1940s-50s radio is his early 20th century working class Australian accent and WW1 vintage vaudeville stage delivery. In a 1949 interview, Wallace admitted that he found it hard to adapt his comedic techniques to radio. "The hardest thing, is keeping [my voice] down. After years on the stage where you have to raise your voice to make a point, I found in radio that this only made the mike blast and it took me a long time to break the habit of wanting to shout at it." Nonethesless, Wallace's delivery hasn't dated and is still funny, in my opinio. The commercial radio actors he's working with are very much of their time. The Phantom Dancer produced and presented by 1920s-30s singer and actor Greg Poppleton can be heard online from 12:05pm AESDT Tuesday 10 March at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/ The last hour is all vinyl.

GEORGE

George Stephenson "Onkus" Wallace died the day I was born. He was an Australian comedian, vaudevillian, radio personality and film star. During the early to mid-20th century, he was one of the most famous and successful Australian comedians on both stage and screen, with screen, song and revue sketch writing amongst his repertoire. His father toured in minstrel shows and George junior appeared at age three in a Sydney pantomime. He was in his parents' song-and-dance act until they divorced. He later busked in Pyrmont, New South Waleswaterfront, worked in his stepfather's ink factory, and was a farm-hand and canecutter in North Queensland. He then joined a road show at age sixteen.

MOVIES

The 1930s saw George turn his talents to film. He starred in five films, all comedies and was the biggest, if not the biggest, Australian star. Three of these, His Royal Highness (1932), Harmony Row (1933) and A Ticket in Tatts (1934), were directed by F. W. Thring for Thring's company, Efftee Film Productions. He said in 1933 that he turned down an offer from Universal to film in the US. The other two, Let George Do It (1938) and Gone to the Dogs (1939), were directed by Ken G. Hall for Cinesound Productions. Wallace's contributions to these films extended beyond his performances. He developed the concepts for His Royal Highness, Harmony Row and A Ticket in Tatts by drawing on his stage revues, and co-wrote Let George Do It and Gone to the Dogs. Wallace's other film work included a 1932 short film, "Oh! What a Night!", which he is said to have directed unofficially.[8] In later years, he was seen in supporting roles in two dramatic films, The Rats of Tobruk (Charles Chauvel, 1944, Australia) and Wherever She Goes (Michael Gordon, 1953, USA/Australia).

STYLE

In his physical presentation as well as his performance style, George Wallace differed from international stars of slapstick comedy. For instance, his clothing and speech allude to an Australian working-class type and contrast with Charles Chaplin's mock-dapper Tramp persona. The fact that Wallace's performances combine tap-dancing with pratfalls makes him unusual among film comedians anywhere. Moreover, Wallace's films prefigure developments in Hollywood comedy. An example is the fictional country of Betonia in His Royal Highness, which predates satirical depictions of fictional nations in such celebrated films as The Marx Brothers' Duck Soup (1933) and Charles Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940). Other aspects of Wallace's films that are relatively unusual for the period are the comedic treatment of haunted houses in Harmony Row and Gone to the Dogs and scientific experimentation in Gone to the Dogs, which emphasize the resourcefulness of Australian filmmaking in the face of Hollywood's international dominance.

JUNIOR

George Wallace had one child, George Leonard Wallace (George Wallace Jnr.), who became a famous comedian in his own right. At age two he debuted on stage in his father's and mother's vaudeville act joining them in acrobatic poses. He had success on TV in the late 1950s and 1960s. George Wallace Jnr's television show, Theatre Royal, which originated in Brisbane, won a Logie Award in 1962 and 1963. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bPPOrGTt9M 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!

10 MARCH PLAY LIST

Play List - The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #427
107.3 2SER Tuesday 10 March 2020 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 - 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 - 5:55pm National Program: 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 - 11pm 5GTR Mt Gambier Mon 2:30 - 3:30am 4NAG Keppel FM 3 - 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 - 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 - 4pm 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 - 4pm 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 - 7pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 - 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 - 1pm 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 - 6am
Set 1	Special Shows
Open + Somebody Loves Me	Irving Miller Orchestra	'Mirth and Madness' WEAF NBC NYC Jun 1944
I'm Getting Sentimental Over You (theme) + Smiles	Sy Oliver Orchestra	'Endorsed by Dorsey' WOR Mutual NYC 3 Mar 1946
Lady Be Good + Close	Ella Fitzgerald (voc) Ray Brown Trio	'Swingtime at Savoy' WNBC NBC NY 28 Jul 1948
Set 2	1950s Progressive Jazz Radio
Open + So What?	Miles Davis	'Your Treasury of Music' Birdland WRCA NBC NYC 25 Aug 1959
Set 3	Benny Goodman 1937 Radio
One O'Clock Jump	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Madhattan Room Hotel Pennsylvania WABC CBS NYC 20 Oct 1937
Open + Blue Skies	Benny Goodman Trio (voc) Audience	Madhattan Room Hotel Pennsylvania WABC CBS NYC 23 Oct 1937
Dixieland Band + Goodbye (theme)	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Helen Ward	Madhattan Room Hotel Pennsylvania WOR Mutual NYC 21 Oct 1937
Set 4	George Wallace
Open + Three Little Words + Skit	Edwin Duff (singer) George Wallace Comedian	'The George Wallace Show' 2GB Macquarie Network Sydney 1950
Brown Slouch Hat	Joan Blake	'Song of Australia' ABC Radio 1942
Sophie, The Sort On The Bus	George Wallace	Live on The Tivoli Theatre, Sydney 1940s
Wacko! We've Got a Date	George Wallace (voc) Billy O'Flynn's Legionaire Orchestra and Chorus	Comm Rec Melbourne 1940
Set 5	Pee Wee Russell
D.A. Blues	Pee Wee Russell (cl) Eddie Condon Group	'Eddie Condon's Town Hall Jazz Concerts' WJZ Blue NYC 1944
The Blues By Pee Wee Russell	Pee Wee Russell (cl) Eddie Condon Group	'Eddie Condon's Town Hall Jazz Concerts' WJZ Blue NYC 9 Sep 1944
Pee Wee's Town Hall Stomp	Pee Wee Russell (cl) Eddie Condon Group	'Eddie Condon's Town Hall Jazz Concerts' WJZ Blue NYC 1944
Impromptu Ensemble	Pee Wee Russell (cl) Eddie Condon Group	'Eddie Condon's Town Hall Jazz Concerts' WJZ Blue NYC 9 Sep 1944
Set 6	Eugenie Baird
Suddenly It's Spring	Eugenie Baird (voc) Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra	Aircheck Hotel New Yorker May 1944
My Buddy	Eugenie Baird (voc) Paul Whiteman Orchestra	'Forever Pops' KECA ABC LA 1946
My Heart Tells Me	Eugenie Baird (voc) Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra	Aircheck Hotel New Yorker May 1944
What Is This Thing Called Love	Eugenie Baird (voc) Paul Whiteman Orchestra	'Forever Pops' KECA ABC LA 1946
Set 7	1940s Swing Radio
Sleep	Benny Carter Orchestra	'Trianon Time' Trianon Ballroom Southgate Ca Aircheck 1944
Blackberry Jam	Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra	'Spotlight Bands' Columbus OH Blue Network 19 Nov 1943
Let's Dance (theme) + My Guy's Come Back	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Lisa Morrow	Meadowbrook Gardens Culver City Ca KHJ Mutual LA 14 Jan 1946
Smokey Mary + Close	Bob Crosby Orchestra	CBS Aircheck 23 May 1942
Set 8	Shep Fields
Country Garden	Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1940
Basin St Blues	Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra (voc) Robert Goday	Radio Transcription 1938
From Another World	Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra	Radio Transcription 1940