Original air date - Phantom Dancer :: 12:00pm 24th Mar 2020

The Thrasher Sisters, Andrew Sisters and Trio Lescano from the 1940s are your Phantom Dancer feature artists this week for your self-isolating pleasure. The Phantom Dancer produced and presented by 1920s-30s singer and actor Greg Poppleton can be heard online from 12:05pm AEDST Tuesday 17 March at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/ More on the Andrew Sisters and Trio Lescano in future Phantom Dancers - your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-50s radio with Greg Poppleton. Today's story, read on, is about The Thrasher Sisters. Well, it's short and sweet and comes from a Billboard record review, 23 March 1946. Here it is...   Mary Jane Thrasher's obit is quoted here for the LA Times. It tells Mary's story and the story of the sisters, "January 22, 1924 - February 23, 2014 Mary Jane, a loving big sister and Auntie, as well as a talented singer and painter, passed away peacefully in Monterey Park on February 23, 2014, at the age of 90. Mary Jane's vitality and positive attitude was truly an inspiration, and her hearty laughter and warm, loving personality will be missed by all who knew her. Challenged with macular degeneration and severe hearing loss, she never complained or let her physical limitations darken her mood or her enjoyment of life. Separated from her two younger sisters and parents due to the challenges of the Depression, Mary Jane was raised by her father's mother on the plains of South Dakota, along with her younger sister, Betty. Grandma Thrasher instilled the foundation for both Mary Jane and Betty's inner strength and determination as single women throughout their entire lives. As Mary Jane approached her teen years, the family was reunited, and the Thrasher sisters, including youngest sister, Dee, discovered early on that they had a talent for singing, harmonizing together in the style of their favorite radio vocalists, the Boswell Sisters. In 1938, the Thrasher Sisters were hired by Cincinnati radio station WLW to perform on their very own Sunday morning radio program. For the next four years, Mary Jane, Betty, and Dee appeared on the show every weekend. A sample of the Thrasher Sisters' exquisite harmonies can be found on YouTube.com ("Fountains of Fun" WLW 1942). In 1942, the family moved to Los Angeles, and the Thrasher Sisters were booked on a number of popular radio and TV programs. In 1949, noted band leader Jerry Fielding offered to mentor them and guide their career. He promptly changed their name to the Morgan Sisters, and booked them for a six-month engagement at the Pearl City Tavern near Honolulu, Hawaii. While on the island, the Morgan Sisters also participated in a number of recording sessions. Two of the songs they recorded in Hawaii can also be heard today on YouTube.com - "My Waikiki Girl" and "Fish and Poi." In 1954, the Morgan Sisters broke up when youngest sister Dee left the group to marry Danny Barcelona, a young Hawaiian drummer she had met in Honolulu, and who later became a member of Louis Armstrong's All Stars. In the late 1950's, Mary Jane and Betty began working at the Los Angeles Times, where they continued to perform over the years at company events until their retirement in 1988. Mary Jane leaves behind her sister, Betty..." In this week's mix you'll also hear a set of Women Singers and Headliners on 1930s-40s Radio and dance bands from live 1937 radio. The last hour is all vinyl Your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week this week is Reg Kehoe and his Marimba Queens. The double bass player is brilliant, using the instrument chordally and percussively at once. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM3HdjhV1Xw 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.

24 MARCH PLAY LIST

Play List - The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #429
107.3 2SER Tuesday 24 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 7LTN Launceston 5 - 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 - 6am
Set 1	Swing Bands on mid-1940s Radio
Poinciana (Open) + Rise and Shine/I Want To Be Happy	Garwood Van Orchestra	Starlight Room Hotel Chase St Louis Mutual Network 9 Aug 1944
Walking Stick	Claude Thornhill Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WJZ ABC NYC 22 Sep 1947
I Hear You Screaming + Moonlight Serenade (close)	Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom KNX CBS Los Angeles 2 Oct 1946
Set 2	Swing Bands on 1959-1961 Radio
It Took Ten Days Blues	Jerry Gary and his Band of Today	Palladium Ballroom KFI NBC Los Angeles 30 Oct 1959
Redskin Rhumba (Open) + Skyliner	Charlie Barnet Orchestra	Palladium Ballroom KFI NBC Los Angeles 12 Sep 1959
Two O’Clock Jump	Harry James Orchestra	El Patio Ballroom KCBS CBS San Francisco 20 May 1961
Set 3	Early Radio Music
All Muggled Up	Blue Steele Orchestra	Comm Rec Memphis 15 May 1930
Ooh That Kiss	The Nehi Quartet	’Nehi Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1931
Land of Sunset Dreams + Melancholy Moon + It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More (theme)	Wendall Hall	’The Pineapple Picador’ KTSP NBC Minneapolis 2 Apr 1931
Set 4	Women Singers in 1938-39 New York City Swing Bands
Bluebirds in the Moonlight	Marion Hutton (voc) Glenn Miller Orchestra	Meadowbrook Ballroom Cedar Grove NJ WJZ NBC Blue 7 Dec 1939
East of the Sun	Bea Wain (voc) Larry Clinton Orchestra	’RCA Campus Club’ Glen Island Casino New Rochelle NY WEAF NBC Red NY 13 Feb 1940
When I Go A-Dreaming	Helen Forrest (voc) Artie Shaw Orchestra	Blue Room Hotel Lincoln WEAF NBC Red NY 1 Dec 1938
Set 4	Women Vocal Trios On Air
Il Pinguino Innimorato	Trio Lescano and Silvana Fires (voc) Pippo Barzizza Orchestra	Cetra, Rome 1940
I’ve Got No Strings	Andrew Sisters (voc) Glenn Miller Orchestra	’Chesterfield Show’ WABC CBS NY 13 Feb 1940
Shoo Shoo Baby	Thrasher Sisters (voc) Phil Davis Orchestra	’Fountain Of Fun’ WLW Cincinnati 21 Nov 1943
Set 5	Women Singers and Headliners on 1930s-40s Radio
I Wish I Were Twins	Valaida Snow (voc) Billy Mason Orchestra	Comm Rec London 18 Jan 1935
From The Land of the Sky Blue Water	Mildred Bailey (voc) Paul Baron Orchestra	’Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NY 1944
It’s Funny To Everyone But Me	Helen Ward (voc) Bob Crosby Orchestra	’Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS NY 18 Jul 1939
My Baby Said Yes	Irene Day (voc) Charlie Spivak Orchestra	’One Night Stand’ Century Room Commodore Hotel AFRS Re-broadcast 25 Feb 1945
Set 6	Swing on 1937 Radio
Cosmic Rhythm	Seger Ellis and his Choirs of Brass	Radio Transcription New York City 1937
Russian Swing	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Marek Windheim and Alexander Chorus	’Camel Caravan’ WABC CBS NY 17 Aug 1937
St Louis Blues	Louis Armstrong Orchestra	’Norge Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1937
Swing It, Brother, Swing	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Billie Holliday	Savoy Ballroom Aircheck NYC 30 Jun 1937
Set 7	Early 1930s Radio Jazz and Dance Bands
Cheer Up and Ballyhoo	Eddie Cantor (voc) Phil Spitalny’s Music, Bob Effros (tp) Joe Venuty (violin)	Hit of the Week Record New York City Oct 1931
Dinah	Freddy Rich Orchestra (voc) Bob Effros (tp)?	’Friendly Five Footnotes’ Radio Transcription New York City 1932
Do The New York	Gus Arnheim Orchestra	’Cocoanut Grove’ TRANSCO Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1931
You’re Driving Me Crazy	Paul Whiteman Orchestra (1920s and 1940s version)	’Forever Pops’ ABC Chicago 1950
Set 8	Bop on Radio
Katzenjammer’s Ball	Jack Allen’s Original Katzenjammers	Comm Rec Sydney 23 Feb 1950
Lullaby of Birdland (theme) + Three Little Words	Lester Young Quintet	Birdland WABC ABC NY 5 Sep 1956
Cheryl	Charlie Parker Quintet	’Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 1 Jan 1949