Phantom Dancer :: 5:00pm 24th Sep 2022
Original air date - Phantom Dancer :: 12:00pm 20th Sep 2022
Johnny Ace, R'n'B star from the early 1950s, known as 'The Tear Beat on the Blue Note', is this week's Phantom Dancer feature.
The Phantom Dancer is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted by me, Greg Poppleton.
Enjoy a whole library of Phantom Dancer mixes online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.
This show will be online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 20 September at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rahTKCeBZ2M[/embed]
JOHNNY
John Marshall Alexander Jr., known by the stage name Johnny Ace, was an American rhythm-and-blues singer and musician. He had a string of hit singles in the mid 1950s. Ace died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound playing silly-buggers backstage at a concert, aged 25 and had two children.
Born the son of a baptist preacher who allowed no blues in the house. Ace dropped out of high school to join the US Navy. He was reported AWOL for much of his time there.
On discharge he joined Adolph Duncan's Band as a pianist, playing around Beale Street in Memphis. The network of local musicians became known as the Beale Streeters, which included B. B. King, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, Earl Forest, and Roscoe Gordon. Initially, they weren't an official band, but at times there was a leader and they played on each other's records.
In 1951 Ike Turner, who was a talent scout and producer for Modern Records, arranged for Ace and other Beale Streeters to record for Turner's label. Alexander played piano on some of King's records for RPM Records and backed King during broadcasts on WDIA in Memphis. When King departed for Los Angeles and Bland left the group, Ace took over both Bland's vocal duties and King's radio show on WDIA.
David James Mattis, program director at WDIA and founder of Duke Records, claimed that he created the stage name of Johnny Ace: "Johnny" for Johnny Ray and "Ace" for the Four Aces.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJIVh4gAxQg[/embed]
ACE
Ace signed to Duke in 1952 and released his first recording, "My Song", an urbane "heart ballad" which topped the R&B chart for nine weeks beginning in September. He began heavy touring, often with Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. In the next two years, Ace had eight hits in a row, including "Cross My Heart", "Please Forgive Me", "The Clock", "Yes, Baby", "Saving My Love for You" and "Never Let Me Go".
In November 1954, Ace ranked No. 16 on the Billboard 1954 Disk Jockey Poll for R&B Favorite Artists.
In December 1954, he was named the Most Programmed Artist of 1954, according to the results of a national poll of disc jockeys conducted by the U.S. trade weekly Cash Box.
Early in 1955, Duke Records announced that three of his 1954 recordings, along with Thornton's "Hound Dog", had sold more than 1,750,000 copies.
"Pledging My Love" was a posthumous R&B number 1 hit for ten weeks beginning February 12, 1955. As Billboard bluntly put it, Ace's death "created one of the biggest demands for a record that has occurred since the death of Hank Williams just over two years ago."
Soon after Ace's death, in early 1955, Varetta Dillard recorded 'Johnny Has Gone' for Savoy Records. She incorporated many of Ace's song titles in the lyrics. This was the first of the many teen tragedy records that were to follow in the later 50s and early 1960s
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=926PlVxtsHk[/embed]
20 SEPTEMBER PLAY LIST
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Play List - The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney
Community Radio Network Show CRN #564 |
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107.3 2SER Tuesday 20 September 2022 |
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Set 1
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Les Brown | |
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Leap Frog (theme) + Long Ago and Far Away
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Les Brown Orchestra (voc) Doris Day
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Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania NYC WABC CBS NYC 7 Jul 1944 |
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Straighten Up and Fly Right
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Les Brown Orchestra (voc) Butch Stone
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Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania NYC WABC CBS NYC 7 Jul 1944 |
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Going My Way
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Les Brown Orchestra (voc) Gordon Drake
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Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania NYC WABC CBS NYC 7 Jul 1944 |
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Bizet Has His Day + Leap Frog (theme)
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Les Brown Orchestra
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Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania NYC WABC CBS NYC 7 Jul 1944 |
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Set 2
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Woody Herman | |
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Blue Flame (theme) + The Magpie
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Woody Herman Orchestra
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'World Jazz Series' Madison Square Garden WCBS CBS NYC 5 Jun 1960 |
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Apple Honey
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Woody Herman Orchestra
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'World Jazz Series'
Madison Square Garden WCBS CBS NYC 5 Jun 1960 |
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Caldonia
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Woody Herman Orchestra (voc) Woody Herman
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'World Jazz Series'
Madison Square Garden WCBS CBS NYC 5 Jun 1960 |
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Set 3
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Stan Daugherty | |
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Blue Days (theme) + Just Anybody
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Stan Daugherty Orchestra
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KXOK St Louis
5 Feb 1942 |
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Half a Love
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Stan Daugherty Orchestra
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KXOK St Louis
5 Feb 1942 |
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A1 in the Army and A1 in my Heart + Few and Far Between
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Stan Daugherty Orchestra
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KXOK St Louis
5 Feb 1942 |
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A Heavenly Hideaway + Blue Days (theme)
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Stan Daugherty Orchestra
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KXOK St Louis
5 Feb 1942 |
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Set 4
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Johnny Ace 1954 R'n'B | |
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Don't You Know
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Johnny Ace
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'Musty Dusties'
AFRTS Hollywood 5 Jan 1968 |
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Never Let Me Go
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Johnny Ace
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'Musty Dusties'
AFRTS Hollywood 5 Jan 1968 |
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No Money
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Johnny Ace
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'Musty Dusties'
AFRTS Hollywood 5 Jan 1968 |
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Pledging My Love + Let's Go (close)
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Johnny Ace + The Routers (on Let's Go, 1962)
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'Musty Dusties'
AFRTS Hollywood 5 Jan 1968 |
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Set 5
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Women Singers on 1940s Radio | |
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Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
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Ginny Simms
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'Your Hit Parade'
WEAF NBC NYC 1 Mar 1947 |
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There's a Small Hotel
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Ella Logan
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'Jubilee'
AFRS Hollywood 1945 |
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Long Ago and Far Away
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Elizabeth Rogers (voc) Russ Morgan Orchestra
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Garden Court
Hotel Claremont San Francisco 11 Jul 1945 |
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Santa Catalina
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Dorothy Collins (voc) Raymond Scott Orchestra
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Rose Room
Palace Hotel KQW CBS San Francisco 16 Sep 1947 |
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Set 6
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1930s - 40s Australian Swing | |
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Pink Elephants
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Jim Davidson and his Palais Royale Orchestra
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Comm Rec
Sydney 6 Jun 1933 |
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Jungle Jive
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George Trevare Orchestra (voc) Elsie Wardrope
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Comm Rec
Sydney 1943 |
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Hang Your Heart on a Hickory Limb
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Jim Davidson and his Australian Broadcasting Commission Dance Orchestra
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Comm Rec
Sydney 24 Jul 1939 |
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There Goes That Song Again
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George Trevare Orchestra (voc) Elsie Wardrope
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Comm Rec
Sydney 1943 |
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Set 7
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Radio Trad Jazz | |
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Strut Miss Lizzie
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Graeme Bell and his Dixieland Jazz Band (voc) Roger Bell
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3AW
Melbourne 1949 |
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St Louis Blues
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Louis Armstrong All-Stars
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Blue Note
WLS ABC Chicago 11 Dec 1948 |
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Royal Garden Blues
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Jimmy Dorsey Dorseyland Band
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Radio Transcription
Los Angeles 1950 |
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Hindustan
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Bob Crosby Bobcats
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'Camel Caravan'
WABC CBS NYC 4 Jul 1939 |
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Set 8
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1930s Dance Bands | |
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The Very Thought of You (theme) + Flowers for Madame
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Ray Noble Orchestra (voc) Al Bowlly
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'Coty Hour'
WEAF NBC Red NYC 13 Mar 1935 |
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The Continental
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Henry Busse Orchestra |
Radio Transcription
Los Angeles 1935 |
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When Gimbal Hits the Cymbal
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Joe Haymes Orchestra
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Grill Room
Hotel Alpen WABC CBS NYC 29 Jan 1935 |
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Tea for Two + Close
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George Hall Orchestra
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Radio Transcription
New York City 1937 |
