Dance band music for one of America’s leading radio manufacturers in 1930 features on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

The Phantom Dancer is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV, presented by Australia’s only authentic 1920s-30s singer since 1985.

On air every Tuesday, live from 107.3 2SER Sydney from 12:04-2pm, the Phantom Dancer is recorded for re-broadcast over 23 radio stations and online.

You can hear all Phantom Dancer episodes online now at 2ser.com.

THIS WEEK’S PHANTOM DANCER MIX

– has a set of 1930s Western swing records, a set of Louis Armstrong of 1950s radio, a set of Lester Young from 1956 radio and this week’s feature – ‘The Philco Hour’ from 1930-31.

See the full mix play list below…

RISE AND FALL

On this week’s Phantom Dancer we hear the ‘Philco Orchestra’ from the ‘Philco Hour’ radio series of 1930- 31.

Beginning as a battery manufacturer, then as a battery supplier for radios, then as a power unit supplier for radio, by the mid 1920s Philco was building its own radios.

Its research and development department made many improvements in radio home receiver technology throughout the 1930s. These improvemnts in combination with aggressive advertising in print and sponsored radio programming such as the ‘Philco Hour’, made Philco rise from third most popular U.S radio brand in 1929 to number one 1939.

Philco developments improving on sound quality and the aesthetic appeal of each radio unit included:
– 1930: superheterodyne tubes for clearer reception
– 1930: tone control. A listener could change their radio sound to brilliant, bright, mellow, or deep frequencies.
– 1930: smaller, cheaper car radios
– 1934: the first true high fidelity radio receiver on the market
– 1936: automatic tuning – listeners could assign their favorite stations to presets.
– 1939: mystery control, the first wireless remote control made for radios.

Philco was also a pioneer in television broadcasting. It launched experimental station W3XE in 1932 and was selling Philco TVs in 1939.

But in 1960, it filed for bankruptcy.

You can hear more of the 1930s ‘Philco Hour’ here as your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week:

3 JULY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #321
107.3 2SER Tuesday 3 July 2018 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) National Program: ArtSoundFM Canberra Sunday 7 – 8pm and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	Swing Ballads on 1946-47 Radio
Walking Stick	Claude Thornhill Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WJZ ABC NY 22 Sep 1947
Come Rain Come Shine	Bobby Sherwood Orchestra (voc) Frances Glenn	‘One Night Stand’ Avadon Ballroom LA AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Jun 1946
Might As Well Be Spring	Art Mooney Orchestra (voc) Johnny Darcy	‘One Night Stand’ Blue Room Hotel Lincoln NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 1946
Set 2	1950s Big Band Radio
Theme + I’m Walkin’	Johnny Richards Orchestra	‘ABC Dancing Party’ WABC ABC NY 1957
Take The A Train (theme) + Caravan	Duke Ellington Orchestra	Basin Street WCBS CBS NY 16 Apr 1956
On The Alamo	Georgie Auld (ts) Orchestra with Jud Conlon’s Rhythmaires	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 25 Dec 1952
Set 3	Philco Orchestra 1930-31 Radio
Open + Cinderella Brown	Philco Orchestra	‘Philco Program’ WABC CBS NY 1930
Boy! Oh! Boy! I’ve Got It Bad	Boswell Sisters	‘Philco Program’ WABC CBS NY 1931
I Don’t Mind Walking In The Rain	Philco Orchestra	‘Philco Program’ WABC CBS NY 1930
Set 4	1930s Radio Swing
I Can’t Get Started (theme) + O Ya Ya	Bunny Berrigan Orchestra	Manhattan Centre WNEW NYC 26 Sep 1939
Hallelujah + A Fine Romance	Johnny Green Orchestra (voc) Fred Astaire and Trudy Wood	‘Packard Hour 1936 Election Special’ KFI NBC Red LA 11 Mar 1936
Ain’t Misbehavin’	Louis Armstrong with Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra	‘Camel Caravan’ WEAF NBC Red NYC 14 Oct 1939
Set 5	Louis Armstrong Trad Jazz 1940s-50s Radio
When It’s Sleepy Time Down South (theme) + Indiana	Louis Armstrong	‘Guest Star’ Radio Transcription 12 Dec 1954
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?	Louis Armstrong	Wintergarden Theatre WNBC NBC NYC 19 Jun 1947
Fine and Dandy	Louis Armstrong	‘Guest Star’ Radio Transcription 7 May 1950
Royal Garden Blues	Louis Armstrong	‘Damon Runyon Memorial Concert’ Blue Note ABC Chicago 11 Dec 1948
Set 6	Early ’40s Dance Bands
Slow and Easy	Charlie Spivak Orchestra	Radio Transcription New York City 1941
The Lion and the Mouse	Glen Gray and the Casa loma Orchestra	Aircheck Hotel New Yorker New York City May 1944
Saturday Night	Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) Patti Thomas	‘Spotlight Bands’ Blue Network 11 Feb 1945
Knock Me A Kiss + Close	Gene Krupa Orchestra (voc) Roy Eldridge	Aircheck 13 Nov 1942
Set 7	1930s Western Swing on Records
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home	Texas Rose (voc)	Comm Rec San Antonio 22 Dec 1938
Does My Baby Love Me, Yes Sir	Jimmie Revard and hos Oklahoma Playboys	Comm Rec San Antonio 14 Sep 1937
Who’s Sorry Now?	W. Lee O’Daniel	Comm Rec Dallas 30 Sep 1935
I Never Felt So Blue	Adolph Hofner and his Texans	Comm Rec San Antonio 25 Oct 1938
Set 8	Lester Young on 1956 Radio
Lullaby of Birdland + Lester Leaps In	Lester Young	Birdland WABC ABC NY 7 Aug 1956
Three Little Words	Lester Young	Birdland WABC ABC NY 5 Sep 1956