OLD FATHER TIME

Guy Lombardo led the world’s leading ‘sweet’ band from 1924 – 1977. Guy became known as ‘Old Father Time’ because his band brought in New Years in the US on radio and later TV from 1929 to 1976. Guy Lombardo is November 20 Phantom Dancer feature artist. See the full swing playlist, Guy Lombardo video and story here.

PHANTOM DANCER

The Phantom Dancer is your non-stop swing and jazz mix of live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week. I’ve been bringing you The Phantom Dancer on radio 2SER, and now online, since 1985.

Hear this week’s Phantom Dancer (after Nov 20) and past Phantom dancers at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney

CANADA

Guy Lombardo was born in London, Ontario, Canada. He and his brothers and one sister all learned musical instruments as children so they could accompany their father who was an amateur singer.

Guy Lombardo’s first public performance was with his brother Carmen at a church lawn party in London in 1914.

ROYAL

Guy formed his Royal Canadian band in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert and Victor, and other musicians from London.

Promoted as creating ‘the sweetest music this side of Heaven’, the Royal Canadians may have sold up to 300 million records in its lifetime.

HITS

The band made its first record in 1924 and recorded sporadically until signed to Columbia in 1927 when they had their first big hit. From then on they recorded prolifically for the top record companies including Brunswick and Decca.

Though the jazz and swing community ridiculed the band’s sweet style, Louis Armstrong called Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians his favourite band.

EVE

Guy Lombardo is most famous for 48 years of New Years Eve band broadcasts on radio and then TV.

Lombardo played his first New Years Eve broadcast in 1928.

The following year, his orchestra played US radio’s first national New Years broadcast from New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel. In fact, we hear Guy Lombardo broadcasting from the Grill Room of the Hotel Roosevelt in this week’s Phantom Dancer.

He played New Years in the Grill Room of the Hotel Roosevelt every year until 1959 when he switched to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. He played New Years there every year until 1976. His TV New Year shows began in 1956. As early as 1945, he was being familiarly introduced over New Years airwaves as ‘Old Father Time’. His radio theme, from 1929, was the traditional New Yeras Eve song, ‘Auld Lang Syne’.

Even after Lombardo’s death in 1977, the Royal Canadians’ New Years specials continued for two more years on CBS. The Royal Canadians’ recording of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ still plays as the first song of the new year in Times Square, New York City.

VIDEO

This week’s Phantom Dancer video of the week is Guy Lombardo’s New Years Eve TV special in New York City live from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in 1976 – his last. It includes the Guy Lombardo version of the 1970s hit, ‘Feelings’ (at 7’35”).

20 NOVEMBER PLAY LIST