Phantom Dancer :: 12:00pm 24th Oct 2023
Jack Fina was a pianist, songwriter (“Bumble Boogie”), composer and conductor.
He is this week’s Phantom Dancer Feature artist.
The Phantom Dancer is your weekly non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week.
LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 24 October) and weeks of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/
FINA
Jack Fina started out playing piano in Clyde McCoy’s band sometime in the 1930s, but it wasn’t until he joined Freddy Martin’s band in 1936 that he gained real fame, when he was featured on Martin’s famous recording of “Tonight We Love”.
In 1946, Jack Fina formed his own 16-piece band, with Freddy Martin’s blessing and financial backing. His first appearance was at the Claremont Hotel. He used his composition ‘Dream Sonata’ as his radio theme. With good air time and good recordings, Fina became a national figure.
His other song compositions include “Samba Caramba”, “Rhumbanera”, “Chango”, and “Piano Portraits”
He composed a boogie-woogie variation on Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee.” His, “Bumble Boogie”, became a huge hit, Fina played it as a solo piano specialty in the 1946 Columbia Pictures musical ‘It’s Great to Be Young’.
Fina appeared at some of the top venues in the US, including the Waldorf-Astoria, the Aragon Ballroom, and the famous illegal gambling casino in Galveston, the Balinese Room.
He also appeared in several films, including Melody Time (Bumble Boogie sequence, 1948) and Disc Jockey (1951).
24 October PLAY LIST
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Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney
LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #623
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107.3 2SER Tuesday 24 October 2023 |
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Set 1
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Sammy Kaye | |
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Let There Be Love
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Sammy Kaye Orchestra (voc) Yvette
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‘Sensations in Swing’
Hotel William Penn WCAE NBC Red Pittsburgh 10 Jun 1940 |
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Medley: Say, Say / Say it Isn’t So / Say Si, Si
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Sammy Kaye Orchestra |
‘Sensations in Swing’
Hotel William Penn WCAE NBC Red Pittsburgh 10 Jun 1940 |
| A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow |
Sammy Kaye Orchestra (voc) The Vass Family
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‘Sensations in Swing’
Hotel William Penn WCAE NBC Red Pittsburgh 10 Jun 1940 |
| Down by the Ohio + Close | Sammy Kaye Orchestra |
‘Sensations in Swing’
Hotel William Penn WCAE NBC Red Pittsburgh 10 Jun 1940 |
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Set 2
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Charlie Spivak | |
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You Don’t Say
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Charlie Spivak Orchestra
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Pleasure Beach Ballroom Bridgeport Conn. WRCA NBC NYC 26 Jun 1955 |
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A Blossom Fell
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Charlie Spivak Orchestra (voc) Audrey Morris
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Pleasure Beach Ballroom
Bridgeport Conn. WRCA NBC NYC 26 Jun 1955 |
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Birth of the Blues
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Charlie Spivak Orchestra (voc) Paul O’Connor
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Pleasure Beach Ballroom
Bridgeport Conn. WRCA NBC NYC 26 Jun 1955 |
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I’ll Never Stop Loving You + Stardreams (theme)
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Charlie Spivak Orchestra
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Pleasure Beach Ballroom
Bridgeport Conn. WRCA NBC NYC 26 Jun 1955 |
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Set 3
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Jack Fina | |
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Bumble Bee Boogie (theme) + Mama’s Gone, Goodbye.
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Jack Fina Orchestra
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Marine Dining Room
Edgewater Beach Hotel WMAQ NBC Chicago 4 Jun 1950 |
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You Are My Love
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Jack Fina Orchestra (voc) Ted Nichols
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Marine Dining Room
Edgewater Beach Hotel WMAQ NBC Chicago 4 Jun 1950 |
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Nola
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Jack Fina Orchestra
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Marine Dining Room
Edgewater Beach Hotel WMAQ NBC Chicago 4 Jun 1950 |
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Baby, Won’t You Say You Love Me? + Ol’ Piano Roll Blues
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Jack Fina Orchestra (voc) Ted Nichols & Band
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Marine Dining Room
Edgewater Beach Hotel WMAQ NBC Chicago 4 Jun 1950 |
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Set 4
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Coleman Hawkins | |
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It’s the Talk of the Town
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Coleman Hawkins Quartet
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London House
WBBM CBS Chicago 19 Jun 1963 |
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Honeysuckle Rose
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Coleman Hawkins Quartet
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London House
WBBM CBS Chicago 19 Jun 1963 |
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Set 5
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English Dance Bands | |
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Stompin’ at the Savoy
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Johnny Claes and his Claepigeons
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Comm Rec
London 1941 |
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I’m Nobody’s Baby
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Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans (voc) Anne Lenner
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Comm Rec
London 1941 |
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How Am I To Know?
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Johnny Claes and his Claepigeons (voc) Benny Lee | Comm Rec London 1941 |
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Room Five Hundred and Four
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Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans (voc) Anne Lenner
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Comm Rec
London 1941 |
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Set 6
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1930s Harmony Groups | |
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Swinging on the Strings
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The Inkspots
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WEAF NBC Red NYC
9 Aug 1935 |
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Swing for Sale
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The Mills Brothers
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Radio Transcription
NYC 1937 |
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A Stairway to the Stars
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The Inkspots
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WFIL NBC Red Philadelphia
12 Jun 1939 |
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Pennies from Heaven
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The Mills Brothers
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Radio Transcription
NYC 1937 |
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Set 7
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Count Basie | |
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Moten Swing (theme) + One’Clock Jump
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Count Basie Orchestra
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Meadowbrook Ballroom
Cedar Grove NJ WEAF NBC Red NYC Nov 1937 |
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When My Dreamboat Comes Home
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Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Jimmy Rushing | Aircheck Savoy Ballroom NYC 30 Jun 1937 |
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Study in Brown
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Count Basie Orchestra
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Meadowbrook Ballroom
Cedar Grove NJ WEAF NBC Red NYC Nov 1937 |
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Swing Brother Swing
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Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Billie Holiday
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Aircheck
Savoy Ballroom NYC 30 Jun 1937 |
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Set 8
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Trad Jazz | |
| Blues + Riverboat Shuffle |
Wild Bill Davison
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‘Eddie Condon Floor Show’
WNBT NBC TV NYC 9 Jul 1949 |
| Struttin’ with Some BBQ | Hot Lips Page |
‘Doctor Jazz’
Stuyvesant Casino WMGM NYC 1951 |
| Jam Session |
Bobby Hackett
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‘Eddie Condon Floor Show’
WNBT NBC TV NYC 16 Apr 1949 |
