Fred Astaire – singer – on a 1936 US Presidential election radio show is your Phantom Dancer feature artist this week.

You’ll hear Fred Astaire (actor, dancer, singer, choreographer, television presenter and considered the most influential dancer in the history of film) singing and tap dancing on a special election night edition of The Packard Hour radio show.

The Packard Hour was Fred Astaire’s weekly radio show. The 3 Nov 1936 broadcast was special by bringing in updated reports on returns for the Roosevelt-Landon 1936 US presidential election during the show.

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 5 November) and weeks of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

FRED ASTAIRE’S SINGING

Fred Astaire often claimed he couldn’t sing. But most critics and songwriters praised his light voice and easy delivery.

Songwriter Burton Lane called him ‘the world’s greatest musical performer.’

Irving Berlin considered Astaire the equal of any male interpreter of his songs — “as good as Jolson, Crosby or Sinatra, not necessarily because of his voice, but for his conception of projecting a song.”

Jerome Kern considered him the supreme male interpreter of his songs.

Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer (with whom Astaire co-wrote ‘I’m Building Up to an Awful Letdown’), admired his unique treatment of their work.

George Gershwin, though a little critical of Astaire’s singing, wrote many of his most memorable songs for him.

Astaire was referenced in lyrics by songwriters Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart and Eric Maschwitz.

He recorded his own song, ‘It’s Just Like Taking Candy from a Baby’ with Benny Goodman in 1940. He had a lifelong ambition to be a successful popular song composer.

SONGS ASTAIRE INTRODUCED

He introduced some of the most famous songs of the Great American Songbook,
1. Cole Porter’s: “Night and Day” in Gay Divorce (1932)
2. “So Near and Yet So Far” in You’ll Never Get Rich (1941)
3. Irving Berlin’s “Isn’t This a Lovely Day?”, “Cheek to Cheek”, and “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” in Top Hat (1935); “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” in Follow the Fleet (1936); and “Change Partners” in Carefree (1938)
4. Jerome Kern’s “The Way You Look Tonight” in Swing Time (1936)
5. Gershwins’ “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” in Shall We Dance (1937), “A Foggy Day” and “Nice Work if You Can Get it” in A Damsel in Distress (1937), Johnny Mercer’s “One for My Baby” from The Sky’s the Limit (1943), “Something’s Gotta Give” from Daddy Long Legs (1955)
6. Harry Warren and Arthur Freed’s “This Heart of Mine” from Ziegfeld Follies (1946).

He also co-introduced a number of song classics in song duets with his partners.

1. with his sister Adele (the above photo is a 1906 portrait of Fred and Adele Astaire), he co-introduced the Gershwins’ “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise” from Stop Flirting (1923), “Fascinating Rhythm” in Lady, Be Good (1924), “Funny Face” in Funny Face (1927)
2. in duets with Ginger Rogers, he presented Irving Berlin’s “I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket” in Follow the Fleet (1936), Jerome Kern’s “Pick Yourself Up” and “A Fine Romance” in Swing Time (1936), along with the Gershwins’ “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” from Shall We Dance (1937)
3. with Judy Garland, he sang Irving Berlin’s “A Couple of Swells” from Easter Parade (1948) 4. with Jack Buchanan, Oscar Levant, and Nanette Fabray he delivered Arthur Schwartz’s and Howard Dietz’s “That’s Entertainment!” from The Band Wagon (1953).

THE PACKARD HOUR

The Packard Show was a radio show that began on the Blue Network in 1934 and moved to CBS in 1935 as 30 minute concert program.

On 8 September 1936 NBC Red re-launched it as a 60 minute variety program with Fred Astaire and Charlie Butterworth as the comical co-star. Astaire missed the first broadcast, leaving Jack Benny and Ginger Rogers to host it.

Trudy Wood a clear voiced soprano was pulled out of the chorus by Astaire for a duet in her second week with the show and went on to become the Packard Hour headliner when Astaire and Butterworth broke for summer vacations.

Astaire didn’t return after that Summer off. The sponsor did a quick shuffle and Lanny Ross headlined on the 1937 Packard Hour, re-named, Mardi Gras.

1936 US ELECTION

The 1936 United States presidential election was the 38th four-yearly US presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1936.

In the middle of the Great Depression, incumbent Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican Governor Alf Landon of Kansas.

Roosevelt won the highest share of the popular and electoral vote since the largely uncontested 1820 election. The sweeping victory consolidated the New Deal.

Since it was such a resounding and swift victory for Roosevelt, reporting the landslide elction returns didn’t make for gripping radio.

FRED ASTAIRE AND GINGER ROGERS DANCING WITH ROLLER SKATES!

Fred took up skateboarding in the 1970s.

5 November PLAY LIST