Original air date - Phantom Dancer :: 12:00pm 8th Oct 2019

COUNT BASIE

The American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader and composer led his orchestra for almost 50 years from 1935, creating innovations like the use of two split tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band and using arrangers to broaden their sound. This week's Phantom Dancer presented by Greg Poppleton features a set of Count Basie from 1956, the year he was voted America's No. 1 rock'n'roll band.

ONLINE

This week's Phantom Dancer will be online right after the  107.3 2SER Sydney live mix at 2ser.com. Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney

ROCK'N'ROLL

When did rock begin and what is rock is a debate that still continues. On the one hand, writers will point to nineteenth century songs using the words rock and roll and day, "there!". Today, if a singer uses a different chord in the usual pentatonic scale of rock, or dresses differently, it becomes a whole new genre. However, as a defined commercial musical type, the mid-1950s is generally agreed to be the time it hatched from the egg in which it was laid. And 'what was rock then', can generally be defined through surviving records and radio broadcasts as whatever influential DJ, Al Freed, spotlighted.

SWING CAN BE ROCK?

Well, not really. Swing gets its momentum by accenting beats 2 and 4. Rock plods along on beats 1 and 3. So hearing Count Basie's big swing orchestra backing 4-piece rock acts and taking up much of Al Freed's weekly radio 'Rock'n'Roll Dance Party' on CBS will sound alien to the average tatooed 'alternative' type, happily cocooned in their privileged mainstream bubble created by big music.

KING OF ROCK'N'ROLL

But Count Basie was touted as, and awarded as, the 'number one rock'n'roll band' in 1956. Basie himself said that the CBS Rock'n'Roll dance experience was the worst of his career. While his swing band were kicking goals across the US in 1956 creating new sounds by continuing to innovate, with regular radio exposure from nightclubs, lugging behind the likes of Little Richard or Bill Haley was both boring and humiliating. Further, Basie reported, when the rock bands stopped and it was just the Basie band playing, the kids headed out to the foyer. An experience I have personally had when my 1920s-30s band was used as intermission in a big Sydney venue between rock acts. So, you'll hear Count Basie today broadcasting live from jazz clubs in 1956 and from the CBS 'Rock'n'Roll Dance Party' show.

VIDEO

This week's Phantom Dancer video of the week is Count Basie on TV from Birdland from 22 July 1956 on a 'Steve Allen Show'. You'll see Birdland as it was in 1956, Birdland's famous MC 'Pee Wee' and the Count playing 'April in Paris'. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_yB-Dn6FiE

8 OCTOBER PLAY LIST

Play List - The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #408
107.3 2SER Tuesday 8 October 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 - 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) National Program:ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 - 11pm Edge FM Bega Monday 3 - 4pm7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 - 9pm2ARM Armidale Friday 12 - 1pm3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 - 6amand early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	1939 - 40 Radio Remotes
Open + I'll Get By	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) Connie Haines	'Spotlight Bands' WOR Mutual NY 17 Jan 1942
Cherokee	Henry Busse Orchestra	'One Night Stand' Palladium Ballroom Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast 21 Sep 1944
The Chinese Lullaby + Close	Teddy Powell Orchestra (voc) Jimmy Blair	The Famous Door WJSV Washington DC via WABC CBS NY 21 Sep 1939
Set 2	Sweet Bands on Radio
I'm Grateful to You + Crosspatch	Clint Noble Orchestra (voc) Judy Land	WENR NBC Blue Chicago 1936
Meliana E	Harry Owens Orchestra (voc) Eddie Bush	Mural Room Hotel St Francis KPO NBC San Francisco 1940s
I Don't Know Why I Love You Like I Do + Easy Street + You Ought To Be In Pictures + Theme	Tommy Carlyn Orchestra	Bill Green's Casino NBC Pittsburgh 1941
Set 3	Raymond Scott
Pretty Little Petticoat (theme) + Four Beat Shuffle	Raymond Scott Orchestra	Blackhawk Restaurant WGN Mutual Chicago 1 Nov 1940
Humpty Dumpty Heart	Raymond Scott Orchestra (voc) Roberta Louise	Bermuda Room Brunswick Hotel WBZ NBC Blue Boston 6 Dec 1941
Runnin' Wild + Pretty Little Petticoat (theme)	Raymond Scott Orchestra	Blackhawk Restaurant WGN Mutual Chicago 21 Oct 1940
Set 4	Count Basie 1956
Open + Sixteen Men Swinging	Count Basie Orchestra	'All-Star Parade of Bands' Birdland WRCA NBC NY 2 Jul 1956
Open + Blee Blop Blues + Shake a Hand	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Faye Adams	'Rock'n'Roll Dance Party' WCBS CBS NY 21 Apr 1956
The Comeback	Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Joe Williams	'All-Star Parade of Bands' Zardi's KFI NBC LA 14 May 1956
One O'Clock Jump	Count Basie Orchestra	'All-Star Parade of Bands' Zardi's KFI NBC LA 14 May 1956
Set 5	Swing from 1930s French and German Records
College Stomp	Philippe Brun and his Swing Band	Comm Rec Paris 28 Dec 1937
Georgina	Hans Rehmstedt Orchestra (voc) Rudi Schuericke	Comm Rec Berlin Jul 1939
Got a Date in Louisiana	Philippe Brun and his Jam Band	Comm Rec Paris 8 Mar 1938
Tanzpueppchen (My Dancing Lady)	Goldene Sieben (voc) Marita Gruendgens	Comm Rec Berlin Nov 1934
Set 6	1930s Helen Forrest
The Lamp is Low	Helen Forrest (voc) Artie Shaw Orchestra	'Melody and Madness' WJZ NBC Blue NY 22 Aug 1939
This Can't Be Love	Helen Forrest (voc) Artie Shaw Orchestra	Blue Room Hotel Licoln WEAF NBC Red NY 18 Jan 1939
Lilacs in the Rain	Helen Forrest (voc) Artie Shaw Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WEAF NBC Red NY 21 Oct 1939
Where Do I Go From You? + Goodbye (theme)	Helen Forrest (voc) Benny Goodman Orchestra	Peacock Court Hotel Mark Hopkins KFRC Don Lee - Mutual San Francisco 28 May 1940
Set 7	Coffee Songs
Java Jive	The Inkspots	'Jubilee' AFRS Hollywood 1944
You're The Cream in my Coffee	Ray Miller Orchestra (voc)	'Sunny Meadows' Radio Transcription New York 18 Jan 1929
The Coffee Song	Frank Sinatra	'Command Performance' AFRS Hollywood 10 Nov 1946
Set 8	A Date with the Duke
New World A-Coming (extended work)	Duke Ellington Orchestra	'A Date with the Duke' Evansville In. ABC Network 10 Jun 1945
Fickle Fling	Duke Ellington Orchestra	'A Date with the Duke' Apollo Theatre WJZ ABC NY 30 Jun 1945