Original air date - Phantom Dancer :: 12:00pm 26th May 2020

A giant bottle of soft drink you'll hear about in a 1932 ad on this week's two hour non-stop swing jazz mix of live 1920s-60s radio, is your Greg Poppleton Phantom Dancer feature. The Phantom Dancer has been produced and presented by 1920s-30s singer and actor Greg Poppleton since 1985. It can be heard online from 12:04pm AEST Tuesday 26 May at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/ The last hour is all vinyl.

THE BOTTLE

Australia is a land of giant things as tourist attractions - the giant prawn, the big banana, the giant ram - but Alabama in the US had a big soft drink bottle. Though the bottle burnt down in the mid-1930s, its location is still called 'The Bottle'. Here it is... NiHi was a brand of soft drink in the US that was popular for its novelty flavours. The 1932 radio ad on this week's Phantom Dancer praises Nihi's 'true fruit orange'. Fans of MASH would know that the character Radar drank Grape Nihi. Some other Nihi (pronounced Knee High) fizzy drink flavours included Chocolate, Root Beer, Lemonade, Wild Red, Blue Cream, and Peach. There were many more.

HISTORIC MARKER

The site of the giant bottle is now identified by a historical marker. The marker reads, "Built in 1924, and billed as 'the world's largest bottle', The Bottle (also known as The Twist Inn) was built by John F. Williams, owner of the Nehi Bottling Company, in Opelika, Alabama. The Bottle stood 64 feet (19.5 m) tall, and measured forty-nine feet (14.94 m) in diameter at the base, and 16 feet (4.88 m) at the cap. The ground floor was a grocery store and service station, and the second and third floors were living quarters and storage. The neck of the Bottle had windows so as to be used as an observation tower. The bottle cap was the roof. Inside there was a spiral oak stairway. The Bottle became a gathering place for tourists and locals alike to swap yarns and have parties every Friday night on the balcony above the service station. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stopped briefly at The Bottle after visiting Auburn. The bottle burned one morning in te fall of 1936. Even though the structure no longer exists, the name survives on Alabama maps which still identify the area as 'The Bottle'."

Your Phantom Dancer Video(s) of the Week

Tune into band leader Griff William's dance band show from the late 1940s / early 50s over WBKB TV (CBS) Chicago. Three clips + a fourth WKBK news from 1964 and the start of their Acuion Movie, Dragstrip Riot' - Enjoy!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMgclqq0R5c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBeNkR7g3eo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFFl_0H08XY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv24sLeh8BU

26 MAY PLAY LIST

Play List - The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #438
107.3 2SER Tuesday 26 May 2020 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 - 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 - 5:55pm National Program: 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 - 11pm 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 - 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 - 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 - 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 - 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 - 4pm 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 - 4pm 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 - 7pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 - 9pm 2MCE Bathurst / Orange / Central West NSW Wednesday 9 - 10am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 - 1pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 - 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 - 6am 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Sunday 5 - 6am
Set 1	Modernistic 1950s Dance Bands
Artistry in Rhythm (theme) + Tabu	Stan Kenton Orchestra	'Concert in Miniature' Lakeside Ballroom Dayton OH WLW NBC Cincinnati 16 Sep 1952
Savings Bonds Ad + The Stars and Stripes Forever	Ralph Flanagan Orchestra	'Treasury Bandstand' Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler WCBS CBS NY 1950
Wending My May Back Home + Close	Eliot Lawrence Orchestra	'Jazz Is My Beat' New York City AFRTS Re-broadcast 1958
Set 2	Early Live 1930s Radio
Open + Music In My Fingers	George Shackley Ensemble (voc) Veronica Wiggins	'Nihi Program' Radio Transcription New York City 1931
Margie + Do You Ever Think Of Me? + Sweet Sue	Jimmie Grier Orchestra	Cocoanut Grove Ambassador Hotel KFI NBC Gold Network LA 1932
Melancholy Moon + Pineapple Ad + It Gonna Rain No More + Aloha Oe	Wendall Hall	'The Pineapple Picadour' WMAQ NBC Chicago 2 Apr 1931
Set 3	Super Jive From 1937 - 38 Radio
Dark Forest (theme) + Limehouse Blues	Earl Hines Orchestra	Grand Terrace Room WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Aug 1938
A Study in Blue	Larry Clinton Orchestra	Hotel Park Central WEAF NBC Red NY 7 Jul 1939
When It's Sleepy Time Down South + Camel Hop	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Madhattan Room Hotel Pennsylvania WABC CBS NY 20 Oct 1937
Set 4	1940s Dance Bands
Voglio Fischiettiare (I Like To Whistle)	Nuccia Natali and Vocal Trio with Orchestra	Comm Rec Cetra Turin 1940
The Sheik of Araby	Russ Morgan Orchestra	'One Night Stand' AFRS Re-broadcast 28 Apr 1944
Medley	Art Kassels and his Kassels-in-the-Air Orchestra	Blackhawk Restaurant WGN Chicago 1947
Set 5	Jazz and Pop on 1940 Radio
It Never Entered My Head	Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra (voc) Hal Derwin	Radio Transcription New York City 1940
Open + Down For The Count	Glenn Miller Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WJZ NBC Blue NY 6 Nov 1940
St Louis Blues	Roy Eldridge	'Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street' WJZ NBC Blue NY 21 Apr 1940
Four Beat Shuffle + Pretty Little Petticoat (theme)	Raymond Scott Orchestra	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1940
Set 6	New Orleans Jazz on Radio
Open + Way Down Yonder in New Orleans	Louis Armstrong All-Stars	'New Orleans Movie Opening' Wintergarden Theatre WNBC NBC NY 19 Jun 1947
Open + At The Jazz Band Ball	Eddie Condon Group	'Eddie Condon Jazz Concert' Town Hall WJZ Blue NY 30 Sep 1944
I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None Of My Jelly Roll	Bud Freeman Summa Cum Laude Orchestra	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 20 May 1940
That's A'Plenty + Relaxin' At The Touro (theme)	Muggsy Spanier Dixieland All-Stars	Club Hangover KCBS CBS San Francisco 18 Apr 1953
Set 7	Big Bands on 1947 Radio
Who's Got The Ball?	Harry James Orchestra	The Click WFIL Philadelphia 22 Dec 1947
Kate	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) The Town Criers	Casino Gardens Ocean Park Ca KECA ABC LA 6 Dec 1947
Everybody Eats When They Come To My House	Cab Calloway's Caballiers (voc) CC	'Guest Star' New York City 1947
Passion Flower	Duke Ellington Orchestra	'One Night Stand' Ciro's Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast Jul 1947
Set 8	Charlie Parker on WMCA NY 1949
Chasin' The Bird	Charlie Parker Sextet	'Symphony Sid Show' Royal Roost WMCA NY 12 Mar 1949
Confirmation	Charlie Parker Quintet	'Symphony Sid Show' Royal Roost WMCA NY 19 Feb 1949
Scrapple From The Apple	Charlie Parker Quintet	'Symphony Sid Show' Royal Roost WMCA NY 22 Jan 1949