Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Hot Music and Hotter Weather (June 24, 2005)

(Week 3)

Week three went very well, indeed–I actually had my playlist completed before I walked out the door. Not only that, I played proportionately more 78s than before–and they didn’t sound nearly as scratchy as they did through earphones on my computer. Also, my long-lost friend Dave (now working at the college) stopped by for part of the gig. Dave said I didn’t sound “too nasal.” (Thanks, Dave!) Not a bad little two-hour excursion, even if the heat was getting to me.

Here ‘tis:

Heigh Ho! Ev’rybody, Heigh Ho! – Charles W, Hamp – Columbia 78
Afraid of You – William F. Wirges and his Orch. – Brunswick 78
Oriental Moonlight – Paul Specht and his Orch. – Columbia 78
We (My Honey and Me) – Johnny Johnson and his Statler Pennylvanians – Victor 78
Dynamite – Atilla the Hun – Calypso Breakaway (Rounder CD 1054)
Four Mills Brothers – The Lion – Roosevelt in Trinidad (Rounder CD 1142)
Sedition Law – King Radio – Calypsos from Trinidad (Folklyric CD 7004)
The New King Porter Stomp – Fletcher Henderson and his Orch. – The Fletcher Henderson Story (Columbia Legacy C3K 57576)
I Would Do Anything for You – Benny Goodman and his Orch. – Sing, Sing, Sing (Bluebird 5630-2-RB)
Blue Room – Benny Goodman and his Orch. – Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall (Columbia G2K 40244)
Sugar Blues – Lillian Harris – Regal 78
Chile Bean – Paul Biese Trio with Frank Crumit – Columbia 78
Mindin’ My Business – The Virginians with Frank Crumit – Victor 78
Snowy Morning Blues – James P. Johnson – Classics 657
There’ll Be Some Changes Made – Eddie Lang – Pioneers of Jazz Guitar (Retrieval RTR 79015)
Maybe – George Gershwin – S’Wonderful (Pro Arte CDD 455)
Blue Turning Grey Over You – Nat Shilkret and his Orch. – Victor 78
Sweet Lorraine – Johnny Johnson’s Statler Pennsylvanians – Victor 78
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love – Johnny Hamp’s Kentucky Serenaders – Victor 78
Big City Blues – Annette Hanshaw – The Girl Next Door (Take Two TT408 CD)
Rainy Days – Boswell Sisters – Air Shots and Rarities (Retrieval RTR 79009)
Who’s That Knockin’ at My Door – Annette Hanshaw – Twenties Sweetheart (Jasmine JASMCD 2542)
Sweetheart of T.K.O. – Oscar “Papa” Celestin – Jazz Oracle BDW 8000
Squeeze Me – Halfway House Orchestra – Jazz Oracle BDW 8001
Forty Second Street – Joseph Robichaux and his New Orleans Rhythm Boys – Document DOCD 1016
When I’m Cleaning Windows – George Formby – That Ukulele Man (Hallmark 300282)
She’s Wonderful – Harry Shalson – They Called it Crooning (ASV CD AJA 5026)
Midnight, the Stars, and You – Ray Noble with Al Bowlly – “What a Perfect Combination” (Rathbone 0351)
Save Your Sorrow – Ray Miller and his Orch. – Brunswick 78
Drifting and Dreaming – George Olsen and his Music – Victor 78
Dreaming of a Castle in the Air – Jack Chapman and his Orch/ – Victor 78
Sweet Sue – Venuti and Lang – JSP (JSPCD 34082)
Wake Up Chillun, Wake Up – Ray Starita – Best of the British Dance Bands (AVID AVC539)

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

The Mother of All Playlists (June 17, 2005)

(Week 2)

During the second week of my quixotic musical adventure, I had a true chance to test my mettle. This, by doing a show twice as long as the first one. I approached the task with delight, but not without the confusion of one only half prepared–or should I say FULLY prepared to do the first HALF of the program? I constructed the second two hours of my playlist on the fly, rummaging through the hundred or so discs I brought with me, and pulling out groupings of selections one mere step ahead of what was on the air.

I offer an explanation, but not an excuse, for the extemporaneous nature of the show. I was on the point of organizing my selections the night before when I heard a terrible noise very close by. An elderly woman well respected in our community had been run over by a drunk driver as she was getting into a car directly across the street from my house. By way of coincidence, the DJ on from 5 until 7 was her Goddaughter, and had arrived at the scene of the accident around 4 am.

What follows is my reconstructed playlist, essentially complete but not necessarily in the same order played. I will include reissue sources for the selections where applicable.

Heigh Ho! Ev’rybody, Heigh Ho! – Charles W. Hamp – Columbia 1792-D
1932 radio transcription – Anson Weeks and his Hotel Mark Hopkins Orchestra –Hindsight HSR-146 (LP)
Let’s Fly Away
You Do Something to Me
With a Song in My Heart
Who’s Your Little Who-Zis
Dancing on the Ceiling
You’re My Everything
When it’s Sleepy Time Down South (slight edit)
Was That the Human Thing to Do?
Fine and Dandy
Vitalogy – The Lion – Calypso Carnival (Rounder CD 1077)
Body Line – King Radio – Roosevelt in Trinidad (Rounder CD 1142)
Too Botheration – The Growler – Calypsos from Trinidad (Folklyric CD 7004)
Miss Hannah – McKinney’s Cotton Pickers – Doin’ What I Please Don Redman (ASV CD AJA 5110)
Blue Danube Blues – Gene Kardos and his Orchestra – Gene Kardos & Joel Shaw Vol.1 (TOM mb 121-A)
That’s a Plenty – Slim Lamar and his Southerners – Texas & Tennessee Territory Bands (Retrieval RTR 79006)
Blues In My Heart – Benny Carter and his Orchestra – Jazz Portraits CD 14583
Prince of Wails – Bennie Moten’s K.C. Orchestra – The Real Kansas City (Columbia Legacy CK 64855)
Stealin' Apples -- Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra -- A Study in Frustration (Columbia Legacy C3K 57596)
Sweet and Low Down – Lee Wiley – Time on My Hands Lee Wiley (ASV CD AJA 5417)
Am I Blue? – Ethel Waters – Ethel Waters On Stage and Screen 1925-1940 (Sony Music Special Products CD WK 75018)
He’s Funny that Way – Billie Holliday – Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz Vol. 2 (RD 033-2 A5 19477)
Quality Shout – Paul Howard’s Quality Serenaders – Jazz in California 1923-1930 (Timeless CBC 1-034 JAZZ)
Dinah (tk. 1) – Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra – Lionel Hampton Tempo and Swing (Bluebird 07863 66039-2)
Sweet Sue – Benny Goodman Quartet – Benny Goodman (Laserlight 15 726)
Rebound – Adrian Rollini and Frankie Victor – Saturday Night Swing Club (Memphis Archive MA 7002)
Add a Little Wiggle – Eddie Lang – Eddie Lang, Carl Kress, Dick McDonough 1927-1939 Pioneers of the Jazz Guitar (Retrieval RTR 79015)
Flat Foot Floogie – Slim and Slam – The Groove Juice Special (Columbia Legacy CK 64898)
Solo Hop – Glenn Miller and his Orchestra – Swing Out (Hallmark 300422)
Blue Lou – Benny Carter and his Orchestra – Benny Carter 1933 (Prestige 7643 LP)
Nitwit Serenade – Benny Goodman and his Orchestra – Benny Goodman 1931-1935 (Timeless CBC 1-065)
Huggable, Kissable You – Walter Cummins – Velvet Tone 1379-V (78)
I Married a Bootlegger’s Daughter – Frank Crumit – Frank Crumit Gay Cabellero (PRO ARTE DIGITAL CDD 3407)
I’m a Night Owl – Cliff Edwards – Art Deco The Crooners (Columbia Legacy C2K 52942)
Sam, the Old Accordion Man – Ruth Etting – Ten Cents a Dance Ruth Etting (ASV AJA 2008)
You Can’t Stop Me From Loving You – Ethel Waters – Ethel Waters 1929-1931 (Classics 721)
Some of These Days – Sophie Tucker (w/Ted Lewis) – Sophie Tucker Jazz Age Hot Mamma (Take Two TT404CD)
Glorianna – Waring’s Pennsylvanians – Fred Waring Memorial Album (Viper’s Nest VN 179)
My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms – Ray Miller – The Chicago Hot Bands (Timeless CBC 1-041 JAZZ)
Ozark Mountain Blues (tk. 1) – The Missourians – Cab Calloway Vol. 1 1929-1930 (Media 7 Masters of Jazz MJCD 105)
Walkin’ My Baby Back Home – Jack Coakley – San Francisco Jazz The Flexo Recordings 1930-1932 (Harlequin HQ CD 25)
Memphis Kick-Up-- Slim Lamar and his Southerners -- Texas & Tennessee Territory Bands (Retrieval RTR 79006)
Blue Skies – Vaughn De Leath – Legendary Entertainers (PRO ARTE DIGITAL CDD 483)
It Was Only a Sun Shower – Annette Hanshaw – Annette Hanshaw The Twenties Sweetheart (Jasmine JASMCD 2542)
Marvelous – Johnny Marvin – Victor 78
I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues – Red McKenzie with Benny Goodman – 1934 Bill Dodge All Star Recordings (Circle CLP 111/112)
Georgia on my Mind – Mildred Bailey – Mildred Bailey Vol. 1 (TOM mb 103)
Let’s Try Again – Bing Crosby – The Crooner (Columbia C3K 44229 CK 44305)
Free – Billy Cotton and his Band – Best of the British Dance Bands (AVID AVC 539)
Did You Ever See a Dream Walking? – Al Bowlly – Al Bowlly Love Is the Sweetest Thing (Charly CDCD1136)
Woe is Me! – Oscar Rabin and his Romany Band – The Best of the British Dance Bands (Music and Memories MMD 1007)
To-Wa-Bac-A-Wa – Louis Dumaine’s Jazzola Eight – Jazz The World Forgot Vol. 1 (Yazoo 2024)
Roll On, Mississippi, Roll On – Boswell Sisters – The Boswell Sisters (Collectables COL-CD-6461 Sony A-30320)
Shake it and Break it – King Oliver – King Oliver and his Orchestra 1929-1930 (JSP CD 3404)
Decatur Street Tutti – Jabbo Smith’s Rhythm Aces – Jabbo Smith 1929-1938 (Retrieval RTR 79013 JAZZ)
Mama’s Gone, Goodbye – Thelma Terry and her Playboys – The Chicago Hot Bands (Timeless CBC 1-041 JAZZ)
Gonna Get a Girl – The Six Jumping Jacks – Wonderful Nonsense (Take Two TT503CD)
In a Great Big Way – Annette Hanshaw – Annette Hanshaw The Girl Next Door (Take Two TT408CD)
Kitchen Man – Bessie Smith with Eddie Lang – Bessie Smith Alexander’s Ragtime Band (Excelsior EXL-2-5317)
Long Lean Lanky Mama – Ethel Waters – Ethel Waters 1929-1931 (Classics 721)
He Hadn’t Up ‘Til Yesterday – Sophie Tucker – Listen to the Banned (ASV CD AJA5030)
Sweet Sue – Mills Brothers – Four Boys and a Guitar (Columbia Legacy CK 57713)
Wake Up, Chillun, Wake Up! – Ray Starita – Best of the British Dance Bands (AVID AVC 539)

Monday, June 13, 2005

Not a Train Wreck at All: Playlist for Radiola #1 (June 10, 2005)

(Week 1)

There is nothing to compare with the exhilaration of doing one’s first ever radio program, particularly when it doesn’t wind up a train wreck. I had to sign on the station at 8:35 PM, and spent those sweaty moments before nine getting my bearings (the less said about this, the better). It really went quite well, considering. By the end of the second hour of Radiola, I sounded (almost) like an old pro.

A special thanks is due to Rich Conaty of the Big Broadcast on WFUV-FM for all his encouragement and advice (and a mention on his program!), and to my wife Sue for enduring my pre-show irritability and for letting me know when the mic was off.

The playlist for Friday, June 10, in no particular order, is as follows:

Heigh Ho! Ev’rybody, Heigh Ho! (THEME) - - -Charles W. Hamp
I’ve Found a New Baby - - -Lionel Hampton
Singin’ in the Rain - - -Cliff Edwards
For det will han sa garna - - -Zarah Leander
I’m More Than Satisfied - - -Guy Lombardo
Blue Room- - -Venuti and Lang
Huggable, Kissable You - - -Walter Cummins
Teasing the Frets - - - Nick Lucas
Shout, Sister, Shout - - -Boswell Sisters
Anything - - - Napoleon's Emperors
Stormy Weather - - -Joseph Robichaux
Papa’s Got the Jim-Jams - - -Oscar “Papa” Celestin
Ho Hum - - -Annette Hanshaw
Dirt Dishing Daisy - - -Mills Brothers
Home - - -Louis Armstrong
Thanks - - -Al Bowlly
Ain’t Misbehavin’ - - -Casper Reardon
Moten Swing - - -Carolina Cotton Pickers
Rite Tite - - -Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra
She’s No Trouble - - -Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra
Poor but Ambitious - - -Wilmoth Houdini
The More They Try to Do Me Bad - - -The Caresser
Sedition Law - - -King Radio
In the Mood - - -Edgar Hayes
Farm Relief Blues - - -Mack Allen (Vernon Dalhart)
Down by the Riverside - - -Sam Morgan’s Jazz Band
Glorianna - - -Waring’s Pennsylvanians
Miss Annabelle Lee - - -Whispering Jack Smith
Leaning on a Lamppost - - -George Formby
I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover - - -Paul Specht
Hejre Kati - - -Eddie South
Wake Up, Chillun, Wake Up (END THEME) - - Ray Starita

Since there was some confusion about me even being ON THE AIR (owing to a variety of factors), I will be repeating most of the above numbers over the next few weeks. If a song is played in a radio studio, and no one is tuning in or streaming, does it even make a sound? These babies are too good not to play when someone might actually be listening.

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Announcing "Radiola"--a new program of old music

Not being one to count my chickens, I waited until I actually SAW the summer schedule. Now it can be told: starting Friday, June 10 I will be hosting "Radiola," a weekly program of 20s and 30s jazz and pop on WHCL-FM from 9 to 11 PM EDT. The frequency is 88.7, but since the station has an effective radius of 30 miles (on a good day with a prevailing wind) from Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, I assume many reading this would opt for the webcast at www.whcl.org.

The music of the 192os and 1930s was not being played on any local station, commercial or public. This is a shame, because it has a lightness and a vitality totally lacking in other musical realms. Also, it could be sophisticated, smart, and funny. It is not the over-processed, demographically-targeted pop of later years. It was all in one take, all on one mike, spontaneous, and totally in the moment. Hence it is still fresh, joyous, and new, even after 75 years.

The program will be drawn from my sprawling and unwieldy collection of CDs, LPs, and 78s. What I will play from week to week is anybody's guess. There will be Satchmo and Bing, but also such neglected greats as Annette Hanshaw, Jabbo Smith, Eddie Lang, and Joe Robichaux, among dozens of others. I'll try to keep it light and fun. Nor will I shy from a touch of irony when the moment demands it.

"Radiola" is scheduled to run through the end of July.