November 18: Happy Birthday, Johnny Mercer!

The multi-talented Johnny Mercer may be best known as one of Tin Pan Alley's best lyricists, but he also made great contributions to radio, working as the emcee of the show "Caramel Caravan" featuring The Benny Goodman Orchestra, and later hosting his own series, "Johnny Mercer's Music Shop." On this show, running 20 episodes, Mercer would sing his own songs, host other singers and musicians, and tell a few jokes. This allowed Mercer, who usually supplied others with words, to be in the spotlight and to showcase his extroverted personality and easy, Southern charm.

His songwriting credits include "Moon River," "In The Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," "Hooray for Hollywood," and "That Old Black Magic." "Johnny Mercer's Music Shop" treated listeners to performances of such ditties as "Tired Teddy Bear" (Jo Stafford and Pied Pipers), "Highway Polka" (Jo Stafford, Pied Pipers) and "I Can't Get the One I Want."

Johnny Mercerwas born in Savannah, GA, in 1909, and went to New York at 17, hoping to break in as an actor. While he would make some imprint in many facets of show biz, he would go down in history as one of the great lyricists of all time.

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1946 Great Crepitation Fart Contest

Not for the faint of heart, here is the remarkable 1946 Crepitation (Fart) Contest (part of the 1946 News Broadcasts Collection ). You'll enjoy the fart-off between champion Englishman Lord Windsmear, and challenger, Australian Paul Boomer who had stowed aboard a cabbage freighter. The hilarious comedy recording was apparently created a spoof by two Canadian radio sportscasters in 1946, but this 15 minute recording definitely has some gems in it. Apparently they made several copies, but it was not for distribution. The recording was copied again and again on disc and reel to reel tape. It was distributed underground and played in dark rooms and back alleys around the world. If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element This recording is available with many other delightful treats on Random Rarities #7 available on MP3 CD , Audio CD , and instant download .

April 27, 1932: The First Performance of Ed Wynn on Texaco Fire Chief Show

April 27, 1932: Ed Wynn , the Texaco fire chief, graced the airwaves for the first time on Texaco Star Theater. Wynn, who enjoyed popularity as a vaudeville performer, gave as a condition to his switch to radio, that a live audience react to his humor.His condition was granted by the network and so began Wynn's career as the first true superstar of radio. Ed Wynn was hosted a popular radio show on Tuesday nights for most of the 1930s. The radio show was heard in North America and sponsored by Texaco gasoline. On the show Wynn played as the " Texaco Fire Chief ". He was often seen wearing a fireman's helmet. For this show, Wynn would turned down the offer form The Wizard in MGM's adaptation of The Wizard of Oz , to play a role on that show.

January 27, 1948: Wire Recording introduced the 'Wireway'

January 27, 1948: The first magnetic tape recorder was introduced by Wire Recording Corporation of America. ‘Wire Way,’ as it was called, had an integrated oscillator and was sold for $149.50 at the time.

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