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 .

October 14, 1906 Benita Hume was born

On this day in 1906, Benita Hume was born.

February 10: Happy Birthday, Jimmy Durante

February 10: Happy Birthday, Jimmy Durante Actor, personality, voice-over expert and owner of a famous "schnozzola," Jimmy Durante was born on this day in 1893. Jimmy's calling card was his raspy, urbane voice. He hosted the Durante-Moore Show with partner Garry Moore and went solo with The Jimmy Durante Show in 1947. "Dat's my boy dat said dat!" was a catchphrase on the first iteration of the program. Like many shows of the era, The Jimmy Durante Show featured comedy and music. Do you remember guest appearances by: Lucille Ball , Victor Moore, Bing Crosby , and Al Jolson ? After his radio career, Durante voiced the Narrator of the 1969 cartoon special "Frosty the Snowman." He died in Santa Monica on Jan. 29, 1980.

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