Old Radio

Al Jolson was one of the most famous Broadway performers of his day. He was spontaneous and daring, improvising at will and giving audiences long segments of his song and dance stylings. He is, of course, known to history for his blackface routines, which have suffered disrepute, widely considered racist. Jolson's early alter ego, was Gus, a wily underdog who survived on his wits. Jolson played Gus in such revues as "The Honeymoon Express" and "Dancing Around." Off stage, Jolson was known to bet on the ponies and on boxers. He was known for his volatile personality. Jolson lit up the radio airwaves with appearances on Bing Crosby 's Chesterfield Show and Kraft Music Hour . He also had a brief run with his own Al Jolson Show .

Meredith Willson was a band leader and conductor who then became a radio star and host of his own show. Meredith Willson 's Musical Revue aired from 1935 to '53. The road to this distinction passed through work in the trenches. Willson served as the musical director for Tallulah Bankhead 's " The Big Show ." He also gained some notability as a songwriter, the author of "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas," and the Beatles hit "Till There Was You." His was an All-American story, one of a smalltown boy who would travel to New York City wanting to break into show business. Meredith Willson was born in Mason City, Iowa in 1902. Though far from the lights of the big city, he did have a musical environment. His mom taught music lessons, and a childhood friend of his joined him for flute duets. Later, he would use this environment as the inspiration for Music Man . His style became dubbed "Chiffon Swing." Today we

May 17, 1939: Both NBC and Mutual carried the event of a memorable dual-network radio broadcast  of Glenn Miller and his Orchestra. The scene of the event was the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, NY. It was attended by 1,800 people and took place at the casino ballroom. This event, which lasted until August 18th of the same year, was a part of the orchestra's three-month summer season engagement at that casino. The recordings was broadcast by both NBC and Mutual which  greatly helped make the  Glenn Miller Orchestra   become even more popular.with record-breaking attendance.

Quick! Name a big country singer from the 40's 50's and 60's! A lot of people would answer Johnny Cash , Hank Snow--even Hank William's Jr .'s music was huge after his death. But Eddy Arnold topped them all in terms of number one hits. You may remember some of his smashes, "Bouquet of Roses," "Anytime," "Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way)," "Please Help Me I'm Falling," and "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain." He was thought of as an urban cowboy, a crooner more than a hillbilly, and he made big contributions to the world of radio. Before his 1946 string of number one hits, Arnold hosted Checkerboard Fun Fest , a hootenanny of a radio variety show featuring Rod Brasfield, Curle Fox, and The Cackle Sisters. On the other end of his halcyon days as a C&W star, in the 1960's, he hosted a series of public service announcements for Social Security, on which he strummed songs such as "

May 14, 1945: CBS radio first broadcast The Sparrow and the Hawk , a series for kids. The show centered around aviation, starring Young Barney Mallory and his uncle, Hawk Mallory. The show is so rare that only one episode is still in existence.

  May 11, 1946: Juvenile Jury was hosted by Jack Barry on WOR radio in New York City. It debuted on the Mutual Broadcasting System's 'Coast-to-Coast' after becoming a huge hit through only five weeks on air. This radio show was actually for children, featuring children trying to help others with their problems and was a big hit.

While Massachusetts was Mike Wallace 's 1918 birthplace, Michigan was the birthplace of his broadcasting career. Wallace was a writer and newscaster at WOOD in Grand Rapids, and then an announcer at Detroit's WXYZ. After his tour of duty in the Navy during the WWII , Wallace returned stateside and found employ as radio announcer in Chicago, doing the emcee duties for such shows as Sky King and Curtain Time . He got a higher-profile gig announcing for Groucho Marx 's You Bet Your Life. It was then on to broadcast journalism with an interview show called Night Beat.  Mike Wallace  radio life was concluding as he would go on to television super-stardom, with his claim to fame being 60 Minutes . Wallace died in 2012.