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15 Minutes With Bing Crosby
''15 Minutes with Bing Crosby'' was Bing Crosby's first solo radio series, which ran from September 2, 1931 until October 31 the same year. It was to have a major impact on his career. Background Crosby had appeared on radio on many occasions as a member of The Rhythm Boys trio, first as part of the Paul Whiteman orchestra and later in the nightly broadcasts with Gus Arnheim from the Cocoanut Grove in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. It was at the Cocoanut Grove that Bing's solos made him stand out from the Rhythm Boys and a dispute with the management at the Grove more or less led to the break-up of the trio in May 1931. Bing had already started making records under his own name and then he made several short films for Mack Sennett which were well received. A regular nationwide radio broadcast show was the next logical step in the development of his solo career. Bing and his attorney, Roger Marchetti, traveled from Los Angeles to New York seeking $1,500 a week on sustaining t ...
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Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1926 to 1977. He made over 70 feature films and recorded more than 1,600 songs. His early career coincided with recording innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate singing style that influenced many male singers who followed, such as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Dick Haymes, Elvis Presley, and John Lennon. ''Yank'' magazine said that he was "the person who had done the most for the morale of overseas servicemen" during World War II. In 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. In 1948, ''Music Digest'' estimated that his recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hou ...
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Russ Columbo
Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolfo Colombo (January 14, 1908 – September 2, 1934), known as Russ Columbo, was an American baritone, songwriter, violinist and actor. He is famous for romantic ballads such as his signature tune "You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love" and his own compositions " Prisoner of Love" and "Too Beautiful For Words". Early life Columbo was born in Camden, New Jersey, the twelfth child of Italian immigrant parents Nicola and Giulia (Julia) Colombo. He attended Everett Grammar School and started playing the violin at a very young age, debuting professionally at the age of 13. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was 16, and he attended Belmont High School there. He left high school at age 17 to study violin under Calmon Luvovski and travel with various bands around the country. He sang and played violin in numerous nightclubs. Career Films By 1928, at the age of 20, Columbo began to participate in motion pictures, including a Vitaphone short in which Co ...
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Nathaniel Shilkret
Nathaniel Shilkret (December 25, 1889 – February 18, 1982) was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director. Early career Shilkret (originally named Natan Schüldkraut) was born in New York City, United States, to parents who emigrated from Lemberg (now Lviv in Ukraine).Shilkret, Nathaniel, ed. Shell, Niel and Barbara Shilkret, ''Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business'', Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, 2005. Shilkret, Nathaniel, Barbara Shilkret, and Niel Shell, ''Feast or Famine: Sixty Years in the Music Business'', archival edition of Shilkret autobiography, 2001 (copies deposited in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, The City College of New York Archival Library, The New York Philharmonic Archives, The Victor Archives (SONY)). His father played a number of instruments, and made certain that Nat and his three brothers were all accomplished musicians at an early age. Older brother Lew Shilkret was a fine pianist who also ...
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Ruth Etting
Ruth Etting (November 23, 1896 – September 24, 1978) was an American singer and actress of the 1920s and 1930s, who had over 60 hit recordings and worked in stage, radio, and film. Known as "America's sweetheart of song", her signature tunes were "Shine On, Harvest Moon", " Ten Cents a Dance" and " Love Me or Leave Me". As a young girl in Nebraska, Etting had wanted to become an artist; she drew and sketched all the time. At sixteen, her grandparents decided to send her to art school in Chicago. While Etting attended class, she found a job at the Marigold Gardens nightclub; after a short time there, Etting gave up art classes in favor of a career in show business. Etting, who enjoyed singing in school and church, never took voice lessons. She quickly became a featured vocalist at the club. Etting was then managed by Moe Snyder, whom she married in 1922. Snyder made arrangements for Etting's recording and film contracts as well as her personal and radio appearances. She became ...
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Arthur Tracy
Arthur Tracy (25 June 1899 – 5 October 1997) was an American vocalist and actor, billed as The Street Singer. His performances in theatre, films and radio, along with his recordings, brought him international fame in the 1930s. Late evening radio listeners tuned in to hear announcer David Ross' introduction ("Round the corner and down your way comes The Street Singer") and Tracy's familiar theme song, "Marta, Rambling Rose of the Wildwood." Biography Born Abba Avrom Tracovutsky in Kamenetz-Podolsky, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), he emigrated to the United States with his parents, listed as Mordeche and Fannie Trasowitzkey, and sisters, in October 1906; they were steerage passengers on the SS ''Blücher'', from Hamburg to New York. His brother was born in 1907. After their release from the Ellis Island Immigrant station, they settled in Philadelphia. Naturalized in 1913, Tracy's parents became known as Morris and Fannie Tracy. In 1917, Tracy graduated from Central High Schoo ...
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The Big Broadcast
''The Big Broadcast'' is a 1932 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Bing Crosby, Stuart Erwin, and Leila Hyams. Based on the play ''Wild Waves'' by William Ford Manley, the film is about a radio-singer who becomes a popular hit with audiences, but takes a disrespectful approach to his career. His repeated latenesses leads to the bankruptcy of the radio station, but his career is saved by a new friend who buys the station and gives him his job back. The film co-stars George Burns and Gracie Allen in supporting roles. ''The Big Broadcast'' was produced by Paramount Pictures and was the first in a series of four ''Big Broadcast'' movies. Plot Radio-singer Bing Hornsby (Bing Crosby) is not very serious about his career. His chronic tardiness and his soon-to-be marriage with the notorious Mona Lowe (Sharon Lynn) has become an issue at station WADX. After an unpleasant conversation with station manager George Burns, concerning dismissal and a ...
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Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest film studio in the United States (behind Universal Pictures), and the sole member of the Major film studio, "Big Five" film studios located within the city limits of Los Angeles. In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor put 24 actors and actresses under contract and honored each with a star on the logo. In 1967, the number of stars was reduced to 22 and their hidden meaning was dropped. In 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only. The company's headquarters and studios are located at 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, California. Paramount Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, Motion Picture Associ ...
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Goodnight Sweetheart (Ray Noble, Jimmy Campbell And Reg Connelly Song)
"Goodnight, Sweetheart" is a British popular song written in 1931. It has been performed by Al Bowlly, Kate Smith, Connie Francis (for her 1959 album ''My Thanks to You''), Dick Haymes (for his ''Imagination (Dick Haymes album), Imagination'' album), Gordon MacRae (for his 1957 album ''Motion Picture Soundstage''), Sarah Vaughan (for her 1962 album ''Sarah + 2'') and Dean Martin (for his 1958 album ''Sleep Warm''), among others, and was the theme song for the 1990s BBC time-travel sitcom ''Goodnight Sweetheart (TV series), Goodnight Sweetheart'' starring Nicholas Lyndhurst, which was named after it. "Goodnight, Sweetheart" was written in 1931 by the song-writing team of Ray Noble, Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly, Jimmy Campbell and Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly, Reg Connelly. It was recorded in 1931 by the Wayne King, Wayne King Orchestra (vocals by Ernie Birchill), Russ Columbo, Bing Crosby, Ruth Etting and the Ray Noble (musician), Ray Noble Orchestra (vocals by Al Bowlly). ...
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Archibald Crossley
Archibald Maddock Crossley (December 7, 1896 – May 1, 1985) was an American pollster, statistician, and pioneer in public opinion research. Along with friends-cum-rivals Elmo Roper and George Gallup, Crossley has been described as one of the fathers of election polling. Biography Crossley was born in Fieldsboro, New Jersey, on December 7, 1896. He attended Princeton University for one year in 1917, dropping out to go to work as a copywriter and researcher for J. H. Cross Company, a small advertising firm in Philadelphia. He returned to Princeton and received his bachelor's degree in psychology in 1950. Crossley was research director for ''Literary Digest'' from 1922 to 1926, when he launched his own market research company. In 1929, he developed the Crossley ratings (a term he coined) to gauge the audience size of radio broadcasts. Like Elmo Roper and George Gallup, Crossley successfully predicted the outcome of the 1936 United States presidential election. The pollsters use ...
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Crossley Ratings
The Crossley ratings (or Crossleys) were an audience measurement system created to determine the audience size of radio broadcasts beginning in 1930. Developed by Archibald Crossley, the ratings were generated using information collected by telephone surveys to random homes. In 1930, Crossley spearheaded the formation of the Cooperative Analysis of Broadcasting (CAB). The first national ratings service, CAB was supported by subscription and was at first available only to advertisers. Crossley's method of data collection essentially consisted of calling random households in selected cities and asking the respondent to recall what radio programs had been listened to at an earlier point: the previous day in Crossley's first surveys, later modified to a few hours earlier. The survey also divided the day into four listening periods (later known as dayparts), thus uncovering the fact that most radio listening at the time occurred in the evenings. In the industry, the method was known ...
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Where The Blue Of The Night (Meets The Gold Of The Day)
"Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" was the theme Bing Crosby selected for his radio show. It was recorded in November 1931 with Bennie Krueger and his Orchestra. The song was featured in a Mack Sennett movie short starring Bing Crosby. Crosby recorded the song on several occasions starting with the November 23, 1931 version with Bennie Kruger and his Orchestra. He next recorded it on July 20, 1940 with The Paradise Island Trio. On July 17, 1945 he recorded it with John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra and his final recording was on April 21, 1954 with Buddy Cole and his Trio for his Musical Autobiography set. The song was originally "When the Gold of the Day Meets the Blue of the Night", but the title was changed before recording. Because Crosby wrote the verse for the song, writers Roy Turk and Fred E. Ahlert included him in the songwriting credit. Although the song was popular and successful, Crosby did not take special pride in having written it, saying m ...
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Carl Fenton
Carl Fenton was a pseudonym of Walter G. Haenschen, American bandleader, composer, and radio musician. Name origin The Carl Fenton Orchestra (AKA "Carl Fenton’s Orchestra") was a title given to Brunswick Records studio bands through the 1920s. The name was invented by Brunswick music director Walter Gustave "Gus" Haenschen shortly after taking the position for their brand-new American division. Later, the name was taken by violinist Ruby (Rubin) Greenberg. Haenschen, whose own name was considered ill-suited for commercial recordings, haphazardly chose the name "Fenton" after the town of Fenton, Missouri, near his hometown of St Louis, Missouri. He attended Washington University. He told an interviewer "How do you find a name? Just pull it out of a hat." The first name "Carl" was likely selected by Brunswick's office staff. Early recordings The earliest songs recorded by Carl Fenton's Orchestra were ''Karavan'' and ''Romance'', from October 1919. Brunswick Records release ...
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