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Kay Kyser's Kollege Of Musical Knowledge
''Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge'' is an American old-time radio musical quiz program starring Kay Kyser. It was broadcast on Mutual, NBC, and ABC beginning on February 1, 1938, and ending on July 29, 1949. Background In the latter half of the 1930s, leaders of big bands sought ways to differentiate their groups from others who played similar music. Successful variations on the standard format of just playing one song after another could quickly move bands from "being merely late-hour fillers" without sponsors to having sponsored broadcasts in better time slots. Tommy Dorsey began featuring amateur musicians, Benny Goodman moved his trio and quartet into the spotlight, and Kay Kyser added a quiz component. Some of the changes were less innovation than adaptation. An article in the trade publication ''Billboard'' noted that Dorsey's airing of amateurs followed the example of Major Bowes, and Kyser's contest was a variation on the '' Professor Quiz'' program. In October ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kay Kyser
James Kern Kyser (June 18, 1905 – July 23, 1985), known as Kay Kyser, was an American bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s. Early years James Kern Kyser was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Emily Royster Kyser (née Howell) and Paul Bynum Kyser.Annette Bochenek"Kay Kyser" August 1, 2022. ''Hometowns to Hollywood''. He was one of six children, and his mother was the first registered female pharmacist in state. Journalist and newspaper editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin. Kyser graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1928, where he was senior class president and was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity. Owing to his popularity and enthusiasm as a cheerleader, he was invited by Hal Kemp to take over as bandleader when Kemp ventured north to further his career. He began taking clarinet lessons but was better as an entertaining announcer than a musician. He adopted the initial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trudy Erwin
Trudy Erwin (born August 12, 1918 – October 29, 2000) was an American singer and actress in films who was a vocalist with the Kay Kyser orchestra in the 1940s. She recorded several hit songs including the 1943 duets with Bing Crosby "People Will Say We're In Love "People Will Say We're In Love" is a show tune from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, '' Oklahoma!'' (1943). In the original Broadway production, the song was introduced by Alfred Drake and Joan Roberts. Plot context The other characters ... (#1) and " Oh! What A Beautiful Mornin' (#4). References External links * 1918 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers American women jazz singers American jazz singers Decca Records artists Musicians from Los Angeles People from Los Angeles Singers from California {{actress-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diane Sinclair
Diane Sinclair (born Miriam Rosen; April 6, 1921 – May 14, 2011) was an American actress and dancer from 1939 through the 1950s. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, Sinclair was the daughter of Max Rosen and Sylvia Morrison Rosen, who met as actors in amateur plays. As a child, she performed on the Horn and Hardart Children's hour radio show and danced in shows at summer resorts in the Catskills. Career Sinclair began her Broadway career at age 18 in 1939. She danced and acted in many Broadway shows and tours, including starring as Ariel in '' The Tempest'' on tour (1945), and was featured with Gene Kelly in '' Pal Joey'' on Broadway (1940–41). Her Broadway credits include ''Happy as Larry'' as Lachesis (1950); ''As the Girls Go'' as Miss Swenson (1948–50); ''Sons o' Fun'' as Little Nell and Ensemble (1941–43) and ''Too Many Girls'' (1939–40). Television Sinclair became a regular on the TV variety shows of the 1950s, usually starring with longtime dance partn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sue Bennett
Sue Bennett (born Sue Benjamin; – ) was a vocalist on various network shows during the live television era of the 1940s and 1950s. The Indianapolis, Indiana-born Bennett majored in English at Syracuse University. She starred on the NBC quiz and variety show, '' Kay Kyser's College of Musical Knowledge'' in 1949-50, on the DuMont show '' Teen Time Tunes'' in 1949, and was featured on ''Your Hit Parade'' in 1951-52. Bennett's recordings with the Kay Kyser Orchestra include "Sam, The Old Accordion Man," and "Tootsie, Darlin', Angel, Honey, Baby." She also is heard on the CD, ''An Evening with Frank Loesser'' (DRG 5169), singing "Fugue for Tinhorns" with Loesser and Milton DeLugg. Her career is profiled in a book about the period of early television, ''The Lucky Strike Papers'', written by her son, Andrew Lee Fielding (BearManor Media, 2007; Revised ed., 2019). Following her network career, she had an early morning radio program on WEEI in Boston and later had ''The Sue Bennett ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NBC Studios (New York City)
NBC Studios are located in the historic 30 Rockefeller Plaza (on Sixth Avenue between 49th and 50th streets) in Manhattan, New York City. The building houses the NBC television network headquarters, its parent NBCUniversal, and NBC's flagship station WNBC (Channel 4), as well as cable news channel MSNBC. The first NBC Radio City Studios began operating in the early 1930s. Tours of the studios began in 1933, suspended in 2014 and resumed on October 26, 2015. Because of the preponderance of radio studios, that section of the Rockefeller Center complex became known as Radio City (and gave its name to Radio City Music Hall). Current studio spaces Shows produced at NBC Studios New York Among the shows originating at 30 Rockefeller Plaza (shows taping as of the 2020–2021 season in bold): Other locations Some other New York originated programs are/were produced elsewhere in the area, including: * Ambassador Theatre, 215 West 49th Street. The theater returned to Broadway u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are named), it remains the most-read daily newspaper in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It had the sixth-highest circulation for American newspapers in 2017. In the 1850s, under Joseph Medill, the ''Chicago Tribune'' became closely associated with the Illinois politician Abraham Lincoln, and the Republican Party's progressive wing. In the 20th century under Medill's grandson, Robert R. McCormick, it achieved a reputation as a crusading paper with a decidedly more American-conservative anti-New Deal outlook, and its writing reached other markets through family and corporate relationships at the ''New York Daily News'' and the ''Washington Times-Herald.'' The 1960s saw its corporate parent owner, Tribune Company, rea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sustaining Program
A sustaining program is a radio or television program that, despite airing on a commercial broadcast station, does not have commercial sponsorship or advertising. This term, mostly used in the United States, was common in the early days of radio, but has become unfamiliar owing to the nearly universal use of commercial advertising on radio and television. Network and commercial radio Commercial radio stations began broadcasting in the early 1920s, but it would be over a decade before the concept of selling over-the-air advertising would catch on. Many radio stations were established by radio equipment manufacturers and retailers such as RCA and programming was provided to sell the still-patented radio transmitters and receivers (thus effectively establishing a one-time fee model). Programming was financed from the sale of the equipment. Other radio stations and programs were provided as a public service through endowments or municipal financing; a few were operated by universities o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ish Kabibble
Ish Kabibble (January 19, 1908 – June 5, 1994) was an American comedian and cornet player. Early life Born Merwyn Bogue in North East, Pennsylvania, he moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, with his family a few months after his birth. Career Bogue studied law at West Virginia University, but his comedy antics soon found an audience. He appeared in ten movies between 1939 and 1950. In ''Thousands Cheer'' (1943), he appeared with Kay Kyser and sang "I Dug a Ditch," and he also appeared as a vocalist in ''That's Right—You're Wrong'' (1939), '' You'll Find Out'' (1940), and '' Playmates'' (1941). In addition, he performed with Kyser on the radio and television quiz show ''Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge'' in 1949 and 1950. In his 1989 autobiography, Bogue explained his stage name, which he took from the lyrics of one of his comedic songs, "Isch ga-bibble." The song derived from a mock-Yiddish expression, "Ische ga bibble?", which was purported to mean "I should worry?", promp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ginny Simms
Virginia Ellen SimmsSleeve notes from ''Ginny Simms – I'd Like To Set You To Music'', Jasmine JASCD 118, 2001. (May 25, 1913 – April 4, 1994) was an American popular singer and film actress. Simms sang with big bands and with Dinah Shore, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Stafford, among others. She also worked as an MGM and Universal film actress and appeared in 11 movies from 1939 to 1951, when she retired. Early life Simms was born in San Antonio, Texas. Her family moved to California, where she attended Fresno High School and Fresno State Teachers College, where she studied piano. While there, she began performing in campus productions, singing with sorority sisters and forming a popular campus vocal trio. Shortly afterward, she sought a singing career, and by 1932 she had her own program on a local radio station.Sleeve notes from ''Simple & Sweet: The Best Of Ginny Simms'', Collectables COL-CD-7590, 2005. Career Radio In 1932, Simms became the vocalist for the Tom G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Babbitt
Harry Babbitt (November 2, 1913 – April 9, 2004) was an American singer and star during the Big Band era. Early career Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Babbitt organized his own band after high school, directing the group in addition to singing and playing saxophone and drums. Later, his work as an announcer and soloist on a radio station in St. Louis caught the attention of bandleader Kay Kyser. Music career Babbitt joined the Kyser band in the winter of 1936. With Kyser he recorded several hits in his rich baritone. On some novelty tunes he adopted a high-pitched falsetto. Babbitt sang such hits as "Three Little Fishies," "(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China "On A Slow Boat to China" is a popular song by Frank Loesser, published in 1948. The song is a well-known pop standard, recorded by many artists, including a duet between Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby (for their album '' Fancy Meeting You H ..." and "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle," but his biggest hit was the cove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georgia Carroll
Georgia Carroll (November 18, 1919 – January 14, 2011) was an American singer, fashion model, and actress, best known for her work with Kay Kyser's big band orchestra in the mid-1940s. She and Kayser were married in 1944 until he died in 1985. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Carroll, she was born in Blooming Grove, Texas, where her father raised sheep. Her family moved to Dallas, Texas, where she graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School (Dallas), Woodrow Wilson High School. One of Carroll's early jobs was modeling for a department store in Dallas, Texas. She eventually went to New York City and worked for the John Powers modeling agency. While she worked as a model in New York, she took vocal lessons. She had her first brush with celebrity when she was the model for "The Spirit of the Centennial" statue at the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. The statue still stands in front of what is now The Women's Museum. She was a 1937 graduate of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The King Sisters
The King Sisters were an American big band-era vocal group consisting of six sisters: Alyce, Donna, Luise, Marilyn, Maxine, and Yvonne King. History Born and raised in Pleasant Grove, Utah, the King sisters were part of the Driggs family of entertainers. They were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their father was William King Driggs.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 152. Their first professional job was with a Salt Lake City radio station, from which they graduated to a station in Oakland, California. In the early 1930s sisters Luise, Maxine, and Alyce formed a vocal trio along the lines of their idols, the Boswell Sisters, and traveled to San Francisco to audition for radio station KGO (to replace the Boswell Sisters themselves, who were leaving the station). After this, Maxine retired to home life in Oakland and sisters Donna and Y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
