''Club Fifteen'' is a

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

program in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

that featured

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

. It was broadcast weeknights (except for a two month hiatus each summer) 30 June 1947 – 21 December 1951. Then, it aired Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights until 16 January 1953.Cox, Jim. (2012). ''Musicmakers of Network Radio: 24 Entertainers, 1926–1962''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 73-74. The name reflected the program's length—15 minutes. ''The Historical Dictionary of Old-Time Radio'' noted that the show "is sometimes listed as ''Bob Crosby's Club Fifteen'' because

Bob Crosby George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the young ...

was the original star, although

Dick Haymes Richard Benjamin Haymes (September 13, 1918 – March 28, 1980) was an Argentinian singer and actor. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, television host, ...

took over in 1949-50." The program was sponsored by Campbell Soups.

Format

Media historian Jim Cox commented that in ''Club Fifteen'', "Crosby followed a pattern that he had perfected a dozen years earlier, being the front man with the easygoing, laid-back technique, quick to defer to others in the cast." Musical selections formed the core of each broadcast, supplemented as "Crosby bantered back and forth with his co-stars in lively scripted exchanges laced with light humor."Cox, Jim. (2012). ''Musicmakers of Network Radio: 24 Entertainers, 1926–1962''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P.73. A contemporary critic echoed Cox's comments. Paul Ackerman, in a review of the 25 July 1947, episode of ''Club Fifteen'' in

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

, wrote: "Club 15 ic.. is patterned after a tried and proven formula ... the talent is easily listenable." He continued, "

... is engaging in the light chatter ... and a good performer in his solos and duets with

Margaret Whiting Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American popular music and country music singer who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard' ...

." Overall, Ackerman considered the program "a pleasant quarter-hour of pops and standards."Ackerman, Paul. "Club 15". ''The Billboard''. August 2, 1947. P. 12.

Personnel

Except for the 1949-50 season, when

was host,

was the star of the show. During that year, Crosby left CBS to sing in a half-hour program for Pet Milk on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. Cox wrote, "When his

contract ended, he hustled back to re-sign at CBS, and remained—with rare exceptions—a fixture in CBS's fold for the continuation of his network broadcasting life." Other individuals who sang on ''Club Fifteen'' were

Jo Stafford Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917July 16, 2008) was an American traditional pop music singer, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classi ...

, Patti Clayton,

Evelyn Knight (singer) Evelyn Knight (born Evelyn Davis, December 31, 1917, Reedville, Virginia – September 28, 2007, San Jose, California) was an American singer of the 1940s and 1950s. Damon Runyon, in one of his newspaper columns, described Knight as "a lissome ...

Buxton, Frank and Owen, Bill (1972). ''The Big Broadcast: 1920–1950''. The Viking Press. SBN 670-16240-x. P. 54. and

Gisele MacKenzie Gisèle MacKenzie (born Gisèle Marie Louise Marguerite LaFlèche; January 10, 1927 – September 5, 2003)
Accessed April 2010 ...

. Vocal groups featured were

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...

and The Modernaires. Jerry Gray led the orchestra and Del Sharbutt was the announcer. Effective March 30, 1948,

The Pied Pipers The Pied Pipers is an American popular singing group originally formed in the late 1930s. They had several chart hits through the 1940s, both under their own name and in association with Tommy Dorsey and with Frank Sinatra. Origins Originally ...

replaced The Modernaires, singing on Tuesdays and Thursdays as they alternated nights with the Andrews trio. Producers were Murray Bolen, Diana Bourbon, Ace Ochs, and Cal Kuhl.

References

{{reflist

External links

Streaming episodes of ''Club Fifteen'' from RadioEchoesStreaming episodes of ''Club Fifteen'' from Old Time Radio Researchers Group library
1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs American variety radio programs CBS Radio programs American music radio programs

Format

Personnel

See also

References

External links