THE RADIO ANNOUNCER ...
When GraceMoore'
Put the Band to Work
Frank Simon, conductor of the
Armco Band, heard on Tuesday at
10:00 P.M. (EST) over the NBC blue
network, can thank Grace Moore for
once having helped him get through a
difficult rehearsal.
It was in the \\ L\V studios, and
Simon’s men were tired. Many of them
are also members of the Cincinnati
Symphony, and they had previously
*■ spent several hours rehearsing for a
symphonic concert. Frank Simon, with
a broadcast ahead that evening, was
almost frantic at their lack of interest.
Suddenly a very attractive young
lady was escorted into the shadowy
client’s booth. Ernest Glover, Simon’s
assistant, called softly to the band
master and asked who th> fair visitor
was.
"Oh, replied Simon, with hardly a
glance, “1 don’t know. Grace Moore,
maybe.”
i lie maybe” wasn’t heard, but the
“Grace Moore” was. Immediately the
members of the band were galvanized
into action, lies were straightened.
Instruments were snapped to the exact
;#gle. When Simon rapped with his
baton for attention, he got it.
t he band "gave.” After all, this re
hearsal was being neard by a fellow
musician, and as lovely a one as
Grace Moore, at that.
I’lie spell was broke later, however,
when “Grace Moore” left the clients
booth and entered the studio. She was
a local girl who was interested, it
seems, in getting Mr. Simon’s auto
graph.
Now inSeventh Year
m . JB Ik
IREENE WICKER
Ireene Wicker, the Kellogg Singing
Lady, who recently began her seventh
year in radio, can look back with much
satisfaction as she reviews her achieve
ments since her debut over WGN in
1931. Miss Wicker’s "Singing Lady”
• programs are heard over the NBC blue
i network Mondays through Thursdays
at 5:30 P.M. (EST).
When on the beginning of her sev
enth year of broadcasting, she pre
sented er dramatized version of the
beloved old nursery rhyme “Twinkle,
Twinkle Little Star”, she told her
1,522 story. This rhyme was her first
radio presentation and she has re
peated it on each anniversary pro
gram.
Combining the unusual qualities of
singer, actress, writer, and composer,
the Singing Lady gathers, writes and
presents all her mat jrial. So estima
• ting that each presentation entailed
about 1,500 words, more than approxi
mately 3,000,000 words have flowed
from her typewriter over the past six
• years.
Beloved uj millions o listeners of
all ages, Ireene nas received as many
as 100,(XX) fan letters in one week and
1,(XX),000 in one year. She gives per
sonal attention to h**. fan mail, chang
ing ;.nd adding to her stories accord
ing to the interes* shown by her
listeners.
One of the best known personalities
*in radio, her Singing Lady program
has been universally acclaimed as the
one example of juvenile entertainment
which could safely be followed by all
others.
High Spotting Tuesdays and Fridays
AL PEARCE
At one time A1 Pearce’s Gang con
sisted of Al, his brother, Cal, and a
cow . . . That was years ago when Al
was 15 years old . . . and long before
he started his Ford Dealers’ “Watch
the Fun Gc By” program, heard on
Tuesday nights over the Columbia
network at 9 P.M. (EST).
Faced with the problem of support
ing their family, Al and his brother
and the cow became Pearce’s Dairy,
dispensing Grade A, Grade B, and
fresh cream and buttermill to San
Jose, California housewives . . . Cal
and the cow did their part but Al
preferred the banjo. VV bile house
wives fumed Al amused kids along his
route. Then he would make belated
deliveries which were smoothed over
by the Al . earce smile and humor.
Over their back fe the women
discussed Pearce’s Dairy . . “The
service is terrible, but that nice Mr.
Pearce is perfectly grand.” Thus busi
ness boomed and the brothers
branched out as jobbers . . .
Feeling that music needed him more
than milk did, Al suddenly decided to
become a maestro. After strumming
his way to success in San Jose, he
moved around with dance bands
through California and Nevada. And
soon he had a ban of his own at
swanky Lake Tahoe in the Sierra
Nevadas.
Deciding that tiiere wa-> inoie mn
than profit in music, for the next few
years he sold everything from soap to
sandpits to people of a dozen different
states. Needless to say, his experience
furnished a wealthy background for a
famous radio characterization, “Elmer
Blurp”, the low pressure salesman . . .
Indeed, it was an “Elmer Blurt” that
Pearce first definitely established him
self as a top flight entertainer . . .
Realizing that radio offered a per
fect medium for his intimate, friendly
type of comedy, Al was first heard on
the air in 1929 from a small California
station. He clicked from the start and
as his listeners grew in numbers Al
gradually added to his company. What
iiad been a comedy duo evolved into
Al Pearce and his Happy-Go-Lucky
Gang. And radio had another "sue
cess storv’’ to its credit.
He Played Bull-Fiddle for the Czar
There is nothing unusual about
spending thirty days in jail after a
visit to a courtroom, but Josef Cher
niavsky, conductor of the Sunday
afternoon Musical Camera broadcast,
once spent a month behind bars after
playing his cello before the Russian
Imperial Court.
* * *
It came about when the Czar’s Per
sonal Adjutant, General Komaroff,
requisitioned a string trio from the
Preobrajonsky Regiment Symphony
Orchestra to play at a musicale given
for the Imperial Court. Cherniavsky.
whose instrument was the cello, was
one of those selected to play. Another
member of the trio was Vladimir
Bakalainoff, now assistant conductor
of the Cincinnati Symphony Orches
tra.
* * *
Genera Komaroff, acording to
Cherniavsky, didn’t care much what
the trio played or how they played it,
but he dfd drill the three musicians
in how they had to march into the
Czar’s presence. They were ordered
to keep their heels together at all
I |
'MR
W w i
ft i jwi
mt -JiV *i
Wlfrrf Jm MUk.
REX CHANDLER
Although his mild manner and un
assuming smile belie the fact, Rex
Chandler, whose orchestra supplies
the music for "Universal Rhythm,”
the F'ord Dealers Friday niglrt pro
gram over the NBC Blue network, has
a penchant for getting himself in a
tight spot and getting out safely.
As much at home in the air as he
is on the conductor’s platform, the
personable young maestro has been
through many a ticklish situation
above the clouds, and yet, with more
than 2,500 flying hours to his credit
he has never been seriously injured.
Probably he had his closest call a
few years back in Minnesota when his
plane lost a wing at an altitude of 8(X)
feet. Chandler and a companion were
cruising over the State Fair grounds
at a leisurely clip, calmly casting a
casual glance at the thousands who
were attending the automobile races
on the track below*.
Chandler had just remarked to his
companion that the race drivers
seemed to be making pretty good time
on the dirt trac-k, when suddenly time
didn’t mean a thing. Ihe plane’s pro
peller snapped in two, cut the wires
supporting the craft’s right wing,—
which folded up in a hurry,—and the
two air-minded young men were
more or less at the mercy of the Fates.
Chandler worked the controls as
though his very life depended on it,
which it die., and with the help of a
strong following wind he succeeded in
gliding clear ot the track and its at
tending thousands and aimed for a
small field close b\.
A two-story frame liouse ma. stood
between the plane and the field was
minus its himney when the maestro
and his friend crawled out of the
wreckage in a cabbage patch. A total
Vreck, its engine scattered all over
the field, the plane itself, and the
farmer’s chimney ant. cabbage patch
were the only casualties. Both
Chandler an his companion escaped
with nothing more than a few
scratches am’ rook cvb home.
times, anU their shoulders straight,
even while plavmg.
* * *
As tlie cellist, josef Clierniavsky
was at a great disadvantage. He ar
gued that, to play the instrument, he
had to put it between his legs, mak
ing it imposible to his heels to
gether. ihe General insisted that the
cellist had to keep his heels together
anyway—or else.
* * *
In folowing the General’s orders,
Clierniavsky t ok a peculiar stance.
Heels togeth ,he held the instrument
at his dde while he played. Then,
after a time and carried away by the
tempo, lie put the ceho between his
legs.
* * *
After the selection was finished, the
Court politely applauded and left.
Then General Komaroff descended on
the musicians, particularly Cherniav
sky. With some choice Russian epi
thets, Josef was told he had disobeyed
orders. A military guard was called.
Thirty days later Josef and his fel
low musicians were released from jail.
l.\ THIS SHOW
With the opening ot “But tor the
Grace of God’”, Broadway’s newest
play of factories and sweatshops,
three members of the "Billy and
Betty” broadcast are now playing
leading roles in stage successes.
James McCallion, who plays the
part of Billy White in the broad
casts, which are heard on Mondays
through Fridays over WEAF, takes
a principal part in the play as Joey,
a tough street youngster
Charita Bauer, known to “Billy
and Betty” followers as Kay Fost
ter, began a short time ago an
important stage assignment in the
dramatic success “The Women”,
now at the Ethel Barrymore
Theater. However, best known of
the radio cast for his work before
the footlights is Billy Hallop. Star
of the stirring play “Dead End”,
which is now in its second year,
Billy Hallop has thrilled thousands
by his amazing portrayal of
Tommy, the hard-boiled kid of the
East River waterfront.
Has Unusual Hobby
LORETTA CLEMENS
Loretta Clemens who, with her
brother Jack, is heard in the mornings
at 9:15 over WABC, has an unusual
hobby. She cuts out photographs of
her friends, mounts them on tiny fig
ures and dresses them in clothes she
makes herself.
Cape Cod Folks
JBk <
Iff 1 /*5 11 §B ii I 'fir
|| W
I! , .~ If
MA AND PA BAXTER
Here they are, folks, Ma and Pa
Baxter, the lovable Cape Cod couple
you hear on Tuesday, Thursday and
Saturday evenings over the Columbia
network. In real life they are Mar
garet Dee and Parker Fennelly.