Show No. 290: Nov. 22, 1992
"Automobiles" is a solid hour of music, comedy routines and commercials about the many splendors of the automobile -- from its earliest incarnation as a make-out location or a menace to society, up to the days when a new Chevrolet was $400 or so. Hit the road with Scratchy Grooves! (60 min.)
Show No. 291: Nov. 29, 1992
"Cozy Songs" is an hour of music to curl up by the fire to, including classic love songs and warm-hearted tunes from the 1920s and 1930s. (60 min.)
Show No. 292: Dec. 6, 1992
"My Favorite Songs: Dan Mahony" is a special show where a listener -- in this case, Dan Mahony of Bridgeton, N.J. -- came in as a studio guest and got favorite songs played. The list includes "Willy the Weeper" (1927), "Whispering" (1920) by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, "I'm Confessin'" (1930) by Rudy Vallee, "Exactly Like You" by Bing Crosby and more. Dad's rapport with people shines through in these on-air chats. (60 min.)
Show No. 293: Dec. 13, 1992
"1922" features all the news, trivia and music of the year, including Duke Ellington's "Running Wild," Joe Benuti's "My Honey's Lovin' Arms," a nickelodeon playing "Aggravating Papa" and others, "Little Red Schoolhouse" by Billy Murray, "Blue" by the Paul Elkins Orchestra and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 294: Dec. 20, 1992
"Roses" looks at all the songs that have been written about everyone's favorite flower, including "Roses in December" by the Ozzie Nelson Orchestra, "A Rose for Every Heart" by John McCormack, "Wrapped in a Red, Red Rose" by Wayne King's Orchestra, and four songs by Scratchy Grooves fan Ethel Schmidt, who has her favorite songs played on the show. (60 min.)
Show No. 295: Dec. 27, 1992
"Leftovers" catches up on songs that got left off previous shows due to lack of time, serving as a sort of wrap-up of the year on "Scratchy Grooves." A mixed bag, but fun! (60 min.)
Show No. 296: Jan. 3, 1993
"Life" looks at the big issues in a tuneful way. Is life just a bowl of cherries? You may get a few hints here, with a show that includes Al Bowlly's "That's What Life is Made Of," George M. Cohan's gloomy "Life's a Funny Proposition After All" (1911), Bing Crosby's "The Little Things in Life" and a lot more. (60 min.)
Show No. 297: Jan. 10, 1993
"Happiness" will put a smile on anyone's face, with songs such as "Happy" by Al Bowlly, Jane Froman singing "Get Happy," Annette Hanshaw insisting that "Happy Days are Here Again" in 1929, Harold Arlen singing his own composition, "Happy as the Day is Long" and lots more cheerful selections. (60 min.)
Show No. 298: Jan. 17, 1993
"1933" looks at the music and events of a grim year during the Great Depression. On the evening of Bill Clinton's inauguraton, the show looks back at FDR's inauguration and includes music like Dick Powell singing "We're in the Money," Connie Boswell doing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," Jimmy Durante's "Inka Dinka Doo" and more. Dad lived through the Depression, so there is some first-person insight here. (60 min.)
Show No. 299: Jan. 31, 1993
"A Songs" starts the alphabet with "Ain't She Sweet?", Van and Shenk's "Ain't We Got Fun?" (1921), Ted Lewis doing "Alexander's Ragtime Band," Russ Columbo singing "All of Me," Harry Reser's 1926 "Always," Ethel Waters doing "Am I Blue" (1929) and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 300: Feb. 7, 1993
"Favorite Songs of the 1920s" is a lively trip through the hits of long ago, including the Ted Weems Orchestra doing "You're the Cream in My Coffee," the Ipana Troubadors' "I Want to Be Happy" (1929), Fred Waring's 1925 "Collegiate," Vincent Lopez singing "Sunshine," the Keller Sisters warbling "Sunday" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 301: Feb. 14, 1993
"Walter Donaldson" looks at just a few of the hundreds of songs written by this almost-forgotten composer, including "My Blue Heaven" (1927), "How You Gonna Keep Them Down on the Farm?" (1919), "My Mammy" (1921), "Carolina in the Morning," "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" (1925), "At Sundown" (1927) and more. (56 min.)
Show No. 302: Feb. 28, 1993
"Dances" is a toe-tapping hour of dance crazes from long ago, including Paul Whiteman's 1921 "Everybody Step," "The Washington Waddle" from 1909, "The Castle Walk" from 1914, "The Vamp" from 1919, "Cakewalkin' Babies" from 1921, "Black Bottom" by Annette Hanshaw (1926), "Freeze and Melt" by Duke Ellington (1929) and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 303: March 7, 1993
"Two For One" looks at musical pairings of the past, including Gus Van and Joe Skink doing "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune," Nora Bayes and Jack Norwood singing "Mr. Moonman, Turn Off Your Light" (1911), Harry McDonough and Elise Stevenson singing "Shine on Harvest Moon" (1909), Billy Murphy and Ada Jones singing "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine," Collins and Harlan's very silly "In Monkey Land" (1907) and more. (53 min.)
Show No. 304: March 13, 1993
"April Showers" looks at rain, springtime and other pleasant topics, as seen through Al Jolson's 1921 "April Showers," Sarah Vaughn and Billy Eckstine singing "Isn't This a Lovely Day," Al Bowlly's 1931 "Rain on the Roof," the Marlboro Dance Orchestra playing "Rain," Cliff Edwards doing "Singing in the Rain" from 1929, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 305: March 28, 1993
"Richard Whiting" looks at the prolific composer's music for such classic tunes as "Sleepy Time Gal" (1925), "Where the Black-Eyed Susans Grow," "Till We Meet Again" (1918), "The Japanese Sandman" (1920), "Ain't We Got Fun" (1921), "Ukelele Lady" (1925), the novelty hit "Horses," "She's Funny That Way" (1928) and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 306: April 4, 1993
"Pet Names" covers just about every name you could think of, including "Honey" (1929) by Rudy Vallee, "Precious" (1926) by Paul Ash's Orchestra, "Cheri I Love You" (1926) by Annette Hanshaw, "OK Toots" (1934) by Eddie Cantor, "My One and Only" (1927) by Harry Reser, "My Ball and Chain" (1928) by Joe Sanders and lots more! (60 min.)
Show No. 307: April 18, 1993
"Toe-Tapping Tunes of the 20s" features danceable music by Abe Lyman "Shake That Thing" (1926), "No No Nora" (1923), Sam Lanin's Orchestra doing "I'm Walking Around in Circles" (1926) and "Just Across the Street From Heaven" (1928), Harold "Scrappy" Lambert singing "In a Little Two-By-Four For Two," Jimmy and His Joys doing "From Monday On" (1928) and more. There's a bit missing from the original tape, so this show is only 45 minutes. But still fun!
Show No. 308: April 25, 1993
"New To Me Potpourri" features recent purchases not played on the show before, including Ted Weems doing "I'm All Broken Up Over You" (1924), the New Orleans Rascals -- a Dixieland band from Japan -- doing "When Your Hair Has Turned to Silver," The Scranton Sirens doing "Why Should I Be Leaving You," Al Bowlly's "What More Can I Ask" and more (60 min.)
Show No. 309: May 9, 1993
"Songwriter Billy Hill" covers 10 of the 12 songs Hill contributed to posterity during his short career. Hill was a cowboy, miner, violinist in a jazz band and a doorman before striking it rich with "The Last Roundup" (1933). He went on to write "They Cut Down the Old Pine Tree" (1929), "Cabin in the Pines" (1933), "Wagon Wheels" (1934), "Empty Saddles in the Old Corral," "The Glory of Love" (1936) and more. The second half of the show is devoted to songs left off of previous programs, including "Counting the Stars" by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra (1929), Annette Hanshaw singing "Little White Lies," the bouncy dance tune "The Baltimore Buzz" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 310: May 16, 1993
"Love Songs of the Roaring 20s" features "Love Will Find a Way" (1921), Cliff Edwards singing "I'll See You in My Dreams" (1924), "Moonlight and Roses" by John McCormack (1925), "Beloved" by Ruth Etting (1928), Al Bowlly's "If I Had You" (1928) and lots more. (60 min.)
Show No. 311: May 23, 1993
"Getting Older" takes a philosophical look at the subject, with songs including "It's Never Too Late to Fall in Love," "When I Grow Too Old to Dream" by Nelson Eddy, "Too Old to Cut the Mustard Anymore," Connie Boswell singing "Silver Threads Among the Gold" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 312: June 6, 1993
"Songwriter Milton Ager" shines a spotlight on this underappreciated songwriter, with some of his songs, including "Freckles" (1919), "A Young Man's Fancy," "I'm Nobody's Baby" sung by Ruth Etting (1921), "The Sheik of Alabam" (1922) by Emmett Miller, "Ain't She Sweet" (1927), "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune" (1927) and the immortal "Happy Days are Here Again" (1929). (60 min.)
Show No. 313: June 13, 1993
"B Songs" strolls through the second letter of the alphabet with "Baby Face" by Jan Garber, "Back in Your Own Back Yard" by Gus Arnheim (1928), "Beale Street Blues" by Alberta Hunter and Fats Waller (1927), "Because My Baby Don't Mean Maybe Now" by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra (1928), "Black Bottom" by Johnny Hamp's Kentucky Serenaders and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 314: June 20, 1993
"Victor's Big Hits" documents the label's top-selling records of 1910-1920, including "In the Good Old Summertime" (1905), Billy Murray's "Grand Old Rag" (1906), the strange comedy record "The Arkansas Traveler," Ada Jones singing "The Yama Yama Man" (1909), "Turn Off Your Light Mr. Moon Man" (1911) and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 315: June 27, 1993
"1913" features music of that year, including "My Wife's Gone to the Country" by Frank Stanley, "Where Did You Get That Girl?", "Kiss Me Goodnight" by Arthur Tracy, "Get Out and Get Under" by Will Holly, "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine," "You Made Me Love You" by Al Jolson, Scott Joplin's "Magnetic Rag" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 316: July 4, 1993
"Love Songs You May Not Have Heard Before" contains British dance band music of the 1930s, as a sort of nod to the Fourth of July celebration taking place. Songs include the Billy Cotton Orchestra doing "One Word Led to Another," "Two Hearts On a Tree," "I'm on a See-Saw," Les Allen singing "All of a Sudden" (1932), several songs by vocalist Al Bowlly and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 317: July 18, 1993
"Dance Bands of the 1920s" spotlights the Bernie Cummins Band from Akron Ohio, with "Who? You, That's Who" (1927) and more; the Gus Arnheim Orchestra with "My Inspiration is You" (1929) and more; Carl Webster's Collegians; and the California Ramblers, who recorded under perhaps 100 different names. Here we listen to "The Fighting Irish Team of Notre Dame," "Zulu Wail," "The Vo Do De o Do Blues" and other odd selections! (60 min.).
Show No. 318: July 25, 1993
"Songs About Songs" includes Gene Austin's "The Song I Love," Al Jolson's "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy," Al Bowlly's "My Song Goes Round The World," The Mountain City Blues Blowers doing "Sing An Old Fashioned Song," Cliff Edwards doing "A Song to the Stars," Ruth Etting's "Life is a Song" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 319: Aug. 1, 1993
"This & That" marks the station's return to full broadcasting power, so this show is a bit of everything, including Jack Buchanan singing "Living in Clover," Larry Cotton's Orchestra doing "Somebody Stole My Gal," Eddie Peabody racing through a banjo version of "Bye Bye Blues," Ethel Merman and Jimmy Durante hamming their way through "You Say the Nicest Things," Marion Harris' 1919 "Jazz Baby," the Crooning Cavaliers doing "That Sunny Honeycomb of Mine" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 320: Aug. 8, 1993
"Faraway Places" travels the world with "Isle of Capri" by Al Bowlly, "Hong Kong" by Hoagy Carmichael, "Gypsyland" (1919) by Sam Ash, "Nagasaki" (1928) by Harry Reser, "Monkey Land" (1907) by Collins & Harlan, "Kashmiri Love Song" by Rudolph Valentino and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 321: Aug. 15, 1993
"Music Makers" spotlights "Sam the Old Accordion Man" by George Olsen, "The Ragtime Violin" (1911), Ted Weems doing "Harmonica Harry" and "Piccolo Pete," Eddie Morton's 1911 "The Oceana Roll," Billy Murray's 1915 "I Love a Piano," the 1927 "Erastus and His Old Kazoo" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 322: Aug. 22, 1993
"Unusual Songs" features a 21-trombone version of "That Rainy Day," a musical saw rendition of "America the Beautiful," 1940s song parodies by Nazis (no, really!), Lum and Abner sort of singing, Jimmy Joy playing two clarinets at once, a Polish dixieland number, the 1929 last Edison Records release ("Perhaps" by the Piccadilly Players) and more strangeness. (60 min.)
Show No. 323: Aug. 29, 1993
"Kisses" examines a songwriter's favorite topic, including Rudy Vallee's "A Little Kiss Each Morning," the BF Goodrich Orchestra and the Silver Masked Tenor singing "Moonbeam, Kiss Her For Me," Sophie Tucker's sassy "If Your Kisses Can't Hold the Man You Love," Al Bowlly's "The Touch of Your Lips" and more kissable tunes. (60 min.)
Show No. 324: Sept. 5, 1993
"Songs of the Dark" looks at the pleasant side of darkness, including "Dancing in the Dark" by Jo Stafford, "Don't Keep Me In the Dark, Bright Eyes" by Lee Morse (1928), "Deep Night" by Ruth Etting, "Darkness on the Delta" by Isham Jones, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 325: Sept. 12, 1993
"1911" features hits of that year, including "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Ragtime Violin" by Billy Murray, "The Oceana Roll" by Eddie Morton, "The Spaniard That Blighted My Life" by Al Jolson, "If You Talk in Your Sleep, Don't Mention My Name" by Billy Murray, and more.
Show No. 326: Sept. 26, 1993
"C Songs" explores the third letter of the alphabet with "California Here I Come" by Cliff Edwards, "Carolina Moon" (1925) by Ben Sullivan's Orchestra, "The Charleston" by Isham Jones, "Chinatown" (1915) by Sam Ash, "Chloe" by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, and more. (60 min.)
Sept. 26, 1993 special Neil Payne tribute
The show that followed "Scratchy Grooves" for years was "In a Mist," which featured big-band songs. Dad and the show host, Neal Payne, were good friends. When Payne was killed in a car accident on Sept. 26, dad was the one to take the microphone and host the first hour of his time slot. This recording is a departure for this site, but I thought the moment made great radio. Probably never heard again after the initial airing. (45 min.)
Show No. 327: Oct. 3, 1993
"Neal's Favorites" is a collection of Payne's favorite songs from the "Scratchy Grooves" era, as well as stories about him told by dad. Songs include "Love Me Or Leave Me" by Ruth Etting, Russ Columbo's "Time On My Hands," Irving Aaronson's "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune," an early "Stardust" by Isham Jones, Paul Whiteman's "Side By Side" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 328: Oct. 10, 1993
"Songs of One Syllable" features to-the-point titles such as "Me" by Sam Lanin's Orchestra (1931), "Oh" by Billy Murray (1919), "San" by the Barbary Coast Orchestra (1924), "Where" by Connie Boswell, "Thanks" by Al Bowlly (1933), "Home" by Henry Hall's Orchestra and more (60 min.)
Show No. 329: Oct. 17, 1993
"Roses" looks at everyone's favorite flower, including "Wrapped in a Red, Red Rose" by Wayne King (1929), "One Dozen Roses" by the Mills Brothers, "The Rose in her Hair" by Dick Powell (1935), "Rose Room" by the Jackie Saunders Orchestra (1927), "A Rose For Every Heart" by John McCormack (1926) and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 330: Oct. 24, 1993
"Lonely Songs" looks at the pros and cons of being alone, with Sophie Tucker's "I'm Living Alone and Loving It," Fats Waller singing "Lonesome Me," Dick Powell's "The Lonely Gondolier," "Lonely Lane" by Dick Powell, "Lonely Melody" by Bernie Cummins, and lots more solitary tunes. (60 min.)
Show No. 331: Nov. 7, 1993
"Young Bing Crosby" looks at the crooner's roots, starting with "Wistful and Blue" (1926) featuring Rinker and Crosby with Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, and including "Mississippi Mud" with the Rhythm Boys, "From Monday On" (1928) with Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, "Sposin'" (1929) as an uncredited vocalist, and on through the hits -- "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams," "Out of Nowhere," "It Must Be True," "Just One More Chance" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 332: Nov. 14, 1993
"1920s Grab Bag" includes "There Ain't No Maybe in My Baby's Eyes" by the Paul Ash Orchestra, "I Just Go Along" (1928) by Harry Richman, "There's Danger in Your Eyes, Cheri" (1929), Ben Pollock's "On With the Dance" (1929), "My Baby's Back Today" (1929) by Irene Beasley, "Big City Blues" by Annette Hanshaw and more (60 min.)
Show No. 333: Nov. 21, 1993
"Leftovers" includes songs left over from previous shows, including "Sing a Happy Little Thing" by Cliff Edwards, James P. Johnson's piano roll of "Farewell Blues," "Song of India" (1926) by Paul Whiteman, "Nobody's Sweetheart" by the Mills Brothers (1931), "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" (1909) by Billy Murray and lots more. (60 min.)
Show No. 334: Nov. 28, 1993
"Ladies Night" includes Annette Hanshaw, Marion Harris, Mildred Bailey with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra doing "Sleepy Time Down South," an Ada Jones song from 1910, Ethel Waters doing "Am I Blue," Kate Smith's 1929 "He's a Good Man to Have Around," Connie Boswell's 1933 "Under a Blanket of Blues" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 335: Dec. 5, 1993
"Songs I Haven't Played Before" opens a bag of new tunes such as Al Bowlly's "Just Let Me Look At You" (1938), "The Broken Record" by Henry Hall's Orchestra, "For You My Baby" by Sidney Lipton, Scrappy Lambert singing "Kalinda" (1927), Sam Ash singing "I've Made a Study of You" (1916), the Eddie Duchin Orchestra's "Born to be Bored" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 336: Dec. 12, 1993
"Million Sellers" looks at the first records to achieve that mark, including "The Preacher and the Bear" (1905) by Arthur Collins, "The Spaniard that Ruined My Life" (1913) by Al Jolson, "Cohen on the Telephone," "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" (1915) by Alma Gluck, "Wabash Blues" (1921) by Isham Jones and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 337: Dec. 26, 1993
"Clearing the Decks" sweeps out the leftover songs and belated requests, as well as some newly arrived records, for the new year. Songs include "Laugh Clown Laugh" by Harry Richman, "A Home in the Clouds" by Dick Todd, "Linger a While" by Paul Whiteman, Al Bowlly singing "Bathing in the Sunshine," "The Dallas Rag" (1928), "Ray and His Little Chevrolet" by the Devil Mountain Jazz Band, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 338: Jan. 2, 1994
"New Songs for the New Year" collects songs that are "new" in some way, including Belle Baker's 1930 "You Brought a New Kind of Love To Me," the George Olsen Orchestra's 1927 "Good News," "Doing the New Low Down" by Bill Robinson, "I Found a New Way to Go To Town" by Mae West, "New Sun in the Sky" by Leonard Joy, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 339: Jan. 9, 1994
"Who's Singing?" is your chance to hear performers who rarely sang -- or should not have sung at all! You'll hear Jane Wyman, George Sanders, Jack Lemmon, Alan Alda, Lucille Ball, Anthony Perkins, Lauren Bacall, Tony Randall and lots of others! (60 min.)
Show No. 340: Jan. 15, 1994
"1924" looks at the highlights of that year, with songs including "Tea For Two," "Everybody Loves my Baby" by Fletcher Henderson and Louis Armstrong, "Mr. Radio Man" by Al Jolson, "California Here I Come" by Cliff Edwards, "It Had to be You" by Marion Harris, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 341: Jan. 29, 1994
"February" looks at a few of the things that have occurred over the years in February, and manages to link them up to songs such as "Joy Riding" (1911), "K-K-K-Katie," "Lucky Lindy," the 1840 campaign song "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too," Connie Boswell's "My Funny Valentine," Billy Murry's "Dancing to the Victrola," Irene Franklin's vaudeville song "Help, Help, Help!" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 342: Feb. 6, 1994
"Let's..." makes quite a few suggestions, including "Let's Call it a Day" (1932) by Frank Munn, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," "Let's Do It Again" by Guy Lombardo, "Let's Fall in Love" (1934) by Annette Hanshaw, "Let's Fly Away" by Anson Weeks, "Let's Leave It That Way" by Arthur Fields, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 343: Feb. 20, 1994
"D Songs" features "Don't Blame Me" and "Daddy Won't You Please Come Home" by Annette Hanshaw, "Dancing With Tears in My Eyes" by Irving Kauffman, "Dardanella" by Paul Whiteman, "Dear Old Girl" by Bing Crosby, "Deed I Do" by Ruth Etting, "Deep in a Dream" by Al Bowlly and other songs containing the letter D! (60 min.)
Show No. 344: Feb. 27, 1994
"Walking" sets off at a brisk pace with George Olsen's "Walking With Susie," "Walking My Baby Back Home" (1931) by Ted Weems, "I'm Walking in Circles" (1926) by Irving Kauffman, The Edisongsters doing "I Want to Meander in the Meadow" (1929), Hal Kemp's "Walking by the River" and lots more. (runs a bit short at 53 min.)
Show No. 345: March 6, 1994
"She Said Yes!" looks at pre-romantic interlude euphoria with songs such as "From Monday On" by Harry Roy and His Ragamuffins, "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" by Blossom Sealey, "I'm in Seventh Heaven" by Johnny Marvin (1929), "There Ain't No Maybe in My Baby's Eyes" by Paul Ashe (1926), Al Jolson's 1918 "I'll Say She Does," Ben Pollock and Scrappy Lambert's "I'm More Than Satisfied" and lots more (60 min.)
Show No. 346: March 27, 1994
"Music From Friends" compiles some music from tapes traded with other collectors that hadn't been played on the show before, including "It's Psychological" by the Lou Stone Orchestra and Al Bowlly, "One Two Button Your Shoe" by Henry Hall and his Orchestra, George Formby Jr.'s comedic "Auntie Maggie's Homemade Remedy," Billy Murray's "I Wish I Had a Girl" and lots more. (60 min.)
Show No. 347: April 3, 1994
"Billy Murray" looks at this prolific vocalist's long career, including "Give My Regards to Broadway" (1904), "You're a Grand Old Rag" (1908), "In My Merry Oldsmobile" (1905), "Pretty Baby" (1916), "Goodbye Broadway, Hello France," the anti-Prohibition song "How Are You Going to Wet Your Whistle When the Whole Darn World's Gone Dry?" (1917) and lots more. (60 min.)
Show No. 348: April 10, 1994
"Spring Fever" is a soundscape of vintage music about rain, flowers, sunshine and being in love, all assembled without commentary by dad. He loved spring, and this is a wordless salute to his favorite season, 1920s style! (57 min.)
More music on Page 7