Show No. 478: April 6, 1997
"Spring Fever" takes a musical break with songs like "I Want to be Lazy" by Blossom Sealey, "Ho Hum" by Bing Crosby, "So Tired" by Hoagy Carmichael, "Lazy Bones" by the Mills Brothers (right), "Lazy Day" by Al Bowlly, "Lazy Louisiana Moon" by Annette Hanshaw, and other songs designed to accompany a spring afternoon. (60 min.)
Show No. 479: April 13, 1997
"Rainbows" includes songs like "There's a Rainbow Round My Shoulder" (1928) by Johnny Marvin, "If You Want the Rainbow You Must Have the Rain" by Fanny Brice, "Riding on a Rainbow," and songs about the colors of the rainbow, like Belle Baker's "Blue Moon" and others (58 min.)
Show No. 480: April 20, 1997
"Unfamiliar Songs" includes some B-sides that you might not have heard before, including "Stepping Along" (1928), "When You're Over 60 and Feel Like Sweet 16" (1934), "Well, Look Who's Here" by Dick Robertson, "Gosh Darn," "Everyone Says I Love You" by Elmer Feldkamp, "Crazy People," "Doo Wack a Doo" by Isham Jones, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 481: April 27, 1997
"XYZ" wraps up the alphabet series that started in 1990, with "Yes Sir, That's By Baby" by Blossom Sealey (1925), "Yes We Have No Bananas" by Billy Jones, "You Can't Stop Me From Dreaming" by Dick Powell, "You Do Something to Me" by Marion Harris (1930), "You're Driving Me Crazy" by Lee Morse, "Zing Went the Strings of My Heart" by Ruth Etting, and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 482: May 4, 1997
"Flowers" picks a bunch of floral tunes, including "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by the California Ramblers, "I'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time" by Charles Harrison (1920), "When the Poppies Bloom" by the Ambrose Orchestra, the novelty song "When the Pussy Willow Whispers to the Catnip," "Knee Deep in Daisies" by George Olsen, "The White Elder Trees" by Jack Hilton's Orchestra, and more. (56 min.)
Show No. 483: May 11, 1997
"Can't Songs" takes a happy spin through negative song titles, including "I Can't Get the One I Want" (1924) by Cliff Edwards, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" by Connie Boswell, "Can't You Hear Me Calling, Caroline?" by Gordon Goodman, "I Can't Get Mississippi Off My Mind," "I Can't Get Over a Girl Like You" by Billy Murray, and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 484: May 18, 1997
"Who's That Singing?" is a call-in guessing game in which dad played obscure non-singers and had people call in their identities. Plus, there's an extra song played after the sign-off, so this show is 62 minutes.
Show No. 485: May 25, 1997
"Variety" has a range of music, from "Under the Moon It's You" (1930) to Billy Murray's "He Went In Like a Lion," Frank Crummett's "Get Yourself a Broom and Sweep Your Troubles Away," Lily Morris singing the music hall comedy song "Don't Have Any More, Mrs. Moore," and Jimmy Durante's "You Made Me Love You." (61 min.)
Show No. 486: June 1, 1997
"Toe-Tapping 20s Tunes" features "Steppin' Along" (1928), the Ray Miller Orchestra doing "My Blackbirds are Bluebirds Now" (1929), Coon-Sanders Nighthawks doing "Red Hot Mama" and "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," Irving Kauffman's "Makin' Whoopee," the Dixie Jazz Band doing "Whoopin' It Up" (1929) and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 487: June 8, 1997
"Composer Fred Fisher" looks at the work of this largely forgotten songwriter, including "Dardanella" (1920), "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine" (1910), "When I Get You Alone Tonight" (1912), "Peg O' My Heart" (1913), "There's a Little Bit of Bad in Every Good Little Girl" (1916), "Daddy You've Been a Mother To Me" (1920) and more. (61 mins.)
Show No. 488: June 15, 1997
"Father's Day" is a musical guide to what it takes to be a good father, including "Stout Hearted Men" by Nelson Eddy, "Little Pal" by John McCormack, "When Father Laid the Carpet on the Stair" (1905) by Billy Murray, the temperance song "Father Dear Father Come Home With Me Now," "I've Got to Get Up and Go To Work" by Red McKenzie, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 489: June 22, 1997
"1922" includes "Runnin Wild" by Duke Ellington, "3:00 in the Morning" by Paul Whiteman, "Toot Toot Tootsie" by Al Jolson, "Aggravatin' Papa" played by a mechanical Orchestrion, "Carolina in the Morning" by Marion Harris, "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" by the Original Memphis Five, and more. (62 mins.)
Show No. 490: June 29, 1997
"Leftovers" combines songs left off other programs, resulting in a potpourri of tunes, including "Every Time You Smile" by Gus Arnheim's Orchestra, "Miss You" by Lee Morse, "You're the Rainbow I've Been Looking For," "Cheatin' on Me" by the California Ramblers, "Yours and Mine" by Johnny Marvin, and more. (61 min.)
Show No. 491: July 6, 1997
"Politically Incorrect Songs" brings together some shamefully risque tunes, including Eddie Cantor praising dumb girls, Bunny Berrigan's "All Dark People are Light on Their Feet," Frank Crummett's ode to alcoholism, "Little Brown Jug," Dave Harmon's startling 1934 "Marijuana," Cole Porter's "Love for Sale," Al Jolson's creepy in retrospect "When Grown Up Ladies Act Like Babies" (1914), and Irving Kauffman oddly singing "The Man I Love." Hmm ... (59 min.)
Show No. 492: July 13, 1997
"Lyricist Mitchell Parish" is a survey of known and unknown songs, including "Stardust," "Riverboat Shuffle" (1938), "That Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia" by Isham Jones, Ruth Etting's "Take Me In Your Arms," "Sophisticated Lady" by Dinah Shore, "Emeline" by MIldred Bailey, "Deep Purple" by Dick Todd and more (60 min.)
Show No. 493: July 27, 1997
"Cool Songs" tries to cool down a hot summer night with "By A Waterfall" by Dick Powell, "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (1908) by Henry Burr, "Beside a Babbling Brook" by Marion Harris, "Swinging in a Hammock" (1930) by Lee Morse, "We All Scream for Ice Cream" (1927) by Fred Waring, and more. (61 min.)
Show No. 494: Aug. 3, 1997
"British Dance Bands" includes bands such as Jack Hilton doing "Life Begins at Oxford Circus," Lou Stone doing "Zing Went the Strings of My Heart" (1935), Bert Ambrose doing "You've Got Me Crying Again" (1933), Roy Fox's Orchestra doing "Without that Certain Thing" and lots more. (62 min.)
Show No. 495: Aug. 10, 1997
"From the Top of the Stack" is a random sampling of dad's collection, including Irving Kauffman's "It's Not a Mystery Anymore" (1929), Ted Wallace's "Lucky Me, Lovable You" (1929), "Riding Around in the Rain" by Harry Roy, "I'm the Guy" by BIlly Murray, "I'd Rather Have a Girly Than an Automobile" (1910) and lots more. (60 min.)
Show No. 496: Aug. 17, 1997
"Go West" features cowboy songs that had a popular resurgence in th 1930s, including "Empty Saddles in the Old Corral" (1936) by Bing Crosby, the Mills Brothers doing "Twilight on the Trail" (1936), Al Bowlly's 1934 "Wagon Wheels," "The Last Round Up" by George Olsen's Orchestra, Gene Autry's "The Call of the Canyon" and more. (62 min.)Scratchygrooves81797.mp3
Show No. 497: Aug. 24, 1997
"Women" features Eva Tanguay's scandalous 1905 "I Don't Care," "Glad Rag Doll" by Gus Arnheim, "Sleepy Time Gal" by Billy Jones & Ernie Hare, "Betty Coed" by Rudy Vallee, Bessie Smith's 1925 "I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle," Sophie Tucker's "Aren't Women Wonderful" and lots more. (60 min.)
Show No. 498: Aug. 31, 1997
"Egbert van Alstyne" looks at the career of this all-but-forgotten songwriter, including songs such as "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (1905) by Henry Burr, "Cheyenne" (1906) by Billy Murray, "Pretty Baby," "Sailing Away on the Henry Clay" (1917) by the American Quartet, "Drifting and Dreaming" (1925) by George Olsen's Orchestra, and more. (60 min.).
Show No. 499: Sept. 7, 1997
"Who's That Singing?" spotlights people from the entertainment world who possibly had no business singing, but they did. You'll try to guess who's singing -- John Wayne, Carroll O'Connor, Phil Silvers, Amos N Andy, Rose Marie at the age of 8, Sophia Loren and many more! (62 min.)
Show No. 500: Sept. 14, 1997
"Dancing" takes a light-footed stroll through different dance crazes, including "Someone Stole My Gal" (1922) by Billy Cotton's Orchestra, "The Two Step" (1912) by Billy Murray, The Brox Sisters telling us "How To Do The Strut," "The Old FolksShuffle" (1929), "The Blue Washboard Stomp" (1928), "The Black Bottom" (1926), "Stumbling" (1922), and more. (61 mins.).
Show No. 501: Sept. 21, 1997
"Unexpected Songwriters" looks at tunes written by a Vice President (Charles Dawes), the Queen of Hawaii, Morey Amsterdam, Charlie Chaplin, Steve Allen, Gene Lockhart, Dorothy Parker, Fred Astaire and others -- including some well-known songs! (61 mins).
Show No. 502: Sept. 28, 1997
"Dog's Breakfast" is a bit of this and a bit of that, including the 1889 "Electric Light Quadrille," Bing Crosby's first record from 1926, a flubbed demo by Bing, a recording made inside Big Ben, ads for the 1932 Chevy and more, as well as Benny Goodman's "All I Need Is You" (1942), Al Bowlly's "If I Had You" and a few other things. (62 mins.)
Show No. 503: Oct. 5, 1997
"Friendly Songs" says howdy with Lee Morse's 1934 "Let's Get Friendly," Dick Todd's "Just a Little Street Where Old Friends Meet," Henry Burr's "Old Pal," Sammy Kaye's "The Friendly Tavern Polka," Billy Murray's 1911 "Gee But It's Great to Meet a Friend From Your Hometown" and lots more. (61 min.)
Show No. 504: Oct. 12, 1997
"Women Sing About Men" features Lena Horne's "Good For Nothing Joe," Connie Booth singing "My Funny Valentine," Beatrice Lillie singing about "Mr. Perfect," Ben Pollak and the Williams Sisters doing "He's The Last Word," Alberta Hunter mining the double-entendres in "My Particular Man," Lee Morse's 1929 "He's a Good Man to Have Around" and more. (62 mins.)
Show No. 505: Oct. 19, 1997
"Two" packs in "It Takes Two to Make a Bargain" by Bing Crosby, "Together We Two" (1927) by Ruth Etting, "The Two Of Us" by Franklin Bower, "Two Little Bluebirds" by Jack Hilton's Orchestra, "A Couple of Fools in Love" (1933) by Al Bowlly, and more. (runs a bit short at 54 mins).
Show No. 506: Oct. 26, 1997
"Annette Hanshaw" spans the singer's first song, "Six Feet of Papa" (1926), recorded when she was only 15, through "Everything's Made for Love" (1926), "That's You Baby" (1929), "Big City Blues" (1929), up to her last recorded song, "Let's Fall in Love." (60 min.)
Show No. 507: Nov. 2, 1997
"Buried Treasures" combines songs that dad uncovered in the stacks recently, including "Cheating on Me" (1925) by the California Ramblers, "I Believe in Miracles" (1935) by the Dorsey Brothers, "That Certain Feeling" (1926) by the Tennessee Happy Boys, "Tell Me More" (1925) by the Savoy Orpheums, Al Bowlly's 1933 "Maybe It's Because I Love You Too Much," and more. Show fan Greg Tepper is invited into the studio for the show, too! (60 min.)
Show No. 508: Nov. 9, 1997
"Love Songs" includes "Love Me and I'll Live Forever" and "Love, Here Is My Heart" by John McCormack, "You Are Love" by James Melton, "I Love You" by Bing Crosby, "Love, Your Magic Spell is Everywhere" by Gloria Swanson, Al Bowlly's "I Love You Truly" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 509: Nov. 16, 1997
'Who's That Singing?" is another in a series of guess-the-vocalist, some of whom should have stayed far away from the microphone. They include Bette Davis, Bill Cosby, Jack Klugman, Bea Arthur, Sissy Spacek, Steve Allen (singing one of the worst novelty songs ever), Joey Bishop, June Allyson, Jerry Mathers and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 510: Nov. 23, 1997
"Time" takes a look at the tangled definition of time, along with some music by Henry Hall and His Orchestra ("There's No Time Like the Present"), Russ Columbo ("Time On My Hands"), Bessie Smith ("There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight"), Connie Boswell ("Time Was"), McKinney's Cotton Pickers ("Four or Five Times"), Vernon Dalhart ("The Time Will Come") and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 511: Nov. 30, 1997
"Leftovers" wraps up songs left off of previous broadcasts, including "The Uptown Lowdown" by the Billy Cotton Band (1933), the Coon Sanders Nighthawks "Who Wouldn't Be Jealous of You?" (1928), Jack Payne's Orchestra doing "Over My Shoulder," the California Ramblers doing "My Extraordinary Girl" (1932) and lots more. (60 min.)
Show No. 512: Dec. 7, 1997
"All Request" lets the listeners choose, with "The Girl I Love Is On a Magazine Cover" (1916), "Little White Lies" by Annette Hanshaw, a melodramatic "Bluebird of Happiness" by Jan Pierce, Billy Murray's 1919 "Take Your Girly to the Movies," Connie Boswell's "In the Middle of a Kiss," George Olsen's 1926 "Bye Bye Blackbird" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 513: Dec. 14, 1997
"Assorted" is a grab-bag, including "Cherry (1928) by the Chocolate Dandies, "Swingin' Down the Lane" (1930) by the Isham Jones Orchestra, "Mama's Gone Goodbye" by Doc Evans and his Dixieland Band, "100 Years From Today" (1933) by Ethel Waters, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (1927) by Bessie Smith, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 514: Dec. 21, 1997
"Good Will Toward Men" is a holiday-week meditation on injustice, with comedy clips by Tom Lehrer and Stan Freeberg, along with musical snippets about intolerance, and then friendship and reconcliation. It ends with gentle holiday music as a way to usher in the season's message. (60 min.)
Show No. 515: Dec. 28, 1997
"Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New" features "old" and "new" songs played back to back, including "I Found a New Baby" by the Mills Brothers, "Old Man Sunshine" by Johnny Marvin, "A New Moon Over My Shoulder" by Connie Francis, "Old Rocking Chair's Got Me" by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, "Doing the New Low Down" by Bill Robinson, "Sing an Old Fashioned Song" by the Mound City Blues Blowers, "Sing a New Song" by Chick Bullock, and more. (60 min.).
Show No. 516: Jan. 4, 1998
"1898" goes back 100 years for a look at the trivia, new technology and music of 1898, with songs about phones, sentimental ballads and minstrel songs, Sousa marches and other marches, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 517: Jan. 11, 1998
"Letters" takes a look at the old-fashioned art of letter writing, with "One Sweet Letter From You" (1927) by Kate Smith, "The Letter Edged in Black" by Vernon Dalhart, "Love Letters in the Sand" by Lee Morse, "Please Take a Letter Miss Brown" by the Ink Spots, "Waiting For the Evening Mail" by Al Jolson, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 518: Jan. 18, 1998
"Catchy Melodies 1" includes songs that will haunt you -- and maybe not in a good way -- including "Blue Skies Around the Corner" by Jack Hilton's Orchestra, "The Clouds Will Soon Roll By" by Ambrose and his Orchestra, Jack Jackson's "Roll Along Prairie Moon" and the ultimate brain-sticker, "The Happy Wanderer." (60 min.)
Show No. 519: Jan. 25, 1998
"Catchy Melodies 2" includes songs suggested by listeners after the first installment, so there's the naggingly unforgettable "Strangers in the Night," Ted Lewis singing "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (1930), Ben Selvin's Orchestra doing "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" (1919), Gene Autry's "You Are My Sunshine," a 1905 cylinder recording of "The Wrestler and His Dog," Cliff Edwards singins "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" (1925) and lots more. (60 min.)
Show No. 520: Feb. 1, 1998
"Roster of Recording Stars: A" starts a new series with artists beginning with A, such as Irving Aaronson ("Let's Misbehave"), The All Star Orchestra, Ambrose and His Orchestra, the American Quartet ("On Moonlight Bay" form 1912), Gus Arnheim, Sam Ash and many more. (60 min.)
Show No. 521: Feb. 8, 1998
"Potpourri" is a bag of mixed treats, including "I'm Blue But Nobody Cares" by the Memphis Stompers, Clarence Williams singing "If I Could Be With You" (1931), Billy Murray singing about submarines in "Down in a U-17," "Ten Cents a Dance" by Ben Fox and his Orchestra, Dorothy Lamour's regrettable "That Sentimental Sandwich," the Chocolate Dandies doing "I Got Another Sweetie Now" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 522: Feb. 15, 1998
"Hits and Misses Part 1" features songs by famous songwriters that didn't do so well, including George Gershwin's "Oh Gee, Oh Joy" (1928), "The Jitterbug" by Harold Arlen that was cut from "The Wizard Of Oz," "Ten Thousand Years From Now" by Henry Burr, Cole Porter's awkward "Find Me a Primitive Man" (1929), Hoagy Carmichael's meandering "Washboard Blues" (1927), Billy Murray's 1914 "When You're Wearing the Ball and Chain" and other misfires. (57 min.)
Show No. 523: Feb. 22, 1998
"Hits and Misses Part 2" is a shortened show due to being pre-empted by a hockey game, but you do get to hear "An Arm Full of Trouble," deleted from the 1933 musical "Roberta," Roy Fox and His Orchestra doing "How'd You Like To Love Me," Gracie Allen's meandering "Snug as a Bug in a Rug," Billy Murray's 1916 "There's a Little Bit of Bad in Every Good Little Girl" and more. (37 min.)
Show No. 524: March 1, 1998
"Beautiful Songs" includes "Hello Beautiful" (1931) by Ben 'Snooks' Friedman's Stompers, "You're Beautiful Tonight" (1933) by Bing Crosby, "It Was So Beautiful" (1932) by Annette Hanshaw, "You're So Beautiful" (1932) by Al Jolson, and lots more beautiful songs. (57 min.)
Show No. 525: March 8, 1998
"Gold Records of the Past" includes all the million-selling records from long ago, beginning with "The Laughing Song" (1899) sung by George W. Johnson, through "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" by Alma Gluck (1915), "Dardanella" (1920) by Ben Selvin and his Orchestra, "Wabash Blues" (1921) by Isham Jones, "Downhearted Blues" (1923) by Bessie Smith, and more. (55 min.)
Show No. 526: March 15, 1998
"Green" takes a sort-of St. Patrick's Day slant, with "Little Green Valley" by Vernon Dalhart, "Green Eyes" by the BBC Dance Orchestra, Irish ballads by John McCormack, "Green Pastures" by Al Jolson, and more. (56 min.)
Show No. 527: April 5, 1998
"Requests" pays back the people who pledged during the previous week's fundraiser with songs they wanted to hear, including "At the Codfish Ball" featuring Bud Freeman and his tenor sax, Al Bowlly's 1932 "Snuggled on Your Shoulder," Gene Autry's "Call of the Canyon," Morton Downey Sr.'s "In the Middle of a Kiss," and more. (61 min.)
Show No. 528: April 12, 1998
"Funny Coincidences" looks at the similarities between old melodies and songs that went on to be hits, including a Jolson hit that sounds just like Puccini, a piano concerto that sounds like "Tonight We Love," an Elvis song that began as an 1861 folk song, an 1860 song about a quilting party that became "Yes We Have No Bananas" and more. (60 min.)
Show 529: April 19, 1998
"Leftovers" picks up songs left off recent shows, including Fred Astaire's "After You," "There's a New Day Coming" by Harry Roy, Fred Hall's "Where Were You, Where Was I" from 1928, Bert Williams singing "My Last Dollar," and a few more "musical coincidences" from the previous show. (60 min.)
Show 530: April 26, 1998
"Roster of Stars: B" includes Belle Baker, Nora Bayes, Bunny Berrigan, Eubie Blake, the Boswell Sisters, Al Bowlly, Fanny Brice, the Brox Sisters and others in this alphabetical themed show. (60 min.)
Show No. 531: May 3, 1998
"Who's That Singing?" features vocal contributions of varying quality from such non-singers as Carl Sandburg, Errol Flynn, Joan Crawford, Benny Goodman, Edward Everett Horton, Fred Allen, Talullah Bankhead and others. Play along! (58 min.)
Show No. 532: May 10, 1998
"Wonderful Songs" features "S'Wonderful," Fats Waller's "When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful," Eleanor Powell singing "What a Wonderful World," the 1917 "Wonderful Girl, Goodnight" by Sam Ash, Al Jolson's "That Wonderful Girl of Mine" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 533: May 17, 1998
"Dixieland" starts at the earliest stages, with the Original Dixieland Jass Band's "Tiger Rag," and includes early songs by the Tuxedo Jazz Band, Bunk's Brass Band ("Oh Didn't He Ramble"), Sam Morgan's Dixieland Band ("Steppin' on the Gas"), Louis Armstrong's 1929 "Dallas Blues" and several contemporary Dixieland bands as well. (60 min.)
Show No. 534: May 24, 1998
"Togetherness" is a friendly bunch of songs, including "Together" by Cliff Edwards, "The More We Are Together" (1927) by the Revelers, "We Belong Together" (1933) by Henry Hall and his Orchestra, Ruth Etting's "Together We Two," Chick Bullock's "We've Come a Long Way Together" and more. (Missing a bit in the middle, so 54 mins.)
Show No. 535: May 31, 1998
"Anatomy" takes a tour starting with "From the Top of Your Head" by Carol Gibbons, and including "Your Head on My Shoulder" (1934) by Ann Southern, "Red Lips, Kiss My Blues Away" (1927), "Baby Face" (1923), "Roll em Girls, Roll em" (1925) by Billy Murray, "Happy Feet" by Paul Whiteman, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 536: June 7, 1998
"Unusual Instruments" looks at musical saws, sandpaper percussion, musical glasses, oil cans, comb-and-paper, typewriters, washboards, jug bands and more. A couple of technical glitches, but still an adventurous hour! (60 min.)
"In a Mist: Chambless Choices": June 7, 1998
After Dad signed off on his own show on this night, he sat in with the "In a Mist" program to play his favorite big band era music. I'm not numbering this as a "Scratchy Grooves" show, but it's fun listening, with Dad recalling the stories behind his liking Wayne King's "Corn Silk" (1940), Stan Kenton's "Theme of the West," Vaughan Monroe's "Racing With the Moon," Will Bradley's "Celery Stalks at Midnight" and more. There's a dual-Dad station ID in here, too! (60 min.)
Show No. 537: June 21, 1998
"Angels" is a heavenly hour, with "Got a Date With an Angel" by Hal Kemp, Tony Martin's "When Did You Leave Heaven?", Henry Burr's 1921 "Angels," Ambrose and his Orchestra doing "And the Angels Sing" (1939), Mae West proclaiming "I'm No Angel" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 538: June 28, 1998
"Artist Roster: C" continues the series, with short bios and one song each from such artists as the California Ramblers, Cab Calloway, Eddie Cantor, Elsie Carlisle, George M. Cohan, Collins and Harlan, Coon Sanders Nighthawks and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 539: July 5, 1998
"Miscellaneous" is a grab-bag, with "That's Why I Love You" (1926) by Charlie Strait and His Orchestra, Harry Pollock's Orchestra doing "What Do I Care What Somebody Said?" (1928), an ocarina band playing "Chinatown," a round of the "Who's That Singing?" game, Arthur Pryor's Band doing "The Teddy Bears Picnic" (1913) and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 540: July 12, 1998
"Smoking" looks at that classic bad habit, including "Smoke That Cigarette" by Tex Williams, "Sly Cigarette" by S.H. Dudley from 1898, "Smoke Rings" by the MIlls Brothers, "A Cigarette and A Silhouette" by Mildred Bailey, Ruth Etting's "Cigarettes, Cigars," some vintage cigarette ads and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 541: July 19, 1998
"Songs for a Summer Night" features smooth vintage songs including "Sleepytime Down South" by Mildred Bailey, "A Man and His Dream" by Bing Crosby, "Moonlight and Shadows" by Dorothy Lamour, "Moonlight and Roses" by the Mill Brothers, "Midnight, the Stars and You" by Al Bowlly, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 542: July 26, 1998
"Maybe" includes "Maybe" by Kate Smith, "There Ain't No Maybe in My Baby's Eyes" by Paul Ash, "Ooh, Maybe It's You" by Harry Reser, "Maybe It's All for the Best" by the Ink Spots, "Maybe It's Love" by Al Bowlly, "Maybe, Who Knows?" by Ruth Etting, the 1904 "I May Be Crazy But I Ain't No Fool" by Bob Roberts, and more. (59 min.)
Show No. 543: Aug. 2, 1998
"Crooners" features some smooth singing (once considered scandalous) by Bing Crosby ("Learn to Croon"), Dick Robertson ("Crosby, Columbo and Vallee"), Willard Robison ("Deep Elam Blues"), Gene Austin ("Everything I Have Is Yours"), Seeger Ellis ("There Was Nothing Else To Do"), Harold Lattimore ("With a Song in My Soul") and more. (61 min.)
Show No. 544: Aug. 9, 1998
"Hobo Songs" looks at the realities and the fanciful nature of being a hobo, including "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" by Frank Marvin, Billy Murray singing "Who Said I Was a Bum?", Pete Seeger's "Beans, Bacon and Gravy," Jimmie Rodgers doing "Hobo BIll's Last Ride," some reminiscences by Woody Guthrie, "Bum's Rush" by Hobo Jack Turner and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 545: Sept. 6, 1998
"End of Summer & Leftovers" starts with half an hour of vintage, mellow music about the change of seasons, and then brings out some songs left off of previous programs, including "I Ain't Got Time to Sing the Blues" (1919) by the Lousiana Five, "Dry Bones" by Fats Waller, "Ah, But I've Learned" by Chick Bullock, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 546: Sept. 13, 1998
"Band Roster: D" features singers Vernon Dalhart with "Lindbergh, Eagle of the USA," Vic Damone's "Until the Real Thing Comes Along," Dennis Day's "Tim Finnegan's Wake," the Denning Sisters doing "Once in a While," the Dorsey Brothers doing "By Heck" (1933) and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 547: Sept. 20, 1998
"Mechanical Music" turns the microphone over to Paul Harris, a collector of music made by pipe organs and mechanical methods, for a full hour of tuneful fun. (60 min.)
Show No. 548: Sept. 27, 1998
"Love Songs by Gershwin" features timeless songs of romance including "Our Love is Here to Stay," "Embraceable You," "Somebody Loves Me" (1924), "How Long Has This Been Going On" by Ella Fitzgerald (1928), "The Man I Love" by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, "Maybe" (1926) and lots more. (59 min.)
Show 549: Oct. 4, 1998
"Rain" gives thanks for precipitation with "Rain" by the California Ramblers, Gene Austin's "Let it Rain," the Pasadena Roof Orchestra doing "Singin' in the Rain," Fanny Brice's "If You Want the Rainbow, You Must Have the Rain," the Coon Sanders Nighthawks doing "Alone in the Rain," and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 550: Oct. 11, 1998
"Who's That Singing?" is another installment of the guess-the-singer shows, with the listening audience keeping dad busy answering phones. We hear Charlie Chaplin, Vince Edwards, Yvonne de Carlo, Audrey Hepburn and others warble their way through various songs. (60 min.)
Show No. 551: Oct. 18, 1998
"Romance" looks at the lost art of wooing, with "I'll Take Romance" by Bing Crosby, "Romance a la Mode" by Fats Waller, "I"m Too Romantic" by Dorothy Lamour, "There's No Romance in Your Soul" by the Hoosier Hotshots, "I'm In the Mood For Love" by Frances Langford, and more. (56 min.)
Show No. 552: Oct. 25, 1998
"First Records" looks at the first songs put out by various artists, including Sam Ash's 1914 "Chinatown," Fred Astaire's 1923 "The Whichness of Whatness," Nora Bayes singing "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?" in 1910, the Boswell Sisters singing "Nights When I Feel Lonely" (1925), Eddie Cantor singing "That's The Kind of Baby For Me" (1917) and more first efforts. (58 min.)
Show No. 553: Nov. 1, 1998
"Good Stuff" includes a piano roll of "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise," Alberta Hunter's "Old Fashioned Love," Carson Robison's dazzling "Whistleitis" (1926), "I Don't Want Your Kisses" by Jessie Stafford and His Orchestra (1929), "That's Why I Love You" with vocalist Frank Silvano, and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 554: Nov. 8, 1998
"Ain't" looks at this popular non-word, with songs like "You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet" (1916) by Al Jolson, "Ain't Misbehavin'" by Bill Robinson (1929), "Ain't We Got Fun" by Van and Skink (1921), Mildred Bailey singing "T'aint What You Do, It's the Way You Do It" (1930), Bing Crosby and Paul Whiteman's "Tain't So Honey" (1928), and a medley of "Ain't" songs that will just about satisfy your curiosity about the subject! (60 min.)
Show No. 555: Nov. 15, 1998
"Street Songs" includes "Just a Little Street Where Old Friends Meet" by Dick Todd, the Boswell Sisters singing "Forty Second Street" (1933), Russ Columbo's "The Street of Dreams," Billy Murray's 1906 "The Streets of New York," Al Bowlly singing "On the Sunny Side of the Street," Billy Murray's very corny "Main Street" (1929) and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 556: Nov. 22, 1998
"Lesser Known Songs" compiles tunes by well-known songwriters that weren't such big hits, such as Irving Berlin's 1933 "Suppertime," George Gershwin's 1933 "It Was a Pity," Oscar Hammerstein II's "Everybody's Got a Home But Me," Frank Loesser's "Tallahassee," Rodgers and Hart's "This Funny World" (1929), and oddities like "If You Hadn't But You Did" and "I'll Only Miss Him When I Think About Him." (58 min.)
Show No. 557: Nov. 29, 1998
"Going Shopping" includes "I'm Going Shopping With You" (1936) by Little Jack Little, two versions of "I Found a Million Dollar Baby in a 5 and 10 Cent Store" (by Henry Burr in 1926 and a "Hit of the Week" from 1931), Cliff Edwards admitting "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," and other ways of buying and selling! (57 min).
Show No. 558: Dec. 6, 1998
"Vincent Youmans" looks at the career of the songwriter, including "Oh Me, Oh My, Oh You" (1921), "Bambelina" (1923), songs from "No, No Nanette," his flop musical "Oh Please" (1926), "Sometimes I'm Happy" (1927), "Great Day" (1929), "Time On My Hands" and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 559: Dec. 13, 1998
"Three Little Words" is a romantic hour of music, including Jo Stafford's "I Love You," "Why Do I Love You?" with Moira Anderson, Al Bowlly's "I Love You Truly," Gloria Swanson's "I Love You So Much I Hate You," and other songs of love by Johnny Marvin, Whispering Jack Smith and others. (59 min.)
Show No. 560: Dec. 20, 1998
"Christmas" takes a different spin on holiday music, with a segment about unfamiliar carols being sung in a Yorkshire pub, along with uncommon music in the spirit of the season, including "One Little Candle" by Jane Froman, "The Gifts They Gave" by Harry Belafonte, "Mary's LIttle Boy Child" by Mahalia Jackson, "The Coventry Carol" by Fred Waring, and more. (61 min.)
Show No. 561: Dec. 27, 1998
"1998 and Extras" looks at some news of the year (the Clinton scandal, Saddam Hussein, etc.) though some wittily selected song snippets, and attempts to wrap up tracks left off of previous shows due to running out of time, but the tape player acts up and dad is forced to work the best he can. Not a perfect show, but it demonstrates his perseverence in the face of outmoded equipment! (58 min.)
Show No. 562: Jan. 3, 1999
"Growing Older" looks at the inevitable with "If I'm Going To Die, I'm Going to Have Some Fun" by Arthur Collins (1908), "That's Grandma" by the Rhythm Boys (1927), "I'm a 5:00 Feller in a 9:00 Town" by Byron Harlan, "Old Rocking Chair's Got Me" by Mildred Bailey, "The Old Folks Shuffle" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 563: Jan. 10, 1999
"At Random" compiles some recent acquisitions in no particular order, including the UK-only single versions of "Crazy Rhythm" by Whispering Jack Smith and "You" by Ruth Etting, a selection of player piano dance music, Buddy Clark's 1936 "Midnight Blue," Frank Silvano singing "That's What I Call Keen" (1928) and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 564: Jan. 25, 1999
"1899" takes a look back 100 years to some of the news of that year, plus "Maple Leaf Rag" from a Scott Joplin piano roll, "Who Threw The Overalls in Mrs. Murphy's Chowder?", John McCormack's "My Wild Irish Rose," the chariot race music from "Ben Hur" by the Sousa Band, a minstrel show medley, the appalling "Stay In Your Own Back Yard," a cakewalk played by the Edison Orchestra, and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 565: Jan. 31, 1999
"Singing Songwriters" features songwriters performing their own compositions, and you're invited to play along with a guessing game. The voices include Hoagy Carmichael, E.Y. Harburg, Cole Porter, Fats Waller, Noel Coward, Johnny Mercer, Harol Arlen and many more. (60 min.)
Show No. 566: Feb. 7, 1999
"Three Black Composers" looks at the lives and works of James Bland, W.C. Handy and Scott Joplin, with songs including "Oh Dem Golden Slippers," "St. Louis Blues," "Loveless Love," "Memphis Blues," an 1899 piano roll of Joplin playing "Scott Joplin's New Rag" and more (59 min.)
Show No. 567: Feb. 14, 1999
"Heart Songs" gets romantic with "Take My Heart" by Buddy Clark, "Yours is my Heart Alone" by Jane Morgan, "You Belong to my Heart" by Bing Crosby, "Love, Here is My Heart" (1915) by John McCormack, "Two Hearts on a Tree" by Billy Cotton's Orchestra, and more (60 min.)
Show No. 568: Feb. 29, 1999
"Why?" asks the musical question, with songs like Ben Selvin's Orchestra doing "Why Do You Suppose?", Marion Harris and Billy Murray's "I Wonder Why?", Helen Morgan wondering "Why Was I Born?", Al Jolson's "Why Can't You?", Al Bowlly's "Why Waste Your Tears?" and more (60 min.)
Show No. 569: March 7, 1999
"Singing Duos" brings together some early acts, such as Ada Jones and Billy Murray for "I Remember You" (1909), and Henry Burr and Albert Campbell for "One Day in June" (1918), along with a pre-Amos and Andy Corell and Gosdin, Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon doing "There's a Small Hotel," Blossom Sealey and Benny Fields doing "In a Little Spanish Town" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 570: March 28, 1999
"Verses" plays a little game by asking how well you know the words that lead up to the lines that everyone remembers. Ready to play along? You'll be surprised! (60 min.)
Show No. 571: April 4, 1999
"Walking Songs" gets some exercise with "Steppin' Along" by Jesse Stafford and His Orchestra, the California Ramblers doing "Walking With My Sweetness," Ruth Etting's "Walking Around in a Dream," Les Paul's "Walking and Whistling," Irving Kauffman singing "I'm Walking Around in Circles" and more. (58 mins.)
Show No. 572: April 11, 1999
"Harry and Albert Von Tilzer" looks at these brothers who became successful songwriters and music publishers at the turn of the century, taking credit for "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," "A Bird in a Gilded Cage," "Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown," "Just Around the Corner," "Teasing," "In Apple Blossom Time" and many more. (58 min.)
Show No. 573: April 18, 1999
"Flying" takes to the skies with "Come Take a Trip in My Airship" (1904), "The Aeroplane Glide" by Arthur Collins and the Peerless Quartet (1912), Florrie Ford singing "Teach Me To Fly" (1922), a song about a zeppelin called "On the ZR3," Billy Murray's "I Was Married Up in the Air" and many more high-flying tunes! (59 min.)
Show No. 574: April 25, 1999
"Singing Stars E and F" continues the alphabet series, with music by Duke Elligton, Billy Eckstine, the Edison Military Band, Ruth Etting, Arthur Fields, Ella Fitzgerals and others, and a very cranky CD player that keeps stopping! (59 min.)
Show No. 575: May 2, 1999
"Guest DJ Harold Howell" lets a loyal fan pick the songs for an evening, including Al Bowlly's "The Very Thought of You," Jo Stafford's "Bluebird of Happiness," Al Jolson's "Avalon," a medley of moon songs, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 576: May 9, 1999
"Variety" includes a hodgepodge of tunes, with a few "Who's That Singing?" questions, a Mother's Day tune, Harry Reser playing "Heebie Jeebies," Vera Lynn's "Smiling Through," Lillian Roth singing "Until the Real Thing Comes Along," some singing nuns doing "Over the Rainbow" and more eclectic choices! (60 min.)
Show No. 577: May 23, 1999
"Roster of Artists: G" features Judy Garland's "Stormy Weather," the Jan Garber Orchestra's "It's a Wonderful World," George Gaskin singing "The Sidewalks of New York" in 1895, George Gershwin playing a 1920s piano roll of "That Certain Feeling," the 1893 "Columbia Exposition March" by Gilmore's Band, and more. (59 min.)
Show No. 578: May 30, 1999
"Hooray for June" is a list of all the things that June contains, from being Turkey Lovers Month to Accordion Awareness Month, and including a Buggy Festival ("Thanks for the Buggy Ride") and the Belmont Stakes ("Horses" by George Olsen), and the official "Yell 'Fudge!' at Cobras Day. And there's music, too. (58 min.)
Show No. 579: June 6, 1999
"Emotions" takes a tour of our feelings with hate ("I Hate Men"), Henry Bussey's "Jealousy," "Happy As the Day Is Long" by Harold Arlen, "I'm Afraid of You" by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra and Bing Crosby, excitement ("I'm Gonna Meet My Sweetie Now" by Kate Smith) and more. (56 min.)
Show No. 580: June 13, 1999
"Songs About Songs" includes "My Song Goes Round the World" by Al Bowlly (1933), Irving Kauffman's "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy," Annette Hanshaw singing "The Song Is Ended But the Melody Lingers On," Moira Anderson's "The Song is You," Mildred Bailey's "I Let A Song Go Out of My Heart," Isham Jones doing "Song Without a Name" (1929), and more. (59 min.)
Show No. 581: June 20, 1999
"Fathers" gets down to the real dads, not the Hallmark-card types, with "My Wife's Gone to the Country" (1909) by Frank Stanley, "Please Don't Sell My Pappy No More Rum," "Everybody Works But Father" (1908), the stunningly inappropriate "Slap Her Down Again, Pa," the tear-jerking "Father's a Drunkard and Mother Is Dead" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 582: June 27, 1999
"Lazy Songs" takes a summertime point of view with "I Want to be Lazy" by the Brox Sisters, Kaye Ballard's "Lazy Afternoon," Bing Crosby's 1932 "Lazy Day," "Up a Lazy River" by Dick Todd, "Lazy Louisiana Moon" by Annette Hanshaw, "Lazy Waters" by Coon-Sanders Nighthawks, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 583: July 4, 1999
"Musical Stew" is a random selection of songs, including a look back at the show's beginnings on July 1, 1984, as well as "You Can Depend on Me" by Orrin Tucker and Wee Bonnie Baker, "She May Have Seen Better Days" by Beatrice Kay, "Wagon Wheels" by the Mills Brothers, "Me and the Man in the Moon" by Cliff Edwards, "Melody in A" by Tommy Dorsey, the Boswell Sisters singing "Stardust" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 584: July 11, 1999
"1919" features facts and music of the year, including "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate," Van and Shenk's vaudeville song "Mandy," Al Jolson's "Swanee," as well as "Dardanella" by Ben Selvin's Orchestra, the California Ramblers doing "Someday Sweetheart," and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 585: July 18, 1999
"Rain Songs" continues the tradition of dad doing shows about rain and having a drought end within three days. Apparently this worked! Songs include "It Looks Like Rain in Cherry Blossom Lane" by George Hall's Orchestra, "Rain, When You Going to Rain Again?" by Vaughan Monroe, "Alone in the Rain" (1929) by Coon Sanders Nighthawks, Gene Austin's "Let it Rain" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 586: July 25, 1999
"Love Songs for a Summer Night" includes melodic tunes like "Moonlight and Roses" by Connie Boswell, "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by Wayne King, "Stardust" by Bing Crosby, "Moonlight, the Stars and You" by Al Bowlly, Harry Richman's "The Night Is Young and You're So Beautiful" and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 587: Aug. 1, 1999
"Beat the Heat with Winter" features an all-winter program to combat the August swelter. Chill out with "The Old Bobsled" (1921), "When You Sit Beside the Fireside in Winter" (1915), an aggressively whistled "Skaters Waltz," "Snowflake" by Ernest Hare (1921), "It's Winter Again" by Isham Jones (1933) and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 588: Aug. 8, 1999
"My Favorites 1933-1935" features the songs that dad learned from a neighbor girl in Akron, Ohio, he admired, "who could do everything better than I could," he recalls, including singing the hits of the day. Songs include "You Oughta Be In Pictures" by Al Bowlly, "Annie Doesn't Live Here Anymore" by Billy Cotton's Band, "It's the Talk of the Town" by Dick Todd, "We'll Make Hay While the Sun Shines," "We're In the Money" by Chick Bullock, and others. (58 min.)
Show No. 589: Aug. 15, 1999
"Letter H" features the continuing roster of bands and performers, including Benny Hale's "A Nice Cup of Tea," Adelaide Hall singing "You Gave Me Everything But Love," Johnny Hamp and his Kentucky Serenaders doing "Keep Your Sunny Side Up," Annette Hanshaw's 1929 "A Precious Little Thing Called Love," Marion Harris singing "Who's Sorry Now?" (1923), Joe Haymon's 1920 comedy routine "Cohen Buys a Car" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 590: Aug. 22, 1999
"Going to the Movies" features songs from when movies were new, including "Let's Go to a Picture Show" (1909), "The 10-Cent Movie Show" (1913), "Poor Pauline" (1914), "Zudora" (1915), "Since Mother Goes to Movie Shows," "Those Chaplin Feet," "Dancing at the Moving Picture Ball" and more. (55 min. -- And one section repeats -- I don't know why!)
Show No. 591: Aug. 29, 1999
"August 29" takes an ordinary date and celebrates all the things that have happened on that date, ranging from the significant to the obscure to the silly. Along the way, songs comment on the history, including "Pedal Your Blues Away" by Robert Crumb and the Cheap Suit Serenaders, "I Saw Stars" by Roy Fox's Orchestra, "Chinese Jumble" by the California Ramblers, "Up in the Clouds," the comedy song "The Sunday Drivers" and more. (59 min.)
Show No. 592: Sept. 5, 1999
"Labor Day Songs" looks at the protest songs of the early labor union movement, which grew out of apalling injustice. Songs include "60 Cents a Ton" by Pete Seeger, miner songs of the 1800s calling for an eight-hour work day, coal mining union pleas such as "Which Side Are You On?" and "My Children Are Seven in Number," along with a tribute song for murdered organizer Joe Hill, and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 593: Sept. 12, 1999
"Centennials" looks at performers who would be marking their 100th years in 1999, including Fred Astaire, Charles Boyer, Hoagy Carmichael, Noel Coward, Duke Ellington, Jack Haley, Alfred Hitchcock, Red McKenzie, Gloria Swanson and others. (60 min.)
Show No. 594: Sept. 19, 1999
"Miscellaneous" packs in Connie Boswell's "Sunrise Serenade," Al Bowlly's "Summer's End," Alice Faye's "You Made Me Love You," the Ray Miller Orchestra doing "Red Hot Henry Brown," a George M. Cohan player piano roll medley, Billy Murray's goofy and bizarre "Some Little Bug" (1915), the Denning Sisters singing "Once in a While" and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 595: Sept. 26, 1999
"Shouters" puts a spotlight on singers who could reach the back of the hall in the days before amplification. Hear songs by Blossom Sealey, Dolly Kay ("Someday Sweetheart"), Ruth Roy ("Big Hearted Benny"), Alene Stanley ("Sweet Indiana Home"), Sophie Tucker, Nora Bayes, Belle Baker, Irene Franklin ("Be Your Age"), Marion Harris ("I'm a Jazz Baby") and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 596: Oct. 3, 1999
"Ladies Night" explores the laws of attraction through song. What do men want? We find out in "Adeleine" by Al Bowlly, "Barbara" by Ted Weems, "Caroline" by Fess Williams, "Dixie Lee" by Pee Wee Hunt, along with "Freda, My Clamdigger Sweetheart," "Hard Hearted Hannah," "Kitty From Kansas City" and more, with a list of traits that these songs suggest. It's a hoot. (59 min.)
Show No. 597: Oct. 10, 1999
"Roster of Recording Artists I-J" continues the alphabet series with the Ink Spots singing "If I Didn't Care" (1939), the Ipana Troubadors singing "Like a Butterfly That's Caught in the Rain" (1927), Ed Issler's Orchestra romping throug hthe 1898 "Tally Ho Gallop," the Jack Jackson Band playing "Roll Along, Prairie Moon," James P. Johnson's 1921 "Carolina Shout," Ada Jones singing the 1906 comedy song "Waiting at the Church" and more. (59 min.)
Show No. 598: Oct. 17, 1999
"Bing Crosby: The Final Chapter" is a departure for the show. It's a re-airing of a BBC Radio special done with Bing Crosby just three days before his death in 1977. There are reminiscences, live performances and higlights of Bing's long career. (60 min.)
Show No. 599: Oct. 24, 1999
"Loving You" gets all sentimental with "Loving You the Way I Do" by Lee Morse, "Always" by Henry Burr, "I Love You Truly" by Al Bowlly, "Love Me and I'll Live Forever" by John McCormack, "Always & Always" by Mildred Bailey, and more songs of love and devotion. (59 min.)
Show No. 600: Oct. 31, 1999
"November" takes a look at the trivia of the month, such as Pursuit of Happiness Week ("Happy Days are Here Again"), Plan Your Epitaph Day ("Here Lies Love" by Al Bowlly), Hoagy Carmichael's birthday ("Georgia"), W.C. Handy's birthday ("Loveless Love"), and a day recognizing people who eat over their sinks (some thoughts on manners by the Happiness Boys). (60 min.)
Show No. 601: Nov. 7, 1999
"Veterans Day" looks back at World War I, with songs that move from isolationist ("I Didn't Raise My Boy to be a Soldier" from 1915) to rabble-rousing, patriotic and bittersweet, including "When the Lusitania Went Down," "Over There," "I'm Proud to be the Mother of a Boy Like You," "Good Morning, Mr. Zip! Zip! Zip!", "We Don't Want the Bacon," "There's a Vacant Chair in Every Home Tonight," "Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers" and more. (55 min.)
Show No. 602: Nov. 14, 1999
"The Demise of the LP" comes from a library sale of LP records -- a whole bag for $1 -- that led dad to celebrate the lost art of the album. All the tracks on the show came from those bargain records, including "Nobody Else But Me" by Jan Clayton, "How'd You Like to Spoon With Me?" by Jerome Kern, "Rip Van Winkle Was a Lucky Man" (1901), a W.C. Fields radio commercial, "Auntie Skinner's Chicken Dinner," "Stealin'" by the Ragtime Jug Stompers, "The Penthouse Serenade" by Mildred Bailey, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 603: Nov. 21, 1999
"K Artists" continues the alphabet series with "I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me" by Roger Wolf Kahn, "Don't Be Like That" by Helen Kane, songs by Irving Kauffman and his brother Jack Kauffman, Hal Kemp's "Shuffle Off to Buffalo," Wayne King's "The Waltz You Saved For Me," Andy Kirk and His Clouds of Joy doing "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" and more. (57 min.)
Show No. 604: Nov. 28, 1999
"Hoagy Carmichael's 100th" celebrates the composer/lyricist with "Riverboat Shuffle" (1924), "Walking the Dog" (1928), "Georgia On My Mind" sung by Ethel Waters, "Up a Lazy River" by the Mills Brothers, Louis Armstrong singing "Lazy Bones," "Skylark" by Maxine Sullivan, and more. (54 min.)
Show No. 605: Dec. 5, 1999
"Sunday" pays tribute to the lazy day, with songs by Cliff Edwards, Harry Lauder, Billy Murray's "We're the Sunday Drivers," Harry Reser's "My Sunday Girl," Billy Murray and Ada Jones doing "Some Sunday Morning" (1917), Cab Calloway's "Sunday in Savannah," Al Bowlly's "You Ought to see Sally on Sunday," and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 606: Dec. 12, 1999
"I'm Sorry" makes no apologies (actually a lot of apologies) with Paul Small's "I Apologize" (1931), Gene Austin's "Forgive Me," "I'm Sorry" by Ray Miller's Orchestra, Al Bowlly's "I'm Sorry, Sally" (1928), Bing Crosby's "Lonesome and Sorry" (1926), and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 607: Dec. 26, 1999
"Endings and Beginnings" looks at the big millenial change by looking at endings, such as "When Day is Done" by Bing Crosby, "The End of a Perfect Day" by John Gary, "The Last Roundup" by Arthur Tracy, and a few beginnings, such as "Hello" by the Ferko String Band, "Hello Baby Hello" by Ruth Etting, but the last part of the show is missing, so only 42 mins. Still, the last show of the 90s!
Show No. 608: Jan. 2, 2000
"Ukuleles" has all the ukes you need in one hour, with "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune" by Frank Crummett, three by Cliff Edwards "Ukulele Ike," Johnny Marvin's "Half a Moon" and "Oh How She Could Play a Uke," Norah Bayes singing "When Old Bill Bailey Plays the Ukulele," the very silly "Hum and Strum" and more songs about, or featuring, the musical craze of the 1920s. (56 min.)
Show No. 609: Jan. 9, 2000
"Roster of Recording Artists: L" has music by Scrappy Lambert, Dorothy Lamour, Elsa Lanchester, Snooky Lanson, Mario Lanza, Harry Lauder, Leadbelly, Ted Lewis, Little Jack Little and many others! (59 min.)
Show No. 610: Jan. 16, 2000
"Songs You Haven't Heard Before" samples some tracks from a CD, with some technical snags in the studio, but some choice music including "I'm Tickled Pink With a Blue Eyed Baby," "Revolutonary Rhythm" (1929), "A Peach of a Pair" (1930), "Looks Like It's Going to Be Me" by Fred Hall and His Sugar Babies, "On the Night We Did the Boom-Boom By the Sea" by Arthur Fields, "Since My Best Girl Turned Me Down" by Jan Garber, "We Love Us" by the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks, and more. (59 min.)
Show No. 611: Jan. 23, 2000
"More from the $1 Bag" continues Dad's finds from the $1 bag of albums at the library sale, including Mildred Bailey singing "Penthouse Serenade," the Ragtime Jug Stompers doing "St. Louis Tickle," Bessie Smith's 1923 "Taint Nobody's Business If I Do," a gospel song by Jimmy Durante, a piano solo called "Spring Fever" by Ruby Bloom, Duke Ellington's "I'd Do Most Anything For You" and more bargain finds! (58 min.)
Show No. 612: Feb. 6, 2000
"Down Memory Lane" gets nostalgic with "On Memory Lane" by Kate Smith, Paul Whiteman's "I'll Always Remember You," "Memories of You" by Billy Cotton's Orchestra, "Among My Souvenirs" by Harold Scrappy Lambert, "Bring Back Those Wonderful Days" by Bert Williams, "Do You Ever Think of Me?" by Ruth Etting, Billie Holiday's "Yesterdays," Bing Crosby's "It's Easy to Remember" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 613: Feb. 13, 2000
"Heart Songs" takes a look at romance on the eve of Valentine's Day, with "Love, Here is My Heart" by John McCormack, "You've Taken My Heart" by Al Bowlly, "Hearts Can Stand Still" by Margaret Whiting, "Sweetheart of All My Dreams" by Johnny Marvin, "Humpty Dumpty Heart" by Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee's "My Heart Belongs to the Girl That Belongs to Somebody Else" and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 614: Feb. 20, 2000
"Early Spring" looks forward to warmer weather with "Blue Skies Around the Corner" by Jack Hilton's Orchestra, "Here Comes the Sun" (1930) by the Vincent Lopez Orchestra, an early "Tiptoe Thru the Tulips" by Nick Lucas, "Old Man Sunshine" by Lee Morse, "The Sun is At My Window, Throwing Kisses at Me" by Arthur Fields, "Sunny Skies" by Billy Cotton's London Savannah Band, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 615: Feb. 27, 2000
"1900" looks at the events and music of that pivotal year, including a Scott Joplin cakewalk, "Tell Me Pretty Maiden" from the musical "Flora Dora," several minstrel songs, "I've Got a Longing in My Heart For You, Louise," the nickelodeon song "Waltz Blue," and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 616: March 5, 2000
"Let's" gathers together songs such as "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee," "Let's Have a Party" by Jimmy Underwood's Orchestra, "Let's Sit and Talk About You" (1929), "Let's Do It" by Rudy Vallee, "Let's Get Away From it All" by Fats Waller, "Let's Fall in Love" by Annette Hanshaw, "Let's Misbehave" by Irving Aaronson and his Commanders, and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 617: March 12, 2000
"Dixieland" is a toe-tapping trip through the musical genre, with early songs by the Dixie Jazz Band and the Dixie Jazzers, along with the Dixie Jug Blowers, Bob Crosby and His Bobcats, and contemporary acts like Al Smith and his Roaring 20s Jazz Band, Steve Barbone and others. (60 min.)
Show No. 618: March 19, 2000
"Radiothon" features some listener favorites such as "Me and Jane in a Plane," "If I Had a Talking Picture Of You" by Annette Hanshaw, George Olsen's "Bye Bye Blackbird" and others, but it also features mom and dad holding forth on the various prizes, swapping some stories and dad playing a tape he made of bulldog houseguest that was a champion eater and snorer. You'll need to experience it for yourself. (60 min.)
Show No. 619: April 2, 2000
"Leo Robin" looks at the career of this songwriter, beginning with his first song, "My Cutie's Due at 2:22" (1926) and continuing through "Louise" sung by Maurice Chevalier, "My Ideal" (1930), "One Hour With You" (1932), "Love is Just Around the Corner," "Blue Hawaii" (1937), "Thanks for the Memories" and many more. (59 min.)
Show No. 620: April 9, 2000
"All Request" thanks listeners who called in to pledge during Radiothon with some interesting songs by Fats Waller, Al Jolson, Harry Lauder (1908), Billy Murray (1914), Irving Kauffman, Al Bowlly, Helen Kane, George Olsen and many more. (61 min.)
Show No. 621: April 16, 2000
"Radio Theme Songs" features the snippet theme songs of early radio shows, then the songs they were taken from. Return to the thrilling days of yesteryear, with "Just Plain Bill," "Tonight's Dinner," "Amos and Andy," "Tom Mix and His Straight Shooters," "The Guiding Light," the unlikely "Norge Kitchen Committee" and many more. (61 min.).
Show No. 622: April 23, 2000
"Variety" includes "From Monday On," by Paul Whiteman (1928) and a 1974 cover version, "Sing As We Go" by Gracie Fields, "We're in the Money" (1933), "Telling It To the Daisies" by Bernie Cummins (1930), "Charleston Ball" by Harry Reser's Six Jumping Jacks, "Everyone Says I Love You" by Russ Carlson's Orchestra (1932) and other upbeat selections. (58 min).
Show No. 623: April 30, 2000
"Coffee, Tea Or --?" delves into beverages, mostly coffee, with "You're the Cream in My Coffee" by Ruth Etting (1929), Eddie Duchin's "Coffee in the Morning" (1933), "Hot Coffee" (1932), "Tea for Two," "They've Got an Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil" by Buddy Clark (1946) and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 624: May 7, 2000
"Roster of Musicans: M" features McKinney's Cotton Pickers, the Mound City Blues Blowers, Mary Martin, Johnny Mercer, Ethel Merman, the Mills Brothers, Lee Morse and a host of others! (59 min.).
Show No. 625: May 14, 2000
"Sigmund Romberg" surveys the career of the prolific operetta composer (1887-1961), with tuneful songs from "The Student Prince," "The Desert Song" and others, such as "One Alone" (1926), "Will You Remember?" (1916), "Lover Come Back To Me" and others (59 min.)
Show No. 626: May 21, 2000
"One" features "My One and Only" by Harry Reser, "You're the One That I Care For" by Annette Hanshaw, "My Wonderful One" by Vera Lynn, "Dinner For One, Please James" by Al Bowlly, "One For My Baby" by Billie Holiday, "The One I Love Can't Be Bothered With Me" by Johnny Marvin, the very silly "The One Little Hair On His Head" by Gracie Field, and more. (59 min.)
Show No. 627: May 28, 2000
"No. 1 Hits of 1930" looks at all the hit music during a dark year, including "Great Day" by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by Nick Lucas, "Happy Days are Here Again" by Ben Selvin's Orchestra, "When Your Hair Has Turned to Silver" by Scrappy Lambert, "Time On My Hands" by Al Bowlly, and more. (60 min.).
Show No. 628: June 4, 2000
"Listener Favorites: Harold Howell" is one of a periodic series where listeners got to pick their music for the hour. This one includes "Lonesome Me" by Fats Waller, "Things Are Looking Up" by Isham Jones, "Close Your Eyes" and "By the Fireside" by Al Bowlly, "Sunrise Serenade" by Connie Boswell, "We're in the Money" by Dick Powell, and more. (53 min.)
Show No. 629: June 11, 2000
"Roses" features flowery songs such as "Rose Room" (1928), "The One Rose" by Sam Brown, "Moonlight and Roses" by Connie Boswell, "I'm Bringing a Red, Red Rose" by Ambrose and his Orchestra, "The Rose in Her Hair" by Dick Powell, along with a new feature, The Scratchy Grooves Almanac, with historical surprises, bad jokes, quotes and observations. (60 min.)
Show No. 630: June 18, 2000
"Fred Waring's Hot Band" spotlights the long-running band's early days in the 1920s, with silly songs like "Syncopating Sal," "Freshie," "I Love My Baby," "Collegiate Blues," "Any Ice Today, Lady?" "Don't Sing Aloha When I'm Gone," "We Love the College Girls" and more. (54 min.)
Show No. 631: July 2, 2000
"Songs Not Heard Before" features music never played on the show before, including Irving Kauffman singing "Mona" and "Syncopated Jamboree" (1930), "And So I Married a Girl" by Charlie Polloy, Cliff Edwards singing "All of a Sudden," Sophie Tucker singing "Aren't Women Wonderful?" the lonely lament "The Cop on the Beat, The Man in the Moon and Me," and many more. (64 min.)
Show No. 632: July 9, 2000
"Roster of Recording Artists N and O" continues the series with "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by Ozzy Nelson, "Get Out and Get Under the Moon" by Red Nichols, "The Very Thought of You" by Ray Noble and Al Bowlly, the comedy song "Lily of Laguna" by Tessie O'Shea, the 1905 ballad "There Is No Love Like Mine" by Will Oakland, and more (58 min.)
Show No. 633: July 16, 2000
"Louis Armstrong" looks at the evolution of Armstrong's career, from his work with other bands in the early 1920s to his classic hits. Songs include "Canal Street Blues" (1923), "Everybody Loves My Baby" (1924), "St. Louis Blues" by Bessie Smith (1925), "Big Butter and Egg Man From the West" (1925), "Sweethearts on Parade" (1930) and many more. (60 min.)
Show No. 634: July 3, 2000
"Gals" takes a look at the fairer sex, with "Somebody Stole My Gal" by Billy Cotton's Orchestra, "My Gal Sal" by Al Jolson, "My Gal is a High-Born Lady" (from 1896), "For Me and My Gal" by Cliff Edwards, "Sleepy Time Gal" and more. (57 min.)
Show No. 635: Aug. 6, 2000
"Dorothy Fields" looks at the long career of the lyricist/songwriter, including "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "Collegiana" (1928), "Blue Again" (1930), "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "I'm In The Mood For Love" (1935), "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), and even a tribute song for a solo transcontinental flight by a female pilot that actually never happened, titled "Our American Girl." (65 min.)
Show No. 636: Aug. 13, 2000
"Top of the Stack" contains a mixed bag of whatever dad could get his hands on, including "My Blue Heaven" by Gracie Fields (1928), "If You Can't Hold the Man You Love" by Duke Ellington (1926), an exuberant marching band playing "Tiger Rag," the comedy song "Down By The Old Gas House" (1926), Will Rogers expounding on "Dude Ranch Cowboys" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 637: Aug. 20, 2000
"Things Not Seen Anymore" takes a look back at the objects of yesteryear, including "Thanks for the Buggy Ride" by Frank Crummett, "The Old Lamplighter," "The Old Umbrella Man" by Sammy Kaye, a comedy song about the ice man called "Any Ice Today, Lady?", "The Strawberry Man," "Washboard Blues" by Hoagy Carmichael, Billy Murray singing about Victrolas, and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 638: Aug. 27, 2000
"Roster of Recording Stars: P" includes Charlie Palloy singing "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?", the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, Jack Payne's Orchestra doing "My Baby Just Cares For Me," Eddie Peabody powering through "Bye Bye Blackbird" on the banjo, a 1920 medley by the Peerless Quartet, and much more. (60 min.)
Show No. 639: Sept. 10, 2000
"In All Directions" goes all over the musical map, with "Way Up North" by Jack Carson and Alan Hale, "The Call of the South" by Blossom Sealey, "Down the Dixie Highway" by Aileen Stanley, "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" by Paul Whiteman and Mildred Bailey, "Stay Out of the South" by the Coon Sanders Orchestra, "East Side of Heaven" by Bing Crosby, "California Here I Come" by Cliff Edwards, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 640: Sept. 17, 2000
"Nothing" fills up the hour with "I Got Plenty of Nothin'," "All Over Nothing at All" (1922), "Nothin' On My Mind" by Parker Gibbs (1928), "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet" by Al Jolson (1919), "There's Nothing Too Good For My Baby" by Eddie Cantor, "Nothing Like That In Our Family" by Billy Murray (1906), and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 641: Sept. 24, 2000
"Something" takes the other end of the scale from the previous week, with "Something to Remember You By" by Paul Small (1931), "Do Something" by Helen Kane, "There's Something About a Rose" by Gus Arnheim's Orchestra, "Sing Something in the Morning" by Bebe Daniels, "Something Came and Got Me in the Spring" by Roy Fox's Orchestra, and more. (57 min.)
Show No. 642: Oct. 1, 2000
"All Request" shows the odd range of music that listeners wanted to hear, including "Sweet Sue" by Red Nichols (1928), "Twilight on the Trail" by the Mills Brothers, Al Jolson's "Hello Central, Give Me No Man's Land," "Margie" by Louis James (1921), "I"ll Get By" by Buddy Clark, Billy Murray's 1915 "I've Been Floating Down the Old Green River," and more. (61 min.)
Show No. 643: Oct. 8, 2000
"Habitat" looks at all the places there are to live, including John McCormack singing about a little tumbledown shack, "A Room With a View" by Noel Coward, "A Little Shanty In Old Shantytown" by Ted Lewis, "Cabin in the Pines," "Four Walls" by Al Jolson, "My Adobe Hacienda" by the Denning Sisters, and more. (57 min.)
Show No. 644: Oct. 15, 2000
"Moon Songs" includes "Moon" (1932) by Henry Hall, "The Moon and the Willow Tree" by Dorothy Lamour, "Me and the Man in the Moon" by Helen Kane, "Turn Off Your Light, Mr. Moon Man" (1908), "I Wished on the Moon" by Ella Fitzgerald, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 645: Nov. 5, 2000
"Roster of Recording Artists Q & R" features Mae Questel's "The Right Somebody to Love," the Radiolites singing "Ain't She Sweet," Ma Rainey's 1925 "C.C. Rider Blues," the Don Redmond Band playing "The New Lowdown," Harry Reser sprinting through "My Sunday Girl" and more. (57 min.)
Show No. 646: Nov. 11, 2000
"Snuggling" is an hour of romantic songs for cuddling on a chilly night, including "By the Fireside" by Al Bowlly, "I'm in the Mood for Love" by Frances Langford, "All of Me" by Russ Columbo, Ruth Etting's "Hold Me" and "Linger a Little Longer," Mildred Bailey's "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 647: Nov. 19, 2000
"Composer Arthur Schwartz" looks at some of the composer's best work, including "Dancing in the Dark," "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" by Hal Kemp's Orchestra, "Something to Remember You By" by Libby Holman, "New Sun in the Sky" (1931), "You and the Night and the Music" by Tony Martin, "What a Wonderful World" (1935) and more. (56 min.)
Show No. 648: Nov. 26, 2000
"Requests & Honorable Mentions" features songs requested by listeners, as well as songs mentioned by listeners but not actually requested, such as "All of Me" by Ruth Etting, "Rose of Washington Square" played by Crazy Otto, Earl Wrightson's "Look For The Silver Lining," Phil Harris singing "Minnie the Mermaid," "The Red Rose Rag," the odd "She Gives Them All The Ha Ha Ha" (1921) and more. (57 min.)
Show No. 649: Dec. 3, 2000
"This & That" features "This Is Romance" (1933) by Al Bowlly, "This Is the Night" by Ruth Etting, "That Old Feeling" by Lillian Roth, "That's All There Is, There Ain't No More" (1925), "That's For Me" by Buddy Clark, "That's My Weakness Now" by Cliff Edwards, "That's What I Like About You" (1930) by Connie Boswell, and more. (57 min.).
Show No. 650: Dec. 10, 2000
"First Records" features the debut songs by the Andrews Sisters ("Wake Up and Live," 1937), Eddie Cantor ("That's the Kind of Baby For Me," 1917), the Mills Brothers ("Tiger Rag," 1931), Mildred Bailey ("What Kind of Man Is You?" 1929), Ruth Etting ("Nothing Else To Do," 1926) and more. (57 min.).
Show No. 651: Dec. 17, 2000
"Crown Records" looks at the bargain "two hits for two bits" series of records sold at Woolworth's from 1930 to 1933, including "Brother Can You Spare a Dime," "Stormy Weather," "Try a Little Tenderness" and more by singer Charlie Polloy, the High Steppers doing "Love Is Like That," "Keeping Myself Out of Mischief Now" and more, Russ Carlson and Orchestra doing "Everyone Says I Love You" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 652: Jan. 2, 2001
"Happy Songs" gets the new year off on the right foot with "Get Happy" by Judy Garland, "Sing a Happy Little Thing" by Cliff Edwards, "Happy" by Al Bowlly, "Happiness Ahead" sung by Dick Powell, "I'm Happy When You're Happy" by Snooks Friedman and his Memphis Stompers, and lots more positive music! (58 min.)
Show No. 653: Jan. 14, 2001
"British Bands" is a quick survey of some of the top British big bands, including swinging songs by Jack Jackson's Band, the Carol Gibbons Band, Roy Fox, Billy Cotton, Jack Hilton, Bert Ambrose, Victor Sylvester, Henry Hall and others (59 min.)
Show No. 654: Jan. 21, 2001
"One" goes straight to the top with "One Girl" by the Gus Arnheim Orchestra, "One Alone" by Earl Wrightson, "The One in the World" by Annette Hanshaw, "The One I Love Just Can't Be Bothered With Me" by Johnny Marvin, "The One Rose" by Dorothy Lamour, "One Sweet Kiss" by Al Jolson, and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 655: Jan. 28, 2001
"Leroy Anderson" looks at the career of the prolific composer best known for "Sleigh Ride" (1949), but whose innovative compositions using typewriters and sandpaper set him apart from the usual. The tuneful hour includes "Jazz Pizzicato" (1938), "The Waltzing Cat" (1951), "Plink, Plank, Plunk," "A Syncopated Clock" and more. (61 min.)
Show No. 656: Feb. 4, 2001
"Roster of Recording Artists: S" features Adrian Schubert ("Gosh Darn"), Blossom Seeley ("Yes Sir, That's My Baby"), Ben Selvin's Orchestra, Artie Shaw, Dinah Shore, Bessie Smith, Whispering Jack Smith, Jo Stafford and others, plus a show-ending technical breakdown that points out the limitations of the studio equipment! (60 min.)
Show No. 657: Feb. 11, 2001
"African American Songwriters" looks at a stylistic breadth of music, including "After You've Gone," "Grandfather's Clock," "The Charleston," "Solace," "Memories of You," "I"m Just Wild About Harry," "The Castle House Rag," "Them There Eyes," "Beale Street Blues" and many more. (57 min.)
Show No. 658: Feb. 18, 2001
"The 1920s" is a lively hour of peppy music, including "Ain't We Got Fun" by the Harmonizers Quartet, "Oh, By Jingo" by Billy Murray, "Barney Google" and "Pardon Me While I Laugh" by the Happiness Boys, "Bringing Home the Bacon" by Ben Selvin's Orchestra, "Don't Bring Lulu," and many more. (60 min.)
Show No. 659: Feb. 25, 2001
"The Telephone" looks at the topic in songs such as "Hello Hawaii, How Are You?" (1915), "Hell0, Frisco, Hello," "The Party Line" by Billy Murray, "I'm All Alone" by Ada Jones; as well as comedy by Bob Newhart, Mike Nichols and Elaine May, and Shelley Berman. (60 min.)
Show No. 660: March 11, 2001
"Tin Pan Alley" looks at the music publishing dynamo that churned out songs that reflected popular culture, fads and innovations, including "After the Ball," "Maple Leaf Rag," "The Sidewalks of New York," "Till We Meet Again," "The Charleston" and many more. (59 min.)
Show No. 661: April 15, 2001
"Birds" is a springtime ramble featuring "Hello Bluebird" by Blossom Sealey, "My Blackbirds are Bluebirds Now" by Annette Hanshaw, "Baltimore Oriole" by Hoagy Carmichael, "Skylark" by Billy Eckstine, "Bob White" by Connie Boswell and Bing Crosby, and more. This is the first show after a month of medical tests. The shows are intermittent from here on. (58 min.)
Show No. 662: April 22, 2001
"Live From the Multinomah Hotel" features rare recordings of the Herman Kennen Orchestra, which performed at the hotel in Portland, Oregon, in the 1920s. There are some unfamiliar songs, such as "All I Want Is You," "Pretty Little Thing," "Persian Rug," "Rose Of Monterey," "There's a Place in the Sun For You," "Walking in a Dream" and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 663: April 29, 2001
"Roster of Recording Stars: T" features Elmo Tanner whistling 'Heartaches', Art Tatum's "Willow Weep For Me," Eva Taylor singing "Cake Walking Babies Back Home," Jack Teagarden's "100 Years From Today," Pinky Tomlin singing "The Object of My Affection" and more. (61 min).
Show No. 664: July 1, 2001
"Celebrating Life" marks a return to the air for the show, after medical issues forced a long stretch of substitute hosts. Facing a grim prognosis, Dad looks at the bright side, with "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries" by the Mills Brothers and the Boswell Sisters, Belle Baker's "Laughing at Life," Al Jolson's "Keep Smiling at Trouble," Janet Gaynor warbling "Keep Your Sunny Side Up," an Edison cylinder of George M. Cohan's "Mighty Glad I'm Living," and more. (62 min.)
Show No. 665: July 15, 2001
"Songwriter Harry Woods" looks at the remarkable career of the songwriter who had fingers only on one hand, and didn't really care about songwriting, but produced tunes such as "Paddlin' Madeleine Home," "The Red Red Robin," "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover," "River Stay Away From My Door," and many more hits in the 1920s and 1930s. (61 min.)
Show No. 666: July 29, 2001
"Roster of Recording Stars: U and V" includes songs by Jimmy Underwood ("Lullaby of the Leaves"), an 1895 cylinder recording of the U.S. Marine Band, "Mandy" by Van and Skenk, "Chatterbox Rag" by banjo master Fred van Epps, "If My Friends Could See Me Now" by Gwen Verdon, Rudolph Valentino sort of singing "Kashmiri Love Song," and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 667: Aug. 5, 2001
"Summer" surveys the season with "Lazy Days" by Bing Crosby, "Summertime," "The First Rose of Summer" by John McCormack, "Lazy Afternoon" by Kaye Ballard, "Mountain Greenery" by Frank Crummett, "The Things We Did Last Summer" by Jo Stafford, "Sweet Summer Breeze" (1936), "Summer's End" by Al Bowlly and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 668: Dec. 23, 2001
"Christmas Stories" is a collection of three holiday tales read aloud -- "Christmas on the Prairie," "A Good Old Fashioned Christmas" by Robert Benchley, and "Holiday Time at the Old Country Store" by Gerald Carson. This show was the first after a long stretch of repeats of past programs in the time slot. (57 min.)
Show No. 669: Dec. 30, 2001
"New Year's Eve Party" packs in a celebratory hour of music, with "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" by the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, a frantic "Roll Out the Barrel," "C'Mon Get Happy" by Jean Froman, "Champagne Charlie" by Stanley Holloway, "Let's Face the Music and Dance" by Fred Astaire, "Dance Away the Night" by the Columbia Photoplayers, "Save the Last Dance For Me" by Russ Columbo, and more. (57 min.)
Show No. 670: Feb. 10, 2002
"Clarion Brass" is an in-studio interview and music program with members of a Delaware brass group that played some old-time music. Selections include "Livery Stable Blues," "Stardust," a Gay 90s medley, "The Great Crush Collision March," "The Teddy Bears Picnic," "Harlem Rag" and more. (60 min.)
Show No. 671: Feb. 17, 2002
"Longest Song Titles" goes for distance with Bing Crosby singing "I Found a Million Dollar Baby at a Five and Ten Cent Store," Al Jolson pondering "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday On Saturday Night?", Bert Williams singing "Those Sorry I Ain't Got It, But You Could Have It If I Had It Blues," and even longer titles! (58 min.)
Show No. 672: Feb. 25, 2002
"Shortest Song Titles" starts with six letters ("Please" by Bing Crosby, "Always" by Connie Boswell), reduces that letter by letter to "Home" by Ruth Etting, "Who" by George Olsen's Orchestra, "You" by Roy Fox's Orchestra, and down to "O" by Billy Murray, from 1919. (58 min.)
Show No. 673: March 3, 2002
"1930's Top Hits" goes through a year of No. 1 hits, including "I'll See You Again" crooned by Noel Coward, "Great Day," "Tiptoe Thru the Tulips" by the California Ramblers, "Happy Days Are Here Again" by Ben Selvin's Orchestra, "Exactly Like You" by Ruth Etting, "Bye Bye Blues" by Johnny Marvin, and more. (58 min.)
Show No. 674: March 10, 2002
"A Breath of Spring" looks optimistcally for warmer weather, with "The Sun Is At My Window, Throwing Kisses At Me" by Arthur Fields, "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by Annette Hanshaw, "Where the Golden Daffodils Grow" (1930), "When the Pussy Willow Whispers to the Catnip," "My Garden of Yesterday" by Sam Ash (1919), and more. (59 min.)
Show No. 675: March 17, 2002
"Green" looks at two aspects of St. Patrick's Day, with Irish songs ("Wearing Of The Green," 1912, by John McCormack), as well as songs about the color, ranging from Kermit the Frog to "Shelling Green Peas" by Stanley Holloway, "Green Pastures" by Al Jolson, "Little Green Valley" by Vernon Dalhart, and more. (59 min.)
Show No. 676: March 24, 2002
"An Old-Fashioned Sunday" looks back at the day of rest with "Sunday Sweet Sunday" from "Flower Drum Song," "My Sunday Girl" by Harry Reser, "Some Sunday Morning" by Billy Murray and Ada Jones, "You Ought to See Sally on Sunday" by Al Bowlly, Harry Lauder extolling the virtues of breakfast in bed, the comedy song "We Are the Sunday Drivers," and more. (57 min.)
Show No. 677: March 31, 2002
"Harmonies" is a tuneful hour featuring "The Way You Look Tonight" by the Denning Sisters, barbershop harmonies by The Golden Staters, The Buffalo Bills and others, The Peerless Quartet ("Sweet Adeline"), as well as The Maguire Sisters singing "I'll Be Seeing You" and more. (56 min.)
Show No. 678: April 21, 2002
"Radiothon Requests" is the 17th year on the air for the show, and listener requests include "Rain, When Are You Going to Rain Again?" by Vaughan Monroe, "Your Won't Do Any Business If You Haven't Got a Band" by George M. Cohan, "The Perfect Day" by Gracie Fields, "Heartaches" by Ted Weems, "There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding" by John McCormack, "T'ain't No Sin" by Lee Morse, and more. (59 min.)
Show No. 679: May 19, 2002
"Wimpy Songs" is an hour of lethargic, sad music, including "I'm Shy Mary Ellen" by Stanley Holloway, "So Tired" by Gene Austin, "What's the Use?" by Isham Jones, "Lazy Day" by Al Bowlly, "What Good Would it Do?" by the Ink Spots, "Nobody Knows and Nobody Cares," and more woebegotten sentiments. But in a fun way! (60 min.)
Show No. 680: June 9, 2002
"First & Last" is dad's farewell to the show, with a condensed version of the first show from July 1, 1984, and then a little in-studio salute from the people he worked with all those years. It was quite a ride. (58 min.)