The Crosby Years; No. 6; The Big Broadcast

<v Radio Host>We invite you to join us now as Oregon Public Broadcasting presents: <v Radio Host>The Crosby Years: A Compendium of American Popular Song, starring <v Radio Host>the voice of Bing Crosby. <v Speaker>["Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" by Bing Crosby plays] <v Radio Host>Now here is your host, John Salisbury. <v John Salisbury>Thank you and welcome to the Crosby Years: chapter six, the big <v John Salisbury>broadcast featuring Rudy Vallée, Kate Smith, Arthur Tracy "The Street Singer," Morton <v John Salisbury>Downey, Alice Faye, Russ Columbo, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, <v John Salisbury>Joan Blondel, Ted Lewis, Al Jolson, Fred Astaire, Clifton Webb, Dick Powell, <v John Salisbury>and Ruby Keeler. And here is Bing.

<v Speaker>["Keepin' Out of Mischief Now" as sung by Bing Crosby plays] <v John Salisbury>Bing on a 1932 song by Fats Waller from an album released posthumously

<v John Salisbury>in London with Pete Moore and his orchestra. <v John Salisbury>In 1931, Bing began appearing in a series of musical short subjects produced <v John Salisbury>by Max Senate. The titles were taken largely from the songs Bing had recorded: <v John Salisbury>"I Surrender, Dear," "One More Chance," "Blue of the Night," and so forth. <v John Salisbury>Here's one of the songs from the soundtrack of "One More Chance," which Bing recorded <v John Salisbury>for Brunswick in 1931. <v Speaker>["Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" by Bing Crosby plays] <v John Salisbury>And another from a Senate short called "Sing, Bing, Sing":

<v Speaker>["Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" continues] <v John Salisbury>In 1931, the "Star-Spangled Banner" was officially declared

<v John Salisbury>our national anthem by an act of Congress. <v John Salisbury>Rockefeller Center began rising from the ground in New York when work was begun on <v John Salisbury>the erection of the RKO Building and the Empire State Building, tallest <v John Salisbury>in the world at the time opened. <v John Salisbury>The nation played bridge and more bridge. <v John Salisbury>Women wore stockings of transparent mesh. <v John Salisbury>The Empress Eugenie Hat was the latest rage, and the magazine Ballyhoo, <v John Salisbury>which mocked advertising, built an enormous circulation overnight. <v John Salisbury>[music plays] <v John Salisbury>Bing Crosby was coming of age as the roaring 20s melded into the <v John Salisbury>depressive 30s. As John Fisher put it in his book, "Call Them Irreplaceable," <v John Salisbury>on the threshold of the Depression years at a time when, in spite of the evidence of Wall <v John Salisbury>Street, that light like the proverbial bowl of cherries in the song, had its own <v John Salisbury>hard center, many people would still have difficulty in convincing themselves

<v John Salisbury>that the fun days were over. <v John Salisbury>And Crosby was exactly right. <v John Salisbury>His cultured, manly baritone in marked contrast with a high pitched other-worldliness <v John Salisbury>of his crooning forerunner, Rudy Vallée added a dash of responsibility to <v John Salisbury>his devil may care. He could juggle the homespun with a sophisticated, the <v John Salisbury>jazzy with the sentimental, and keep all balls in the air at the same time. <v John Salisbury>More than this, Bing had an instinctive feel, not merely for the kind of songs <v John Salisbury>his public wanted sung, but also for the way they wanted them sung <v John Salisbury>because it allowed him to do justice, radio was an ideal medium. <v John Salisbury>The singing stars were coming into their own in 1931. <v John Salisbury>By now, Rudy Vallée had his own weekly variety show and was a major star, <v John Salisbury>opening each show with his familiar theme: <v Speaker>["My Time is Your Time" by Rudy Vallée plays]. <v John Salisbury>The hour-long show was not the

<v John Salisbury>rule for singers. Most of the vocalists new to radio were on 5 nights <v John Salisbury>a week for 15 minutes. Every night around 7:00, Kate Smith brought her moon <v John Salisbury>over the mountain. <v Speaker>["When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain" by Kate Smith plays] <v John Salisbury>There was Arthur Tracy, The Street Singer. <v Speaker>["Marta" by Arthur Tracy plays] <v John Salisbury>The Irish tenor, Morton Downey, had a legion of followers. <v Speaker>["Wabash Moon" by Morton Downey plays] <v John Salisbury>And finally, there was Bing scheduled for a late August debut on the CBS

<v John Salisbury>network. Bing remembered how it came about. <v Bing Crosby>My brother Everett, who was handling my business, arranged to have some records <v Bing Crosby>sent to Bill Daley, who was the president of CBS at that time, still is I guess. <v Bing Crosby>And uh I think it was uh "I Surrender Dear," "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams," couple of <v Bing Crosby>titles like that. He liked them and uh I left the Coconut Grove <v Bing Crosby>then and went on back uh went on sustaining ?room? <v Bing Crosby>CBS Network, which later led to a sponsored program with Carl Fenton's orchestra <v Bing Crosby>called the Cremo Cigar Program. <v John Salisbury>The first broadcast was originally scheduled for the night of August 31st, <v John Salisbury>1931. But uh Bing didn't make it. <v Bing Crosby>I lost my voice completely. <v John Salisbury>Oh. <v Bing Crosby>I rehearsed a lot and I guess I'd been uh going up to <v Bing Crosby>Harlem every night to hear all the good bands up there and didn't get enough rest and the <v Bing Crosby>pipes just gave out and I got the afternoon uh rehearsing and <v Bing Crosby>I couldn't produce hardly a sound. It was just hoarse, tired.

<v Bing Crosby>And I think we- they canceled the first night I don't remember- the first couple nights. <v John Salisbury>It was on September 2nd, 1931, that Bing finally checked <v John Salisbury>in on CBS. <v CBS Host>Introducing Bing Crosby. <v CBS Host>Here is the moment you have been waiting for ?main event? <v CBS Host>of that sensational baritone Bing Crosby, whose singing has made him a favorite <v CBS Host>of California, for the medium of the motion picture to the vaudeville stage, and <v CBS Host>the radio. It was our announced intention to represent Bing Crosby's initial program <v CBS Host>Monday night. But his severe attack of laryngitis made it impossible for him to appear <v CBS Host>until tonight. However, his voice is recovered sufficiently to allow him to bring to <v CBS Host>you now his inimitable song interpretation. <v CBS Host>So ?inaudible? Bing Crosby and the popular song of the day, "Just One More Chance." <v Speaker>["Just One More Chance" as sung by Bing Crosby plays]

<v John Salisbury>

<v John Salisbury>National popularity came to Bing almost overnight when his broadcasts began. <v John Salisbury>The airwaves provided full scope for his distinctive "hands-in-pocket" conversational <v John Salisbury>style. Coupled with his relaxed hammock swinging personality, his singing <v John Salisbury>was perfect for the radio audience and for a time on both radio and records, <v John Salisbury>there were truly the Big 3. <v John Salisbury>There was Rudy Vallée, who introduced this song in 1931. <v Speaker>["As Time Goes By" as sung by Rudy Vallée] <v John Salisbury>Vallées program held its 1-hour slot on NBC for 10 full

<v John Salisbury>years, a tribute not only to his personal staying power, but also his <v John Salisbury>legendary reputation for discovering new talent. <v John Salisbury>Among the bright names were Eddie Cantor, well-known to the New York stage, but a <v John Salisbury>national star on radio once Vallée introduced him. <v John Salisbury>Rudy picked Alice Faye out of the chorus of George White's Scandals and made her a star. <v Speaker>[Alice Faye singing] <v John Salisbury>That was Alice on one of Rudy's shows.

<v John Salisbury>Rudy discovered Frances Langford singing on a small station in Florida. <v John Salisbury>Milton Berle, Joe Penner, Burns and Allen, Bob Burns, later to become a regular on The <v John Salisbury>Crosby Show, all received their first major radio exposure on Rudy's Fleischmann <v John Salisbury>Hour. And of course, his greatest discovery was ventriloquist Edgar Bergen with <v John Salisbury>his Charlie McCarthy. Yes, Rudy was one of the giants of radio, <v John Salisbury>but he also foresaw the emergence of Bing as he told a BBC interviewer: <v Rudy Vallée>The Victor Company at the end of town send little phonographs and records all of my <v Rudy Vallée>dressing room for me to play to enjoy myself between shows. <v Rudy Vallée>We did 4 and 5 shows a day in those days. <v Rudy Vallée>And I listened to this record by Gus Arnheim and I heard Bing <v Rudy Vallée>?inaudible? [singing] Talk of love. And underneath in tiny little letters was uh "vocal <v Rudy Vallée>by Bing Crosby." That- that following Thursday, the Thursday we did the broadcast from <v Rudy Vallée>Rochester, I did that song, didn't do it as Bing did it. <v Rudy Vallée>And I said this man, Bing Crosby, who's recorded this number for Gus Arnheim, is gonna <v Rudy Vallée>push me right off my throne. <v Speaker>[singing]

<v Speaker>

<v John Salisbury>When Bing Crosby became an instant hit on CBS, NBC looked for a rival <v John Salisbury>singer and found one in Russ Columbo, who got his big break under the same circumstances, <v John Salisbury>which launched Bing. Working in Gus Arnheim's band at the Coconut Grove in <v John Salisbury>Los Angeles. <v Speaker> <v Speaker>["You Call It Madness" by Russ Columbo plays]. <v John Salisbury> "You Call It Madness." One of Russ Colombo's biggest hits.

<v John Salisbury>And once again, we put together a couple of recordings that Bing and Russ made separately <v John Salisbury>and created a duet that never actually happened. <v John Salisbury>It's one of the best-known songs in popular music history. <v Speaker>["Good Night, Sweet Heart" as sung by Russ Columbo and Bing Crosby plays] <v John Salisbury>So in 1931, and for the next 3 years, there were the

<v John Salisbury>Big 3: Crosby, Columbo and Vallée, which gave someone the idea <v John Salisbury>of writing a song to that effect. <v John Salisbury>Bing remembers:. <v Bing Crosby>Yes, I don't know. I think I might have used it on the radio program, I don't know, but I <v Bing Crosby>certainly remember the song. <v John Salisbury>Well, that's- you were the Big 3 then. <v Bing Crosby>Yeah. <v John Salisbury>I guess. <v Bing Crosby>Did I get first billing? Crosb- <v John Salisbury>Crosby, Columbo, and Vallée. I think it was more-. <v Bing Crosby>First billing. <v John Salisbury>It wasn't exactly alliterative. But it bounced along at a good pace. <v Bing Crosby>?inaudible? <v Speaker>[singing] There's lots of public enemies, but I know only 3: Crosby, Columbo, and <v Speaker>Vallée. They've made a million married women wish that <v Speaker>they were free. Crosby, Columbo, and Vallée. <v Speaker>Those crooning vagabonds of stealing all our blondes. <v Speaker>Now I know what has become of Sally. <v Speaker>And every time you kiss your girl, who is she thinking of? <v Speaker>Crosby, Columbo, and Vallée.

<v Speaker>Who are the boys that fill our modern maidens with delight? <v Speaker>[music] Crosby, <v Speaker>Columbo, and Vallée. <v Speaker>From coast to coast, you'll hear them singing love songs every night. <v Speaker>[music] Crosby, Columbo, and Vallée. <v Speaker>Each Mrs. So-and-So has her radio, always <v Speaker>going full blast in our rally. <v Speaker>And even though you turn your own set off, you're going to hear. <v Speaker>[music] <v Speaker>Crosby, Columbo, and Vallée. <v John Salisbury>It was in 1932 that the United States was on its really

<v John Salisbury>unhappy journey through the lean years. <v John Salisbury>The stock market crash of '29 had plunged not only the United States but most <v John Salisbury>of the rest of the world into the worst economic debacle in Western memory. <v John Salisbury>Industrial output was now less than half the 1929 figure. <v John Salisbury>The number of unemployed had risen to something between 13 and 15 million. <v John Salisbury>Hourly wages had dropped 60 percent since '29, white-collar salaries <v John Salisbury>40 percent. Farmers were getting 5 cents a pound for cotton, less <v John Salisbury>than 50 cents for a bushel of wheat. <v John Salisbury>Everywhere there was hunger. Yet in 1932, President <v John Salisbury>Herbert Hoover continued to voice optimism. <v Herbert Hoover>My fellow citizens, this broadcast tonight marked the <v Herbert Hoover>beginning of the mobilization of the whole nation for a great undertaking <v Herbert Hoover>to provide security for those of our citizens and their families <v Herbert Hoover>who, through no fault of their own, face unemployment and privation during the <v Herbert Hoover>coming winter.

<v John Salisbury>But 1932 was an election year, and the Democrats stood ready with a man who <v John Salisbury>made "Happy Days Are Here Again" his theme: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, <v John Salisbury>who told a nominating convention in Chicago: <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>Let it be from now on the task of our party to <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>break foolish traditions. Give me you help, not to win votes alone, but to <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>win in this crusade to restore America <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>to its own people. [music] <v John Salisbury>During the campaign, which followed, Roosevelt used the term "forgotten man" <v John Salisbury>to describe the unemployed workers. <v John Salisbury>It became a song for Joan Blondell in "Gold Diggers of 1933." <v Speaker>["Remember My Forgotten Man" by Joan Blondell plays] <v John Salisbury>Entertainer Ted Lewis referred to the shacks built in the so-called Hoovervilles

<v John Salisbury>by those who were out of work, only he made it sound somewhat romantic. <v Speaker>["In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town" by Ted Lewis plays]. <v John Salisbury> <v John Salisbury>And Al Jolson, among others, brought his interpretation to the theme song of <v John Salisbury>the Great Depression. <v Speaker>["Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" by Al Jolson plays] <v John Salisbury>Meanwhile, Bing Crosby was about to make his starring debut in a feature-length

<v John Salisbury>motion picture. Paramount Pictures decided to make capital of radio's popularity <v John Salisbury>with its growing list of major stars. <v John Salisbury>Radio, after all, was free entertainment and in a time of depression, it really <v John Salisbury>filled the bill. So in 1932, Paramount put together a film <v John Salisbury>called "The Big Broadcast." Bing played himself in the picture and <v John Salisbury>was surrounded by other stars of the radio world: burns and Allen, Kate Smith, <v John Salisbury>Arthur Tracey The Street Singer, the Mills Brothers, the Boswell Sisters and the <v John Salisbury>orchestras of Cab Calloway and Vincent Lopez. <v John Salisbury>Out of "The Big Broadcast" came a long term contract from Paramount, which would last for <v John Salisbury>over 20 years. <v John Salisbury>Bing's big song in the film was "Please." He rehearsed it in this <v John Salisbury>morsel from the soundtrack with guitarist Eddie Lang. <v Bing Crosby>Well, let's try it once more. <v Speaker>["Please" as performed by Bing Crosby and Eddie Lang]. <v Bing Crosby>Well, I think I know it.

<v Speaker>["Please" continues] <v John Salisbury>And here's the commercial recording of "Please," which sold into the millions and sent <v John Salisbury>every bathtub baritone to crooning it, Bing style.

<v Speaker>["Please" by Bing Crosby plays] <v John Salisbury>

<v John Salisbury>Thus Bing Crosby was launched on a movie career from which other million sellers <v John Salisbury>would emerge. But he continued also to record a great many songs, almost <v John Salisbury>everything that came along which were not derived from film. <v Speaker>["Starlight" by Bing Crosby plays] <v Speaker>["How Deep is the Ocean (How High is the Sky)" by Bing Crosby plays]

<v Speaker> <v John Salisbury>On Broadway in 1932, Fred Astaire appeared in his first solo

<v John Salisbury>outing. Sister Adele had retired. <v John Salisbury>The show was also his final bow on Broadway. <v John Salisbury>The movies would soon be calling. <v John Salisbury>The show was "The Gay Divorce" with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. <v John Salisbury>And it was Fred who introduced: <v Speaker>["Night and Day" as sung by Bing Crosby plays] <v John Salisbury>1933, it was Clifton Webb in "As Thousands Cheer" who introduced <v John Salisbury>Irving Berlin's popular hymn to the Easter season. <v Speaker>["Easter Parade" as sung by Irving Berlin plays] <v John Salisbury>Here's Bing's version:

<v Speaker>["East Parade" as sung by Bing Crosby plays] <v Speaker> <v John Salisbury>Back in Hollywood, the movie musicals were in full swing. <v John Salisbury>RKO created a rather so-so musical starring Jean Raymond and Dolores del <v John Salisbury>Rio called "Flying Down to Rio." But it also cast an energetic <v John Salisbury>young couple to perform some songs, but particularly some dances. <v John Salisbury>Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were teamed for the first time in films.

<v Speaker>["Flying Down to Rio" plays] <v Speaker> <v John Salisbury>Their appearance in "Flying Down to Rio" in 1933 launched Fred Astaire <v John Salisbury>and Ginger Rogers on the most successful series of song and dance films in the history <v John Salisbury>of Hollywood. Meanwhile, Warner Brothers was mounting its own series of memorable <v John Salisbury>musicals with the employment of choreographer Busby Berkeley. <v John Salisbury>He turned the musical into a smashing spectacular, creating song and dance <v John Salisbury>sequences which no mere theatrical stage could have contained. <v John Salisbury>And new musical stars were born. <v John Salisbury>The most enduring of whom were Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler. <v John Salisbury>Here with a montage of songs with Dick and Ruby from the Busby Berkeley musicals <v John Salisbury>of the early 30s. <v Speaker>["42nd Street by Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell plays]

<v Speaker>["By a Waterfall" by Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell plays]

<v Speaker> <v Speaker>["Shuffle Off to Buffalo" by Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell plays] <v Speaker> ["Shadow Waltz" by Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell plays]

<v Speaker>["Lullaby of Broadway" plays] <v John Salisbury>Dick Powell went on from musicals to become a hero in tough-guy detective roles,

<v John Salisbury>a complete change of screen character. <v John Salisbury>And in the 40s he appeared on Bing's radio show where together they sang some <v John Salisbury>of the songs he and Ruby introduced back in the 30s. <v John Salisbury>Here is 1 of them. <v Speaker>["I Only Have Eyes for You" as sung by Dick Powell and Bing Crosby] <v John Salisbury>RKO had Fred and Ginger, Warner Brothers had Dick and Ruby, and Paramount

<v John Salisbury>had Bing. Following the success of the big broadcast as a launching pad for <v John Salisbury>their newly acquired star, Paramount brought forth no less than 3 films starring <v John Salisbury>Bing in 1933: "College Humor," "Too Much Harmony," and "Going <v John Salisbury>Hollywood," with a number of fine songs. <v John Salisbury>Here with some examples: <v Speaker>["Learn to Croon" by Bing Crosby plays] <v Speaker>["Magic is the Moonlight" by Bing Crosby plays]

<v Speaker>["Thanks" by Bing Crosby plays] <v Speaker>["Temptation" by Bing Crosby plays]

<v John Salisbury>A medley of Crosby songs from 1933. <v John Salisbury>As Bing continued moving forward in his increasingly successful career, the nation moved <v John Salisbury>forward toward an era of hope. <v John Salisbury>On March 4th, 1933, a new president took the oath of office, and in <v John Salisbury>his inaugural address, Franklin Delano Roosevelt recognized the problems the nation

<v John Salisbury>faced in the Great Depression. <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>The withered leaves of our industrial enterprise lie on every side. <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>Farmers find no markets that produce. <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>A host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>and an equally great toil, with little return. <v John Salisbury>He knew what the nation needed. <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>This nation is asking for action and action now. <v John Salisbury>He proposed the solutions to the problems. <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. <v John Salisbury>And he offered hope. <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>This great nation will endure as it has endured, <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>will revive and will prosper. <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>[appplause] Let me assert my firm belief. <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>The only thing we have to <v Franklin Delano Roosevelt>fear is fear itself. [music]

<v John Salisbury>We had a new leader, one who would guide us through more than 12 tumultuous <v John Salisbury>years. Now here's Bing to conclude our visit today with a lovely <v John Salisbury>ballad from 1932, another from the album "Songs of a Lifetime," <v John Salisbury>issued posthumously in London. <v Speaker>["Try a Little Tenderness" by Bing Crosby plays] <v John Salisbury>"Try a Little Tenderness." The Voice of Bing Crosby with Pete Moore's Orchestra.

<v John Salisbury>[music]The <v John Salisbury>Crosby Years: Chapter 6: "The Big Broadcast." Next week, "Recording Star" <v John Salisbury>as Bing joins Decca with a catalog of film hits. <v John Salisbury>Until then, this is John Salisbury. <v John Salisbury>Keep looking up, and thanks for listening in. <v Radio Host>The Crosby Years: A Compendium of American Popular Song is written, <v Radio Host>produced and transcribed for Oregon Public Broadcasting by John Salisbury. <v Radio Host>Special consultant is Vernon Wesley Taylor. <v Radio Host>The Crosby Years is a Radio Heritage Production. <v Speaker>["Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" by Bing Crosby plays]