Genre | Music and Quiz |
---|---|
Country of origin | United States |
Language(s) | English |
Home station | NBC |
Starring | Garry Moore (1940-1943) Ted Weems and his orchestra (1940-1941) Hildegarde (1943-1944) Harry Sosnick Band (1941-1944) Eddie Mayehoff (1944) |
Announcer | Marvin Miller Tom Shirley Fort Pearson |
Recording studio | Chicago (1940-1943) New York (1943-1944) |
Original release | 28 January 1940 – 6 September 1944 |
Opening theme | Out of the Night |
Beat the Band is a musical quiz show heard on NBC radio from 1940 to 1944 in two distinctly different series. The program popularized the show business catch phrase, "Give me a little traveling music", often uttered on TV a decade later by Jackie Gleason.
In the first series, broadcast on Sundays at 6:30 p.m. from Chicago, emcee Garry Moore read music-related questions submitted by listeners to band members in the 14-piece Ted Weems Orchestra. [1] [2] Originally sponsored by the General Mills cereal Kix, listeners whose questions were used on the air received $10; those who stumped the band received $20 and a case of Kix. [3] Questions were often posed in the form of puns or riddles. such as, "Suppose a small fur-bearing animal gets so angry he explodes. What song title is suggested?" The answer from comedian-violinist Red Ingle, "Pop Goes the Weasel." [4] Band members who answered questions incorrectly had to toss a fifty-cent piece on the bass drum. The musician with the most correctly answered questions at the end of the program took home the bass drum "kitty". Unlike most radio shows of the time, Beat the Band did not always originate in Chicago; the program was often broadcast on location from places like Denver, St. Louis, and Milwaukee. [5]
The program's vocalists were Perry Como, Parker Gibbs and Marvel Maxwell. Other cast members included Country Washburn [6] and Elmo Tanner, the Whistling Troubador. [7] [8] Fort Pearson was the announcer. [9] This series aired from January 28, 1940, [10] to February 23, 1941.
Relocating to New York as a summer replacement for Red Skelton's The Raleigh Cigarette Program , the program began anew on June 15, 1943, with Raleigh Cigarettes as the sponsor (until June 1944). Music was supplied by the Harry Sosnik band. The first host of the second series was Hildegarde. After June 1944, the host was Eddie Mayehoff. The program came to an end on September 6, 1944.
Announcers were Marvin Miller and Tom Shirley. The program's theme music was "Out of the Night," composed by Harry Sosnik; and Walter Hirsch. [11] The first version of this theme was by Weems and Hildegarde. The second version was performed by Sosnik. [12]
Music was the basis for several quiz shows, such as Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge . [13] In 2001, Soundcraft issued a compact disk of transcripts for some of the 1940 episodes of the show. [14]
Your Hit Parade was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year run, the show had 19 orchestra leaders and 52 singers or groups.
The News Quiz is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 1977. The show, created by John Lloyd from an idea by Nicholas Parsons, has seen several hosts, including Barry Norman, Barry Took, Simon Hoggart, Sandi Toksvig, and Miles Jupp. Andy Zaltzman was announced as the permanent host after series 103. The show involves four panellists, often comedians or journalists, who answer questions about events of the previous week, often leading to humorous and satirical exchanges. The show was adapted for television in 1981 and has also inspired other shows.
The $64,000 Question was an American game show broadcast in primetime on CBS-TV from 1955 to 1958, which became embroiled in the 1950s quiz show scandals. Contestants answered general knowledge questions, earning money which doubled as the questions became more difficult. The final question had a top prize of $64,000, hence the "$64,000 Question" in the show's title.
Whad'Ya Know? is an American comedy, interview, and quiz radio show. Hosted by Michael Feldman, it was created in 1985. During its radio run, it was produced by Wisconsin Public Radio and distributed through Public Radio International. Feldman is accompanied on-stage by Lyle Anderson, phone-answerer; and the Whad'ya Know Trio with John Thulin on piano, Jeff Hamann on bass, and, on road shows, Clyde Stubblefield on drums. Jeffry Eckels was the original full-time bass player from 1987 to 2003. Feldman was also accompanied by Jim Packard as announcer from the show's beginning until his death following the June 9, 2012, show from New York City. Sara Nics was the show's announcer from October 13, 2012 to March 28, 2015. Stephanie Lee became the show's announcer in August 2015. The show was broadcast live with an audience from Monona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin. Periodically, the show was taken on the road and broadcast from various other locations across the United States. The show was broadcast weekly, each Saturday at 10:00 AM CT (UTC-6) for two hours, and repeated throughout the week by syndication. Since the beginning of 2009, the entire show has also been available over the Internet as a podcast. The show aired its final WPR/PRI radio broadcast on June 25, 2016, with prior episodes archived on the show's website. Starting in the fall of 2016, Whad'ya Know became available as a podcast.
Wilfred Theodore Wemyes, known professionally as Ted Weems, was an American bandleader and musician. Weems's work in music was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
You Bet Your Life is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and sidekick George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio on October 27, 1947, moved to CBS Radio debuting October 5, 1949, and went to NBC-TV and NBC Radio on October 4, 1950. Because of its simple format, it was possible to broadcast the show on both radio and television but not simultaneously. Many of the laughs on the television show were evoked by Groucho's facial reactions and other visual gimmicks. So the two versions were slightly different. The last episode in a radio format aired on June 10, 1960. The series continued on television for another year, recording the last season, beginning on September 22, 1960, with a new title, The Groucho Show.
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WHOT is a commercial AM radio station that broadcasts a Haitian Creole-language talk and music radio format. Licensed to Palm River-Clair Mel, Florida, it serves the Tampa Bay area as Radio Nouvelle Lumiere. The station is owned by Gulf Coast Broadcasting with the license held by Tampa Radio, Inc. The radio studios and offices are in St. Petersburg.
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William Elmo Tanner, known as Elmo Tanner was an American whistler, singer, bandleader and disc jockey, best known for his whistling on the chart-topping song “Heartaches” with the Ted Weems Orchestra. Tanner and Weems recorded the song for two record companies within five years. Neither recording was successful originally. The song became a hit for both record companies after a Charlotte, North Carolina, disk jockey played it at random in 1947.
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