Blue Monday Jamboree

Last updated
Blue Monday Jamboree
GenreVariety show
Country of originUnited States
Language(s)English
Home stationKFRC
SyndicatesDon Lee Network
CBS
AnnouncerHarrison Holliway
Original releaseJanuary 24, 1927 –
1935

Blue Monday Jamboree is an old-time radio variety program in the United States. It was broadcast initially (beginning January 24, 1927) [1] [2] on KFRC in San Francisco, California, then was distributed on the West Coast by the Don Lee Network [3] and was later carried nationwide on CBS. Bill Oates wrote, in his biography of Meredith Willson, that the program was "one of the most popular West Coast originated radio shows in the early 1930s." [4]

Contents

Format

Radio historian John Dunning wrote that the program was "known in the West as 'the daddy of all variety shows.'" [3] Blue Monday Jamboree "contained music, comedy and a dramatic sketch (a detective story)." [5]

A contemporary newspaper article (August 27, 1928, in the Oakland Tribune ) described a typical broadcast as follows:

Light entertainment will be the order of the evening on the bay city stations with frolics in evidence at many of the stations. Chief among these in point of seniority and general quality is the KFRC Blue Monday Jamboree which is attended by most of the entertainers appearing on the station throughout the week. These artists gather in an informal sort of meeting bandying jests and songs from 8 to 10 p.m. [6]

Personnel

The initial version of Blue Monday Jamboree in 1927 featured Juliette Dunne, [7] Harvey Austin and the Hawaiians and Harry McClintock [2] - Mac's Haywire Orchestra. [8] [5] The announcer was Harrison Holliway. [7] Meredith Willson made his radio debut on the program in 1928. [9] Al Pearce was one of the entertainers featured on the program. Also, Bea Benaderet, [7] Edna Fisher, [10] and Ronald Graham. [11] I Love Lucy creator Jess Oppenheimer earned his first-ever professional paycheck in 1934 for a comedy routine he wrote and performed on Blue Monday Jamboree. [12] Oppenheimer writes extensively about the program in his memoir, Laughs, Luck...and Lucy, [13] including this unforgettable story of KFRC General Manager Harrison Holliway's on-air interview with a railroad engineer: He eventually starred in a spinoff program, Happy Go Lucky Hour, [14] that began on KFRC, later moving to NBC and being renamed Al Pearce and His Gang. [15] Other members of the troupe included Jane Green, [16] Midge Williams, l Archived 2022-05-20 at the Wayback Machine , Elvia Allman, Harry McClintock, Edna Fisher, Tommy Harris, Tommy's Joynt, SF, [17]

On the day of the program, at the afternoon rehearsal, Holliway was running through the interview with the engineer, who had just mentioned that the pattern of the train whistles was actually a code with which engineers communicated between themselves.

“What is the difference between the various whistles?” Holliway asked.

“They all mean different things,” the engineer replied, and went on to say that one long and two shorts mean one thing, two longs and two shorts mean another, three shorts have yet a different meaning, and so on.

“What is your favorite whistle?”

“That’s easy. It’s a private whistle; just between me and my wife. Long, short, long, short, long, long. I blow that when I’m about four miles out. My wife hears it and starts preparing dinner. She knows exactly how long it takes me to get home after I blow the whistle, and when I walk in the door a piping hot meal has just been set on the table.”

“Hold it. Hold it.”

Holliway was upset, stopping the rehearsal. “This is too sterile. We should be hearing these whistles,” he called to the director. “He should be blowing them for us.”

Holliway grew more and more excited by his new thought. He turned to the engineer. “You must actually blow them for us. How can we arrange that?”

The engineer offered that there usually were extra whistles in the shop being repaired. He suggested calling the railroad to see if they had one they could send to the studio. He did, and they had one; but they said it wouldn’t work unless the building had compressed air they could tie into. Holliway assured them there was plenty of air power. He was ecstatic, like a kid waiting for a new toy. They promised they’d get it there as fast as they could, and for the rest of the afternoon Holliway paced nervously up and down, tensely watching the street for the delivery truck.

No one bothered to ask the obvious question: If this fellow’s wife could hear the whistle when he blew it from four miles away, then when it was blown in a closed, window-walled room with several hundred folks sitting within 30 feet of it, wasn’t it going to be rather loud?

It took longer than anyone expected, and Holliway was nearly out of his mind when finally, at about six o’clock, a tremendous truck and trailer pulled up in front of the building. It was about half a block long, and it was carrying the whistle, which appeared to me at the time to be roughly as long as the Washington Monument, and as big around as the Stockton Street Tunnel. Everyone was shocked. Somehow, when a whistle like that is mounted on a huge railroad engine, everything is in proper proportion. But when put next to ordinary objects and people, it becomes awesome—almost unearthly.

Holliway, however, was delighted. A second, smaller truck, which followed the first, unloaded twenty or thirty laborers. Like Lilliputians trying to maneuver a trussed Gulliver, they managed to inch the whistle off the truck, snake it into the building, and worm it slowly up the stairs and into the studio. It was so heavy and bulky that airtime was approaching by the time they wrestled, tugged, and levered it into position. Its top cleared the ceiling by less than six inches.

The whistle cord was set so the engineer could reach up and pull it while he stood at the microphone. By the time the workmen finally tightened down the connection to the compressed air pipe, there was no time to test anything. The audience was already filling all those folding chairs, and in the background, through the windows that formed the entire wall, the heavy evening traffic on Van Ness Avenue was crawling by, unaware of this impending wedding of realism and technology.

The program took the air and everything went along fine, until it was time for the fateful interview. The railroad engineer and Holliway took their places. It was only a mildly interesting spot until Holliway asked him what the different whistles meant. He began to describe them, as per the original script, but Holliway stopped him and said, “But it’s silly to talk about them, when we can actually hear them with our own ears. The railroad has been good enough to send us this spare whistle. The first one, you said, was one long and two shorts?”

“That’s correct,” the engineer said, and while Holliway beamed at him with creative anticipation, he pulled the cord. The entire wall of windows shattered and blew out onto Van Ness Avenue. The performers on the stage were scattered like rag dolls. The audience, sitting in their folding chairs facing the stage, slid backwards across the floor as a unit, expressions of bemused interest still on their faces, riding their moving seats until they came to rest against the wall of now-glassless windows. The sound blew out the transmitter, and the station was off the air for two weeks. Mr. Lee, I understand, was hit with something like 58 suits for broken eardrums. It was one of the more memorable moments of early radio. [18]

Related Research Articles

<i>I Love Lucy</i> American television sitcom (1951–1957)

I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The series follows the life of Lucy Ricardo (Ball), a young, middle-class housewife living in New York City, who often concocts plans with her best friends and landlords, Ethel and Fred Mertz, to appear alongside her bandleader husband, Ricky Ricardo (Arnaz), in his nightclub. Lucy is depicted trying numerous schemes to mingle with and be a part of show business. After the series ended in 1957, a modified version of the show continued for three more seasons, with 13 one-hour specials, which ran from 1957 to 1960. It was first known as The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show, and later, in reruns, as The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry McClintock</span> American singer-songwriter

Harry Kirby McClintock, also known as "Haywire Mac", was an American railroad man, radio personality, actor, singer, songwriter, and poet, best known for his song "The Big Rock Candy Mountains".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jess Oppenheimer</span> American radio and television writer, producer, and director

Jessurun James Oppenheimer was an American radio and television writer, producer, and director. He was the producer and head writer of the CBS sitcom I Love Lucy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meredith Willson</span> American composer, conductor, musical arranger, and bandleader (1902–1984)

Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson was an American flutist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 1957 hit Broadway musical The Music Man and "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" (1951). Willson wrote three other Broadway musicals and composed symphonies and popular songs. He was twice nominated for Academy Awards for film scores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bea Benaderet</span> American actress (1906–1968)

Beatrice Benaderet was an American actress and comedienne. Born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, she began performing in Bay Area theatre and radio before embarking on a Hollywood career that spanned over three decades. Benaderet first specialized in voice-over work in the golden age of radio, appearing on numerous programs while working with comedians of the era such as Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, and Lucille Ball. Her expertise in dialect and characterization led to her becoming Warner Bros.' leading voice of female characters in their animated cartoons of the early 1940s through the mid-1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madelyn Pugh</span> American screenwriter

Madelyn Pugh, sometimes credited as Madelyn Pugh Davis, Madelyn Davis, or Madelyn Martin, was a television writer who became known in the 1950s for her work on the I Love Lucy television series.

Robert Gordon Carroll Jr. was an American television writer notable for his creative role in the series I Love Lucy, the first four seasons of which he wrote with his professional partner Madelyn Pugh, and collaborator Jess Oppenheimer.

Don Rose, also known as "Dr. Donald D. Rose" or just "Dr. Don," was an American radio personality on KFRC AM 610 in San Francisco, California from October 1973 to 1986. Prior to joining KFRC, Rose had been a prominent broadcaster at WQXI (AM) in Atlanta, Georgia, and WFIL in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was known for his one-liners, sound effects and philanthropy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KKSF</span> Black Information Network radio station in San Francisco

KKSF is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Oakland, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and has an all-news radio format, with programming from the co-owned Black Information Network (BIN). The studios are located on Townsend Street in San Francisco's SoMa district.

<i>My Favorite Husband</i> American radio program and network television series

My Favorite Husband is the name of an American radio program and network television series. The original radio show, starring Lucille Ball, evolved into the groundbreaking television sitcom I Love Lucy. The series was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) written by Isabel Scott Rorick, the earlier of which had previously been adapted into the Paramount Pictures feature film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942), co-starring Ray Milland and Betty Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Nunez</span> Cuban-American actor and comedian (born 1958)

Oscar Nunez, sometimes credited as Oscar Nuñez, is a Cuban-American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as the Dunder Mifflin accountant Oscar Martinez on NBC's The Office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Pearce</span> American singer

Albert Pearce was an American comedian, singer and banjo player who was a popular personality on several radio networks from 1928 to 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elvia Allman</span> American actress (1904–1992)

Elvia Beatrice Allman was an American actress in Hollywood films and television programs for over 50 years. She is best remembered for her semi-regular roles on The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction and for being the voice of Walt Disney's Clarabelle Cow. Her mark in TV history is also ensured by her memorable performance as the stern, no-nonsense boss in the classic I Love Lucy candy factory episode "Job Switching" with a repeat appearance as Nancy Graham the reporter in the 1955 episode "The Homecoming".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFRC-FM</span> All-news radio station in San Francisco

KFRC-FM is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It currently simulcasts sister station KCBS, which carries an all-news format. The station transmits its signal from Mount Beacon atop the Marin Headlands above Sausalito, California, while studios were shared with formerly co-owned CBS O&O station KPIX-TV in downtown San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFRC (610 AM)</span> Radio station in San Francisco (1924–2005)

KFRC was a radio station in San Francisco, California, United States, which made its first broadcast on Wednesday, September 24, 1924, from studios in the Hotel Whitcomb, at 1231 Market Street. KFRC originally broadcast with 50 watts on the 270 meter wavelength, then moved to 660 kHz in April 1927. As part of nationwide frequency reallocations on November 11, 1928, KFRC was moved to 610 kHz, where the call letters remained until 2005.

Robert West LeMond, Jr. was an American radio and television announcer who was best known as the voice who announced for the television shows Leave It to Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet. LeMond was also the announcer for the first radio sitcom by Lucille Ball, My Favorite Husband, as well as for the first television pilot episode of I Love Lucy. The peak of his announcing career spanned from the 1930s well into the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">So Rare</span> 1957 single by Jimmy Dorsey with Orchestra and Chorus

"So Rare" is a popular song published in 1937 by composer Jerry Herst and lyricist Jack Sharpe. It became a no. 2 chart hit for Jimmy Dorsey in 1957.

John Nesbitt was an actor, narrator, announcer, producer and screenwriter. Nesbitt was best known as the narrator of the MGM series Passing Parade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KMEL</span> Urban contemporary radio station in San Francisco

KMEL is an urban contemporary radio station that is licensed to San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia.

The Don Lee Network, sometimes called the Don Lee Broadcasting System was an American regional network of radio stations in the old-time radio era.

References

  1. ↑ "S.F. Symphony Opens List of Broadcastigns". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. January 23, 1927. p. 78. Retrieved December 10, 2016– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 http://www.theradiohistorian.org/blue_mon_poster.jpg [ bare URL image file ]
  3. 1 2 Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 98–99. ISBN   978-0-19-507678-3 . Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  4. ↑ Oates, Bill (2005). Meredith Willson - America's Music Man: The Whole Broadway-Symphonic-Radio-Motion Picture Story. AuthorHouse. p. 48. ISBN   9781420835250 . Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  5. 1 2 Sies, Luther F. (2014). Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN   978-0-7864-5149-4. P. 78.
  6. ↑ "Bay Stations Tonight Will Feature Fun". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. August 27, 1928. p. 7. Retrieved December 10, 2016– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  7. 1 2 3 Gabriel, Walter (May 18, 1935). "Why There're No Blues on Mondays" (PDF). Radio Guide. p. 3. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  8. ↑ https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HjxTBzCQW4Y/S9hqUXhITbI/AAAAAAAAAhI/qOI8rFfuk-k/s1600/Mac's+Haywire+Orchestra.jpg [ bare URL image file ]
  9. ↑ "Music--As Written". Billboard. April 17, 1948. p. 34. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  10. ↑ "Edna Fischer (1902-1997) - San Francisco's First Lady of Radio". Archived from the original on 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  11. ↑ Bock (August 29, 1933). Pictures: Variety House Reviews - RKO GOLDEN GATE. Vol. 111. p. 37.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  12. ↑ Laughs, Luck...and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time, by Jess Oppenheimer with Gregg Oppenheimer, p. 51
  13. ↑ Oppenheimer, Jess; Oppenheimer, Gregg (April 1999). Laughs, Luck . . . And Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time (Includes CD). Gregg Oppenheimer. ISBN   0-8156-0584-6.
  14. ↑ "The Happy Go Lucky Hour".
  15. ↑ Schneider, John F. (2012). Bay Area Radio. Arcadia Publishing. p. 29. ISBN   9780738589107 . Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  16. ↑ Queeney, Margaret (September 1931). "Green and Blue" (PDF). Radio Doings. p. 19. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  17. ↑ "Tommy Harris - KFRC - Tommy's Joynt". 13 August 2014.
  18. ↑ Laughs, Luck...and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time, by Jess Oppenheimer with Gregg Oppenheimer, p. 43

Articles & Photo's

Sheet music

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.