The American Melody Hour

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The American Melody Hour is an American old-time radio program. The American Melody Hour was designed as a musical variety show. The program showcased a half-hour playing and singing "the tunes of yesterday and tomorrow..." mostly sung by baritone Bob Hannon. [1]

Contents

The program was hosted by lyric soprano Vivian Della Chiesa. [2] Other regular performers on the program included conductor Frank Black, vocalist Frank Munn and baritone Conrad Thibault. [3] The program was produced by daytime radio monarch Frank Hummert. [4] [5] [6] Announcers included Andre Baruch and Larry Elliott. [7]

The American Melody Hour originally could be heard on the Blue Network on Wednesday nights from October 22, 1941–April 15, 1942. The program then moved to CBS Tuesdays at 7:30 pm on April 21, 1942. In 1947, the program moved to Wednesdays at 8 where it ended its run on July 7, 1948. The program was sponsored by Bayer aspirin during its entire six-year run. [8]

Critical response

A review in the trade publication Variety compared the program to The American Album of Familiar Music and said that it sounded line 1931-era radio, demonstrating none of the "finer nuances that radio music has gathered in the past few years". [9]

References

  1. ↑ "The Biggest Show in Town: American Melody Hour!". The Milwaukee Sentinel. March 31, 1946. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  2. ↑ Rayno, Don (2012). Paul Whiteman: Pioneer in American Music, 1930-1967. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 437. ISBN   978-0-8108-8204-1 . Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  3. ↑ Terrace, Vincent (1998). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland. p. 24. ISBN   978-1-4766-0528-9 . Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  4. ↑ Cox, Jim (1999). The Great Radio Soap Operas. McFarland. p. 20. ISBN   978-1-4766-0414-5 . Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  5. ↑ Cox, Jim (2005). Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas. Scarecrow Press. p. 213. ISBN   978-0-81-086523-5 . Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  6. ↑ Cox, Jim (2009). The A to Z of American Radio Soap Operas. Scarecrow Press. p. 213. ISBN   978-0-8108-6349-1 . Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  7. ↑ Lesser, Jerry (May 23, 1942). "Radio Talent: New York". Billboard. p. 7. Retrieved February 23, 2025.
  8. ↑ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio . Oxford University Press. p.  27. ISBN   978-0-1950-7678-3 . Retrieved September 25, 2015. the american melody hour.
  9. ↑ "American Melody Hour". Variety. October 29, 1941. p. 34. Retrieved February 23, 2025.
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