So, are we finished with 1943-1944 records? The short answer: Of course not!
We had heard some a cappella records on the Decca label by Dick Haymes with backing by The Song Spinners from deep in the recording ban, so I thought we would listen to a big hit record by The Song Spinners themselves!
The song in question is "Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer," a number one hit from 1943:
The group gets such a good blend that I don't think they need instrumental accompaniment!
We've been listening to a lot of movie songs and this song has a very similar title to the 1944 20th Century-Fox movie "Wing a d a Prayer" starring Don Ameche and Dana Andrews, but other than being based on the same expression, they're not related.
The flipside of The Song Spinners record is "Johnny Zero," a WWII novelty that was also popular:
I like any song in which someone named "Johnny" is the hero!
For contrast, we head down under to hear the same two songs performed by Australian trombonist George Trevare and his Dance Orchestra on the Regal Zonophone label:
This version of "Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer" doesn't do too much for me, but I quite like the arrangement of "Johnny Zero" and Joan Blake's vocal!
I kind of like her look too:
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