"Rock and Roll" (1934) - Part 2!

As I mentioned last time, the Boswell Sisters performed “Rock and Roll” in 1934’s “Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round,” so here’s their commercial recording on Brunswick Records, backed by Jimmie Grier and his Orchestra:

They were terrific!

"Rock and Roll" (1934)

We get back on the merry-go-round with 1934’s “Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round,” released by United Artists.

The song in question is titled “Rock and Roll” and although it has nothing to do with the style of music that became prominent 20 years later, it is kind of fun to say that there was a hit “Rock and Roll” song in 1934!

The song was performed by the Boswell Sisters in the movie, but let’s listen to this dance band version by Joe Haymes and his Orchestra on the budget Melotone label:

Joe Haymes had a good band, but it wasn’t going anywhere, so Tommy Dorsey took the nucleus of the group to form his own band after splitting with brother Jimmy. Vocalist/trumpeter Clifford Wetterau changed his name to the much snappier Cliff Weston and was TD’s male singer until Jack Leonard came along.

"Hot Dogs and Sasparella" (1934)

Happy First (Full) Day of Summer!

Let’s celebrate with a picnic on the beach!

Ted Fio Rito and Muzzy Marcellino provide the snacks:

Sounds tasty!

"Swingin' at the Sugar Bowl" (1938)

We step away from the movie songs for a bit but stick with Harold Teen for the 1938 song "Swingin' at the Sugar Bowl" as featured by Bob Crosby and his Orchestra.

I do wonder how this song came to be as it’s inspired by the comic strip, but not a tie-in with the movie (which was four years earlier).

The oddest thing is that the credited songwriters are Bob Crosby, Gil Rodin, Bob Haggart and Hilton Lamare. They’re all Crosby band members, Bob C being the leader, saxist Gil the musical director, Bob H the bassist/arranger/composer and Hilton, nicknamed Nappy, the guitarist/vocalist.

I totally get Bob Haggart being involved, as he was a talented composer, but what did the others do? Who wrote the words, which are full of references to the comic strip?

In any event, it’s a fun record, so here’s Nappy singing with the band on Decca:

Dig the tenor sax solo by Nappy’s pal Eddie Miller!

Happy Juneteenth!

Happy Juneteenth! 

In honor of the holiday, here’s “June Teenth Jamboree” by the great Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five from 1940 on Decca Records:

 

If that doesn’t get the celebration going, nothing will!

How cool is it that Mr. Jordan cut this song 81 years before Juneteenth became a federal holiday?

“How Do I Know It’s Sunday?” (1934)

Next up is the song “How Do I Know It’s Sunday?” from the 1934 Warner Brothers feature “Harold Teen.”

Things like this are always interesting to me in that we have a song that nobody remembers from a movie adaptation of a once-popular comic strip that nobody remembers starring an actor that nobody remembers!

I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but time marches on. The comic strip “Harold Teen” ran for forty years, which is quite a run, but those 40 years were 1919-1959 and 1959 was 63 years ago!

To add to the fun, here’s a version of the song by the fictitious Eliot Everett and his Orchestra on Bluebird Records:

Research shows that the “Eliot Everett” orchestra was actually led by Al Mitchell on this date, but who’s Al Mitchell?

At least vocalist Dick Robertson was real, if uncredited!

Movie Time: "The Marshall of Mesa City" (1939)

So, I was watching the 1939 RKO feature “Marshall of Mesa City” starring George O’Brien on TCM.

I hadn’t seen it in a while but remembered that I had thought it was very good.

In fact, if someone were to say it was the best B-Western ever, I wouldn’t argue!

"One in a Million" (1936) - Part 2!

For an alternate version of the title song from the 1936 Fox film “One in a Million,” let’s check in with the great Fats Waller on Victor Records:

He’s having a blast!

"One in a Million" (1936)

Still at 20th Century Fox, we have a star whom the studio didn’t have to worry about having a recording contract – Sonja Henie!

The three-peat Olympic gold medalist in figure skating made her feature debut in 1936’s “One in a Million.”

Sonja is very cute and charming, but couldn’t really act, so they loaded up her movies with lots of songs and specialties to keep us entertained until her big ice routine at the end!

Here’s the title song as recorded on Decca by Boston-area bandleader Mal Hallet and his Orchestra with Jerry Perkins:

Sounds good!

"Wake Up and Live" (1937) - Part 2!

Without further ado, here’s Alice Faye’s Brunswick recording of the title song from 1937’s “Wake Up and Live”:

Very fun!

"Wake Up and Live" (1937)

Staying with "Wake Up and Live" from 1937, the British version of the sheet music for the movie's title song is shown above. 

As I've mentioned, I find the British ones to be interesting, as they often feature different (sometimes better) graphics and sometimes emphasize different things about the movie in question. 

As can be seen, the British sheet music for “Wake Up and Live” spotlights Alice Faye and Jack Haley over Walter Winchell and Ben Bernie. 

My thought is that British audiences may have been familiar with Ben Bernie from his records as a bandleader, but they probably had no idea who Walter Winchell was nor knew about his good-natured radio feud with Mr. Bernie. 

Jack Haley is really the lead in the film anyway, despite being sixth-billed, as the plot revolves around him having an unexpectedly great singing voice. Said voice was courtesy of dubbing from the great Buddy Clark, who at that point was a relatively anonymous radio singer. 

OK, so let’s hear Cab Calloway sing “Wake Up and Live” with his great band on Variety (another Irving Mills label):

 

That song is up Cab’s alley!

"There's a Lull in My Life" (1937) - Part 2!

As I mentioned last time, Alice Faye did get the chance to record the songs from 1937’s “Wake Up and Live,” so here she is with “There’s a Lull in My Life” on Brunswick Records, backed by Cy Feuer:

 

Glad that we get to enjoy that!

"There's a Lull in My Life" (1937)

Up next is another 20th Century Fox movie with Alice Faye, but she takes a back seat in 1937’s “Wake Up and Live” to Walter Winchell and Ben Bernie, as the movie exploits their then-current radio feud.

 Alice actually did get a chance to record the songs from the movie and we’ll get to her, but let’s start with this recording of “There’s a Lull in My Life” by Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra with vocalist Ivie Anderson on Irving Mills’s short-lived Master label:

Duke composed so many brilliant pieces for his band that it’s easy to forget that they sometimes recorded pop songs, but they always sound terrific!