Iwo Jima 1945

 

Here's the other one of those USMC official records about the battle of Iwo Jima.  Pretty incredible.  They tell the story and talk to the troops, presumably recorded by the Mosquito Network.

Story of Iwo Jima

More from the Mosquito Network

Spotlight Bands - Fort Devens MA 1945

 

Mostly, I try to stay away from CONUS network radio shows.  Spotlite Bands is a little different.  During WWII Coca-Cola sponsored the top bands in America playing at military bases in the US and to be recorded for AFRS.  Here's Charlie Barnet, playing at Lovell General Hospital, Ft Devens MA

Spotlight Bands - Charlie Barnet October 1945

GI Jive 1945

 

In 1943 Martha Wilkerson was the voice of the girl left behind as GI Jill on on the brand new Armed Forces Radio Service. 

GI Jive 1945

 More GI Jive here

Command Perfomance 1945

 

 Donna Dae sings, "On The Sunny Side Of The Street." Herb Shriner is introduced as "Sgt. Shriner." Orson Welles (m. c.), Donna Dae, Larry Stevens, Herb Shriner, Ken Carpenter (announcer), Theodora Lynch

Command Performance - 1945 Orson Welles

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Downbeat 1945

 

This is a great show.  DJ, promoter, record guy Gene Norman tells the history of early jazz in the 1920s.  Downbeat was always danceable, but this kicks.

Downbeat - 1945

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Sugar Report 1945

 

This one was sure a story.  Sugar Report was apparently never sent out on vinyl.  Each disk apparently unique and broadcast on shortwave at the time.  Bakedalaska got this one for us, thanks for the donation!.  When it came in there was a thick gray film and severe chipping and cracking.  Doing anything aggressive to remove the film will cause the chips to come off.  So... I gently cleaned it as best I could and did a transfer.  It was noisy but mostly complete.  With that being done, I tried a much better cleaning.

 

Acetate disks are actually made of organic cellulose.  When stored poorly something called palmyric acid leeches into the grooves.  That's important because it looks like a normal dirt.  Warm water and soap tends to make it worse.  Water with a small concentration of vinegar will dissolve it.  Windex is pretty close.  Most of it dissolved, Noise reduction removed the majority of the pops but it was still rough.  The pops were places where the cellulose was actually cracked.

Sugar Report 125 b - 1945

Melody Roundup - Roy Acuff

 Melody Roundup was the "country show",  In the 1940s many local stations did live country programs.  Sometimes they'd send copies to AFRS.  The network would edit these to fit in the 15 minute program.

Roy Acuff was country music from WWII until well through the 1980s.  Lets visit Roy in 1945.

 

Melody Roundup - Roy Acuff

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Jubilee 1945

 

It's time for your jive session

The first tune is, "Rough Idea." Verne Smith (announcer), Murray McEachern (conductor), Manny Klein, Frank Wiley (trumpet), Henry Coker (trombone), Willie Smith (vocal), Bobby Hackett, Emmett Berry, Babe Russin, Bam Brown, Jack Martin, Juan Rolando, Nick Glicco, Corky Corcoran, Harry The Hipster Gibson, Lem Davis, Leo Watson, Peggy Lee, Ray Coniff, Slim Gaillard, The Jubilee All Stars, Vic Dickenson, Ernest Whitman (m. c.). 

Jubilee - 1945

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Magic Carpet - Jack Teagarden 1945

 

Magic Carpet was a catchall show that featured remote band broadcasts from all over the country.  Usually a pretty swinging band.  Jack Teagarden's history goes back to the "Hot" jazz bands of the 1920s.  He's always been a favorite of mine. 

As a side note, XUSF was in Chungking China, after that part of the network was shut down in 1945-46 the disks went the new FEN network in Japan.  I wish I owned this disk...

Magic Carpet - Jack Teagarden

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Hymns From Home 1945

 

Every Sunday morning, time for chapel.  AFRTS had a long history of working with the chaplains to minister worldwide.

Hymns From Home - 1945

More from the Chapel

Jubilee 1945

 I've never heard one of these without wonderful music. 

The first tune is, "Blowing The Blues Away." The All-American Quintet consists of Les Paul, Sid Cattlet, Vic Dickenson, Willie Smith, and Eddie Heywood (obviously a great group). Archie, Eddie the waiter and Clifton Finnegan visit from "Duffy's Tavern." The program was previously released as program #119. Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra, The All-American Quintet, Lena Horne, Ed Gardner, Charlie Cantor, Eddie Green, Les Paul, Vic Dickenson, Willie Smith (alto), Eddie Heywood (piano), Sid Catlett (drums), Ernest Whitman (m. c.), Verne Smith (announcer).

Jubilee #119 1945

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Jubilee 1945

Jubilee. April 16, 1945. Program #129. The second tune is, "If You Can't Smile and Say Yes, Please Don't Cry and Say No." Benny Carter and His Orchestra, Barney Bigard, The Nat King Cole Trio, Judy Carroll (vocal), Eddie Anderson (Rochester), Ernest Whitman (m.c.), Verne Smith (announcer).

Jubilee - 1945

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Sugar Report 1945

More from your Sugar Report.  A few more have been found.  Most of the time WWII shows in AFRS are fairly common.  A few hundred were pressed, several were saved.

The Sugar Report was different.  The show was apparently recorded to acetate for broadcast from the government's shortwave station in California.  So each disk that is found is unique.

The show isn't documented.  The last time I found some of these, Jinx Falkenburg was the host.  I had assumed it was her show. Today Joan Edwards from Your Hit Parade plays excerpts from radio back in the states

This was a project at it's best.  I was contacted and asked "If I pay for those, can you transfer them?"  I asked around and found someone to do the transfer.  In the same time frame, we received a donation that covered the postage (click the PayPal box).  It took a lot of people.  

Sugar Report - 1945

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1945 Vox Pop visits AFRS

 

1945.  The war is ending and CBS gives us a tour of AFRS "The World's Largest Radio Network" on the Vox Pop show.  Fabulous history. 

Vox Pop 1945 visit at AFRS

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GI Jive 1945

When AFRTS worked best, it was the Voice Of Home, a place to remember. Nowhere was that easier to see than by the presentation of women. During WWII Martha Wilkerson was GI Jill, a friendly neighbor. In the 1950s it was Rebel Randall. In the 1960s Chris Noel was very much a product of the times. Here's GI Jill:

GI Jill 1945

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Service Digest - 1945

Johnny Murray "Your Constant Reader" has the information about fish juice....

Johnny Murray was born in Glen Cove, New York in 1920. He attended St. Patrick’s Elementary and graduated from Glen Cove High School. Murray learned to play piano and also entertained his family and friends playing and singing the popular hits of the day. World War II interrupted any plans for college and Johnny enlisted in the Army. He was assigned to the Signal Corp and was soon heard on Armed Forces Radio playing and singing. Upon discharge, he worked at KLIF in Dallas, WDSU in New Orleans, and WMOB in Mobile. In 1956 he moved to Atlanta to work at WQXI. Later he moved to WGST where he worked for 16 years. Murray died in 1982.    

Service Digest - 1945

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Sugar Report - 1945

Eugenia Lincoln "Jinx" Falkenburg was an actress, expert swimmer and tennis star, and one of the highest-paid and most ubiquitous cover-girl models in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s, one of the first supermodels.

This was the first I'd heard of The "Sugar Report".  A program about what was going on in the United States with clips from network shows and news from entertainment.

John did some checking: Did a little research and date this program to the first week of May 1945. Based on dates for the Broadway show Foolish Notion, opened March 13, 1945, closed June 9, 1945. Olsen and Johnson were on the Philco Radio Hall of Fame on April 29th, 1945 celebrating their 30th Anniversary. On May 3rd, 1945 the King Cole Trio appeared on the Bing Crosby Show where they sang "If You Can't Smile And Say Yes (Please Don't Cry And Say No".

This was recorded  on acetate and sent to the AFRS shortwave station in California. 

Sugar Report - 1945

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Col Tom Lews - 1945

"Victory Through Air Power" normally sounds like an interesting topic, but this time Colonel Tom Lewis talks about the war and the AFRS part.  This is from a 1945 broadcast to the Los Angeles Advertising club.  Happy 75th anniversary AFRTS!

Victory Through Air Power - 1945

More AFRS in 1945

AEG Magnetophon

Been to Mecca. In Minnesota there's a museum that has one of Jack Mullin's AEG 'Magnetophon' tape recorders. The Nazis built these things and Mullens got two of them out right after the war. After being taken apart and improved, these were the genesis of Ampex. For testing, these were at AFN for a short time.

The Pavek Museum is in St Louis Park, Minnesota and is a house of memories,

GI Journal - 1945

Linda Darnell hosts a special anniversary show for GI Journal.  GI Journal was one of the big variety shows where the stars came out for the troops.

GI Journal - 1945

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