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Sinatra the Radio Man
- Subject: Sinatra the Radio Man
- From: "David W. Harris" <dwh@totalnetnh.net>
- Date: Sat, 30 May 1998 09:51:37 -0400
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All the hoo-ha about Frank Sinatra seems to have died
down and I noted that while much was said about his singing ability, his
recordings, his movies, his TV show, his wives, his (alleged) mob connections,
and (at least on this list) his relevance to various radio formats and
demographics, Sinatra the radio host was overlooked. For all the
ink I saw devoted to Sinatra in the last couple weeks, you'd never know
the man hosted several network radio shows over nearly a dozen years.
<BR> Being possessed of a curious nature--and also being
the sort of person who can get stirred up when radio does not get its due
(are there a lot of people like this in the world and should the authorities
be concerned?)--in the past week or two I have spent a few lunch hours
browsing books and microfilms to put together a portrait of Sinatra as
radio man. This is not an exhaustive study, just a glimpse at some
overlooked aspects of the man that relate to our common interest.
<BR> Many obits mentioned he got his first break courtesy
of Major Bowes with a first place finish on the "Amateur Hour" as part
of the Hoboken Four--ABC Radio's "Perspective" even played an aircheck
of that appearance. That's the end of Sinatra's involvement with
radio in most of the memorial material I saw and heard.
<BR> Major Bowes put Sinatra into one of his traveling
shows but the singer didn't stick with it for long. John Rockwell
(<I>Sinatra: An American Classic</I>) writes that Sinatra recognized radio
was a better way than club dates to get his voice out there in hopes of
becoming a band singer--unless the clubs had remote broadcast lines.
Thus Sinatra spent time appearing for nothing or next-to-nothing on several
New York area stations and that's how he got noticed by Harry James.
There followed numerous radio stints with James, then Tommy Dorsey, then
as featured vocalist on "Your Hit Parade." Sinatra finally got his
own show on January 5, 1944. "The Frank Sinatra Show" could be heard
Wednesday nights from 9 to 9:30 on WLAW (and other CBS stations--the times
and stations listed here come from what appeared in the <I>Manchester </I>[N.H.]<I>
Union</I> because that's the only New England paper I could conveniently
get my hands on to verify airtimes). This was the year of the famous
Paramount Theater appearances and very vocal fans also played a part in
the radio program. John Dunning (<I>Tune in Yesterday</I>) writes
that the singer's press agent offered $1000 to anyone who could prove the
audience screams and gasps heard on the show were staged by Sinatra's promoters;
nobody collected. Also in 1944, The Voice announced he was quitting movies;
a United Press item (you can read it in <I>The New York Times</I>, 9/10/44,
p.46) said "Sinatra added that he would devote his time entirely to his
radio work." Throughout much of that year he was still on "Your Hit
Parade" Saturday nights 9-9:45 on CBS. The retirement from movies
didn't last long; it was even shorter than the retirement from show biz
Sinatra announced in 1971.
<BR> During the 1945-46 season, the show is listed as
"Songs by Sinatra" on WFEA and WKNE. Sinatra's first solo run with
CBS ended in 1947, by which time the program was "Songs for Sinatra," still
Wednesdays at 9. Sponsors over the years included Vimms vitamins, Lever
Brothers, Max Factor, and Old Gold.
<BR> In the fall of '47 Sinatra returned to "Your Hit
Parade." It wasn't until the 1949-50 season that Sinatra once again
had his own show but this time his name didn't figure in the title.
"Light Up Time" appeared every weeknight from 7 to 7:15 on WBZ (NBC).
It was sponsored by the Hit Parade folks--Lucky Strike.
<BR> It was back to CBS (WFEA) for 1950-51 with a Sunday
evening show, "Meet Frank Sinatra," 5-5:30.
<BR> All these shows focused on music but during the
1953-54 season Sinatra tried something different. With his career
in a slump (the effects of his role in <I>From Here to Eternity</I> hadn't
kicked in yet), Sinatra signed on with NBC for a year as host and star
of "Rocky Fortune." I'm familiar with a lot of "old-time" radio shows
but I'd never heard of this one before last week. There's conflicting
information about this unsponsored show--Dunning has the title character
as "a foot-loose and fancy-free young man who drifted from one adventurous
job to another." Other books say Rocky Fortune was a private detective.
There seems to be a consensus, however, that this was a lackluster program.
It was in decent company, though--its Tuesday time slot (9:30-10pm) on
WBZ was preceded by "Dragnet" and followed by "Fibber McGee & Molly."
<BR> If you were tuned in earlier Tuesday night on WBZ
you would have had heard Sinatra as singer, filling the 8:15-8:30 slot.
He had the same time slot Friday nights for a total of three network appearances
each week.
<BR> 1954-55 marked Sinatra's last season as radio host,
with appearances Wednesday and Friday nights between 8:15 and 8:30 on WBZ.
The Friday show was sometimes listed as "To Be Perfectly Frank."
<BR> Wayne Braverman has promised to focus on Sinatra's
radio days on his "Old Tyme Radio Theatre" this Sunday (WJUL 91.5, 6-10pm)--if
the equipment works--and I'm hoping for a taste of "Rocky Fortune."
<BR> Some random FS/radio tidbits--Friday afternoon I
came across a 1948 article about Sinatra seeking a permit to operate a
Palm Springs radio station but time didn't permit further investigation.
<BR> The late, great WNEW New York ran a few "Sinatra
A to Z" weeks--playing all his recordings in alphabetical order--but never
had a "Z" song until a "lost" 1960 version of "Zing! Went the Strings of
My Heart" appeared on "The Reprise Collection" in 1990.
<BR> Finally, here's a geographical challenge for those
who enjoyed the hunt for Adventure Car Hop. This shouldn't be nearly
as hard and we should be able to reach a definitive answer. On page
413 of B. Eric Rhoads's <I>Blast from the Past: A Pictorial History of
Radio's First 75 Years </I>(West Palm Beach FL: Streamline Press, 1996)
there's a picture captioned "WHDH Boston personality Jess Cain changes
a street sign to 'Sinatra Street' to celebrate a Sinatra benefit concert."
Can anybody tell me when and where the picture was taken? Just curious,
y'know.</HTML>
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