Greg Poppleton

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18 May 2021

(Until 18 May)

Barbara James, Australian 1930s-60s Swing Singer – 18 May 2021 Phantom Dancer

Greg Poppleton's Phantom Dancer swing jazz radio show

Barbara James, Australian dance band singer features on this week’s Phantom Dancer with some of her broadcasts from the 1930s and 1940s. This is a repeat of a 2018 mix as I’ll be filming this Tuesday.

Presented every week by, Greg Poppleton, The Phantom Dancer, is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV.

It’s recorded live at 107.3 2SER Sydney, Tuesdays 12:04 – 2pm, and sent to 23 radio stations of the Community Radio Network and online.

Hear this week’s Phantom Dancer (after 1 May), and plenty of past Phantom Dancers for your enjoyment, online at radio 2ser.com

In the mix this week, live 1930s-60s radio by Glenn Miller’s Army Air Forces Band, Lee Konitz, Charlie Parker in Boston, a Frank Sinatra aircheck from 1939 (singing his first record release), singer Loyce Whiteman (daughter of ‘King of Jazz’ Paul Whiteman), and Australian dance band singer, Barbara James.

See the full play list below.

BARBARA JAMES

Born in Sydney in 1907 (some sources say 1908), Barbara James was a jazz and swing singer. Her parents were entertainers Will James and Malvena Moore. Her father, Will, taught her to play the saxophone, xylophone and banjo. She also played violin and danced. She was married to musician and band leader, Reg Lewis, who we’ll also here on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

barbara james

Over her career, James performed and recorded with numerous jazz bands in Australia such as Frank Coughlan’s Trocadero Orchestra, Dick Freeman and his Trocadero Orchestra and Johnny Tozer and his Swing Band.

From 1921, she was contracted by Harry George Musgrove to Musgrove’s Theatres, appearing at theatres in Sydney and Melbourne, including the Tivoli circuit and Trocadero, and on ABC radio.

She first appeared on the Tivoli theatre circuit billed as a ‘child wonder xylophonist’.

This week’s Phantom Dancer presents a selection of her radio broadcasts from 1937-45.

Barbara toured Hong Kong in 1946. From 1949 to 1955, Reg and Barbara Lewis toured Europe and Britain.

In London, they performed in the West End at Café Anglaise and the Windmill Theatre.

London variety shows featuring Reg and Barbara Lewis included, ‘Stars, Songs and Society’ Windmill Theatre London, 1950, ‘Nudes of the East’ 1951, ‘The Talk of the Town’ Tribe Bros Ltd London, 1950-1951 and ‘Midday Music Hall’, 1953.

They appeared on BBC radio and TV.

They had a regular 15 minute vocal and piano show on Sydney radio in the 1960s called, ‘Between You and Me’.

barbara james

18 MAY PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney
LISTEN ONLINE

Community Radio Network Show CRN #491

107.3 2SER Tuesday 18 MAY 2021
12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm
National Program
5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am
3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am
4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am
2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am
2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am
2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am
2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am
3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm
7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm
1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am
2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm
5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm
4RPH Brisbane Sunday 3 – 4am
7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am
3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am
6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Sunday 5 – 6am
3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm

Set 1
Swing Bands on 1943-44 Radio
Theme + The Carioca
Richard Himber Orchestra
‘Spotlight Bands’
Aniston, Alabama
Blue Network
13 Nov 1943
I’m Beginning To See the Light (theme) + The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else
Enoch Light and the Light Brigade
‘One Night Stand’
New Park Casino
Palisades Park NJ
AFRS Re-broadcast
1944
One Night Stand + Close
Denny Beckner Orchestra
‘Spotlight Bands’
Norfolk, Virginia
AFRS Re-broadcast
30 Mar 1944
Set 2
Charlie Parker in Boston
Ornithology
Charlie Parker
‘Symphony Sid Show’
Hi-Hat Club
WCOP Boston
18 Dec 1953
Laura
Charlie Parker
‘Symphony Sid Show’
Hi-Hat Club
WCOP Boston
1954
Out of Nowhere + Jumping with Symphony Sid
Charlie Parker
‘Symphony Sid Show’
Hi-Hat Club
WCOP Boston
24 Jan 1954
Set 3
Barbara James
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
Barbara James (voc) Reg Lewis and his Trocadero Orchestra
Comm Rec
Sydney
1941
It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing
Barbara James (voc) Frank Coughlan Trocadero Orchestra
Radio Transcription
Sydney
June 1937
Small Town Boogie
Barbara James (voc) Albert Fisher Orchestra
ABC Sydney
1944
Set 4
1950s Swing on Radio
It’s All In The Game
Ray Anthony Orchestra
‘One Night Stand’
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Statler NYC
AFRS Re-broadcast
1952
Disorder at the Border
Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Horace Silver
‘Stars in Jazz’
Birdland
WNBC NBC NY
1952
Everything Happens To Me
Matt Denis Trio (MD voc)
‘All Star Parade of Bands’
Chi Chi Club
WRCA NBC NY
15 Jun 1955
Set 5
Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra 1943-44
Jeep Jockey Jump
Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra
‘Uncle Sam Presents’
AFRS Re-broadcast
Oct 1943
Theme + Flying Home
Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra
‘I Sustain The Wings’
Chicago Theatre
WMAQ NBC Chicago
10 Jun 1944
Don’t Be That Way
Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra
‘Uncle Sam Presents’
AFRS Re-broadcast
Feb 1944
There Are Yanks + Close
Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra (voc) Ray McKinley and the Crew Chiefs
‘I Sustain The Wings’
WEAF NBC New York City
15 Apr 1944
Set 6
Early Harry James Orchestra
Cirribirribin (theme) + Tuxedo Junction
Harry James Orchestra
Southland Cafe
WNAC NBC Red Boston
19 Mar 1940
FRom The Bottom Of My Heart
Harry James Orchestra (voc) Frank Sinatra
‘America Dances’
WABC CBS NY and BBC London
19 Jul 1939
Andalucia (The Breeze and I)
Harry James Orchestra
Blue Room
Hotel Lincoln
WABC CBS New York City
22 May 1941
Feet Draggin’ Blues + Close
Harry James Orchestra
Aircheck
Chatterbox Club
Mountainside NJ
1940
Set 7
Loyce Whiteman 1930s Cocoanut Grove
Sweet and Lovely (theme) + I’m Through With Love
Gus Arnheim Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman
‘Cocoanut Grove’
TRANSCO Radio Transcription
Los Angeles
1931
Rain On The Roof
Jimmie Grier Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman
‘Cocoanut Grove’
TRANSCO Radio Transcription
Los Angeles
1932
Whistling in the Dark
Gus Arnheim Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman
‘Cocoanut Grove’
TRANSCO Radio Transcription
Los Angeles
1931
You Could Have Been the One, Baby
Jimmie Grier Orchestra (voc) Loyce Whiteman
‘Cocoanut Grove’
TRANSCO Radio Transcription
Los Angeles
1932
Set 8
Lee Konitz 1954 Radio
Open + Hi Beck
Lee Konitz
Storyville
Copley Square Hotel
WHDH Boston
5 Jan 1954
Subconscious Lee
Lee Konitz
Storyville
Copley Square Hotel
WHDH Boston
5 Jan 1954
All Gigs
12:04 pm - 2:00 pm
2SER 107.3 Sydney
Directions

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