05 July 2022
(Until 05 July)Sammy Davis Jr – Phantom Dancer 5 Jul 2022
Greg Poppleton's Phantom Dancer swing jazz radio show
Sammy Davis Jr was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. You’ll hear him selling Savings Bonds on this week’s Phantom Dancer.
Sammy Davis began his career at age 3 in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally. His film career began in 1933, age 7…
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DANCER
Davis learned to dance from his father and his godfather Will Mastin. Davis joined the act as a child, and they became the Will Mastin Trio.
Throughout his career, Sammy Davis included the Will Mastin Trio in his billing. Mastin and his father shielded him from racism, for example by dismissing race-based snubs as jealousy. However, when Davis served in the United States Army during World War II, he was confronted by strong prejudice.
He later said: “Overnight the world looked different. It wasn’t one color any more. I could see the protection I’d gotten all my life from my father and Will. I appreciated their loving hope that I’d never need to know about prejudice and hate, but they were wrong. It was as if I’d walked through a swinging door for 18 years, a door which they had always secretly held open.”
TV
After his discharge, Davis rejoined the family dance act. He also recorded blues for Capitol Records in 1949 under the pseudonyms Shorty Muggins and Charlie Green.
In 1953, Davis was offered his own television show on ABC, Three for the Road—with the Will Mastin Trio. The show presented African Americans as people, instead of stereotypes, with a cast including Frances Davis, who was the first black ballerina to perform for the Paris Opera, actresses Ruth Attaway and Jane White, and Frederick O’Neal, who founded the American Negro Theater.
In 1959 he starred in his own TV special, Sammy’s Parade, on the Canadian network CBC.
He had his own New York-based afternoon talk show in 1964.
Davis was a huge fan of daytime television, particularly the soap operas produced by the American Broadcasting Company. He made a cameo appearance on General Hospital and had a recurring role as Chip Warren on One Life to Live, for which he received a 1980 Daytime Emmy Award nomination. He was also a game show fan, appearing on Family Feud in 1979 and Tattletales with his wife Altovise in the 1970s.
He appeared on numerous television shows from the 1950s on, including The Rifleman, where he showcased his gunspinning skills. In ABC‘s 1960s hit medical drama Ben Casey, Davis addressed the loss of an eye.
When Westerns waned in popularity, he accepted parts in Emmy winning sitcoms like 1960s I Dream of Jeannie or in politically charged satires, including the 1973 episode of All in the Family, in which Davis famously kisses Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) on the cheek. He ironically played to comic effect both himself and a Sammy Davis impersonator in the 1970s PI drama Charlie’s Angels, along with his wife, Altovise Davis.
He made a cameo appearance in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, but the scene was cut.
In Japan, Davis appeared in television commercials for coffee and Suntory Whiskey.
He joined Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in a radio commercial for a Chicago car dealership.
MUSIC AND MUSICALS
In 1954, Davis was hired to sing the title song for the Universal Pictures film Six Bridges to Cross. He starred in the Broadway musical Mr. Wonderful in 1956
He was a headliner at The Frontier Casino in Las Vegas
Although he was still popular in Las Vegas, he saw his musical career decline by the late 1960s.
He had a No. 1 hit on the Easy Listening singles chart with “I’ve Gotta Be Me” in 1969. He signed with Motown to update his sound and appeal to young people.
His unexpected No. 1 hit was “The Candy Man” for MGM Records in 1972. He did not particularly care for the song and was chagrined that he had become known for it, but Davis made the most of his opportunity to revitalise his career.
In 1976 he sang the theme song for the Baretta television series, “Baretta’s Theme (Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow)” (1975–1978), which was released as a single (20th Century Records).
MOVIES
In 1959, Davis became a member of the Rat Pack, led by his friend Frank Sinatra, which included fellow performers Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford.
5 JULY PLAY LIST
Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINECommunity Radio Network Show CRN #552 | ||
107.3 2SER Tuesday 5 July 2022 | ||
Set 1 | Breakfast Radio | |
Theme + Sugar Blues | Harry Kogan Orchestra (voc) Jack Baker, The Romeos | ‘The Breakfast Club’ NBC Blue Chicago 17 Jun 1943 |
Clarinet Polka + Solitude + Instrumental | Harry Kogan Orchestra (voc) Marian Mann | ‘The Breakfast Club’ NBC Blue Chicago 17 Jun 1943 |
Mid-show Theme + The Way You Look Tonight | Harry Kogan Orchestra (voc) Marian Mann, Don McNeil, Jack Baker | ‘The Breakfast Club’ NBC Blue Chicago 17 Jun 1943 |
| Violetta + Close | Harry Kogan Orchestra | ‘The Breakfast Club’ NBC Blue Chicago 17 Jun 1943 |
Set 2 | Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney | |
Open + When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bobbin’ Along + I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plans | Bing Crosby (voc) Buddy Cole Music | ‘Crosby-Clooney Show’ KNX CBS LA 18 Sep 1961 |
It Will Be You | Rosemary Clooney (voc) Buddy Cole Music | ‘Crosby-Clooney Show’ KNX CBS LA 18 Sep 1961 |
Brazil | Buddy Cole Music | ‘Crosby-Clooney Show’ KNX CBS LA 18 Sep 1961 |
I’m Losing Control + Close | Rosemary Clooney (voc) Buddy Cole Music | ‘Crosby-Clooney Show’ KNX CBS LA 18 Sep 1961 |
Set 3 | Selling Bread | |
Open + Let’s Dress for Dinner Tonight | Ben Selvin Orchestra (voc) Billy Jones and Ernie Hare | ‘Taystee Loafers’ Radio Transcription New York City 14 May 1934 |
Wake Up and Dream | Ben Selvin Orchestra (voc) Billy Jones | ‘Taystee Loafers’ Radio Transcription New York City 14 May 1934 |
I Hate Myself | Ben Selvin Orchestra (voc) Edith Murray | ‘Taystee Loafers’ Radio Transcription New York City 14 May 1934 |
Old Man Jingle + Close | Ben Selvin Orchestra (voc) Billy Jones and Ernie Hare | ‘Taystee Loafers’ Radio Transcription New York City 14 May 1934 |
Set 4 | Sammy Davis Jr | |
Open + That Ol’ Black Magic | Harry Sosnick and the Savings Bonds Orchestra | ‘Guest Star’ Radio Transcription New York City 1957 |
Something’s Got to Give | Sammy Davis Jr | ‘Guest Star’ Radio Transcription New York City 1957 |
Instrumental | Harry Sosnick and the Savings Bonds Orchestra | ‘Guest Star’ Radio Transcription New York City 1957 |
Earthbound + Close | Sammy Davis Jr | ‘Guest Star’ Radio Transcription New York City 1957 |
Set 5 | Dick Jurgens | |
Daydreams Come True at Night (theme) | Dick Jurgens Orchestra (voc) Eddy Howard | Radio Transcription 1941 |
I Wish I Was a Willow | Dick Jurgens Orchestra (voc) Eddy Howard | Radio Transcription 1938 |
Elmer’s Tune | Dick Jurgens Orchestra | Radio Transcription 1941 |
There’s Honey on the Moon Tonight | Dick Jurgens Orchestra (voc) Ronnie Kemper | Radio Transcription 1938 |
Set 6 | Duke Ellington | |
Take the A-Train (theme) + Hayfoot Strawfoot | Duke Ellington Orchestra | WEAF NBC NY 1 May 1943 |
Frankie and Johnny | Duke Ellington Orchestra | ‘A Date with the Duke’ Regal Theatre ABC Chicago 26 May 1945 |
Midriff | Duke Ellington Orchestra | ‘A Date with the Duke’ Regal Theatre ABC Chicago 26 May 1945 |
Perdido | Duke Ellington Orchestra | ‘A Date with the Duke’ Paradise Theatre ABC Detroit 19 May 1945 |
Set 7 | Raymond Scott | |
Pretty Little Petticoat (theme) + Huckleberry Duck | Raymond Scott Orchestra | Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1940 |
Blueberry Hill | Raymond Scott Orchestra (voc) Nan Wynn | Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1940 |
And So Do I | Raymond Scott Orchestra (voc) Nan Wynn | Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1940 |
Four Beat Shuffle + Pretty Little Petticoat (theme) | Raymond Scott Orchestra | Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1940 |
Set 8 | Bop 1949 | |
| Tiny’s Blues | Chubby Jackson Orchestra | ‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NYC 1220 Mar 1949 |
| I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles | Jackie Kane & Roy Kral | ‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NYC 1949 |
| Father Knickerbocker | Chubby Jackson Orchestra | ‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NYC 5 Mar 1949 |