Greg Poppleton

Thurs 5 December - Sorcery & Swing Speakeasy - Cardea Barangaroo 7:30-9:30pm BOOK NOW

2SER Radio 107.3 Sydney
Get directions

21 November 2023

(Until 21 November)

Scrappy Lambert, 1920s-30s Best Named Singer

Greg Poppleton's Phantom Dancer swing jazz radio show

Harold ‘Scrappy’ Lambert was not a scrapper nor scrappy. He was a US dance band singer who recorded over 1,500 records between 1926 – 1931 as well as radio transcriptions and musical movie shorts.  He is your Phantom Dancer Feature Artist this week.

The Phantom Dancer is your weekly non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week.

LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 21 November) and weeks of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

SCRAPPY

‘Scrappy’ Lambert sang on thousands of recordings from the 1920s to the 1940s.

At Rutgers University, he was a cheerleader and played piano for a jazz group, the Rutgers Jazz Bandits.

In February 1925, he and fellow student Billy Hillpot (who you’ll aslo hear on this week’s Phantom Dancer) formed a musical duo impersonating the Smith Brothers.

They were discovered in 1926 by band leader, vaudevillian, Ben Bernie, who signed them to perform with his orchestra. Lambert and Hillpot appeared on many recordings with the orchestra and remained under Bernie’s employ until 1928. They also filmed a Vitaphone soundie with the Bernie Orchestra in 1928.

Other bandleaders who employed Lambert include Red Nichols, Frank Britton Wenzel, Fred Rich, and Sam Lanin.

In the 1920s and early 1930s, Lambert was one of the most prolific “band vocalists” (hired to sing the vocal chorus on recordings by both performing orchestras and studio groups). His voice is featured on hundreds of recordings and a series of vocal solo recordings for Brunswick.

In the 1930s, Lambert and Hillpot took their comedy routine to the National Broadcasting Company.

In 1943, MCA offered Lambert a job overseeing their radio department in Beverly Hills, California. This marked the end of his singing career. He worked for MCA until 1948

21 November PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney
LISTEN ONLINE
Community Radio Network Show CRN #628

107.3 2SER Tuesday 21 November 2023
12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT)
National Program
5UV Adelaide Monday 2:30 – 3:30am
5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am
3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am
4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am
2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am
2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am
2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am
2YYY Young Monday 3 – 4am
7RPH Hobart Monday 3 – 4pm
3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm
7MID Oatlands Monday 3am – 4 and 6 -7pm
2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am
1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am
and Sunday 11pm
Reading Radio (QLD) Friday 1am – 2
2RRR Ryde Friday 11am – 12
2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm
5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm
6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Saturday 4am – 5am
Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturday 10 – 11am
Repeat: Wednesdays 10 – 11pm
7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am
3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am
3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
2SEA Sapphire Coast Eden Sunday 9 – 10pm

Set 1
Tommy Dorsey
I’m Getting Sentimental Over You (theme) + Night And Day
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
‘The Tommy Dorsey Show’
KFI NBC LA
14 Jul 1946
I Don’t Know Why
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Vocals – Stuart Foster
‘The Tommy Dorsey Show’
KFI NBC LA
14 Jul 1946
At The Fat Man’s
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Vocals – Charlie Shavers
‘The Tommy Dorsey Show’
KFI NBC LA
14 Jul 1946
Hot LipsTommy Dorsey Orchestra. Guest – Henry Busse (tp)
‘The Tommy Dorsey Show’
KFI NBC LA
14 Jul 1946
Set 2
Crazy Hillbillies
A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight + Hell on the Wabash
Crazy Hillibillies
‘Crazy Water Show’
Radio Transcription
Ft Worth TX
1933
Shake Hands with Mother Again
Crazy Hillibillies
‘Crazy Water Show’
Radio Transcription
Ft Worth TX
1933
Listen to the Mockingbird + So You’re Going to Leave the Old Home, Jim
Crazy Hillibillies
‘Crazy Water Show’
Radio Transcription
Ft Worth TX
1933
Little Brown Jug + Close
Crazy Hillibillies
‘Crazy Water Show’
Radio Transcription
Ft Worth TX
1933
Set 3
Scrappy Lambert
There’s No Depression in Love
Scrappy Lambert (voc) Ben Selvin Orchestra
Comm Rec
NYC
1931
Come To Me
Scrappy Lambert (voc) Bert Hirsch Orchestra
Hit of the Week
Cardboard Record
NYC
1931

Are You Going to Be Home?
Scrappy Lambert and Billy Hillpot (voc) Ben Bernie Orchestra
‘Vitaphone Varieties’
Movie Short
1928
Just One More Chance
Scrappy Lambert (voc) Bert Hirsch Orchestra
Hit of the Week
Cardboard Record
NYC
1931
The New Yorkers
Scrappy Lambert (voc) Red Nichols Orchestra
Comm Rec
NYC
1929
I’m Keeping Company Now
Scrappy Lambert (voc) Bert Hirsch Orchestra
Hit of the Week
Cardboard Record
NYC
1931
Set 4
George Olson 
Theme + All the Bees Are Buzzing Around My Honey
George Olson Orchestra (voc) Betty Norman
Marine Dining Room
Edgewater Beach Hotel
WMAQ NBC Chicago
20 Feb 1950
Happy Times + If I Knew You Were Coming I’d Have Baked a Cake
George Olson Orchestra
Marine Dining Room
Edgewater Beach Hotel
WMAQ NBC Chicago
20 Feb 1950
The Cactus Polka + Half a Heart
George Olson Orchestra (voc) Betty Norman
Marine Dining Room
Edgewater Beach Hotel
WMAQ NBC Chicago
20 Feb 1950
You’re Daddy’s Little Girl + Sweet Kentucky Baby (theme)
George Olson Orchestra (voc) Marshall Gill
Marine Dining Room
Edgewater Beach Hotel
WMAQ NBC Chicago
20 Feb 1950
Set 5
Bob Crosby Orchestra
Summertime (theme) + Boogie Woogie Maxixie
Bob Crosby Orchestra
Blackhawk Restaurant
WGN Mutual Chicago
29 April 1940
Fools Rush in
Bob Crosby Orchestra (voc) Marian Mann
Blackhawk Restaurant
WGN Mutual Chicago
29 April 1940
South Rampart Street Parade
Bob Crosby Orchestra‘Swing Concert’
Congress Hotel
WMAQ NBC Red Chicago
18 May 1937
Gin Mill Blues
Bob Crosby Orchestra
‘Swing Concert’
Congress Hotel
WMAQ NBC Red Chicago
18 May 1937
Set 6
Ozzie Nelson
Theme + Baby Don’t Tell on Me
Ozzie Nelson Orchestra
Blackhawk Restaurant
WGN Mutual Chicago
30 Mar 1940
Riff Interlude
Ozzie Nelson Orchestrar
Blackhawk Restaurant
WGN Mutual Chicago
30 Mar 1940
I’m Looking for a Guy who Plays Alto and Baritone, Doubles on a Clarinet, and Wears a Size 37 Suit
Ozzie Nelson Orchestra (voc) Rose Ann Stevens
Blackhawk Restaurant
WGN Mutual Chicago
30 Mar 1940
Do I Love You?
Ozzie Nelson Orchestra
Blackhawk Restaurant
WGN Mutual Chicago
30 Mar 1940
Set 7
Duke Ellington Orchestra
Laura
Duke Ellington Orchestra
‘A Date with the Duke’
Paradise Theatre
ABC Detroit
19 May 1945
In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree
Duke Ellington Orchestra‘A Date with the Duke’
Paradise Theatre
ABC Detroit
19 May 1945
Duke Ellington Orchestra
Duke Ellington Orchestra
‘A Date with the Duke’
Paradise Theatre
ABC Detroit
19 May 1945
Set 8
Trad Jazz
Theme + Maple Leaf Rag
Wild Bill Davison
‘This is Jazz’
WOR Mutual NYC
19 Apr 1947
Basin Street BluesGeorge Brunis & Albert Nicholas
‘This is Jazz’
WOR Mutual NYC
19 Apr 1947
Mahoganny Hall Stomp
Louis Armstrong All-Stars
‘All-Star Jazz Show’
NBC TV
30 Dec 1957
All Gigs
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
2SER Radio 107.3 Sydney
Directions

11 Broadway NSW 2042

Available now! Get your copy

Newsletter

Keep in touch with the monthly newsletter