24 May 2022
(Until 24 May)Ted Fio Rito Cocoanut Grove 1934 – Phantom Dancer 24 May 2021
Greg Poppleton's Phantom Dancer swing jazz radio show
Ted Fio Rito, band leader, composer and pianist, under the radio pseudonym ‘Vincent Valsanti’, is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist in a 1934 Cocoanut Grove radio transcription.
Since I’ve been playing radio transcriptions made in 1934 of ‘Valsanti’ from the Cocoanut Grove Los Angeles over the past three weeks, here’s a little about the Ted Fio Rito / Valsanti / Cocoanut Grove story along with videos from the era.
The Phantom Dancer – your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted by me, Greg Poppleton.
Enjoy a whole library of Phantom Dancer mixes online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.
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COCOANUT GROVE
The Cocoanut Grove at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel was a lavishly appointed club – part of the massive 23-acre Ambassador resort, which also included four restaurants, a bowling alley, a billiard room, a shopping plaza, and even a movie theater – decorated in Moroccan style and featured full-sized palm trees reportedly salvaged from Rudolph Valentino’s film “The Sheik.” In addition to the decor, which also offered a night sky filled with stars (thanks to about 1000 small light bulbs), an elevated stage, and both dining and dancing room for several hundred patrons, customers came for the smooth musical entertainment provided by a series of dance orchestras and popular vocalists – many of whom would later go on to star careers in radio, recordings, and the film industry.
In the 1980 book, “Are the Stars Out Tonight?”, former Ambassador PR Director, Margaret Tante Burk, recalls the Grove’s opening night:
“…on the night of April 21, 1921… the new club officially opened its Moroccan style, gold leaf and etched palm tree doors… The Cocoanut Grove was aptly named, guests agreed as they were escorted by the maître de and captains down the wide plush grand staircase… Overhead, soaring about the room were cocoanut trees of papier mache, cocoanuts and palm fronds which had been rescued from the sandy beaches of Oxnard where they had served as atmosphere of the 1921 classic, The Sheik. Swinging from their branches were stuffed monkeys blinking at the revelers with their electrified amber eyes. Stars twinkled in the blue ceiling sky, and on the southernmost wall hung a full Hawaiian moon presiding over a painted landscape and splashing waterfall.”
Ray West Orchestra in 1930…
Due to the foresight of Abe Frank, the manager of both the hotel and the Grove, in the mid-1920s the Ambassador had been equipped with a small radio studio, allowing the music of the various orchestras to be broadcast and enjoyed well outside the confines of the nightclub. From the late 1920s well into the 1960s, live “remote” programs broadcast from the Cocoanut Grove were a popular feature of nighttime radio, allowing millions of people to enjoy the music they would otherwise be unable to afford to hear in person. These broadcasts, aired live nightly for two full hours, only increased the reputation of the Grove as “the place to be” when it came to top notch West Coast entertainment.
From the beginning, the Cocoanut Grove’s glamorous atmosphere attracted the top names in Hollywood for dining, dancing, and mingling. This celebrity connection was always well-publicized by the Ambassador and for a very good reason, too: tourists coming to Los Angeles for a vacation wanted to see the stars and there was no place where the stars came out quite so regularly as the Ambassador Hotel. On an average evening, it was common to see such well-known celebrities as Joan Crawford, Jack Oakie, or Jean Harlow coming to see Bing Crosby or Russ Columbo sing with Gus Arnheim’s Orchestra or dance to Jimmie Grier’s band as they accompanied Loyce Whiteman, The Three Ambassadors (Martin Sperzel, Jack Smith, and Al Teeter), or popular tenor Donald Novis. Even though there was a nationwide depression, Hollywood stars and executives still needed to be entertained — and the Cocoanut Grove was often their first choice.
From 1930 to 1943, six Academy Awards ceremonies were hosted at the hotel. As many as seven U.S. presidents stayed at the Ambassador, from Hoover to Nixon, along with heads of state from around the world.
It was the place to be even in the 1960s…
In 1968, the Ambassador Hotel was the scene of the shooting of Bobby Kennedy.
Due to the decline of the hotel and the surrounding area, the Ambassador Hotel was closed to guests in 1989. In 2001, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) purchased the property with the intent of constructing three new schools within the area. After subsequent litigations to preserve the hotel as a historic site, a settlement allowed the Ambassador Hotel to be demolished in 2005.
VALSANTI
Ted Fio Rito used the pseudonym ‘Valsanti’ for these Cocoanut Grove transcriptions because of an existing recording contract.
Fio Rito was a pianist, hammond organist and the composer of such classic tunes as, “I Never Knew,” “Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye,” “Laugh, Clown, Laugh,” “Roll Along, Prairie Moon” and “Alone at a Table for Two.”
He started his career as a pianist with a series of bands led by Harry Yerkes, then moved to Chicago in 1921 to join Dan Russo’s band. The following year, he joined with Russo to become the co-leader the Oriole Terrace Orchestra, which he eventually took over when Russo departed in 1928.
Before coming to the Cocoanut Grove in mid-1933, Fio Rito had spent a number of years touring the East Coast and Midwest, including many engagements in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and Cincinnati. An early radio enthusiast, Fio Rito’s band was frequently heard on the air from various nightspots – preparing him well for the regular broadcasts scheduled to emanate from the Grove during his stay.
Musically, the orchestra that Fio Rito brought to the Grove was sweet, smooth and clever, playing highly danceable music accented with temple blocks, rapid triplets, and even an occasional solo on the Hammond organ by its talented leader.
Due to an existing recording contract, Theodore Salvatore Fiorito’s singers also adopted pseudonyms for these transcriptions. Muzzy Marcellino, Fio Rito’s guitarist and primary vocalist, sings as Jack Howard. Howard Phillips sings under the name of Bill Thomas, and Fio Rito’s vocal trio The Debutants appear as The Three Keys.
Watch Ted Fio Rito from the Cocoanut Grove in this 1934 Paramount short ‘Star night atthe Cocoanut Grove’ also featuring Mary Pickford and Bing Crosby. You’ll hear the extreme high and low four octave voice of Jimmy Durante’s future comic foil Candy Candido in what is thought to be his earliest film performance….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoMzQxPfcGk
24 MAY PLAY LIST
Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINECommunity Radio Network Show CRN #546 | ||
107.3 2SER Tuesday 24 May 2022 | ||
Set 1 | Swing Bands One Night Stand Radio | |
Theme + Song of the Wanderer | Buddy Morrow Orchestra | ‘One Night Stand’ Roseland Ballroom NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 1 Mar 1946 |
16:00 On The Clock | Shep Field and His New Music | ‘One Night Stand’ Copacabana NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1944 |
Come Rain Come Shine + Close | Hal McIntyre Orchestra (voc) Frankie Lester | ‘One Night Stand’ Century Room Hotel Commodore NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 15 May 1946 |
Set 2 | 1950s-60s Jazz Radio | |
Jazz Connoisseur | Harry James Orchestra (dms) Buddy Rich | Moonbowl Freedomland WNEW NYC 1962 |
The Theme | Miles Davis Sextet | ‘Treasury of Music’ Birdland WRCA NBC NY AFRTS Re-broadcast 25 Aug 1959 |
Set 3 | Benny Goodman in Chicago | |
Let’s Dance (theme) + Farewell Blues | Benny Goodman Orchestra | Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 20 Jan 1936 |
Soft Spring | Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Helen Forrest | Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Chicago 10 Aug 1941 |
King Porter Stomp + Goodbye (theme) | Benny Goodman Orchestra | Joseph Urban Room Congress Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Feb 1936 |
Set 4 | Vincent Valsanti (Ted Fio Rito) | |
Serenade of Love (theme) + Flirtation Walk | Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Jack Howard | Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934 |
When You’re in Love | Vincent Valsanti Orchestra | Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934 |
Two Cigarettes in the Dark | Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Phil Thomas | Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934 |
Were You Foolin’? + I’ll Take an Option on You + Serenade of Love (theme) | Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Jack Howard and The Three Blue Keys | Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934 |
Set 5 | 1930s German Swing | |
Darf ich bitten? | Die Goldene Sieben | Comm Rec Berlin Sep 1936 |
Ja und nein | Die Goldene Sieben | Comm Rec Berlin Aug 1939 |
Aus lauter Liebe | Die Goldene Sieben (voc) Peter Igelhoff | Comm Rec Berlin Jul 1937 |
Oh! Aha! | Die Goldene Sieben (voc) Rudi Schuricke Terzett | Comm Rec Berlin Feb 1939 |
Set 6 | Early Dorseys | |
Theme + On The Beach at Bali Bali | Tommy Dorsey Orchestra | ‘Ford V-8 Show’ Texas Centennial Exhibition KRLD CBS Dallas Tx 11 Aug 1936 |
Sandman (theme) + Is That Religion? | Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (voc) Bob Crosby | Riviera Fort Lee NJ WEAF NBC Red NY 20 Sep 1934 |
Weary Blues | Eddy Howard Orchestra | ‘Ford V-8 Show’ Texas Centennial Exhibition KRLD CBS Dallas Tx 4 Aug 1936 |
Farewell Blues | Dorsey Brothers Orchestra | ‘Chrysler Show’ Radio Transcription 1934 |
Set 7 | Sweet Music | |
Romance (theme) + We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye | Ray Herbeck Music with Romance Orchestra (voc) Lorraine Benson | Trianon Ballroom WGN Mutual Chicago 24 Nov 1947 |
For You | King Sisters | ‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Jun 1945 |
Sweet Lorraine | Frank Sinatra | ‘Frank Sinatra Show’ AFRS Re-broadcast 26 Nov 1946 |
What is This Thing Called Love? | Paul Whiteman Orchestra (voc) Eugenie Baird | ‘Forever Pops’ ABC Chicago 1947 |
Set 8 | 1930s Fats Waller | |
Yacht Club Swing (theme) + Whatcha Know, Joe? | Fats Waller | Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Dec 1940 |
Pent Up in a Penthouse | Fats Waller | Yacht Club WABC CBS NY 14 Oct 1938 |
Sto Beating ‘Round The Mulberry Bush | Fats Waller | WEAF NBC Red NY 16 Jul 1938 |
I Had To Do It | Fats Waller | Yacht Club WABC CBS NY 18 Oct 1938 |