05 April 2022
(Until 05 April)Teddy Powell Flash in Pan – Phantom Dancer 5 April 2022
Greg Poppleton's Phantom Dancer swing jazz radio show
Teddy Powell (Teodoro Paolella) is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist. For a few weeks in 1939 he lead one of the most popular big bands in swing. But when he went out on the road, the crowds stopped coming.
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 5 April) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/
Also, there’s a couple of 1931-32 Gogo DeLys radio vocals on this week’s show. Hear The Phantom Dancer Gogo DeLys special and read her story here
TEDDY POWELL
Then he led his first band at 15.
Trained at the San Francisco Music Conservatory and Heald’s Business College in Oakland, California.
Teddy Powell the worked on the business side of the music business, organizing radio bands.
In late 1938, he put together his own big band.
SUCCESS
For a brief period in 1939, Teddy Powell led one of the top big bands in jazz. With an ensemble full of top musicians, Powell had a very successful six-week run at the Famous Door in New York. Powell bragged that he had done in a short time what it taken Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey years to accomplish. But once he took his band on the road, the lack of name recognition resulted in small crowds, money began to be lost and the more notable sidemen left for other lucrative jobs.
After its initial success and difficulties on the road, the Teddy Powell Orchestra managed to survive as a second-level band for several years. A disastrous fire at the Rustic Cabin in New Jersey in Oct. 1941 resulted in the orchestra losing all its instruments but Powell was able to keep the big band (which underwent a lot of turnover) going into 1944 although not recording anything after 1942.
Earlier editions of the band made swinging recordings for Decca and Bluebird. Among Powell‘s sidemen through the years were clarinetist Gus Bivona, pianist Tony Aless, clarinetist Irving Fazola, tenor-saxophonist Charlie Ventura and trumpeter Pete Candoli. After his big band’s breakup, Powell concentrated on composing and arranging.
He wrote many popular songs, including “Take Me Back to My Boots and Saddles” (ASCAP Award 1935), “March Winds and April Showers”, “Unsuspecting Heart”, “Bewildered”, “If My Heart Could Only Talk” and “I Couldn’t Believe My Eyes”.
TEE PEE
5 APRIL PLAY LIST
Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINECommunity Radio Network Show CRN #539 | ||
107.3 2SER Tuesday 5 April 2022 | ||
Set 1 | Glenn Miller | |
Theme + Glowworm | Frankis Carle Orchestra | ‘The Summer Electric Hour’ KNX CBS LA 13 Jun 1948 |
Every Day of My Life | Eddie Oliver Orchestra (voc) Sheri Carroll | ‘Spotlight Bands’ AFRS Re-broadcast 14 Aug 1944 |
Personality + Close | Sy Oliver Orchestra | ‘Endorsed by Dorsey’ WOR Mutual NY 3 Mar 1946 |
Set 2 | 1929 Radio | |
On The Alamo | Red Nichols Orchestra (voc) Scrappy Lambert | ‘Brunswick Brevities’ Radio Transcription New York 27 Aug 1929 |
Sittin’ and Whittlin’ | Coon-Sanders Nighthawks (voc) Joe Sanders | ‘Maytag Frolics’ Radio Transctiption Chicago 1 Mar 1929 |
In the Deep Low South | Coon-Sanders Nighthawks (voc) Carleton Coon | ‘Maytag Frolics’ Radio Transctiption Chicago 1 Mar 1929 |
Yours Sincerely | Eskimo Pie Orchestra | ‘Eskimo Pie Program’ Radio Transcription New York Jul 1929 |
Set 3 | Mod Jazz | |
Open + I Love You | Herbie Fields Septet | ‘Stars on Parade’ Radio Transcription New York 1951 |
Tenderly | Sarah Vaughan | ‘Stars in Jazz’ Birdland WRCA NBC NYC 1952 |
Mean to Me | Sarah Vaughan | ‘Stars in Jazz’ Birdland WRCA NBC NYC 1952 |
Circle of Fourths + Jam with Sam | Duke Ellington | ‘Ravinia Festival’ WBBM CBS Chicago 1 Jul 1957 |
Set 4 | Teddy Powell | |
I Found a New Baby | Teddy Powell Orchestra | The Famous Door WJSV CBS Washington DC 21 Sep 1939 |
For You, To You | Teddy Powell Orchestra (voc) Jimmy Blair | The Famous Door WJSV CBS Washington DC 21 Sep 1939 |
Well, All Right | Teddy Powell Orchestra (voc) Ruth Gaylor and Band | The Famous Door WJSV CBS Washington DC 21 Sep 1939 |
Chinese Lullaby + Close | Teddy Powell Orchestra (voc) Jimmy Blair | The Famous Door WJSV CBS Washington DC 21 Sep 1939 |
Set 5 | Dorsey Brothers | |
Too Young to Go Steady | Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra (voc) Dolly Houston | Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler WCBS CBS NYC 1956 |
Studio 50 | Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra | Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler WCBS CBS NYC 1956 |
Let’s Fall in Love | Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra | Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler WCBS CBS NYC 1956 |
Set 6 | Fats Waller | |
Ain’t Misbehavin’ (theme) + Hold My Hand | Fats Waller | WEAF NBC Red NY 16 Jul 1938 |
Yacht Club Swing (theme) + You Can’t Be Mine and Someone Else’s Too | Fats Waller | Aircheck Yacht Club NYC 18 Oct 1938 |
| Frenesi | Fats Waller | Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Dec 1940 |
| Hallelujah | Fats Waller | Aircheck Yacht Club NYC 14 Oct 1938 |
Set 7 | George Trevare and his Australians | |
There Goes That Song Again | George Trevare and his Australians | Comm Rec Sydney 1943-45 |
Don’t Sweetheart Me | George Trevare and his Australians (voc) Joan Blake | Comm Rec Sydney 1943-45 |
Shoo Shoo Baby | George Trevare and his Australians (voc) Joan Blake | Comm Rec Sydney 1943-45 |
Is There a Story? | George Trevare and his Australians (voc) Joan Blake | Comm Rec Sydney 1943-45 |
Set 8 | 1930s-40s Swing | |
Somebody Stole My Gal | Benny Goodman Orchestra | AFRS 1 Jul 1946 |
I’d Do It All Over Again | Gene Krupa Orchestra (voc) Anita O’Day | Hotel Astor Roof WOR Mutual NYC 15 Aug 1945 |
Back to Back | Teddy Wilson Orchestra (voc) Thelma Carpenter | ‘America Dances’ WABC CBS NY and BBC London 1939 |
Carioca + Nightmare (theme) | Artie Shaw Orchestra | Summer Terrace Ritz Carlton Hotel WNAC NBC Red Boston 19 Aug 1939 |
