02 August 2022
(Until 02 August)The King’s Jesters – Phantom Dancer 2 Aug 2022
Greg Poppleton's Phantom Dancer swing jazz radio show
The King’s Jesters, billed as America’s ‘biggest little band’ is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artists. They were a vocal group who accompanied themselves on guitar, banjo and other instruments and with orchestra. They were household names in the 1930s and early 1940s.
You’ve heard them previously on The Phantom Dancer featured as a male vocal trio with Ben Bernie’s Orchestra on 1942 episodes of the weekday ‘Ben Bernie’s War Workers’ Program’.
Here’s a 1938 Standard radio transcription ofThe King’s Jesters…
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 2 August) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/
The King Jesters’s singing for Paul Whiteman in the early 1930s…
START
The King’s Jesters began as a comic vocal trio that also played instruments along with an accompanist.
They were John Ravencroft – sax and clarinet, Francis “Fritz” Bastow – banjo and guitar, George Howard – drums and vibraphone, along with Ray McDermott – piano, accordion, and arranger.
They were hired by Paul Whiteman to replace The Rhythm Boys and sang with him from 1930 to 1931.
When they left Whiteman, they added vocalist Marjorie Whitney and called her their queen. These five were the core of the King’s Jesters.
Here are The King’s Jesters on a 1932 LP released by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in 1932…
BREAK
The King’s Jesters were discovered by Ray McDermott. He managed them and set up an audition for Paul Whiteman, the leading orchestra leader of the 1920s, while he was touring with his band in Cincinnati.
Whiteman named them The King’s Jesters. They toured and recorded with the Whiteman band from 1931 – 32, replacing Whiteman’s famous Rhythm Boys which had included Bing Crosby.
AFTER
In 1932, after leaving Paul Whiteman, The King’s Jesters formed a new band of seven members: Fritz Bastow, George Howard and John Ravencroft, Ray McDermott who was the piano accompanist, Jimmy Awad on trumpet, Bob Casey on string bass, and singer, Marjorie Whitney, who you’ll hear this week singing, ‘Same Old Lines’, and with George Howard on ‘I’ll Love You Coast to Coast’.
The King’s Jesters broadcast daily over NBC from the Hotel Morrison in Chicago.
In June 1936 The King’s Jesters begin playing at the Bismark Hotel in Chicago, from where you’ll hear them on this week’s Phantom Dancer.
Their repertoire mixed instrumental fox trots for dancing and and vocal harmony numbers.
Pianist Ray McDermott died of pneumonia in 1937. The King’s Jesters and band then opened a new floor show in the Blue Fountain Room at the La Salle Hotel.
In July 1937, The King’s Jesters were on the front cover of the July 3, 1937 issue of the trade music bible, Billboard. They were billed as “America’s Biggest Little Band.”
After their months-long engagement at the La Salle Hotel in 1937, The King’s Jesters moved to the Fairview Hotel & Dance Gardens in Chicago.
Their 1937 show included songs like ‘Turkish Delight’,’The Deacon Steps Out’, sung with the ‘Peck-in’ dance introduced in ‘New Faces of 1937’ and ‘Today I am a Man’. Their queen, Marjorie Whitney, had a number of songs to herself, which include ‘They Can’t Take That Away From Me’ and ‘There’ll be Changes Made’.
BENNY GOODMAN
The King’s Jesters band made two guest radio appearances with Benny Goodman and his orchestra on July 7, 1941, and one on July 24, 1941.
They appeared in the Sir Francis Drake hotel in San Francisco; William Penn hotel in Pittsburgh; LaSalle hotel in Chicago; the Carlton hotel in Washington, and the Philadelphia hotel in Philadelphia. For all these spots they broadcast over the NBC and Mutual.
The King’s Jesters stopped performing in 1962.
2 AUGUST PLAY LIST
Play List – The Phantom Dancer | ||
107.3 2SER Tuesday 2 August 2022 | ||
Set 1 | Champagne Music | |
Champagne Music (theme) + Annabelle | Lawrence Welk Orchestra | ‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951 |
Wang Wang Blues | Lawrence Welk Orchestra | ‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951 |
In The Mood | Lawrence Welk Orchestra | ‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951 |
Wonder Why? + Close | Lawrence Welk Orchestra (voc) Dick Dale | ‘One Night Stand’ Aragon Ballroom Lick Pier Ocean Park Ca KNX CBS LA AFRS Re-broadcast 9 Aug 1951 |
Set 2 | Kay Kyser | |
You Ought to Be in Pictures | Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines (voc) Art Wilson | Radio Transcription 1934 |
Liza | Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines | Radio Transcription 1934 |
Vieni Su | Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines (voc) Glee Club | Radio Transcription 1934 |
Rhapsody in Rain | Kay Kyser and his Band from the Carolines | Radio Transcription 1934 |
Set 3 | More Breakfast Radio | |
Open Theme | Unidentified Orchestra | ‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950 |
Chicago | Guy Lombardo Orchestra | ‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950 |
Good News | Unannounced Orchestra | ‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950 |
Dixie + Close | Ray Anthony Orchestra | ‘Breakfast with Bill’ WNAC Yankee Network Boston 5 Jan 1950 |
Set 4 | The King’s Jesters | |
Changes (theme) + I’ll Sing You a Thousand Love Songs | The King’s Jesters Orchestra | Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936 |
Medley: Serenade in the Night + Love, What Are You Doing to My Heart? | The King’s Jesters Orchestra | Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936 |
Same Old Lines | The King’s Jesters Orchestra (voc) Marjorie Whitney | Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936 |
It’s Still Being Done + I Love You From Coast to Coast + Swingin’ on the Swanee Show + Close | The King’s Jesters Orchestra (voc) Marjorie Whitney and George Howard | Walnut Room Bismarck Hotel WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1936 |
Set 5 | Hopkins and Eldridge | |
Minor Jive | Roy Eldridge Orchestra | Aircheck Arcadia Ballroom New York City 1939 |
Chasing My Blues Away | Claude Hopkins Orchestra | Radio Transcription New York City 1935 |
Mahogany Hall Stomp | Roy Eldridge Orchestra | Aircheck Arcadia Ballroom New York City 1939 |
Lazybones | Claude Hopkins Orchestra | Radio Transcription New York City 1935 |
Set 6 | Charlie Barnet | |
Theme + Back in Your Own Backyard | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | ‘Spotlight Bands’ Ft Devon Mass. Mutual Network 15 Oct 1945 |
I Like To Riff | Charlie Barnet Orchestra (voc) Peanuts Holland | ‘For the Record’ WEAF NBC NYC 11 Sep 1944 |
Gulf Coast Blues | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | ‘Downbeat’ AFRS Hollywood Feb 1944 |
Keep the Home Fires Burning | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | ‘For the Record’ WEAF NBC NYC 11 Sep 1944 |
Set 7 | Cotton Club | |
O, Babe! Maybe Some Day | Duke Ellington Orchestra (voc) Ivie Anderson | Cotton Club WABC CBS NYC 24 Mar 1938 |
Harlem Speaks | Duke Ellington Orchestra | Cotton Club WABC CBS NYC 18 Mar 1937 |
Riding on a Blue Note | Duke Ellington Orchestra | Cotton Club WOR Mutual NYC 1 May 1938 |
Caravan | Duke Ellington Orchestra | Cotton Club WABC CBS NYC 18 Mar 1937 |
Set 8 | Count Basie | |
One O’Clock Jump (theme) + Why Not? | Count Basie Orchestra | Birdland WNBC NBC NYC 31 Aug 1952 |
Andy’s Blues | Count Basie Orchestra | Avadon Ballroom KHJ Don Lee Network Los Angeles Jun 1946 |
Paradise Squat + Lullaby of Birdland + Close | Count Basie Orchestra | ‘Stars of Jazz’ Birdland WNBC NBC NYC 14 Jan 1953 |