Judy Brings Out The Stars For The Men In Uniform

It's no secret that I love Judy Garland. I love her the same way that I love Elvis. I think her voice is amazing and her behavior even more so. There is no denying that classic voice and even though "Under The Rainbow" is a great song no matter who does it, Judy always did it best. During 1944 and 1945, Judy appeared on many Armed Forces Radio Services broadcasts entitled "Mail "Call" and "Command Performance". These were usually transcribed onto "V-Discs" and sent overseas to be played on the radio for servicemen everywhere. In the 90s, Laserlight put out a CD compilation of these entitled "Mail Call". The first half of the album features a show from May 17, 1944 and features Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante and Arthur Treacher. The second half of the album is from a June 3, 1944 broadcast of "Command Performance" that features Bing, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra. Together they make a great compilation that I share with you today! Here is that great album. Enjoy!

Judy Garland - Mail Call

The February of Frank: A Roast, A Toast and A Birthday Bonanza!

On December 12, 1957, a huge contingent of performers gathered at the Villa Capri in LA (a restaurant owned by Sinatra) and wished the Chairman of the Board a 42nd Birthday by way of a roast! The guest list featured: Sinatra, Dean Martin, Eddie Fisher, Vic Damone, Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, James Cagney, and others. A little bit more on the raunchy side of the Celebrity Roasts, this features some great bits as well as some great singing and entertaining. This is a must own for any Sinatra collector! Listen in on the party as we feature "Sinatra's 42nd Birthday Party"! Enjoy!


Frank Sinatra's 42nd Birthday Party

The February of Frank: The First Comic Strip Operetta

On February 15, 1945, Frank appeared on an episode of the Armed Forces Radio Network's "Command Performance". Frank had appeared on the show many times and with many other great stars of the day, but this particular broadcast was special. The radio show presented "Dick Tracy In B Flat," or "For Goodness Sakes, Isn't He Ever Going To Marry Tess Trueheart?" Billed as "the world's first comic strip operetta", it featured a roster of stars bigger than any other radio show or film at the time. It starred Bing Crosby as Dick Tracy, Dinah Shore as Tess Trueheart, and Bob Hope as Flattop Jones. Alongside them were Jerry Colonna as the police chief, Frank Morgan as Vitamin Flintheart, Jimmy Durante as The Mole, Judy Garland as Snowflake Falls, The Andrews Sisters as The Summer Sisters—May, June & July, Cass Daley as Gravel Gertie, Harry Von Zell as the narrator and the one and only Frank Sinatra as Shaky. Another odd fact about this show is that instead of the usual half hour running time of "Command Performance", this show was extended to an hour. The show was a hit and has become one of the golden moments of the radio era but for some unknown reason was never rerun. Here at the World of Wonder, we present the original broadcast for you in its entirety. Here is "Dick Tracy in B Flat". Enjoy!

Dick Tracy In B Flat or For Goodness Sakes, Isn't He Ever Going To Marry Tess Trueheart?

Christmas In The World of Wonder: Crosby, Kaye, Clooney & Lee

White Christmas is a huge holiday film. People love it and just can't seem to get enough of it. It's become an annual Broadway stage show and is, of course, played on television over and over at this time of year. The music from the film is great featuring such tracks as "Snow", "Count Your Blessings", "Sisters" and many other Irving Berlin greats. Back in 1954 when the film came out, there was a bit of a problem in putting out the soundtrack. There were actually two albums of songs from the movie that were released. However, neither one of them qualifies as an original soundtrack recording. The reason for this was that Bing Crosby was signed to Decca Records and Rosemary Clooney was signed with Columbia. Back then that meant that they could not record together. As a result, one album was issued by Decca entitled, "Selections from Irving Berlin's White Christmas", while Columbia issued an album called "Irving Berlin's White Christmas". The Columbia album were selections from the film sung by Rosemary Clooney. The Decca album had songs from the film and featured Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye while Peggy Lee sang the parts that Clooney did in the movie. This was the album that was advertised as the main soundtrack for White Christmas. By the way, if you are wondering where Vera Ellen fits in with all of this, she doesn't. All of her songs were sung by Trudy Stevens both in the film and on the Decca release.
In 2005, Pulse records put out what they called "The Ultimate White Christmas". Fans of the film were hopeful that it would release the actual recordings from the film featuring everyone together. Instead, they got a compilation of both of the original records on one disc. Disappointments abound, it is still a great compilation but sadly it was pulled from print after only one Christmas season. If you have read all of this and are wondering where you can this great compilation, look no further. I present it for you now. Enjoy "The Ultimate White Christmas".

The Ultimate White Christmas

Let Me Tell You A Story

Today we have a very interesting album to share with you. It's entitled "My Favorite Story". I picked this album up from an antique store about 5 or 6 years ago. They had boxes of comedy records that they just wanted to get rid of. They were all in mint condition and were products of a long defunct radio station. The owner made me an offer I could not refuse and I took the whole lot home for next to nothing. Upon going through the records at home, I came across this one. The cover really intrigued me in that it had the faces of some of the most famous people of the radio era on the cover. The most interesting to me was Groucho Marx. However, other celebrities such as Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Phil Silvers, Danny Thomas, Lucille Ball, Joey Bishop, George Jessel, Gene Kelley, Red Skeleton, Art Linkletter and Jimmy Stewart all graced the cover. Upon listing to the album I was thrilled to learn that each of those stars had their own funny story to tell. Kind of like a book of jokes read by famous people. I loved it and have shared it with many of my friends. Now I share it with you. Hosted by the master of ceremonies, Bing Crosby, here is "My Favorite Story". Enjoy!

My Favorite Story