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 Best of The World Of Wonder: Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Meinhardt Raabe, the little person who played the coroner of Munchkinland passed away Friday morning at the youthful age of 94. In his honor, I thought I would repost the original release of the soundtrack to The Wizard of Oz.


I was thinking that of with all of the Wizard of Oz CD releases out there, they have still never released the soundtrack the way it was originally put out. It's great that there are boxed sets of all of the music and it's great that there are single discs that also showcase more of the music than most people remember but what's missing is the dialogue in between the songs. The original release had that. I loved it. When I received my copy one Christmas, I was ecstatic and was even more thrilled to listen to it over and over again. Remember, this was when they only showed the film once a year on TV and it was long before anyone thought they would ever own it to play whenever they felt like it. This was the only way to enjoy the film at your leisure. Anyway, I have been meaning to post the original version of the soundtrack ever since I started the World of Wonder but have never had a chance to do so. Until today! Here is what I like to call my "Super Mega Wizard of Oz Soundtrack Post!" I present for you the original LP release of the soundtrack as well as a re-post of the Lux Radio Theatre production of "The Wizard of Oz" from Christmas Day, 1950. By then, Judy was 28 and was the only original cast member of the MGM film to be in this Lux program. Rounding out the cast were: Herb Vigran (Tin Man), Hans Conreid (Scarecrow), Ed Max (Lion), Herb Butterfield (Wizard), Betty Lou Gerson (Good Witch), Noreen Gammill (Wicked Witch) William Johnson (Uncle Henry), Ruth Perrott (Auntie Em), Gil Stratton (Mayor) and David Light was the voice of Toto. Now, just when you are saying, Dartman, thanks for this great post, there's more! I am also re-posting the 70s disco version of the Wizard of Oz by Meco! (I told you it was a super post!!!) So, here is the original soundtrack as it was originally released, the Lux Radio version from 1950 and the disco version by MECO! But wait!!!!! If you act now, you also get a repost of "Snagglepuss and The Wizard of Oz" children's record! All right here at Dartman's World of Wonder! Enjoy!

The Wizard of Oz OST

Lux Radio Theater presents The Wizard of Oz

MECO-The Wizard of Oz

Snagglepuss and The Wizard of Oz

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?

The February of Frank: Sinatra's Other Duets Album (re-post)

We all know about the 1994 Duets album that Frank Sinatra put out. It was huge! It spawned a sequel and once again cemented Frank's place in pop music. It also spawned some great parodies on SNL and elsewhere. However, this album that I present to you now is also called Duets but it is drawn from performances of the 40s and 50s featuring Frank and others such as Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Doris Day, Yvonne DeCarlo, Lena Horne, Shirley Jones, Natalie Wood, Tony Bennett, George Burns, Jimmy Durante, Eddie Fisher, Van Johnson, Gene Kelly, Robert Mitchum, and Robert Merrill & Dean Martin. This comes from my father's huge collection of Sinatra records. This "unofficial release" came out in 1984 (10 years prior to the other Duets). These duets are from radio and television and believe it or not, they sound fantastic. Here is "The Frank Sinatra Duets". Enjoy!

The Frank Sinatra Duets

Tricks & Treats 09: Judy Garland Dishes It Out at The Drive In (repost)

Today's post is an episode of the great radio show, "Suspense" and it stars the great Judy Garland. This is actually the first side of a Judy bootleg that I bought in St Louis that features interviews on the flip side. The radio show was originally broadcast on November 21, 1946. It's a really good episode but as it comes from a Judy Garlnad bootleg record, any trace of the station IDs and even the name "Suspense" is gone. Interesting. Here it is for your listening entertainment. Enjoy!

Judy Garland in The Drive In (OTR)

The Best of The World of Wonder: The Wizard of Oz Gets The Soap Treatment

I had the immense honor of meeting Liza Minelli back in January of 2007 and could not help but think that I had spent time with Hollywood Royalty! The ironic twist to the whole thing is that on the way home, I was listening to the 1950 Lux Radio Theater production of The Wizard of Oz and at the very end of it, Judy Garland talks about her four year old daughter, Liza! As a way of celebrating my irony and meeting of Miss Minelli, I posted that very same radio show that accompanied my ride home. Here is the Lux Radio Theatre production of "The Wizard of Oz" from Christmas Day, 1950. Judy Garland, then aged 28, was the only original cast member of the MGM film to be in this Lux program. Rounding out the cast were: Herb Vigran (Tin Man), Hans Conreid (Scarecrow), Ed Max (Lion), Herb Butterfield (Wizard), Betty Lou Gerson (Good Witch), Noreen Gammill (Wicked Witch) William Johnson (Uncle Henry), Ruth Perrott (Auntie Em), Gil Stratton (Mayor) and David Light was the voice of Toto. Enjoy!

Lux Radio Theater presents The Wizard of Oz

Christmas in The World of Wonder: Judy Garland's Christmas Special

Judy Garland is one of my all time favorite performers and one of two of my favorite holiday themed-traditions are listening to her sing her beautiful rendition of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and the other is watching her Christmas special. It actually was an episode of her television show. The show ran only one season on CBS (1963-64) due to a lot of behind the scenes turmoil and Judy sometime showing up after having a little bit too much to drink. This may or may not have been true of The Judy Garland Show's Christmas episode, guest-starring daughters Lorna Luft, Liza Minnelli, son Joey Luft, Mel Torme, and Jack Jones, but producers were minutes away from calling off the show because no one knew where the star was. Apparently, the night before the Christmas show taping, Garland had been on a major bender. Mel Torme's guest spot was a point of contention on the day the Christmas show was filmed. Torme had signed a contract with Garland's production company guaranteeing him a certain number of guest appearances during the season. Judy wasn't committing to those dates quickly enough and "The Velvet Fog" was very upset about it. Her introduction to Mel Torme on the program was noticeably awkward for that reason. First, Judy mistakenly calls Mel Torme 'Mort,' then flubs a line in Torme's , "The Christmas Song". When Torme good-naturedly points it out, Judy purposely changes the word "reindeer" with "rainbow" - alluding to her signature tune. The tension on the set seemed to bring out the best in everyone as they maneuvered around the spacious multilevel living room set - singing and dancing like their lives depended on it. Here is the opening to that great Holiday episode.



Here's one more Judy moment. This is from the Tonight Show.