• • The National Weekly Week Ending of Programs and June I, 1935 Personalities ECAB875421 Volume IV Number 32 ¢ Waring Pulls the Strings The Human Note Behind My Songs In His All Request Programs This Popular Baritone Broadcasts the • Stories of Joy and Heartache That Accompany the Requests By John Charles Thomas with a sturdy frame, and patriotism and natural Il'rmination. \Vhen I anN' ,hl' next mornmJ.: the lure of adventure c<rlled him to the a wire from my Can:uh'1I1 Cflrrt:,pondl'nt \\0;1';' ;Iw.nllng colors. Du,>ty and d~-tircd arter a force..1 me. In J few \\ell-(ho,ul \\CIllh he tulJ a mm-lI1g 'ltl,ry march, his company pitched tenb in a tiny 01 the gll::;)t emotHJIl;11 kid he lud·Jerl\-c:J from ht·.mng African vill;lgc ju,>t as dusk WdS '>euhng hl~ llng :lg3m, after a 'lit-net· 1)1 '>0 UlJny )-C'lf'l. Ag;lln, uver the land. '>I..'''l·r:1I doly'" later, I receIved an t·~'L1IIt: h:tter informll1~ mt' thai '\\0 of hi" Boer \\ <If hllddll'''. who haJ bun III 1'AT night, shortly before taps wa~blown, the .tent with hml thai lll~ht \l.-hcn the Y(\UI1~ L undOll T a young soldier who c1aimt:t1 connection suIJIt~r-actor (ir,' int roduct"t1 the "0111-(, hOld ll'>h:nnl 10 with a London theater, volunteeleJ to my broill!c:ISl. I{l''':illling the incftlcrll, thl'y h.ld lOm­ amuse his comrades by singing a song. rnulllC<lted with hlll1 al IIllU·. \\Ilh the ri."~1111 thaI thl'y ·1 here in the hush of , he evening he s;mg were p.anlllllg .1 JCJYOU'> n·1l1ll0n III tht ncar rlltult:. The Devout Lover. The young Orn;l(lian ·1 h;II'" tht kind of 'ilory w11ll,:11 lllJkes radio worth­ while for Ihe pt::rlormt"r EVERAl prOJ.!I:lllb agu I ',lllg Old .\Lln Rivt"r ;llnOng S nthu ,t:I ..-t:tlon" I rt'Ltl\.-tt! ;1 Ittl..·r IT'lm J !l<;ltnt·r who ..l.llt'd th.:rt '>he had hecn Ihn/ItJ hy Ihl' 11 11111 r-,'r and in condu~lull reqtlcslt:d rc.OlltllllleJ on POI-'t' J5) John Charles Thumas. whose work €'n~bles him lo "know the human heart" as few persons can know it and (right) as he appeared in Carmen LL radio artists, irrespective of their 'lpecial- ties, .are essentially intere~ted in plca::.ing the hstener. Chiefly, lhi::. nalural desire i::. ~ m~tllIfe'lteti by the numerous all rC(IUest plo~r;,lms th.::rt are hC"OIft.l on the air. With pride I say that lowe to the listeners' dis­ criOlin;tting t<lste the artistic stanljartl which soldier was fa:)CinateJ by the com­ I ~m told my program h<ls reached. position. Such ;I deep ill1pres~ion Each ~nd every song heard on my show is based dill it make on his mimi that he on a defimte request re<:civetf from a li>;tener. Thu~ I hese'lched his bu<ldy 10 Jot Jown am enabled to brood(4)st an all reCJue~t pru~ram each for him the score and lyTics of week. At fir::.t the prohlem of sep<lraling the ~ng wheat the son~. frum lhe ch.lfT presented m:my difficulties. With but a "In :III the years which h;we limitell time at my dispos411 it was necessary to narrow el;-rpscd since lhat period,".his mis­ d~wn the thousands of requests to a very ~l1laJl number. sive concluded, "1 have never once 1 he winnowing 'process settled itself when I hit upon heard anyone ::.ing or even mention the plan of asklllg the writers to furnish me with the The Devolll I_tlver. Won't you per~~nal, intim.alc s!l)ry as'>oci:ttetl with the ::.ong I am please sing it for me on your next pctlllonc(1 to ::'Illg. I he ~riters !If the must interesting program?" Included with the let­ anecfloH's are rcw:HdeJ with theIr song requests. ter was the yellow score and lyrics . Regarded even from a purely musical st:tndpoint, which he had preserveJ thTOUgh thiS plan h•.ls been a huge succes::., for the songs requested the years. are pre-eminently ":,oTlh~hile, and reveal an astonishing mU::'lcal t<lstc :tnl! 1Il1dll~t:'l1ce heretofore thought lack· PON examination The [)cvout Lover ing in Ihc Amcric:m puhlic. But eqUidly import'JIlt in U proved to be a really excellent composi­ my l:stim.ation :Ire the uniformality ant..! b.<tI;lIlcc the plan tion, anJ I presented it over the air the has brought to my show. following week. Sen,>in~ lhe hum<ln interest qU;llilie'> of the writers mess.i~"" I took the A CANADIAN listener, for instance, provided me with lihl'rty or telling his story to Ihe radio audi­ Ihe ~erm of the i(lea back at the very beginning of encc. The hl.ase listeners-in literally were /\fr. Thomas pre­ my pre~nt ~erics when he penned :J request that I sing a yankcd Oul of their chairs, as was demon- fers his pre~ent number callet.! the Devout I_over. Appended to the peti­ str;ltcd .a1l lhat week by the flood of mail directed to my pJat:e in the enter­ tIon was the st:lrk ~Iury of ;In elderly gentleman who home. Imprc~sed by the enormously increa"Cd amount tainment w or Id, was trying to reGlplUrC a vivid moment of his youth­ of laudatory respun\C, I decided to preserve this feature despite his ac· ~eek a story th:Jt \\ocnt h3ck to <I distant land and period, and began to other slories that might provit.!e appe­ daim in RiKolettu when England was at war in Africa with the Boers. tizing ftKlder for my audience. and other O;ileras '1 he writer turned b.Jck the pages of time-before InciJentaJly, before continuing with other experi­ the tUl:n of the century, when he was a young man ences, permit me to bring the above incit.lent to a 2 The Big Brown Book and the Little Green Piano NBC's Night Manager John de Jara Almonte Owns One, Program Manager Bertha Brainard the Other. Each Is Worth a Fortune. Here's Why By Henry Bentinck HIS is a story about a brown leather-covered l"BC. affectionately regards her signature-studded minia­ autograph book. and a miniature green lac­ ture piano as her "hahy." On its smooth lacquered sur­ quered pi,mo. In its original unsullied :'otate face are s..:rawl~d the :<.il-;nalUreS of more than fi\C hun­ the autograph book sold for a mere pittance dred of the world's celcbrities. Miss Brainard's list is -perhaps ten dollars-while the undcf..;ized more St:1C\:tivc than Mr. Almonte's, if 110t a" grcat. for stringed instrument brought less than a hun- she has a hard and fast rule that only celebrities who !!:;"'_iiiI ha\c graccli a microphone can autograph her piano. Mr. '"'... tired dollars in the open market. Today the hook and the piano are pra.:tically pri.:e­ Almonte takes the opposite stand-a celebrity is a celeb­ less. John de lara Almonte, niAh! manager of the :'\3­ rity. regardless of whether he has appeared on the air. tional Broadcastmg Company, who own.s the book. has Mr. Almonte conceived the idea of stJrting his guest re.:el\cd all sort, of fantastic offers for the volume from hook back in JlHI, when the coll~":lor,: ill five short years it has be..:ome known as f':ational Broadcasting Com­ on..:: of the mo~t fam9us autograph books in ,\mcrica. pany wa'i h()u~ed at '0. 71 I Ib p"'l-\e~ contain (Ill' signatures and COlllm~nts of thou­ Fiflh A,·cnuc. Enthusiastical· sands of the mo<;1 famous men and women In the world. Iy he approached Mr. Ayles· There is hardly a profession, business or social classifi­ worth. president of the gi­ c:uion without representation. Rovalty. nobility. ~re­ gantic web. and the late ators of mu"ic, art and literature. financIal and society George 1\\cCldland, executive giants, all have in"crihed their names in ~lr. Almonte's guest book. The tome is as closely guarded as if it wcrc a precious gem. It is insured for 10.000 agJin"r In"" and theft. Bertha iralllard. Program Manager at {:....J.- ~ ,8f-· '>v<..-,< :£;.....~--"< '<rO"'. '-.1...",,-<.,,,,,, ~.........:...,,--.:\/....-tt 1.... ,...:_ .. """'I1oj~·] 1"C~I~.ln . .J.......rq .l7vM-( '7 ~ n...y..,./, .(..J//'... /f-xtt:-«< :f-If.'<,ti) ""1" "" 4 ~. fl· , ( ..... .j"-"tJ ...."," l-JI<ltnK,lL<" "... ~''' •. ~ G:~w-.. "'-J .. -. "U. ~:i:rI~ 1'-- -~"'-~ IJ~_--- ~.- Miss Brainard and her 1\1r. Almonte, with a repro­ piano, 8howin~ in the duction of a few of the cele­ spaces void of auto~raphs brities' si",nalures contained that it will not reach its ill his book maximum value for very many more years to come vice-president, and outlined his plan. Ilis enthusiasm speechless genius was escorted through the magnificent was shorr-lived, however, for both M r. Ayleswonh and edifice, and mercly by her uncanny sense of touch she Mr. McClelland were of the opinion that it would not was able to "see" and comprchcnd the glories of the be filling for an official of the company to track down radio temple. The pilgrimage completed.