NEW CD: BING SINGS FOR THE ARMED FORCES RADIO SERVICE

Sepia Records are issuing this CD which captures Bing on his Armed Forces Radio Service broadcasts singing a variety of songs for the servicemen. Sepia Records to be one of the best outlet for new Bing CDS. Please support this CD and buy it from Sepia Records. Only by purchasing this issue, will you insure that there will be more of them in the future. The CD should be available in October and the tracks on the CD will be:

TRACK 1 – Command Performance introduction.
TRACK 2 – Johnny Doughboy Found a Rose in Ireland (Command Performance #17 – June 11, 1942)
TRACK 3 – It’s a Long Way to Tipperary (Command Performance #54 – February 24, 1943)
TRACK 4 – Candlelight and Wine (Command Performance #104 – February 1, 1944)
TRACK 5 – De Camptown Races (Command Performance #52 – February 13, 1943)  (with Richard Crooks)
TRACK 6 – It Can’t Be Wrong (Command Performance #71 – June 19, 1943)
TRACK 7 – Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer (Command Performance VE Day Show – May 1945)
TRACK 8 – It Ain't Necessarily So (Command Performance #54 – February 24, 1943) (with Dinah Shore)
TRACK 9 – Great Day (Command Performance #60, April 1, 1943
TRACK 10 – Dialogue with Jack Benny and Gary Cooper (Command Performance #125 – June 17, 1944).
TRACK 11 – My Blue Heaven (Command Performance #125 – June 17, 1944).
TRACK 12 – Cuddle Up a Little Closer (G. I. Journal #11 – September 24, 1943)
TRACK 13 – One Alone (Command Performance #125 – June 17, 1944)
TRACK 14 – Shoo-Shoo Baby (Jubilee – January 10, 1944)
TRACK 15 – People Will Say We're in Love (Command Performance #81 – August 28, 1943) (with Judy Garland)
TRACK 16 – Put Your Arms around Me, Honey (G. I. Journal #10 – September 17, 1943
TRACK 17 – My Wild Irish Rose (G. I. Journal #10 – September 17, 1943)
TRACK 18 – My Ideal (Mail Call #78 – February 16, 1944)
TRACK 19 – Something to Remember You By (Command Performance #122 – June 3, 1944) (with Judy Garland)
TRACK 20 – The Groaner, the Canary and the Nose (Mail Call #91 – May 17, 1944) (with Judy Garland and Jimmy Durante)
TRACK 21 – Timber / In the Evening by the Moonlight / You Are My Sunshine (Mail Call #78 – February 16, 1944) (with Richard Crooks)
TRACK 22 – This Heart of Mine (Command Performance #169 – April 5, 1945)
TRACK 23 – My Old Kentucky Home (Command Performance #36 – October 13, 1942) (with Dinah Shore)
TRACK 24 – Gotta Be This or That (Jubilee, December 1945)
TRACK 25 – Ridin’ Herd on a Cloud (G. I. Journal #9 – September 10, 1943)
TRACK 26 – Blue Hawaii (Mail Call #102 – July 26, 1944) (with Connie Haines)
TRACK 27 – Sweet Leilani (Mail Call #102 – July 26, 1944)
TRACK 28 – In My Merry Oldsmobile (G. I. Journal #52 – July 14, 1944)
TRACK 29 – Medley with Judy Garland (Command Performance #129 – July 15, 1944)

A BING SONG: TEAMWORK

TEAMWORK
(Sammy Cahn / James Van Heusen)

Of the many great teams -- meat and potatoes, hot dogs and mustard, liver and onions -- few could match the perfect hand-in-glove fit of Bing and Bob Hope. Bing and Bob recorded more than a dozen songs together for commercial release, beginning in 1944 with "Road to Morocco" and "Put it There, Pal" and ending in 1961 with "Teamwork" and "The Road to Hong Kong." Although many show business teams have parted on less than friendly terms (Martin and Lewis, Abbott and Costello, Lennon and McCartney), Bing and Bob stuck together until parted by death. One more road picture and an album of duets was planned for the duo in 1978 until fate intervened...

When two guys pull together it's teamwork.
In foul or sunny weather it's teamwork.
What does it take to make any business climb?
You'll find it takes teamwork every time.

Incidentally, your jokes will kill the yokels it's teamwork.
I love your hokey vocals it's teamwork.
Like Fred Astaire and Ginger yet twice as chic
We'll give them that teamwork, cheek to cheek.

Here we are, just like in Zanzibar
Still nothin, still a star.
That's quite a stab from old flab.
They always pay us plenty for teamwork.
We split it 80-20 -- that's teamwork?
(Yours is tax free.)

When others start to part and go off the beam.
Like siamese brothers we'll be on each other's team.

No fuss about the billing it's teamwork
The smallest type is thrilling it's teamwork.
Although we hold each other in low esteem
We're loaded with teamwork!
Hey now!
What's life without teamwork?
Go boy!

Unless you got teamwork there's no team.

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BING: ON THE ROAD TO GERMANY

Crosby Golf Good Despite Rain And Crowds
By Leo Levine Stars and Stripes

Coming from Stuttgart after picking up his new $8,250 Mercedes-Benz convertible, Bing Crosby stopped off at Frankfurt course for a quick round.Cloudy skies and scattered rainshowers held Bing to12 holes, but he gave the gallery of 500 spectators a thrill.
Possessor of a three handicap on his home course in California, Bing lived up to his reputation on the Frankfurt links. He had never seen the course before, he was besieged by autograph seekers and camera bugs both between and during shots, and at times couldn't see where he was driving because of crowds between him and the green, but Crosby still managed to come in with a two-over-par 38 for nine holes.

Bing played in a foursome with Glenn Peeples, two-time Stuttgart District champion; Vie Janusch, Frankfurt ace, and Jack Ellis, sports editor of The Stars and Stripes.

The rain drove Bing and his partners back to the clubhouse where the radio and film star sang several songs.

After staying overnight in Frankfurt, Bing will head for Brussels, and from there back to Paris. He's slated to play in the French Amateur golf tourney June 4 at Chantilly, outside Paris, and has already received a bye into the second round. He will meet Pierre Bochayer, of France, in his first match.

Bing, who learned his game from MacDonald Smith, a famous old-time pro, said he thought Jimmy Demaret was potentially the best golfer around today. He said that if Demaret paid a little more attention to his golf and took the game more seriously, he would be higher on the moneywinning list.

Bing stopped off for lunch at The Stars and Stripes Press Club in Darmstadt...

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BING CROSBY AND TEETHING

My daughter is going through the most annoying part of her short life so far - the teething process. She is beautiful and wonderful during the day, but in the evening she becomes like Lon Chaney Jr in The Wolfman. She becomes a howling and screaming animal. This past weekend was especially brutal. My wife is a rock, and even she was beginning to crumble. So on Saturday night I took my turn with the inconsolable infant. I could not get her to settle down at all, so instead of getting worked up and making matters worse, I sat down in my favorite recliner and started singing to her. I decided to sing one song or a medley of songs from each Bing Crosby movie in order! I started with The Big Broadcast, and I opened with "Please". I thought the song was fitting as I pleaded with her to go to sleep. I then moved on to more 1930s Bing songs like "Down The Old Ox Road (from College Humor), "Temptation (from Going Hollywood), and "June In January" (from Here Is My Heart). At this point, my daughter would only let out a fleeting cry and sigh but she still was basically just staring at me. I don't know if it was very unlike Bing singing calming her or my 2am morning breath, but at least she was quieting down.

I was actually pretty excited that I knew all of Bing's films in order. I got most confused with the order of his late 1930s movies, but before you know it I was hitting Bing's prolific 1940s period. I sang a medley of songs from Holiday Inn including "Be Careful It's My Heart", "Lazy", and of course "White Christmas". I even song a few songs from the pratically banned movie Dixie like "She's From Missouri" and "Sunday, Monday, Or Always". By the time I hit 1944 my bawling daughter was off to dreamland, but to make sure she was completely out I kept singing until 1948. I ended our musical interlude with one of my favorite underrated Bing movie numbers -"Emperor's Waltz" (Love Is A Dream) from The Emperor Waltz. By this time I had been singing almost an hour, and I was pretty sure my daughter was off to dreamland.

I really hope that her teething is over soon. I don't mind it on weekends, but it loses all its cuteness on weekdays. If she does cry out I am ready with the rest of Bing's movie songs from Top O' The Morning (1949) to Robin And The Seven Hoods (1964). It's not easy being a parent sometimes, but as always Bing Crosby helps me out...

HEALTHWATCH: MICHAEL PARKINSON

British TV chat show host Sir Michael Parkinson has revealed he has prostate cancer. The Sun newspaper said the 78-year-old television legend had just started intensive radiation therapy after the disease was discovered in a routine medical check.


"I have cancer - and I must admit it is a bore," Parkinson said in the British tabloid. "I am 78. Of course mortality is on the mind. But I'm not afraid." Parkinson divides his time between Britain and Sydney. He retired from his television show in 2007 but continued to work, writing his autobiography and touring with his successful one-man show. Knighted in 2008, he hosted his TV chat show for 25 years.


Stars he interviewed included Muhammad Ali, Fred Astaire, Richard Burton and Orson Welles. After "Parky" performed his first live stage show in New Zealand in 2009, the Herald wrote: "He's sung with Bing Crosby, danced with Will Smith, played a love scene with Bette Davis, and had his knee famously touched by almost every sex symbol you can think of." The son of a Yorkshire coal miner, Parkinson has more than 60 years' experience in journalism. He became one of the most recognisable faces on TV and has interviewed some 2000 of the world's most famous people...

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SPOTLIGHT ON JOHNNY BURKE

Bing Crosby claimed he owed much of his success to a lyricist he dubbed "the Poet." Crosby said, "One of the best things that ever happened to me was a 145-pound leprechaun named Johnny Burke." "Pennies From Heaven" was the first song lyric that Johnny Burke wrote for Crosby and it set the standard for a string of hits. Burke said he learned to write for Bing by paying attention to Crosby's conversational style and taking phrases directly from his speech patterns.

Burke was born on October 3, 1908 in Antioch, California. When still young, the family moved to Chicago, where Johnny's father founded a construction business. As a youth, he studied the piano and some drama also. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he played piano in the orchestra. After graduating, he joined the Chicago office of the Irving Berlin Publishing Company in 1926, as a pianist and song salesman.

Irving Berlin, Inc. transferred Burke to its New York City office, where he began to write lyrics in collaboration with composer Harold Spina. In 1932, they wrote "Shadows on the Swanee", followed in 1933 by "Annie Doesn't Live Here Anymore", their first big hit, for the Guy Lombardo Orchestra. In 1934, they wrote "You're Not the Only Oyster in the Stew" which was a novelty hit for Fats Waller, as was "My Very Good Friend, the Milkman". They wrote many songs that were played by leading bands of the day, including those led by Ben Pollack, Paul Whiteman and Ozzie Nelson.

1936 saw the end of the Burke - Spina partnership, as Burke left for Hollywood. His first partner there was Arthur Johnston. He then worked with Jimmy Monaco, but he was to make his mark in collaboration with Jimmy van Heusen.

Johnny Burke wrote or collaborated on over 400 songs, and has the distinction of being the only songwriter to have had five out of the Top 10 songs on Your Hit Parade—at the same time. Burke's songs have been included in 42 motion picture soundtracks and the scores of four Broadway musicals.

Johnny Burke wrote most of his song lyrics for the movies. During the 1930s and 40s Burke and his longtime partner Jimmy Van Heusen scored the music for twenty Bing Crosby films, including the “Road” pictures starring Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, and the movie Going My Way which featured the Oscar-winning “Swinging on a Star." So many of the Burke-Van Heusen songs became hits for Crosby that he referred to the pair as his “Gold Dust Twins.”

In 1939, Burke wrote the lyrics for "Scatterbrain", with music by Frankie Masters and "What's New?" with Bob Haggart (1914–1998). In 1955, Burke added lyrics to a tune by "cool" jazz pianist Erroll Garner entitled "Misty". The 1956 film, The Vagabond King was Burke's last Hollywood work. Eight years later, he died suddenly at the age of 55 on February 25, 1964. He was survived by his second wife, Bessie Patterson, and son Lee Stanley who was born in 1943.

His song compositions include "Annie Doesn't Live Here Anymore", "The Beat of My Heart", "Pennies from Heaven", "One, Two, Button Your Shoe", "Let's Call a Heart a Heart", "So Do I", "It's the Natural Thing to Do", "All You Want to Do is Dance", "The Moon Got in My Eyes", "My Heart is Taking Lessons", "This is My Night to Dream", "On the Sentimental Side", "I've Got a Pocketful of Dreams", "Laugh and Call It Love", "Don't Let the Moon Get Away", "Go Fly a Kite", "An Apple for the Teacher", "A Man and His Dream", "East Side of Heaven", "That Sly Old Gentleman", "Sing a Song of Sunbeams", "Hang Your Heart on a Hickory Limb", "Scatterbrain", "Sweet Potato Piper", "Too Romantic", "April Played the Fiddle", "Meet the Sun Half Way", "Only Forever", "Ain't It a Shame About Mame?", "I Don't Want to Cry Any More", "Imagination", "Dearest, Darest I?", "Isn't That Just Like Love?", "It's Always You", "Birds of a Feather", "Constantly", "Road to Morocco", "Ain't Got a Dime to My Name", "Moonlight Becomes You", "Sunday, Monday or Always", "If You Please", "Suddenly It's Spring", "A Friend of Yours", "Polka Dots and Moonbeams", "Going My Way", "The Day After Forever", "It Could Happen to You", "And His Rocking Horse Ran Away", "Like Someone in Love", "Sleigh Ride in July", "Yah-Ta-Ta Yah-Ta-Ta", "Put It There, Pal", "Welcome to My Dream", "It's Anybody's Spring", "Personality", "Just My Luck", "Aren't You Glad You're You?", "My Heart Is a Hobo", "Country Style", "Smile Right Back at the Sun", "Apalachicola, Fla.", "But Beautiful", "You Don't Have to Know the Language", "If You Stub Your Toe on the Moon", "Once and for Always", "You're in Love With Someone", "Someplace on Anywhere Road", "Sunshine Cake" High on the List", "And You'll Be Home", "Life Is So Peculiar", "Early American", "Here's that Rainy Day", "Ring the Bell", "The Magic Window", "Moonflowers", "To See You", "Misty", "If Love Ain't There", "He Makes Me Feel I'm Lovely", and "What's New?"...What beautiful lyrics he left behind for the world to continue to enjoy...

COMMAND PERFORMANCE: JUNE 17, 1944

A few days after the Allied Invasion of Normandy, Bing Crosby was on hand on a broadcast of Command Performance. The radio show, aimed at entertaining our servicemen, showcased some of Hollywood's biggest talent at the time. This broadcast Bing appeared on was on June 17, 1944.

Hosted by Jack Benny, who jokes with Ken Carpenter about his introduction, movies, and Jack’s plumber girlfriend.

Bing Crosby enters to tease Jack. After reading greetings and requests from the mailbag Bing sings, You Must Have been a Beautiful Baby.

The two old timers, Jack and Bing, talk about the old days at the Coconut Grove. With Dennis Day now in the Navy, Jack tries to ask Bing to sing as a regular on his show, if he can afford him.

Georgia Gibbs dips into the mailbag for requests then sings, Stormy Weather.

Jack tries to butter up Georgia to be his singer, but is cut short when Harpo enters. For a guy who doesn’t talk, can he keep up with Jack with the jokes? You know he will, especially whenhe he calls on Gary Cooper to be his translator. Yup. Lots of laughs for the shortest amount of words.

Harpo then plays his harp while Bing sings, My Blue Heaven.

Jack and Bing present sounds from home, Ann Miller doing a tap dance in combat boots. Who knew an old set of boots could sound so good?

Brother Bing takes over and dedicates the next song, I Alone. Then, Bing and Harpo provide the parting words to the troops. There never was such great entertainment before or since...

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