Command Performance - Thanksgiving - 1944 - All-Star Armed Forces Radio WWII Special
Command Performance was a radio program which originally aired between 1942 and 1949. The program was broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Network (AFRS) and transmitted by shortwave to the troops overseas—with few exceptions, it was not broadcast over domestic U.S. radio stations.
Most episodes of the program were produced before an audience in the Vine Street Playhouse in Hollywood, California, and recorded via electrical transcription. The weekly listening audience of was estimated at 95.5 million.
Troops sent in requests for a particular performer or program to appear, and they also suggested unusual ideas for music, sketches, or sounds from home on the program, such as: "Ann Miller tap dancing in military boots"; "a sigh from Carole Landis" or Lucille Ball; "foghorns on San Francisco Bay"; "Errol Flynn taking a shower"; "a slot machine delivering the jackpot" and "Bing Crosby mixing a bourbon and soda for Bob Hope". Top performers of the day appeared, including Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Fred Allen, Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland and The Andrews Sisters.
The first Command Performance was broadcast on March 1, 1942, almost exactly three months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was produced under the aegis of the Office of War Information and its success paved the way for the creation of the Armed Forces Radio Service in May 1942. Time magazine described Command Performance as being, "the best wartime program in America".[3] However very few listeners in the United States ever heard it and it would appear that the Christmas Eve Command Performance of 1942 was the only program of the series to be broadcast to a general audience. Variety magazine commented on this saying:
The War Department on Christmas Eve gave domestic listeners their first taste of a series that had been going out to the Armed Forces on short-wave for 43 consecutive weeks. The purpose of the special occasion as Elmer Davis, Office of War Information chief, expressed it in a foreword to the show, was to forge a link between the servicemen abroad and the folks on the Home Front. A recorded version of the show was short-waved, all over the world, the next day... Hope emceed, tossed off a monologue and cross-fired with Crosby. A special treat in the vocal department was the version of "Basin Street Blues" that came out of the tonsil partnership of Bing Crosby and The Charioteers."
Wikipedia
-
18:12:15
Chesterton Radio
9 months ago $4.58 earnedChesterton Radio Live - Mystery Drama Adventure - Chuck the TV!
43.4K -
UPCOMING
TENET Media
1 hour agoCan Trump Win The Black Vote? | Tim Pool
294 -
UPCOMING
Exploring With Nug
6 hours agoMissing Man Found Deceased Underneath Nearby Home!
147 -
UPCOMING
The Gun Collective
32 minutes agoIs it a HOME RUN? - TGC News!
4 -
2:52:57
Due Dissidence
8 hours agoAOC's CRINGE Post-DNC Interview, Telegram CEO ARRESTED, Uhuru Trial NEXT WEEK - w/ Omali Yeshitela
21.2K13 -
17:56
Breaking Points
5 hours agoChris Cuomo CALLS OUT DNC Corruption LIVE
12.6K7 -
13:32
Tundra Tactical
4 hours agoGideon Optics: Challenging the Status Quo
4.85K -
1:16:04
Awaken With JP
5 hours agoTeam America Has Formed! - LIES Ep 54
57.7K57 -
1:28:06
Tucker Carlson
23 hours agoRFK Jr: Teaming up With Trump, Pavel Durov’s Arrest, CIA, and the Fall of the Democrat Party
194K643 -
1:05:49
Barstool Chicago
6 hours agoThe Mid Show LIVE | Tuesday, August 27, 2024
22.3K3