The Benny Goodman Show, 660 WEAF New York | January, 1935

Date of Recording: 01.1935 (Exact Date Unknown)
Station: 660 WEAF New York (W2XY/WBAY/WEAF/WRCA/WNBC)
Format: General – Pre-Rock era Network Block format
Featured Air Personality: Benny Goodman
Contributor: Archive.org
Post Date: 12.11.2017
Total Time: 41:04
Airchexx Entry: 1,533

Curator’s Notes:

At left, the giant, 50 KW transmitter in use at WEAF New York during the 1930’s

Visitors to this archival site may be somewhat unfamiliar with how radio sounded during the “Golden Age” of radio broadcasting in the 1930’s and 1940’s.   In the days before television, radio was often the only source of entertainment.  While radio stations across the United States and Canada pretty much carried similar programming, most were never recorded, and those house recordings which may have existed at smaller stations have either found their way to an unknown party or have long ago been destroyed over time.  One of the glaring exceptions to this was New York’s NBC flagship station, WEAF.

During the Pre-War era of the 1930s, one of the big entertainers was clarinet player and bandleader Benny Goodman.  Somehow, and we don’t have the back story, Goodman ended up with his own network radio program.  Most of the big stars of the era did.  From Bob Hope (who was more of a wartime entertainer) to Bing Crosby, along with many more including News people who would become household names like Lowell Thomas graced the airwaves of not only WEAF, but hundreds of radio stations all across North America.

This is a recording from January, 1935.  It’s mostly music, but there are announcements, starting with the Top Hour Legal ID and NBC ‘chimes’.  This is quite different from the rest of the recordings on this site, but expect more from the earlier days of radio, as we look for LOCAL and non “old time radio” soaps (which are all well-archived) in our effort to become the source for the audio history of radio.