JACK'S # 2 .. AND # 1

[Yhtapmys]

Radio Editors Rate McCarthy Ether's Best Show Of 1937
400 W r i t e r s Say Dummy Tops; Benny,
Crosby, Vallee And Kate Smith Trail The Bergen Act
CHARLIE MCCARTHY, saucy little ventriloquist's dummy hewn from a piece of pine, was named radio's outstanding attraction in 1937 by over 400 radio editors of this country voting in the Motion Picture Daily's second annual radio poll.
Edgar Bergen's protege won by 11 votes over Jack Benny, king of the airwaves in 1936. His selection to the No. 1 spot (he came to the air in December, 1936) has only one parallel, and that was Major Bowes' phenomenal rise three years ago. Each answered the listener's cry for something new.
Benny, second choice, was trailed by Bing Crosby, steward of the Music Hall, with Fred Allen, Rudy Vallee, Kate Smith, and Don Ameche, Nelson Eddy, Eddie Cantor, Andre Kostelanetz following in that order.
Most other divisions of the poll followed results recorded last year. One major change was selection of Andre Kostelanetz as the No. 1 dance orchestra of the nation, ending a long reign by Guy Lombardo.
Best Commercials.
Included in the Daily's poll this year was a discussion of programs offering the best treatment of "commercials" (advertising announcements.) The programs listed as handling these the best were Jack Benny, Ford Sunday Hour, Bing Crosby Music Hall, Town Hall Tonight, and Metropolitan Auditions of the Air.
Other results of the poll, listed in the order of preference, include these top ten in each division:

Best male vocalist in pop division:
Bing Crosby
Kenny Baker
Lanny Ross
Frank Parker
Nelson Eddy
Rudy Vallee
James Melton
Frank Munn
Tony Martin
Jerry Cooper

Best male vocalists in the classical song division:
Nelson Eddy
John Charles Thomas
Richard Crooks
Lauritz Melchior
Lawrence Tibbett
Richard Bonelli
Nino Martini
Igor Gorin
Frank Munn
Jan Pierce

Best feminine vocalists in the popular song division:
Frances Langford
Kate Smith
Jeanette MacDonald
Alice Faye
Virginia Verrill
Dorothy Lamour
Harriet Hilliard
Connie Boswell
Jane Froman
Deanna Durbin

Best feminine vocalists in classical song division:
Lily Pons
Jeanette MacDonald
Jessica Dragonette
Grace Moore
Gladys Swarthout
Lucille Manners
Kirsten Flagstad
Margaret Speaks
Helen Jepson
Deanna Durbin

Best comedians:
Jack Benny
Charlie McCarthy
Fred Allen
Bob Burns
Eddie Cantor
W. C. Fields
Walter O'Keefe
Milton Berle
Phil Baker
Ken Murray

Best comediennes:
Gracie Allen
Beatrice Lillie
Sheila Barrett
Mary Livingston
Jane Ace
Molly McGee
Martha Raye
Arlene Harris
Judy Canova
Portland Hoffa

Best comedy teams:
Burns and Alien
Fibber McGee & Molly
McCarthy-Bergen
Benny-Livingston
Amos & Andy
Stoopnagle & Budd
Allen-Hoffa
Lum & Abner
Easy Aces
Pick and Pat

Best dramatic series:
CBS Radio Theater
One Man's Family
First Nighter
Columbia Workshop
March of Time
Gang Busters
Silver Theater
Shakespeare Series (CBS & NBC)
Big Town
Death Valley Days

Best orchestras in popular division:
Andre Kostelanetz
Guy Lombardo
Benny Goodman
Wayne King
Horace Heidt
Hal Kemp
Rudy Vallee
Tommy Dorsey
Richard Himber
Shep Fields

Best orchestras in classical division:
New York Philharmonic
Philadelphia Orchestra
Ford Symphony
Frank Black's NBC Symphony
General Motors Symphony
Wallenstein's Sinfonietta
Columbia Symphony
Cities Service Orchestra
Chicago Symphony
Josef Hornik Orchestra

Best musical programs in popular division:
Hit Parade
Kostelanetz Series
Vallee Varieties
Crosby Music Hall
Heidt’s Brigadiers
Hour of Charm
Benny Goodman
Hal Kemp-Alice Faye
Album Familiar Music
Wayne Kong Series

Best musical programs in classical division:
Ford Hour
General Motors Hour
New York Philharmonic
Cities Service Concerts
Philadelphia Orchestra
Met. Auditions
Standard Symphony
Album Familiar Music
Frank Black's Symphony
NBC Symphony

Best announcers:
Don Wilson
Milton Cross
Harry Von Zell
Ted Husing
Ken Carpenter
David Ross
Paul Douglas
Jean Paul King
Truman Bradley
Graham McNamee

Best commentators:
Boake Carter
Lowell Thomas
Edwin C. Hill
H. V. Kaltenborn
Paul Sullivan
Gabriel Heatter
Walter Winchell
Lanton Wells
John B. Kennedy
Kathryn Cravens

Most effective film players on the air:
Bing Crosby
Don Ameche
Edw. G. Robinson
Jeanette MacDonald
Bob Burns
Charles Butterworth
Tyrone Power
Walter Huston
Rosalind Russell
Nelson Eddy

- Sunday Journal And Star, Lincoln, Nebraska - January 2, 1938

Yhtapmys
"Drive Your Blues Away!"

[Roman]

Interesting poll. I hadn't realized that Milton Berle's radio career went back that far.

There are certainly some odd choices in that poll, especially considering the poll is of radio editors, not listeners. Benny-Livingston as a favorite comedy team? I loved Mary on Jack's show but it's ridiculous to characterize her as a team with Jack. And Charlie McCarthy instead of Edgar Bergen? You have to wonder if the editors knew.

But what most strikes me is how many of these 1937 favorites I've never heard of. I have no doubt they were great entertainers and stars for a good reason, but how many today recall Walter O'Keefe, Sheila Barrett, Stoopnagle & Budd, and Frank Munn? Time passes and only a very special few retain their fame for future generations. I'm sure it will be the same for the stars of our time. Who knows which of them will still be remembered 50 or 70 years from now?

[shimp scrampi]

Can someone explain what a "radio editor" was or did in 1937? As a contemporary term I imagine someone cutting tape or digital audio together ... wasn't most radio then done live and not "edited"?

[Roman]

I assume radio editors means newspaper columnists who covered radio. I note the reference to "400 writers" at the top of the article.

[shimp scrampi]

Ah, OK, that makes sense! Funny how that has become something of an archaic term. Or, maybe I'm just confused as usual...

[Yhtapmys]

Ah, OK, that makes sense! Funny how that has become something of an archaic term. Or, maybe I'm just confused as usual...

SS, these days, radio stations have a "news director" but there was a time when they were called a "news editor." My somewhat-educated guess is it stems from the day when newsrooms spent their energies editing wire copy, as opposed of going out and covering things.

I saw a reference once to Berle on radio from the early 30s and was quite surprised. I'll be damned if I can remember the show's name.

Roman mentioned his surprise at Charlie McCarthy being mentioned. For a time, the program was called "The Charlie McCarthy Show." No mention of Bergen. Charlie got the funny lines anyway.

I've noticed in a number of radio listings from the mid 30s, Jack and Mary are listed equally, which strikes me as odd. The editors were, I suppose, too used to the concept of husband-and-wife teams from vaudeville and the Benny show was still new.

[JohnM]

I've noticed in a number of radio listings from the mid 30s, Jack and Mary are listed equally, which strikes me as odd. The editors were, I suppose, too used to the concept of husband-and-wife teams from vaudeville and the Benny show was still new.

I was just reading something about this yesterday. In Notable Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary, by Edward T. James, the article on Mary Livingstone quotes Mary's book:

Livingstone's performance was crucial to the long-running success of the radio program, but unlike her friend Gracie Allen, she was never billed equally with her husband. Livingstone wrote that when the couple made personal appearances together, promoters wanted to advertise them as "Benny and Livingstone," but she refused. "In truth, in my own mind, there were never two careers in our family....Jack was the star. I was always a featured member of his company."

The article this is from can be seen online here (at Google Book search): http://tinyurl.com/27lheg

[Mister Kitzel]

It is nice to read Mary's thoughts on being part of a supposed team with Jack. Her words echo my thoughts on that subject. I never thought of her as a comedienne, either, but in the 1930's she was doing more routines like reading her mother's letters and singing.