Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – The Breakfast Show with William Price King and Sally Cronin – Chart Hits 1940s – Billie Holiday, Glenn Miller, Vera Lynn, Nat King Cole-

Welcome to our show and whilst there has been some great music since 2005, we felt that hits from the 40s and 50s deserved a showcase from now to the end of the year… we hope you will enjoy.

Here is my next selection of top 1940s hits which I hope you will enjoy.

God bless the child – Billie Holiday

“God bless the child” written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. in 1939, was released on Okeh Records in 1942. In her autobiography, “Lady Sings the Blues”, Holiday said the song was inspired from an argument she had with her mother when she was a child concerning money, with her mother saying “God bless the child that’s got his own”

Holiday’s version of the song was honored with the « Grammy Hall of Fame » award in 1976 and is included in the list of “Songs of the Century” by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

News Event: May 7th 1941 Glenn Miller records “Chattanooga Choo Choo” for RCA, it becomes 1st record to be designated “gold”

Glenn Miller – Chattanooga Choo Choo

“Chattanooga Choo Choo”, penned by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren is from the 1941 film “ Sun Valley Serenade “ directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, and Lynn Bari. “Chattanooga Choo Choo” was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996.

News Event – July 19th 1941 BBC World Service begins playing V(ictory) (“…-” in Morse code) (opening of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 5th symphony)

Now time for my next picks from the 1940s all tunes that were played in our home by my parents who were wonderful dancers and fans of the old musicals.

Vera Lynn There’ll Be Bluebirds Over The White Cliffs of Dover

“(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover” is a popular World War II song composed in 1941 by Walter Kent to lyrics by Nat Burton. Made famous in Vera Lynn’s 1942 version, it was one of Lynn’s best-known recordings and among the most popular World War II tunes. The American lyricist, Nat Burton, wrote his lyric (unaware that the bluebird is not indigenous to Britain) and asked Kent to set it to music. 1090VIE

News event – October 29th 1941 Cole Porter’s musical “Let’s Face It” opens at the Imperial Theatre, NYC; runs 547 performances

Nat King Cole – Straighten Up And Fly Right 1944

“Straighten Up and Fly Right” is a 1943 song written by Nat King Cole and Irving Mills and one of the first vocal hits for the King Cole Trio. It was the trio’s most popular single, reaching number one on the Harlem Hit Parade for ten nonconsecutive weeks. The single also peaked at number nine on the pop charts. “Straighten Up and Fly Right” also reached number one for six nonconsecutive weeks on the Most Played Jukebox Hillbilly Records Nat King Cole

News Event: May 29th 1942 Bing Crosby records “White Christmas”, world’s best-selling single (estimated 100 million copies sold)

Additional sources: On This Day – Music – Hits of the 1940s and 1950s: Playback FM – Wikipedia

Your Hosts for The Breakfast Show

William Price King is an American jazz singer, crooner, and composer.

His interest in music began at an early age when he studied piano and clarinet in high school. At Morehouse College in Atlanta where he grew up, he sang in the Glee Club and studied classical music. After graduation he went off to the Yale School of Music where he earned a Masters degree. From there he journeyed to New York where he created a jazz trio ‘Au Naturel’ which performed in some of the hottest venues in Manhattan including gigs on Broadway and the famous ‘Rainbow Room.’ These gigs opened doors for performances in Montreal and a European tour.

While touring Europe he met a lovely French lady, Jeanne Maïstre, who, a year later became his wife. King left the group ‘Au Naturel’ and settled in the south of France where he started a new life on the French Riviera, opening his own music school – the “Price King Ecole Internationale de Chant.” He has had the pleasure over the years of seeing many of his students excel as singers on a professional level, and some going on to become national celebrities. He continues to coach young singers today, in his spare time.

Blog– IMPROVISATION – William Price King on Tumblr – Buy William’s music: William Price King iTunes – Facebook – William Price King – Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – Cave Wilson

Sally Cronin is an author, blogger and broadcaster who enjoyed four years as part of the team on Onda Cero International’s English speaking morning show in Marbella and then for two years as a presenter on Expressfm the local radio station in Portsmouth. She co-presented two ‘Drive Time’ shows a week with Adrian Knight, hosted the live Thursday Afternoon Show and The Sunday Morning Show guests including musicians and authors. Following this she became Station Director for a local internet television station for two years, producing and presenting the daily news segment, outside broadcasts and co-presenting the Adrian and Sally chat show live on Friday evenings.

She and her husband David have now returned to Ireland where they live on the Wexford Coast where she blogs and continues to write books.

Books :Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – More reviews: Goodreads – blog: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine Twitter: @sgc58 – Facebook: Sally Cronin – LinkedIn: Sally Cronin

Thanks for tuning in and as always we love to hear from you.. thanks William and Sally.