[78-L] Early announcers on records, was Clamp 'em down agin, Paw

[David Lennick]

Tony Wons on Hit of the Week..gotta make a note of that somewhere. Who else?

Milton Cross, of course, on that Victor "Victory" demo (Milton Cross made 
records forever, I think)

Norman Brokenshire duetting with Johnny Marvin on a couple of Columbia sides

J. M. Witten..was he a for real announcer anywhere?

Norman Long, on "Introducing the Savoy Hotel Orpheans"

David Ross on "How to Be a Jewish Mother"

And of course a lot of later records by Harry von Zell, Jim Ameche, Frank 
Gallop, Jack Arthur, Don Wilson (to hear him sing "The Ugly Duckling" is to 
know true agony).

dl

Michael Biel wrote:
> This was the first of the small Duriums I ever found, and I've had it 
> since the 1960s.  I also have never seen the book.   I used the CBS 
> announcer at the end of it, Frank Knight, in my 1973 presentation 
> "Announcing Styles of the 20s" as an example of the smooth vocal style 
> of CBS announcers like Knight and David Ross, vs.the rougher accents of 
> NBC Red announcers like Graham McNamee and Phillips Carlin, and the 
> over-cultured voices of the NBC Blue announcers like Milton Cross and 
> Alwyn Bach. 
> 
> By the way, the announcer with the syrupy fey voice on some of the 
> 5-minute Hit of the Weeks is Tony Wons.  I had discussed him in that 
> presentation but had not yet found a recording of him -- so I thought.  
> It turns out that unknowingly the voice that closed my talk was his!  I 
> used his announcement at the end of one of the college songs "Are you 
> listening?  I know you Illinois fans are.  Next Thursday a new Hit of 
> the Week that plays for five minutes.  And that makes a lot of 
> difference, doesn't it?"  (Music up to conclusion.) 
> 
> I am planning on revising this presentation in the next year and taking 
> it on the road to Old Time Radio conventions.
> 
> Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com