[78-L] 78s about radio shows

[Donna Halper]

I know we've discussed this topic before ... I just found an ad from 
the WLS (Chicago) magazine, offering readers songs they've heard on 
the Barn Dance program.  One song is "Since Nellie Got the Gong."  As 
I recall, one of the network talent shows (Major Bowes?) used a gong 
to let a performer know he or she was pretty awful and their time was 
up... The ad says it's from a song book, the contents of which are 
the songs most often requested on the Barn Dance... What I was 
wondering is whether anyone ever recorded it, even locally in 
Chicago.  The Barn Dance was a very popular show, heard in a number 
of cities, so if the song was popular, it seems logical to me that it 
might have been made into a record.  And I am sure there were other 
songs inspired by the hit radio shows of that era.