"HIT PARADES"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 6, Issue 137, 6 February 1942, Page 4

"HIT PARADES"

Sir,-I should like to take a little of your space to comment on the feature The Hit Parade, which is presented from several of the commercial stations. To me this programme is very little short of disgusting. In the first place, the records played are by no means hits of the day. In the second place, six threeminute records, two advertisements, a theme, and record announcements cannot conveniently be presented in a fifteen-minute period. Thirdly, I consider that the competition included in the session is simply childish and ridiculous. Then take Hello from Hollywood! How many listeners are deceived into believing that this feature is actually produced in Hollywood? Fred Jason may be heard singing with Lauri Paddi’s Orchestra from 2YA under the name Art Rosamond. Surely there is no deception about this programme. I cannot bring myself to believe that Lauri Paddi plays from Hollywood. Could I have an explanation of the "Guest Artist " system used? It is a strange fact that Dorothy Brandon, Jimmy Castle, and "The Three D’s "- guest artists featured from Ciro’s-are, in fact, all permanent vocalists with Chuck Foster’s Orchestra. Also, what orchestra is\ really supposed to be regularly featured from Ciro’s? We usually hear Chuck Foster, but on one occasion it was announced that owing to a special hill-billy programme, Freddie

Nagel would not be present, while on another occasion we were told that as usual we were to listen to Stirling Young and his orchestra-a band which had mysteriously made a one-night appearance at the Biltmore Bowl. Could "Fred Jason" not be assured that the Biltmore Bowl is, in reality, in the Hotel Biltmore, Los Angeles, not in down-town Hollywood.

DISMAYED LISTENER

(Wanganui). ;