In the Wake of the Week's Broadcasts

Radio Record, 8 July 1938, Page 6

In the Wake of the

Week's Broadcasts

HIS EASE AT THE MICROPHONE

An. experienced listener can fell whether an artist is at ease when in front of the microphone. The first few words of a speech or bars of a song usually indicate immediately whether

the speaker or singer is either a noyice or an olf nand,. Bu. ease does not always come

with* experience. Christehurch, however, thought much of Danny Malone when he gave two recitals from 38YA. Ilere was indeed a man perfectly at home.

CLUB DINNER SPEECHES WERE BORING

There Was one reason-one excuse, rather--why the popular station, 3YL, Christchurch, should have given up so much time the other night to a relay of the Canterbury Advertising Club's

aunual dinner, The Hon. Walter Nash, Minister of Finance, was giving a_ talk on "Trade." Mr.

Nash's talk, well worth hearing, could easily have been made the sole item from this function, However, long be‘fore Mr. Nash was able to get near the microphone, listeners were inflicted with the usual back-patting verbiage that goes with all club dinners. "Tor Everybody’s a Jolly Good Fellow" was the theme song, und listeners

had to hear it time and time again until the "meat" of the programme was reached. Candidly, should not 8Y¥L use a little more discretion when doing outside relays?

NOT YET N.Z.’S LITTLE MOZART,

Hearing a, young girl: from Christehureb with a pleasing voice announeed over the air from 2ZB as "New Zealand’s Gracie Fields" last week, did not fill me with enthusiasm. It put

me in aie critical mood straight away, and set me comparing the voice of the young

girl with that of fhe famous Lancashire lass, a Comparison in whieh the singer had inevitably to suffer. Had she been

announced merely ag herself, I would have judged her on her own merits and thoroughly enjoyed her singing for itself alone. Whether this reaction is Shared by other listeners or not I do not know, but, to my mind, it is neither fair nor dignified to saddle our performers with such titles as New Zealand’s Gracie Vields, New Zealand’s Deanng Durbin, or New Zealand’s Larry Adler. It is fair neither to listeners nor to the performers, nor to the Gracies, Deannas and Larrys. And there is far more dignity in -havingour own Jane Potts or John Jones, than a performer borrowing lustre from someone else’s title. No one, thank Heaven, has yet called Allan Loveday New Zealand’s little Mozart. alg

NOW COMES THE SINGING FARM HAND

Richard Crooks was once an iceman. Franz Oscar Natzke, the Auckland bass, now doing so well at the Trinity College, London, was formerly a relief worker and blacksmith. We

have had "the singe ing iceman" and "the singing blacksmith and last Friday evening

1YA suprprised listeners Dy fea-. turing "the singing dairyfarmhand.’ He was George Ayo, aged 23, a fine, well-set-up and particularly dusky son of India, who looks more like Paul Robeson. What was more tresting, he has a __ bass-bari-tone voice with a striking resemblance to that of the famous negro singer. Like most listeners who heard George Ayo, I was greatly impressed with his singing of four numbers, "Asleep in the Deep," "Kashmiri Love Song," "Deep River’ and "Ma Lindy Lou." He was not listed on 1YA’s programme for Friday. No one, not even he himself, knew that he was going on the air aslateaslast Wednesday afternoon, when he walked into the station and asked if he might be heard. Employed on a dairy-farm at WhataWhata, Mr. Ayo confessed that he bad never been taught, neither had he ever sung to an accompaniment in his life. But when George Ayo was given 4 studio audition, the, programme organiser, Mr. Hric Waters, was astounded at the voice he heard. So was Frederic Collier, Australian. . bass baritone,

who happened to be in the building. Present in Auckland on a fortnight’s annual leave, the Indian was immediately booked to sing on Friday.’ He did so, after a couple of rehearsals. He has a fine quality voice, a perfectly natural production and remarkably good enunciation. It was surprising considering it is absolutely untrained. He showed excellent control and sang in perfect time, To the educated ear, one or two discrepancies were to be noticed, nevertheless, to the natural ear his voice hag great appeal, I should say that if he heeds advice given him and places himself under a good teacher, more will be heard of George Ayo. He came from India five years ago. ag

COMICALITIES MARRED BY SILLY INCIDENT

Station 4ZB has introduced a "Coniicalities and Frivolities" session jn their Sunday transmissions. Listen- . ing to. last Sunday’s broadcast, I de cided it was too short and was put on

too late at night. Most . people are abed at 10 on Sundays.. However, the session was quite

bright, and it opened with that best of all Hulbert Brothers recordings, "A Modern Colour Poem," which alone was worth sitting up late to hear. It also introduced a new Gillie Potter ram-bling-new to me at any rate-all about Henry VII¥. I had one objection to this presentation, No one expects any station to possess two yersions of every record, and listeners do not mind waiting the second or two while a record is being turned over. Why then should 4ZB attempt to disguise this simple happening by permitting the announcer to butt in with some irrelevant remarks? [ shouldn’t have minded that so much, but in this instance the announcer was cut off in the middle of what he was saying because Gillie "held the air’ again, but the cut-off was not quick enough, and half a smart gag by the comedian was bitten off and lost, gle

THE ARMY'S ATTACK ON THE AIR.

Lutest umong the organisations fo flaunt their sweetness on the air is that of the territorials, Listening on Saturday night to their little dialogue from 2AB, I thought it well put over, if

not terriply exciling, and there was an ingenious touch here and there that showed the Army

has studied the psychology of advertisement with some profit. One learned in the questions and answers given that the territorialg do not foster a militaristic spirit, that territorial service does not include service overseas, that these days the Army forms threes instead of fours, that those who boss have been themselves bossed, that the training-since it inculcates leadership, initiative and a sense of humour--is of value to a business career, that the uniforms will be blue, and that boots, greatcoats, and certain allowances of pay are given to territorials. It was put quite attractively, but I thought more might have been made of the fun . of camp life, at which everything used to be amusing except the porridge.

FRIENDLY MAN "UNCLE PERCY"

J like "Uncle Perey," who conducts the children’s session from 4ZB on Sunday. I am not considering the material he puts over, though, iucidentally, I think that his material is

just what children seek, but purely his microphone personality, Recently 1 heard a small boy

say, "I’d like him for my real unele," There you have his personality. "Uncle Percy" has the most friendly way of speaking to his unseen listeners, and I don’t know of anyone to equa} him. J] should say his session is the pick of all children’s sessions heard from any station in New Zealand. He gives the impression of talking to you and you alone, and he talks just as if he has known you all your life, and there is none of the usual "palaver" which adorns the regular commercial children’s sessions. I don’t mind admitting that I listen in every Sunday myself to "Uncle Perey," because, aS I said at the start, I like him. ra

POPULAR TUNES CAN BE OVERDONE

a Not so long ago, 8 matter to what station one tuned in, nor at what hour, one could be certain of hearing "The Isle of Capri." It became so famous that it was ironically dubbed "New

Zealand’s Nationa: Anthem.’ Now, it seems history is repeating itself, and "The Merry ov-

Round Broke Down" is threatening to out-rival "The Isle of Capri" in monotonously regular nightly performances. During the past fortnight I have heard this tune so often that I am beginning to wonder if the studios are short of decent records. When one stops tu consider what a menace to sanity a tune may become when, for some obscure reason, it leaps into popular fancy, one feels there is cause to be thankful for a certain gracious dispensation of Providence. When the lachrymose "Prisoner’s Song’ was at the height of its fame, radio as a form of entertainment just didn’t exist. Consider what we might have endured then. . As I type these words 4ZB has put on "The Merry-go-Round Broke Down."

ALL THE WAY FROM DARKEST AFRICA,

Somewhat doubtful whether 2ZB's "March of Music" would turn out to be merely Suppe’s "Light Oavalry" Overture, J tuned in for the first time last week to find the title had not mis-

led mie and got au interesting Jittle jllustrated talk on the influence of the negro tom-

toms on modern music. Though casually accepting the influence of darkest Africa on modern jazz musie, [I had not before realised just how clearly ~-if one listens-one can hear tbe rhythm of the tom-toms runuing through such negro spirituals as "Al! God’s Chillun’s Got Shoes" and the hot rhythm pieces of the day. After this short, clear exposition, I shall always hear it in future. It was like suddenly discovering a self-evident truth that somehow you had always taken for granted but never reuliy bothered to apply.