Treasury Star Parade, 997 Old Time Radio Music, Country, Western Shows DVD

Don't be fooled by other collections that claim to contain more episodes.  Many of these shows were aired on multiple dates in reruns, so you have plenty of sellers out there padding their collections with reruns!  We feature all known episodes in existence and do not add "fluff" to our collections to increase our claimed episode count like many others. 

NOTICE: This collection is all in MP3 format supplied on DVD.  You play this in your computer and then can copy all the MP3 files to your MP3 player of choice.  This DVD will NOT play in a regular CD player in your car, or your TV's DVD player, it is intended for your computer only which will allow you to transfer the MP3 files to any device that can play MP3's.  This collection remains the largest most original collection.

Your Hit Parade:

America is a big country and has many big musical traditions. Folk and traditional music have always been with us. Urban theatres grew from the early 1800's into Broadway and the Great American. Jazz blossomed into the Big Bands and their hits. And American music had "Tin Pan Alley," where many of the greats of American Song got their starts. Song "pluggers" in the "Tin Pan Alley" tradition made "Popular Music," the songs and tunes that seemed to "came out of nowhere" to soar to the top of the hits. "Your Hit Parade" was the old time radio show that highlighted the rise and fall of those American pop hits for a generation.

It began in the mid-30s in New York, and was sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes in 1936. The catchy #1 tune concept was a "hit" of its own right from the start. "Goody Goody" was the first anniversary #1 tune…a perfect example of what a pop hit is. Al Goodman's orchestra played through the rest of the 1930s, with Mark Warnow's taking over in the 1940s. In July of 1941, the "Hut Sut Song" was a biggie. In July of '42, "Sleepy Lagoon." By this time, New York radio personality Martin Block took the host microphone, and introduced the singers and the songs. A chorus called The Hit Paraders were always ready to backup the featured singers. At first the regulars were Barry Wood and Joan Edwards. In the spring of '43, a skinny New Jersey kid named Frank came on the show to stay for a while. Sinatra was probably the biggest draw that Lucky Strikes ever had! The bobbie-soxers had swooned over this guy, and listened avidly as he crooned the tunes.

The show went on without Frankie in 1945, with Lawrence Tibbett, then Dick Todd, and then Andy Russell doing the hits. Dinah Shore was on for a while, too. Then in 1947, Sinatra was back, and Beryl Davis took over the girl's part. Axel Stordahl and His Orchestra backed up. Sinatra fans will remember the wonderful records of Frankie made with Stordahl's arrangements and accompaniment. Many consider these among the very best, for it certainly was the most romantic and intimate of Sinatra's oeuvre. This collection of shows draws mainly from the 1940s, which was a very good time for this show, the heydays of the popular tune that drew on strong melodies and poetic lyrics…except for the occasional novelty tune like "The Woody Woodpecker Song."

Though Your Hit Parade went on into the 50s decade, America's youth culture had, by then, decided "Your Hit Parade" was passe. The kids wanted to "ROCK." By now, both Tin Pan Alley and Network Radio were essentially over. It was now time for a sharp, young DJ in Philadelphia named Dick Clark to use the new medium to promote a new hit parade…with dancing.

For more music, see also Your All Time Hit Parade, Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby, Command Performance, Sealtest Hour, The Railroad Hour, and the Dinah Shore Collection.

Some shows have great music in some of their segments, such as Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show (two tunes per show), Burns and Allen, Red Skelton, and Fibber McGee and Molly. Cavalcade of America has some great historic music shows, and even the World Adventurer's Club has a men's chorus selection in every show! If your tastes run to great Western Swing, you'll want to check out All Star Western Theater.

Treasury Star Parade:

Created by the US Treasury Department to stimulate sales of war bonds, Treasury Star Parade had top radio talent (including Arch Oboler, Neal Hopkins, Violet Atkins and many others) writing patriotic scripts in the scenario "if Hitler won the war, America will have to expect…"

The series starred top-name talent such as E.G. Robinson, Bette Davis, Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt, and many others who donated their time and 15-minute performances to the war cause.

For more WWII-era bond-sales related shows, see also: Any Bonds Today?, Guest Star Radio, Keep Em Rollin, Music for Millions, New World A-Coming, Over Here, These are Our Men, Treasury Salute, and Treasury Star Parade.

And more Bonus Radio Shows:

As a sampler of our old time radio library, we are including these classic old time radio shows on this DVD-ROM at no extra charge: