Curt Massey - Curt Massey Time

The pleasing baritone voice of Curt Massey has been largely forgotten, consigned to a dusty corner in the halls of popular music history. But in the 1940s and '50s Massey, who died in 1991 at age 81, was a star on network radio and Los Angeles-area television. And he later co-composed and sang the theme song for the TV show Petticoat Junction, which ran on CBS from 1963 to 1970.

His 15-minute Monday to Friday network radio show Curt Massey Time began in 1949. The show was sometimes called Curt Massey Time with Martha Tilton to reflect the prominence of his co-star. In 1952 the title was changed to Alka-Seltzer Time to highlight the sponsor. By the following year the show was heard on two networks -- at noon on CBS and again during the supper hour on Mutual.

But Alka-Seltzer Time had run its course by November of '63, although Massey and Tilton were still heard on other network radio programs. They also co-hosted a 15-minute daily TV show in Los Angeles from 1956 to 1963.

Massey was given an Emmy Award in 1961 for his radio and TV work. That was also the year Capitol issued an album titled after his network program. The LP contained the same type of standard and novelty songs that had been popular on the radio show. The orchestra for the album was conducted by renowned studio guitarist Bob Bain, who also contribute some hot licks on his instrument.

Breezin' Along with the Breeze



The Curt Massey Time LP does not appear to be available in a digital format. There was a Curt Massey Time CD issued by the British label Hepcat around 2007 but this probably consisted of radio transcriptions. It's available from Amazon in the U.K., but there's no track listing or source information.

Massey composed the theme for Petticoat Junction with Paul Henning, who created the characters featured in the rural sitcom. A 45 single with Massey singing the theme was issued by Capitol in 1964. It differs slightly from the versions heard on the TV show -- and it's in stereo.

Jack Sterling and His Quintet - Cocktail Swing

Although Jack Sterling played drums on this 1959 release on Columbia's Harmony budget label he was better known as the early morning disc jockey from 1948 to 1966 on New York's WCBS, known today as Newsradio 88. Sterling replaced Arthur Godfrey as the morning DJ on the CBS flagship station when Godfrey took to network radio and TV gigs full-time.

When Cocktail Swing came out Sterling was still featuring live music on his radio show, a rarity for the late 1950s. Although his skills on the drum kit were rudimentary Sterling surrounded himself with top New York studio musicians for the date: bass – Buddy Jones, clarinet – Andy Fitz, guitar – Mary Osborne, piano – Tony Aless, vibraphone – Tyree Glenn.

The sample track is Goody, Goody, composed in 1936 by Marty Malneck with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Benny Goodman and Bob Crosby both recorded it that year and Frankie Lymon had a hit with it again in 1957.

Goody, Goody



Cocktail Swing and another Columbia/Harmony LP, Music from Gypsy (Broadway show), appear to be the entire recorded output of Jack Sterling. Neither album has appeared in a digital format.

Sterling died of lung cancer in Stuart, Fla., on Oct. 31, 1990. He was 75.

The RKO Orchestra - Music from Studio X

Where did the "discriminating listener" turn on the radio dial for "an uninterrupted flow of lovely melodies" in the mid-1950s?

Apparently the Mutual Broadcasting System didn't think there was much choice -- and so was born, on July 9, 1956, Music from Studio X. The program was broadcast daily from a specially constructed studio at WOR in New York -- between 9:05 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday to Saturday and from 1:30 p.m-5 p.m. on Sundays. The show lasted until 1959.

Music from Studio X's menu of lush instrumental and vocal arrangements included many tunes composed especially for the program, including theme music by arranger Joe Leahy (1916-1974). Some of the originals were gathered for an LP on RKO Records, with Leahy acting as music director.

For some reason, this obscure LP was released on CD in 1999 with the cover pictured at the top of this post. Below is a sample, something called Two Minute Melody, which is actually about 15 seconds short of that mark.

Two Minute Melody


If this type of mood music appeals to you, you can pick up a used copy of the Music from Studio X CD for $5-$8 from a number of online sources.

NBC's Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street

NBC broadcast The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street East from 1940-44. This half-hour radio program of jazz was delivered in a tongue-in-cheek manner that satirized the opera and symphony broadcasts hosted by Milton Cross.

Dinah Shore and Lena Horne were among the featured vocalists with Henry Levine & His Barefooted Dixieland Philharmonic and Paul Laval & His Woodwindy Ten providing the music.

The album of selections from the show that's pictured above was first released on the RCA Camden label in 1956 (Some of the selections had appeared on an RCA Victor 78 r.p.m. album). I'm not sure which of the two covers came first, but I suspect it was the grey one. It was probably reissued with the second cover to emphasize the presence of Shore and Horne. There were a couple of more reissues of this album on Camden in ensuing years, with different covers again. The track selection was identical on all of them.

Here's trumpeter Henry Levine and his group with one of the most recognizable Dixieland tunes. The MP3 is taken from a copy of the vinyl LP that has the grey cover.

Basin Street Blues



All of the material on the Camden LP (plus another dozen bonus tracks) is easily available on CD in a 1995 release on the Harlequin label.

New and used copies start at about $6 on Amazon.

The Camden album also can be had as a download, but it's almost certainly taken from a vinyl LP.