You made ‘em laugh

Queen really knew what they were talking about with this line. I digitized an episode of “Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge” from 1941. The program was a game show, based on music. The show I listened to was broadcast from an army base.

What came across was a sense of fun; the points were irrelevant, what mattered was having a good time and entertaining the audience. The host gave hints to the contests. The show also had dancing, and performances by singers of the day.

What I really liked was the show didn’t take itself too seriously. At one point, the host said to one of the contestants, “And now, for no reason, I’d like you to yodel.” One of the other segments I found humorous was when Kay Kyser had one of the contestants sing, but when he said beep, the contestant had to hum the song, until he said beep again, at which point, he had to resume singing. As you can imagine, by the end of the game, Kyser barely gave the contestant two seconds before making him go from humming to signing and back again.

I’m not sure if this was a typical show or not. It’s quite possible that it was sillier and had more non-competitive aspects that it normally would have because it was being done to entertain the troops stationed in San Diego.

Also, what I found odd were the ads for Lucky Strike. I’m not used to cigarette ads on the radio. It was a strong reminder that it was a different time. I love it. Each program is like a little time machine; it puts you back into a different era. Monday is my last day, and I’m really going to be sorry to see this internship end.

(In case you were counting, this title is the fifth reference to “Radio Ga-Ga” by Queen).