The Chesterfield Supper Club
Encyclopedia
The Chesterfield Supper Club, an NBC
musical variety radio
program (1944–50), was also telecast by NBC from 1948 to 1950.
cigarette
s and featured live musical performances. Perry Como
initially hosted The Chesterfield Supper Club five nights a week. Initially, Como's female singer was Mary Ashworth. During World War II, the broadcasts were transcribed for re-broadcast on Armed Forces Radio Service
.
The idea for the radio show originated with Doug Storer
, who was then an advertising executive with the Blackman Company. Storer had heard Perry Como on his non-sponsored CBS
radio program and believed he would do well in a radio show of the type he was proposing. Storer recorded a demo of the radio show with Como as its host and Mitchell Ayres and his Orchestra providing the music. He took the recording to the advertising agency that handled the Chesterfield cigarettes account. The agency was enthusiastic about the program's format, but did not want Como as its host. The singer the agency preferred was under contract and would need to be released from it before he could accept a job on the new radio program. They asked Storer to get the singer released from his contract. Storer, who was still of the belief that the new show needed Como as its host, did not go through with the advertising agency's request. He received a call from the agency some weeks later, asking about the singer's contract and saying their new program would make its radio debut in about one week's time. Storer told them the right man for the radio show was the one who had made the demo recording-Perry Como. Chesterfield's advertising agency did not have time to do anything but sign Como as the host of the show.
During the first year, Como was backed by the Ted Steele Orchestra, followed by the Lloyd Shaffer Orchestra at the end of 1945 until 1948. With John Klenner, Shaffer and Steele composed the show's theme song, "Smoke Dreams." Roy Ringwald's "A Cigarette, Sweet Music and You" was also used on the show as a musical theme. The Satisfiers vocal group was also part of the program; they also made many records with Como.
Beginning on the show's second anniversary, he hosted the show on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while Jo Stafford
was the host on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Stafford returned to California shortly after becoming a co-host of the program. She began her twice-weekly broadcasts from Hollywood in November 1946, backed by her future husband, Paul Weston
. Stafford's Hollywood "Club" broadcasts featured the vocal group The Starlighters; in 1947 she recorded her version of the show's theme song, "Smoke Dreams", with them.
One of the regular features was a "Hollywood Star of the Week" contest where an actor or actress would be featured as a "guest star" singing a song and the listening audience would guess the star's identity for prizes. The "mystery star" contest continued when the show appeared on television.
The broadcasts of April 5, 1946, made from a TWA
plane at an altitude of 20,000 feet, are believed to be the first network radio broadcasts from an airplane. Jo Stafford, Perry Como and the entire staff made the flight. There were two mid-air Supper Club broadcasts: one at 6pm and another at 10pm for the West Coast. In addition to the cast and the band's instruments, there was also a small piano on board. The three stand-held microphones brought onto the plane turned out to be less useful than expected. The cast then resorted to hand-held microphones, but the plane's cabin pressure made them very heavy and difficult to hold after a few minutes.
Less than two months after the airborne "Supper Club" broadcasts, Chesterfield had an idea to take the program on a week of remote broadcasts: flying into Washington, DC for the Monday show, to London, for the Wednesday one and winding up with the Friday night show in Havana
. The plan appears to have fallen from favor when it was learned that the taxes which would have been imposed on the Shaffer orchestra as foreign musicians performing in the UK meant Chesterfield would have needed to pay all orchestra members three times the amount of salary they were receiving at the time.
By 1947, announcer Martin Block
was based in the Los Angeles area. Block did the announcing from Hollywood on the same days that Stafford hosted the show. Announcer and sportscaster Mel Allen
took over the New York announcing duties for that year. When Block's West Coast contract was up, he returned to New York as the show's announcer. Block was also the announcer for the "Supper Club" television show.
In 1948, singer Peggy Lee
was added to the roster, taking over the Thursday broadcast. Como was still broadcasting from New York, now backed by the Mitchell Ayres
orchestra. The Satisfiers were replaced by the singing Fontane Sisters
, who also appeared with Como on the televised "Supper Club" and his later television shows.
Both Stafford and Lee broadcast from Hollywood. Stafford continued to be backed by Paul Weston
and his orchestra while Peggy Lee was backed by her husband, Dave Barbour
, and his orchestra. The show featured musical performances by the host, along with various guest singers and orchestras, including Frank Sinatra
, Judy Garland
, Eddie Fisher
, the Glenn Miller
Orchestra, Nat King Cole
, Victor Borge
and others.
By September 1949, the show's time was extended from 15 minutes to a half-hour, and it was changed from a weekday to a weekly program.
Beginning in February 2010, Sounds of Yesteryear began issuing CDs created from Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS)
transcriptions of the program from the years 1946 and 1947: At the Supper Club
, At the Supper Club Part II
, and At the Supper Club Part III
for Perry Como, At the Supper Club
, At the Supper Club Part II
, At the Supper Club Part III
for Jo Stafford, and At the Supper Club for Peggy Lee.
. This was the beginning of Como's long standing tradition of television Christmas specials.
Initially, NBC had intended to broadcast three Friday night "Supper Club" shows on television as well as radio. The experiment had gone well enough for NBC to extend the experimental phase of televising The Chesterfield Supper Club through August 1949.
On September 8, 1949, it became a regularly scheduled television program. This series was the first of four regular primetime musical variety TV series hosted by Perry Como. He continued to host The Chesterfield Supper Club until 1950, when he moved to CBS and the NBC series ended. However, his association with Chesterfield continued with the Perry Como Chesterfield Show until 1955, when he returned to NBC.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
musical variety radio
Old-time radio
Old-Time Radio and the Golden Age of Radio refer to a period of radio programming in the United States lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until television's replacement of radio as the primary home entertainment medium in the 1950s...
program (1944–50), was also telecast by NBC from 1948 to 1950.
Radio
The Chesterfield Supper Club began on December 11, 1944, as a 15-minute radio program, airing at 7pm weeknights on the NBC Radio Network. This musical variety show was sponsored by ChesterfieldChesterfield (cigarette)
Chesterfield is a brand of cigarette made by Altria. It was one of the most recognized brands of the early 20th century, but sales have declined steadily over the years. It was named for Chesterfield County, Virginia. Chesterfield is still being made today; it is still popular in Europe, but has...
cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s and featured live musical performances. Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
initially hosted The Chesterfield Supper Club five nights a week. Initially, Como's female singer was Mary Ashworth. During World War II, the broadcasts were transcribed for re-broadcast on Armed Forces Radio Service
American Forces Network
The American Forces Network is the brand name used by the United States Armed Forces American Forces Radio and Television Service for its entertainment and command internal information networks worldwide...
.
The idea for the radio show originated with Doug Storer
Doug Storer
Doug Storer was a radio producer, talent agent, and writer responsible for creating and producing radio programs from the 1930s to the 1960s, including Ripley's Believe It or Not and Renfrew of the Royal Mounted.-External links:...
, who was then an advertising executive with the Blackman Company. Storer had heard Perry Como on his non-sponsored CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
radio program and believed he would do well in a radio show of the type he was proposing. Storer recorded a demo of the radio show with Como as its host and Mitchell Ayres and his Orchestra providing the music. He took the recording to the advertising agency that handled the Chesterfield cigarettes account. The agency was enthusiastic about the program's format, but did not want Como as its host. The singer the agency preferred was under contract and would need to be released from it before he could accept a job on the new radio program. They asked Storer to get the singer released from his contract. Storer, who was still of the belief that the new show needed Como as its host, did not go through with the advertising agency's request. He received a call from the agency some weeks later, asking about the singer's contract and saying their new program would make its radio debut in about one week's time. Storer told them the right man for the radio show was the one who had made the demo recording-Perry Como. Chesterfield's advertising agency did not have time to do anything but sign Como as the host of the show.
During the first year, Como was backed by the Ted Steele Orchestra, followed by the Lloyd Shaffer Orchestra at the end of 1945 until 1948. With John Klenner, Shaffer and Steele composed the show's theme song, "Smoke Dreams." Roy Ringwald's "A Cigarette, Sweet Music and You" was also used on the show as a musical theme. The Satisfiers vocal group was also part of the program; they also made many records with Como.
Beginning on the show's second anniversary, he hosted the show on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
was the host on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Stafford returned to California shortly after becoming a co-host of the program. She began her twice-weekly broadcasts from Hollywood in November 1946, backed by her future husband, Paul Weston
Paul Weston
Paul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer and conductor. Weston was born Paul Wetstein in Springfield, Massachusetts...
. Stafford's Hollywood "Club" broadcasts featured the vocal group The Starlighters; in 1947 she recorded her version of the show's theme song, "Smoke Dreams", with them.
One of the regular features was a "Hollywood Star of the Week" contest where an actor or actress would be featured as a "guest star" singing a song and the listening audience would guess the star's identity for prizes. The "mystery star" contest continued when the show appeared on television.
The broadcasts of April 5, 1946, made from a TWA
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
plane at an altitude of 20,000 feet, are believed to be the first network radio broadcasts from an airplane. Jo Stafford, Perry Como and the entire staff made the flight. There were two mid-air Supper Club broadcasts: one at 6pm and another at 10pm for the West Coast. In addition to the cast and the band's instruments, there was also a small piano on board. The three stand-held microphones brought onto the plane turned out to be less useful than expected. The cast then resorted to hand-held microphones, but the plane's cabin pressure made them very heavy and difficult to hold after a few minutes.
Less than two months after the airborne "Supper Club" broadcasts, Chesterfield had an idea to take the program on a week of remote broadcasts: flying into Washington, DC for the Monday show, to London, for the Wednesday one and winding up with the Friday night show in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
. The plan appears to have fallen from favor when it was learned that the taxes which would have been imposed on the Shaffer orchestra as foreign musicians performing in the UK meant Chesterfield would have needed to pay all orchestra members three times the amount of salary they were receiving at the time.
By 1947, announcer Martin Block
Martin Block
Martin Block born in Los Angeles, California, was an American disc jockey. Walter Winchell is said to have invented the term "disk jockey" as a means of describing Block's radio work.-Early years:...
was based in the Los Angeles area. Block did the announcing from Hollywood on the same days that Stafford hosted the show. Announcer and sportscaster Mel Allen
Mel Allen
Mel Allen was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Allen was arguably the most prominent member of his profession, his voice familiar to millions...
took over the New York announcing duties for that year. When Block's West Coast contract was up, he returned to New York as the show's announcer. Block was also the announcer for the "Supper Club" television show.
In 1948, singer Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
was added to the roster, taking over the Thursday broadcast. Como was still broadcasting from New York, now backed by the Mitchell Ayres
Mitchell Ayres
Mitchell Ayres was an orchestra leader, music arranger, composer and performer. He is best known for his many years of work with Perry Como on radio, records, and television and as the musical conductor for The Hollywood Palace.-Early years:Born Mitchell Agress in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he...
orchestra. The Satisfiers were replaced by the singing Fontane Sisters
The Fontane Sisters
The Fontane Sisters were a trio from New Milford, New Jersey.-Early years:Their mother, Louise Rosse, was both a soloist and the leader of the St. Joseph's Church choir in New Milford. Bea and Marge started out singing for local functions, doing so well, they were urged to audition in New York City...
, who also appeared with Como on the televised "Supper Club" and his later television shows.
Both Stafford and Lee broadcast from Hollywood. Stafford continued to be backed by Paul Weston
Paul Weston
Paul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer and conductor. Weston was born Paul Wetstein in Springfield, Massachusetts...
and his orchestra while Peggy Lee was backed by her husband, Dave Barbour
Dave Barbour
Dave Barbour was an American musician. He was a jazz banjoist and guitarist, a pop songwriter, an actor, and the husband of Peggy Lee for nine years....
, and his orchestra. The show featured musical performances by the host, along with various guest singers and orchestras, including Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
, the Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
Orchestra, Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, Victor Borge
Victor Borge
Victor Borge ,born Børge Rosenbaum, was a Danish comedian, conductor and pianist, affectionately known as The Clown Prince of Denmark,The Unmelancholy Dane,and The Great Dane.-Early life and career:...
and others.
By September 1949, the show's time was extended from 15 minutes to a half-hour, and it was changed from a weekday to a weekly program.
Beginning in February 2010, Sounds of Yesteryear began issuing CDs created from Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS)
American Forces Network
The American Forces Network is the brand name used by the United States Armed Forces American Forces Radio and Television Service for its entertainment and command internal information networks worldwide...
transcriptions of the program from the years 1946 and 1947: At the Supper Club
At the Supper Club (Como)
This compact disk was created from trancriptions of The Chesterfield Supper Club recorded for the Armed Forces Radio Service . Others featured on the broadcasts are Lloyd Shaffer and his Orchestra, The Satisfiers, and announcer Martin Block...
, At the Supper Club Part II
At the Supper Club Part II (Como)
This compact disk was created from trancriptions of The Chesterfield Supper Club recorded for the Armed Forces Radio Service . Others featured on the broadcasts are Lloyd Shaffer and his Orchestra, Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers, and announcer Martin Block...
, and At the Supper Club Part III
At the Supper Club Part III (Como)
This compact disk was created from trancriptions of The Chesterfield Supper Club recorded for the Armed Forces Radio Service . Others featured on the broadcasts are Lloyd Shaffer and his Orchestra, Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers, Jo Stafford, Carole Landis, Anne Andre, Kitty Kallen, and The Mills...
for Perry Como, At the Supper Club
At the Supper Club (Stafford)
This compact disk was created from trancriptions of The Chesterfield Supper Club recorded for the Armed Forces Radio Service in May 1946. Others featured on the broadcasts are Carl Kress and his Orchestra, Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers.-Track listing:...
, At the Supper Club Part II
At the Supper Club Part II (Stafford)
This compact disk was created from trancriptions of The Chesterfield Supper Club recorded for the Armed Forces Radio Service in March and April 1946. Others featured on the broadcasts are Carl Kress and his Orchestra, Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers, and Lloyd Shaffer and his Orchestra...
, At the Supper Club Part III
At the Supper Club Part III (Stafford)
At the Supper Club Part III is a 2011 album release of recordings by American singer Jo Stafford. The tracks are taken from her appearances on The Chesterfield Supper Club, the NBC variety program of the 1940s. The recordings on this compilation were made with Lloyd Shafer and His Orchestra, Paul...
for Jo Stafford, and At the Supper Club for Peggy Lee.
Television
The Chesterfield Supper Club also appeared as a simulcast on NBC television, beginning Christmas Eve, 1948, with a live performance by Perry ComoPerry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
. This was the beginning of Como's long standing tradition of television Christmas specials.
Initially, NBC had intended to broadcast three Friday night "Supper Club" shows on television as well as radio. The experiment had gone well enough for NBC to extend the experimental phase of televising The Chesterfield Supper Club through August 1949.
On September 8, 1949, it became a regularly scheduled television program. This series was the first of four regular primetime musical variety TV series hosted by Perry Como. He continued to host The Chesterfield Supper Club until 1950, when he moved to CBS and the NBC series ended. However, his association with Chesterfield continued with the Perry Como Chesterfield Show until 1955, when he returned to NBC.
External links
- Television Heaven: Perry Como
- The Chesterfield Supper Club (The Perry Como Show)