The Ipana Troubadors
Encyclopedia
Sam Lanin
Sam Lanin was an American jazz bandleader.Lanin's brothers, Howard and Lester, were also bandleaders, and all of them had sustained, successful careers in music. Lanin was one of ten children born to Russian-Jewish immigrants who emigrated to Philadelphia in the decade of the 1900s...
Orchestra. They opened the show with their theme, "Smiles."
The show was sponsored by Bristol Myers' Ipana Toothpaste
Ipana
Ipana was a very popular toothpaste in the 20th century with its famous Disney-created mascot named Bucky Beaver joining the Ipana marketing efforts in the 1950s....
, and it was during this period that Bristol Myers introduced the slogan, "Ipana for the Smile of Beauty; Sal Hepatica for the Smile of Health."
With a mix of hot swing music and novelty tunes, the show moved from WEAF to the NBC Red Network (1926-28) for a 30-minute series on Wednesday evenings at 9pm. It then aired on the Blue Network (1929-31) Mondays at 8:30pm. Network radio exposure made the Ipana Troubadors one of the most well-known dance bands of the 1920s, resulting in a recording contract with Columbia and bookings at dance halls, such as the Casino at Bemus Point, New York
Bemus Point, New York
Bemus Point is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The village is within the Town of Ellery and located along the eastern shore of Chautauqua Lake. The population was 340 at the 2000 census...
. However, the recording contract covered only the Ipana Troubadors, so Lanin continued to recording on other labels under his own name and a variety of pseudonyms.
With title changes, the show continued on the Red Network (1933-34), Wednesdays at 9pm. Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
was a guest on the show of October 4, 1933, appearing in a scene with John Beal
John Beal (actor)
-Life and career:Beal was born James Alexander Bliedung in Joplin, Missouri. He originally went to New York to study art but a chance to understudy in a play made him change his mind. He began acting in the 1930s, opposite Katharine Hepburn , among others; one of his notable screen appearances was...
. In 1934, The Ipana Troubadors merged with Fred Allen
Fred Allen
Fred Allen was an American comedian whose absurdist, topically pointed radio show made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the so-called classic era of American radio.His best-remembered gag was his long-running mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny, but it...
's The Hour of Smiles.
Radio station policies in the early 1920s dictated that no commercial messages intrude on a program. However, once the program moved to NBC, the attitude toward advertising accelerated, as noted by Timothy D. Taylor in "Music and Advertising in Early Radio":
- Spot and national advertisements frequently had a tie-in, often simply a plain poster or print ad, and frequently more. A brochure about Ipana Toothpaste produced by NBC in 1928 included photos of the tie-ins that Ipana provided to customers who wrote in: a Magic Radio Time Table pad, so that listeners could write down their favorite programs; a bridge score card; a photo of the Ipana Troubadors, the program’s resident musicians; a card with a paean to the smile. All of these items had the Ipana name prominently displayed. Then there was the tie-in material made available to dealers: posters, brochures, a “radio applause card” that listeners could take to send in comments on the program, and more (National Broadcasting Company, Improving the Smiles of a Nation!).
Tommy
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
and Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
were heard on the show during the 1920s, along with Red Nichols and others. Musicians during the 1930s included Jack Teagarden
Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden , known as "Big T" and "The Swingin' Gate", was an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".-Early life:...
and Joe Venuti, with vocalists Chick Bullock and Dick Robertson. Another guest was vaudeville headliner Marion Harris
Marion Harris
Marion Harris was an American popular singer, most successful in the 1920s. She was the first widely known white singer to sing jazz and blues songs....
, billed by NBC as "The Little Girl with the Big Voice."
Listen to
- Dismuke's: Bing Crosby and the Ipana Troubadors: "I'll Get By" (1929)
- Red Hot Jazz: Sam Lanin's Troubadors: "Singin' in the Bathtub"