Martin Block
Encyclopedia
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.
. When his career had stalled in Los Angeles, Block moved his family to New York; he was only there for a week before he got an announcing job. Block came up with two famous advertising slogans for his sponsors: "ABC-Always Buy Chesterfield" for Liggett & Myers and "LSMFT"-Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco" for Lucky Strike
. He was also an avid amateur radio
operator with a large station at his home in Englewood, New Jersey
.
) were awaiting developments in the Lindbergh kidnapping
, Block built his audience by playing records between the Lindbergh news bulletins. This led to his Make Believe Ballroom, which began February 3, 1935 with Block borrowing both the concept and the title from West Coast disc jockey Al Jarvis, creating the illusion that he was broadcasting from a ballroom with the nation’s top dance bands performing live. He bought some records from a local music shop for the program as the radio station had none. Block purchased five Clyde McCoy records, selecting his "Sugar Blues" for the radio show's initial theme song.
Because Block was told by the station's sales staff that nobody would sponsor a radio show playing music, he had to find himself a sponsor. Block lined up a producer of reducing pills called "Retardo"; within a week, the sponsor had over 3,000 responses to the ads on Block's radio show. Martin Block's style of announcing was considerably different than the usual manner of delivery at the time. Instead of speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard in a theater, Block spoke in a normal voice, as if he was having a one-on-one conversation with a listener. When one of Block's sponsors offered a sale on refrigerators during a New York snowstorm, 109 people braved the elements for the bargain Block advertised; by 1941 potential sponsors for his show had to be put on a waiting list for availabilities.
Block's "Ballroom" also had a "Saturday Night in Harlem" segment, where Cab Calloway
, Louis Armstrong
, Duke Ellington
and other jazz musicians' music was featured. In 1936, Block and his "Ballroom" inadvertently came to the aid of a young man accused of being a pickpocket. His alibi was that he was home at the time, listening to the show, describing how Guy Lombardo
, who was to appear on Make Believe Ballroom, was unable to keep the engagement and sent a telegram, which was read on the air. His story was verified and all charges were dropped. Two years later, current events unwittingly entered the "Make Believe" world with Louis Armstrong singer Midge Williams' renditions of two American popular songs in Japanese
. NBC received many telephone calls and telegrams protesting her performance from listeners who were irate over the recent Japanese invasion of China
.
Make Believe Ballroom was nationally syndicated in 1940. That same year, Block hosted what was billed as a "$20,000 Jam Session" on the show, featuring artists including both Dorsey brothers, Count Basie
, Harry James
, and Gene Krupa
. The musicians improvised live for a half-hour. In November 1941, Block brought his radio show to St. Luke's High School in Hohokus, New Jersey to fulfill a promise made to seniors, Jack Smith, Dan Blanchfield, and Mary Beebe to help raise money for their senior prom. It was purported to be the first public appearance of "The Make Believe Ballroom Starring Martin Block." Block and Make Believe Ballroom made the cover of Billboard magazine in April, 1942. During the 1942–44 musicians' strike (also known as the American Federation of Musicians ( AFM ) recording ban), he was able to obtain new records with full orchestral backing for his program by having friends in England send him UK recordings, as the ban applied to the United States only.
When Spike Jones
and his City Slickers returned from entertaining the troops in 1944, the New York hotel room shortage meant the musicians had nowhere to sleep. Jones telephoned Martin Block, who went on the air with the news. WNEW was flooded with listener calls offering to accommodate Jones and his band.
By 1947, there were two daily editions of the Make Believe Ballroom: one in the late morning and another around dinner time. The illusion was shattered by a 1948 musical short in which Block talked about the show while sitting in front of his extensive record library.
He also did a weekly international version of Make Believe Ballroom for Voice of America
beginning in 1949. When Block heard that Voice of America would begin broadcasting a popular music program, he volunteered to host the show without pay.
; some of his other announcing assignments were on Pepper Young's Family
, Kay Kyser
's radio show and the CBS Hit Parade. In 1945, a busy Block was doing the Supper Club announcing for the first broadcast, going to WNEW for his own Make Believe Ballroom, working on a CBS radio show called Johnnie Johnston three days a week via telephone from WNEW, then returning to Chesterfield Supper Club for the later broadcast for the West Coast. By the end of World War II, Martin Block was making $22,000 a week. He hosted a music show, Columbia Record Shop, for CBS
beginning in 1946.
He began a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
for a series of short musical films, under the umbrella title, Martin Block Presents, in 1947. Both Block and Jarvis appeared in Columbia Pictures' musical comedy feature film, Make Believe Ballroom (1949), with Frankie Laine
and other recording artists; the year before, he had a cameo role in Musical Merry-Go-Round with Les Brown
.
Though the show continued in New York, Block was imported to Los Angeles by KFWB in 1947 to do Make Believe Ballroom on the West Coast; he returned to New York at the end of his contract. While in California, Block broadcast for Mutual Broadcasting System
from a studio he owned in his Encino home. He began doing a program for the network called Block Party with bandleader Ray Block earlier in 1947. Block was also able to continue with Chesterfield Supper Club while in California as the announcer for the Tuesday and Thursday broadcasts from Hollywood with Jo Stafford
after she moved there. On returning from the West Coast, Block continued as the New York announcer for the "Supper Club". He went on to do the announcing for the television version of the program when it began in December, 1948.
In 1950, he celebrated his 15th anniversary on the air. Variety devoted an entire section to Block and his career, with many of those who Block helped become stars voicing their thanks.
He co-wrote the Glenn Miller hit of 1941, "I Guess I'll Have to Dream the Rest". Miller also recorded a version of the Make Believe Ballroom theme, titled "Make Believe Ballroom Time", for which Block wrote the lyrics. He also had his own music publishing companies, Martin Block Music and Embee Music. Block's memory lapse gave a young performer the name she would continue on to fame with. Fannie Rose Shore auditioned for the radio show, singing "Dinah". Block declared Dinah Shore
had won the spot on his radio show.
. While he officially retired from ABC and radio in 1960, he indicated that his retirement merely meant not working in the medium on a regular basis. Towards the end of his career, he was heard on WOR/New York
. From 1962 until his death, Block hosted a public affairs show, Guard Session, for the U. S. National Guard.
After his death in 1967, the Make Believe Ballroom was compered for decades by DJ William B. Williams on WNEW, where it aired into the late 1980s. After Williams' death, the show was hosted by popular entertainer Steve Allen
, beginning in January 1987. Allen hosted the show from both New York and Los Angeles
. Until April, 2006, it was hosted on Lake Ronkonkoma, New York's WSHR
by Bill Frisch. Block was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.
An audio engineer, William Savory, recorded jazz radio shows for his collection for many years. A highly secretive man, he rarely allowed any of the tracks to be issued commercially. When Savory died in 2004, his son, Eugene Desavouret, inherited the collection. He worked at salvaging the disks, selling them to the National Jazz Museum in 2010; many of Martin Block's old radio editions of Make Believe Ballroom are part of this collection.
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, was an American disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
. Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...
is said to have invented the term "disk jockey" as a means of describing Block's radio work.
Early years
He began working in radio in Tijuana, Mexico; before that, he sold small household items and appliances. At age 13, he became an office boy at General ElectricGeneral Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
. When his career had stalled in Los Angeles, Block moved his family to New York; he was only there for a week before he got an announcing job. Block came up with two famous advertising slogans for his sponsors: "ABC-Always Buy Chesterfield" for Liggett & Myers and "LSMFT"-Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco" for Lucky Strike
Lucky Strike
Lucky Strike is a brand of cigarette owned by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and British American Tobacco groups. Often referred to as "Luckies", Lucky Strike was the top selling cigarette in the United States during the 1930s.- History :...
. He was also an avid amateur radio
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
operator with a large station at his home in Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 27,147.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of...
.
Career break: Make Believe Ballroom
In 1935, while listeners to New York's WNEW in New York (now information outlet WBBRWBBR
WBBR is a radio station broadcasting at 1130 AM in New York City. It airs Bloomberg Radio, a service of Bloomberg L.P. WBBR's format is general and financial news, offering local, national and international news reports along with financial market updates and interviews with corporate executives,...
) were awaiting developments in the Lindbergh kidnapping
Lindbergh kidnapping
The kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., was the abduction of the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The toddler, 18 months old at the time, was abducted from his family home in East Amwell, New Jersey, near the town of Hopewell, New Jersey, on the evening of...
, Block built his audience by playing records between the Lindbergh news bulletins. This led to his Make Believe Ballroom, which began February 3, 1935 with Block borrowing both the concept and the title from West Coast disc jockey Al Jarvis, creating the illusion that he was broadcasting from a ballroom with the nation’s top dance bands performing live. He bought some records from a local music shop for the program as the radio station had none. Block purchased five Clyde McCoy records, selecting his "Sugar Blues" for the radio show's initial theme song.
Because Block was told by the station's sales staff that nobody would sponsor a radio show playing music, he had to find himself a sponsor. Block lined up a producer of reducing pills called "Retardo"; within a week, the sponsor had over 3,000 responses to the ads on Block's radio show. Martin Block's style of announcing was considerably different than the usual manner of delivery at the time. Instead of speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard in a theater, Block spoke in a normal voice, as if he was having a one-on-one conversation with a listener. When one of Block's sponsors offered a sale on refrigerators during a New York snowstorm, 109 people braved the elements for the bargain Block advertised; by 1941 potential sponsors for his show had to be put on a waiting list for availabilities.
Block's "Ballroom" also had a "Saturday Night in Harlem" segment, where Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and other jazz musicians' music was featured. In 1936, Block and his "Ballroom" inadvertently came to the aid of a young man accused of being a pickpocket. His alibi was that he was home at the time, listening to the show, describing how Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
, who was to appear on Make Believe Ballroom, was unable to keep the engagement and sent a telegram, which was read on the air. His story was verified and all charges were dropped. Two years later, current events unwittingly entered the "Make Believe" world with Louis Armstrong singer Midge Williams' renditions of two American popular songs in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. NBC received many telephone calls and telegrams protesting her performance from listeners who were irate over the recent Japanese invasion of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Make Believe Ballroom was nationally syndicated in 1940. That same year, Block hosted what was billed as a "$20,000 Jam Session" on the show, featuring artists including both Dorsey brothers, Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Harry James
Harry James
Henry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
, and Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
. The musicians improvised live for a half-hour. In November 1941, Block brought his radio show to St. Luke's High School in Hohokus, New Jersey to fulfill a promise made to seniors, Jack Smith, Dan Blanchfield, and Mary Beebe to help raise money for their senior prom. It was purported to be the first public appearance of "The Make Believe Ballroom Starring Martin Block." Block and Make Believe Ballroom made the cover of Billboard magazine in April, 1942. During the 1942–44 musicians' strike (also known as the American Federation of Musicians ( AFM ) recording ban), he was able to obtain new records with full orchestral backing for his program by having friends in England send him UK recordings, as the ban applied to the United States only.
When Spike Jones
Spike Jones
Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink"...
and his City Slickers returned from entertaining the troops in 1944, the New York hotel room shortage meant the musicians had nowhere to sleep. Jones telephoned Martin Block, who went on the air with the news. WNEW was flooded with listener calls offering to accommodate Jones and his band.
By 1947, there were two daily editions of the Make Believe Ballroom: one in the late morning and another around dinner time. The illusion was shattered by a 1948 musical short in which Block talked about the show while sitting in front of his extensive record library.
He also did a weekly international version of Make Believe Ballroom for Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
beginning in 1949. When Block heard that Voice of America would begin broadcasting a popular music program, he volunteered to host the show without pay.
Other radio shows
Block was also the announcer for The Chesterfield Supper ClubThe Chesterfield Supper Club
The Chesterfield Supper Club, an NBC musical variety radio program , 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...
; some of his other announcing assignments were on Pepper Young's Family
Pepper Young's Family
Pepper Young's Family was one of radio's more popular daytime drama series, with various format and title changes during its long run from 1932 to 1959...
, Kay Kyser
Kay Kyser
James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...
's radio show and the CBS Hit Parade. In 1945, a busy Block was doing the Supper Club announcing for the first broadcast, going to WNEW for his own Make Believe Ballroom, working on a CBS radio show called Johnnie Johnston three days a week via telephone from WNEW, then returning to Chesterfield Supper Club for the later broadcast for the West Coast. By the end of World War II, Martin Block was making $22,000 a week. He hosted a music show, Columbia Record Shop, for 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...
beginning in 1946.
He began a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
for a series of short musical films, under the umbrella title, Martin Block Presents, in 1947. Both Block and Jarvis appeared in Columbia Pictures' musical comedy feature film, Make Believe Ballroom (1949), with Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
and other recording artists; the year before, he had a cameo role in Musical Merry-Go-Round with Les Brown
Les Brown
Les Brown may refer to:*Les Brown , U.S. Big Band leader, or his son, Les Brown Jr., leader since 2001*Les Brown , American author-See also:*Leslie Brown...
.
Though the show continued in New York, Block was imported to Los Angeles by KFWB in 1947 to do Make Believe Ballroom on the West Coast; he returned to New York at the end of his contract. While in California, Block broadcast for Mutual Broadcasting System
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
from a studio he owned in his Encino home. He began doing a program for the network called Block Party with bandleader Ray Block earlier in 1947. Block was also able to continue with Chesterfield Supper Club while in California as the announcer for the Tuesday and Thursday broadcasts from Hollywood with 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...
after she moved there. On returning from the West Coast, Block continued as the New York announcer for the "Supper Club". He went on to do the announcing for the television version of the program when it began in December, 1948.
In 1950, he celebrated his 15th anniversary on the air. Variety devoted an entire section to Block and his career, with many of those who Block helped become stars voicing their thanks.
He co-wrote the Glenn Miller hit of 1941, "I Guess I'll Have to Dream the Rest". Miller also recorded a version of the Make Believe Ballroom theme, titled "Make Believe Ballroom Time", for which Block wrote the lyrics. He also had his own music publishing companies, Martin Block Music and Embee Music. Block's memory lapse gave a young performer the name she would continue on to fame with. Fannie Rose Shore auditioned for the radio show, singing "Dinah". Block declared Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
had won the spot on his radio show.
After the Ballroom
Block left Make Believe Ballroom in 1954 to host The Martin Block Show for ABC Radio, originating from the network's New York flagship WABCWABC
WABC may refer to:* WABC , a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States* WABC-TV, a television station licensed to New York, New York, United States* Classic Gold WABC, a defunct British radio station...
. While he officially retired from ABC and radio in 1960, he indicated that his retirement merely meant not working in the medium on a regular basis. Towards the end of his career, he was heard on WOR/New York
WOR (AM)
WOR is a class A , AM radio station located in New York, New York, U.S., operating on 710 kHz. The station has a talk format and has been owned by Buckley Broadcasting since 1987, after the station was sold by RKO. The station has conservative, or right-of-center hosts.Its call letters have no...
. From 1962 until his death, Block hosted a public affairs show, Guard Session, for the U. S. National Guard.
After his death in 1967, the Make Believe Ballroom was compered for decades by DJ William B. Williams on WNEW, where it aired into the late 1980s. After Williams' death, the show was hosted by popular entertainer Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
, beginning in January 1987. Allen hosted the show from both New York and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Until April, 2006, it was hosted on Lake Ronkonkoma, New York's WSHR
WSHR
WSHR is a radio station licensed to Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, USA, the station serves the Long Island area. The station is currently owned by Sachem Central School District Holbrook and operated with assistance from a grant by the U.S. Department of Education since the 1960s. It broadcasts out...
by Bill Frisch. Block was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.
An audio engineer, William Savory, recorded jazz radio shows for his collection for many years. A highly secretive man, he rarely allowed any of the tracks to be issued commercially. When Savory died in 2004, his son, Eugene Desavouret, inherited the collection. He worked at salvaging the disks, selling them to the National Jazz Museum in 2010; many of Martin Block's old radio editions of Make Believe Ballroom are part of this collection.
External links
- WNEW, The World's Greatest Radio Station
- Fortunes For Disk Jockeys Jean Meegan, The Milwaukee Journal, July 13, 1947
Listen
- Chesterfield Supper Club (December 11, 1944) (Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
) - Martin Block interviews Mantovani