The Washington times., 1927-03-09
IRVING Cobb IS
RADIO STAR

All the little wave lengths told
q story Of their own last night
without much let or hindrance.
Almost anything was available,
with more trouble at WRC than
any other station one tried to
tune. The West and North were
clear, and the South clear
thuOgh q BIT weak. Fading was
noticeable In q number Of new
places ON the diaIs and a bit more
exasperating at some OF the well
known points Of disappearing pro.
grams. On the whole the night
was q good one for station loggers.
The chances are that not even dur
ing his taxicab ride through Belgium
with John T. McCutcheon in 1914 to
find . war he heard had been re-
Gently started, or subsequently when
he motorcycIed through shell fire
back OF the allied lines. was the
rotund Irving s. Cobb more violently
shaken or mentally torn than last
evening when he faced the micro
phone Of WEAF and began his first
effort as q radio entertainer, an
nouncer. master Of ceremonies
whatever he cares to call it.
The complete silence OF the little
metal contraption. the curious feel
ing that comes over one talking into
thing that looks like q cross be-
tween an ash receiver and new
kind OF table lamp that won't light
~ s-fuy ~ IA N.
versational or oratoricaI effort than
any other piece Of furniture-all this
engrossed Mr.. Cobb's mind during
the first few minutes Of his work.
And then he got the swing Of the
thing and turned himself loose. with
the result that listeners had one of
the best evenings the Eyeready Hour
has provided-and Mr.. Eveready has
proved himself to be SOME provider
during the past three years.
What Cobb did was to take the
wide world into his confidence about
quite a number OF things, tell some
OF his best stories and introduce the
singers and orchestra at regular
intervals. There was nothing spec
tacular about his show or his talk.
He was perhaps just a bit more
formal than Cobb is when he feels
thoroughly at home but no real
newspaper reporter ever feels thor
oughly at home when he's facing
audience, whether 1t IL to be seen
or not. But the show was big
success and the author-reporter-
humorist win do even a better job
of 1t next time when he realizes
that he's just talking to home folks,
in their living rooms, In the same
way he does on those rare occa-
sions he goes calling.
YANKEE DOODLE"
IN NEW ARRANGEMENT
Jumping from Irving Cobb and
Kentucky songs and stories to a
symphonic arrangement Of Yam
kee Doodle" played by the Zion City
orchestra from WDCB may be quite
a leap-but it takes us to the next
best thing the wave lengths pro-
0uced last evening. Listeners have
learned that the Zion City concerts
are very much worth tuning and
the orchestral endeavors sent out
from there last night were particu-
larly pleasing especially the unique
and very florid arrangement of
Yankee Doodle"
The Gunton Temple Choir pro-
vided the star performance Of the
local program OF WRC-despite the
very poor broadcasting that was
given the choir by the station. 1t
Is to be hoped the organization win
sing again when the technical staff
Is feeling better or the broadcast ap.
paratus is working more easily. At
WMAL the singing of Florence
Brady and Gilbert Welles, Of the
Palace Theater, was the high light
during the Movie Club entertain
ment. This pair have radio per-
sonality, plus ana deliver their songs
with a surety and meaning that
Is all their own. Leslie Mack and
her partner Were also among the
| star features Of the bill.