The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1927-08-17
ROMPING AROUND THE RADIO DIALS
FAGEN DOUBLES
AND SCORES!

With Just q little moro crashing
and banging in the Always one
might have called last night q
noisy time and we could have re-
ported q return to bad reception
conditions. But there was not
quite enough noise TO make the
evening . total loss, although
there was enough TO make it an.
nOying. Breakfasts did not flow
rs steadily into receivers rs usual,
some stations being silent while
others made only feeble efforts to
connect with listeners. Fading
and interference were as usual.
Sports Reporter Bill Fagen, doub-
ling as a baritone soloist, and the
chorus Cesare Sodero has organized
to entertain the WIZ chain Of
broadcasters and their customers,
provided what seemed to us the
most pleasing Of individual loud
speaker products last evening in
a continental program of average
temperature, aspiration and rhythm.
Pagan was plain Bill when he
described Babe Ruti1's long homer
over the center field stands in Chi
cago. In fact, he was such a regu-
ar sporting editor that even WEAF
couldn't make an artist Of him
right away but required George
Ross to announce a lot of things
about the evening program while
Bill was changing uniforms and
vocabularies.
Then William Fagen, baritone,
came to the microphone and bari
toned just as well as he had
sported. Possessed of a mellow,
honey and finely trained voice, Fa-
gen gave it an excellent exercise
run through quite a variety of
songe. In the old standby, Gal.
;oping." he put real pep and ginger
which il probably due to his
sporting editor experience with the
ponies. And in the more sweetly
sentimental ballads he injected gen.
uine feeling, broad "a" telephone
n" and everything. While we
simply cannot do without Bill and
his sparkling baseball comment
at the same time we're hoping
William and his educated vocal
cords viii be with us frequently.
SODERO CHORUS
SCORES FROM WIZ
One of the little things we've
had occasion to regret in his WEAF
grand opera endeavors has been
Cesare Sodero's sidestepping per-
fectly good opportunities for fine
choral work. An artist with the
genius for orchestration Sodero has
displayed, should, we insisted, have
the same flair for choral work. In
the organization Of his WIZ COM
bination Sodero has developed real
chorus and listeners who tune his
Tuesday evening endeavors through
KDkA or WMAL have opportunity
to revel in vocal symphonic effects
as well as hear some very fine
soloists. Last nights exhibition
was especially satisfactory.
AS program extending through
an hour or more there are few
combinations entertaining loud
speaker addicts that have more
genuine merit than the weekly
Radio Cavalcade that WEAF dis
tributes to most of the East and
Mid West. Last evenings example
provided a most rapidly moving
and enlivening hour OF varied
character and excellent quality
particularly the Milt Gross comedy
of Morey Leaf-although We wish
he'd learn a new title for his "bad
time" story as the Little Red
Riding Jacket" is wearing thin
and the evenings are cooler.
Phil Spitalny brought memories
NJ okn Eric nI H.
to many listeners of WMAL last
evening with his excellent orchestra
in the Movie Club program. While
his orchestral sense Is just as
acute as ever. in his arrangement
of the Romsky- Karsakow "Schehe-
razade" suite to modern rythm his
themes We're little more fragmen-
tary than Is necessary, much more
SO than his rather interesting ar
rangement Of the Ippolitow-Ivanoff
Caucasian" sketches in the same
tempo.
Sybil Sanderson Fagen, the whist.
Ter, who was the other Palace Thea.
ter attraction on the Movie Club
program, was fine when she could
be heard, but she needs to learn
to whistle closer to the microphone.
We know from our own experience
that whistling into a mike is
ticklish business, but 1t can be done,
and Miss Fagen should learn the
technique, as her whistle is most
melodious and pleasing.
Elsewhere we found the air rather
dead and difficult to arouse to
action save in such noisy spots as
are served by WTAM, WLW and
WJR, where the Joy of dance and
song seemed to be entirely uncon-
fined. There was an excellent studio
concert from WBAL before that
station Joined its WIZ brothers and
sister in their wholesaling of pro.
grams, but then there usually is Just
such a program from WBAL Cor