Evening star., 1948-05-09


riety. it isn't. A. newspaper out In
Chicago, the leading journal of show
business reports, got in trouble with
one of its subscribers because it
identified the. melody as Army
Buff" That's the answer the SUBJ
scriber gave when Bert Parks called
her and she apparently is the lis
tener who missed by one letter a
couple of weeks ago. The paper in
vestigated further, the story says,
and found ABC contending that
the mystery melody" is Army
Duff" with the Library of Congress
supporting it,
So, if Mr.. Parks calls you tonight,
you know at least as much as we do
about his mystery melody"
While mulling this over it oc-
CURED to us that the Library of
Congress was at the other end of
our telephone, too. Well, the man
we talked to in the music depart
ment said he'd looked for three days
through the library's musical files
without finding a tune called Army
Duff" Might be English in origin,
he thought. He added, unofficially,
that ABC was justified in turning
down that old folk ditty, THE
Worms Crawl In" It's little hard
to explain without printing this on
musical manuscript instead of news
print, but the first phrase of that
song is rising one, ending on its
highest note. The first phrase of
the mystery melody" rises in the
middle, then ends on a lower note.
The words of another old folk
song, There she goes, there she
goes, all dressed up in her Sunday
clothes" can be sung to the mystery
melody" but we seem to remember
hearing Mr.. Parks turn that one
down, too. The phrase, in varia-
tions, seems to have been kicking
around folk music for years, so
Harry Salter probably is the final
authority for the title of the ver-
sion his orchestra plays on stop
the Music"
Army Duff" indeed. Thatll teach
us to keep our nose out of the
affairs OF those radio give-away
shows. 1t isn't Mature Boy" any
way.
Awards and Citations:
To WINK, first place in the pub
lie service category in Billboard
Magazines first annual Local Pro-
gram Competition. for "Is Con-
gress Doing the Job?" The pro-
gram is weekly forum heard Sum
days at 1915 pm, with Ed Hart as
moderator. -
To WTOP. second place in the
same competition, for its "arrestingI
and courageous attack on venerealI
disease" in the series, THE Undis-
covered" The program, written
and narrated by Gunnar Back, is
broadcast Saturdays at 11:15 pm.
To CBS-owned and af1iliated sta
tions. II other awards in the Bill
board competition.
To "The Garden Gate" "You Are
There" Doorway to Life" the CHS
Documentary Unit series, Howard
K Smith From London" Tales of
Adventure % THE Friend and Peter
Stuyvesant," Lets Pretend" and
"Ths Son of Man" awards by the
INSTITUTE for Education by Radio. in
recognition of their educational
contributions in varying fields.
Proud network, that CHS. i
To MutuaFs Chicago Theater of
the Air" (WOL-Saturday, 10 PM !
the first annual award by the City
Club of Chicago, for outstanding
musical achievement.
To Bob Crosby, a citation for
"co-operation and assistance rem
dered in fostering and promoting
interest in the activities of the Ma
rine Corps Reserve"
To CHS (againD. the same.
To Lowell Thomas, a special traf-
fic safety medallion, for narration of
the American Transit Association's
new safety film. Driven to Kill"
4 y
What's New:
A give-away show titled TRY n
Stop Me" makes its debut today
over CHS and WTOP at 9 pm.
Contestants who can bluff will have
an equal chance with those who
know all the answers, a glib but
wrong answer standing until a con-
testant's challenger proves him in
correct and takes his place on a lad
der climbing toward the jackpot
query. Sounds complicated, but it
will be complicated further by lis
tener participation, via telephone
You'll have to listen to it to find
out how that's done.
A series of Regional Reports" on
the readjustment of veterans starts
today on What the Veteran Wants
to Know" on Mutual and VOL at
2:45 pm.
"Showpieces and Showpiaces,'
featuring a house-hunting young
married couple and remembered hit
tunes from musical comedy shows,
makes its debut today at 9:45 am
on WRC.
News of America" and the
Nancy Dixon Show" become part
Of WTOP's regular fare starting