It’s Tuesday, and you all know what that means–it’s time for Talkie Time and The Jazz Program on your favorite radio station, datafruits.fm! Here’s what we’re playing tonight!
Talkie Time : The Blue Beetle - Smashing The Arson Ring / Blasting The Dynamite Ring
(This program schedule was originally aired July 18, 2023.)
yeah man I don't even have a joke to go along with this cover art. Anyways you can read the original Golden Age comics on the Internet Archive if that's something you're into..
Hey, we can’t always be listening to crime dramas. Sometimes we gotta take a break, and listen to dramas about dudes in long underwear putting on masks and solving crime with funny names. That’s slightly different, right?
…yes it is, shut up
Voiced by the legendary Frank Lovejoy for the first 13 episodes and an uncredited actor in the last few episodes, The Blue Beetle serializes and dramatizes the exploits of the Fox Features comic character of the same name.
Our boy Dan Garret1 will be slipping on that light-as-silk-but-stronger-than-steel slinky blue catsuit and popping a few pills worth of Vitamin 2X before heading out to wrestle big strong bad men into submission in two episodes this evening.
If you think that sounds a little gay, you’re right. This is the Golden Age of comics we’re talking about here, son. Everyone’s a little queer, and here on Talkie Time we’re all about that shit.
We’ll be listening to Frank Lovejoy telling us the tales of how he spent his evenings Blasting The Dynamite Ring (originally aired May 24, 1940) and Smashing The Arson Ring (originally aired June 21, 1940). Normally I’d put little episode summaries here but like…c’mon, man. Look at those titles. It’s almost funnier this time if I don’t.
The Jazz Program : Dinah Washington - Dinah Jams / Dinah ‘62 / Back To The Blues
(This program schedule was originally aired March 12, 2024.)
An absolute masterpiece of the art. If you can't tune in to the show tonight to catch this, you owe it to yourself to find it on your own time and give it a listen. It's a masterpiece.
Dinah Washington, for those of us who like our jazz vocal and our be-bops bopping, needs no introduction. Hailing from Tuscaloosa and bringing a voice that could blow up half the South, the self-proclaimed “Queen Of The Blues” has a catalogue of LPs that stretch from 1954 to 1963, all of which are certified bangers from front to back and a good portion of which are widely regarded as classics. We’ll be taking a look at three of them tonight.
First up is 1963’s “Back To the Blues”, released on the Roulette label and features Dinah returning to her bluesy roots after making it to the top of the pop charts thanks to her single “Unforgettable”.
Next up is “Dinah ‘62”, also released on Roulette and featuring an utterly stunning rendition of “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You”, who fans of the show may recognize as the source of a line I often quote from my favorite radio DJ.
Finally, we have one of–in my oh so humble opinion–the greatest jazz records ever released, 1955’s “Dinah Jams”, released on the Emarcy label. If you stick around for no other reason, stick around for this–you won’t regret it.
That’s about all we’ve got for this week! Thank you all for reading, and I do hope you tune in live and hang out in the chat with us on Datafruits! We’ve got a good crowd of folks in the chat every week, and whether you have a suggestion for a future show or just want to hang out and chat with fellow jazz enjoyers, you’re welcome here with us.
You’re all amazing and don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not. Stay safe out there, and I’ll see you back again next week. Same time, same station.
Have a good one.
–piper
Footnotes…
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If the Blue Beetle you know isn’t named Dan Garret, that’s perfectly normal, son. Happens to every man at least once. Also, there were like three different Blue Beetles so there is that. ↩︎