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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZGODFREY, Arthur(b 31 Aug. '03 NYC; d there 16 March '83) Entertainer, talent scout. Played ukulele, banjo in vaudeville; later sang in homespun baritone. Announcer/disc jockey on Baltimore radio '30; Arthur Godfrey and all the Little Godfreys in Wash. DC '35, etc. Networked morning show post-war; then Talent Scout show and Arthur Godfrey And His Friends were simulcast on radio/TV; theme was 'Seems Like Old Times', mus. dir. was Archie Bleyer. He was a very big star in '50s TV, with a special CBS vice-president at his beck and call, popular enough to get away with kidding sponsors, rare then; on one occasion a fan sent him a device with a magnifying glass and tweezers for finding the chicken in Lipton's chicken soup: he displayed it on TV. Countless pop people of the era were contestants on talent show or regulars on other shows: Everly Bros, Pat Boone, McGuire sisters etc. His folksiness was for the public; he was a tyrant, making news by firing Julius LaRosa on the air (with a million-selling hit record, LaRosa had had the nerve to hire an agent). Godfrey recorded novelties, sentimental songs on Bluebird, Decca, Columbia: duets with Mary Martin, Janette Davis (a regular on programme from '46); six top 20 hits '47--51 incl. million-seller 'Too Fat Polka'/'For Me And My Gal' (no. 2 '47, 16 weeks in chart); last hit was two-sided 'Dance Me Loose'/'Slow Poke'. Recovered from surgery for lung cancer after years of advising people not to smoke, but if they did to smoke Chesterfields; had radio show through '60s. |