Invitation

All Programs

All Programs

Invitation was a WHAM program which appeared nightly, Monday through Saturday, between 8:00 and 9:00 PM. It aired each night with a different host and a different theme. In those days all the music was recorded on vinyl “LP” records. These were the lastest in recording technology. The shellac predesessors only played for about 5 minutes per side. The LP (long play) vinyls played for up to 2o minutes per side. The snap crackle and pop sounds which could be heard after the first play were caused by the friction between the needle and the vinyl. If you listen you can hear the snap crackle pops as the music plays. This is truly the sound of old time radio.

Turntable
Jack Ross

Jack Ross

Our first program aired in September 1959. It is an almost complete Thursday night version of Invitation with a weekly theme called the Collector’s Corner. Jack Ross hosted the show as The Old Collector. Jack was an old timer at WHAM. He first joined the staff in 1937 as an announcer, went on to to be a news broadcaster in 1938 and a news editor in 1944.

Tracks for the Thursday night Collector’s Corner Invitation program

Track 1: Jack introduces Her Majesty’s Irish Guard playing the        Irish Washer Woman with remarks.
Track 2: Jack introduces Johnny Paleo and his harmonica and drum band playing a their version of Ravel’s Balero. 
Track 3: Jack Introduces the ballad Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child with ending remoarks.   
Track 4: As The Old Collector, Jack introduces a letter to Mr. Mason and Mr. Dixon, the surveyors responsible for creating the Mason Dixon Line, and to those who live north and south of that line.
Track 5: Louise Wilson and Walter Dixon appear in a promo for the Earl Jerris Invitation Show which airs on Friday Night.
Track 6: Jack introduces Fred Fennell’s fife and drums from his famous Wind Ensemble as they play, “Gary Owen.
Track 7: Jack introduces Russian music with the Don Cossack vocalists singing selections from the music of Tchaikowsky.
Track 8. Jack introduces Her Majesty’s Scots Guards Highland Pipes
Track 10: He finishes with Alfred Hitchcock’s theme playing under his closing remarks which include a reminder to tune into Eddie Dunn’s Fun With Dunn on Friday night’s Invitation program.
Track 11: Jack introduces the partial sample of the 9:00 o’clock news. Announcer’s name unknown.

The second program is is a partial Invitation program hosted by Earl Jerris. It features a moment of fun with a duet sung by Earl and Walter Dixon.

 Over the course of his years with WHAM, Earl played in a number of time slots from late night to early morning. Those early morning shows were oh so hard for a night person to do.

Earl Jerris

Earl Jerris

Walter Dixon

Walter Dixon

TRACKS to Earl Jerris’ partial Invitation show. 

Track 1: Opens with the ending of “Taking A Chance On Love.” Followed by a salute to the year 1932. It and ends with singing “How Deep Is The Ocean.
Track 2: John Woods does a promo for his early morning program which airs from 6:30 AM to 10:00 AM.  
Track 3: Jerris introduces a Dixon/ Jerris duet. Earl begins by singing the orginal song. Then he and Walter sing a duet of Walter’s rewrite of the song.
Track 4: Earl introduces Rochester’s own Joyce Passano singing Moonlight in Vermont with Earl on piano as always. It ends with Earl’s closing remarks.

The third program is an outlier, a one of a kind 3 minute segment of a program which Earl, as host, called Sunday radio as you like it on the Sunday Sound of Music. But it’s the only other recording we have which features the voice of Earl Jerris as the host and so we included it here. It features Earl introducing the music of the Jona Jones orchestra.

Track 1: Opens with ending to Jonah Jones’ Sleepy Lagoon and introduction to Jonah Jones rendition of Le Roy Anderson’s Serenata. Open this link for more on Jonah Jones music.