(ABC Primetime, 1952)
[The 1950s may have been a "Classic" period of television music,
remembered fondly by many; but socially it was a backward time;
for those entertainers who were not white there was a struggle
for acceptance in television that seemed to take longer than
in other entertainment mediums such as night clubs, vaudeville,
Broadway musical theatre or even radio;
The first network TV variety show hosted by an African American
was this short-lived series by the energetic entertainer Billy
Daniels; the brave effort was a 15 minute show on Sunday nights
which only lasted half a season (13 weeks) but it was historic;
Four years later the recording star Nat "King" Cole was to
be given a half-hour NBC series that lasted 64 weeks, but
Madison Avenue advertisers failed to show interest and the
network couldn't justify continuing to air it without revenues...]
[THEME verified as seen on excerpt broadcast on the "TVLand"
cable network 2/24/2002; The THEME which was introduced in
the film by Johnny Johnston, was Billy Daniels signature song...]
Composers: music by Harold Arlen (ASCAP)
[professional name of Hyman Arluck], and
lyric by Johnny Mercer (ASCAP)
1978 Publisher: Famous Music Corporation (ASCAP)
2001 Publisher: Famous Music Corporation (ASCAP)
of Los Angeles, CA
Copyright Date:
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Recording: