(CBS Primetime, 1948 - 1955; CBS Primetime, 1951, re-run under "Blue Ribbon Classics"; Syndicated, re-runs via CBS films "Blue Ribbon Classics") [aka: "Fight Of The Week"; aka: "Blue Ribbon Bouts"; rerun title: "Blue Ribbon Classics"; These Wednesday night CBS boxing matches originated in New York arena called "Madison Square Garden" sponsored by a Milwaukee beer company that produced Pabst Blue Ribbon, Miller Beer and other regional and national brands; The play-by-play announcer was Russ Hodges, and the announcer who did the on-camera live beer commercials was Bill Nimmo; A nemo was tv slang for a "remote" broadcast; Not known if that term originated because of Bill Nimmo's broadcasts on this series or because of the remote location of "Captain Nemo" from "20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" :-) Along with NBC's "Friday Night Fights", this series was one which promoted the early interest in television through the use of boxing -- when television first came out it was so expensive that individuals had a hard time justifying the expense, so neighborhood taverns would often set up a TV to keep the men interested in staying (and drinking) longer; After seeing how it looked, and after the prices started to fall, men who had seen TV sets in bars bought them for the home, and many men (including my stepfather) frequently watched these boxing matches, with a can of beer in hand, of course... CBS attempted a short-lived kinescope show in 1951 which showed the "hilights" of boxing matches -- called "Blue Ribbon Classics" but it didn't catch on as a network show so the CBS Films division syndicated it...]
[THEME, composer and publisher information courtesy expert John Steiner, "the Historian for the Pabst Brewing Company" who worked 23 years for the company in Milwaukee; The melody was adapted from the traditional nursery tune "Ten Little Indians"...In contrast to the published sheet music title which John says is simply "What'll You Have?" -- using the contraction "What'll" (the way the lyrics were) -- the BMI Repertoire database lists the title as follows: "What Will You Have (Legal Title)"; Bill Gale was a prolific composer/performer of polkas and polish songs of Ukrainian ancestry. His birth name was Wasyl Gula. It was also said wrote over 1300 compositions. He also wrote a few commercial jingles including one for a Pabst competitor -- named Bock Beer; Gale introduced both the "Clarinet Polka" and the "Laugh Polka" on the Columbia label under the name "Bill Gale and his Music Makers"; Another name under which he made recordings was "Bill Gale and his Globetrotters"; and later "Bill Gale and His Orchestra"; An article in The Ukrainian Weekly of Feb. 2, 1946 quotes a Newsweek article stating that Gale just "made his 650th record, a polka called County Fair. Gula uses several pseudonyms -- Wasyl Gula for Ukranian records, V. Gailiaus for Lithuanians, Wiejska Balowa for Slovaks, Brunek Grabowski for Poles, and Bohemios Aleges when making polka recordings for Latin Americans." Note: Polka king Bill Gale is not to be confused with the rhythm and blues artist known as "Billy" Gale...] Composers: music by Bill Gale (BMI) [professional name of Wasyl Gula], and lyric by Irvin J. Wagner (not affiliated) Orig. Publishers: Gala Music Publishing, Inc. (BMI) and The Pabst Brewing Company (affiliation unknown) 2001 Publishers: Gala Music Publishing, Inc. (BMI) of Pompano Beach, FL; and The Pabst Brewing Company of Milwaukee, WI (affiliation unknown) Unpublished Copyright Date: Mar. 7, 1951; Eu 231 529. Unpublished Renewal Date: [published date courtesy contributor T. Perrone] Published Copyright Date: May. 15, 1951; Ep 54 776. Published Renewal Date: Recording:
[Above is the title as registered for copyright in 1955; This was probably an instrumental variation of the above jingle ("What'll You Have?")] Composer: Bill Gale (BMI) [professional name of Wasyl Gula] Original Publisher: Gala Music Pub. Co. (BMI) 2018 Publisher: Unpublished Copyright Date: May 27, 1955; EU 398 747. Renewal Date: Recordings: