Love Songs in Old Time Radio

We suppose that people have been singing songs for as long as they have been able to speak and tell stories. At its core, a song is just another way to tell a story or communicate a feeling. Songs fall into three related and interrelated types. First are simple tunes and lyrics which can be learned by ear (and have a way of sticking in your head) and are generally considered folk songs. Folk songs tend to be versatile with tunes and lyrics that can be adapted to the singer's needs, but too much change is discouraged because 'everyone knows them'. Art songs are the result of formal composition complying with musical rules. Performances of art songs began under the patronage of royal courts as well as for religious worship, both demanding a high degree of discipline as well as a strict form. Popular songs are generally composed and recorded to make money for the artists, but the commerciality does not keep them from making great music.

There are songs about heroic figures, songs of national pride, songs expressing religious ecstasy, songs for the Holidays, songs to make work go easier, even songs about enjoying strong drink with friends, but far and away the most common type of songs are love songs. Not everyone will find the love of their life but check the playlists of your radio and you will discover that everyone loves the idea of being in love.

Love songs deal with Romantic Love, which is the sort of love that everyone thinks they want to be in (and the sort that gets people into all kinds of trouble). The pain and ecstasy of falling in (or out of) love, the foolish pleasure of your first crush and the crushing agony of losing the person who you thought was "the One", and the visceral hunger of sexual desire are what make love songs so universally appealing.

In some ways, the appeal of Love Songs harkens back to our basest animal instincts. According to many biology texts, the driving force in animal behavior has less to do with individual survival but is, in fact, an all-consuming desire to ensure that one's genes survive into following generations. Whether it is a simple ditty you hum to yourself while walking, a show-stopping aria sung on an operatic stage, or a smash-hit gold record, Love Songs are for everyone.

• The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour, June 8, 1933. Featured Love Song: "I Can't Give Anything but Love" by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. The Jazz standard was introduced by Adelaide Hall at Les Ambassadeurs Club in New York, Katherine Hepburn sings a few lines in Bringing Up Baby (1938) to Cary Grant and a reluctant leopard, the song is number 24 out of the 100 most recorded songs between 1890 and 1954. In this episode, Rudy Vallee is pleased to introduce an up-and-coming new young comedy star, Bob Hope.
• The Kraft Program, December 7, 1933. Featured Love Song: "Love is Sweeping the Country" by George and Ira Gershwin for the 1931 musical, Of Thee I Sing. 
• The Pepsodent Show, January 20, 1942. Featured Love Song: "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)" by James Monaco and Joe McCarthy, recorded by Al Jolson in 1913, rewritten for Judy Garland to sing at Clark Gable's birthday party in 1937, Bing Crosby recorded it in 1940 and Patsy Cline's version in 1962. Bob's monologue is about the rubber shortage.
• The Grapenuts and Grapenuts Flakes Program Starring Jack Benny, May 16, 1943. Featured Love Song: "Taking a Chance on Love" by Vernon Duke for the musical Cabin in the Sky. In tonight's program, the song is sung by Rochester. It has also been covered by Helen Forrest with Benny Goodman, and by Sammy Kaye in 1943. Before Rochester's song, the Gang performs "Rancho Bennay" for the Marines at Camp Pendleton.
• Birdseye Open House, September 25, 1945. Featured Love Song: "I'm Gonna Love That Guy (Like He's Never Been Loved Before" by Frances Ash, a hit for Benny Goodman, Adelaide Hall, Perry Como, and Artie Shaw, recorded by Dinah Shore and sung by Betty Grable in the film Call Me Mister (1951, Twentieth Century Fox). The program celebrates Caesar Romero's service in the Coast Guard.
• Songs By Sinatra, February 13, 1946. Featured Love Song: "Somebody Loves Me" by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ballard MacDonald and Buddy DeSylva, featured in George White's Scandals of 1924, also recorded by Bing Crosby (1939), Eddie Fischer (1955), and Sinatra. The rest of the show features a visit to Jack Carson's radio station KUKU and plenty of screaming bobbysoxers.
• Here's to Veterans. Featured Love Song: "Love for Sale" by Cole Porter, 1930. This version by Stan Kenton and His Orchestra is an instrumental, the song has also been covered by Billie Holiday and Ella.
• The Phil Harris – Alice Faye Show, June 19, 1949. Featured Love Song: Alice sings "I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy" by Rogers and Hammerstein for South Pacific (1949, Belasco Theatre, 1,935 performances). The song was written for Mary Martin's personality as well as her character, Nellie Forbush. Dinah Shore's recording of the song reached #22 on the charts. In this show, Alice sings the song after Remley has been trying to find a bride so he can adopt a French orphan boy.
• Hedda Harper's Hollywood, January 28, 1951. Featured Love Song: "Lucky in Love" sung by Mel Torme, written by De Sylva, Brown, and Henderson, first recorded by Jack Hylton and his Orchestra, 1928, and covered by Sarah Vaughn, Mel Torme, June Allyson, Dick Haymes and others. Mel is on Hedda's show to plug the Caesar Romero play "Break It Up" which Torme wrote the music for.