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BROADCAST ON WNYC TODAY IN…
1941: Benny Goodman and a band consisting of Cootie Williams, Charlie Christian, George Auld, Artie Bernstein, Johnny Guarnieri and Dave Tough jam in the studio, to the delight of host Ralph Berton.
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WNYC Music Director Suspected of 'No Good'
The above declassified FBI office memo from September 5, 1947, states that a (name redacted) State Department official believes that some of the material in WNYC's 6 o'clock evening broadcast, "was nothing more or less than subtle Soviet propaganda." The document goes on to suggest that station Music Director Herman Neuman is responsible.
"It is further stated that Newman [sic] has been designated to proceed to Poland on a conductoral [sic] tour. The State Department is a little skeptical of this in view of the fact that there are no Polish orchestras over 22 pieces in Poland which would necessitate the visit of a foreign conductor. He further stated that Newman [sic] was not musically inclined as an orchestral conductor, and thus the State Department suspicion, although not substantiated by fact, that Newman [sic] is going to Poland for clandestine program purposes."
By August 27, 1949, however, the State Department is resting easy. Billboard reports Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, George V. Allen "has commended Herman Neuman...for giving successful concerts of American music in Europe." In fact, as early as June 1936 Broadcasting magazine reported Neuman had been granted a three-month leave from WNYC "to study education by radio abroad and conduct All-American concerts over ten government-owned stations in Europe." His first concert was in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: WNYC Archive Collections)
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On the Overnight
For many, many years While the City Sleeps was WNYC-FM's trademark classical program during the wee hours of the morning. In the April, 1987 WNYC Program Guide, listener Yvonne Forrest of East Rockaway wrote, "While the City Sleeps was named as a result of a contest held in the late 1940s by a young WWII veteran who was attending Fordham University on the G.I. bill and studying to the sounds of the late night program, whose emcee offered a prize for the best name submitted. Marc Belth won a 3-record album of Madame Butterfly, sung by Eleanor Steber and Richard Tucker. He went on to become a much-lauded professor and educational philosopher and author recognized both here and abroad."
Editor's note: Of course, there were a few wiseguys in-house who regularly referred to the program as Why the City Sleeps.
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