1944–1948 · NBC and syndication

The Supper Club and the Ballroom

Fifteen minutes of song, five nights a week

Before the disc jockey took the format over entirely, the fifteen-minute nightly music show was the most reliable thing on the schedule: one singer, one small orchestra, four songs and a cigarette sponsor. Make Believe Ballroom is the other half of the story — Martin Block playing records and pretending they were a live band in a studio ballroom, which is essentially the invention of modern radio.

14 broadcasts · 7 years held · New York

Surviving broadcasts from the nightly sponsored music strips, indexed by first song where the source gives one. Recordings held by the Internet Archive.