The Radio Show Command Performance

Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Judy Garland during the episode Dick Tracy in B-Flat.

Command Performance was one of the best known and most respected radio shows of the 1940s. Despite this, many Americans at home never heard an episode. This was because Command Performance aired on the Armed Forces Radio Network and by shortwave to the troops serving overseas during and after World War II.

The show began as a result of a request from the United States War Department to Louis G. Cowan, then working in their radio division, to create a radio show to entertain the troops serving overseas. Prior to the war, Mr. Cowan had helped Kay Kyser develop his radio show Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge, and  created the popular radios show Quiz Kids. For the War Department Louis Cowan conceived a show that would based on requests from servicemen and servicewomen serving in World War II. It is for this reason that the show was titled Command Performance.

The requests made by members of military for Command Performance varied a good deal. Among the requests were such things as Charles Laughton teaching Disney cartoon character Donald Duck elocution and Bing Crosby mixing bourbon and soda for Bob Hope. Others were a bit more unusual, such as hearing Carole Landis sigh and Ann Miller tap dancing in combat boots. Other service members simply wanted to hear sounds from home. One soldier wanted to hear his dog back home barking. An serviceman from Indiana wanted to hear the birds chirping in his home town.

In its earliest days Command Performance was transmitted via shortwave, which proved to have its disadvantages. Many in the service had no access to  a shortwave radios. Another problem with shortwaving the show is that often reception was poor, with a lot of static and fading. It was for that reason that Command Performance was then recorded on 16" transcription discs and shipped to Armed Forces Network stations overseas.

The performers who appeared on Command Performance reads like a Who's Who of Hollywood and radio. The Andrew Sisters, Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, Judy Garland, Bob Hope, Lena Horne, Kay Kyser, Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra, Lana Turner, and yet others appeared on Command Performance. Any other radio show would have had to have paid a good deal of money for such talent, but the many legendary performances who appeared on Command Performance did so for free. NBC and CBS volunteered use of their network studios for recording the show for free as well. It is estimated that $75,000 would have been necessary to produce a similar show.

In the beginning Command Performance originated from New York City, but it later moved to Hollywood where it would have better access to the stars of the big screen. It was recorded live in front of an audience made up of members of the military.

Because it was recorded to transcription discs, many more episodes of Command Performance survive than episodes of other radio shows. Only one episode would ever air stateside. It was on Christmas Eve in 1942 that Command Performance was broadcasted to radio listeners at home in the United States. That episode featured Fred Allen, The Andrew Sisters, Jack Benny, Edgar Bergen, Bing Crosby, Harriet Hilliard,  Spike Jones and The City Slickers, Kay Kyser, Charles Laughton, Dinah Shore, Ginny Simms, Red Skelton, and Ethel Waters.

Perhaps the most notable episode of Command Performance was its February 15 1945 broadcast. It featured the 55 minute parody operetta Dick Tracy in B-Flat: For goodness sakes isn't he ever going to marry Tess Trueheart!. It starred Bing Crosby as Dick Tracy, with Dinah Shore as Tess Trueheart, Bob Hope as Flattop, Cass Daley as Gravel Gertie, Frank Sinatra as Shaky, Judy Garland as Snowflake Falls, The Andrew Sisters as The Summer Sisters, Frank Morgan as Vitamin Flintheart, Jerry Colonna as Chief Brandon, Harry Von Zell as Judge Hooper, and Jimmy Durante as The Mole. The AFRS Orchestra was conducted by Meredith Wilson, who would later become famous for The Music Man. No one loved Dick Tracy in B-Flat more than Dick Tracy's creator, Chester Gould.

Command Performance debuted on March 1 1942. It began airing via the Armed Forces Radio Network after it was launched on May 26 1942. It would continue even after the war, until December 20 1949. It  was cancelled, along with nine other AFRS shows (including the popular series Mail Call), due to budget cuts.

While Command Performance had ended its run, it was not forgotten. Many veterans who served during and shortly after World War II would remember the show. The existence of the show's many transcription discs would ensure that it would survive for further generations. Indeed, episodes of the show are available at such venues as the Internet Archive and YouTube, and CD collections of episodes can be bought from various Old Time Radio outlets. Command Performance was a remarkable achievement in radio, a program featuring the best talent of the time and written by top writers. What is more, they did all of it for free.