Radio Days III

One of the loveliest voices to grace the airwaves in the 1930s was that of Kate Smith. Her theme song was "When the moon comes over the mountain - every beam brings a dream, dear, of you......" her style and lyrics were suitable for the 1930s.
Her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" during wartime touched everyone in a united country. Today you hear it played/sung at many athletic events but none can approach Kate's original. In circa 1974/1975 the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team (known  as the Broad Street Bullies) was vieing for the  Stanley Cup Trophy. They invited Kate to sing at their critical home game at the Spectrum Arena. She was then 68 years old. On the appointed evening they rolled carpet on the ice and escorted the lady to the microphone to sing her specialty. She blew the roof off the Spectrum which was filled to capacity est. 12000 raucous fans plus the TV audience. The team won the cup and Kate Smith became their good luck charm. You may have heard the phrase "It aint over til the fat lady sings." I think perhaps that slogan was born that night.
As an aside, last month, thirty-five years later the Spectrum Arena was demolished having outlasted Miss Smith by twenty-four years.
 tjs
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