War in the Pacific and the Final Surrender

The War's Voices

Broadcast and Commercial Recordings of Speeches and Interviews of World War II-era Personalities.

Winning the Home Front

War-related Entertainment, Propaganda, and Ads Targeting World War II-era Radio Listeners.

G.I. Jive

Popular and Topical Songs of World War II.

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys

USO Shows, Armed Forces Radio, V-Discs, and Other Morale Efforts Targeting the Military.

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War Reports, News Flashes, and Informational Programs Regarding World War II.

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World War II-era Broadcast and Recording Technology.

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As with the war in Europe, topical songs about the Pacific Theater combined entertainment with social, cultural, and geographical tidbits. But unlike the European campaign, which escalated steadily through diplomatic maneuvers, the war against Japan ignited with the sudden sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Songs of the Pacific war reflect an almost personal quest among Americans for revenge and retaliation against the Japanese. These songs were distinctive in other ways as well. Juxtaposing formidable foes with newfound love, and firebombed cities with scenic shores, songs of the Pacific Theater painted a black-and-white landscape of alluring romanticism and unimaginable destruction. Back home, Americans listened via radio and record - and in the end found themselves pondering the moral issues of the war's conclusion and a new technological development - the atomic bomb.

The seven songs presented here come from the 78 rpm and LP disc collections in the Marr Sound Archives.

Song #1
Copyrighted just hours before Congress declared war, "You're A Sap, Mr. Jap" ascended from the ashes of Pearl Harbor and typified music immediately following the attack. The brash lyrics coupled with the Murphy Sisters' buoyant vocals make this Carl Hoff number a hard pill to swallow. More an example of propaganda fluff than chart-topping pop fare, the music industry hastily churned out such material, only to have it forgotten just as quickly by American audiences. Be they harmless banter, scornful commentary, or tasteless stereotypes, musical strikes against Japan abounded and conveyed the jingoism of a country thrust into another world war.

Song #2
"Win The War Blues", along with the pre-war selection "War Time Blues," nicely bookends John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson's prolific output during World War II. His assertive voice and dramatic harmonica fills highlight this December 14, 1944 record on which he bluntly forecasts a bleak end to Japanese aggression. As the song suggests, the inimitable stylist did drop a few bombs - albeit, in the blues world - and heralded a new evolution in the genre, paving the way for post-war harmonica players such as Little Walter, Shakey Jake Harris, Big Walter Horton, and Junior Wells.

Song #3
Cowboy Copas may be remembered best for his tragic and well-documented death - a plane crash in 1963, which also claimed the lives of country music stars Hawkshaw Hawkins and Patsy Cline. His equally conspicuous contributions to country music read like a who's who: radio shows in Cincinnati, Knoxville, and Nashville; regular appearances on the Grand Ole Opry; and a recording career with up-and-coming King Records. The label's first full year of production, 1944, hailed the addition of Copas to the roster and the instant success of his "Filipino Baby." The topical song, one of the first hits for King as well as Copas, related a whimsy tale of cross-cultural romance common during the war years.

Song #4
Part vitriolic patriot, part comedic kamikaze, Carson Robison found a niche during World War II penning songs aimed at every imaginable enemy. From Hitler to Mussolini to Hirohito, the boisterous musician recorded selections as scathing as "We're Gonna Have To Slap The Dirty Little Jap," and as inane as "Mussolini's Letter To Hitler" (and its flipside "Hitler's Reply To Mussolini"). Here, Robison twists an old, bawdy folk theme into a topical romp entitled "Here I Go To Tokio, Said Barnacle Bill, The Sailor."

Song #5
By 1943, Perry Como hosted his own CBS radio show and possessed a recording contract as a star solo act. Not bad for a barber from Canonsburg, PA, who reluctantly quit his $125-a-week profession to pursue a $28-a-week gig with the Cleveland-based Freddy Carlone band. After touring nationally with the Ted Weems Orchestra from 1936-1942, the vocalist contemplated trading his traveling shoes for clippers and headed back home to make the decision. Encouraged by family and friends, Como instead went to New York to pursue a solo career on radio and record, rising to prominence during the vocalist craze of the war years. His first #1 hit, "Till The End Of Time," sold over two million copies, followed two singles later by the #3 record, "Dig You Later (A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba)." Recorded two months after the Japanese surrender, "Dig You Later" celebrated the chilling conclusion to World War II, with lyrical nods such as, "it was mighty smoky over Tokyo," coloring this successful pop song.

Song #6
This December 1945 string band number by Karl and Harty was "the answer to our fighting boys' prayers." "When The Atom Bomb Fell" lauded the abrupt end to a protracted struggle, but its solemn mood and biblical undertones suggested the paradox that the atomic bomb posed. This fundamental dilemma festered in the post-war era, spawning countless debates and topical songs, and most significantly, America's entry into another conflict - the Cold War.

Song #7
In the 1930's, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were forerunners of western swing, enjoying widespread radio success at WACO in Waco, TX, and KVOO in Tulsa, OK. Their regular engagements at the Cains Ballroom in Tulsa established a home base for the group, and in 1935 they cut their first studio recordings. At the outset of World War II, the call of duty depleted personnel, eventually leading to the break-up of the band a year after Pearl Harbor. In 1945, after relocating to California and piecing together an outfit of old and new faces, Wills - along with businessman Cliff Sundin and radio personality Clifton "Cactus Jack" Johnson - founded the Tiffany Music Company for the sole purpose of recording music for radio syndication. Sundin provided the capital for the venture; Cactus Jack sold the formatted 16" transcription discs to interested stations (that could customize them with local sponsors); and Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, of course, laid down the sound. Unfortunately, the ambitious project ended in 1947, with many of the completed programs never reaching radio audiences. This topical sound byte, complete with B.F. Goodrich spots, is excerpted from these rare 16" discs - capturing the peerless fiddler and his band in a setting that Wills dubbed "not cut and dried."

Sound file play list: "Texas Playboy Theme Song"; "Soldier's Joy"; "Feudin' and Fightin'" (vocal: Evelyn and Dean McKinney); "White Cross On Okinawa" (vocal: Tommy Duncan); "Texas Playboy Theme Song." Note: "Soldier's Joy" and "White Cross on Okinawa" excerpted from Bob Wills Tiffany Transcription Collection. (Tiffany Music RSR 588 #13, shown here at the left, and ASR 644 #34.) Click here for LP reissues of the Tiffany transcriptions held in the Marr Sound Archives.

Text by Kelly McEniry, Marr Sound Archives
Digital Audio by Scott Middleton, Marr Sound Archives

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