JN201: Nelson Eddy – Chase & Sanborn “Halloween” Show, October 30, 1938

This radio show actually was broadcast live on Halloween Eve, 1938….but has become famous (or infamous) as: The other “Halloween” Show.

This is the complete one-hour Chase & Sanborn show on NBC at the very same time as Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater “War of the Worlds” was broadcast on CBS.  Now – let’s acknowledge first that the ratings for Chase & Sanborn had gone WAY up since Nelson joined the cast (and host Edgar Bergen had received a large raise in salary accordingly). But there were, of course, folks who tuned in each week to hear the comedy routines of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, or to hear some of the other famous weekly guest stars.

Orson Welles apparently timed the first report of his “Martian invasion” to begin around 12 minutes into his show, knowing that some folks listening to the very popular Chase & Sanborn Hour might start switching radio channels around this time (unless they were devout Nelson Eddy fans) and not realize that the so-called Martian attack was fiction! Despite the national panic that ensued this night, Nelson Eddy stoutheartedly sang the following numbers during his show:

Song of the Vagabonds (The Vagabond King)
Canadian Logging Song
Massenet Aria from “Le Roi de l’or”
Brown October Ale

Due to the age and scarcity of the original non-commercial recordings, sound quality on this album may not be up to today’s standards.