Our friend Chuck Slate, Jr. had this lying around on a 16 transcription disc, but since none of us had the facilities to play it, we had no idea what was on it! It was sent to the famed Video Exchange in Waldoboro, Maine, and was transferred to CD in restored and non-restored sound (neither state-of-the-art, but surprisingly bright and resonant) and what a find this is! Two, 15-minute Armed Forces Radio broadcasts from March (or so) of 1945, featuring Gene being interviewed, jiving, answering questions, and introducing a bunch of tunes from his strings band, including Who, The Big Do, Whispering, Gypsy Mood, Futurama and others. Some of these seem to be the commercial recordings but a few, perhaps, may have been made as test pressings or just for this show. Gene never sounded so great with the strings band, and this previously undocumented broadcast is a must-have.

A Fabulous New Discovery on CD! Gene Krupa: Downbeat, 1945