Happy Gang

The Happy Gang was a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio lunchtime variety show that ran from 1937 to 1959. During the Golden Age of Radio and well into the 1950s, it was one of Canada's most popular programs. In its heyday, it had about two million listeners a day. The show was known for its "spontaneous humor, music, and corny jokes."

The Happy Gang debuted on June 14, 1937 on station CRCT, a CBC affiliate in Toronto, later known as CBL. Originally intended as just a summer fill-in, it gained a following, and was moved to the CBC network four months later. The Happy Gang ran for 22 years, totalling nearly 4900 broadcasts, until it was finally canceled in late August 1959. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, the series also served as the template for CBC's French language service, Les Joyeux Troubadours, which was broadcast in Quebec from 1941 to 1977.

In 1937, CBC Regional Program Director George Taggart was given the assignment to come up with a Monday-through-Friday half-hour variety program that would fill the period 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. E.S.T. His tight budget permitted only four musicians. To “lead the band”, and as Master of Ceremonies, Taggart’s choice was Bert Pearl, whose real name was Bert Shapira. Credited with coming up with the concept that became the Happy Gang, Pearl's on-air persona was "that slap-happy chappy, the Happy Gang's Own Pappy." His fellow musicians were trumpeter Robert (Bob) Farnon, violinist Blain Mathé and organist Kathleen (Kay) Stokes. Stokes was already a popular entertainer; she had been the staff organist at CFRB in Toronto, and was also known in vaudeville and on the air as "Canada's Sweetheart of the Theatre Organ." She was the only female member of the Happy Gang, and she remained with them throughout their 22 years on the air. The fact that Stokes was the Happy Gang's only female member was mentioned in the show's signature song: they would sing "It’s the Happy Gang with the boys and Kay Stokes. We hope you’ll like our music and our songs and our jokes..."

Herb May, who served his apprenticeship with CBO Ottawa and had been moved to Toronto, became the show’s first regular announcer. George Temple was appointed the Happy Gang's first producer, and he remained a producer for the show till 1955. The Happy Gang show was originally broadcast at 11:30 a.m.; it was later moved to 1 in the afternoon. Singer-accordionist Eddie Allen joined in 1938 and stayed with the Gang for the remainder of their history, along with Mathé and Stokes. After Bert Pearl's departure in 1955, Allen became the Happy Gang's Master of Ceremonies.

...
Wikipedia