Bill Bailey on the debut of the Louis Armstrong radio show Bailey, Bill performer Radio 1937-04-09 The first all-colored coast-to-coast commercial radio program under the sponsorship of the Fleischmann Yeast Company headed by Louis Armstrong and his orchestra, a half-hour show, advertised as an all-colored revue, broadcast with a live audience, introducing a new style of radio entertainment, featured singers and dancers: "Next in line came Bill Bailey (tap dancing). In this case we can proudly say nothing was missing. No better selection could have been made for his spot, and we doubt if any other dancer could have carried the job with more merit. The tremendous amount of applause which you outsiders heard for him was just and deserving." Performing Arts Encyclopedia http://www.loc.gov/performingarts Sampson, Henry T.: Swingin' On the Etherwaves: A Chronological History of African Americans in Radio and Television Broadcasting, 1925-1955. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press (2005). Tap Dance America http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/tda/tda-home.html Bill Bailey (biography) loc.music.tdabio.18 tda IHAS 151216 loc.music.tda.1391