Chuck Cecil (broadcaster)
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Chuck Cecil (December 26, 1922 – April 30, 2019) was a veteran Los Angeles radio broadcaster and longtime host of the syndicated program "The Swingin' Years", a "Best of" radio show for the "
big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...
" era in music, which lasted from 1935 to 1955.


Early years

Cecil was born and raised on an
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...
. A severe drought during the
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forced Chuck's family west, to
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, where they settled in the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
. There, Cecil attended
Van Nuys High School Van Nuys High School (VNHS) is a public high school in the Van Nuys district of Los Angeles, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2. The school is home to a Residential Program and three Magnet Programs—Math/Science, P ...
alongside future actresses
Jane Russell Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, singer, and model. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. She starred in more than 20 films. Russell moved from th ...
and
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
(who went by the name Norma Jeane Baker at the time). Cecil was a guest at Monroe's wedding to Jim Dougherty in 1942. That same year, Cecil landed his first radio job at
KVEC KVEC (920 AM) is a commercial radio station that is licensed to San Luis Obispo, California, United States and serves the Central Coast of California. The station is owned by American General Media and broadcasts a news/talk radio format featurin ...
in
San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...
. By December, he had been called to active duty by the Navy. Cecil was accepted for the Navy's V-5 pilot training program, flying for
Grumman The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...
. When the war ended, Chuck was serving in a replacement squad waiting for his first combat assignment which never came. After the war, Chuck went back to radio. where he found a job at
KFLW KFLW is a radio station airing a hot adult contemporary format licensed to St. Robert, Missouri, broadcasting on 98.9 MHz FM. The station serves the areas of Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Rolla, Missouri Rolla () is a city in, and the coun ...
in
Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city w ...
. While working as an announcer for "Baldy's Band", a popular orchestra in Southern
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, Cecil met his future bride, Edna Brown. She had been working as the band's vocalist. The couple wed in 1947 and have four children and 15 grandchildren.Chuck Cecil at Dancing L.A.
accessed 2014-03-05
Cecil was hired by Los Angeles radio station
KFI KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...
in 1952, where he remained for the next 21 years until 1973, when KFI made a format change, causing Cecil to leave the station. Cecil later spent most of the 1970s and 80s working at radio stations KGIL-AM and KPRZ, both in Los Angeles. From the 1960s to the 1980s, Chuck Cecil broadcast a show called "Big Band Countdown" on the
American Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which ...
(AFRTS).


The Swingin' Years

While working at
KFI KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...
, Cecil pitched the idea of a Big Band oriented radio show to the station's management; they agreed. So in June 1956, "The Swingin' Years" went on the air for the first time. The concept was simple: "The Swingin' Years" perpetuates the memory of
swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...
, popularized by such acts as
Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the US Army Air Forc ...
,
Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conc ...
,
Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...
,
Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...
and
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was bas ...
. The program focused primarily on Swing, but also included many of the popular ballads of the era that topped the record charts from 1935 to 1955, that Cecil calls "The Swingin' Years". The music played on the program originally came from KFI's vast record library, as well as from Cecil's personal collection of 40,000+
78 rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...
records. As the show progressed, Cecil included audio clips of his interviews with some of the brightest stars of the
big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...
era. "The Swingin' Years" began as a local Los Angeles show in 1956, but by 1973, Cecil began syndicating the program through American Radio Programs, Incorporated. During its peak, the show aired on hundreds of radio stations across the United States, in Europe and on the
Armed Forces Radio Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...
. During its first three decades the show proved popular with members of the World War II generation, but by the late 1980s, that generation had begun to die off, as did the number of stations carrying a Big Band format. "The Swingin' Years" has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts over the past decade among younger people interested in
swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...
and swing dancing. Recently, "The Swingin' Years" has aired on a number of listener supported public radio stations across the United States. With the emergence of the internet, fans worldwide have sent contributions to keep "The Swinging Years" on public radio, and, by extension, streaming on the Internet. Cecil produced "The Swingin' Years" from his home in
Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura ( Spanish for " Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist ...
, where he moved from the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
in 2002, utilizing "a massive library of more than 30,000 78-, 45- and 33-rpm records, and his own personal library of interviews with 356 band leaders, singers and sidemen..."For radio host, big bands' allure endures
by Charles Fleming in ''Los Angeles Times'', 2013-12-19, accessed 2013-12-19
In June 2013, the show celebrated its 57th anniversary of existence. "The Swingin' Years" was heard on Sunday nights, from 8 pm to midnight, Eastern Time, on WPPB, broadcasting from
the Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one o ...
on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. Although Chuck's program was once heard on "some 30 stations across the United States..." and "on the Armed Forces Radio Network," WPPB was "...the only public radio station carrying his show." The program was formerly heard on Saturday and Sunday mornings, from 6am to 10am, Pacific Time, on
KKJZ KKJZ (88.1 MHz FM, "K-Jazz 88.1") is a non-commercial public radio station in Southern California broadcasting from the Long Beach State campus. The station is one of several public radio stations in Southern California presenting jazz and blu ...
, located in
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...
. According to KKJZ deejay Bubba Jackson, "This music is the voice of America, and he has documented it. Thanks to Chuck Cecil, that music will never disappear. He is one of the great historians of American culture." Chuck Cecil's last program on KKJZ was broadcast on February 9, 2014. Cecil broke off his long relationship with the station, citing "repeated technical difficulties producing the show."Chuck Cecil and 'Swingin' Years' to leave KJazz
by Charles Fleming in ''Los Angeles Times'', 2014-01-27, accessed 2014-02-14
Starting on February 15, 2014, Cecil's time slots at KKJZ were filled by longtime Los Angeles area disc jockey
Johnny Magnus KBRT (740 AM, known on-air as KBRITE) is a Southern Californian Christian radio station. It airs Christian talk radio programming from Costa Mesa, California to Los Angeles, Orange County, the Inland Empire, San Diego, and Santa Barbara. Th ...
, who discontinued the big band tradition, in favor of pop music, with a program called "Swing Time".KKJZ 88.1 Program grid
, accessed 2014-02-15
Cecil's last show on WPPB was broadcast on July 3, 2016, when it was announced that this would be his final program.


References


Sources



accessed 2014-03-05

compiled by Don Barrett, accessed 2013-11-08 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cecil, Chuck 1922 births 2019 deaths American radio personalities Swing music United States Navy pilots of World War II