Jim Davidson and Orchestra
Australian commercial radio
Australian commercial radio · 1933–1941
153 EpisodesFortnightlyPGSince 1933
The run
- Network
- Australian commercial radio
- Years active
- 1933–1941
- Surviving broadcasts
- 153
- Genre
- music
A Collection of Aussie Radio Shows No 171 Jim Davidson (James Hutchinson Davidson 06.08.1902 - 09.04.1982) was born in Bowral NSW and was the leader of Australia’s first and most successful, swing band. Davidson was a drummer and joined Jimmie Elkins’ orchestra in 1924, playing theatre circuits in Sydney & Melbourne. Broadcasts were over 2FC (Sydney) and recordings made for Columbia at their Homebush studios. In early 1931 Jim joined George Rawlinson’s group at the Oriental Cafe. Jim was spotted by the entrepreneur Jim Bendrodt, whose Palais Royal establishment was suffering a drop in business. On May 5th 1933 the new season opened with a Gala ball, Jim Davidson & his orchestra were on the s Public-domain transfers from the Internet Archive.
Source collection
Internet Archive audio collections
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
36 dated broadcasts across 94 years on the air, with 90 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 2024, in original transmission order.
- 1. The Case of the Missing Hour · 19 Nov 2024
- 2. Sign Off · 26 Nov 2024
- 3. Dead Air · 3 Dec 2024
Sign Off
4 Aug 2026 · 33 min
We go back to the beginning and read everything again.
The Case of the Missing Hour
28 Jul 2026 · 48 min
Three interviews, one archive reel, and a question nobody wanted asked.
Night Broadcast
21 Jul 2026 · 1h 3m
Recorded on location, with the room left in.
The Last Train Out
14 Jul 2026 · 26 min
New tape, a reluctant witness, and a timeline that finally stops making sense.
Signal at Midnight
7 Jul 2026 · 41 min
We go back to the beginning and read everything again.
A Room Above the Street
30 Jun 2026 · 56 min
Three interviews, one archive reel, and a question nobody wanted asked.
The Long Silence
23 Jun 2026 · 19 min
Recorded on location, with the room left in.
Dead Air
16 Jun 2026 · 34 min
New tape, a reluctant witness, and a timeline that finally stops making sense.
Also on Australian commercial radio
Australian commercial radio in 1933–1941
Other series the network carried while Jim Davidson and Orchestra was on the air.
Same seasons
music on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
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