Bill Bonecutter brings the The Big Band Show live to WPWL during cocktail hour on Wednesdays, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., with repeat broadcasts aired Saturday’s at 7 pm and Tuesday’s at 8 pm.
Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, Bill’s home was filled with the great sounds of Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Mitch Miller, Stan Kenton, Gene Kupra and many more. The brassy, percussive, and swinging reeds, filled his home and a young boy’s soul. There were band singers the likes of Jo Stafford, Anita O’Day, The Andrew Sisters, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, The Great Ella, and other terrific stylists. Bill knew all the lyrics, singing and dancing around the living room with great dreams of being center stage with a microphone, backed up by a big band.
Bill’s love of music and performing brought him from Colorado to NYC in 1976. With $200 in his pocket and a dream, he embarked on a journey that took him from Broadway Chorus boy, to opera, to film production, to producing 91 episodes of the iconic “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” anthology on Nickelodeon from 1992 – 2001.
Bill retired from the entertainment industry and began living full time at his country home in Wingdale as an active realtor with Houlihan Lawrence in Millbrook. His participation at Pawling Public Radio and his new Big Band Show brings Bill full circle back to his childhood. Dreams fulfilled with a microphone, Big Band playlist, but hopefully not singing along.
The Big Bands Sound and Swing began in 1898 in New Orleans after the Spanish American War, and were eclipsed by Pop singers after World War II. Today there is a Big Band resurgence with Tony Bennett and other artists renewing the style with passion. The Big Band Show is a perfect complement to your cocktail hour as you unwind from your day.
Bill Bonecutter is an active Trustee on Pawling Public Radio’s board of directors. His other show contributions are Farm To Table Talk, broadcast Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s at 12 pm, and Third Party Line, co-hosted with his 92-years-young mother, Dorothea, which can be heard Wednesday, Friday and Sunday’s at 330 pm.
