BW - EP150—012: Easter Sunday 1944—Duke Ellington At The Hurricane Night Club On Mutual

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

At 11:15PM over Mutual’s WOR in New York, Duke Ellington was on the air with music from The famous Hurricane Nightclub on 49th street and broadway in New York City. The next day, The British Royal Air Force dropped a record thirty-six hundred tons of bombs in a single raid on Germany, France and Belgium. On Tuesday April 11th, the Soviets took more northern territory in Crimea. German forces immediately began a withdrawal. That same day, the U.S. sunk a Japanese destroyer and a German submarine. One thing was clear as the calendar turned to mid-April, the Allies were piling up victories and the Axis powers knew they needed to do something to stem the turning tide of war. Although we know now that D-Day would happen in June, both sides knew a big invasion was coming. In the meantime, those people in midtown Manhattan could dance and drink the night away. After all, tomorrow is never guaranteed.