The Chesterfield Supper Club
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| Genre | Musical variety |
|---|---|
| Running time | 15 minutes (1944–1948) 30 minutes (1949–1950 ) |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | NBC |
| TV adaptations | The Chesterfield Supper Club |
| Starring |
Perry Como Peggy Lee (1948) Jo Stafford |
| Announcer |
Martin Block (1944–1950) (1947 from Hollywood) Mel Allen (1947 from New York) Ben Grauer (1948) |
| Original release | December 11, 1944 – 1950 |
| Opening theme | "Smoke Dreams" |
| Other themes | "A Cigarette, Sweet Music and You" |
| Sponsored by | Chesterfield |
The Chesterfield Supper Club is an NBC Radio musical variety program (1944–1950), which was also telecast by NBC Television (1948–1950).
The Chesterfield Supper Club began on December 11, 1944, as a 15-minute radio program, airing at 7 pm weeknights on the NBC Radio Network. This musical variety show was sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes and featured live musical performances. Perry Como initially hosted The Chesterfield Supper Club five nights a week. Initially, Como's female singer was Mary Ashworth. During World War II, the broadcasts were transcribed for re-broadcast on Armed Forces Radio Service.
The idea for the radio show originated with Doug Storer, who was then an advertising executive with the Blackman Company. Storer had heard Perry Como on his non-sponsored CBS radio program and believed he would do well in a radio show of the type he was proposing. Storer recorded a demo of the radio show with Como as its host and Mitchell Ayres and his Orchestra providing the music. He took the recording to the advertising agency that handled the Chesterfield cigarettes account.
The agency was enthusiastic about the program's format, but did not want Como as its host. The singer the agency preferred was under contract and would need to be released from it before he could accept a job on the new radio program. They asked Storer to get the singer released from his contract. Storer, who was still of the belief that the new show needed Como as its host, did not go through with the advertising agency's request. He received a call from the agency some weeks later, asking about the singer's contract and saying their new program would make its radio debut in about one week's time. Storer told them the right man for the radio show was the one who had made the demo recording-Perry Como. Chesterfield's advertising agency did not have time to do anything but sign Como as the host of the show.
During the first year, Como was backed by the Ted Steele Orchestra, followed by the Lloyd Shaffer Orchestra at the end of 1945 until 1948. With John Klenner, Shaffer and Steele composed the show's theme song, "Smoke Dreams." Roy Ringwald's "A Cigarette, Sweet Music and You" was also used on the show as a musical theme.The Satisfiers vocal group was also part of the program; they also made many records with Como.
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