Jim Davidson and Orchestra
Australian commercial radio
Australian commercial radio · 1933–1941
Broadcasts
153
Cadence
Fortnightly
Rated
PG
Since
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
- 01
Sign Off
4 Aug 2026 · 33 min
- 02
The Case of the Missing Hour
28 Jul 2026 · 48 min
- 03
Night Broadcast
21 Jul 2026 · 1h 3m
- 04
The Last Train Out
14 Jul 2026 · 26 min
- 05
Signal at Midnight
7 Jul 2026 · 41 min
- 06
A Room Above the Street
30 Jun 2026 · 56 min
- 07
The Long Silence
23 Jun 2026 · 19 min
- 08
Dead Air
16 Jun 2026 · 34 min
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.
If you liked this
More to explore
Chosen by the same editors.
