Sheplives


The Music Shep's Favorite Music
Last Update: 12-18-2015

Bahn Frei Polka (Clear Track!) op45 1869 by Eduard Strauss
	Album Strauss Polkas Side: 3 Track: 2

Album Title:	Strauss Polkas
Group:	Boston "Pops" Orchestra - Arthur Fiedler
Publisher:	RCA Victor - Red Seal Record
Date Released:
Album / Record#:	M 1049 (78rpm) 49-0583 (45rpm)
ASIN#:

Samples

Shep Using it

Original

The sound of the opening fanfare of trumpets sends a chill of excitement up the spine of any Shep fan who spent their feckless youth with a radio buried beneath their pillow. It was 'show time' and soon would follow that distinctive voice which would mesmerize us for the next forty-five minutes. Jean Shepherd was on the air and he was talking to 'me'. Every night for over twenty years Shep would open and close his nightly WOR radio show using Eduard Strauss' Bahn Frei as his theme music. Only one change was made over that time. How did he begin using the theme? According to Shep, during an appearance on Larry King Live in 1985: "I was doing a TV show in Cincinnati sponsored by the Bayhorse Ale company. They wanted something in the titles involving horses so we came up with the idea of a group of horses in silhouette running along to the Bahn Frei theme with a small silhouette of me running along trying to catch up." The show was the original version of "Rear Bumpers" on WLW-TV. Research has shown that this is not exactly true and he used it earlier. See the essay by Steve Glazer below. "Variations on a Theme" On December 10, 1962 something strange happened. Shep and his engineer Bob got ready to go on the air when they suddenly realized that the tape with the theme had been erased! They tried to sneak onto the air without the theme but Shep laughingly told the listeners what had happened. Being a resourceful engineer, Bob quickly found a tape of a previous show and they played the theme from it. They closed the show probably with the same copy cutting it off before it played completely. The next day Shep came on the air without any fanfare with the now famous variation of the Bahn Frei theme. As the final notes played out, a sound like Shep saying "Ahhhh" was added as the final beat. It is uncertain why this was done, but Shep said on an interview with Alan Colmes in 1998 that it was done that way because "it felt right." On the September 3, 1960 show he quietly said "the end" at the final beat, then went on with the show. In 1960 the Bahn Frei piece was used in the documentary "When Comedy Was King" based on the early silent movie shorts.

Additional Comments:

Based on information supplied by Herb Squire during the Friends of Old Time Radio Convention in Newark, NJ on October 20, 2000 I have found what appears to be a copy of the original theme used by Shep.

Herb was an engineer for WOR and worked with Shep.

This is a three record (6 song) album of 78 rpm discs and according to Herb was recorded in the 40's (Possibly 1948), although there are no dates on the album or records.

There is a 45 rpm version of this album which was apparently released in the U.S. and Canada. The case in which it comes is identical to the 78 rpm version and also contains the other 5 songs that are in the 78 rpm set. The records are pressed in red vinyl.

Another copy of this same recording was released on 33-1/3 LP. It is the same recording as was on the 78 and 45 rpm version recorded by the Boston Pops. It comes on the RCA Camden label - #CAL-126

Shows Shep used this music on:
	Time	Date	Show Title
	32:33	November 13, 1974	People in TV Commercials
		1952	1952 Jean Shepherd KYW Phila.
	15:22	January 17, 1975	Ad people, strange chain letter, dish rag letters
	08:00	May 1, 1970	Horse Racing

Audio Links:

• Shep explains the "ahhh" - 12-10-1962 -

• Further explanation - 1-10-1963 -

• Shep on Larry King 3-10-1982 -

• 1985 WABC radio ad for Preakness -

• 1958 RCA Living Stereo - Strauss Waltzes - The Melachrino Orchestra -

• 1972 Angel Records - Music of Vienna Album 2 -

• 1962 Minneapolis Sym Orch - "Curtain Up" - Mercury SR90293A -

• Even a Midi Version! -

Links to Further Information:

• "Bahn Frei! - The Story of Shep's Theme" by Steve Glazer

Photos:

September 09,1950
WSAI Show Log

Courtesy: Randall Shepherd

Eduard Strauss

45 rpm version

Cover of the 78 rpm set

78 rpm Label

"Can you imagine 4,000 years passing, and you're not even a memory?
Think about it, friends. It's not just a possibility. It is a certainty." - Jean Shepherd - 1975