Young Sue Bennett, fresh from college and with a desire to sing professionally, began to appear on some of those early programs originating in New York, including one hosted by bandleader Vincent Lopez. An even bigger name provided her first starring opportunity when bandleader and entertainer Kay Kyser brought his College Of Musical Knowledge to TV and she became one of the main singers. He'd been a huge star for years, and his orchestra and comedy bits were customer favorites, especially his routines with comedy sidekick, Ish Kabibble (whose real name was Merwyn Bogue). One of the interesting inside facts in the book that came to light via the author's later interviews, is that Kyser and Bogue were not on speaking terms offstage for most of their years together.

Sue's career included singing on some other shows too, but it was her time spent on Your Hit Parade that provides much of the material for the book. The TV program was modeled on the successful radio version, but with an important difference. As the top ten tunes were performed by the singers each week, they also acted out a little mini-play or story about the song. TV historians have called it the forerunner to MTV.

Sue was not one of the main stars - names such as "Snooky" Lanson and Dorothy Collins come to mind - but in the early days of the program she was one of the featured singers, often performing solos. She was also part of the group singing and sometimes filled in for Dorothy in the Lucky Strike "bullseye" that opened the show.

But again, the book is not really about Sue as much as it is about early TV, and it contains an amazing amount of information that includes not only facts and trivia, but also backstage gossip and examples of professional jealousy and feuds that were still alive even in retirement. Early TV was a fascinating world, and reading about it is the next best thing to having been there.

*Sound sample courtesy of Lost Gold Entertainment, Inc.