National Barn Dance

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The National Barn Dance was a former country music radio program broadcast in the early period of radio over the facilities of WLS (AM) in Chicago, Illinois. In many ways it was a precursor to many similar programs, in part because the clear channel signal of WLS was audible over most of the Midwest and even beyond in the late evening and nighttime hours, making much of the United States (and Canada) a potential audience and the program was well-received; thus it was very widely imitated.

Regularly featured were Gene Autry, Lulu Belle and Scotty, Pat Buttram, George Gobel, The DeZurik Sisters and the Hoosier Hot Shots.

One of the earlier imitators was another program produced by the same broadcaster, George Hay, the WSM Barn Dance out of Nashville, Tennessee, which has remained on the air from 1925 until the present, but which has been known since 1928 as the Grand Ole Opry. By the late 1950s audiences finally began to wane and the National Barn Dance ceased its live performances after 1957. The show continued to air on WLS until 1959 when the station was sold to ABC which changed the format to Top 40 Rock and Roll music. The show moved to station WGN where it continued until finally leaving the air permanently in 1968.

The National Barn Dance went on the air on WLS on April 19, 1924 and was picked up by the NBC network in 1933. In 1946, the show switched to the ABC network, and aired until 1952. In 1949, a television version of the program, ABC Barn Dance, appeared, but it only lasted for a few months.

The radio program aired on Saturday nights from 6:30 PM until midnight.

In 1944, a fictionalized account of the show's origins, also called National Barn Dance, was made into a film. It was directed by Hugh Bennett from a screenplay written by Hal Fimberg and Lee Loeb. The film starred Jean Heather, Charles Quigley, Robert Benchley, Mabel Paige and Charles Dingle. Pat Buttram and Joe Kelly appeared as themselves.

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