Atomic Age Cocktail Party

Atomic Age Cocktail Party

Friday nights at 8 And Saturday nights at 10 & 11 (bonus episode) on Illinois Classical, FM 90.9.

The show, simply put, is a celebration of the golden age of the hi-fi and beyond! It's American popular music from the 1950s and 1960s with a few modern numbers thrown in for good measure.

Billy May (1080)

This week, on The Atomic Age Cocktail Party, it’s another in our Great Arrangers series, this time spotlighting the big sounds of Billy May! We’ll be featuring his works with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Anita O’Day, Keely Smith, and even The Carpenters.

Atomic Age logo with an illustration of a portrait of Billy May. Text reads Episode 1080 Billy May
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Making A Splash (1079)

On The Atomic Age Cocktail Party this time, we’re making a splash! Songs about seas, oceans, rivers, and all sorts of various formations of H2O. We’ll hear from Les Baxter, Earl Grant, Sarah Vaughan, Bobby Darin, and many more!

Atomic Age logo with an illustration of a female swimmer diving. Text reads Episode 1079 Making A Splash.
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Classical Lounge (1078)

This time, on The Atomic Age Cocktail Party, it's Classical Lounge. It’s a look at how hi-fi artists approached the world of classical music. We’ll hear from Dick Hyman, Billy Mur, Juan Garcia Esquivel, Liberace, and many more!

Atomic Age logo with an illustration of a male orchestra conductor in a tuxedo. Text reads Episode 1078 Classical Lounge
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Atomic Sampler Fall 2023 (1077)

This week, on The Atomic Age Cocktail Party, it’s another one of our Atomic Samplers. A chance for you to get a taste of the wide variety of hi-fi music we bring you week after week. We’ll be hearing tunes from Mel Tormé, Vicky Lane, Plas Johnson, Tony Bennett, and many more!

Atomic Age logo with an illustration of a woman and man clinking cocktail glassed. Text reads Episode 1077 Atomic Sampler
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Bossa Nova Beats (1076)

This time on The Atomic Age Cocktail Party as we bring you more of those Bossa Nova Beats! That big sound from Brazil that took over hi-fi’s in the 1960s. We’ll hear from Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Perkins, Sergio Mendes, Astrud Gilberto, and many more!

Atomic Age logo with an illustration of a woman and man dancing in silhouette with musical notes around them. Text reads Episode 1076 Bossa Nova Beats
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Crooners 2 (1075)

On The Atomic Age Cocktail Party this time around, we spotlight more of our favorite crooners…those great male voices of the hi-fi era. We’ll hear from Bobby Troup, Jackie Paris, Andy Williams, Steve Lawrence, and many more!

Atomic Age logo with an illustration of a male lounge singer. Text reads Episode 1075 Crooners 2.
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Exciting Exotica (1074)

This week on The Atomic Age Cocktail Party, we’re in for some Exciting Exotica…spotlighting those tropical tunes that quicken the pulse and raise the temperature. We’ll hear from Yma Sumac, Frank Hunter and His Orchestra, Les Baxter, Don Ralke, and many more!

Atomic Age logo with an illustration of the famous Moai statues on Easter Isand. Text reads Episode 1074 Exciting Exotica.
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French Kiss (1073)

This time, on The Atomic Age Cocktail Party, we’re giving you a musical French Kiss. Songs from American hi-fi’s about Paris and France as well as song sung in French. We’ll hear from Eartha Kitt, The Double Six of Paris, Brigitte Bardot, plus plenty of French accordion music.

Atomic Age logo with an illustration of cafe scene with a table and two chairs. The Eiffel Tower is off in the distance. Text reads Episode 1073 French Kiss
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Day In Day Out (1072)

This week, on The Atomic Age Cocktail Party, we’re living life Day In and Day Out. Songs about Days. Great days. Lucky Days. The days that make a difference. And the days yet to come. We’ll hear from Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, The Three Suns, Judy Garland and more.

Atomic Age logo with an illustration of the sun. Text reads Episode 1072 Day In Day Out
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Back to Broadway (1071)

We’re going back to Broadway! It’s another look at the influence of Broadway musicals on popular hi-fi music of the Atomic Age. We’ll hear from Johnny Mathis, Robert Goulet, Marilyn Maxwell, Carol Burnett, and more.

Atomic Age logo with an illustration of a Broadway street scene. Text reads Episode 1071 Back To Broadway
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Atomic Age Cocktail Party host, Jason Croft, holds a martini in one hand and a record under the other arm, while wearing a fez and a smoking jacket in this retro-style illustration.

Jason Croft has been collecting, enjoying, and programming lounge, easy-listening, and other music of the Atomic Age for over two decades. Now he is sharing this genre with you every Saturday and Sunday night with the Atomic Age Cocktail Party on WILL-FM. When he’s not knee-deep in his record collection, he’s the Technical Director for The 21st, local host for Here and Now, and one of the voices of AM580 on the weekends.

An illustrated poster in the mid-century style, congratulating AACP on its two 2025 Communicator awards.