Owl Jolson's first words, "Hullo, Strangah!" was the catchphrase of a character called Schlepperman who appeared on Jack Benny's radio show in the 1930s. Jack himself is parodied in the form of Jack Bunny, the host of the amateur show.
The title song was written by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg, the team best known for writing the songs from the film The Wizard of Oz (1939).
The main character's name, Owl Jolson, is a takeoff on Al Jolson, a popular singer who is famous for starring in the first ever "talking" movie, The Jazz Singer (1927), on which this film is loosely based.
Owl Jolson was voiced by Tommy Bond, probably best known as the bully, Butch, in the Our Gang/Little Rascals short films.
Radio station G.O.N.G's amateur hour would appear many years later, albeit in a different medium, as "The Gong Show".