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Kay Kyser
James Kern Kyser (June 18, 1905 – July 23, 1985), known as Kay Kyser, was an American bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s. Early years James Kern Kyser was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Emily Royster Kyser (née Howell) and Paul Bynum Kyser.Annette Bochenek"Kay Kyser" August 1, 2022. ''Hometowns to Hollywood''. He was one of six children, and his mother was the first registered female pharmacist in state. Journalist and newspaper editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin. Kyser graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1928, where he was senior class president and was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity. Owing to his popularity and enthusiasm as a cheerleader, he was invited by Hal Kemp to take over as bandleader when Kemp ventured north to further his career. He began taking clarinet lessons but was better as an entertaining announcer than a musician. He adopted the initial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Rocky Mount is a city in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Edgecombe and Nash County, North Carolina, Nash counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city's population was 54,341 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 20th-most populous city in North Carolina at the time. The city is 45 mi (72 km) east of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, the state capital. It is the principal city of the Rocky Mount metropolitan area, often called the "Twin Counties", which had an estimated population of 143,870 in 2020. Rocky Mount is also an anchor city of the Rocky Mount-Wilson-Roanoke Rapids Combined Statistical Area in northeast North Carolina with a total population of 288,747 as of 2020. Incorporated in 1867, the community at the falls of the Tar River that became the city of Rocky Mount dates from the middle of the 1700s. Historically strong in rail transportation, textiles, and agriculture, the economy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackhawk (restaurant)
The Blackhawk was a restaurant in the Chicago Loop from 1920 to 1984. It served a menu of American cuisine, notably prime rib and a signature "spinning salad bowl", and was, in the early part of its history a nationally known entertainment venue for Big Band music. Its legacy continued until 2009 at Don Roth's Blackhawk in Wheeling, Illinois. History Otto Roth opened The Blackhawk on December 27, 1920 at 139 N. Wabash. In September 1926, The Blackhawk began featuring a dance orchestra, Carlton Coon-Joe Sanders and their Kansas City Nighthawks. In addition to providing dance music for the local diners, the music from the Blackhawk was broadcast nationally as "Live! From the Blackhawk!" over WGN Radio and the Mutual Network. By the time Coon-Sanders moved on from the Blackhawk in 1931, the broadcasts from the Blackhawk were so popular that a telegraph machine was installed so they could take remote requests. The Coon-Sanders band was followed by a rotating crop of musicians wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition
"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" is an American patriotic song by Frank Loesser, published as sheet music in 1942 by Famous Music Corp. The song was a response to the attack on Pearl Harbor that marked United States involvement in World War II. The song describes a chaplain ("sky pilot") being with some fighting men who are under attack from an enemy. He is asked to say a prayer for the men who were engaged in firing at the oncoming planes. The chaplain puts down his Bible, mans one of the ship's gun turrets and begins firing back, saying, "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition". Origin According to writer Jack S. McDowell, the famous phrase is generally credited to "a chaplain," said to be manning the guns of a ship under attack. "This was not true," says McDowell. For some time, long after Pearl Harbor, stories and reports surfaced about an incident involving this apocryphal "sky pilot", who was said to have uttered the words "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunitio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Barron
Blue Barron (November 19, 1913 – July 16, 2005), born Harry Freidman, was an American orchestra leader in the 1940s and early 1950s during the Big Band era. His band's more subdued tone was referred to as "Sweet" music to distinguish it from the " Swing" bands of the era. Barron's orchestra began in the New York City area but later toured the U.S. and performed at popular venues in Los Angeles where they also appeared in several motion pictures and recorded a number of LPs. Early years Born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, Freidman studied at Ohio State University before going into show business. He adopted the stage name Blue Barron and by 1940 had created his own orchestra. Career His first group played on the Floating Palace showboat at Troy, New York, in October 1936. A newspaper report said the group "made an over night hit at the Floating Palace and remained there for 22 weeks." National Service and honors During World War II, Barron served with the United States A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs from his first hit single in 1937, " Swing and Sway" (U.S. #15). His signature tune was " Harbor Lights", a number-one hit from late 1950. Biography Kaye, born in Lakewood, Ohio, United States, graduated from Rocky River High School in Rocky River, Ohio. At Ohio University in Athens, Ohio he was a member of Theta Chi fraternity. Kaye could play the saxophone and the clarinet, but he never featured himself as a soloist on either one. A leader of one of the so-called "Sweet" bands of the Big Band Era, he made a large number of records for Vocalion Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Bell Records, and the American Decca record label. He was also a hit on radio. Kaye was known for an audience participation gimmick called "So You Want to Le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yankee Doodle Dandy
''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp, Jeanne Cagney, and Vera Lewis. Joan Leslie's singing voice was partially dubbed by Sally Sweetland. The film was written by Robert Buckner and Edmund Joseph, and directed by Michael Curtiz. According to the special edition DVD, significant and uncredited improvements were made to the script by the twin brothers Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein. The film was a major hit for Warner Brothers, and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture, winning three. In 1993, ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and in 1998, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betsy Ross
Elizabeth Griscom Ross (née Griscom;Addie Guthrie Weaver, ''"The Story of Our Flag..."'', 2nd Edition, A. G. Weaver, publ., 1898, p. 73 January 1, 1752 – January 30, 1836), also known by her second and third married names, Ashburn and Claypoole, was an American upholsterer who was credited by her relatives in 1870 with making the first officialPreceded unofficially by the Grand Union Flag U.S. flag, accordingly known as the Betsy Ross flag. Though most historians dismiss the story, Ross family tradition holds that General George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and two members of a congressional committee— Robert Morris and George Ross—visited Mrs. Ross in 1776. Mrs. Ross convinced George Washington to change the shape of the stars in a sketch of a flag he showed her from six-pointed to five-pointed by demonstrating that it was easier and speedier to cut the latter. However, there is no archival evidence or other recorded verbal tradition to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georgia Carroll
Georgia Carroll (November 18, 1919 – January 14, 2011) was an American singer, fashion model, and actress, best known for her work with Kay Kyser's big band orchestra in the mid-1940s. She and Kayser were married in 1944 until he died in 1985. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Carroll, she was born in Blooming Grove, Texas, where her father raised sheep. Her family moved to Dallas, Texas, where she graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School (Dallas), Woodrow Wilson High School. One of Carroll's early jobs was modeling for a department store in Dallas, Texas. She eventually went to New York City and worked for the John Powers modeling agency. While she worked as a model in New York, she took vocal lessons. She had her first brush with celebrity when she was the model for "The Spirit of the Centennial" statue at the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. The statue still stands in front of what is now The Women's Museum. She was a 1937 graduate of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Douglas
Michael Delaney Dowd Jr. (August 11, 1920 – August 11, 2006),Cook County Birth Certificates, file number 6053268, borAugust 11, 1920Social Security Death Index, Michael D. Dowd Jr., Birth: 11 Aug 1920, death: 11 Aug 2006 residing in North Palm Beach, FL, accessed 9 January 2017. known as Mike Douglas, was an American "Big Band" era singer, entertainer, television talk show host of ''The Mike Douglas Show'', and actor. Early life Dowd was born in Chicago, Illinois. His family later moved to Forest Park, Illinois. There, he attended Proviso Township High School, but left the school after his second year. After that, he began singing as a choirboy. Early career By his teens Dowd was working as a singer at nightclubs and on a Lake Michigan dinner cruise ship. He was a "staff singer" at the Oklahoma City radio station WKY. After serving in the United States Navy in World War II on a munitions ship, he resumed his performing career as a staff singer for WMAQ-TV in Chicago. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ginny Simms
Virginia Ellen SimmsSleeve notes from ''Ginny Simms – I'd Like To Set You To Music'', Jasmine JASCD 118, 2001. (May 25, 1913 – April 4, 1994) was an American popular singer and film actress. Simms sang with big bands and with Dinah Shore, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Stafford, among others. She also worked as an MGM and Universal film actress and appeared in 11 movies from 1939 to 1951, when she retired. Early life Simms was born in San Antonio, Texas. Her family moved to California, where she attended Fresno High School and Fresno State Teachers College, where she studied piano. While there, she began performing in campus productions, singing with sorority sisters and forming a popular campus vocal trio. Shortly afterward, she sought a singing career, and by 1932 she had her own program on a local radio station.Sleeve notes from ''Simple & Sweet: The Best Of Ginny Simms'', Collectables COL-CD-7590, 2005. Career Radio In 1932, Simms became the vocalist for the Tom G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ish Kabibble
Ish Kabibble (January 19, 1908 – June 5, 1994) was an American comedian and cornet player. Early life Born Merwyn Bogue in North East, Pennsylvania, he moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, with his family a few months after his birth. Career Bogue studied law at West Virginia University, but his comedy antics soon found an audience. He appeared in ten movies between 1939 and 1950. In ''Thousands Cheer'' (1943), he appeared with Kay Kyser and sang "I Dug a Ditch," and he also appeared as a vocalist in ''That's Right—You're Wrong'' (1939), '' You'll Find Out'' (1940), and '' Playmates'' (1941). In addition, he performed with Kyser on the radio and television quiz show ''Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge'' in 1949 and 1950. In his 1989 autobiography, Bogue explained his stage name, which he took from the lyrics of one of his comedic songs, "Isch ga-bibble." The song derived from a mock-Yiddish expression, "Ische ga bibble?", which was purported to mean "I should worry?", promp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Babbitt
Harry Babbitt (November 2, 1913 – April 9, 2004) was an American singer and star during the Big Band era. Early career Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Babbitt organized his own band after high school, directing the group in addition to singing and playing saxophone and drums. Later, his work as an announcer and soloist on a radio station in St. Louis caught the attention of bandleader Kay Kyser. Music career Babbitt joined the Kyser band in the winter of 1936. With Kyser he recorded several hits in his rich baritone. On some novelty tunes he adopted a high-pitched falsetto. Babbitt sang such hits as "Three Little Fishies," "(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China "On A Slow Boat to China" is a popular song by Frank Loesser, published in 1948. The song is a well-known pop standard, recorded by many artists, including a duet between Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby (for their album '' Fancy Meeting You H ..." and "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle," but his biggest hit was the cove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
