Bandleader, arranger, conductor, record producer and trumpeter Joseph J. Leahy (July 25, 1916 - September 12, 1974) (aged 58) was a native of Boston, Massachusetts. He joined
Les Brown and his Band of Renown at twenty, then the
Charlie Barnet
Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.
His major recordings were "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffle ...
band and later the
Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction.
Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...
band, eventually forming his own orchestra for cross-country tours of ballrooms, hotel circuits, college proms and one-nighters.
Joining the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
in 1941, he headed the forty-man Army Air Forces Orchestra of the
Air Transport Command
Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces.
It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...
, for which he wrote all the arrangements. The orchestra gave weekly broadcasts over
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
.
His other Air Force duties included arranging and conducting for variety shows, half-hour transcriptions, cue music and orchestral works, and a two-year world tour arranging and conducting for troop shows.
Upon leaving the service in 1945 he came to New York and signed with CBS as a staff conductor-arranger, doing script-show music, background music for radio dramas, and conducting the
Skitch Henderson
Lyle Russel "Skitch" Henderson (January 27, 1918 – November 1, 2005) was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname "Skitch" came from his ability to "re-sketch" a song in a different key. Bing Crosby suggested that he should use the ...
orchestra. Just over a year later he began doing freelance arranging and conducting, and for six years thereafter he orchestrated over one hundred radio programs including the longstanding Don McNeil's ''
The Breakfast Club
''The Breakfast Club'' is a 1985 American teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The film t ...
'' in Chicago, Illinois.
Other radio and television shows for which he did uncredited background music included those for
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
,
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...
,
Tony Martin,
Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her not ...
,
Constance Bennett
Constance Campbell Bennett (October 22, 1904 – July 24, 1965) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress and producer. She was a major Hollywood star during the 1920s and 1930s; during the early 1930s, she was the highest-paid ...
and many others.
By 1954, Joe Leahy moved into the record industry by forming his own label, Majar Records, which had an immediate hit: "
If I Give My Heart to You "If I Give My Heart to You" is a popular song written by Jimmy Brewster (Milt Gabler), Jimmie Crane, and Al Jacobs.
The most popular versions of the song were recorded by Doris Day and by Denise Lor; both charted in 1954.
The recording by Do ...
" (Majar 27), arranged and conducted by Leahy and sung by
Denise Lor
Denise Lor (born Denise Jeanne Briault; May 3, 1929 – September 27, 2015) was an American popular singer and actress. She was a featured artist on ''The Garry Moore Show''. In 1951, she appeared in the short-lived variety show '' Seven at Elev ...
. The tune inspired eighteen other cover versions.
Leahy followed up with "Unsuspecting Heart", sung by Terri Stevens; "Green Fire", the song from ''
Desiree'', and then he introduced "
How Important Can It Be?" with
Jack Smith.
In 1955 he joined the RKO Unique record label based at 1440 Broadway in New York, which soon had a top-ten hit with "
The Man in the Raincoat
''The Man in the Raincoat'' (french: L'Homme à l'imperméable) is a French-Italian comedy-thriller film directed by Julien Duvivier, scripted by the director and René Barjavel, from the 1954 novel '' Tiger by the Tail'' by James Hadley Chas ...
" sung by
Priscilla Wright in her first recording.
Joe Leahy's first album was ''Lovely Lady'' (LP-106) for RKO Unique.
Leahy charted under his own name on a few occasions. Among these performances are "Moonlight Bay" (Music Vendor Pop #53, 1958) and "Life" (Billboard Easy Listening #33, 1965).
Though Joe Leahy's music has been nearly forgotten in the 21st century, many of Joe Leahy's albums have recently been re-released on compact discs.
Popular-song and instrumental compositions
*Across My Eyes
*Act of Contrition
*Alone in Barcelona
*April
*Baby Blues
*Beyond the Stars
*Birth of Christ
*Blue Trumpet
*Burnt the Envelope
*By Love Possessed:
*Chantilly
*Cloud Nine
*Coronet
*Detroit Polka
*The Dixie Roll
*First Time Love
*From Your Heart: (Composed by
Rolande Maxwell Young Schrade(ASCAP), arrangement by collaborator Joe Leahy)
*Gilligan
*Go Ahead and Be a Woman
*Goodnight, Dream Boy
*El Gringo
*Hand Full of Dreams
*The Happy Surfer
*Happy Wedding Polka
*High Midnight; Hold On
*Holiday in Venice
*I Don't Mind
*I'm in Love with the Man in a Raincoat
*Just a Sandy Haired Boy
*Lacerations
*Let's Take it from the Top
*Life
*The Little Spinet
*Look Up a Friend Called Jesus;
*LOVE STORY; MARGIN OF ERROR;
*MARY LOU WILSON AND JOHNNY;
*MEXICO HOLIDAY;
*MIRACLE OF LOVE (from A WORLD OF MIRACLES);
*MISUNDERSTOOD;
*MORE THAN ANYTHING;
*MY CATEGORY IS LOVE (Composed by Rolande Maxwell Young Schrade(ASCAP) with arrangement by collaborator Joe Leahy)
MY HIDDEN LOVE;
*MY KINGDOM FOR A KISS (Composed by Rolande Maxwell Young Schrade(ASCAP) with arrangement by collaborator Joe Leahy)
*NEW OPENING;
*NOAH'S ARK;
*ON THE BOULEVARD;
*OPEN, CLOSE, I DON'T KNOW;
*OVERWORKED AND UNDERPAID BLUES;
*A PAIR OF QUEENS;
*THE PROMISED LAND;
*RADIO;
*RUNAWAY;
*SABOTAGE;
*SAY GOODNIGHT;
*SILVERPLATE SHUFFLE;
*SO ALIVE; A STAR IN THE EAST (from A WORLD OF MIRACLES);
*STOP AND THINK;
*THE STORY OF JAMES DEAN;
*THEME FROM STUDIO X;
*SUN VALLEY MOON (Composed by Rolande Maxwell Young Schrade (ASCAP) with the arrangement by collaborator Joe Leahy)
*SUNSHINE RAIN (Composed by Rolande Maxwell Young Schrade(ASCAP) with the arrangement by collaborator Joe Leahy)
SWISS HOLIDAY;
*TABASCO ROAD;
*TELL ME YOU'RE IN LOVE;
*TEN COMMANDMENTS;
*THERE'S A DREAM IN MY HEART (Composed by Rolande Maxwell Young Schrade (ASCAP) with the arrangement by collaborator Joe Leahy)
*THINGS I SHOULDN'T KNOW (Composed by Rolande Maxwell Young Schrade (ASCAP) with the arrangement by collaborator Joe Leahy)
*THINK LOVE
*THIRTY THREE YEARS (from A WORLD OF MIRACLES)
*TWICE AROUND THE ISLAND
*TWO HEARTS; WARM RAIN
*WIDE IS THE GATE
*THE WONDERFUL TEENS
*WORLD OF MIRACLES (title song)
*WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT
*YOU AND YOUR LOVE
*YOU GO I GO;
*YOUR HERO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leahy, Joe
American bandleaders
1916 births
1974 deaths
20th-century American musicians