Roy Landman (March 27, 1914 – July 2, 1990),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 159. better known as Snooky Lanson, was an American singer known for co-starring on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year r ...

''.

Life

Born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, Lanson was a band singer with

Francis Craig Francis Craig (September 10, 1900 – November 19, 1966) was an American songwriter, honky tonk piano player, and leader of a Nashville dance band. His works included " Dynamite" and "Near You", the latter being the first Billboard #1 hit out of ...

's dance band in the late 1930s. He became a singing star when major bandleader

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 2 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United ...

hired him as his orchestra's "boy singer"; Noble and Lanson appear together in three

Soundies Soundies are three-minute American musical films, and each short displays a performance. The shorts were produced between 1940 and 1946 and have been referred to as "precursors to music videos" by UCLA. Soundies exhibited a variety of musical gen ...

musical films produced in 1941. Lanson made additional Soundies as a solo artist in 1944. On radio, Lanson was featured on ''Appointment with Music'',Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 26. ''The Saturday Showcase'', and ''Sunday Night Serenade''. NBC's popular ''Your Hit Parade'' radio programs featured

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, who left the series in 1950. Snooky Lanson was chosen to replace him, and Lanson became one of America's first TV stars when ''Your Hit Parade'' came to television in July 1950.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 1209. Lanson remained with the series through 1957. Floor manager (and future children's television host)

Fred Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...

said that Lanson often played craps behind the set with the stagehands until it was his turn to perform. In 1956, Lanson starred in ''The Snooky Lanson Show'', a variety program on NBC-TV. After ''Hit Parade'' ended, he performed in nightclubs and on local television shows in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

, Louisiana. He guest-starred in 1958 on ''The Gisele MacKenzie Show'',

MacKenzie Mackenzie, Mckenzie, MacKenzie, or McKenzie may refer to: People * Mackenzie (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Mackenzie (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Clan Mackenzie, a S ...

having been a co-star with Lanson on ''Hit Parade''. In 1961, he was one of five rotating hosts on the NBC-TV program ''

Five Star Jubilee ''Five Star Jubilee'' is an American country music variety show carried by NBC-TV from March 17–September 22, 1961. The live program, a spin-off of ABC-TV's '' Jubilee USA'', was the first network color television series to originate outside ...

''. In January 1960, Crossroads TV Productions videotaped a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

for a proposed pop music-variety series called ''Snooky Lanson Time.'' Guests were

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...

, the

Anita Kerr Anita Jean Kerr (née Grilli, October 13, 1927 – October 10, 2022) was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Eur ...

Singers,

Betty Ann Grove Betty Ann Grove (September 9, 1929 – November 13, 2015) was an American actress and singer. Early years Grove was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her mother was "an exhibition ballroom dancer" who performed with Ray Bolger and Jack Haley, ...

and Paul Mitchell's instrumental combo."Plan New TV Series for Lanson" (January 25, 1960), ''

The Billboard The Billboard () is a massive granite monolith in the Sarnoff Mountains of the Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, standing just west of Mount Rea between Arthur Glacier and Boyd Glacier. It was discovered in November 1934 by a Secon ...

'', p. 12 From 1967 on he lived in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, where he sang at tea dances and similar functions, had a syndicated radio show that played big-band music, and sold cars and outdoor advertising. He later reunited with several of his ''Your Hit Parade'' co-stars on ''

Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, the ...

'', as part of a 1983 celebrity week saluting "TV's All-Time Favorites". Lanson died in 1990 at age 76 in New York. He was survived by his widow, Florence, a daughter, two sons, and eight grandchildren.

Notes

References

*"Plan New TV Series for Lanson" (January 25, 1960), ''

'', p. 12

External links

*
''New York Times'' obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanson, Snooky Big band singers American television personalities American male pop singers Bell Records artists Starday Records artists Tennessee Records artists 1914 births 1990 deaths People from Memphis, Tennessee 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers American male jazz musicians