Vincent Lopez (December 30, 1895 – September 20, 1975) was an American bandleader, actor, and pianist.

Early life and career

Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York City, United States, Distinguished Americans & Canadians of Portuguese Descent and was leading his own dance band in New York City by 1916. On November 27, 1921, his band began broadcasting on the new medium of entertainment radio; the band's weekly 90-minute show on the Newark, New Jersey, station WJZ boosted the popularity of both himself and of radio. He became one of America's most popular bandleaders, and would retain that status through the 1940s. Lopez saw jazz and bandleading as a big business opportunity. Like rival

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, ...

had done a few years earlier with his United Orchestras, Inc, in 1924, he created the company Vincent Lopez, Inc, with a stated goal of starting jazz orchestras and schools in major American cities, and managing copyrights. By 1926 the endeavor became insolvent, and to avoid bankruptcy Lopez, Inc went into partnership with Eugene Geiger's Eldorado Finance Co. He began his radio programs by announcing "Hello everybody, Lopez speaking!" His theme song was "Nola",

Felix Arndt Felix Arndt (May 20, 1889October 16, 1918) was an American pianist and composer of popular music. His mother was the Countess Fevrier, related to Napoleon III. His father, Hugo Arndt, was Swiss-born. Educated in New York (his music teachers incl ...

's novelty ragtime piece of 1915, and Lopez became so identified with it that he occasionally satirized it. (His 1939 movie short for

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one th ...

, ''Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra'', features the entire band singing "Down with Nola".) Lopez worked occasionally in feature films, notably ''

The Big Broadcast ''The Big Broadcast'' is a 1932 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Bing Crosby, Stuart Erwin, and Leila Hyams. Based on the play ''Wild Waves'' by William Ford Manley, the film is about a radio-sing ...

'' (1932) and as a live-action feature in the

Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became ...

cartoon ''I Don't Want to Make History'' (1936). In 1940, he was one of the first bandleaders to work in

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 ...

movie musicals. He made additional Soundies in 1944. Noted musicians who played in his band included

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 ...

Xavier Cugat Xavier Cugat (; 1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was a Spanish musician and bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. In New York City ...

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peop ...

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

, Bob Effros, Mike Mosiello,

Fred Lowery Fred Lowery (2 November 1909 – 11 December 1984) was a blind professional whistler who recorded a No. 9 Billboard chart hit version of " The High and the Mighty" with conductor and arranger LeRoy Holmes. Lowery whistled with Horace Heidt and ...

, Joe Tarto and

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

. He also featured singers Keller Sisters and Lynch,

Betty Hutton Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg; February 26, 1921 – March 11, 2007) was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedian, dancer, and singer. Early life and education Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg on February 2 ...

, and

Marion Hutton Marion Hutton (born Marion Thornburg; March 10, 1919 – January 10, 1987) was an American singer and actress. She is best remembered for her singing with the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1938 to 1942. She was the sister of actress and singer ...

. Lopez's longtime drummer was the irreverent Mike Riley, who popularized the novelty hit "The Music Goes Round and Round". Lopez's flamboyant style of piano playing influenced such later musicians as

Eddy Duchin Edwin Frank Duchin (April 1, 1909 – February 9, 1951), commonly known as Eddy Duchin or alternatively Eddie Duchin, was an American jazz pianist and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s. Early career Duchin was born on April 1, 1909 in Cambri ...

and

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

. In 1941, Lopez's Orchestra began a residency at the Taft Hotel in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

that would last 25 years. In the early 1950s, Lopez along with

Gloria Parker Gloria Parker (née Rosenthal; August 20, 1921April 13, 2022) was an American musician and bandleader who had a radio show during the big band era. ''The Gloria Parker Show'' was broadcast nightly from 1950 to 1957, coast to coast on WABC. She ...

hosted a

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

broadcast from the Taft Hotel called ''Shake the Maracas'' in which audience members competed for small prizes by playing

maracas A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were r ...

with the orchestra. In 1960 he published his autobiography ''Lopez Speaking''. Vincent Lopez died at the Villa Maria nursing home in

North Miami North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, and the North Miami campu ...

, Florida, on September 20, 1975.

Big band / swing-era music

* ''Early In The Morning'', recorded by Vincent Lopez on Columbia Records, lyrics and music by

* ''Here Comes That Mood'', recorded by Vincent Lopez, music and lyrics by Gloria Parker * ''In Santiago by the Sea'', recorded by Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra, music and lyrics by Gloria Parker * ''I Learned To Rumba, recorded by Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra, music and lyrics by Gloria Parker * ''My Dream Christmas'', recorded by Vincent Lopez, lyrics and music by Gloria Parker * ''Shake The Maracas'', name of a

on WABC hosted by Vincent Lopez and Gloria Parker, lyrics and music by Gloria Parker * ''When Our Country Was Born'', recorded by Vincent Lopez, lyrics and music by Gloria Parker

References

External links

*
Vincent Lopez recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Vincent 1895 births 1975 deaths American jazz bandleaders Big band bandleaders Musicians from Brooklyn American people of Portuguese descent Vaudeville performers 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from New York (state) American male pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians

Early life and career

Big band / swing-era music

See also

References

External links