Waring's Pennsylvanians was a dance band that was founded at Penn State University by

Fred Waring Fredrick Malcolm Waring Sr. (June 9, 1900 – July 29, 1984) was an American musician, bandleader, and radio and television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing". He was also ...

. First named the Collegians, the group was formed in 1918 at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

by the brothers Fred and Tom Waring and their friends Freddy Buck and Poley McClintock. They had a hit in 1925 with the song " Collegiate". Other popular novelty songs were "

I've Never Seen a Straight Banana "I've Never Seen a Straight Banana" is a novelty song from 1926, written by Ted Waite. A short film was made in 1926 in the Phonofilm sound-on-film process with music hall comedian Dick Henderson Richard Henderson (20 March 1891 – 15 Octo ...

" and "I Wonder How I Look When I'm Asleep". In 1929 they appeared in the movie ''

Syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...

'' and on stage in ''The New Yorkers'' the following year. Their popularity increased in the 1930s with their presence in radio and movies. During the 1940s, they performed on Broadway and at the

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

and became the first band to broadcast its own TV show. From 1950–1970, they became a corporation that branched into workshops, real estate, and a magazine.

References

External links

Fred Waring Music Library
at

Penn State University Library The Penn State University Libraries consists of 36 libraries at 22 locations in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The two main buildings on Penn State's University Park campus are the Pattee and Paterno libraries. History The library's first p ...

Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians
at the Red Hot Jazz Archive {{Authority control Dixieland ensembles