Dick Jurgens 1910 - 1955

Dick Henry Jurgens (January 9, 1910 – October 5, 1995) was an American swing music bandleader, who enjoyed great popularity in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Dick Jurgens was born in Sacramento, California to Dietrich Heinrich Jurgens and Clara Matilda (Erath) Jurgens. Jurgens played in an orchestra in high school but was kicked out of the ensemble for playing pop music. In response, he formed his own group in 1928 while still a student. His brother Will Jurgens was a member; Will later became Dick's manager during his years of fame. Jurgens then studied at the University of California at Berkeley and Sacramento Junior College (now Sacramento City College) before accepting an engagement with his own orchestra at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco in 1933. The following year, Jurgens signed a contract with Decca Records, and recorded extensively for the label between 1934 and 1940. Jurgens' vocalist at this time was Eddy MORE. Jurgens served in the Marines during World War II, organizing and leading a band that performed in the Pacific islands.

Howard. Jurgens died on Thursday, 7 October 1995, at age 85. During World War II, he had three tunes simultaneously on the "Lucky Strike Hit Parade." He was a co-writer of "Elmer's Tune," "One Dozen Roses" and "Careless." Jurgens became an accomplished trumpeter by age 14. Dick and his brother Will formed their first band to play in the summer camps at Lake Tahoe. They worked as garbage collectors during the times when the band was inactive, but within 3 years, the band had it's first residency in one of the local hotels, remaining until booked by San Francisco's prestigious St. Francis Hotel in 1934.

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Freddy Martin 1906 - 1983

Frederick Alfred (Freddy) Martin (December 9, 1906 – September 30, 1983) was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist. Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised largely in an orphanage and with various relatives, Martin started out playing drums, then switched to C-melody saxophone and later tenor saxophone, the latter the one he would be identified with. Early on, he had intended to become a journalist. He had hoped that he would earn enough money from his musical work to enter Ohio State. But instead, he wound up becoming an accomplished musician. Martin led his own band while he was in high school, then played in various local bands. After working on a ships band, Martin joined the Mason-Dixon band, then joined Arnold Johnson and Jack Albin. It was with Albin's "Hotel Pennsylvania Music" that he made his first recordings, for Columbia's Velvet Tone label in 1930...MORE Wiki Bio

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Harry Frankel aka radio's Singin' Sam 1888 - 1948

Singin’ Sam aka Harry Frankel (January 27, 1888, Springfield, Ohio - June 12, 1948, Richmond, Indiana) was a minstrel performer, vaudevillian and popular personality during the early days of radio. He was best known as "Singin’ Sam, the Barbasol Man" for his long association with that company...
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Harry James 1916 - 1983

Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an actor and musician best known as a trumpeter who led his own big band in the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone. Harry James was one of the most outstanding instrumentalists of the swing era, employing a bravura playing style that made his trumpet work instantly identifiable. He was also one of the most popular bandleaders of the first half of the 1940s, and he continued to lead his band until just before his death, 40 years later...

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Wilbur Evans 1905 - 1987

Wilbur "Wib" Evans (August 5, 1905 - May 31, 1987) was an American actor and singer who performed on the radio, in opera, on Broadway, in films, and in early live television.
5 AUGUST 1908 Birth of Wilbur Evans who was a vocalist on radio and Broadway during the '30s-40s - Recordings include... "The Merry Widow" and "The Student Price" on Decca. He starred opposite Mary Martin in the London production of South Pacific. Mr. Evans was born in Philadelphia and attended the Curtis Institute of Music. He won the 1927 Atwater Kent Foundation's national radio-singing contest and went on to sing professionally on the air and to perform in operas and operettas around the country as well as on Broadway.

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Freddy Martin April In Paris [ SHOP ]

Guy Lombardo Carmen Lombardo-v Stars Fell on Alabama [ SHOP ]

Hal Kemp Skinnay Ennis-v Gotta Date With An Angel [ SHOP ]

Hoosier Hotshots Breezin' Along With The Breeze [ SHOP ]

Jimmy Lunceford Linger A While [ SHOP ]

Jimmy Dorsey The Breeze and I [ SHOP ]

Tommy Dorsey Humoresque [ SHOP ]

Johnny Green About a Quarter to Nine [ SHOP ]

Lionel Hampton Bing Crosby-v Sunny Side Of The Street [ SHOP ]

Martha Tilton I'll Walk Alone [ SHOP ]

Ray Anthony Count Every Star [ SHOP ]

Ray Noble Tony Martin You Couldn't Be Cuter [ SHOP ]

Sammy Kaye My Blue Heaven [ SHOP ]

Shep Fields South of the Border [ SHOP ]

Stan Kenton Billy Eckstein-v Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me [ SHOP ]

Tex Beneke Atcheson Topeka and Santa Fe [ SHOP ]

Tommy Dorsey Frank Sinatra-v I'll Be Seeing You [ SHOP ]

Glenn Miller Modernaires-v Anniversary Song [ SHOP ]

Wayne King You Are My Sunshine [ SHOP ]

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Helen Morgan 1900 - 1941

Helen Morgan (August 2, 1900 – October 9, 1941)

... was an American singer and actress who worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s. She starred as Julie LaVerne in the original Broadway production of Hammerstein and Kern's musical Show Boat in 1927, and appeared in its two subsequent film adaptations, in 1929 (prologue only) and in 1936, becoming firmly associated with the role. She suffered from bouts of alcoholism, and despite her notable success in the title role of another Hammerstein and Hart's Broadway musical, Sweet Adeline (1929), her stage carreer was relatively short. Helen Morgan died from of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 41. She was portrayed in the 1957 biopic The Helen Morgan Story.

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Harry James [March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983] was one of the most outstanding instrumentalists of the swing era, employing a bravura playing style that made his trumpet work instantly identifiable. He was also one of the most popular bandleaders of the first half of the 1940s, and he continued to lead his band until just before his death, 40 years later. HARRY JAMES broadcasts included vocalists Frank Sinatra, Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes, Kitty Kallen, and Helen Ward and others from radio remotes, the CBS Chesterfield shows, Coca-Cola shows and The Danny Kaye Show.

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Listen link below, a 1940 Mutual network sustaining band remote from The Chatterbox, Mountainside, New Jersey. Features Dick Haymes vocalist, 13 1/2 minutes.