| Death date | Andy Love – Manhattan Greenacres City, Florida Robert Wacker – Manhattan Carlsbad, California Jack Lathrop – Sherburne, New York Stonington, Connecticut Gene Lantham – Lawrence, Kansas Los Angeles Johnny Smedberg – Coos Bay, Oregon Kaneohe, Hawaii |
|---|---|
| Origin | Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Genre | |
| Years active | 1934–1946 |
The Tune Twisters was an American jazz vocal trio founded in 1934 as The Freshmen by Andy Love, Robert "Bob" Wacker, and Jack Lathrop, who also played guitar. They were featured on radio broadcasts and recorded with jazz artists that included (i) Ray Noble in 1935 (with Noble, the Tune Twisters were initially known as "The Freshmen"), (ii) Bob Crosby in 1935, (iii) Glenn Miller in 1937, and (iv) Adrian Rollini in 1938. The Tune Twisters performed in the 1937 Broadway production, Between the Devil, singing "Triplets." The production ran from December 22, 1937, to March 12, 1938 (93 performances). During the audition, the Tune Twisters were known as the Savoy Club Boys. Lathrop was a member of the Tune Twisters in 1939 when they recorded the first radio jingle of its kind for Pepsi – "Pepsi-Cola Hits the Spot" (aka "Nickel, Nickel"). The trio also performed in two 1935 films, Sweet Surrender and Melody Magic, the latter directed by Fred Waller. Gene Lantham, in 1940, replaced Lathrop, who went on to become guitarist and vocalist with Glenn Miller.[1]
History
Andy Love, Jack Lathrop, and Bob Wacker began singing as a trio around 1928 or 1929 while attending a prep school near New York. Lathrop attended college in New York and Wacker got a job. Around 1933, Love suggested – to Lathrop and Wacker – commercializing their trio. Their launch was unsuccessful, and Love, discouraged, began singing as a soloist with Paul Whiteman. Eventually, the three auditioned for NBC Radio. After the audition, an NBC executive asked, "What do you call yourselves?" "You sure are some tune twisters." Love responded with a grin, "That's our name."[2]
The Tune Twisters made their radio broadcast debut in 1935 as guest artists on a show hosted by Ray Noble, who discovered them in a Westchester County roadhouse nightclub. They continued to work with Noble until he moved to Hollywood to form a new until for the Burns and Allen programs. The trio subsequently performed in vaudeville on their own. They also performed with Fred Allen and Rudy Vallée hours.
In 1938, the Tune Twisters signed with NBC to perform the for the Jell-O Summer Series, starring Jane Froman and her husband, Don Ross (né Donald McKaig Ross; 1899–1971),[a] with the Alfonso D'Artega Orchestra. NBC's Red Network (radio) broadcast the show nationwide, beginning July 4, 1938. The show had previously been hosted by Jack Benny.
Members
- Love was one of three children born to Andrew Jackson Love, M.D. (1861–1948), and Anita Florence Hemmings (née Annie Williamson Hemmings; 1872–1960).[3]
- Gene re-married, on June 18, 1947, in Los Angeles, to Miriel Eloise King (maiden; 1917–2001). Dorothy re-married, on December 17, 1947, in Manhattan, to Andy Love.
- Gene Lanham and Dorothy Lanham – under the name Dorothy Lanham – and also Robert Wacker, sang as members of the Ralph Brewster[b] singers on Frank Sinatra's 1957 recording, "Mistletoe and Holly."[4] In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Lanham served on the board of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Lanham remarried – on June 18, 1947, in Los Angeles – to Miriel Eloise King (maiden; 1917–2001).
Selected broadcasts
Radio (1930s)
- 1940–1942: WOR; Ramona[c] and the Tune Twisters – broadcast three times a week; sponsored by R&H Brewing Company – Rubsam & Hormann Brewing Co., found by Joseph Rubsam and August Horrmann in Staten Island. The sponsor was known for its theme song sang by the Tune Twisters, the "R&H Beer Song" (©1941), composed by Clarence Gaskill.
Jingles
- 1938: Pepsi-Cola Jingle (see also Sensory branding)
- "Pepsi-Cola Hits the Spot" (aka "Nickel, Nickel")[5]
- The commercial, reportedly, aired over 1.5 million times[6][7]
Broadway
- 1937: Between the Devil, the Tune Twisters sang "Triplets," December 22, 1937 – March 12, 1938 (93 performances); during the audition, the Tune Twisters were known as the Savoy Club Boys
Selected filmography and discography
Filmography
- The Tune Twisters performed "Love Makes The World Go 'Round," in the 1935 film, Sweet Surrender – music by Dana Suesse, lyrics by Edward Heyman
Discography
- The Tune Twisters
- The Tune Twisters
- Victor Young and His Orchestra
- Hal Burke, vocal
- The Tune Twisters
- Recorded March 21, 1935
- Decca 426
- Victor Young and His Orchestra
- Featuring Hal Burke and the Tune Twisters
- From the 1935 film, Go Into Your Dance
- Decca 418 A
- (audio via YouTube)
- Johnny Green and His Orchestra, with Marjory Logan (vocalist)[d] and the Tune Twisters
- The songs:
- "I'm Yours" (Tune Twisters)
- "Body and Soul”
- "I Wanna Be Loved" (orchestra)
- Musicians: 2nd pianist (and arranger), Dave Terry
- From Melody Magic, musical film directed by Fred Waller
- (audio via YouTube)
- The Decca All Star Revue – 2 two-part productions:
- Recorded January 15, 1935, New York
- Part One: "You're the Top," Cole Porter, from Anything Goes
- Decca 345 A
- Part Two: "You're the Top"
- Decca 345 B; matrix 39253
- Tune Twisters
- Adrian Rollini His Quintet
- Recorded June 23, 1938, New York
- (© 24 August 1938) Harry Bailey (né Harry Preston Bailey; 1909–1984) and Doris Fisher (w&m)
- (© 10 May 1938) Frank Loesser (words), Hoagy Carmichael (music)
- Vocalion 4212
- (Discogs reference)
- (© 8 June 1938) Bud Green (words), Albert Stillman (words), Claude Thornhill (music)
- (© 21 June 1938) Al Hoffman, Al Lewis, Murray Mencher (de) (1898–1991) (w&m)[8]
- Victor Salon Orchestra, Nathaniel Shilkret (conductor)
Notes and references
Notes
References
- ^ "Station Sparks: That's What's in a Name," by Alice Remsen, Radio World, Vol. 16, No. 25 (Whole No. 675), March 2, 1935, p. 18
- ^ "How Did They Get on the Air?" by Mary Watkins Reeves (ca. 1913–1999), Radio Stars, (Lester C. Grady, ed.), March 1936, pps. 74–75 (article begins on p 45); OCLC 6845382
- ^ Finding Grace: Two Sisters and the Search for Meaning Boyond the Color Line, by Shirlee Taylor Haizlip, Free Press (2004)
- ^ Put Your Dreams Away: A Frank Sinatra Discography, compiled by Luiz Carols do Nascimento Silva (born 1930), Greenwood Press (2000)
- ^ The Big Broadcast: 1920–1950 – A New, Revised, and Greatly Expanded Edition of Radio's Golden Age, by Frank Buxton (1930–2018) and Bill Owen (born 1931), Viking Press (©1966, 1972), p. 76; OCLC 1014318165
- ^ "Austen Croom‐Johnson, 54, Dies," New York Times, May 18, 1964
- ^ For God, Country, and Coca-Cola, by Mark Pendergrast, Basic Books (©1993, 2000), pps. 192–193; OCLC 1107012865
- ^ Jazz Records, 1897–1942 (4th revised & enlarged ed.) (Vol. 2 of 2: "Rollini, Adrian"), Brian Arthur Lovell Rust (1922–2011), Arlington House (1978); OCLC 1039436498 (both vols.);