Frederick Hollander
Overview
b. Oct. 18, 1896, London, England, UK, d. - January 18, 1976, Munich, Germany
Frederick, the son of composer Victor Hollander, was born to German parents who were then living in England. Later, the family returned to Germany, where Frederick was educated at the Berlin Conservatory. By the age of 18 he had become an associate conductor at the Prague Opera House. As a young man, Hollander not only composed for productions by Max Reinhardt, but also for his own theater in Berlin, where he directed, scored and wrote individual songs.
Besides writing for cabaret, he composed music for the film, "The Blue Angel" (1930). In 1936, Hollander was under contract to Paramount Pictures where he composed some melodies to the lyrics of Frank Loesser, but he often wrote the lyrics to his own songs. He then left Nazi Germany and emigrated to the United States of America, where he wrote the music for over a hundred films, including Destry Rides Again (1939), A Foreign Affair (1948), and Sabrina (1954). Many of his songs were made famous by Marlene Dietrich. (He can be seen as the piano accompanist in A Foreign Affair). He received four Academy Award nominations for composition .
Among films he worked on while still in Germany, are:
1930 Die Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel). Made Marlene Dietrich, a world-wide star. (in this film she sang "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe Eingestellt" (w.m. Hollander (with English words by Sammy Lerner became known as "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)").
1930 Der Anderer (The Others)
1931
Das Lied fom Leben (Song of Life)
Ich und die Kaiserin (The Empress and I)
Heart Song. (Hollander also directed this film.)
From the 1931 film ' "Wenn ich mir was wünschen dürfte"
"Wenn ich mir was wünschen dürfte"
"Wenn Ich Mir Was Wuenschen Duerfte", (598 kb). Greta Keller singing (ca. 1930) "If I Only Could Wish Myself Something". This tune remained in the repertoires of both Greta Keller and Marlene Dietrich for many years. The tune was composed by Friedrich Hollaender
Among the films on which he worked while in Hollywood, are:
1934
film: I Am Suzanne
1935
film: Millions In The Air
1936
film: Desire , - "Awake in a Dream" w. Leo Robin. Introduced by Marlene Dietrich
film: Poppy
film: Anything Goes , - with song "My Heart And I", lyric Leo Robin.(Introduced by Bing Crosby)
film: Rhythm on the Range , - "The House That Jack Built for Jill" w. Leo Robin. Introduced by Bing Crosby
film: The Jungle Princess , - "Moonlight and Shadows" w. Leo Robin. Introduced by Dorothy Lamour
1937 Champagne Waltz
film: Artists and Models, -"Whispers in the Dark" w. Leo Robin. Introduced by Connie Boswell
film: Angel
film: 100 Men and a Girl (Starred Deanna Durban and Arturo Toscannini) "It's Raining Sunbeams" w. Sam Coslow.
film: True Confession. Theme of the film True w. Sam Coslow.
1938
film: Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
film: Cocoanut Grove, - "You Leave Me Breathless" w. Ralph Freed. Introduced by Fred MacMurray
1939
film: film: Destry Rides Again, - "The Boys in the Back Room" w. Frank Loesser. Introduced by Marlene Dietrich
film: film Man About Town. - "Strange Enchantment" w. Frank Loesser. Introduced by Dorothy Lamour
1940
film: Seven Sinners"I've Been, - in Love Before" w. Frank Loesser. Introduced by Marlene Dietrich
film: Victory
film: The Farmer's Daughter
film: Typhoon
film: Moon Over Burma, - "Moon Over Burma" w. Frank Loesser. Introduced by Dorothy Lamour
1941
film: Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1942
film: The Man Who Came To Dinner (Starred Monte Wooley)
film: Talk of the Town (He was nominated for an Academy Award)
1943
film: Princess O'Rourke
1945
film: Conflict
film: Once Upon a Time
1946
film: The Time, The Place, and The Girl.
film: The Verdict
1947
film: Stallion Road
1948
film: Berlin Express
film: That Lady in Ermine (His song "This is the Moment", with lyric by Leo Robin was nominated for an Academy Award)
film: Foreign Affair, - "Black Market" w.m. Hollander. Introduced by Marlene Dietrich
1949
film: Caught
film: Adventure in Baltimore
1951
film: Born Yesterday (Judy Holiday starred)
1953
film: Androcles and the Lion
film: 5000 Fingers of Dr. T. (Hollander Scored this film with Morris Stoloff.)
1954
film: It Should Happen To You
film: Sabrina
film: Phffft
1955
film: We're No Angels
Back in Germany, again, he worked on:
1959film: Das Spukschloss im Spessart
Judy Holliday
b. June 21, 1921, New York, NY, USA, d. June 7, 1965 (at 5:00AM),New York, NY, USA.
Some souces erroneously claim b. 1922, or 1923, but both her birth certificate and burial headstone say 1921.
née: Judith Tuvim
Judy, (source: unknown) had an unsettled childhood due to the separation of her (Russian-Jewish) parents (Abe and Helen) when she was just 6 years old. In 1938, as a young lady, she was accepted as the switchboard operator for Orson Welles' "The Mercury Theatre" While not very fulfilling ($15 a week), it did lead to an important friendship with Welles' business partner and actor, John Houseman. About this same time, Judy joined a cabaret act, 'The Revuers', with Adolph Green, Betty Comden, Alvin Hammer and John Frank. The group played in local New York city venues, singing material mostly written by themselves. They did find some success and soon had their own half-hour radio program on NBC called 'Fun With The Revuers', which ran for 9 months. They also enjoyed an extended engagement at New York's famed Radio City Music Hall. When John Frank's drinking became a problem for the group, an agreement was reached whereby Frank agreed to leave 'The Revuers', but would retain a financial interest the group. The group eventually went to Hollywood for a film offer which never materialised, and subsequently, they all returned to New York city. Soon, Comden and Green's career would skyrocket when they collaborated on the scipt for the show "On The Town". It was through them that Judy met theatre director Herman Shumlin, who cast her in his 1945 play "Kiss Them For Me", which closed after 14 weeks. In 1946, when actress Jean Arthur had to leave the cast of "Born Yesterday", the play's author and director, Garson Kanin, induced the play's producer, Max Gordon, to use Judy instead. The rest is history. Judy starred in the play for the next 4 years, and eventually re-created her role for the film version. It is interesting to note that while Judy eventually personified the "dumb blond", she was tested and found to have an I.Q. of 172, --genius level. Early on, Judy married clarinetist David Oppenheim and the marriage lasted 9 years. She had a son named Jonathan with husband, David. Jonathan went on to have a very successful career as a film editor based in New York city.
As a lyricist, 4 of her songs are available on the "Holliday with Mulligan" album. Judy was never married to jazz musician Gerry Mulligan, but they had a terrific relationship that lasted up to the time of her death. Judy's first attempts at songwriting came when she appeared with 'The Revuers'. Rarely recalled now, she also co-wrote the song "Welcome Home" with composer Alec Wilder, a very close friend of hers. However, the bulk of her song writing was done in the years she spent with Gerry Mulligan. Sadly, only a handful of the many songs that she and Mulligan wrote in the final 5 years of her life have found their way to the public. The song "Night Lights" can be heard on the album of the same name by the jazz group 'Octobop', with vocal by Nancy Gilliland.
Judy Holliday wrote the lyrics, and Gerry Mulligan wrote the music, for many songs during the course of their 7-year relationship. Below is a list of 19 published Holliday-Mulligan songs, - most of which have never been recorded.
"Summer's Over" "It Must Be Christmas" "What's The Rush?" and "Loving You", appear on the Mulligan album mentioned above.
"All My Life"
"A Daughter"
"Fights and Assignations"
"Friendly Neighborhood Dump"
"Hold Me"
"The House"
"I Can't Wait To Get Married"
"I Want Something Lovely"
"In This Superior Establishment"
"It Must Be Christmas"
"I've Got A Friend"
"The Lonely Night" a.k.a. "Night Lights"
"Loving You"
"Now I Know What I've Missed"
"Plain Girls"
"Say The Word" (a.k.a. "Tell Me When" - title of the instrumental version)
"Summer's Over"
"A Thousand Clowns"
"What's The Rush?"
Ben Homer
b. June 27, 1917, Meriden, Connecticut, USA
Currently no information on this composer.
Songwriter, composer and arranger, educated at the New England Conservatory of Music. He arranged for the orchestras of Les Brown, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Jimmy Dorsey, and also for films, records and television. His chief musical collaborator was lyricist Bud Green (b. Nov. 19, 1897, Austria, d. Jan. 2, 1981, Yonkers, New York, USA). Among his popular compositions are "Bizet Has His Day", "Shoot the Sherbet to Me Herbert" and "Joltin' Joe Di Maggio". His "Sentimental Journey", recorded by Doris Day and the Les Brown orchestra, was a major hit (No. 1 on the charts for 16 weeks and a perfect theme song for all the young men then returning home after World War II).
Kenyon Hopkins
b. 1912, d. April 7, 1983, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Overview
In addition to writing pop tunes and scoring for films and radio, Hopkins also composed contemporary classical music, including chamber pieces and two symphonies. A fine, and much underrated, composer of jazz-inflected musical portraits.
After studying music theory and composition at Oberlin College and Temple University, Hopkins began, in the mid-1950s', working first in television and then into film scoring soon afterwards. He scored such films as 'Baby Doll', '12 Angry Men', 'The Hustler', and 'Wild River'.
His television credits include "The FBI Story", "The Reporter", "The Twentieth Century" "East Side/West Side" (starring George C. Scott), and "The DuPont Show of the Week".
In 1963, He became a musical director for CBS, and later for Paramount television. Just about this time, Hopkins and producer Creed Taylor teamed up on a series of Mood Music albums using "The Creed Taylor Orchestra". One historian, Jack Diamond, has said that Taylor only supplied the money; the talent was sole Hopkins.
Among his recordings are:
Contrasting Colors, Capitol ST-1158
Nightmare!, MGM SE 4104
Panic! Son of Shock (as Creed Taylor Orch.), ABC Paramount ABC LP
Nervous Beat: Lonelyville (as Creed Taylor Orch.), ABC Paramount ABC 308
New York, New York: The Sound of New York (as Creed Taylor Orch.), ABC Paramount ABCS 2269
Shock! Music in Hi-Fi (as Creed Taylor Orch.), ABC Paramount ABC 259
Sound Tour: France, Verve V6-50000
Sound Tour: Hawaii, Verve V6-5003
Sound Tour: Italy, Verve V6-50002
Sound Tour: Spain, Verve V6-50001
Among his Soundtrack LP albums are:
Baby Doll, Columbia CL 958
East Side/West Side, Columbia CL 2123
Lilith, Colpix 5520
Mister Buddwing, Verve V6-8638
The Fugitive Kind, United Artists UAS 4065
The Hustler, Kapp KL-1264/KS-3264
The Reporter, Columbia CS 9069
The Strange One, Coral CRL 57132
The Yellow Canary, Verve V6-8548
This Property is Condemned, Verve V6-8664
Arnold B. Horwitt
Currently no information available
In late 1930's early 1940's, This lyricist wrote some lyrics with composer
Harry Revel.
Karl Hoschna
b. Aug. 16, 1877, Kuschwarda, Bohemia d. Dec. 23, 1911, New York, NY, USA.
As a young man, Karl had a scholarship at the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied the Oboe. He graduated with honors, and found work in the Austrian Army Band (playing the Oboe).In 1896, he emigrated to the U.S. and played Oboe in Victor Herbert's band.
A very peculiar obsession possessed him at this time. It became his belief that the Oboe's double reed vibrations would affect his mind. He wrote a letter to Isidor Witmark, a famous Tin Pan Alley publisher, asking for any kind of job, menial or otherwise. Witmark hired him as a copyist, but he was soon doing arrangements, and even helping Witmark to select songs for publication.
In 1902, Hoschna met Otto Harbach, then a young advertisng man who ambition was to write for the Broadway stage. Two two of them began to collaborate. They wrote a score for a musical called 'The Daughter of the Desert', which they never produced. They did score three other musicals which did reach Broadway, all failures.
Brief chronology: ----------------- But in 1908, their 'The Three Twins' opened. The big hit was: "Yama Yama Man", lyric by Colin Davis, sung by Bessie McCoy. "Cuddle Up A Little Closer", lyric by Otto Harbach 1909 Hoschna and Harbach wrote title song for show 'Bright Eyes'. 1910 The show 'The Girl of My Dreams' had "Doctor Tinkle Tinker 1910 The Show 'Madame Sherry'had some Hoschna and Harbach's best tunes: "Every Little Movement" "Girl of My Dreams" "The Birth of Passion" 1912 Hoschna with Lyricist Hapgood Burt, wrote score for 'Wall Street Girl'. "I Want a Regular Man", sung by Blanche Ring, who became a star.
Hoschna never attended the opening of 'Wall Street Girl'. He had suddenly died on Dec. 23, 1911, - just 34 years old and at the peak of his success.
George Hoven
b. August 31, 1913, Marcus Hook, PA, USA, d. June 18, 1974, Chester, PA, USA
Instruments: Piano-Accordion; Composer.
Overview
Here's a photograph of George Hoven, who was a Music Store owner, composer and wonderful teacher of the Piano-Accordion. He not only sold sheet music, but he was also a prolific composer of a great many musical works reflecting his Polish background including Polkas, Obereks, Waltzes and such. But curiously, he is best remembered today for his 'Pop' tune "It's No Sin", which was a huge success for The Four Aces vocal group, the Eddy Howard band, and a great many other orchestras and singers. It was Number 1 on the National Charts in 1951, and stayed No. 1 for many weeks. The lyric was written by his good friend Chester R. Shull.
Hoven was born in Marcus Hook area (PA) and lived his life in Chester, PA. Prior to the success of his song "It's No Sin", he had composed some 150 Polkas, Marches, Obereks, and Waltzes. Up until 1953, when he retired from the Retail music business, he had sold music and instruments at his store, and also gave Piano-Accordion lessons. He spent the remainder of his life composing.
Hoven had met Chester R. "Chick" Shull when they both worked for the Old South Chester Tube Co., and they continued working together even when, in 1943, Shull went to work for the Sun Oil Co. About then, Hoven also opened his own Music shop (2505 W. 3rd St. - Chester, PA) in a two-story storefront building. Hoven lived on the upper floor of the shop, living and working there for many years (until his demise).
In a 1951 interview, Hoven told how hearing Bing Crosby's rendition of "Autumn Leaves" inspired him to write "It's No SIn". Hoven was driving down 9th Street when he heard Bing singing "Autumn Leaves", and he rushed home, -writing the music to "It's No Sin" in just a half-hour. He telephoned Shull, and played the song perhaps 25 times. Three weeks later, Shull had completed the lyric. Shull has said that his lyric was inspired when he saw a young girl saying goodbye to a Soldier at Philadelphia's 30th Street Train Station. When the pair wrote the tune, Hoven was just age 38 and Chester R. "Chick" Shull was only 34 years old.
At the time, a little known vocal group called The Four Aces were playing at The Ukrainian American Nataional Home at 4th and Ward Streets, in Chester PA. Hoven and Shull auditioned their song for the group. With the help of The Four Aces, as well as the local Disc Jockey (Jimmy Lynn WVCH-Chester), the tune began to take off and subsequently was recorded by most all popular singers. It was this tune that propelled The Four Aces to International fame. Later, Al Alberts, founder and leader of The Four Aces would tell reporters how the group had started in a Prospect Park Milk Bar (in Delaware County, PA) singing for $28 dollars a night, and because of this tune, wound up playing in a Las Vegas Hotel for $10,000 dollars a night. Hoven and Shull had pestered them so that they finally worked up an arrangement just to get the two 'off their ears'.
Tragically, George Hoven died as the result of a fire at his home. The fire apparently had started in the first floor kitchen of his two story
storefront home. Hoven was sleeping in the rear 2nd floor bedroom, directly above the kitchen, and must have succombed to the intense smoke, heat, and
flames. Shull retired from Sun Oil Co., in 1960. George Hoven is a menber of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
Our thanks to Ms Mary Hoven, George Hoven's daughter for her help in preparing this entry on her famous father.
Joseph E. Howard
b. Feb. 12, 1867 New York, NY, USA. d. May 19, 1961 Chicago, IL, USA.
This son of a saloon keeper was born in tbe backroom of his father's saloon, on New York's Mulberry Street. An apt beginning to the life of Joe
Howard.
At age 8, he ran away from home and wound up in a Catholic orphanage. He escaped from the orphanage and hopped on a St. Louis bound freight train. When he got to St. Louis, he sold newspapers, and sang in saloons and pool halls. When he got to be eleven years old, he was acting in vaudeville (still in St.Louis), where he was billed as Master Joseph, Boy Soprano. A little later, he was in a touring troupe where he played the role of Little Eva. This troupe eventually wound up stranded in St. Joseph, Missouri, but Howard continued on by himself doing his usual singing in various dance halls and saloons, in places like Denver, Dodge City and Virginia City and Tombstone, Arizona. While passing through Denver, he eloped with a young dancer, only to have the marriage annuled by the girls parents, less than 24 hours after the ceremony. This was the first of his nine marriages.
Finally, Joe became 17 years of age.
He was still just 17, when he and an actress name Ida Emerson teamed up to form a vaudeville team. (Yes, Joe later married Ida.) In 1895, after touring in the West, the team came to Chicago, and then on to New York City, where they played Tony Pastor's Music Hall. Eventually, Joe returned to Chicago, where he started his publishing company and produced many shows.
Joe wrote his first song in 1897. 1897 "On the Boulevard", words and music by Joe Howard 1899 "Hello My Baby", Was his first big hit song. (Beautifully played here by Irwin Schwartz, in an unusual (slow) tempo.) 1902 "On A Saturday Night", lyric by Andrew J. Sterling 1904 "Goodbye My Lady Love", Words and Music by Joe Howard Between 1905 and 1915, Joe produced a great many shows, all staged in Chicago. Most of the shows had book and lyric by Will M. Hough, and Frank R. Adams. The shows and songs included: 1905 Wrote score for the musical play 'The Umpire', title song was, "How'd You Like to Be the Umpire" 1905 Wrote score for the musical play 'The Isle of Bing Bong' 1906 Wrote score for 'The District Leader', the big song was "What's the Use of Dreaming?" 1907 Wrote score for 'The Girl Question', with the song "Oh, Gee, Be Sweet To Me, Kid" 1907 Wrote score for 'The Time, The Place, and The Girl", with "Blow The Smoke Away" 1908 Wrote score for 'Honeymoon Trail', the title songs was "Honeymoon Trail" 1909 Wrote the score for 'The Prince of Tonight', the big hit was "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now", Music and words by Harold Orlob. (See interesting 'Note' Below.) 1915 Wrote score for "In and Out', book and lyric by Colin Davis and Howard Swope.When the 'Great Depression' of 1929-1930 hit, Howard returned to vaudeville, and toured extensively. He played vaudeville, stage shows, nightclubs, and was also heard on radio. During WW2, he MC'ed a radio program called 'The Gay Nineties', and was a successful New York City restaurateur, where he owned the Club Zanzibar. At war's end, he went into retirement, and settled in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Perhaps fittingly, Joe died onstage at Chicago's Opera House. He was giving a benefit performance. He and the audience has just sung "Let Me Call You Sweetheart". He took his curtain call, blowing a kiss to the audience, when he collapsed, on stage, with Cardiac Arrest. His final curtain came down, and a few minutes later, was pronounced dead.
NOTE:
In 1909, Harold Orlob was working for Howard's Music Publishers Company. Orlob, a paid weekly employee, wrote the song on demand for inclusion in Howard's musical show. In those days, it was the usual custom for the copyright and ownership of a song, to be passed on to the publisher. It is rather interesting to note that Howard maintained, for many years, that he, and he alone, was the composer. He even invented a fiction that he had originally overheard the title as a remark made by a college student. In 1947, Hollywood released a film biography of Joe's life. The film was entitled "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now". Up to 1947, Orlob had never made any claim to authorship of the song. When the film was released, Orlob instituted a court action, seeking to have him declared as the real composer. Orlob did not ask for any monetary damages whatsoever. An out-of-court agreement was finally reached,
in which Joe Howard and Harold Orlob were declared to be co-composers. Harold got no financial restitution.
Paul Mason Howard
b. USA.
Pianist/Songwriter Paul Mason Howard worked both as a performer, studio musician, and composer (usually as part of a team). His best known composition is without doubt, the sang "Shrimp Boats", which he co-composed with bandleader Paul Weston. During much of 1951, the song was high on the charts, especially for songstresses Jo Stafford, and Dinah Shore.
At one point in his career, Howard formed an interest in some very unusual instruments including the Dolceola and the Cithare. He found an opportunity to use both in several Capitol label recordings where he accompanied legendary folk/blues vocalist Huddie Ledbetter, - better known as "Leadbelly". (Note: The Dolceola is a guitar-zither type instrument shaped like a tiny piano. It has a little keyboard, with 7 chords, of 5 notes each, and 2 octaves of chromatic melody strings. The Cithare is a zither-like instrument, invented in 1884 by the German Karl August Gutter. There are some button which operate to dampen all the strings except those required by the chord. Then, a plectrum is used to pluck the strings.).
Howard and fellow songwriter Billy Mills composed, "A Cowboy Needs a Horse," for a Mickey Mouse cartoon, and subsequently became resident in Disneyland, -Walt Disney's "Magic Kingdon".
Among the songs for which he wrote both words and music are:
In 1921, his career began when he left home and became the pianist in a dance band that toured in support of Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton. In 1934, hoping to build a career as a tunesmith, he relocated to Los Angeles, CA, where he met with very little success from the studios. (However, in later years, his "Fly Me to the Moon" was included in a number of films.) With film work scarce, he first became the accompanist for the female impersonator Rae Bourbon, and in 1937, backed comedienne Elizabeth Talbot-Martin in Los Angeles, and then followed her to New York City when she was booked at the 'Rainbow Room'. In 1938, Howard became the accompanist to Mabel Mercer, who popularized his composition "If You Leave Paris", -his first minor hit. In 1941, he joined the U. S. Army, serving four years during World War II,
In 1945, after his service discharge, he first became the pianist at 'Spivy's Roof', a popular New York city cabaret, and then became resident at "Tony's West Side", where he again supported singer Mabel Mercer. Between 1951 and 1959, Howard was the "MC", intermission pianist, and director of shows at the Blue Angel in New York, where he worked with such stars as Eartha Kitt, Johnny Mathis, Dorothy Loudon and others. In 1954, he composed a little ditty that he first titled "In Other Words", which one publisher suggested he retitle to "Take Me to the Moon." Eventually, Howard named his song "Fly Me to the Moon", and it was first performed by cabaret singer Felicia Sanders (at the Blue Angel in 1955). In 1960, the song became a huge hit when Peggy Lee recorded it, followed by Judy Garland, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra and virtually every other star of the era. The royalties on this song made him so wealthy that he entered semi-retirement, appearing only occasionallly at a concert or cabaret
Among his other popular-song compositions are "My Love Is a Wanderer", "On the First Warm Day", "Let Me Love You", "Would You Believe It", "Perfect Stranger", "Sell Me", "Be My All", "Walk-Up", "Year After Year", "Everybody Wants to Be Loved", "It Was Worth It", "You Are Not My First Love", "Don't Dream of Anybody But Me", "You Are In Love", "Upstairs at the Downstairs Waltz", "Miracles", "I'll Be Easy to Find", "Forget Me Not", "Tomorrow Song", "Welcome Home, Angelina", "Beautiful Women", "To Be in Love", "Gather Your Dreams", and "Sky Full of Rainbows".
"Shrimp Boats", Co-composed with Paul Weston.
"The Gandy Dancers Ball", co-composed with Paul Weston. A Frankie Laine hit releaase.
"I'm Davy Crockett's Friend", co-composed with Buddy Ebsen.
"The Big Bear", co-composed with Buddy Ebsen.
"Pretty Little Girl with the Red Dress On", co-composed with Buddy Ebsen.
"Snow Shoe Thompson", co-composed with Buddy Ebsen.
"Cowboy Needs a Horse", co-composed with William R. Mills
"Ninety Nine Years is a Long Long Time", co-composed with William R. Mills and Jack Scholl.
"Miami I Love You", co-composed with Emilio Kanderer.
"The Cocktail Party Upstairs", co-composed with Charlie LaVere)
"Catch Me Fish"
"Chickens Crow"
"A Hole in the Sky"
"Milk Train"
"Walkin in the Snow"
"Zither Blues"
Bart Howard
b. June 1, 1915, Burlington, Iowa, USA. d. Feb. 21, 2004, Carmel, NY, USA. -complications from a stroke; Age: 88. (Some sources claim b. 1916)
né: Howard Joseph Gustafson
Overview:
This composer, author and pianist, was educated at Newl York's famed Juilliard School of Music, and in private music study. Although he played and recorded as a pianist and bassist, no one will ever remember Howard for that. However, he will always be recalled for his hit song "Fly Me to the Moon," which was recorded by virtually every single star of his era. The song was introduced by Felicia Sanders on the cabaret circuit, under its original title "In Other Words". In 1954, it was first recorded by Kaye Ballard (Decca 29114). In 1956, it was recorded by Portia Nelson, and by Johnny Mathis, -for the first time under the title of "Fly Me to the Moon". Interestingly, Felicia Sanders, the original singer of the song didn't get around to recording the tune until 1959. Her rendition met with no great fame. Instead, she became best known for her vocal on the Percy Faith Orchestra's "Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart)". The list of stars who have recorded Howard's song would fill a book.