Modernaires

Perhaps the best remembered swing era vocal group, the Modernaires are most-famously associated with Glenn Miller. The singing ensemble, however, got its start in the mid-1930s and performed with several name orchestras before joining Miller in 1941. Though they only worked for Miller during the last year-and-a-half of his orchestra’s four-year existence, the Modernaires became identified with Miller’s sound in such a way as to become inseparable from the bandleader’s legacy. After Miller’s tragic death in 1944, they parlayed the fame that this association brought them into a long and fruitful career that lasted multiple decades.^[1]

The group went through several names before finally settling on their now famous moniker. Formed in Buffalo, New York, as a high school trio, original members Hal Dickinson, Chuck Goldstein^[2], and Bill Conway^[3] initially called themselves the “Don Juan Two and Three” and the Three Weary Willies. They also performed on local and national radio as the Blue Ribbon Boys before joining Ray Noble’s band. It was Noble who suggested the name Modernaires.^[4] They also worked for Ozzie Nelson, who billed them as the Three Wizards of Ozzie.

In 1936, adding Jack Lathrop, the group expanded to a quartet to join Fred Waring’s radio program, where they formed part of V-8, a combined vocal ensemble with Bea and the Bachelors. In 1936 and early 1937, at the same time they were appearing on Waring’s program, they also sang and toured with Charlie Barnet and performed on the vaudeville theater circuit under their own name. In mid-1937, they recorded with George Hall’s orchestra. At some point, Lathrop was replaced by Ralph Brewster.

By April 1938, the Modernaires had joined Paul Whiteman, appearing on his radio show as well as touring and recording with the orchestra. According to Whiteman, at one point during their tour of the South in early 1938, the quartet was stopped at a Japanese beetle quarantine inspection station and when asked if they had any insect-bearing plants in their car they made a joke about having a lot of “jitterbugs” inside. They were then ordered to pull over so the officers could fumigate the vehicle. It apparently took a great deal of explanation to convince the officers what a jitterbug actually was.

While with Whiteman, the group also continued to perform on their own, appearing at the Hotel New Yorker in late 1939 and starting their own radio program that same year. They left Whiteman in April 1940 over monetary issues after the bandleader lost his radio sponsor and had to cut salaries. The four men quickly found work, hitting the club circuit, recording on Decca, and singing in the Broadway musical Walk with Music. Their radio program ran until January 1941.

Miller Years

The Modernaires initially began their association with Miller in late 1940, when they first entered the recording studio with the orchestra, though they continued performing under their own name as well. They didn’t join Miller’s band full-time until January 1941 when it left New York’s Hotel Pennsylvania and headed out on the road. All the Modernaires were also accomplished musicians and would often sit in with the band when needed.

During their time with Miller, it became standard for the band’s female singer to join the quartet on backing vocals, first with Dorothy Claire, who had taken Marion Hutton’s place in January 1941 when Hutton had left the band due to pregnancy, and then with Dickinson’s wife, Paula Kelly, who took Claire’s place in March. When Hutton returned in August, she continued vocalizing with the ensemble. None of the women were considered members of the group, however, as is often written.

After Miller disbanded in September 1942 to enter the service, Goldstein dropped out of the group, and the remaining three Modernaires initially planned to form a quartet with Hutton for radio work. Plans changed, however, and NBC tenor Jimmy Blair was hired as the new fourth Modernaire. The four men then joined both Hutton and fellow Miller bandmate Tex Beneke^[5] on tour as a combined act called the Glenn Miller Singers. Blair left after only a month, and Johnny Drake was brought in from Jan Garber’s band to replace him. When Beneke left to join Horace Heidt’s band in December, Drake, who was also a sax player, took over his role. The combined act proved a huge success, appearing in one film, Crazy House, for Universal.^[6]

When Hutton left the tour in August 1943, Kelly replaced her, becoming an adjunct member of the group, which toured and recorded as the “Modernaires with Paula Kelly,” though the four male members of the group also continued to perform and record without Kelly as just the “Modernaires.” The ensemble played one last engagement with Miller, via a three-way radio connection that included Hutton, on September 2, 1944. The broadcast was heard by soldiers in England and France. The group continued to use Miller’s name in promotion through the mid-1940s, performing many of the songs they sang while with the late leader’s band. They recorded on Columbia throughout the 1940s and into 1950, moving to Coral in 1951.

Later Years

The group’s line-up went through several changes during the 1940s and 1950s. Drake left the group at some point but rejoined in May 1946. Fran Scott joined in June 1946. Conway was out of the group by that same month, though sources don’t give an indication who replaced whom between Drake, Scott and Conway during that period. The line-up of Dickinson, Brewster, Scott and Drake remained intact until August 1948, when Jan Garber vocalist Alan Copeland replaced Brewster.^[7] Copeland was still there as of late 1950 when the line-up was given as Dickinson, Scott, Drake and Copeland, however a mid-1951 photo shows the group’s members as Dickinson, Brewster, Scott and Drake again. The photo attribution to Brewster may have been an error, as a late 1951 birth announcement indicates that Copeland is still a Modernaire and an early 1954 photo list the members as Dickinson, Scott, Drake and Copeland again. Trumpet player and singer Dick Cathcart joined in early 1957, replacing Copeland, who went solo.

The Modernaires appeared in several films and musical shorts over the years, starting from as early as 1936. They also appeared on many radio and television programs, including a regular spot on Bob Crosby’s popular CBS daytime television show from 1953 to 1956.^[8] The Modernaires continued performing long after many such groups from the big band era had faded into history. Kelly stayed with them until her retirement in 1978, replaced by her daughter. Dickinson was the only original member of the group to remain for the duration, appearing until his death in 1970. Their success lent itself to a willingness to adapt to changing musical tastes while at the same time celebrating their big band roots. A group bearing the Modernaires’ name continued performing into the 2000s.

Notes